A/N: Good morning campers! (sorry, just getting ready for the summer and my possible job, but nobody wants to hear about my job drama or if you do just ask)

Thanks to my amazing, but very over worked beta for getting this chapter to me! She is awesome and I'm very glad she makes time in her very busy schedule to beta this for me (even if I go back and monkey around with it after she's done, lol)

So, this chapter covers quite a bit of territory, so hopefully the pacing isn't too fast. Anyways I've prattled on long enough, just remember, mind the tags and enjoy the story.

Oliver hissed in pain as the razor-sharp knife that the thug wielded sliced through his heavy leather suit and along his back. The guy had snuck up behind him while he had been preoccupied with taking out the other two thugs. Two well placed blows brought the man down, Oliver was tempted to put an arrow in him so that way he would match his friends, but he figured that the severe concussion he'd gotten when Oliver had knocked him out should be a sufficient deterrent to committing any other crimes. Securing his bow to his motorcycle, the Vigilante sped away. His destination, his father's old factory, and his soon to be new night club.

Slowly descending the stairs into the hidden basement of the building, Oliver could feel the blood steadily dripping down his back, and he knew that he needed to get that treated before it became a problem. Wincing at the movement, he slowly took off the hood and then the jacket. Clad in just his green leather pants he tried to reach the wound, but was unable to do so. He growled softly to himself as his back started throbbing even worse as he moved. Situations like this was when having a partner would come in handy. However, Diggle was still making up his mind if he wanted to join Oliver's crusade or not.

Finding the medical supplies that he'd gathered and been able to stockpile he used a long section of gauze and wrapped it around himself as a bandage, but even after applying it he could still feel the blood dripping down his back. Oliver sat down at his computer and started to do some research into his next target, hoping that if he left the wound alone and ignored it that it would clot. When the words on the screen started to swim and his vision went blurry Oliver realized that he was in trouble and needed help.

His first called Diggle, but when that call went unanswered Oliver knew that he really only had one option left, so he picked up his phone and called Sara. Since he'd been back, he had only briefly seen her at his welcome home party. She had given him her number at the party so that they could catch up, but this wasn't the way he wanted to do it, however he was out of options. The phone rang twice before her distinctive voice came on the line.

"Hey Ollie! Good to hear from you!" Sara said cheerfully. In the background Oliver could hear people talking and things rattling around.

"Are you busy?" He asked, hoping that he sounded casual, but he could feel his body breaking out in the cold sweats and he knew that he needed to get help fast.

"My shift just ended and I'm just getting my stuff from the locker room and am about to head out. "Why? Did you want to meet up somewhere, get some coffee and catch up?"

Oliver hesitated, debating whether or not he should tell her about what he had been doing, because telling her was something he could never come back from. A wave of dizziness washed over him, which decided the matter for him. "I need a favor."

"What do you need?" Her voice had changed from upbeat to serious as she could tell that something was wrong.

"Would you could bring some suture supplies to my father's old factory in the Glades?"

"The factory that you're planning on turning into a night club?" Sara asked cautiously.

"Yep," He replied succinctly.

Sara sighed, "Do I even want to know what you got yourself into this time? Laurel said that you weren't as douchey as you had been."

"Are you going to come?" he asked, exhaustion and blood loss creeping into his voice. He didn't see any point in arguing as she would find out about everything soon enough.

"Yeah, I'll leave now," Sara answered with a sigh. "Just remember that you have people who love you and care about you, Ollie."

Laurel had said the very same thing to him not that long ago. "Text me when you get here, and I'll tell you how to get to the basement."

"Will do. Be there shortly." Sara said and then hung up.

Looking at the steps that lead up to the ground level Oliver wondered if he could make it up and back. 'Well, I survived being bitten by a shark, whipped, and then force marched to a prison cell. I should be able to make it.' He thought, but then again, when he had to do all of that he had had Tiana to take care of him when he passed out. The words that both Sara and Laurel said to him echoed through his head. So, he decided that he would just text Sara the passcode and wait for her to come to him.

His phone dinged and he saw that it was Sara, he let her know where to park and what the code for the door was. He heard the door squeak open and then slam shut.

"Oliver?" Sara called out.

"Down here," He called back knowing she would follow his voice. He was perched on a stool, leaning with one hand on the metal table beside him to steady himself, as he was shaky from the blood loss.

Her eyes widened slightly as she took in his scarred torso, but she didn't say a word. He turned on the stool and presented his back to her, saying. "I tried patching it up myself, but I couldn't reach it." He heard her startled inhale as she took off the bandages he had clumsily applied and saw the wound on his back. Then she put the bags that she had been carrying down on the table beside him and started taking out the supplies that she would need.

"Oliver…" she said softly, as she assessed the damage to his back. "Do I want to know how it happened?"

"The scars or the cut?"

Sara scoffed, "Oliver. That is not a cut. That is a laceration. Let me guess knife? And how long ago did it happen?"

"Yeah, it was a knife. It happened about an hour or so ago. I bandaged it and I was hoping that it would clot on its own." He said, wanting to explain that he had tried to take care of it himself.

