TW: Thank you. Glad you enjoyed it.

Former SHIELD base

Mid-Afternoon

Steve was sitting at a table, deep in thought when he felt someone sit down next to him. He didn't need to turn to know it was Natasha.

"You okay?" Natasha inquired and Steve sighed.

"I don't know. I'm still trying to take it all in I guess. When I came out of the ice, everyone I knew was gone. Now, Jimmy, Logan, whatever he wants to call himself, he's alive but…I don't know. Feels like I still lost him in a way," Steve said with a sigh.

"He's still here though, isn't he? Maybe he'll get his memories back, maybe he won't. But he's here. That counts for something, right?" Natasha pointed out and Steve smiled tightly.

"Yeah, yeah it does. Maybe he never gets his memories back…but I'll cross that bridge when I came to it," Steve said, deciding he'd done enough feeling sorry for himself.

Logan was alive. That was all that mattered.

In the living area, Thea was sitting alone, deep in thought when Moira sat down beside her. It was silent between mother and daughter for a moment before Thea spoke.

"When?" Thea asked and Moira didn't need Thea to clarify what she meant.

"After my trial. Malcolm came forward the night I was acquitted, revealed this was all his plan. It was all a sham designed by Malcolm to publicly reveal that you were his daughter. But he didn't count on The Count poisoning Donner, and Laurel, for her many flaws, wasn't going to let you deal with the public fallout," Moira said and it was silent between them. "He demanded I tell you the truth and hand you over to him. Instead, I told Ra's al Ghul he was alive."

"Who's that?" Thea asked confused and got a bad feeling when Moira looked at her with a grim look.

"Someone I hope you never have to meet. Someone even Malcolm fears. The Undertaking violated certain oaths Malcolm made to him long ago. But I should have known even Ra's al Ghul could not keep him away forever," Moira said with a sigh. "Are you all right?"

"I keep seeing his face, Mom. His head, on the floor," Thea said softly, shuttering at the image in his head. "I'm glad he's dead but…I can't get it out of my head."

"I wish you had never had to see that. But I've spent too long trying to protect you with lies, and look where that brought us?" Moira sighed before continuing. "This life your brother has chosen…it's an ugly business, filled with violence and death. I wish I could protect you from that, but the truth is even he can't do that."

Thea merely nodded and Moira stared at her worriedly, feeling utterly helpless to help her daughter.

On another level, Wanda was sitting alone, looking out a window, watching the city in the distance. It was rather beautiful, Wanda mused. You'd never know the evil that was happening inside.

Wanda was barely startled when Kurt appeared next to her in a puff of smoke. They'd learned he liked to do that since his arrival.

"They aren't back yet," Wanda said in greeting.

"I know. I wanted to watch with you," Kurt said, surprising her.

"Why?"

"You seem sad. And lonely," Kurt said honestly.

He wasn't wrong, Wanda mused. She'd been this way for a while. It had been hard coming to the Avengers after everything that happened, she'd lost everything. But it was worse today, she knew.

"It's my birthday," Wanda said softly. "My first birthday since I came to America. The first one I've had since…since my twin brother died."

Wanda swallowed the lump in her throat, tears prickling in the corner of her eyes. For a moment, it was silent before Kurt spoke.

"Because of how I look…I am an outcast. Even among mutants, they stop and stare. The only place I could find acceptance was at the circus. But, when the lights went down, I was alone," Kurt said and she looked over at him curiously. "But I found my acceptance in God. In His Grace, I was not alone. And I found others that accepted me. As have you. I know I cannot truly understand your loss, I have never had siblings. But, in spite of all we have lost, we have found friends to help us through the dark times. We are luckier than most, are we not?"

"Yeah, yeah maybe," Wanda acknowledged.

It was silent for a moment before Kurt reached over, gently touching Wanda's cheek and making her look over at him.

"Someone so beautiful…should not be so sad," he said softly.

It was silent between them as they gazed into each other's eyes, Wanda's heart hammering in her chest. For a few moments, it seemed to be just them in this moment.

Then, Wanda saw something out of the corner of her eye and turned her head, seeing a car driving towards the base. Lyla and Logan were back.

Later that afternoon, in the Interrogation room, Isabel opened her eyes, finding her hands cuffed to the table, her legs bound to the chair. Looking up, she saw Oliver sitting across from her, Steve and Wanda standing over his shoulders as they flanked him.

"This is bold, even for you Oliver. Imagine what the press will say when they find out you kidnapped the CEO of Queen Consolidated," Isabel snarked but he didn't rise to the bait.

"Slade. What's he planning?" Oliver demanded and Isabel smirked at him.

"Really? Your big plan was to just ask me what Slade's plan is? Have to admit, really a letdown," Isabel mocked.

