Disclaimer: Arrow is owned by The CW, Berlanti Productions, and Warner Bros. Television. The characters of the Green Arrow and the Justice League is owned by DC Comics. I own nothing; I'm just playing in their universe.
Chapter 51: Unthinkable
Thea followed Roy out into the hallway. He waited until the door closed behind them before turning to face the younger girl.
"So," he began, "Would you like me to kill you now, just to get it over with?" he asked sarcastically.
"Is that an option?" Thea replied, equally sarcastic.
Roy sighed. "You know, I don't think you've quite grasped what it is that we are doing here…"
"The only thing I need to grasp is that I grow up to be a murdering, psychotic bitch!" Thea spat.
"WRONG!" Roy shouted back. "MIA grew up to be a murdering, psychotic bitch because she made decisions without having all the facts. We are GIVING you all the facts, though! So you WON'T make the same mistakes again!"
"And what if I make all new mistakes?" Thea demanded, tears in her eyes. "What if there's no stopping me from becoming a murder? What if it's fate?"
Roy took a calming breath, then reached out and gently grasped Thea by her shoulders. "There is no fate but what we make." He told her. "You are not beholden to a future where you become a killer. What we have shown you here is but one possible future. It's up to you to make sure that future doesn't happen."
"And what makes you think I can stop it from happening?"
"Because you're stronger than me." Thea stiffened, then turned to face Mia who had joined the two. "You are stronger than I could ever be. I can see it in your eyes. You have the strength to be the me I should have been, not the me I turned out to be."
"The future isn't set in stone, Thea. This thing here is proof of that." Roy added. "So stop acting like it is. Learn from what you see, so when you go back you can make it better."
"Please." Mia finished.
A few moments later, the three walked back into the room. Thea got a few curious stares, but she ignored them as she retook her seat. Mia sat down next to Roy and gave the group a pained smile. "Let's say we finish this up, shall we?"
"By all means." Malcolm said.
The final memory set opened in the clock tower. Oliver was lost in through, thinking about the past as Diggle and Felicity watched over Roy.
"Oliver. Oliver, man, you ok?" Dig called out, drawing his attention back to the here and now.
Oliver sighed in frustration. "The cure's not working." He said.
"We don't know that." Felicity countered quickly. "He still has a lot of Tibetan pit viper venom in his system." She reminded him. Suddenly an alarm sounded on her tablet, and she ran over and grabbed it.
"Wouldn't that be a bad thing?" Felicity asked. "I mean, that much venom would kill a normal man- and we're trying to make you a normal man."
Roy shrugged. "Luckily the Mirakuru burned the venom out faster than the cure burned out the Mirakuru. But it was a four-alarm hangover for sure."
"What's that?" Oliver asked.
"Proximity alarm." She said. "I rigged the tower with sensors just in case Slade's goons came here to kill us." She pulled up a thermal imaged that showed over a dozen men rushing up the stairs. "Slade's goons are here to kill us." She told him.
"Talk to me, Felicity." Oliver said as he grabbed his bow.
"They're inside, they're right underneath us." She said frantically. "They're inside, there's too many of them!"
A groan caught their attention, and they looked over in surprise to see Roy staggering to his feet. "Where am I?" he asked, shaking the cobwebs loose from his head. Suddenly the trap door burst open and a masked solider popped up. Acting on instinct, Roy ran over and slugged the man in the mask as hard as he could…
Then staggered back, shaking his hand in pain.
"Guess the cure worked." Diggle noted. "And that had to hurt."
"It did." Roy confirmed.
The soldier swept his legs out from under him, sending him crashing to the ground. Oliver ran over and kicked him in the face, sending the solder falling back down the ladder. He shut the door, but another soldier popped up through the hole that Roy had made previously and grabbed Felicity by the ankle. She screamed in panic.
"Anyone else thinking 'Whack-A-Mole?" Tommy joked.
"Sure, if the moles were super strong and hyper aggressive." Felicity replied, then shuddered. "I think I thought of something scarier than kangaroos."
"Felicity!" Dig shouted in alarm, running over and shooting the man in the head. Oliver ran over to the broken clock face and shot a cable out to the ground. "Down the cable!" he ordered to his team. Roy ran up and grabbed the cable, then slid down to the ground. He was followed by Diggle, who had grabbed the cure.
"Ouch!" Sara said, looking at Roy in surprise. "How the hell did you fire a bow later when you slid down the cable with your bare hands?"
"How did I fire a bow? In pain, that was how." Roy said, shaking his head. "Ah, the stupidity of youth."
"In your defense, you had just woken up from a coma." Thea remarked. Roy smirked at her, but shrugged his shoulders.
"I'm a man, baby." He said cockily.
"That'd debatable." Sara joked.
"Not really." Mia remarked.
Felicity timidly stepped onto the ledge. Another soldier burst through the trap door, so Oliver smashed him in the chest with his bow, jumped up to the ledge, grabbed Felicity by the waist, and used his bow to slide down the cable.
"See, that was smart." Sara said.
"Makes me wish I'd had a bow." Diggle said.
"Okay, now what? Do all the super-soldiers jump back down to the ground, or—
As they hit the ground, they all looked up to see an A.R.G.U.S. Helicopter swing around the clock tower. The side door opened and a missile was fired, blowing up the clock tower and killing most of the soldiers inside. Lyla Michaels leaned out of the chopper to survey her work, and Diggle smiled warmly up at his ex-wife.
"I'm still pissed at her for blowing up my clock tower." Sara said with a grin.
"Is she…" Diggle started.
Sara nodded. "She eventually took over as head of A.R.G.U.S. Shortly after that, you- older you- left the private field and joined up with her. The both of you retired only recently."
"Can I ask what I did in the private sector?"
Roy shrugged. "Sure. You and I headed a team of younger superheroes called the Titans. You helped train a lot of them. Eventually you headed to A.R.G.U.S. because Lyla needed you there, and we had things well in hand." Diggle nodded in satisfaction.
On the streets, pandemonium reigned as the Mirakuru soldier ran rampant, destroying everything in their path. In the foundry, Team Arrow discovered that destruction had already run through the Lair.
"Oh, my babies…" Felicity moaned.
"Oh, my God!" Felicity cried forlornly, looking at the destroyed computers that still lay sparking on the ground. The lighting rig was half collapsed, and everything that had been made of glass was shattered.
"What the hell happened?" Roy wondered, still trying to catch up.
"Slade's army." Diggle said. He turned to Oliver. "You were right about this place being compromised."
"Good thing Mr. Diggle pulled you out." Moira noted to Roy, who nodded in agreement.
Oliver turned to Lyla. "Lyla, your boss is going to bomb the city at dawn." He told her.
"Yeah, Waller's never seen a problem she didn't think couldn't be solved with a drone strike." Dig said darkly.
Lyla gave him a look. "Why do you think I'm here?"
Dig looked at her in surprise. "You knew Waller was looking to level the city and you came here anyway?" he asked in wonder.
"You're here." She said simply.
"You need to go back to A.R.G.U.S." Oliver told her. "You need to stop Waller or buy us enough time to stop Slade."
"Not without me." Dig stated. He turned to Lyla. "Till death do us part, right?" he asked with a small smile.
"This time it might." She stated bluntly.
"Aw, it's a LOVE STORY!" Tommy said with a grin.
"Nothing says romance like drone strikes and roided-up convicts roaming the streets." Laurel said with a grin.
"Guys?" Oliver turned to Felicity and Roy. "I need you to scrounge as many weapons as you can find, especially injection arrows. We're going to fill them with the cure—" he looked at Roy with a thankful look. "Which clearly works- and this ends tonight, without killing. There's been enough death already." He said, thinking back to Slade killing his mother.
The scene changed to the Train Station. Thea shot Malcolm twice in the chest, then a third time as he fell to the ground. She stared at the body in shock for a moment, and then dropped the gun. She slowly started walking away, crying, when an impossible voice stopped her in her tracks.
"Thea." Malcolm staggered towards his daughter, stepping in front of her. He pried one of the flattened bullets from his tunic and held it out for her to see. "It's called Kevlar." He said, letting the bullet drop to the ground.
"Actually, it's far superior to Kevlar." Malcolm said. "Nothing is better at stopping bullets than League armor."
Thea scoffed. "Well, it's nice to know I'm not a killer." Yet.
