#####OQ#####

"Al Sah-Him, eliminate this threat. Kill him. Show no mercy." Ra's ordered.

A man lies unconscious beside him on the floor, as Oliver knelt, head bowed, submissive on the outside.

He should have been an actor, for inside, his bad knee screamed from the prone position and cold wooden floor. Inside, the pain raged, twisted his gut and stiffed his back, as he felt agony, with every beat of his heart. And his best old friend hate took one slow bite after the other eating him alive as it whispered, why couldn't he die and get this damn life of his over with.

No, he had to stop thinking like that. He had her to go home to, and she and his friends waited for him. Thea waited too. If he could just survive this by being strong and smart.

"This man has not wronged me. I don't even know his name." He spat the words, his control nearing its end. If this mad man believed he could break his will by keeping him on his knees, the man had another thing coming. His hate would make him stronger than the crazy man, who currently controlled his life.

"I ordered you to kill him. This is not a discussion."

"Is there no reasoning with you? This is the 21st century, not the middle ages, and I warned you I'd given up the killing. I have no reason to murder this man, especially just because you demand it."

"The year is of no consequence, if I order you to kill, you kill. Boy, my will is your will. You will obey me!" The man slammed the sharp sword into the floor in front of him. "Now get off your knees and pick up the sword and kill him. Do it now. I command you."

"I will not kill for your sport." He jerked the sword out of the floor and threw the blade away from him, and the sword clattered on the wooden floor and bounced off the wall.

Ra's sighed and paced, back and forth before him, his ringed hands clasp behind him. "Three times I have explained that as the heir to the Demon, the league must respect you."

"I've told . . ."

"I didn't not ask you to speak. As I said, in order for them to respect you, they must fear your retribution, and three times now you have failed me."

"Perhaps you chose your heir badly."

Spinning on his heel, he pointed his ringed finger at him. "Did I not say, do not speak?"

He bowed him head to the man, but it cost him.

"Al Sah-Him, a man who cannot kill will lose control of the league. Boy, why do you push me? My will is your will. When will you understand this? Speak now."

"I will find another way to control the league. They will learn to respect me. I will treat them fairly, and they will my team, my family." For an instant, he thought of Felicity, and he pushed the hate away for an instant, but he silenced those thoughts, and the hate surged back.

"There is no other way. This is the league of assassins, boy. If they do not fear you, they will destroy you, and a stronger man will step into your place."

"Then so be it."

"You are the man from the prophecy. You survived my blade, the brand, and I have chosen you to replace me. Tell me, do you think I have been head of the league all these years by not getting what I want?"

"No, but maybe I'm not the man from the prophecy. I am no longer a killer and perhaps, this a mistake. I'm clearly not the man you thought I was, and your daughter, Nyssa, who you trained for the league, would be a much better choice."

"I do not make mistakes." His tone sinister,

Stopping pacing, the mad man and looked into his eyes, and the hairs on the back of his neck rose, as he narrowed his dark, wild, eyes. "I had hoped it would not come to this, but you have forced my hand. Tsk, tsk, and I thought you learned this lesson with your sister, Thea."

"No harm comes to my love ones. You agreed."

"This is your doing, Al Sah-Him, and you will find when I finish with you that you have no loved ones."

A shiver ran down his spine.

"You did not want to stand and kill then you shall stay on your bad knee tonight. I will speak with you in the morning. Ponder your fate." Turning in his flowing robes, Ra's walked away, his back straight, his hands clasp behind his back.

He wanted to scream after him, wanted to rise and chase the man and demand he tell him what he planned. His chest tightened as he wondered what the man planned, and who he planned to do it to.

The hours passed slowly on his bad knee, Ra's punishment had him near screaming in no time.

A servant came head bowed and lit candles and offered him water, which he drank greedily. His stomach growled but the servant offered no food, and he didn't ask.

At least he didn't have to kneel in the dark.

"Oliver is dead. I am Al Sah-Him." Like a vow, he said the words, over and over, but his mind didn't believe him and thoughts of her crept in.

Nodding off and on, he dreamed he injured himself in the field, and she came and patched him up, with her soft hands.

Regrettably, when he jerked awake, the dream wasn't real, the pain the only reality in the short dream. As the night pasted long and slow, he barely slept. The more pasted, the more the pain in his injured knee throbbed, and he found relaxing or even resting close to impossible.

In the early hours before dawn, he switched to mediating to deal with the pain and his exhaustion but it didn't work. His muscles cramped and at any time, he expected an ambush, an attack on his person.

As the long minutes ticked away, he wanted, craved, and needed a fight and the outlet. The anger, the hate, seeped deep into his soul and greedily ate a black, empty, hole in his gut.