Outside the cell, the remaining Avengers (sans Sam), Sara, Fury, Felicity, Lyla, Thea, Moira, Logan and Kurt watched this uneasily, all of them feeling the tension in the room.

"We're sure this was a good idea?" Felicity asked uneasily.

"Maybe not. But we're fresh out of good ideas, and Rochev has the best chance of knowing where Slade is," Natasha said softly.

"Oliver knows what he's doing. He won't let her get the better of him again," Fury said confidently.

Inside the room, Isabel suddenly brought her hands up, breaking the cuffs but, to her surprise, her arms were suddenly covered in red energy, forced back down to the table. Isabel struggled but it was useless against Wanda's power.

"It's not gonna be that easy, Isabel," Oliver said calmly.

"Tell us about Slade," Steve said firmly.

"Or what? You'll torture me?" Isabel asked mockingly.

"I'm not gonna torture you, Isabel," Oliver said calmly.

"Why not? From what I understand, you're sort of an expert on the subject. Do Mom and Thea know about the work you did for SHIELD?" Isabel mocked and smirked when Oliver stiffened. "Oh yeah, we know all about that. Did you really think that Slade wouldn't figure it out once your friends showed up? Romanoff leaked all SHIELD files onto the internet; it wasn't very difficult for Slade to decrypt once he saw the file on 'Agent Queen'. He knows everything."

"Where is he, Isabel?" Oliver demanded, trying not to let Isabel get to him.

"Do you think they will accept you if they know the truth? If they knew half of your time away, they'd all turn on you. Your friends, your family, everyone," Isabel mocked him.

Oliver suddenly slammed his hand down onto the table, startling everyone watching outside.

"Enough of your games, Isabel!" Oliver shouted as he got to his feet. "Tell me what Slade's plan is, or Wanda will rip it from your mind. Not only will that be incredibly painful, but it will risk making you a vegetable. It's your choice, Isabel."

"Have you told any of them about what happened in Russia? What you did there? What you lost?" Isabel asked, smirking when Oliver clenched his hands into fists and Steve glanced at him worriedly. "Tell me, how do you go on after such a loss? Do you lie awake at night, wondering how your life could be different? That maybe you'd never have come home if it had been born? That maybe you'd actually be happy? Or do you wonder if you'd have ruined it, the way your father ruined you?"

"Wanda, do it. And make sure it hurts," Oliver said darkly, glaring at Isabel.

Wanda nodded and, without a word, raised her glowing hands towards Isabel. Isabel winced as her body was covered head to toe in red energy. Isabel then let out an agonized wail, thrashing around before going limp, seeming to lose consciousness. The glow faded from Isabel and Wanda lowered her hands the glow fading from them as well.

"Did you get what you need?" Steve asked and she nodded.

"I know what he's planning," Wanda confirmed.

"Good. We'll all meet in the briefing room in an hour," Oliver said gruffly before storming out of the room.

After exiting the interrogation room, Oliver walked passed the others and down the hall without saying a word. It was silent until Steve and Wanda walked into the room.

"What was that about Russia?" Thea broke the silence.

"Honestly, that's new to us too. Oliver really doesn't like talking about his five years away," Felicity said as clueless as Thea.

"We didn't even know about him working for SHIELD Fury showed up," Sara noted with a look at Fury.

"You feel like sharing?" Thea asked and Fury merely gave her a blank look. "Really?"

"Not my story to tell," Fury said simply.

"And I would normally agree, but these aren't normal circumstances," Lyla interjected and Fury and Natasha glanced over at her. "I don't know what happened in Russia, what that was all about. But Slade does. He'll use it against Oliver, try and get inside his head. You saw how Oliver reacted when it was just Rochev bringing it up, how do you think he'll react to Slade doing it?"

"She's has a point, Nick," Natasha said after a moment of thought. "I don't want to break Oliver's confidence, you know I don't. But if Slade knows…he'll need their support to deal with it when Slade uses it against him."

For a long moment, Fury was silent, considering her words. Then, finally, he gave a nod.

"Fine. First, we take Rochev to the med bay; make sure she can't hurt anyone if she isn't a vegetable now. Then…then we'll tell you," Fury said, exchanging a look with Natasha, knowing this wasn't going to be easy.

The Playground

Same time

In his office, Phil Coulson stood, staring at the holographic screen, showing Bobbi getting loaded into a truck by two unknown men.

When Bobbi hadn't returned home from her rehab session, they had assumed she merely wanted some breathing room at first. They were all aware of how frustrated she was by Hunter's hovering over her. But when they all woke this morning to find Bobbi still hadn't returned to base, they knew something was wrong.