Thea scoffed in defeat. "If you're going to kill me, just… get it over with." She said tiredly.
"Kill you? Why? Because you shot me?" he asked. "I'm glad you did."
"You're sick." Tommy told his father.
Thea stared at him in disbelief. "You're sick." She proclaimed.
"See? Even Thea agrees with me."
"Perhaps." He conceded. "How else to explain the fact that not a year ago, your brother held a gun to my face as well."
"Tommy?"
"He lacked conviction." Malcolm said. "The strength to pull the trigger, but not you, Thea. You are made of iron. You are truly my daughter, and I could not be more proud."
Tommy's jaw dropped.
"No!" Thea ground out, pushing past him and storming off. Malcolm watched her go with a proud smile.
Tommy shook his head. "Unbelievable." He said. "All I ever wanted was your approval, and now I find that all I ever had to do was shoot you."
"You don't need my approval, Tommy." Malcolm said. "You're a much better man that I ever was. Your actions in saving Miss Lance proved that." Tommy looked at him in surprise. "You fought to save the woman you loved. I merely ignored mine." He finished thickly.
The scene changed to the SCPD. Lance was handing out the heavy artillery- shotguns and assault rifles- to every patrol officer he could round up. "Remember your training." He was saying. "You be smart, you take clean shots, and you don't miss the—"
He trailed off as chatter burst through on the radio.
'Fall back to Meltzer Avenue.'
'We need SWAT at Union Plaza.'
'City hall's a crater.'
Gunshots could be heard suddenly. 'They're-they're everywhere!'
'Fall back, fall back, I'm hit!'
Lance nodded at the radio operator, and she switched off the speaker. "Ok, listen, I know you're scared." He started. "You wouldn't be human if you weren't. But tonight, this city, our city," he emphasized, "It's counting on each and every one of you. So you go out there and you be the heroes I know you all to be. Go." He ordered. As the cops filed out of the room, Lance turned to Laure. "Where's your sister?" he asked.
"I don't know." She said.
"Detective." The radio operator said, holding out the mic. "I've got one-P-P-1 on the line. Lieutenant Pike in the field, you're the ranking officer."
"You should go." Laurel told him. "I'll find Sara."
"Listen, I don't want you stepping foot outside this precinct, you hear me?" he said.
She gave him a small smile. "I won't. I promise."
"You listening to me?" Lance said. "Well, there's a first time for everything."
"All right, sweetheart." He kissed her on the cheek, and then moved over to the other officer. "What do we got?" he was saying as she moved out into the hallway. She saw Sara standing there, talking to another woman whose face she couldn't see.
"My sister can't be a part of this." Sara was saying. "I don't want her getting hurt."
"Sara!" she called out, drawing her attention. Sara turned to face her. "What's going on?" she asked.
"Laurel—"she never finished as a tranq dart hit Laurel in the chest. She had just enough time to pull it out and stare at it before she hit the ground. As her eyes began to close, she saw a pair of boots moving slowly towards her, obstructing the sad look on Sara's face…
"Oh, for crying out loud!" Laurel exclaimed.
"Yeah, sorry about that." Sara said with an impish grin.
"You're unbelievable."
"Believe it." Sara laughed. "You know, you and Nyssa actually became good friends."
"I'm sure I did, after she stopped drugging me." Laurel said, her arms crossed.
The scene changed to the Lair, where Roy and Felicity were at a worktable, carefully filling injection arrows with the cure.
"Well, it seems like I missed a lot." Roy remarked, sealing an arrow and reaching for another.
Felicity glanced over at him. "Well, what do you remember?" she asked cautiously.
"Leaving town and heading to Bludhaven." He glanced over at her. "Was I out cold the whole time?" he asked. When she remained silent, he insisted. "Felicity."
She glanced over at him. "You were out. The whole time." She lied.
"Thanks for lying." Roy told Felicity sincerely. "I wasn't ready for the truth, not then anyways."
"Slade has at least 50 or so of those human weapons." Diggle noted. "We'll need a whole army if we plan on hitting 'em with the cure."
"I know." Diggle and Lyla instantly jumped to their feet and drew their guns as Oliver rounded the debris to face the stairs. Standing there was Nyssa, with Sara at her side- and half a dozen masked assassins behind her. "Which is why an army is what I've brought." Nyssa said.
"Gee Sara," Felicity said, walking up to her friend, "you could have called before you invited…5,6,7 assassins down into our top secret lair." She said.
"Why? It's not as if everyone doesn't already know where it is." Laurel said.
"What is she doing here?" Oliver demanded.
Sara moved over to Oliver. "I asked her to come." She said.
Nyssa, meanwhile moved over to Felicity. "I'm Nyssa, daughter of Ra's al Ghul. Heir to the demon." She said in introduction.
"Felicity Smoak. MIT class of '09." She replied confidently.
Malcolm bust out laughing- to everyone's surprise. "You're starting to freak me out." Tommy told his father.
Malcolm wiped away tears of joy. "Only you, Miss Smoak, could get away with that." He said. "You're just too endearing to be taken offensively."
"Thanks?" she replied uncertainly.
Oliver took Sara by the arm and led her away from the group. "This is where you went?" he demanded. "Nanda Parbat? The League of Assassins? These people are mercenaries, Sara. Whatever they promised you, it comes at a price."
Sara broke free and spun to face him, face to face. "You don't have to worry about it, because I've already paid it." She revealed.
"You agreed to go back." He realized.
"Look, I'm not going to let Slade Wilson hurt Laurel or my father." She said. "And I'm willing to do whatever it takes to keep the ones that I love safe, and I hope you're ready to do the same. Especially after what happened." She looked at him sadly. "Ollie, I'm sorry about your mother." She offered.
Oliver took a breath. "I am willing to do whatever it takes, but that doesn't mean cold-blooded killing is the answer, Sara." He said. "We have the cure now."
"To fight the unthinkable, you have to be willing to do the unthinkable." She replied calmly.
"You may not want my help, Mr. Queen, but there's little question you are in desperate need of it." Nyssa stated.
"It's funny, but in the end, they were both right." Sara noted.
"First we need to find Slade's base of operations." Sara said.
"Slade Wilson and Isabel Rochev are using your former office building as their base of operations." Nyssa revealed.
Oliver walked across the lair and grabbed a small box. Then he walked over to Roy, who was still filling injection arrows. "How are you feeling?" he asked.
"Ready to serve up some payback." Roy replied.
"Then remember your training." Oliver handed him the box. "Remember everything that you've learned."
Roy looked at the box curiously. He opened it to reveal a red mask, similar to Oliver's. He looked up at the Emerald Archer in surprise. "Are-are you for real?" he asked.
"Someone-a friend- once told me that if you survive a crucible, you grow the stronger for it." Oliver told him. "This is to remind you of that."
"Helena? Really?" Roy said in surprise. "That's his go-to?"
"Blood said something similar, didn't he?" Laurel pointed out.
"Well, they may have been bat-shit crazy, but they weren't wrong." Mia said.
"What happened to Thea?" Roy asked suddenly. "Is she…Ok?"
"She started her decent into crazy town." Thea muttered.
Oliver gave him a strained smile. "She's fine. She was headed out of the city before this started." He told Roy. Then he turned back to Nyssa. "We do this my way." He stated bluntly.
"The league does not take prisoners." Nyssa argued.
"It does tonight." He said sternly. As he moved to brief the League, Roy pulled out his phone to call Thea, just to make sure she was okay.
"Very bold of him to order around the Heir to the Demon." Malcolm noted.
"Yeah, he learned pretty quickly that she doesn't take orders well from outsiders." Sara replied with a smirk.
The scene changed to the train station. Thea was walking briskly down the platform as Malcolm followed her, trying to reason with his daughter.
"Thea, it's dangerous out there." He tried.
Thea laughed shortly. "Better than here with my psycho-villain dad, who's happy I tried to kill him." She slowed as she heard her phone ring, and when she pulled it out to see who it was, she stopped dead in her tracks. "Roy?" she said softly as she answered.
"Yeah, it's- it's me." He replied. "I just wanted to make sure you were all right."
"I'm fine." She said, nervously glancing back at Malcolm. "I'm at the train station."
"Thea, listen to me. You're not safe there." He said. "Can you please meet me at my place?" he asked.