Sara was feeling around the wound on his back for a bit when she stopped and opened up one of the bags that she had brought. "So, it's pretty deep, which is why it didn't clot . I'm going to clean around the area, lidocaine you up, clean out the laceration really well and then put some sutures in. Here drink and eat this." She handed him two pouches of orange juice and a package of packaged brownies. "Also I'll get one of the docs that I'm friends with to call you in a script for antibiotics, no telling what was on that knife."

"I'll pass on the brownies," Oliver said, putting it back on the table. He had never really had much of a sweet tooth, but the five years away had made sure that he wasn't a big fan of dessert.

Sara sighed and said, "Then eat this," as she slid a package of peanut butter and crackers to him.

"Do you always carry snacks with you?" Oliver asked as he punched the straw into the drink pouch.

"Nope, they had a blood drive today at the hospital and I grabbed the leftovers. You never know when a snack will come in handy." Sara said as Oliver quietly ate what she had given him as she cleaned the wound on his back. "Okay you are going to feel a little pinch as the lidocaine goes in."

"I don't need it; you can just go ahead and start stitching me up."

"If I don't use the lidocaine, it will hurt and there's a good chance that you will move around and ruin my work."

"Pain and I came to an understanding a long time ago." Oliver said stonily.

"That's nice," Sara replied, and Oliver felt a few pricks. "But you're getting the lidocaine anyway. It's all part of the whole Sara Lance, RN experience. And don't think that you're getting out of telling me what's going on, mister." She paused, looked around and then continued, "You know this would be much easier if you weren't sitting on a stool. Do you think that we could move one of these tables and have you lay on it?"

"There's a table over there that I can bring over." Oliver said, swaying as he started to get up and pointing behind where he had his arrow case set up.

"Stay! Don't get up; I'll go and grab it." Sara said, shaking her head. She went to get the table and after lugging it over she then set it up beside them, cleaned and sterilized it and then had Oliver lay down on it. She then angled a lamp that she found over the area that she would be suturing, she then cleaned her hands again and put on fresh gloves. "Much better. I'm about to start cleaning this out, you shouldn't feel anything then I'll start suturing. So, while I work, you get to tell me what happened."

"Short story, I saw three guys harassing a woman on my way back from what I had been doing. I stopped them and one of them cut me a bit."

"Let's hear the long story because you left out the part where you were dressed in green leather." Sara said blithely.

"Yeah, I did. I was kinda hoping that you wouldn't notice."

Sara snorted a laugh, "Ollie you're still wearing the pants and the jacket is over there on that computer table, Not to mention all of your arrows down here. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure it out. Have you told anybody else yet?"

"My bodyguard Diggle knows, and he is currently deciding if he wants to help or not. I don't want anybody else to know." Oliver said softly. "If they knew, it could endanger them, and I want to keep my family and friends as safe as I possibly can. It's bad enough that I had to call you and get you involved."

"You do have a pretty cool family. Felicity and I are even friends, I've got Livy calling me Aunt Sara." Sara said sounding happy, "Gotta tell you, I adore that kid of yours."

"Yeah," he said softly, "I'm pretty fond of her myself."

"Okay, one last stitch and then we're done. Then I'm going to put some ointment on here and bandage it and then you can sit up. But hold off on putting arrows in people or well anything for a bit while this heals up. Keep it clean and dry, take all of the antibiotics that are prescribed, and no exercising or anything that will put a strain on your back, I don't want you to ruin my fine work." Sara said in a teasing tone.

"Is there anything I can do?" Oliver asked sarcastically.

"Just take it easy." Sara said with a wink as she patted his back, "You can sit up now."

As Oliver slowly sat up supported by Sara, he felt the stitches pull, but it felt like they would hold. He pointed over to a gray zip-up hoodie that was sitting on another table, "Can you hand that to me?"

Sara handed him the hoodie and helped him pull it on. She then stood across from him, examining the scars on his chest, "What happened to you there?" she asked, but not in horror or sick fascination, but with genuine curiosity.

"Nothing good." Oliver replied slumping back down on the stool he had been perched on when she had arrived.

Sighing at his response, Sara shook her head and started to pull her shirt over her head, leaving her in her sports bra. When he looked at her he could see that her front was riddled with scars, most were smaller, but there were a few larger ones. "You know, you're not the only one that's scarred and had to live through the worst things people can throw at them, or even wondered if you'd survive." She pulled her shirt back on and said as Oliver just looked at her silently. "I'll tell you mine, but you have to tell me yours. Ollie, if there's one thing that I've learned, it's that you have to talk to someone or you'll explode."

"Thea pretty much told me the same thing."

"That girl can be a pretty smart young lady." Sara said, as she stepped closer and put her hand on his shoulder, "Talk to me."

Oliver could feel the memories of the last five years of Hell stirring and trying to burst out.

"Tell me." Sara insisted, seeing the emotions run through Oliver's eyes.

"It was five years where nothing good happened!" He exploded taking a shuddering breath.

