Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas/whatever holiday you celebrate.

Before we get started, my heart goes out to everyone affected by the recent tragedy in Prague. My thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of the victims.

TW: It's revealed soon.

Former SHIELD base

Night

By the time the Queens returned to base, night had fallen.

"So, now what?" Thea asked as Oliver led her and her mother down the halls.

"Now, we regroup. Figure out our next move, hopefully before Slade breaks out of ARGUS," Oliver said, knowing that was probably a fool's hope. "If he hasn't already."

As they neared the living area, they could hear snippets of conversation. Walking inside, they found the Avengers and Oliver's team talking, a chair turned away from them.

"So, everything go okay?" Sara asked, looking at Thea, who met her gaze unflinchingly.

"It went fine," Thea answered for her brother.

"We have more important things to worry about right now. Slade is out there, and it's only a matter of time until he breaks out of ARGUS. We've got to stop him," Oliver said.

"Um, Oliver? We've been trying for weeks," Felicity pointed out gently.

"No, we've been reacting for weeks, hoping to find another solution besides the obvious. Well I'm done trying to find a loop hole. No more half measures," Oliver said angrily and they all immediately understood what he was saying.

"You mean kill him?" Felicity said uncertainly.

"Yes," Oliver said bluntly. "I haven't been able to stop Slade because I've been fighting with one hand tied behind my back. Well, that stops now. There's only one way this can end. Either Slade dies or I do. You can all either get on board with that, or get out now."

For a moment, it was silent until Natasha broke it.

"Finally," Natasha said and most of them looked at her bewildered. "I've been waiting for you to snap out of this guilt spiral you've been in. Last time we saw each other, you were committed to doing whatever it took to save your city. I haven't seen that guy since I showed up here…until now."

"Guilt spiral?" Oliver repeated.

"You've been in one since you showed up at the Compound," Sam said and Oliver looked over at him. "Seen it often enough in guys I served with and those I used to council. Wasn't hard to recognize the signs."

"Not sure what happened to you Queen, but I can understand guilt. I understand not wanting to kill everyone you fight. But sometime on the battlefield, the only way to save lives is to take one," Steve told Oliver gently. "Any true soldiers understand that."

Diggle looked like he'd been struck as Sara looked like she was fighting a smirk.

"I'm just grateful you're going to stop holding back," Sara said trying not to sound too smug about it.

"But before we discuss our next move, there's…someone here to see you," Natasha said with a glance at the chair.

Oliver was confused until the chair turned around, revealing Fury, sipping a cup of tea.

"About damn time," Fury said in greeting as he lowered the cup, placing it down as Oliver stared at him in disbelief and Moira and Thea eyed the new arrival in a mix of curiosity and wariness.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Sir," Oliver finally said, his team and family looking at him surprised as Fury chuckled.

"Thought I told you on that island to stop calling me that. You don't work for me anymore," Fury pointed out as he got to his feet.

"Um, I'm sorry, who is this? And how do you know him?" Thea asked, looking back and forth between her brother and Fury, sure she was missing something.

"Um, right, sorry. Mom, Speedy, this is Nick Fury, Former Director of SHIELD. Si – uh…This is my mother and sister," Oliver made the introductions, not quite sure what to call Fury.

Even knowing he technically didn't work for Fury anymore, it felt weird to refer to his former boss by his name.

"Not the Director of anything anymore. Just an old man, who cares very much about you," Fury said as he walked over to Oliver. "We need to talk, now."

ARGUS base

Not long after

Waller was being stitched up as Lyla, having already been treated, paced back and forth.

"Calm down, Agent Michaels," Waller told her irritated.

"Calm down? Slade Wilson is out there, more dangerous than ever, because of us and you want me to calm down?!" Lyla exploded, whirling on Waller.

"There is nothing Slade Wilson gained from this that he can use to make things worse than he already has," Waller said calmly and Lyla stared at her in disbelief.

"If you honestly believe that, you are insane. Anything Slade gained from this, no matter how small, can only lead to disaster. And you may be willing to let that happen, but I'm not," Lyla said before she turned around and began walking out.

"Agent Michaels, where do you think you are going?" Waller said her voice noticeably harsher than before.