"Yeah, because that's a whole lot safer." Laurel said.
"Well, I doubt that Slade would send one of his masked goons to Roy's house, so it might actually be safer." Moira noted hopefully.
"I'll be there." She said as Malcolm slowly came around her. "Soon as I can."
"Ok, be safe." Roy said.
"Who was that?" Malcolm asked after Thea hung up. "Roy?" at her surprised look, he gave her a look of his own. "You're my daughter. There's not much I don't know about you. Interesting how you run back to him after resolving to run away to escape all the lies and half-truths. He's no different, Thea." He told her. "No different from your mother or Oliver. If you don't believe me, then you should go to him." He said.
"I will." Thea said firmly. "And if you try to follow me, I'll shoot you again." She warned.
Malcolm smiled proudly as she walked off. "When you need me, I'll be there." He promised.
Moira scowled at Malcolm. "You are unbelievable. You're manipulating your own daughter!"
"To keep her safe, I'd do anything." Malcolm retorted.
"If you kids keep arguing, there won't be any desert." Mia said mockingly, shutting up the two other adults.
The scene changed to Queen Consolidated. One of Slade's men was patrolling the lobby on the executive floor when the elevator dinged. As the door opened, he looked in curiously at two of his comrades laying on the ground, twitching and unconscious.
Suddenly The Canary dropped down from the roof of the elevator. He used half of her staff to take the man down to one knee, and then jammed a cure arrow into his other leg. The man dropped to the ground, twitching. She looked around, and then hit her communicator. "Elevator bank's clear."
In the conference room, Oliver made short work of two more soldiers. "Conference room's clear." He replied. He headed into his office, where Sara joined him from the office lobby. Standing before them was Deathstroke, Isabel, and 7 more soldiers.
"I still say she looks ridiculous." Moira said.
"You must have quite a bit of faith in this cure if you've come alone." He told Oliver.
"Have you seen your men?" Lance asked rhetorically.
"We didn't come alone." Oliver replied.
Suddenly the windows behind Slade's men shattered as the League of Assassins made their presence known. Nyssa and her men instantly started firing cure arrows at Slade's guard, while Oliver fired at Deathstroke. Each arrow bounced off of his armor uselessly, much to his dismay.
Diggle shook his head. "His body armor is too think. Those arrows don't have a hope of penetrating it."
"Rip off his mask and shove another arrow in his eye." Lance growled.
"But then you have to get really close to him, and then he can just punch your head off." Felicity said, rubbing her forehead in remembered pain.
Isabel drew her swords and attacked Sara, who fended her off easily. Slade, seeing his men dropping at an alarming rate, decided discretion was the better part of valor and dove out of the window. Oliver ran over to see Deathstroke using his sword to slide down a waiting cable that led to an opposite roof.
"Coward." Lance spat.
"No, smart." Malcolm argued. "He want's Oliver, alone and on his terms."
Nyssa joined Sara in fighting Isabel, coming up behind the other woman and hitting her with a shot to the kidneys, followed by a kick to the knee. As Isabel fell to her knees, Nyssa held her in place as Sara raised her staff for the killing blow.
"Sara, don't!" Oliver shouted, causing her to stop mid-swing. She took a breath and stepped back, lowering her staff.
Isabel looked at Oliver defiantly. "Kill me. Don't kill me. It doesn't matter. I beat you." She said triumphantly. "I took away the one—" she never got to finish as Nyssa, tired of her blathering, broke her neck.
"And I'm sure she wouldn't mind if you kissed her." Sara told Moira with a smirk. "Of course, I might."
Moira sighed. "I will never live that down, will I?"
"Nope." Mia said happily.
Oliver growled in frustration and drew an arrow on Nyssa, causing the rest of the assassins to draw on him.
"Arabian standoff?" Tommy posited.
Laurel rolled her eyes. "Oh, really?"
"Your reticence to do what is necessary is why your city burns." She told him coldly before calmly walking to the elevators.
Oliver lowered his bow, letting out a frustrated sigh as Sara walked up to him. "This isn't working." He growled, the double meaning of his statement clear. "I can't get close enough to Slade to hit him with the cure."
"So what do we do?" Sara asked.
FIVE YEARS AGO
On the 'Amazo', Slade grunted in disappointment as the latest man he had injected with the Mirakuru failed to revive. He looked up to his lieutenant. "Another disappointment! Bring me another!" he ordered. The man moved off to open another cell as Oliver and Sara, held in place by two more pirates, watched on, helpless.
"Come on, Slade, what are you doing?!" Oliver asked.
"Advancing the cause of science." Slade said, pulling out a new syringe and preparing to inject the latest man his lieutenant brought him.
"Wait, no, no, wait, I know you blame me for Shado's death!" Oliver cried out, trying to save the man. "I blame myself!"
"He should!" Phantom Shado snarled. "It's his fault we aren't together."
"Yeah, he's lost it." Tommy said. "He should have just got Sara and left."
"But if he did that, he wouldn't be Oliver." Mia replied. "He wasn't the selfish boy anymore, Tommy. And Slade was his friend, once."
"You said once that we were brothers." Oliver tried. "And right now, I am begging you, brother to brother, just listen to me!" he begged.
"Don't listen to him! All his words are lies." Phantom Shado said.
"I wouldn't be alive right now if it wasn't for you." Oliver said.
"I would be alive if it wasn't for him." Phantom Shado replied.
"Think about Shado!" Oliver cried. "She-she cared for both of us. She wouldn't want this. She wanted us off Lian Yu. She'd want all of this to end!"
Slade grabbed his head as reality and fantasy blurred together, becoming too much for his damaged psyche.
"He's right! This needs to end." Phantom Shado agreed. "You need to kill him." Slade's eyes cleared and his body relaxed as he reached his decision. He put the syringe down on the deck…
On board the submarine, Anatoly looked helplessly at the clock. "Two hours now." He sighed, and then walked over to the fire control station. "Prosti menya, moy drug." He said, turning the key. "I'm sorry, Oliver." He hit the firing button.
On the ship, Slade was staring at Phantom Shado as he pulled his mask out from his waistband and put it on. The pirate holding on to Oliver forced him to the deck as Slade pulled out his gun.
"Do it." Phantom Shado said eagerly. He turned and aimed at Oliver's head.
Moira tensed. "Oh, Oliver…."
"Slade, no!" Sara cried, struggling against the man who held her futilely.
"Pull the trigger!" Phantom Shado yelled eagerly.
"Slade!" Oliver cried out-
And then the torpedo hit, and the world went to hell.
PRESENT
Lance came out into the hallway and was startled to see Laurel lying unconscious on the floor. "Laurel!" he cried out, running over to her and gently slapping her awake. "Laurel! Sweetheart, sweetheart!"
Laurel groggily returned to wakefulness. "What-what happened?!" she asked, and then suddenly remembered. "Sara!"
"She's gone, sweetie." Lance told her.
"Oh, my God." Laurel said with dread in her voice.
"You ok?" he asked her.
"She's with that woman!" Laurel told him frantically. "The woman that took mom!"
Suddenly gunshots rang out and men started screaming. Lance jumped to his feet. "Stay right here." He ordered as he ran back into the squad room. Inside he saw another Mirakuru soldier finishing off the last of the cops that had stayed behind. "Stop right there!" he ordered, drawing his gun. "Don't take one more step. One more step!" As the man continued to approach him, Lance opened fire. To his horror, the bullets didn't even phase the man.
Sara shook her head. "Should have grabbed Laurel and ran."
The soldier reached out and grabbed Lance by his hand, then swung him around as hard as he could. Once more Lance went flying, crashing through a desk before falling to the ground, unconscious. He turned back to see a startled Laurel and quickly reached out and grabbed her wrist. "Slade Wilson wants to see you." He growled as he dragged her unwillingly out of the station.
Lance winced, rubbing his side unconsciously. Laurel grasped his hand, then sighed. "I guess I was overdue on my annual kidnapping." She quipped, trying to ease the tension.
"Relax." Mia said. "Your dad gets beat up pretty bad, but he survives."
The scene changed to A.R.G.U.S. In the command center, a Drone pilot looked back over her shoulder at Amanda Waller. "Drone's locked on target." She reported. "Starling City."
