Notes: The title comes from Shakespeare's Hamlet, "Tis in my memory lock'd, And you yourself shall keep the key of it."

This story is cannon compliant through 3x09.

The Arrow characters and universe do not belong to me.

1.

The first thing he was aware of was a smell. It was sweet and warm and a memory tugged at the back of his mind. He inhaled deeply and the memory of waking up for the first time in Maseo's Hong Kong flat had his eyes flying open. "Maseo, " he gasped through a parched throat and chapped lips.

A cool hand gently pressed against his forehead. "Easy, Oliver." An arm slid beneath his shoulders and raised him slightly from the mattress. A cup of warm tea was held to his lips and he drank deeply.

Oliver blinked his eyes several times in an attempt to bring the world around him into focus. Gradually, the concerned countenance of Maseo materialized. "Where am I? What happened?"

"What do you remember?" Maseo's voice was soothing and Oliver gratefully took more of the tea he pressed against his lips.

Oliver opened his mouth to respond when he realized he couldn't remember. He closed his eyes and tried to pull a memory forward. Images flashed through his mind but every time he tried to latch onto one, it dissolved like smoke in a breeze. A sense of panic flooded through him. He had a feeling he was supposed to be somewhere else and that someone was waiting for him. He tried to sit up when a sharp pain shot through his side and chest, forcing him to sink back onto the thin mattress. "I can't remember."

"I'm not surprised. We were in a fight with the Triad. You were stabbed twice and took a blow to the head. I didn't think you were going to make it."

"The Triad?" Oliver's brow furrowed as he tried to recall the fight. "China White?"

Maseo shook his head. "No, not Chien Na Wei, but her men."

Oliver closed his eyes and tried to land on a memory and memory. "Amanda? Was it a job for Amanda?"

"Not exactly." Maseo dragged a hand across his face. "We were looking for Tatsu."

"Tatsu." Oliver whispered and his mind was flooded with images of her. The last was an image of blood covering a child's drawing. "China White killed her."

"No." Maseo said firmly. "No, we thought she was dead, but we learned that she is being held by the Triad. We've been looking for her ever since."

A small smile spread Oliver's lips. "She's alive. I remember."

Maseo sighed in relief. "Yes, and you're going to help me get her back."

2.

Maseo's escrima stick flashed into Oliver's peripheral vision, but he knew he was going to be too slow to react. He pivoted in order to allow his right shoulder to take the blow instead of his still sore flank. It had been two weeks since Oliver had awoken in Maseo's flat and eight weeks since he'd been wounded by the Triad. His strength and reflexes were slowly returning, but his memories of the past four years had yet to return. The last thing he could remember was his first year in Hong Kong, being coerced into working for A.R.G.U.S. and Tatsu's abduction.

According to Maseo, Oliver had spent the past four years working for A.R.G.U.S. as a sniper and interrogator. His performance had awarded him some small personal freedoms, but it had come at a price. An explosive device had been implanted within his brain that would detonate if he traveled outside the perimeter approved by Waller or if he attempted to contact his family. Waking up to discover that four years of his life had vanished was not as unsettling as what he saw in the mirror. His hair was shorter than he remembered and there were far more lines around his eyes, but it was the scars covering his body that nearly took his breath away. He didn't know if he was grateful or disturbed that he couldn't remember receiving each tattoo, wound and burn. When he asked Maseo what happened, he shrugged and said, "A lot has happened in four years."

Oliver recovered from Maseo's blow and dropped to his knee, swinging his escrima stick and sweeping his opponent's legs out from under him. Maseo landed heavily onto the floor and the air was forcibly expelled from his lungs. Oliver dropped onto the floor and rolled onto his back, panting for breath. "Much better." Maseo said from his prone position. "You will be ready to return to the field in no time."

"Has Waller said what our next assignment is?" Oliver hoped that once he returned to his normal routine, his memory would start to return.

"A.R.G.U.S. is tracking Chien Na Wei's associates. I will tell them that as soon as they have a lead, we will be ready to pursue it." Maseo rose to his feet and offered Oliver his hand. "Come, it is time for your medicine."

Oliver followed Maseo into the kitchen and poured himself some tea from the pot steeping on the stove. Maseo insisted that Oliver consume the tea before and after each meal and before going to sleep at night. Maseo said that the tea had medicinal properties that were accelerating Oliver's healing. He was reluctant to disagree since he was up and walking around after being run through with a sword, twice. The tea also tasted a lot better than the tea Slade brewed him with island herbs.

Maseo busied himself preparing their evening meal while Oliver drank his tea. As he poured himself a second cup he hoped that the tea would start healing his mind now that his body was almost completely healed. He couldn't escape the nagging feeling that someone was waiting for him.

3.

Maseo took a corner at over 100mph as they pursued a member of the Triad who they believe knows of Tatsu's location. Oliver braced himself with one hand on the car's roof and his knees against the dash. He swallowed a curse as his friend took another sharp corner and their car fish-tailed before Maseo was able to regain control. It had been four months since Oliver's injuries had side-lined their pursuit of Chien Na Wei. His recovery had been slower than either of them would've liked and it took them longer than expected to get another line on the Triad. For the past month they'd been shaking down every low level dealer and pimp in the city to obtain the whereabouts of the man they were presently chasing, Xi Li. Maseo accelerated and pulled alongside Xi's car. Oliver aimed his gun, took a deep breath and squeezed the trigger as he exhaled. Mindful that a dead man can't reveal his secrets, Oliver aimed for the tires and hoped that the speed they were traveling wouldn't result in a fatal accident.

As soon as Oliver fired, Maseo lifted his foot from the gas and they watched Xi's car fight for control. As the car began to roll, Oliver prayed that Xi was wearing a seatbelt. When the car came to a rest, Oliver sprinted from his car and dragged Xi through his broken windshield. As he hoisted Xi over his shoulder he was relieved to feel warm breath against his cheek. Oliver dropped Xi on the backseat and searched him for weapons. He barely returned to his seat, before Maseo sped off in the direction of the warehouse they were using as an interrogation facility.

Three hours later, as Oliver washed the blood from his hands a shot rang out. He dropped to his knees and turned with his gun raised only to see Maseo standing over Xi's body with a gun. Oliver returned to washing his hands, biting his tongue from making any comment. If the information he tortured out of Xi turned out to be false, they would be out of leads. Oliver gathered their equipment as Maseo doused the body with gasoline. When they were satisfied they weren't leaving any evidence behind, Maseo tossed a match. The smell of burning flesh brought a memory of searing pain. Oliver stumbled as a wave of fear washed over him. As quickly as the memory came, it vanished. He continued across the abandoned warehouse floor and began to breathe through his mouth in order to avoid any more flashes of memories of his own flesh burning.

The drive back to Maseo's flat was quiet as both men contemplated what Xi told them. Oliver knew that Waller would never agree to allow him to accompany Maseo. He worried that his friend would be outmatched if he had to face the Triad on his own. As if reading his mind, Maseo spoke, "Waller will let you come with me."

Oliver snorted and shook his head. "She'll never let me within a hundred miles. She'd sooner blow my head off."

"Let me deal with Waller. We leave for Starling City in the morning."

Notes: Thank you for reading. As always, your comments are welcomed and appreciated.

Up Next: How Team Arrow has been coping since Oliver's death.