"To go see Oliver Queen. He needs to know what he's up against," Lyla said, not even bothering to turn around as she walked out.

Former SHIELD base

Same time

"So, not only is Ollie The Arrow and knows the Avengers, but he also worked for SHIELD?" Thea questioned, still trying to process that last bit after Oliver and Fury had left to talk privately.

"Honestly, that part's kind of new to us too," Felicity admitted.

"Oliver did tell me once that he wasn't always on the island while he was supposedly 'dead'," Diggle recalled before he looked over at the Avengers. "You guys know anything about this?"

"He did mention that he was with SHIELD when he came to ask for our help," Wanda shrugged.

"It's a complicated story, and I don't know all of it. But right now, our focus needs to be on Slade," Natasha interjected.

"I'm sure that when this is over, Oliver will tell you about his time with SHIELD," Steve said, honestly not sure that Oliver would but knowing he needed to keep everyone calm. "But right now, our only focus needs to be Slade."

In the briefing room where they had once discussed the mission to break into Queen Consolidated, Oliver and Fury sat across from each other. For several moments, it was silent until Fury finally spoke.

"Wilson's in your head and you're letting him win," Fury said and Oliver almost laughed.

"So has been pointed out to me, repeatedly," Oliver said dryly, running a hand over his face as he sighed. "Slade…he knows how to play mind games with me. He knows almost everything about me, and I don't know how to stop him."

"You start by taking a leaf out of his book. He went after your team, you go after his," Fury told him and Oliver looked at him blankly.

"Even if Slade had any attachment to his army, I doubt he'd tell them any of his plans until the last minute," Oliver said doubtfully.

"Wasn't talking about his soldiers. Isabel Rochev, she's still alive," Fury said and Oliver looked at him shocked. "And that's not all. Sebastian Blood, he's the man in the mask."

"Sebastian? You're sure?" Oliver asked shocked and Fury nodded.

"After that video dropped of Slade and your sister, I started doing some digging. Blood has connections to Slade; they've been meeting since Slade arrived in the city. And I can trace several calls between Blood and Daily. Wouldn't have taken much to convince Daily to dress up in that mask," Fury said and Oliver laughed humorlessly.

"Laurel was right. A drunk, but right. And I knew it here. It never made sense to go after her when she was already discredited. I knew that in my heart but…" Oliver trailed off, anger at himself flaring up.

"You made the decision you thought was best at the time, I can't say whether it was right or wrong, I wasn't in your shoes. But now you know better, so are you gonna wallow over your mistakes or are you ready to fight back?" Fury asked, already knowing the answer.

"What do you think?" Oliver said a steely glint in his eyes that reminded Fury of the SHIELD agent who gone to Russia. "It's time for Deathstroke to fear me for a change. It's time to fight back."

Unspecified location

Not long after

"Where have you been?" Blood demanded as Slade walked into the room. "When I heard you'd been arrested-"

"All part of the plan, Alderman," Slade smoothly cut him off.

"Moira Queen surviving was not part of the plan! You promised me this city!" Blood snarled.

"I would advise you to lower your voice," Slade said coldly and Blood realized he had overstepped. "I promised you that you would become mayor. And I will keep my promise. As for Moira Queen…you need not worry. She will not survive long enough to become mayor."

Former SHIELD base

Same time

"So Sebastian Blood is the man in the mask who kidnapped me?" Thea asked in disbelief as Oliver and Fury caught the others up to speed.

"His crimes are worse than that. He's been kidnapping people and injecting them with the Mirakuru, including Roy. And Roy is one of the lucky ones, he survived the process," Oliver said darkly.

"And considering I shot Isabel Rochev twice in the chest, she's gotta have been injected with it," Natasha noted.

"Makes sense why there have been no obituaries about her," Felicity added thoughtfully.

"Sebastian Blood, white knight by day, madman by night," Sara noted dryly.

"He makes Malcolm look like a bad joke," Moira said, pinching the bridge of her nose. "How could no one see this?"

"Someone did," Diggle said softly. "Laurel. But we didn't believe her. No, that's not true. Oliver did, but I convinced him not to."