When Lance woke up and found Laurel was gone, he did the first thing he could think of- he called The Arrow. That's why a short time later he found himself in Queen Consolidated being led to Oliver's old office by Felicity Smoak.
"Why does this Wilson guy have such a mad-on for the Queens?' he asked her as they exited the elevator.
"I don't know. Good thing Thea and Oliver got out of town in time." She lied.
"Wrong on BOTH counts." Felicity said.
"So they have to go after my family?" he asked crossly. As they entered the office. Lance stopped in his tracks when he saw Nyssa standing next to Sara. He drew his gun angrily. "What's she doing here?" he demanded.
"She's here to help." Sara said soothingly, stepping in front of him and pushing his gun down gently. "Just trust me, please." She begged.
Lance let out a long breath, but holstered his gun. "I guess today I'll have to work with anybody who can help get my daughter back."
"What?" Sara asked in alarm.
"One of these masked guys, they took Laurel. I-I couldn't stop them. Believe me, I—" he grunted in pain, rubbing his side that had hit the desk. "I tried."
"Oh, we have a new, big problem." Felicity said suddenly, staring at her tablet. "Which, considering our other ones, is really saying something. I hacked a satellite and tasked it for thermographic imaging- all of Slade's men are gathering at the Giordano Tunnel.' She reported.
"I thought these guys were trying to destroy the city, not escape it."
"A.R.G.U.S. is going to level the city to stop them from getting out." Oliver told the cop. "That's what Slade's planning on. He knows Waller's tactics."
"Don't suppose Waller would call off the strike…" Felicity started, then sighed when Mia shook her head. "Of course not. Why make it easy?"
"Fortunately, with Slade's men attempting to leave via the tunnel, all our targets will be grouped in a single place." Nyssa pointed out.
"We need to take it. Gather your men." He told her.
"What about Laurel?" Lance asked as Nyssa moved to call her men.
"Wilson took her for a reason. I know what it is." Oliver said. "But the city comes first."
"This is my daughter." He said helplessly, then turned to Sara. "This is your sister! You can't just leave her like this!" he cried out. "Look, I know you said you were trying another way, and I respect that." Lance told Oliver. "But Slade Wilson? His men? They're monsters. And monsters, they need to be destroyed. You've killed before." Lance reminded him. "Tonight, I suggest you get back in the habit." He suggested before storming back out of the office.
"Wow." Laurel said. "So much for 'You don't have to go outside the law to get justice'."
Lance shrugged. "There's nothing that me just said that I don't agree with. That bastard needs to be put down."
"He's wrong." Felicity told him a moment later.
"He's right." Oliver countered. "I've lost everything because I'm fighting Slade Wilson with one hand tied behind my back. The man murdered my mother. I have to kill him." He said.
"You told me you had a choice." She reminded him. "That years ago, you could have cured Slade but you chose to kill him instead. This isn't happening because you're not willing to be a killer; it's happening because you were one." Felicity pointed out.
"Technically, it's happening because he failed to kill Slade." Tommy said.
"You're right. That's how this started." He said. "It's how it has to end. The only move that he has left for me is to kill him. I can't cure him, I can't capture him, I can't even out-think him!" he raged.
"Then don't." Felicity said. "Don't… just make him out-think you." She suggested.
"Oh, I have a bad feeling about this…" Felicity moaned.
The scene changed to Roy's house. He was watching the news while waiting for Thea to arrive. 'Residents are being urged to stay in their homes amidst unconfirmed rumors that mayor Blood is among the casualties as masked men terrorize the city—" he turned the TV off when he heard the door open. Turning around, he saw Thea standing there uncertainly.
"I'm sorry." He began. "I'm sorry for everything. I—" he moved forward, but Thea stepped back worriedly. Roy took a breath to compose himself. "No, it's ok." He assured her. "I know-I know that I haven't exactly been myself for the past few months. I was injected with—"
"With some drug." She finished. "I know. Sin told me. But are you ok now?" she asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I woke up here." He lied. "I lost a lot of time, but…"
"And what about the Arrow? He said he was going to take care of you?" she asked.
"I don't know anything about the Arrow." Roy lied again. "I'm done with all of that, but I…" he stepped forward and put his hands on her arms gently. "You're the only person that I've ever cared about." He told her truthfully. Thea lunged forward and hugged him. They pulled apart after a moment. "Are you okay?" he asked. "Did something happen to you?"
"It doesn't matter." She said after a moment. "Look, let's just- let's just get out of here. Let's start over. We can be whoever we want to without anyone getting in our way. I'm never losing you again." He promised her.
Then his phone vibrated. He pulled it out to see a text message from Felicity. –We need you.—
"Yeah, there's just- there's just one thing I need to take care of before we go, ok?" he told her, guiding her to sit down on the sofa. "So just stay here and get some stuff packed and I'll be right back."
"No, Roy, it's dangerous." She argued worriedly.
"I know." Roy said. "But I have to do this. I wouldn't feel right if I left without trying. Do you trust me?" he asked.
Thea sighed and nodded. "Yes." She said after a moment.
"Then when I get back, we're getting out of here forever. I love you." He told her, leaning in and kissing her gently. Quickly he rose and headed out the door, back into the chaos as Thea waited, alone.
Roy sighed. "I should have told you. To hell with secrets, I should have told you." He said to his wife.
Mia smiled sadly. "It would have helped." She admitted.
The scene changed to the former Queen Manor. "Oliver." Felicity started as he led her into the darkened house. "What are we doing here? The whole city's falling apart." She pointed out.
"I know." He said, and then let out a long breath. "You need to stay here." He told her.
"What?!" she exclaimed. "Why? You can't just ask me to—"
"I'm not asking." Oliver said firmly. "I will come and get you when this is all over." He turned to leave.
Malcolm frowned. "What is he doing?"
"Hiding me away?" Felicity asked hopefully.
"I don't think so." Diggle said.
"No!" she argued.
"Felicity—"
"No!" she said again. "Not unless you tell me why."
He turned back to her and sighed. "Because I need you to be safe." He said.
"Well, I don't want to be safe. I want to be with you." She replied. "And the others, unsafe!"
"I can't let that happen." Oliver said, shaking his head.
"Oliver. You're not making any sense." Felicity replied.
"Slade took Laurel because he wants to kill the woman I love." Oliver pointed out.
"I know, so?"
"So he took the wrong woman."
"Oh Ollie, now you tell her?!" Laurel complained.
"You son of a bitch." Tommy seethed. At everyone's surprised looks, he explained. "Slade bugged the place. How much you want to bet Ollie found camera when they were packing things up?" he shook his head in disgust. "He's using you as bait." He told Felicity.
The hacker sighed and nodded. "Yeah, that sounds about right."
"I'm surprised that Oliver would do something so… callous." Moira noted with disappointment.
"In Oliver's defense, it was Felicity's plan." Sara said.
Felicity rolled her eyes. "Yeah, that sounds about right." She repeated.
"Oh." She said in surprise.
"I love you." Oliver said softly. He leaned in and gently kissed her. After a moment, he pulled away and smiled down at her. "Do you understand?" he asked.
"Yes." She replied softly. Oliver smiled softly at her, and then turned and headed back out into the night, leaving Felicity alone in the darkened house.
"Your plan or not, it's still a dick move." Laurel said crossly.
The scene changed to A.R.G.U.S. as Diggle and Lyla made their way stealthy towards the building's side entrance. "Johnny." Lyla said suddenly as they reached the door.
"Yeah?"
She paused, and then shook her head. "Never mind." She said.
"Hey, Lyla." Dig said, putting a hand on her arm. "I love you. You know that, right?" he asked.
She smiled softly at him. "I do, actually. But it's good to hear it." She swiped her card in the door, unlocking it, and the two made their way into the building.
In the control room, Waller was watching as the drone approached Starling City. "Time to impact?" she asked.
"Drone is 52 minutes out from target." The pilot replied.
"Get me Sergeant Gomez at the Giordano Tunnel." Waller ordered.
The tech tried to raise them, but was unsuccessful. She shook her head. "Uh… Easy Company's not responding, ma'am."
Waller came around her table to the tech's station. "I need a visual." She said urgently.
"They're in a tunnel, ma'am, I can't get a picture." The tech replied.
"What the hell is going on in that tunnel?" she growled.
"All of your men are probably dead, you crazy woman." Lance growled.
