Disclaimer: WB/DC own these characters. I do not.

AN: This story is something I had started a few months ago when we received hints of what was going to happen in Arrow Season 3 episode 9. I have decided to continue with the AU despite the airing of the episode. Call it a variation. I have taken parts from the episode, but will also add and change. I also have decided to drop a few big plot twists and add a few of my own. Hope you will read it and enjoy! And of course reviews will be greatly appreciated!

It was to be an ordinary night of patrolling for Oliver. Nothing life threatening. Nothing dangerous. He was alone because his other two teammates had other plans. Diggle was at home with Sara, because Lyla had been called into work at A.R.G.U.S for the evening. Roy was out of town for a rare visit with friends.

However, a lead on a man they had been attempting to track, a Chuck Reynolds, a suspect in a spree of burglaries in the Glades, came up. Looking at it as it flashed across her screen, Felicity debated for a moment about not telling Oliver. If she would not tell him, he would not attempt to take care of it on his own and she would not have to worry about him going out alone. However, they had been attempting to get this guy for way too long. She shook herself out of the temptation and placed the call to Oliver.

Oliver approached the abandoned warehouse on the other corner of the Glades. He was beginning to suspect it was a dead end, for it did not make sense for an ordinary burglar to hang out on this side of the Glades. Before entering the building, he again verified the address and information with Felicity one last time, and then slid into the building.

Oliver barely walked into the first third of the open room, when suddenly there were a dozen soldiers in the gear of the League of Assassins surrounding him. He attempted to fight his way out of the building, but with repeated punches he found himself collapsed on the floor. Rough hands gripped his arms, and pulled him to a standing position. Oliver looked up as Nyssa walked towards him.

"Nyssa, what is this all about?"

"My father has a message for you, Arrow." Nyssa took several steps toward Oliver. "You have exhausted my father's patience. You have forty-eight hours or the citizens of Starling will see what the League of Assassins is capable of."

"Forty-eight hours to do what?"

"To find Ta-er Sah-fer's killer. Or blood will flow in your streets."

"Why does he care?"

"Because you said you were going to take care of it. You have not. It is a matter of honor." A shadow crossed Nyssa's eyes. "At first, my father would not even honor her with the blood oath." Nyssa approached Oliver, and was only inches away from his face. "And then you decided to protect Malcolm Merlyn instead of allowing me to punish him."

"Like I have said, I do not believe he is responsible for Sara's death."

Anger flashed in her eyes. "I cannot understand why you continue to believe that man. He has no honor. My father wanted to wash his hands of this entire situation at first. But he decided you needed to learn a lesson."

"Why?"

"Because you attempted to defy the Devil's Head. The consequences need to be shown, as a matter of honor." Nyssa nodded at the two men, who released Oliver's arms. "I will contact you again when the forty-eight hour period has passed. If we do not get a satisfactory answer, we will kill fifty people a day in Starling until we do." Nyssa paused, looked away for a moment, then returned her gaze to Oliver. "For your sake, and the sake of your beloved city, I hope you will be successful and have an answer for us in the allotted time."

Oliver watched as Nyssa turned and left the warehouse, followed by her soldiers. His mind was as beaten as his body was. A sigh escaped his lips as he slowly left the warehouse and climbed onto his motorcycle to return to the foundry.

~~OQ~~OQ~~OQ~~OQ~~

When he reached the foundry, Oliver slowly got off the motorcycle. He lost his balance and fell, landing on his side next to the cycle. He laid there for a moment, allowing the coolness of the pavement to soothe his aching muscles for a moment. Oliver told himself he needed to get up and face the fact of having to inform his teammates of the danger they were now in.

Oliver slowly opened the outer door after punching in the secret code. He was not looking forward to seeing the look on Felicity's face when she heard the news. As he made his way slowly down the stairs, feeling every step, Felicity rushed up to meet him. She put her slender arms around him to assist him down the rest of the stairs.

