Oliver saw it the minute she walked into the lair that she wasn't happy. He gave John and Felicity a look and they got the picture that it was best if they took a hike. It had nothing to do with the fact that Emma was pregnant and her hormones were all over the place but he knew this was a perfect moment for her to lash out at him and he probably deserved it.

"Merlyn? You sent Merlyn to fetch me"?

"How was the appointment"? he asked trying to bring things down a notch. It was a waste of time.

"Don't you dare ask me about that now. I'm talking to you about Merlyn coming in like a knight in shining armor proudly rescuing me from another monster".

"Yes. I understand how that can be a little disarming but I had no other choice. Trust me".

"Disarming? How about you give me a little warning next time? Why did you send Malcolm"?

Oliver walked closer to her. "You know I had Felicity run a facial recognition to see if she could find Slade"?

Emma nodded.

"Well, it picked him up as he was entering the clinic. I had a pretty good feeling he was looking to bump into you and I needed to know why. If I had gone to get you, he would have been on his guard and we would never know what he is up to".

Emma stared him down. "So, you used me and your unborn child as bait"?

He sighed. "No. Using you as bait would have meant that I knew he was following you and I didn't know that. Besides, I know you can fend for yourself".

"Then why did you send Malcolm"?

"Because even if I know you can take care of yourself, I don't trust Slade. I don't know what I'd do if anything ever happened to you".

Her face softened and he took that as a sign that she had calmed down. He took her in his arms. "You are my entire life. And even though I know that you are not happy about my sending Malcolm, he was the least dangerous of the two".

"How can you trust him"?

"It's a long story".

"Good thing for you, I have nothing important to do right now".

"Malcolm is Thea's father".

Emma blinked a couple of times as she took in the information. "What? How is that even possible"?

Then she thought about it. "Don't answer that. I just got a very vivid image of how. Does Thea know"?

"Yes and as you can imagine she isn't too thrilled about the idea that she shares DNA with a murderer but I know that when it comes to Thea, he would do anything to protect her".

All Emma could do was think about Thea. How shocking and traumatizing it must have been for her to learn the truth after all these years. "Ok. But I'm not Thea".

"No, you're not but you are Thea's sister-in-law, which means you are family and when it comes to family, I know I can trust Malcolm".

"You trust him? Need I remind you that he was the one who told me about who was responsible for my siblings' death"?

Oliver knew she was right. He didn't trust Malcolm entirely but till now he had never revealed to anyone that he was the Arrow, so he wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt.

Emma took his face in her hands. "Be careful Ollie, don't have a blind side when it comes to him, only because he is Thea's father. I personally don't trust that back stabbing, unremorseful assassin. I'd hate it for him to take advantage of the trust you put into him. I've seen it in his eyes, he is dark, darker than you and when the time comes, he will lead you into his darkness and I'm afraid you'll never come back from that"!

Felicity and John came back in happy to see that the tension had lessened between their two friends.

"I promise, I will be extra careful. Now, can you tell me what Slade wanted"?

"He wanted to know who the Arrow was".

"Did he say why"?

"He said he was transporting some valuable goods and feared for its safety and that he would need the Arrow to help him. He's a bad liar".

Oliver smiled. "Sounds to me like you got a deep insight on Slade Wilson. So, if he what he says is right, we've got two things to worry about".

"You mean that he unopenly admitted being the one behind the conveying of the miraculu"? asked John.

Oliver nodded. "Yes and secondly that he is out to know who is behind the hood".

"Well, there really isn't any way for him to find out", said Felicity.

"No. But I know Slade. He's like a Pitbull. He won't stop until he finds out, especially if I'm getting in the way of whatever he is planning. Therefore, until then, we need to be extra careful. I think we should lay low for a while".

"So, what you're saying is no saving the world for a little while"? asked John.

"Unfortunately, yes. Let's see this as a small vacation. I'm sure we could use a little time away. Let's keep our interactions to the minimal".

They all nodded and quietly closed-up shop.

A week later

"Sir, there are have been no sightings of the Arrow for almost a week".

Slade clenched his fist. "He must know we are on to him".

"This may be far-fetched sir, but one of our informers has stated that very often where the Arrow is seen, so has Oliver Queen".

"That's pure coincidence", said Slade, but as he did so, he recalled the green hoodie that he wore back on the island. "Unless, you are right". Yes, it was starting to make sense. All the skills Oliver had learned on the island were definitely the skills of a vigilante. And, if it was Oliver, then they had some unresolved business to take care of. It would be like killing two birds with one stone. He would get rid of the Arrow, hence allowing him to continue his activities and he would also finally get revenge for Shado's death. Now, that was something he liked.

He smiled feeling very content with this scenario.

"I think it's time I had some quality time with the Arrow".

The guy looked at him. "But how are you going to manage that"?

"I'm going to draw him out".

"By what means"?

"By taking what is nearest and dearest to him"!