Disclaimer: I'm a poor bloke who doesn't own anything.

This is the prequel to the whole 'Endless' series I'm currently working on.

Thanks in advance for your extreme patience. I hope you enjoy.

Summary: In the end, it was her choice.

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Chapter 1

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8:01 pm

Mocking silence looms over the lair. All they had was an hour. Oliver growls in frustration. How could he have been so stupid? So careless? The resounding slam of his fists on the metal table causes both of his colleagues to react: Felicity suddenly gripping the sides of her chair in surprise (and fear), Diggle approaching him with caution, calling out his name.

They had just received a call from Slade Wilson.

8:03 pm

"Oliver," the man remains motionless, he tries again, "Oliver, I know how you feel, but we need to focus on how to get them back safely." And with that, Felicity starts to track them down. "Right now I need you to pull yourself together."

Oliver hears this and stands, his muscles taunt, ready to release hell on those who dared hurt the ones he cared about. "Call Sara and Roy," he ordered, his voice deep and unforgiving, "they need to know. Tell them to come here. We'll need a plan to kill that son of a bitch."

No time was wasted as calls were made and explanations given; both men rush to prepare themselves for the impending fight; Felicity running scan after scan to find where Thea and Laurel were being kept hostage.

In the next few minutes, Roy and Sara come bursting through the door, enraged and determined as ever.

8:14 pm

Sara hurries to the computers, "do you know where they are?" Felicity sighs, "Not yet"; her trained fingers flying across the keyboard, desperate and relentless. Diggle and Oliver still packing all the weapons they could carry.

"Why would he do this?" Roy's frustrated cry was heard as he continued to pace. "I just don't see why he had to take Thea AND Laurel. It doesn't make any sense."

This outburst makes Oliver freeze.

"None of this makes any sense, kid," Diggle brusquely replied, "Let's just work on finding them before this lunatic does something he'll regret."

The world goes silent as Roy's words replayed itself over and over again in his head; the pieces of the puzzle finally beginning to align.

"Almost there. Give me a few seconds."

Slade wouldn't do this for no apparent reason; he, with his twisted mind, must've known that taking only one of them was enough to bring Oliver and the rest of them running, but why had he gone through all that trouble to capture both of them? There must be something else he wanted, unless…

And all at once he understood.

"Felicity," Sara pressed.

Slade was going to make him choose.

"This is taking too long." Roy muttered, visibly impatient.

Fear snakes around his heart, making it harder to breathe.

8:19 pm

Just then, Felicity's computers decide that they had waited long enough; coordinates appear on the screen, indicating that both of them were being held in an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of the city. It was roughly thirty minutes away.

Sara and Roy run out as soon as they see this. Diggle following closely behind. Oliver grabs his bow and hastens to the door. "Oliver," he stops, "everything's going to be alright." He doesn't turn, nor does he reply; but he feels his resolve strengthen as he rushes after the three.

He will not let himself be played. He will save them both.

He will not fail this time.

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8:22 pm

He leaves, not knowing he already made his choice.

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