Sara's hand was on his shoulder grounding him. He couldn't bring himself to look at her, so he buried his face in his hands. "When the boat sank my dad and one of the crew pulled me into the life-raft. We were the only ones to survive. After we had been drifting for a while Dad realized that there wasn't enough food or water for all three of us to make it, so he killed the crewmate and shoved him off of the raft. He then asked me to right his wrongs. Before I could say anything or ask him what he meant, he shot himself, in the head." To her credit Sara didn't react. "I ended up drifting for another day or so, with his body in the raft because I couldn't bear to push it over. I buried him when we got to the island." Oliver paused fighting back the memories of how his father's corpse had felt. "I had just finished doing that when an arrow tore through my shoulder, and it only got worse from there." He took several deep breaths trying to separate himself from the memory of his pain. Of Yao-Fei's tough teachings, of Slades brutal fighting techniques. Of the first years on the island. He sat up, still not looking at Sara "I was tortured multiple times, in multiple ways. I was drugged, waterboarded, lied to, manipulated, and watched multiple people that I had befriended and loved die." He looked away emotion threatening to choke him, "I became someone who could kill a person without hesitation. I had to do things that never should be done to another living soul. I had to become somebody else, something else in order to survive to be able to come back here and right my dad's wrongs, like he asked." Oliver looked away rubbing the few tears that had leaked out of his eyes. In a whisper he added, "I let the darkness in and I can't get it out."

"Thank you, Ollie. I know that wasn't easy." Sara said gently rubbing his shoulder.

Oliver didn't respond to Sara because he didn't trust himself not to break out in tears or have a panic attack, his fingers were frantically rubbing together in his fight against the strong emotions.

Sara looked at him, stepped back, wrapped her arms around herself sighed, and then she told her story. "I don't know if you heard, but Laurel and I got into a major fight at your funeral." She huffed out a laugh, "Real classy of us, I know. After that, I decided that I wanted to do something to help people and decided that medicine was the best choice for me. Laurel and I were at each other's throats almost every day at that point. So, once I finished my RN degree here in Starling, I decided to volunteer with Doctors Without Borders in order to put some real distance between us. That decision to join was really good for me, mostly, and I made a lot of friends. That being said, I also saw a lot of crap. One of the camps where I was assigned was in Kyrgyzstan. While I was there I met a girl by the name of Nyssa. She had come into the aid camp for help, and we hit it off. I could tell that she was running from something though, but she wouldn't tell us what it was." Sara stopped a tear running down her face. "I fell hard and fast for her and tried to shelter and protect her from whatever it was that she was running from. One day while she was away from the camp, I was kidnapped by the group that she had escaped from and was tortured until she decided to return to rescue me." Her voice broke, "Knowing that Nyssa was giving up her chance at freedom to save me hurt more than the torture, I think." Sara paused to get her emotions under control. "Once she returned to them, I had the choice of dedicating my life to them or leaving and never returning. I'm ashamed to admit that I didn't hesitate, I just left. They had already scarred my body and mind but I wasn't going to let them have my soul and I didn't want them to have the chance to use me to manipulate Nyssa in the future."

Oliver slipped his hand into Sara's, and looking deeply into her eyes simply said, "Thank you."

Sara looked back and stepped into Oliver's personal space. Without any thought they both leaned in for a passionate kiss taking solace in each other. Oliver started to reach for the strings on her scrub bottoms, but Sara placed her hands over his. "I told you no strenuous activities." She said, kissing him again, which took the bite out of her words.

"Who said it was going to be strenuous for me?" He asked before once again claiming her mouth in a searing kiss.

Sara took off her shirt and dropped it on the ground, "Well I was going to go and workout, so I guess I might as well get some cardio in." Then with a wicked grin on her face, she said. "Just lay back and let me do all the work."

***ARROW***

When Sara had first suggested that they spar, Oliver had been uneasy about it because of his training on the island and he didn't want to accidentally hurt his girlfriend, but he had been pleasantly surprised at her own fighting skills and the fact that she was just about on par with him. When he asked her about it, she had told him that after the kidnapping incident, she had wanted to be able to defend herself if she ever needed to. As a result, she had been taking classes every week to keep up her skills and learn some new ones since she had returned to Starling. After their workout Dig had brought down Chinese food and the three of them were chowing down when Sara asked. "Did you do the research into the tuberculous outbreak in Lamb Valley like I suggested?"

"There's a TB outbreak? I thought that disease had been eradicated?" Diggle questioned; his egg roll paused halfway to his mouth.

Sara had just stuffed some lo mein into her mouth so Oliver answered for her, "Yes, a lot of low-income families in Lamb Valley have contracted TB and this guy," He set his fried rice down and hit a button on the computer pulling up a picture of a scowling man with a mean look in his eye. "Is Justin Claybourne the CEO of Claybourne Pharmaceuticals. He recently purchased large quantities of the main TB drug right before the outbreak and where it used to cost $10 a dose, he has jacked the price up to about $1,000 for each dose."

"Lamb Valley is a poverty-stricken area, those people can't pay that!" Dig exclaimed frowning.

"Dig, you're right and the hospitals are struggling to keep up with treating them, not to mention that those that survive are faced with crippling debt." Sara said nodding as she set down her food. She pointed to the computer with her chopstick, "Thanks to that asshole."