"There's plenty of blame to go around, John," Oliver started but Diggle shook his head.

"No, don't let me off the hook Oliver. I was so hung up on what happened last year with Deadshot, so convinced you allowed your relationship with Laurel to cloud your judgement, that I wanted to dismiss the claims from the get go. You said it yourself, you should have known Daily was a red herring, but I convinced you that you have a blind spot for Laurel, so you let it go. That we didn't catch onto Blood sooner is on me," Diggle said, laughing humorlessly.

"Feeling sorry for yourself won't help anyone. Right now, we need to figure out a plan," Sam advised.

"Sam's right. But first, we need to deal with our guest," Oliver said, confusing everyone but Steve, Natasha, Sara, Fury and Wanda.

"So you noticed it to?" Steve asked and Oliver nodded.

"Noticed what?" Diggle asked what they were all thinking.

"We're not alone," Wanda said blankly.

Up above, from the ceiling, someone watched the group before dropping down, landing several feet away. Oliver whirled around, pulling a flechette from under his sleeve and throwing it at the intruder. Malcolm Merlyn caught it easily as everyone but Moira, who looked at him horrified, stared at him in disbelief.

"Oliver," Malcolm greeted as he tossed the flechette away. "I see your instincts haven't dulled since last year. That's good."

"You died, last year," Oliver said in disbelief and Malcolm smirked.

"Death is but an illusion," Malcolm quipped.

"What are you doing here?" Sara demanded, wishing she had her baton right then as Malcolm looked over at her.

"I heard you were alive, Sara. It's actually good to see you," Malcolm said, sounding like he meant it before his gaze flickered over to Thea, who was watching him in a mix of disbelief and fear. "And I'm here for my daughter."

"That is not going to happen," Oliver said as Thea was pushed back, Oliver, Sara, Steve and Natasha stepping forward protectively. "You're not touching her."

"Oliver, you need all the help you can get. I came back as soon as I heard Slade had her. With everything you're up against, you need me," Malcolm reasoned.

"And I'm sure when all this is over, you just slip out with Thea, unnoticed in the chaos," Diggle sneered as Thea looked frightened and Moira stepped in front of her.

"I told you Malcolm, you cannot have my daughter," Moira said firmly, surprising everyone.

"This is what you were going to tell us the other night before Slade rammed our car?" Oliver asked. The truth hitting him and Moira nodded.

"I'm sorry Oliver," Moira said in remorse, wishing she'd told him earlier.

"Only person who needs to be sorry is him," Oliver said, glaring at Malcolm hatefully. "You are not welcome here, Malcolm."

"I'm her father," Malcolm said firmly.

"Tommy had you for a father; it didn't work out so well for him! You chipped away at Tommy every day of his life, and then you killed him! I won't let you do the same thing to my sister!" Oliver snarled and Malcolm smirked coolly.

"You barely beat me last year. And even then, it was because I let my guard down, stopped to gloat. I won't make that same mistake. You can't beat me, Oliver," Malcolm said, not noticing someone had walked into the room behind him.

But everyone else did. Oliver smirked and Natasha paused in surprise, while Fury chuckled and Steve looked at the arrival in complete shock. Everyone else eyed the arrival in confusion, wondering who this new arrival was.

"I know," Oliver admitted before gesturing behind Malcolm. "But he can."

Confused, Malcolm whirled around, seeing Logan standing them, his hands clenched into fists. Everyone but Oliver, Natasha and Fury was stunned when Logan summoned his claws.

"I don't think so, bub," Logan told Malcolm.

"How much of that did you hear?" Oliver asked.

"He wants to kidnap your sister. I don't like people who kidnap girls," Logan said, his eyes darkening as he glared at Malcolm.

"I'm not exactly sure what you are, but you won't stop me from taking my daughter," Malcolm said, confused when Logan smirked.

"First, her name is Thea. Second, you can't get her if you can't find her."

As soon as the words left Logan's mouth, Kurt appeared in a burst of smoke, startling everyone before, to the shock of the Avengers sans Natasha and Team Arrow, he grabbed Thea and disappeared in a burst of smoke.