When Bobbi didn't answer any calls and her physical therapist confirmed Bobbi had left after their session had ended, Daisy had tracked Bobbi's phone to a street not far from the Rehabilitation Center. They had found it abandoned on the side of the road, no sign of Bobbi in sight. But, as luck would have it, there was a security camera from a nearby bank that overlooked the street. Daisy had hacked into it and found the footage of the unconscious Bobbi being load into the truck before it took off. That was all they knew at the moment.

Coulson was broken out of his throats when someone knocked on the door. Coulson opened it to reveal Mack standing on the other side. Coulson let him in, closing the door behind him before he turned to the larger man.

"Anything?"

"May and Hunter tracked the truck to an abandoned airfield. According to some witnesses, there was a plane that took off last night, two doctors with a patient, a woman matching Bobbi's description. This wasn't random, this was planned," Mack said, pausing before continuing. "Daisy ran the images of the two men through our database, no luck. So she ran them through the CIA and FBI databases. One of the men was identified as an Iron Heights prisoner that was abducted – or freed, if you want to look at it that way – by a mercenary called Deathstroke, recently identified as Slade Wilson."

"Slade Wilson. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Coulson asked an uneasy feeling in his chest.

"That Bobbi was kidnapped by Slade as part of some sick game against her ex-boyfriend? It's the only thing that makes sense. What do we do?" Mack asked and Coulson was silent for a moment, gathering his thoughts.

"I'm not sure there's a whole lot we can do. Slade is former ASIS; he knows how to avoid detection. Bobbi could be anywhere in Starling City, if she's even there and Slade is clearly approaching his endgame. We don't have the time to gathering up a team of agents and head to Starling City, as much as I want too. Oliver is strong, and he's got a good head on his shoulders. I have to believe that between him and Bobbi and whoever else Oliver may be working with, things will turn out all right," Coulson said, not sure if he was trying to convince Mack or himself.

Former SHIELD base

Not long after

"You sure that'll keep her down?" Logan asked suspiciously as Natasha and Steve set up Isabel with an IV full of Viper Venom.

"For now, until STAR Labs can get that cure, it's the only option we have," Steve said with a sigh.

"So, what's this about Russia?" Thea asked bluntly and Moira looked at her in exasperation. "What? We're all thinking it. I'm just saying it."

"It's all right Moira, we did promise," Natasha said, glancing over at Fury. "So…where do we start?"

"Guess it all starts five years ago, with Slade on the island," Fury said with a sigh. "Anthony Ivo, the man who wanted to find the Mirakuru in the first place, had been abducting people from various locations on his way to Lian Yu. When Oliver first arrived on the island, there was a mercenary there with a live feed to his employer, an ARGUS agent I believe to have been acting under the orders for Amanda Waller. But that's another story. We hacked into the feed and saw what was happening. I had Romanoff, Barton and a few others head there to extract Oliver, Sara and anyone else that was still alive."

"By the time we got there, Oliver was the only one we could find," Natasha picked up, glancing over at Sara apologetically. "I'm sorry we couldn't get there in time."

"It's not your fault. I guess I just wasn't meant to be rescued," Sara said with a sigh, wondering for a moment how different things could have been if SHIELD had arrived just an hour or so earlier.

Logan shot her a look, feeling able to relate to Sara in that moment. He'd thought he was meant to walk this earth alone, until he'd met Rogue and later Charles, Ororo and Jean. They'd changed his life, for the better.

"We found Oliver drifting in the ocean after Anatoly Knyazev shot a missile into the Freighter Ivo was traveling in. He was half drowned, had been tortured by Slade, not to mention having to fight him. He was unconscious for several days, the doctors weren't sure he was going to make it. But Oliver's a survivor," Natasha continued.

"You have no idea," Sara said dryly and Natasha smiled tightly.

"Actually, I do," Natasha said softly and a beat passed.

"Okay, if he was off the island, why didn't he come home?" Thea asked, not understanding and Fury chuckled.

"Well, that's where the story gets interesting. You know that mercenary I mentioned? His job was to blow up a plane full of people to kill one person," Fury said and everyone but Natasha looked at him in disbelief.

"What kind of psycho would do that?" Felicity said in shock.

"Amanda Waller," Natasha said bluntly.

Lyla winced but didn't otherwise react. She wished she could say she was surprised by this, but she knew Waller was capable of something like this. Amanda Waller had no regard for the value of human life.

"Oliver, Slade and Shado managed to stop the missile, so the target survived: a Triad Assassin named China White," Fury said, seeing Moira start slightly but filing that away for later. "When I met Oliver, she was in Hong Kong, trying to get her hands on a bio weapon that was capable of causing untold death and destruction. I made a deal with Oliver: if he helped me find China White and stop whatever she was planning, I'd take him home. No strings attached."

"Well, something clearly went wrong there," Logan muttered and Natasha smiled tightly.