"What happened? Your comms cut out as soon as you entered the building." He could see her attempt to hide her concern. "You look like you were beaten up by a dozen henchmen."

"I was." Felicity gasped. "It was a trap. Reynolds was not there. Instead Nyssa and the League of Assassins were there."

"What? Did I hear you correctly? What the hell, Oliver, this was to be a quiet night." Diggle came around the corner and helped Felicity bring Oliver to the desk. "I would have found someone to take care of Sara otherwise."

"I certainly had not planned it to happen this way. We had no idea the League was in town." He looked at Diggle. "It was supposed to have been Reynolds there at the warehouse."

Diggle came around the desk and sat down next to Oliver. "Speaking of Sara, why are you here now?" Oliver asked Diggle.

"Lyla was home earlier than we had expected, and then Felicity called me when your comms went out. She sounded worried, so I came in." Digg looked at Oliver. "Quit stalling. What does the League want this time?"

Oliver took a deep breath and looked at his two teammates. "They are giving us forty-eight hours to find who killed Sara. Or else they will start killing fifty people a day in Starling until we find the killer."

A gasp escaped Felicity's lips. "But Oliver, we have been trying all along to find the killer…"

"I know." Oliver leaned back in his chair. "We will just work especially hard to see what we can find out."

Diggle attempted to maintain his usual calm, but found it difficult. "We're going to need a contingency plan."

Oliver's eyes widened in his 'I have no idea' look his team was very well acquainted with. "I don't have one."

Felicity and Diggle looked at one another. Oliver continued. "Let's not panic. Not yet. Let's just get started and see where it takes us."

Felicity pursed her lips together and turned back to her computers. She began to recheck all her scans, even though she doubted any new information would be forthcoming. Oliver watched her as she attempted to not say what was going through her mind. He waited for it, and he did not have to wait very long. A frustrated cry and the creaking of a chair sliding back interrupted the silence.

"Oliver, you know there is very little chance we will be able to find the killer in such a short time. I mean, we have been trying all these months, without any luck."

"I know Felicity, but I do not know what else to do." Oliver went to polish some arrowheads, while Felicity continued to check out her scans.

The quiet suddenly exploded with a scream from Felicity. "I got the results from Caitlin."

Diggle and Oliver gathered around her and watched as the email opened to reveal the results. "There must be some mistake," Felicity said quietly, eyes wide in shock.

"Who killed Sara, Felicity?"

Felicity swung to face Oliver. "You did."

Gasps escaped all their lips as Oliver's picture appeared on the screen.

Felicity turned to look at Oliver in shock. "How can the DNA be yours? There must be a mistake."

Oliver looked at Diggle. "You got any ideas? Because there is no way I was there. I was here in the foundry with the two of you the night Sara was killed." Oliver began to pace in front of the computers.

Felicity blew out a breath. "Whew. I forgot about that. We were all here, weren't we?" She reread the email again. "Caitlin apologized. She says she ran the results ten times…she knew we would all freak out about it."

Diggle leaned over to read the screen. "Caitlin says that twelve out of thirteen markers match. It is not a complete match. That means…"

"What are you saying, Diggle? You saying Thea did this?" Oliver combed his hands through his hair. "My parents are dead. I have no other siblings. That leaves only Thea." Oliver thought for a moment. "No. No way. It must be some sort of frame-up, because neither Thea nor I killed Sara." He let out a sigh. "And Thea…she is the kindest person I know. The sweetest heart. No way could she have done it. She loved Sara and Laurel as if they were her sisters."

Diggle rubbed his chin. "Who would be able to frame you for this?"

Oliver got up, grabbed his leather jacket from the chair, and headed to the stairs. "I have to get some air. It is getting late. Why don't both of you go home? We will discuss this tomorrow. Maybe I will have some insight into this."

Diggle and Felicity watched him leave in silence. Diggle got his coat, and came over to Felicity. He laid a hand on her shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "He will be alright."

