Athena and the League of Assassins (An Arrow: Season 3 Fanfiction)

Chapter 32: You Are Al Sah-him

The swords clashed endlessly in a dance of sparks as the Arrow and Ra's al Ghul fought relentlessly as the same two sentences played over and over like a broken record. 

'Oliver Queen is alive only in the past. He is forgotten.' 

'You are Al Sah-him.' 

Over and over as the swords clashed. 

Solitary confinement. 

Meagre rations. 

Woken with buckets of water to the face. 

Chained for endless hours to a long chain. 

Ra's al Ghul pulled the Arrow up from the fighting ground.

'You have made great progress in three weeks,' Ra's complimented him as he pulled off his hood and mask. 'Al Sah-him. You no longer flinch upon hearing your new name.' 

'Oliver Queen is alive only in the past. He's forgotten,' Arrow replied, monotonously. 

'Indeed. You are Al Sah-him. You are Wah-reeth al Ghul. Heir to the Demon.' 

'My lord,' Sarab said, walking into the circle with two League members, with a prisoner in tow. 'I apologise for this interruption. We captured this intruder.' They dragged a person with a military scarf and jacket, of large stature, into the circle. 

'Why, then, is he yet still alive?' Ra's questioned. 

'He is known to Al Sah-him.' They forced the man to his knees and yanked the bag off of his head. 

'Oliver, what the hell is going on?' Diggle asked, staring in horror at Oliver's new visage. 

'Clearly he made another attempt to free Al Sah-him,' Sarab said. 

'Well, then it falls on Al Sah-him to deal with him,' Ra's replied. 

'Oliver, they're lying to you. I never made it home. They've had me here prisoner for weeks.' 

'My oath of mercy on your friends was promised by your fealty,' Ra's said to the Arrow. 'Prove it.' He handed a blade to the Arrow, who took it. 

'No, Oliver. Listen to me. They're lying to you. We could still get out of here; you and me working together. There's still a chance.' 

'Remove his chains,' the Arrow ordered, ignoring Diggle's pleas. They did so. 'Give him your sword, Sarab,' he added. 'I will not kill an unarmed man.' Sarab gave Diggle his sword and he held it, weakly at best. 

'That's the way this is? You've been here for a few weeks and you forget who you are.' He grasped the sword, ready for the fight to come. 'Do you remember when you brought me into your crusade, I told you that I would be here to remind you who Oliver was if you ever became something else. I haven't given up on that promise.' 

'Fight.' Unlike the fight with Ra's, the fight between the Arrow and Diggle was clumsy at best, and the military man was soon overpowered by the Arrow. He got up on his knees long enough to speak to the Arrow. Without hesitation, he thrust his sword into Diggle's chest, and he collapsed to the sand, dead. Using his foot, he turned him over. It wasn't Diggle at all. Just some random guy that he'd killed, apparently. 

'The past three weeks,' Ra's said, walking around the dead man to stand nearest the Arrow, 'you've been exposed to an rare herb, centuries old. It causes one's conscience to come to the forefront of their mind so it is the only thing that they see. The herb's affect is different for everyone. Some people see family or loved ones. Others encounter trusted friends or teachers. Who did you see?' The Arrow did not answer. 'Very well. There is something else I wish you to see. Come.' Ra's al Ghul turned and walked away, and the Arrow followed. 

'Where?' 

'The past. A place now home only for the dead.' 

In Starling City... 

'And here comes the Cat-5 prong into the Ethernet port!' Felicity said cheerfully, as she scooped baby food into little Sara Diggle's mouth as Thea looked on with adoring eyes. 

'Even if she knew what that was,' Lyla commented, placing a panful of chicken cacciatore on the table, 'even if I knew what that was, I think Sara's a little too young for chicken cacciatore.' 

'Well, my Mom used to feed me nachos from the bar at the Grand before I was off the bottle,' Felicity replied, 'and I turned out normal.' The two women sat, as did Lyla. 

'Ish,' Thea replied snarkily as she sipped her glass of wine. The door opened and Evelyn and John stepped through, John placing his Glock on the table, taking the glass of wine from Lyla. 

'John... what's the house rule?' she said in a warning tone. 

'No Glocks on the dinner table,' he said, obliging, placing it on a dresser nearby. Evelyn took her seat, as did John. 

'How did it go out there tonight?' Felicity asked. 

'Your intel was spot on,' Diggle replied. 'Caught four Halcones at the docks trying to unload a shipment of M16s.' 

'Well, I'm especially proud that you didn't get yourself killed,' Lyla remarked. 

'That was my favorite part, too,' he replied, kissing her on the lips tenderly. 

'If you're going to keep going out into the field,' Felicity spoke up, 'we should really design you some sort of...' 

'Do not say "costume",' Diggle said with an exasperated groan. 

'Okay. Identity concealment,' she replied cheekily, using air quotes. 'Look, eventually, we're going to have to figure out a new status quo, a working one, now that...' The mood at the dinner table instantly darkened as both Queen girls looked down. Evelyn sniffled. 

'Ollie's gone,' Thea finished for Felicity. 

'How are you doing?' Diggle asked her. 

'Having never been resurrected before, I don't really have anything to compare it to.' 

'I mean about Oliver. Being gone.' 

'I don't know,' she said, shaking her head slowly. 'Mornings are the worst. I can't really... leave the loft, so it's nice to be able to come here.' 

'You two are always welcome in our home,' Lyla said tenderly, reaching over to squeeze both my hand and Thea's.

'Thank you,' I said brokenly. 

'I just miss him,' Thea said. 'The fact that he's gone because of me -' 

'He wouldn't want you blaming yourself,' Felicity said softly to Thea. 

'She's right, sis. He wouldn't want you - or any of us, to blame ourselves for it.' Diggle took my hand. 

'How are you doing?' I looked at him. 

'You saw how I handled things at the docks. How do you think I'm doing?' I ran a hand through my hair and leaned back in my seat, taking a big gulp of my glass of wine. 'Losing him all over again - it always hits different. Always sucks the same, though. Only this time... he's gone for good, and I wish there was something I could do to get him back, but only I can't. And I hate that I can't do anything, except sit and try to still help people despite my own grief. I think maybe bottling it up works, but I know it doesn't. So I just... I just try. I want to just keep trying. Every day.' I looked around at the group. 'For Oliver. Always.' 

'In the military, they have a saying for a soldier that makes the ultimate sacrifice,' Diggle said, raising his glass. 'Gone, but never forgotten.' We clinked glasses. 

'Gone, but never forgotten,' Lyla echoed.