Season 3: Rebuilding

3x10: Into Darkness

Synopsis: 6 weeks after the ordeal on Lian Yu, Felicity returns from recuperation abroad only to find that things have changed in her absence. Laurel is gone, Simon Cross' influence over QC is at an all-time high and Oliver has withdrawn from the public eye.

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3x10: Into Darkness

Oliver followed his running prey with the arrow. The compound bow was strung tight and the aim never lowered as he followed the fleeing target. In that second, he felt as one with the forest around him. He could feel the rustle of the leaves as the wind blew by, the scent of foreign berries to his left, the sweat against his back as the sun lingered in the sky above.

He exhaled slowly and released the arrow. As it left his bow, Oliver knew it would hit its mark. The notion didn't please him, as he had expected, but he calmly accepted the dark truth. It had to be done, after all. He watched the thin, sharp weapon soar through the air, heading in a straight line towards its target.

Oliver watched as the arrow pierced Slade's neck, and the man fell to the ground. Slade Wilson was dead.

Oliver awoke with a start. His chest heaved with a need for oxygen as the nightmare rewinded itself in his head. It was the same dream he'd had almost every night for the past weeks.

Every night he relived his encounter with Slade in the woods on Lian Yu, and it was almost exactly as it had been in reality. Almost, except that the dream ended with him killing Slade, instead of letting him flee.

Unable to go back to sleep, Oliver pushed back his covers and stepped out of bed. He padded bare-feet across his silent, dark flat as he listened to his own raggedy breathing fill the void. He stepped into the small kitchen and opened the fridge. The cool air helped to stabilize his mind and he inhaled deeply as he let the last remnants of the dream fade away with the coldness.

Oliver withdrew a bottle of water and took a deep swig. He leaned back against the counter as he felt his mind clear up once more.

Six weeks had passed since that day in Purgatory, six weeks since he'd almost killed his once friend and ally. 10 months ago, when he had spared Slade's life after he had attacked Starling City, everything had been different. Oliver had been on top of the world after that. The city had accepted him as a hero, and he'd even embraced that title for himself. He had made the right choice and saved himself, in a way, that time.

But when Slade had escaped from his cell to torment him once more, Oliver had started to question his mind and reasoning. He had let Slade live back then, and in return Slade had nearly killed Felicity. Oliver had come closer than ever to losing one of the most important people in his life, and it had driven him towards a steep edge from which there was no return.

When he'd learned Felicity had been taken to Lian Yu, he'd been terrified. The Island played with your mind and stripped you of your humanity, leaving you a cold-hearted monster. He had feared the worst. It wasn't her death that scared him the most, it was the loss of her soul. Felicity represented all that was good in his life, and Slade had all but ripped that part of his soul from his bleeding bones and crushed it to hopeless dust.

Even when they had found Felicity, and Oliver held her safe in his arms, he knew deep inside something had to change.

She had never been his to lose, but still he felt as if he had lost her in a way. He had to let her go, and everything else she represented. He had been the cause of her suffering, he had nearly cost her everything. In the grand scheme of things, he didn't deserve the innocence and humanity she brought into his life. He could see this clearer than ever before now.