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He had met with Ra's al Ghul, and now his heart was shattered.
He walked slowly down the stairs of the Foundry, keeping his head down. Felicity, Roy, and Laurel were waiting and watching, he knew, but they were waiting for him to tell them good news: that he had found Sara's killer and Ra's would stop his assault on the city's citizens.
He had found her killer. He wish that he hadn't.
"Did you find them?" Laurel broke the silence.
Oliver looked up at them, and they immediately knew something was wrong. He nodded.
Laurel made a small, strangled noise with her throat, but he could see relief on her face. It would be short lived.
"Who was it?" Roy asked gruffly. He hadn't been happy to be left out of the meeting, but Ra's had insisted that Oliver come alone, and you don't go back on your word to someone like him.
Oliver's voice broke despite his best effort to keep it steady, "Thea."
The reaction was instantaneous. Roy was ashen, shaking his head. The woman that he still loved despite his protests otherwise wasn't a cold blooded killer. Laurel collapsed onto the floor. Oliver knew her struggle. Thea, someone she viewed as a surrogate sister, had killed her biological sister. She wouldn't be able to wrap her head around it quickly. He still hadn't.
Felicity's face was white, but she was watching him closely. She knew him so well. She always had. She knew there was more.
Diggle moved to grab his gun, "Ok. Where's Thea? If we move now, we can cut the league off..."
"Trial by combat," Oliver stopped him. "Ra's and I have decided that she be tried by combat."
"She doesn't stand a chance against him!" Roy was angry.
Oliver didn't blame him. He was angry, too. He was a lot of things. But, mostly, he was resigned. Oliver nodded, "I know. That's why I volunteered to be her proxy. And Ra's agreed."
"What?! No! You can't do this," Laurel gasped.
"Thea following Malcolm is my fault. Without me, her mother wouldn't be dead. Without me, Slade never would have assaulted the city, and Malcolm would have never had his in. She's lost and she's confused, but she's not a bad person, Laurel. She's lost and confused and she needs people to guide her to a better path. I won't let her die for my mistakes."
"There has to be another way," Felicity was desperate
"It's done," he replied shortly. He moved to the table past all of them and removed his bow and quiver.
Diggle frowned, "What are you doing?"
"I need to go now or The League is going to go after my sister and my city. He picked the weapons already, and it's swords. I can't use my bow. Ra's had already showed me a courtesy by letting me come back here and explain to you guys...," he paused. "And to leave me say goodbye."
--- --- --- ----
Felicity ran up the stairs after him, catching him before he had crossed all the way through Verdant's empty club. She placed a hand on his forearm, and he turned to face her.
She could see the pain that momentarily flashed across his face before his mask fell into place. He nodded, "Felicity."
"I believe in you," she said firmly. "You think that you're sacrificing yourself. I can see it in your eyes. But you're not. You're going to win."
She stepped closer to him and her hands moved to the back of his neck. Standing on her tip toes, she kissed him with every bit of emotion that she had felt towards him in the last three years.
When they parted, she held his gaze, "You're going to win, and you're going to come back to me."
She wasn't sure, but she thought she saw the spark of the fire she was so familiar with seeing in his eyes return.
He nodded and left.
--- --- --- ----
The snow was falling more heavily now, the crowd around them growing restless. They both had a few cuts: some superficial, others more serious. And they were both starting to lag.
Oliver thought briefly that he could do it. He could win this, pardon Thea, make it home to Felicity.
He swung his blades, attacking Ra's with a new found furor.
Ra's returned in kind. But he was more skilled at the weapons, and Oliver was outmatched. Soon, Oliver was on his knees, a blade at his neck.
"You lose."
--- --- --- ----
Felicity waited at her computers in The Foundry. Roy, Diggle, and Laurel were all training behind her to try and keep their minds off of Oliver.
She couldn't think of anything but.
So she waited. And waited. And waited.