Somewhere else in the base, Kurt and Thea appeared in a burst of smoke. Kurt let Thea go and she backed away, shocked and confused.

"What the Hell?" Thea exclaimed as Kurt held up his hands in an 'I mean no harm' stance.

"It's okay. I am a friend of Oliver's," Kurt assured her.

"Where is she?" Malcolm snarled and Logan smirked.

"Somewhere you can't get to her. He'll bring her back…soon as your dead."

Logan rushed Malcolm, who quickly drew his sword. He tried striking Logan with it but Logan blocked his strike with his claws before sending a powerful kick to Malcolm's abdomen. Malcolm was sent flying, hitting the wall and galling to the floor, losing his grip on his sword. But, as Logan approached, Malcolm quickly grabbed his sword and got to his feet before attempting to strike Logan. Logan blocked with his claws once more and Malcolm feigned left. When Logan moved to block, Malcolm went right, striking along the right side of his face and making a deep cut. However, to the shock of everyone, Logan turned back to face Malcolm and they all watched in disbelief as the wound healed within seconds.

Logan then attacked, pining Malcolm's sword between his sets of claws before, with a twist, Logan flung the sword across the room. Disarmed, Malcolm tried striking Logan in the stomach but this had no effected and Malcolm hissed, feeling like he'd just hit steel. Desperate, Malcolm pulled out a flechette and stabbed Logan in the stomach. Logan grunted, backing away from Malcolm before reaching down and yanking the flechette out, dropping it to the floor and they all watched in shock as the wound healed, again within seconds.

"That all you got?" Logan asked, unimpressed as Malcolm stared in disbelief.

"What kind of monster are you?" Malcolm demanded and Logan smiled tightly.

"I'm the Wolverine."

Logan walked forward and Malcolm pulled out a dagger, trying to strike Logan. To everyone's shock, Logan didn't even bother blocking it, taking the strike in the chest. Logan grimaced but then, with a strike from his claws, Malcolm's head fell to the floor and his body followed. Logan then reached up, yanking the dagger out and dropping it to the floor.

For a moment, the only sound in the room was Logan's breathing before he retracted his claws, and activated the Comms piece in his ear.

"Kurt, you can bring back the girl."

For a moment, it's silent until, in a burst of smoke, Kurt and Thea reappear. As Kurt let her go, Thea caught sight of Malcolm's head and paled.

"Thea, baby, are you all right?" Moira asked desperately as she reached her daughter.

Too stunned to respond, Thea merely nodded. Seeing his sister, Oliver nearly sighed, hating that she had lost yet more of her innocence. But it was unavoidable.

"Good to see you, Kurt," Oliver said instead, glancing over at the furred mutant.

"Hello, Oliver," Kurt greeted with a smile.

"Is anyone else freaked out by what they just saw?" Diggle asked, staring at Kurt with bug eyes.

"You hang out with these two long enough, nothing surprises you," Sam said with a glance at Steve and Natasha as Oliver walked over to Logan.

"Thanks for coming, Logan," Oliver said gratefully.

"My friend called, asked for help. All there is to it," Logan before looking up, smirking at Natasha. "Romanoff."

"Hey, Logan. Good to see you," Natasha said with a nod.

Logan smirked before noticing Steve staring at him as if in shock.

"Can I help you, Bub?" Logan asked and this seemed to break Steve out of his trance.

"You don't remember me?" Steve asked, surprising all of them.

"Should I?" Logan asked, a flower of hope beginning to bloom in his chest. "Did we know each other?"

"You don't remember?" Steve asked in surprise and Logan shook his head.

"Woke up about 17 years ago, no memory, no name. Just a couple dog tags that said 'Wolverine'. And these," Logan said, summoning his claws before retracting them. "Did you know me?"

"Yeah, I knew you," Steve said, still in a bit of disbelief. "Your name is James Howlett, although everyone called you Jimmy. We fought together in World War Two. You were a Howling Commando."

Well, Oliver knows about Blood and Isabel, Malcolm got what he deserved, and Logan is about to learn a bit about his past. Think that's a good place to stop.

Probably going to be the last time I update this until the New Year, so everyone have a Happy New Year.