The scene changed to the tunnel, where Slade's men were standing over the body of the A.R.G.U.S. soldiers as the tech voice carried on their radios. 'Sergeant Gomez, come in! Sergeant Gomez!' Hearing approaching footsteps, they turned to see who was next.
Back down the tunnel, The Arrow led a small army consisting of The Canary, Roy, Nyssa, and 7 highly skilled assassins. "No kill shots." He ordered. "Let the cure do its work." The soldiers began running at them. "Ready?" they got closer. "Ready?!" Closer still. "Ready, FIRE!" he called out just before the soldiers reached them. As one, every archer opened fire, taking out the first wave in moments. The vigilantes rushed in, firing arrows or just stabbing the soldiers with the arrows, taking them out. Nyssa stood off to the side, rapidly firing her cure arrows and gaining an impressive tally. Even Roy was firing arrows, and now that his mind wasn't clouded by the Mirakuru, he found he was a pretty decent shot.
"Who knew you could hit the broad side of a barn?" Sara teased Roy.
"Can I just say you look freaking ridiculous?" Thea noted. "Ollie couldn't loan you a spare jacket or something? You had to go in wearing the hoodie with a mask?"
Roy chuckled. "I got a uniform soon afterwards- not that it made much difference. One time Oliver sent me to talk to Captain Lance, and he id'd me in about two seconds."
"Captain?" Lance said, sounding pleased.
The scene changed to A.R.G.U.S. Lyla and Diggle walked into the cell block that contained Task Force X and encountered the lone night guard. "Agent Michaels, this area's restricted to all unauthorized—" he never got to finish as Diggle rushed him and grabbed him in a sleeper, putting him out in seconds. He yanked the keys off of his belt and ran to a familiar door, unlocking it before whistling at Lyla and throwing her the keys.
"What the hell is this?" Floyd Lawton asked as he exited his now-open cell. "Early parole?"
"Waller's looking to bomb Starling City." Diggle told him as Lyla started letting other prisoners out. "We need your help to stop her."
"As much as I'd love to show the Wall what we think of her, there's just that little matter of tick, tick, boom! Ok? We've got all that miniature bomb in our spines." Lawton reminded him.
"You have to trust me." Diggle said, handing him his wrist gun. "And Lawton, no dropping bodies." He warned.
"Yeah, sure, take the fun out of it." Lawton replied sourly.
Diggle shook his head. "Can't believe I'm willingly working with him."
"Strange bedfellows." Moira commented. "It's amazing who you'll turn to when everything you love is threatened."
"Yes, like the Yakuza." Malcolm said with a smirk.
Moira sighed in annoyance. "You're actually happy I did that, aren't you?"
"Why not? He's happy I shot him." Thea remarked.
He headed to a door at the far end of the corridor, but Lawton stopped him.
"Ah! Uh-uh." He said, shaking his head. "No. Not her. Trust me."
He glanced through the window to see a pale blonde woman staring at him expectantly. "Come on, chocolate puddin'. Let me out." She pleaded. "I wanna play. I wanna play!"
The heroes groaned. "Yes, please keep that psycho locked up." Mia said.
"Who—" Laurel started to ask, but Sara shook her head.
"You don't want to know." Sara said. "Trust me."
"Let's move!" Diggle ordered.
"Hey, let me out!" the woman called out as the new Suicide Squad moved to take on The Wall.
The scene changed to the tunnel where the battle was in full swing. While some of the soldiers went down when hit with the cure, others continued to fight under their own, limited strength. Roy was using everything he had been taught, fighting back better and harder than he had ever fought and taking down soldier after soldier with well-placed arrows. It was here, too, that Sara was excelling, wielding her staff as she had been trained to do in Nanda Parbat and taking the weakened soldiers down one by one. But one super-powered solider slipped through their defensive line and attacked Sara, grabbing her by the hair and yanking her head back. Nyssa intervened, shooting the soldier with a sure arrow that sent him twitching to the ground. Sara looked up to thank her girlfriend, then cried out in alarm as another solder came at her from behind.
"Nyssa!" she yelled, warning her. Nyssa ducked and managed to block the first attack, but before a second could come a cure arrow was shoved into the man's neck. As he collapsed, Nyssa looked at surprise at Quentin Lance. He gave her a quick nod of acknowledgement before heading back into the fray.
Sara smiled. "It's so nice you two learned to get along." She joked. "It made family brunches much more enjoyable."
"Yeah, I'm sure they were great." Laurel added sarcastically. "Mom and Dad with the awkward silences, Nyssa constantly drugging my tea..." Sara snorted in amusement.
FIVE YEARS AGO
As the 'Amazo' exploded around them, Oliver managed to shove one of the pirates away into the rising water. He then dove at his quiver and grabbed an arrow, then turned and stabbed the guard holding Sara in the gut. He grabbed Sara and pushed her behind a crate as the pirate briefly opened fire on the pair. Seeing the ship as lost, the pirate scrambled to his feet and waded out of the door, trying to get to safety.
"Get off the ship!" Oliver yelled at her.
"BOTH of you get off the damn ship!" Laurel said worriedly.
"Not without you!" she replied.
Oliver spied something floating on the surface of the water- the Mirakuru. Slade spotted it as well, and they both dived for it. Oliver reached it first and grabbed it, standing to face the man he once called his brother.
"Give it to me! Give me the Mirakuru!" Slade yelled, crazed. Oliver shook his head and threw it into the corner of the room, where a small fire was blazing.
"No!" Slade cried, enraged as the Mirakuru burned. Slade dove at Oliver, who still clutched an arrow in his hand. Oliver blocked the first two hits, but a swift kick to the gut sent him flying back into the cell doors.
"Ollie!" Sara cried, running towards him. Slade grabbed her, then threw her across the room.
"Sara!" Oliver cried as Sara, her hand outstretched to Oliver, was swept through the doorway by the rushing water, just as she had two years ago.
Lance shuddered at seeing his youngest daughter swept out to see for the second time.
"Hey," Sara reached over and grasped his hand, "I survived. We both did."
"Doesn't make it any easier." He replied.
PRESENT
The scene changed to Roy's house. Thea was busy pulling clothes out of drawer and throwing them into a bag, waiting for him to return. She was stuffing more clothes into the bag when her foot accidentally kicked something under the bed. Curious, she leaned over and pulled out a package wrapped in green cloth. Laying it on the bed, she opened the cloth and stared down at the contents in surprised fury- a quiver full of green-feathered arrows and a red bow. "I don't know anything about the Arrow." He had said, lying to her face.
"Busted." Tommy remarked.
Roy sighed. "Yeah." He said unhappily.
Thea looked at her older self. "Secrets and lies, eh?"
"Yeah." Mia replied.
The scene changed to A.R.G.U.S. Waller stared at the video screen impassively as the drone approached the city. "Prep the drone to fire." She ordered.
The tech looked back at her in surprise. "Weapons hot was set for oh-six hundred." She reminded her boss.
"What, would she cry like a spoiled child if she couldn't fire her missile?" Moira said bitterly.
"I believe Amanda Waller gives sociopaths a bad name." Malcolm said glibly.
"Prep the drone to fire!" Waller snarled angrily. Suddenly gunshots could be heard down the hall. Waller ducked down behind the table, opening a hidden compartment and withdrawing two guns as a pair of agents rushed out into the hall and were immediately incapacitated.
Moments later Deadshot, Diggle and Lyla burst into the room, their weapons trained on the people inside just as Waller popped back up, her guns aimed right back at them. "Down, now!" Lawton ordered. "Everybody get down, down, down!"
"Waller, call that drone off!" Diggle ordered.
Waller ignored him and focused on her second in command. "This is treason, Agent Michaels." She noted. "Treason that risks hundreds of thousands of lives. Have you thought about that? Have you thought about how you're going to explain that to your son?" she asked, stunning both Lyla and Diggle for different reasons. "Or is it your daughter? Did doctors specify, or did you want to keep it a surprise?" she looked over at Dig. "Congratulations, Mr. Diggle, you're going to be a father."
Diggle blinked in surprise. "Huh." He said. Then a moment later, he scowled. "That bitch! Trying to use that against us!"
"Mazel Tav." Felicity told Diggle.
"Yeah." Laurel agreed. "Now please shoot her."