"I know. I don't think this is going to end well, though. Whoever could have planted Oliver's DNA…they have to be very smart."

Diggle stretched out his neck muscles, first to the right side, then the left. "Grab your coat. Let me walk you to your car, and let's worry about everything tomorrow."

~~OQ~~OQ~~OQ~~OQ~~

Oliver walked the dark streets of Starling, deep in thought. Even though he had experienced the deepest darkest evil in the past seven years, especially when working with Amanda Waller, this current situation surpassed it all. Thinking about all he had heard about Ra's al Ghul, he marveled how he had originally believed it all to be exaggerated. No one could be that manipulative, that evil. However, he now had to admit, given the present circumstances, it was just possible that all of that paled in comparison with what apparently Ra's had planned for him. For his city.

It must have been Ra's behind Sara's murder. Even though he denied it to Nyssa, Ra's did have the motive and the opportunity to do it. Sara had told Oliver some stories about how Ra's had not approved the relationship she had with his younger daughter. To have killed her then to frame Oliver, must have been seen as removing two birds with one stone for Ra's. Nyssa had stated her father was not happy about Oliver's refusal to assist in the capturing of Merlyn. In framing Oliver, he would be removing Starling City's protector off the streets.

However, if Oliver was to be arrested for the murder, why hide the evidence and set it up that Oliver himself discovers it? If Ra's wanted him to be blamed, why hadn't there been any tips to the police before now? Instead, they were carrying out the charade of threatening them to solve the murder, when they know all along who did it.

If only they could know what Ra's was planning, but there wasn't enough time. The only thing Oliver could do was to have a meeting with one of the most dangerous men the world has ever known and try to reason with him. Oliver could only pray for the wisdom and strength to get through this threat that made battling Deathstroke and Merlyn look like a carnival ride.

~~OQ~~OQ~~OQ~~OQ~~

The next morning, Felicity and Diggle were in the foundry waiting for Oliver to show up. They had received texts from him saying he would be there "later." Two hours later, they were still waiting for him.

"Should we be worried now? When should we start worrying? Should you go out looking for him?" Felicity could tell she was beginning to ramble, and was thankful when Diggle interrupted her.

"Felicity, it's okay. He is following some leads, he told me, and he will be here soon."

Then they heard his footsteps on the stairs. Felicity wanted to rush towards him, but she controlled herself. She didn't want to distract him. She also was afraid of what she was going to see when he looked into her eyes.

"So what have you figured out, Oliver?" Diggle asked.

"Did you come up with anything? What else is there? What can they expect from us? We have only been doing the most we can do all these months. How dare they treat us like this?"

Diggle touched her arm. Felicity stopped herself, and looked chagrined. "Sorry."

"I still do not know what his endgame is, but time is running out. For whatever reason, Ra's has forced our hand. I will meet them, tell them about the evidence, and…"

"And what, Oliver? Sacrifice yourself for the city? But why?" Felicity asked, fighting back tears.

"We don't know that. This will only be a meeting. We shall see what he has to say. Perhaps he will give us more time to find the real killer."

His teammates looked at him, the doubt on their faces. Oliver shrugged his shoulders, not knowing what to say. He was not ready to share everything he had processed last night. Not until after the meeting, at least.

"I have to do this. I have to face Ra's al Ghul. He wants Sara's killer, and all we have to give him is evidence showing that I did it. Or my sister." Unable to maintain eye contact with his team, Oliver looked down at his hands. "In this way, I can prevent the killing of innocent people. And keep Thea out of it. Hopefully this gives us the time to figure out what else to do."

"At least let Diggle and Roy go with you," Felicity pleaded.

"No, they said to come alone." Oliver bit back his other reason why he did not want his teammates to come along. He did not want to expose them to any more danger than what was necessary Even though he did not express this thought, he could tell Diggle at least knew he was thinking that. Diggle shook his head slightly, but did not say anything.

AN: Next chapter, the meeting. I hope you have enjoyed this variation. We shall see where it goes.