"He's also on the list, so the Hood will be paying him a visit tonight to give him a chance to get his company back on the right path." Oliver said with finality.

Two days later Sara clambered down the stairs after a long shift at the hospital, anger radiating off of her. She stormed over to where Diggle and Oliver were waiting, glowering at them in her anger. "That sack of shit hasn't lowered prices or anything. I lost a patient today due to it and the fact that he couldn't afford the meds!"

Oliver sighed; he didn't want to give his girlfriend the news that he had just found out. She saw in his face that he had found something because she asked, "What happened?"

He sighed, "I dug deeper into Claybourne and what he had been doing and I found out that he didn't just raise the prices on the TB medicine, he actually created the outbreak."

"What?" Sara yelled, absolutely furious at the news.

"He is a part of the AK Desmond group; they are black marketeers who specialize in creating bioweapons." Oliver said.

Diggle shook his head, "So he creates this weaponized TB to make a profit on low-income families?"

Oliver nodded, "It looks that way." Oliver looked at Dig, "You still have a problem with me putting an arrow into him once and for all?"

Dig sighed, but Sara cut in before he could answer, "I do." Oliver's head whipped around; he would have thought that Sara would get it. She walked over to him.

"I totally understand the urge to take this jerk off of the board, and I would love to have him dealt with permanently. But we have to think about the families of the victims. If we can bring him into the police, then hopefully those families can get justice and see him pay for his actions and, fingers crossed, get a settlement that some of these families desperately need."

"We?" Oliver questioned.

"Yes Oliver, we. If you are going to go after Captain Asshat, I'm coming with." She cut Oliver off before he could argue, "You know I can handle myself, so don't even try to argue."

"I've been trying to convince Oliver to leave some of the people he is going after alive for the cops to arrest." Dig said, looking at his boss.

"But Claybourne has the money to buy off both judges and juries." Oliver countered.

"But we have a Laurel." Sara countered. She sighed, "My sister may be a colossal pain in my butt, but she is a great lawyer."

Oliver sighed, they both had good points. "I'm going see if I can get Felicity to find the address of this AK Desmond group. Sara, why don't you go check with Laurel and see if we can get a list of everything that we would need to make sure that Claybourne will be convicted." He took a deep breath. "But if he escapes or gets off..." He let his statement hang and both Dig and Sara nodded in agreement.

The next night the three of them convened in the basement of the club. Sara, clad in black leggings, black boots, and a black leather jacket, handed a list to Oliver. Her hair was pulled back into a tight bun and she had a ski mask in her pocket and she was ready to go. "That is the list of things Laurel said that they would need to make sure that he never sees the light of day."

Looking over the list Oliver realized that just taking Claybourne's computer should be evidence enough, provided that it contained the key files. Nodding he looked at Sara, "I've got the address. Felicity said she had magic fingers." He grinned, and then turned serious looking at Sara, "Are you sure about this?"

"For the last time, I can take care of myself, and I am very, very sure." Sara's serious face assured him that she was ready.

"Take the escrima sticks, you're really good with those." Dig said, rubbing his hand where she had gotten him when they were sparring the day before.

"Okay, the building will most likely be heavily guarded since the Vigilante paid Claybourne a visit a few days ago. They will most likely expect that I'm coming, but they won't expect you too, so that should give us the advantage. Once we have him contained, I'll grab the computer, if you can grab any of the paper files that Laurel will need. Then we'll make a special delivery to Detective Lance." Oliver outlined the plan.

"Remember Oliver, the guards are paid to be there," Dig added dryly.

"Knee and shoulder strikes then," Oliver said with a scowl. "But if they still get up."

Dig held up his hands, "You gave them a chance, that's all I ask. Actions can have long lasting effects so I'm glad that you are listening to us." Oliver didn't say anything, he just scowled as he stalked off to change into his green leathers.

An hour later Sara and the Vigilante were standing outside of the building. Oliver turned to his partner, "Ready?"

"Ready." She answered and they took the building. The guards, and there were a lot of them, were prepared for them, but between Sara's knee strikes with her sticks and Oliver putting an arrow in their shoulder they all went down fairly quickly. They confronted Claybourne on the roof, Oliver wanted nothing more than to put an arrow in the man who killed all those people just to make more money, but he did what he promised Sara and Dig and easily disabled the man with an arrow to the opposite knee that he had put an arrow in when he had given him his warning, and Sara's stick to the head. Sara slapped a pair of handcuffs on him and when the man wouldn't stop talking, Oliver taped his mouth shut. Oliver then dragged him over to the elevator making a stop in the man's office to grab the rest of the evidence before Dig pulled up with the van to transport their prisoner to the police station.

Their ploy to get Lance to come to the backdoor was for Sara to call her him saying that she needed to talk to him. He was to step out and see Oliver, dressed as the Vigilante, standing there with Claybourne and the evidence. The call worked like a charm and soon the three of them were back in the Lair. All that the news stations were covering the next day was about how CEO Justin Claybourne had been arrested and charged with multiple counts of murder and too many other charges to be listed.