"Also, I think leveling an American city and killing half a million American citizens to take out 50 people who intelligence suggests may have already left said city is actually treason." Lance added.
The scene changed to the tunnel. The Arrow jumped on top of a cab to survey the scene around him, and noted in satisfaction that Slade's army had been defeated. As the Assassins finished cleaning up, a call came through on his comms. "Go!" he said, activating it.
"You've been busy, kid." Slade said on the other end.
"It's over, Slade! Your army is broken." Oliver told the crazed man.
"And I pity them. But once again, you miss the point. I have the one you love." He revealed. "You're going to meet me where I say. Otherwise, I'm going to kill her."
"No, you do what you have to." Oliver shot back. "I'm done playing your games!"
"You're done when I say you're done!" Slade roared. "I was surprised. I thought you had a thing for stronger women, but now that I've met her I can see the appeal. She is quite lovely," he drew his sword and moved towards where his last soldier was bringing her in. "Your Felicity." He said, standing before the terrified woman as Oliver listened on, helpless.
"I really hate this plan." Felicity moaned.
"Still your plan." Sara reminded her.
A short time later, as the drone flew ever closer to Starling City, Oliver entered the old oil processing plant. He moved cautiously through the industrial space, looking around corners and through gaps on the pipes for his prey.
"Twitch, and I will open your throat." Slade's voice called out, echoing through the space and causing Oliver to draw an arrow. "My first words to you. Do you remember? I do. I remember the exact moment. My blade against your neck. Just like my blade is against the neck of your beloved." He growled as Oliver drew closer. "If only I'd killed you then, everything would be different." He drew back the arrow as he rounded a bend, and found Slade standing there with his sword at Felicity's neck. "Drop the bow, kid. Do it." He ordered. Oliver paused, staring at Felicity. Then, slowly, he lowered his bow to the ground. As Felicity cried silently, the last soldier dragged Laurel, kicking and struggling, into the room and stood next to Slade.
"Yes." Slade cooed. "Countless nights dreaming of taking from you all that you took from me."
"By killing the woman I love?" Oliver asked.
"Yes."
"Like you love Shado."
"Yes." Slade replied quietly.
"You see her." Oliver realized. "Don't you?"
"Yeah, he's on the long train to crazy town." Tommy said.
"Well, what does she look like in your madness, Slade?" he asked harshly. Slade moved the sword away from Felicity's neck and pushed her to her knees as he stared off to a point behind Oliver, staring at the woman he loved. "What does she say to you? I remember her being beautiful." Oliver continued. "Young. Kind. She would be horrified by what you've done in her name." he spat.
"That's not the Shado he's seeing anymore." Roy said sadly. "Just like the Thea I saw was cruel and murderous."
"What I have done?" he stared at Oliver now. "What I have done is what you lack the courage to do!" he yelled. "To fight for her!" he placed the blade at the base of Felicity's neck. "So… when her body lies at your feet, her blood wet against your skin, then you will know how I feel!"
Oliver looked down at Felicity, then back up at Slade. "I already know how you feel." He told him. "I know what it's like to hate. To want revenge." He stared at Slade confidently. "And now I know how it feels to see my enemy so distracted, he doesn't see the real danger is right in front of him."
Enraged, Slade pulled Felicity back to her feet to deliver the killing blow. As he did, she reached into her coat pocket and withdrew the injector head from one of his arrows- an injector filled with the cure. She glanced behind herself, and then quickly stabbed the needle over her shoulder and into his neck, running away from him as he cried out in surprised pain. Slade feel to one knee as the cure took effect…
"ALRIGHT FELICITY!" Tommy crowed.
"Get that son of a bitch!" Lance added.
"Well done, Miss Smoak." Moira complimented.
The memory set flashed through several previous memories- Slade planting cameras at the Queen Mansion during his tour, then watching the feeds later. Oliver, standing in the deserted house, looking around the lounge one last time when he spotted one of the micro cameras on the fireplace mantel. Oliver and Felicity, standing in the darkened foyer. As Oliver pulled away from the kiss, he surreptitiously slipped the injector head into Felicity's hand. 'Do you understand?' he had asked.
'Yes.' She had replied as Slade had watched from the refinery.
Back in the present, Slade was still on his knees when he looked back to the soldier holding Laurel. "Kill her!" he ordered. Before he could, he was hit in the back with a cure dart, courtesy of The Canary and a tranq gun. Laurel finished the job by wheeling on the weakened man and pummeling him.
"That a girl!" Quentin cheered
"Get them out of here!" Oliver ordered, and Sara led the other two women out as he grabbed his bow.
"That's half the battle." Malcolm said, leaning forward. "Now he just needs to fight smart, not angry."
FIVE YEARS AGO
"Poor Sara." Slade said as Oliver got back to his feet. "How many times you going to watch her die?" Enraged, Oliver and Slade charged one another—
PRESENT
Oliver attacked Slade, now finally on even footing. He used his bow to block Slade's sword, forcing him backward and kicking him through a glass door onto the roof's catwalk. Slade scrambled back to his feet as Oliver stepped out and attacked, swinging his sword. Oliver ducked and blocked, but now he was forced back. A kick to the gut sent him to one knee, and he lifted his bow to block the descending sword, pushing it away…
FIVE YEARS AGO
On the 'Amazo', Oliver attacked, throwing wild, powerful punches. But the Mirakuru made Slade invulnerable to such an attack. He hit back, sending Oliver to the water logged deck.
"You can't kill me." Slade growled. Oliver threw a punch at Slade's head, which he gleefully took. Slade returned the favor by kicking Oliver in the leg, and as he fell grabbed him by the throat with one hand. He lifted him a foot into the air, and Oliver scrambled, his fingers tugging at Slade's mask and pulling it off…
PRESENT
"The Mirakuru isn't what made me hate you!" Slade yelled, blocking a punch and grasping Oliver by the throat with one hand.
"No, you were a jealous ass." Thea growled. "And weren't man enough to make a play for the woman you claimed to love."
"Harsh, but seemingly accurate." Tommy said.
He started choking Oliver, looking up as he saw the drone fly by overhead. "The end is near." He told a groaning Oliver. "But maybe I'll be merciful enough to let you live and see your city burn!" he roared.
FIVE YEARS AGO
Oliver struggled mightily against the iron-clad grip of Slade. He punched him in the face, but it didn't make him let go. Next he started pounding on Slade's arm, desperate for air. Slade roared and slugged him hard in the jaw, sending him crashing face first into the water. As Oliver pulled himself up, he found himself staring right at the floating mask of Deathstroke.
"I really hate that mask." Moira said.
PRESENT
Oliver broke free of Slade's grip and continued the assault, blocking his sword but taking a reverse crescent kick in the kidneys. He spun around, blocking another sword strike, and kicked him hard in the gut, sending him tumbling back…
FIVE YEARS AGO
Slade stalked over to Oliver and kicked him hard in the ribs, sending him flying across the room…
PRESENT
Oliver and Slade both lay on the roof, exhausted and hurting, "We both know there's only one way that this can end." Slade said with a groan. "To beat me, kid, you're going to have to kill me." He said. Both men staggered back to their feet. "But in the moment of my death, you'll prove one thing- that you are a murderer." He said with glee. Both men charged on another once more…
"I think the train sped past Crazy Town and into Lunacyville." Thea said dryly.
"You're not wrong." Roy said.
FIVE YEARS AGO
…when a secondary explosion rocked the cell block. Oliver was thrown off of his feet as tons of debris fell from the ceiling-
Right onto Slade, pinning him to the deck.
Oliver looked up and, to his amazement, saw the cure syringe floating right in front of him, along with his quiver. He grabbed both the cure and an arrow, then rose and turned to face his defeated foe.
"What are you going to do, kid?" Slade demanded. "Stick me with the cure? It doesn't matter. I'll keep my promise!" he shouted. "I'll take away everything and everyone you love! Sara was only the first!" Oliver listened, the rage building. "She was only the first! Your sister, Laurel, your mother!" He heard enough. Oliver threw down the cure and lunged forward, driving the arrow deep into Slade's left eye. He staggered back as Slade's head fell back, seemingly dead. He observed his fallen friend sadly, and then suddenly there was another explosion. He was blown back into the water and knocked out as the 'Amazo' finally broke her spine, partially sinking into the shallow bay.
