Disclaimer: I do not own Arrow.
By the way, if anyone wants to see any specific memories, I am open to suggestions.
"Ollie!" Thea tried to rush to her brother but Laurel pulled her back.
"I don't think it's him Thea." Laurel told her.
"Constantine said we'd be seeing some of Oliver's memories, this must be one." Diggle agreed as one of Oliver's companion's spoke up.
"You're a good man. I can see it. Well, beneath the privileged upbringing and wealthy veneer. I saw it when my man tortured you," Thea hissed angrily, Laurel bristled, and Diggle clenched his fists, "and you wouldn't give up your friend. Not even a friend, someone you just met."
"Shut up." Oliver snapped.
"What do you know about him? Nothing I suspect. Do you even know what this island really is?" The man asked before continuing without waiting, "It's a prison. I mean this literally. Until eight years ago, the Chinese military operated this island as a penitentiary for criminals too dangerous to be incarcerated on the mainland. When the military shut the program down, my men and I came in and disposed of all the inmates. Save two. Your friend is one of them."
"This guy is so full of crap." Diggle said as the man rattled on.
"You don't believe him?" Thea asked.
"I've seen men like him, manipulative and twisting the truth to their own needs." Diggle said as Laurel nodded.
"I've prosecuted men that claim to be innocent and they all have the same look in their eyes as this guy." Laurel said.
"Call your people," Oliver's second companion-a middle-aged, Asian man with strigy, greying black hair sporting a very familiar hood-ordered as he held a radio out to the other man, "Tell them to bring the plane."
"There's no need, my men will be here shortly," The other men announced to everyone's shock, "did you not find it convenient you captured me so easily?"
Next to the others, a man with a familiar looking mask walked up followed by multiple men in black masks that covered everything but their eyes. The Asian man barked at Oliver and he turned and ran. Thea ran after her brother as Diggle and Laurel followed after her. As they ran through the trees, the scene suddenly changed.
The three of them were in a factory. Before they could wonder what they were doing here, A man with a rifle ran in, Oliver following close behind. Oliver got to higher ground and the man turned and fired at him but Oliver easily evaded the bullets. Oliver jumped and grabbed a hanging chain before using it like a rope and swung around, jumping at the man. Knocking the gun out of the man's hand, Oliver got behind him and put him in a neck lock as the man cried out in pain.
"You killed that man." Oliver said coldly.
"You don't have to do this." The man pleaded.
"Yes I do...no one can know my secret." Oliver said dispassionately before twisting.
There was a loud crack and the man stopped struggling. As Oliver dropped the dead man, the three looked at him in horror. While Diggle was only slightly affected, the same could not be said for Laurel and Thea. While Thea had known that her brother had started off as a killer, seeing it was another thing entirely. And while Laurel had seen some of the things Oliver had been capable of as The Hood, she had never seen him so callous before. It was unnerving, to say the least.
"This must have been around the time he first returned home." Diggle mentioned and Laurel nodded.
"Yeah, this must have been when Tommy and Ollie got abducted." Laurel said as she chided herself for not putting together what had really happened.
"Well, it doesn't look he's here," Diggle said after looking around and only spotting the memory of Oliver, "let's go."
they walked out of the factory and found themselves in a tent. Oliver was hanging above the ground by his hands, which were bound by rope. Judging by the look of him, it was his first year on the island, Laurel noted. The man from earlier was there, holding a picture of the Asian man,, though he looked more groomed in the picture.
"Where can I find the man in this picture?" He demanded.
"I don't know!" Oliver said obviously lying and the man flashed a cool smile.
The masked man from earlier walked up, a sword in his hand. He stabbed Oliver in the side with it and Oliver screamed in agony. Thea put a hand to her face, sickened at seeing what her brother had gone through. Laurel had unshed tears in her eyes as they witnessed Oliver's torment, even Diggle found it hard to watch his brother's suffering. After a while, Thea couldn't take it anymore. She turned and ran out of the tent.
"Thea!" Laurel called out as she and Diggle followed her out of the tent.
As they exited the tent again, the scene changed. They were in a warehouse. Oliver was hanging from the chains, his shirt gone. Malcolm stood before him, circling him like a shark.
"Do you honestly believe you are honoring Tommy's mother by destroying the Glades.?" Oliver demanded.
"As surely as you believe you are honoring your father by wearing that hood. Not a day goes by that I don't miss your father." Malcolm said sounding genuinely sad.
"You'll see him soon." Oliver promised.
"You can't beat me Oliver," Malcolm said as he walked closer to Oliver, "Yes, you're younger, faster, but you always seem to come up short against me. You know why? Because you don't know, in your heart, what you're fighting for, what you're willing to sacrifice. And I do."
"You found one thing you weren't willing to sacrifice." Thea said softly as she thought of Tommy.
"No one can stop what's about to come," Malcolm said as he turned around and began to walk away, "not even the vigilante."
Overcome by a sense of rage, Laurel sprinted after Malcolm. Thea and Diggle ran after her as she ran up the steps. As they reached the top of the steps, the scene changed.
Oliver was in a shop, a bloodied hammer in his hand. Blood was all over as he threw it down. The trio looked at where he was looking and were all sickened at the sight of a man who had obviously been severally tortured. Even Diggle, who had been to war and seen men tortured, felt like he was gonna vomit. Hearing footsteps, the three looked up as Tatsu and Maseo entered the shop. They caught sight of the man and stopped, stunned.
"Oliver...what have you done?" Tatsu asked shocked and horrified.
"He failed this city and I'm giving him the justice he deserves." Oliver said darkly.
"This is the man who did it," Diggle breathed and his companions looked over at him, "this is the man who unleashed the Alpha-Omega virus on China that killed Tatsu and Maseo's son."
A gun shot cut them off. The y looked over to see Maseo drop a gun that had been aimed at the man before he walked out and Tatsu followed after him. Oliver stood up, looking down at his bloodied hands like he didn't know who he was anymore.
"I never...I never thought Ollie was capable of something like that." Thea said disturbed.
"You've never been to war Thea," Diggle said and the two looked over at him, "you don't know what it does to you, how it scraps off little pieces of your soul until you become someone you don't even recognize anymore."
"But Ollie never went to war?" Thea said confused but Diggle shook his head.
"There was a time I thought that to but yes he did. Those five years away, it may not have been war against a country or a government but it was war. And Oliver came out the other side changed." Diggle explained grimly.
So, what do you guys think? Please leave any thoughts or comments you may have in a review, feedback is greaty appreciated.