Standing in the Lair while they were watching the news reports, Dig looked over at Oliver and said, "You and Sara did good."

***ARROW***

Felicity hid in her room at the Queen mansion listening to the phone ring at the other end. Once it went to voicemail she said, "Oliver Jonas Queen, I have cursed your name so many times especially as I was pushing your child into this world, but I will never forgive you for forcing me to have brunch with your family and the Bowens. Where are you?! You were supposed to be here and spend time with Olivia!" She hit the button to end the call and sat on the floor beside the door seething in anger. It was supposed to have been a relaxing day at the mansion. Thea had told her that Carter Bowen was supposed to be attending with his parents, so Felicity had planned on getting there right as the Bowens left, so that Oliver could spend some time with Olivia, and she got to eat without having to listen to that insufferable brat brag on about himself continuously.

But Oliver had flaked, again which meant that Felicity and Olivia had walked right into the middle of brunch that the Queens were having with the Bowens. Olivia was down there right now while Felicity was supposedly using the bathroom while she actually called Oliver. She didn't want to go back downstairs, so she would just have to tell Moira after the Bowens left that she had had some stomach issues.

Felicity leaned against the wall thinking about Oliver and everything that had happened since he had returned from the island. First, he had been arrested for being the vigilante, which wasn't completely out there, then he was attacked in the house, and then Sara had let her know that her and Oliver were seeing each other because she hadn't wanted it to affect their friendship.

Felicity liked Sara, but she was worried and wondered if she and Oliver would be able to have a stable relationship with all the trauma that they had both been through. That wasn't something she had to worry about though, even though she did. What she did have to worry about was Oliver promising to spend time with Olivia and then flaking out and not actually showing up or saying that he was going to pick Livy up and then having Thea or Tommy being the ones to actually do it. She understood that he was busy and that opening a club was a lot of work, but couldn't he just spend some time and build a relationship with his child? Her head thunked the wall in frustration.

Her door opened and Olivia and Thea came in. Olivia ran over to where Felicity was sitting on the floor and curled up in her lap, "Mommy where did you go?"

"My stomach hurt." Felicity answered and ignored Thea's snicker.

Thea joined them on the floor. "So have you noticed how hot Tommy's gotten lately?" She said with a spacey smile on her face.

"Thea, no. Don't even think about going there." Felicity told her flatly. "First he's like a brother to you and he sees you like his little sister, second he's too old for you, and third you know that he's gone for Laurel."

"I thought that with Ollie back, that he and Laurel would pick things back up." Thea said wistfully.

"Livy, why don't you go and play in your room for a bit?" Felicity asked her daughter, picking her up and setting her on her feet.

"But I wanna hear!" The little girl cried pouting.

"If you go and play maybe we can get some ice cream after lunch?" Felicity said, not above bribing her child.

"With sparkles?" Olivia asked hopefully.

"Yes, with sprinkles." Felicity nodded correcting her daughter.

"Okay!" She ran to her room slamming the door behind her.

With a sigh Felicity turned and looked at Thea, "Aren't you the one who told Oliver that Tommy and Laurel were doing whatever it is that they are doing?"

"I was drunk," Thea responded with a shrug. "Plus, do you know how many times Oliver and Laurel have broken up just to get back together?"

"I'm pretty sure that number is way too many to count."

Thea's eyes got wide, "Ohhhhh, you like Ollie!"

Felicity felt like banging her head on the wall again, "While I do like your brother, most of the time, I don't want to be with him. It's hard enough trying to co-parent with him, much less have a relationship with him. I honestly don't know how Sara does it."

Narrowing her eyes Thea said, "Wait Ollie and Sara are dating? Since when?! Are you sure? Who told you?"

"Sara did." Felicity saw the surprise flash across Thea's face, "What? Did Oliver not tell you?"

Thea crossed her arms and sulked, "Oliver doesn't tell me anything, he just disappears! And the other day when Tommy was here he asked me the best way to show a girl that he was really interested in her. I should have known that it was for Laurel, everything's about the perfect Laurel." With that she sprang to her feet and stalked out of the room slamming the door behind her. Felicity sighed, now she really was getting a stomachache.

Later Felicity was in Olivia's room at the mansion after they had come home from a gala that Tommy had hosted and she was trying to convince her stubborn daughter that it was actually bedtime and that she needed to get her jammies on and brush her teeth, when Oliver stuck his head into the room. "Grab your shoes, we're going to Big Belly Burger."

"Who's we?" Felicity asked as Olivia screeched, "Can we get shakemilks?"

"You, Mom and I, and of course!" Oliver said with a grin. Felicity gave him a frustrated look, "Mom had some very valid words for me tonight about being home to see my family. So, I thought that we could all go out for shakes and burgers!" His phone dinged, and after looking at it his smile grew even bigger, "And Sara is going to be joining us!"

"Fine," Felicity agreed, "But if I get anything on this dress you are paying for the dry-cleaning!" She was glad that Tommy had invited her to his gala, she had enjoyed the food and the chance to get dressed up and go out when pretty much all she did was be a personal researcher for Oliver, ferret out secret accounts for Walter, and do any menial tasks that her boss assigned when she wasn't taking care of Olivia. So a night enjoying free food and a chance to get all dolled up had been fun.