"Oh, Oliver…" Moira said sadly.
"Did Slade expect to survive?" Laurel wondered. "Why taunt him like that?"
"Because Slade wanted to destroy Oliver." Malcolm said. "And if he couldn't kill him, he'd settle for trying to destroy his soul."
PRESENT
Oliver kicked Slade off the roof, and then followed him down to the ground. Slade staggered to his feet, his sword at the ready as Oliver moved in. Exhausted, he took a wild swing with his bow, that Slade dodged. Slade, exhausted as well, hit Oliver with a wild haymaker, then another, staggering Oliver backwards. He then lunged at Oliver, his sword aimed at his heart, but Oliver blocked the sword, swinging away, and then drawing and firing a pair of bolo arrows, tying Slade to the cement column.
Oliver staggered, wounded and exhausted. "You can kill me, or not." Slade said tiredly. "Either way, I win."
The scene changed to A.R.G.U.S. Confident despite the guns trained on her, Waller moved to order the missile strike when Oliver's voice came over the comms.
"Amanda, it's over." Oliver said to her surprise. "Slade's down, his army's been taken out. Call back the drones." He ordered. "Amanda, it's over!" he roared when she didn't respond.
In A.R.G.U.S. , Waller slowly disarmed herself, then hit the button to abort the strike. Over Starling City, the drone suddenly banked as it moved to return to base.
Moira harrumphed. "First reasonable thing she's done yet."
"First reasonable thing she's done ever, you mean." Laurel said wryly.
At the refinery, Slade sighed in defeat. "So what now, kid?" he asked.
"Now he gets justice." Mia said.
"Oliver didn't kill him?" Moira asked. When Mia shook her head, she smiled. "Good."
The scene changed to the harbor later that night, as the League of Assassins prepared to leave the city. As they loaded their gear onto the small vessel 'Nordic Pearl', Sara smiled and walked towards her father and Laurel, who had come to say goodbye.
"It's time." She told them.
"Why-why are they making you do this?" Lance asked unhappily. He looked over at Nyssa and yelled out, "Why are you making her do this, huh? Why?" She looked back at him, bemused.
"Dad, she's not making me do anything." Sara told him. "I chose this."
Lance sighed. "What am I going to tell your mother?" he asked.
Sara smiled, content. "Tell her that for the first time in my life, I'm deciding my own fate." She said. "She'll understand that."
"You sure about that?" Quentin asked.
Sara nodded. "I was a different person, Dad. I tried to deny it for a time, but my life…" she sighed. "and my heart, belonged to the League."
"They belonged to Nyssa." Mia corrected. "The League was incidental."
"Yeah." He said quietly, hugging her. "I love you, sweetheart." He whispered.
"I love you, too, Dad." She said as they parted.
"I know the power of a father's love," Nyssa said, coming to stand beside Sara. "And I would die before I let anything happen to your daughter." She promised.
"And she meant it." Sara assured her father.
"I'm getting that." Quentin replied.
Lance gave her a strained smile. "Well, here's hoping." He said, moving off to let Laurel say goodbye as the two assassins chuckled.
"So, where you're going, will you be able to email or call?" Laurel asked.
"I'll see you again." Sara promised.
"I know." Laurel said. "If there's anything that I've learned this year, it's that you always find your way home. And we'll always be here waiting." She hugged her tightly. "I love you."
"I love you." Sara replied. "Oliver needs you." She told Laurel. As she pulled away, she took off her leather jacket. "And, hey… I think that this would look good on you." She said, holding out the jacket for Laurel to put on. She gleefully slipped into the jacket and smiled at her father, who gave her a look that screamed 'Are you serious?'. She turned back to Sara with a smile. "It fits." She said.
"And thus began our long national nightmare." Mia joked.
"Be nice." Sara warned with a grin.
Lance came back over and grabbed his youngest daughter in a hug.
"Bye, Dad." Sara said.
"Bye, sweetheart." He replied. She pulled away and, giving one last smile to her family, turned and joined Nyssa as she entered the ship. She paused one last time to smile at them before entering the vessel.
"About that jacket…" Lance said, kissing Laurel on the top of her head. "Don't get any ideas."
Laurel laughed as the two started walking back down the dock towards his car. "I could really use a meeting." She said after a moment.
"Yeah, probably a good idea for the both of us." Lance said. He rubbed his side in discomfort. "Listen, I got to pick up a little Pepto on the way, though, 'cause I'm feeling kind of weird."
Laurel chuckled. "Dad, she'll be ok."
"Yeah, I know she'll be ok, but ok what is what bothers me." He said. Suddenly he staggered, gripping his side.
"Dad?" Laurel asked in alarm. Suddenly he coughed up blood before falling to the ground, clutching his chest. "Dad! Oh, my God. Dad!" she said, repeating it over and over in panic.
Laurel leaned forward, watching with concern.
"I can't get my breath! I can't—" he gasped out. She ripped open his shirt, and that's she saw the ugly red mark from where he had done through the desk.
"Good God, Quentin!" Moira said in alarm.
"Probably a bruised liver and a punctured lung." Malcolm noted clinically. "I'd guess that hit you took broke a rib, and it floated until it finally hit your lung."
"Christ, that sucks." Lance muttered, rubbing his mouth.
"Malcolm's right." Sara said. "You were laid up in the hospital for about two months; while you were there they also diagnosed you with a heart condition- probably brought on due to years of abusing alcohol." She said pointedly. "It was regulated with medicine, but you rode a desk for the rest of your career."
Lance sighed. He had some decisions to make when he got back.
"Dad, stay with me! Daddy, daddy, stay with me!" she cried out, fumbling for her phone. Quickly she dialed 911. "Hello?! I need an ambulance. My father's with SCPD." She paused as the operator spoke. "Yes, now!" she shouted, then looked down at her dad "Daddy, stay with me!"
The scene changed to Roy's house. He burst in, eager to grab his girl and get the hell out of the city. "Thea." He called out. When there was no answer, he moved further into the house. "Thea!" he called out, then stopped cold. On his bed, among a pile of clothes and bags, was his spare bow and arrows. On top of that lay a note that he picked up hesitantly.
Roy sighed heavily, and Mia reached over and took his hand.
'Roy… I'm sorry.' Thea wrote. 'I made a mistake. I thought I could still be with you. I thought I could still be Thea Queen. But Thea Queen was trusting. And I don't trust you. Or anyone. Not anymore.' Across town under the Berlanti Bridge, Thea walked up to a waiting limo. The driver got out and opened the door for her. 'Thea Queen was also weak. And no matter what it takes, I will be strong.' Thea climbed into the limo, and the driver closed the door. She was silent as she gathered her thoughts, finally looking up into the smirking face of Malcolm Merlyn. Back at his house, Roy finished reading the letter as silent tears streamed down his face. 'Don't try to find me. You won't. Even I don't know where I'm going. I only know one thing- I am never coming back.' Devastated, Roy reached into the pocket of his hoody and withdrew his mask. He stared at it, the only thing he truly had left.
"I'm sorry I failed you, Mia." Malcolm said. "I'm sorry I couldn't' be the father you needed then."
Mia smiled wanly at her father. "We failed each other, I think." She admitted.
It was several days later when Slade Wilson finally awoke with a gasp. The first thing he realized was that he was in drab prisoner clothing; the second was that he was in a cell. "Where am I?" he gasped out. Slowly he pulled himself to a sitting position, and saw that, seated on the other side of the bars, was Oliver Queen.
"As far away from the world as I could get you." Oliver replied. "Where you can't hurt anyone ever again."
"That's your weakness, kid." Slade said, stiffly rising to his feet. "You don't have the guts to kill me."
"No. I have the strength to let you live." Oliver argued.
"Oh, you're a killer." Slade said. "I know, I created you. You've killed plenty." He said, pacing his new home.
"He's just jealous that Oliver's a better man then he could ever be." Thea said harshly.
"There is some truth to that." Sara admitted.
"Yes, I have." Oliver agreed. "You helped turn me into a killer when I needed to be one. And I'm alive today because of you. I made it home because of you. And I got to see my family again." He was silent for a moment. "But over the past year, I've needed to be more… and I faltered." He admitted. "But then I stopped you. Without killing." He rose and moved to the cell. "You helped me become a hero, Slade. Thank you." He said sincerely.