"Yeah, it did. Oliver received a threat, from Hydra," Natasha, glancing at Steve who looked stunned. "Although we didn't know it was Hydra at the time."

"Oliver received a message, threatening the lives of his family, Tommy Merlyn and Laurel Lance unless he did what they demanded," Fury explained, glancing at the pale Thea, Moira and Sara. "But I believe in covering my bases. I had agents watching the four of you in case Oliver's identity was ever compromised and you were put in danger. The hitmen were all taken out before any of you knew they were there."

"Understandably, Oliver wanted to know who put the hit out on the people he cared about. After we wrapped up the mission with China White, we tracked Hydra to Russia, to a man named Konstantin Kovar. Oliver was part of a three man team sent there to find out if Kovar was the last link in the puzzle or it went beyond just him," Natasha explained.

"Hydra covered their tracks pretty well until the Uprising. I imagine Kovar convinced him it was just him," Steve noted and Natasha nodded.

"Okay, I'm following all this so far, but something big had to happen in Russia. What happened?" Sara demanded, confused when Natasha looked at her with an unreadable look on her face.

"Oliver really cares about you, Sara," Natasha said, throwing everyone for a loop at the change in subject. "I can tell by the way he looks at you. I've only ever seen him look that way at one other person: a SHIELD agent named Bobbi Morse."

"Let me guess, she was part of the mission in Russia?" Sara asked and got two nods from Fury and Nataha.

"Sure he wasn't stranded on Fantasy Island?" Felicity muttered, but they all heard her.

"Excuse me?" Sara asked, looking at Felicity angrily.

"Well, I just-" Felicity started trying to explain.

"I'm not sure why you think that's appropriate or funny, but it's not, Miss Smoak. Those five years away were clearly deeply traumatic for Oliver. By making fun of it, you are mocking him and his trauma," Steve told her not unkindly but firmly as Felicity paled.

"You do that often? And you wonder why he won't talk to you about it," Logan scoffed as Felicity winced, seeing the glare on Thea's face and cold look in Moira's eyes.

"Back on topic, Bobbi Morse?" Lyla inquired and Natasha nodded.

"Oliver first met her when they were in Hong Kong, on a mission together. They stayed close, it's one of the reasons I chose to send them to Russia together, they worked well together. I didn't expect them to get that close," Fury said with a sigh, wondering if it had been a mistake.

"They were together," Sara noted, having already figured that out.

"They were more than together," Natasha said, trying to figure out how to put it into words. "There's no easy way for me to say this, so I'm going to come out and say it. While they were in Russia…Bobbi was pregnant with Oliver's child."

At this news, Everyone but Fury and Steve looked too shocked for words, as if waiting for Natasha to say it was a joke.

"Ollie…he…he had a kid?" Thea finally managed to get the words out.

"Not exactly," Natasha said, a sad look entering her eyes. "Oliver and Bobbi were at a safe house when Kovar got a tip about their location. He blew it to Hell. They both survived, but Bobbi lost the baby."

The Queens and Sara looked as though they'd been physical struck at this news while Felicity was unusually quiet, all the blood draining from her face, the normally talkative blood silent. Lyla looked as though she was going to be ill, unconsciously placing a hand over her stomach. Steve merely crossed his arms, having already known but still affected. Logan had a blank look on his face but if you looked at his eyes, you could see that he held a pained and sympathetic look. Wanda and Kurt merely looked saddened by this new bit of news.

For a moment, it was silent until Natasha continued.

"I don't know a lot about what went down in Russia, I wasn't there. But, from his report on what happened, he went to a…dark place after that; did a lot of things that probably still keep him up at night. He kind of just…closed himself off from everyone," Natasha explained and it was silent for a long moment.

"God. Poor Ollie," Sara said horrified while everyone else was too stunned for words.

"We didn't tell you this to make you feel sorry for him. I told you this because it's most likely something Slade will use against Oliver, try and get in his head. He'll need you when that happens," Fury said with a sigh.

"Thank you for tell us, Mr. Fury," Moira managed to compose herself enough to say and Fury smiled tightly.

"Call me Nick. Someone calls me Mr. Fury and I look around for my grandfather," Fury said before checking his watch. "Still have over half an hour before we meet in briefing room. Try and get your heads on straight before then. Because I have a feeling we'll be heading into battle soon."

Well, another 'information dump' chapter, but hope you all enjoyed it.

Been waiting to have Fury and Natasha explain what happened with Bobbi for a while now. Not completely satisfied with the scene but hope I did okay at least.

As I said before, I'm neutral on Felicity as a character these days. That said, her tendency to make little jokes about Oliver's time away is definitely something that irritates me about her. Her apologists will defend it as 'just a joke', but its literally making fun of someone with PTSD and mocking their trauma. It's not funny or cute, it's insensitive and just mean for no apparent reason.