The group of seven had fun. Olivia demanded both Thea and Sara's attention. She wanted to share their food, sit on their laps, and generally be a precious four year old who was staying up way past her bedtime and drinking copious amounts of milkshake. It gave Felicity had a chance to get to know Diggle, while Moira and Oliver also got a chance to talk. Oliver even convinced his mom to pick up the burger to eat it. So the evening was considered a success with Moira proclaiming that Big Belly Burger had the best burgers and shakes, or as Olivia called them shakemilk's, in the city.

***ARROW***

Oliver grunted at the impact of Sara's escrima stick hitting his. She had almost got another hit in under his guard, but not quite, "Try varying your speed," he suggested demonstrating what he meant.

"And how about you never try to train Helena Bertinelli again," Sara growled, aggressively hitting back.

"For the last time, I was just trying to help her!" Oliver snarled in frustration as he blocked and then struck back.

"You have a funny way of trying to help the woman that almost killed your mom. Do you remember that?" Sara shot back.

"Of course I remember, that's why I tried to train her! If she could get her anger under control, she might actually be able to do some good." Anger and frustration poured from Oliver's body as he went on the attack again.

Sara took a hit but shook it off, rolling under the next strike, "Well giving a crossbow to a psycho who already doesn't care about the lives of civilians is a special kind of stupid Oliver."

Oliver growled and pressed his advantage, "I was trying to help!"

"And you're succeeding with that about as well as you are succeeding at being a dad." Sara threw back at him. "You do realize her birthday is in a few days, right?"

He paused for a second and that was all the chance Sara needed to lay him out on the pads. He looked up at her from the floor, "Is it really Livy's birthday soon?

Sara sat down beside him, "Yeah, Oliver. I know that Felicity has told you this, but she will be five on the fifteenth." She grabbed her water bottle and towel, took a drink and mopped the sweat off her face. "Oliver, I love you and I am going to try to say this in the nicest way possible, but if you don't want to lose that kid, you're going to have to step up more. Felicity is doing an incredible job, but Livy needs her dad too."

"Yeah, I know. I need to do better. I will do better." Oliver said as he sat up.

Sara took another drink of water, "You do realize that it's almost Christmas too?" She asked, watching his face. Oliver looked at her in stunned silence. "You somehow missed all the Christmas music and decorations everywhere?"

Oliver shook his head, sadness filling his face, "On the Island there weren't any holidays. Every day was a fight for survival, I just forgot to even look forward to Christmas." He smiled, "You remember Dad's parties?"

Sara smiled and nodded, "I think I was in like eighth grade when we got invited for the first time. It was magical."

"Dad had a tree up in every room and it made the house smell really nice." He remised. "Did Mom and Thea not continue the tradition to have the party?"

Sara shrugged, "Not that I was invited to, but because of what happened at the funeral I was kinda persona non grata for a bit, and then I was off 'saving the world' according to Dad. You'd have to ask Thea or Felicity if they did."

They sat in silence for a bit until the spell was broken by the beeping of the alarm on Sara's phone.

"Sorry, that's my I've got to get ready to head into work alarm." She said as she leaned in for a kiss and was then quickly on her way leaving Oliver sitting deep in thought on the mat.

It was Livy's fifth birthday and Christmas, but it was his first Christmas back from the island and he wanted to make it special for all of them and something that would be remembered. He texted Thea, asking her to meet him, because he needed to get some answers to what had happened while he had been gone.

***ARROW***

Once he had time to process what Thea had told him had happened while he was gone, Oliver was determined to throw a wonderful Christmas gala slash birthday party. He figured that they could have Olivia's party during the afternoon and then the festivities could transition into an adult party in the evening. He planned to hire a baby-sitter to watch Olivia during the evening so that Felicity could go and enjoy the gala without having to worry about their daughter. His mind made-up, he texted the family and asked them all to meet him in the drawing room.

"We're celebrating Christmas." Was his opening statement once everybody was situated on the couches. "I've gone five years without it, and then Thea tells me that you guys didn't really have it either and that I'm the reason for that. So maybe now I can be the reason we have Christmas this year." Everybody was quiet so Oliver continued, "I thought that we could throw the Queen Christmas Party, preceded by the best birthday party for the best going to be five year old little girl." Olivia cheered at that.

Thea scoffed, "You?"

Sighing Oliver said, "I know I haven't been the dad, friend, son, brother, or stepson, that all of you deserve, especially lately. But I think that I'm starting to get my feet back under me and this… this feels like the right moment to start making up for lost time. What do you all say?"

Moira smiled gently at her son, "I say, yes."

"Of course, Daddy!" Olivia shouted with excitement, then she whispered loudly, as almost five-year-olds were apt to do, "Will you get me a pony?"

"No ponies!" Felicity stated, "And yes to the party."

Oliver grinned, "Okay, yes! I will take care of everything! You don't have to do or worry about anything. Just show up, look fantastic and bring some Christmas cheer, okay?"