"You think I won't get out of here?" Slade growled, shaking the bars as Oliver walked to the door. He opened it to reveal the seal of A.R.G.U.S. "You think I won't kill those you care for?" he demanded.
"No, I don't." Oliver said, glancing at Slade one more time. "Because you're in purgatory." He walked out and closed the door.
"I keep my promises, kid." Slade yelled. "I keep my promises! I keep my promises." Oliver let him yell as he climbed the ladder outside the door, opening the hatch and stepping out onto the top of the concrete bunker that had been built on Lian Yu. He let the hatch close with a resounding thud, and then climbed down to join Felicity and Diggle on the beach.
"Well, that's somewhat poetic." Malcolm said with approval. "Back on the island where he belongs."
"Yeah. Oliver had his own personal prison now for guys like Slade." Mia said, ignoring the slight feeling of dread at Slade's familiar refrain. "He put a lot of people there over the years."
"Last time I didn't notice; it's actually kind of beautiful here." Felicity noted as the three walked down the beach towards where the seaplane was moored. "Don't get me wrong, I'm counting down the seconds until we shove off minefield island."
"So you think that'll be enough to hold him, A.R.G.U.S.' Super Max?" Diggle asked.
"Him, and anyone else we send here." Oliver replied. "This battle may be over, but there will be others. Starting with getting my family's company back."
"That's not going to be easy, since you're poor now." Felicity noted. "You're going to have to get a job. If Slade doesn't scare you, that's got to." She added with a chuckle.
"Welcome to McDonalds, can I take your order?" Tommy joked, causing the group to crack up.
"Do you know anyone hiring ex-billionaires with superior archery skills?" he joked. The three stopped to look out over the water.
Noticing the tension, Diggle spoke first. "Hey, why don't I, uh, give you two a second?" he offered, heading for the plane.
"Well, you did it." Felicity said after a moment.
"I had help." Oliver pointed out.
"Yeah. That's really smart. How you out-foxed him." She said awkwardly. She chuckled. "Talk about unthinkable. You and me, I mean." Felicity smiled nervously. "When you told me you loved me, you had me fooled. For a second, I…" she gulped. "Maybe you might have meant it. What you said. You really sold it."
Oliver smiled softly at her. "We both did." He said. They stared at each other, content for the moment
"I'm guessing that part wasn't part of my plan?" Felicity said.
"Not really, no." Sara replied. "You thought it would be enough for Slade to see Oliver stashing you in a safe place. He added the 'I love you' in on the fly."
"It helped that he meant it, though." Mia added. "But my brother was pretty dense. It took him a while to figure that out."
"Let's go home." She said finally.
They walked down the beach towards Diggle. "Dig, what was the news about you and Lyla?" Oliver asked.
"It can wait." Dig said, rising form the log he was sitting on.
"I'm flying." Oliver called.
"Be my guest." Dig said with a smile.
"I got one more question!" Felicity called out.
Oliver turned to her with a patient smile. "Wouldn't be you if you didn't."
"If you spent five years on this island, when did you learn how to fly a plane?" she asked.
FIVE YEARS AGO
Olive awoke slowly, disoriented from his ordeal. The first thing he noticed was that he was lying on an actual bed. The second thing he noticed as his vision began to clear was that he was in some sort of hotel room. He started and rolled of the side of the bed, landing unsteadily on his feet. He regained his balance just as two Asian men walked into the room. Reflexively he grabbed the first thing he could find to throw a them- an ashtray- but then one tossed him a shirt.
"Gun ngo lei." He said in Mandarin. Then, to make sure he got the point, he unbuttoned his jacket and pulled it aside to reveal the Beretta in the shoulder holster. Oliver sighed and donned the shirt. He was led out of the room and to the street, where a young African American woman was waiting.
"My name is Amanda Waller, Mr. Queen. We have a lot to discuss." She said as the two men led him to the waiting car. He climbed in and looked out the window at the city before him- 2 years later, he had finally arrived at his original destination. "Welcome to Hong Kong." Waller said.
"And there's where Oliver's real training began." Mia said darkly. "And like I told you before, he wasn't allowed to try and contact you. It was after he left a message on your answering machine that Waller put him up with his handler, and threatened HIS family if he tried again."
Moira looked shocked. "I don't remember any message…"
"That's because Waller had it intercepted and deleted." Mia said." Have I mentioned recently how much I hate that woman?"
"Once or twice." Roy said with a smile.
Mia sighed, and then rose. "Well, there you have it." She said. "Oliver's first two years. His journey to becoming a hero. Now you know most of what he's gone through- most of what he had to endure. And you know each other's secrets, as well." She looked at her parents. "The good, and the bad." She looked over the room. "I need to emphasize, though- what you witnessed, what you see here, is a POSSIBLE future. One that COULD come to be, but not necessarily one that MUST come to be."
"The future isn't written in stone." Sara added. "There's no fate but what we make."
"What you've seen happen, what you've seen your future selves do; that doesn't have to be you." She said, looking directly at Thea. "God willing, it WON'T be you."
"It's up to you to make things better- for everyone." Roy said.
"We have faith that you can." Mia concluded. "For now, we'll bring in dinner, then you can return to your rooms. Tomorrow we'll send you back, and you can begin to make a better future."
"So what you're saying is that we can make a better tomorrow- tomorrow." Tommy said with a smirk.
Mia shook her head and looked to Malcolm. "Feel free to cut him off, though." She said with a smirk. "That was actually a good idea you had."
"Hey!"
A/N: when they slid down the cable in the opening, anyone else notice that Diggle and Roy didn't use anything but their hands? Ouch!
Soo…. Did Roy have a house, or an apartment? Because when he and Thea meet up, they are clearly at the house he was in in season 1, but when Dig was checking out his place earlier in this season, it was at an apartment. Continuity!
So, there is this running joke throughout the series so far where most numbers make reference to DC's New52. Lance's car is Delta-Charlie 52, the Dollmaker's apartment was 52- and the drone was 52 minutes away. Guys, the joke is getting old.
But then they pulled that 52 joke on The Flash this year- 52 parallel worlds- and that was the first accurate use of that joke!
Okay, so I included a few deleted scenes here. One, of course, was Oliver kissing Felicity in the house- which personally I think he should have. And the second, of course, was Harley. Mistah Jay!
Okay, so here's the weird thing. When Lance and Laurel say goodbye to Sara, that HAS to be the next night. But when Roy returns to his house, that has to be the SAME night, after the battle. Also, it was night when Roy read the letter, but dawn when Thea met up with Merlyn. I cannot understate how frustrating the editing in this show is.
So, two episodes in and Season 4 is already blowing Season 3 out of the water. I'm loving this new jokey Oliver (Uh... self-defense classes), Crazy Thea is hot as hell, and Laurel is kicking a lot of ass (sure the thing with sliding down the cable that hadn't been secured yet was illogical, but damn it looked good!).
One thing I would like your opinion on- after Thea broke the guys arm and Oliver fought in the Lair, was Oliver trying to piss her off so much that she'd loose it to show everyone else (re: Diggle) that her anger issues weren't just being new to the job? Was he trying to show Thea that yeah, she has problems?
Oh, and judging from photos that have been released, and trailer images, I think that the Lair 2.0 is actually under Palmer Technologies. And it looks like Felicity brings Curtis there this week while fleeing Double Down.
As for The Flash- great to see Harrison Wells back, and I LOVE Jay's Flash costume. And god help me, but that damn tin pot helmet actually works.
Fine...
CG, I get that you're just thinking out loud. But then you say something that I want to respond to…
The day they reference ANYTHING from 'Cry for Justice' is the day I quit the show and take these stories down. That piece of shit was an abomination, a travesty, the biggest pile of monkey crap on God's green earth! From maiming Roy, to KILLING LIAN! No… just, no. As I said on an Arrow forum on Facebook, 'Cry for Justice' made 'Amazons Attack!' look like a literary masterpiece.' I cannot overstate how much I DESPISE that book, and if one good thing came out of the New52, it was that in the Titan's 'Convergence' storyline, they brought Lian back. Also, if your theory is true, that would be the end of the show.
Guest review:
'Moira: "This is madness!"
Us: "No... THIS... IS STARLING CITY! And tonight... WE DINE IN HELL!"'
You have NO idea how close I was to making a 300 joke.. no idea…