Moira agreed, but Thea was silent until Oliver stared at her, "Okay, fine." He wasn't going to let her doom and gloom attitude dampen his newfound holiday spirit.

"You're a good man, Oliver." Walter said gravely. With a spring in his step Oliver left to start the party planning. But first he had to take care of some Vigilante business by getting Detective Lance to give him one of the arrows from the Dark Archer who had recently shown up and had been tormenting the city.

Once Lance got the black archer's arrow to him, he went to QC to talk to Felicity about the party and to see if she would be able to track the origins of the arrow. "Hey," he said leaning against the wall, when Felicity, who was focused on her computer screen didn't look up as he entered. Startled, she jumped in her seat.

"Ever hear of knocking?" She exclaimed, clutching her hand to her chest.

Oliver laughed, "It's the IT department, Felicity and your door was open. Anyway, I was hoping that you would help me with some ideas for Olivia's party, and I need your help to track something down for me." He held up the canister for her to see.

"What happened to 'I'll take care of it, just show up with Christmas cheer' yada, yada, yada." She said leaning back and crossing her arms.

"I quickly realized that I needed the help of an expert, in order to pull off the best birthday bash." Oliver said contritely.

"Alright, let me see what that is and if I can track it down, and then we can talk birthday party over lunch. You're taking me out somewhere and paying!" Felicity said sternly.

"Of course." Oliver got the arrow out and told her the story that he had come up with as an explanation which he thought sounded reasonable. Within minutes of examining the arrow, Felicity had the answers that he needed. Grinning he said, "Thank you Felicity! You are a remarkable woman."

A soft smile crossed her face, "Thank your for remarking on it now let's go and get food. I'm in the mood for some dumplings."

Over dim sum and dumplings Felicity and Oliver talked about what Olivia liked and came up with the perfect party plan for her. And Felicity gently reminded him that if he wanted to be a father to Livy he would have to stop not showing up when he promised to be somewhere.

The day of the parties dawned clear and bright and Olivia's birthday party went off without a hitch. Everyone showed up and Olivia had a ball. There were two hours in between the two events to allow the decorators to make all of the pink and purple decorations vanish and the caterers to start on the more adult hors d'oeuvres. In that gap, Oliver managed to slip away unnoticed to track down a lead. He managed to slip back into the mansion and into the Christmas party without anyone having noticed that he had been missing, even if he did smell of smoke because of almost being blown up.

Olivia and Felicity wore matching dresses in a dark green that looked absolutely stunning on them, and Oliver told them so. "Thank you, Daddy!" Olivia said a huge grin on her face.

Turning to Felicity, "I made sure that the decorators put up some Hanukkah decorations up as well to represent your Jewish faith."

"DeDe always says that I was her Hanukkah present!" Olivia chirped, jumping up and down excitedly. "Look Daddy these shoes make a clinking sound when I jump! And they make me jump so high!"

The front door opened just then and Sara stepped in. She was dressed in a deep red sheath dress with a thigh high split up one leg. She made her way over to the group.

"Aunt Sara you look like a Barbie!" Olivia squealed in excitement.

Sara crouched down to look Olivia in the eyes, "And you look just like a Queen, milady!" She ticked the little girl who giggled. "There might just be some presents for a few people in my car, if someone wants to help me bring them in.

"I will! I will!" Olivia cried grabbing Sara's hand and dragging her out the door.

"I've never seen a kid more motivated by presents." Felicity commented, shaking her head as she and Oliver watched their daughter lead Sara away.

"You should have seen Thea as a kid. She would have done just about anything to get a present." Oliver said, grinning fondly, "We used to have these candy cane eating contests where the first one who finished would get the present and she would always cheat."

The door opened and Oliver saw the kid that had spoken with him and Thea in the diner earlier that week there, carrying a small bouquet of flowers. The kid slipped off into the crowd when Sara came back inside with Olivia and the presents that she had gotten her for Christmas. "Remember, those go under your tree!" Sara told her. She linked hands with Oliver, and they walked into the main room where the rest of the guests were. The house had been beautifully decorated for Christmas with a bit of Hanukkah thrown in. Sara went to the bar to grab them a drink while Oliver went over to where Moira, Walter, and Thea were holding court. When he reached them, he asked, "What do you think? We need to get a family picture!" Before anybody could protest, he gestured Felicity and Olivia over for a quick photo.

The kid, Oliver still couldn't remember his name, approached Moira with his flowers. As she left to put the flowers in water, Oliver noticed tension radiating between her and Walter. "Is everything okay?" He asked, concerned.

"It will be, Oliver." Walter assured him with a pat on the shoulder.

Seeing Tommy and Laurel enter the room he excused himself and went over to greet them. "Glad you guys could make it!" He said trying to be cheerful, but it was just all kinds of awkward with him dating Sara and Laurel dating Tommy. After a few minutes of horrible, tense, small talk Tommy excused himself to grab some drinks. Sara came up sliding her arm through Oliver's and handing him a drink. Laurel shot her sister a dirty look.

"Something to say Laurel?" Sara asked, feigning innocence.

"No," Laurel replied icily, then she sighed, and the expression dropped. She looked at Oliver, "While you were gone, I got kinda stuck emotionally." Sara snorted. "Can you just stop?" Laurel snapped at her. "I'm trying to get something off my chest here."

"Fine then," Sara said downing her drink in one go. "I'm going to get another drink, or something."

Laurel looked disappointed, "I'm sorry, I'm screwing everything up tonight. I just wanted to tell you that I didn't expect to fall in love with Tommy."

"I'm just glad you both are happy. That's all that matters." Oliver responded laying a hand on her shoulder,

Smiling at him Laurel nodded, "I am happy. Are you?" She looked to where Sara was leaning against the bar knocking a drink back.

"Most of the time." He said with a sigh and a slight smile.

"Good, now go and keep my little sister out of trouble." Laurel said and then went to go join Tommy.

"Done flirting with Laurel?" Sara snipped at him when Oliver joined her at the bar.

Setting his still full glass on the bar Oliver gave Sara his full attention. "I wasn't flirting with Laurel," he sighed.

"Whatever," Sara muttered as she turned back to the bar and asked for a refill of her own drink while she finished Oliver's.

"Hey!" Oliver said, grabbing her arm.

Her head snapped around, "Do not touch me like that." Sara hissed at him.

Oliver was about to respond when he heard Olivia yell, "No! I don't wanna!"

Looking at Sara, he said, "Go home, or get a room upstairs if you are already that drunk, we'll talk later." He then hurried over to where Felicity was struggling with a furious and over-tired Olivia.

She broke from her Felicity and ran to Oliver. "Daddy, tell Mommy that I can stay!"

Oliver glanced at Felicity who shook her head slightly.

"I think it's past your bedtime." Oliver said, backing Felicity up.

"But it's party day and the party isn't over. I'm not leaving!" Olivia cried stomping her little foot.

Oliver looked over Felicity who looked worn and tired, "What happened to the babysitter that I hired?"

"She flaked out and didn't show. I don't mind, though," Felicity shrugged. "This really isn't my scene." Then she looked down to where Olivia was pouting. "Olivia Meghan, it's time to go."

"Daddy," She cried grabbing onto his leg. Oliver bent down and picked her up, "Sorry Baby, it's your bedtime."

The little girl broke out in sobs, "You're the meanest Daddy in the world, I don't like you no more! You can go back to the Island." She wiggled aggressively to be set down and once Oliver set her down, she then ran out the door and up the steps towards their bedrooms. Felicity sighed and turned to follow her daughter with Oliver following right behind her. At the top of the steps Felicity turned around. "It's OK, Oliver. Go back to the party, I've got her." She didn't seem mad, just resigned.

Oliver felt a bit despondent after the argument with Sara, his mom's weird behavior, and now Olivia's tantrum; this day was not turning out the way that he hoped. He sighed and wanting Thea's opinion on the whole Mom situation, he went to her room and knocked lightly "Hey Speedy, I need to ask you something." he said as he opened the door and poked his head in. He was shocked to see his little sister half undressed with the boy from earlier on her bed. After kicking the kid out and arguing with Thea, it was a bit of a relief when Dig came to get him and told him that the Dark Archer was holding hostages and taunting the Vigilante on TV. He was glad that he was able to leave the party to save the hostages and to give the Dark Archer the beating his deserved, thereby getting out all of his frustrations from the day.

Freeing the hostages turned out to be the easy part. After they were freed the Dark Archer found him in a hallway, challenging him by matching him shot for shot. Oliver was able to eventually get away and gain the higher ground, but as Oliver was drawing back to get the kill shot the archer turned and found him in the rafters.

Oliver tried to get down without giving the Archer a clean shot, but his adversary got him in the leg with an arrow. He landed hard, but the pain wasn't enough to stop him, and he got several more shots off before the Dark Archer disappeared, then reappeared behind him, shooting him twice in the back.

With pain radiating through his chest and clouding his reaction time Oliver realized that he wasn't going to be able to win this fight as injured as he was. Turning he tried to make a run for it, but his opponent caught up to him and slammed him through the old boards that made up the walls. Once on the ground the Dark Archer kicked him mercilessly, over and over again until Oliver could feel his ribs crack and then break as it got harder and harder for him to breathe.

Oliver realized that if he didn't make his move soon, he was going to be a dead man. Grabbing one of the flechettes from his gauntlet he buried it in the thigh of the Dark Archer. The surprise of the dart entering his thigh slowed the Dark Archer down just enough that Oliver was able to defend himself and he slugged the Archer hard enough to daze him.

With the Archer temporarily dazed Oliver used the opportunity and the last of his strength to quickly limp away; only stopping to use a wall to rip the arrows that were embedded in his body. With the last of his strength, he pushed himself out of a window toppling out, only to bounce off the lid of a dumpster which caused his whole body to light up with more pain. As he landed on the ground, he hit his head leaving Oliver barely clinging to consciousness. Calling on the last of his energy, he pulled out the radio Dig had insisted that he take and said, "Dig," He coughed not quite being able to catch his breath and barely whispered. "Help, I need help..." His voice trailed off as he lost his battle to stay awake and unconsciousness claimed him.