But no one came.

Only the pain and exhaustion stayed with him.

Again, he nodded and Felicity crept back into his mind, but he jerked awake and purged her, shut his feelings down cold, for her loss intensified his anger, his hatred, and his misery. Al Sah-Him had to accept that her light no longer shone for him and only the darkness remained.

Yes, in some ways, the mad man had broken him, had taken everything from him, first in Starling City and now here. He'd done everything the man had asked, everything but kill for the man's sport. He'd taken the brand, survived the assassin's gauntlet, the chains in the dungeon's darkness and taken the repeated beatings.

The beatings helped him cope. He craved the physical pain of fighting since at least he got to fight back, and the beatings helped offset the aching hole in his chest.

Normally, pain helped him deal with the idea Oliver Queen had died and only this shell of a man remained, but tonight the pain had him near to screaming and not being able to move made it worse and reminded him of other times he had been in pain and unable to move. For a while, time ceased to exist, and he lie bleeding in a small cage in his youth.

He came back later, unsure how much later, screaming in his head. But he refused to scream out loud, for if he ever started, he didn't think he could stop and he would fight them, fight them all to the death.

Finally, he braced his hands against the floor to relieve the pressure on his bad knee, and the door flew opened, and a large guard in full armory entered. "Off your hands, Al Sah-Him, and back on your knees. And if I have to come back in her, I have permission to beat you."

He'd known they watched him. For a man who lived in the stone age, Ra's had security cameras and bugs everywhere.

Groaning now, he eased back to his throbbing knee, and the guard left him to wonder why he continued to allow his heart to beat. He ached to die, but he feared the pit, and that was main reason he'd fought and trained. And why he'd given Felicity up when he'd finally found his way to her.

His mind wondered to all the months he'd spent dreaming about tasting, touching, and having her, and how she'd finally been his for one short time. Like a starving man, he'd feasted, worshiped, loved and been loved.

Touching her had been glorious.

He couldn't even be angry she'd drugged him. She'd been trying to save him, trying to help him escape Ra's, so they could be together, but in the end to save her and his team, he'd honored the deal he'd struck with a mad man.

Yes, he'd sent them all away to safety, but he quickly realized he'd opened the door wide to his hate and self-destruction yet again.

In those first days, he hadn't known if he'd survive their separation this time, and his heart hurt, every day, like an open wound. But to survive, he focused on her and John's safety, and how he never wanted either of them to be reborn in the pit.

Thea's rebirth had been bad enough.

Yes, the miracle pit revived Thea, but it changed her. Like a woman possessed, she'd arose from the pit and attacked him, and he'd been relived when the Priestess drugged Thea. The pit had made Thea stronger, faster, and awakened some force in her who ached to kill him. He still saw his death wish in her dark eyes. Darkness and madness had claimed her in the pit and the closeness, the connection, he'd felt with her had disappeared.

Even after she'd calmed, Thea recognized him as her brother in name only. Her eyes had been lifeless and dark. Yes, his sister breathed on her own again, but the sweet, gentle Thea, he knew and loved, seemed gone. Ra's had warned him Thea might come back from the madness but only time would tell.

Now in the night's darkness, kneeling on a wooden floor, with his knee screaming, he wondered if she'd gotten better and hoped she'd healed completely, and she'd returned to her old self.

As the hours pasted on his painful knee, he hoped once more to die. He'd been here before, only this time seemed worse even than his time on the island, the boat, in China or in Russia. He again entertained thoughts about making a mistake, letting another man's sword end his misery, but he knew Ra's would drag him to the pit and revive him, and he could lose everything important to him.

Oliver Queen would truly be dead then.

The pit could erase Felicity forever from his mind. He could wake up dead inside, his love for her gone, washed away. Entering the pit could sweep away everything, her memories, their lovemaking and her light, and he would only be left a dark killer who didn't even want to return to her anymore.

He couldn't chance that fate, so he had to survive this, no matter what it cost him. A least right now he still had a tiny hope, a small glimmer, he might return to her and that small hope kept him alive and fighting.

The guard released him from knees that morning, and he could barely rise and limped his way to the bathroom, holding on to the wall, to see to personal needs. As soon as he returned to the large hall, Ra's arrived.

"Does your knee pain you? You are slow to reach kneel this morning. A sure sign of an old injury. Slade, no doubt?"

Oliver refused to answer him. He wouldn't give him the satisfaction, but sweat broke out on his brow, and he whimpered when his bad knee again touched the hard wood floor.

The man smiled down at him. "And yes, Al Sah-Him, I have been watching you for quite some time. However, the point is for you to control the pain, to push past it. Learn from the pain, boy. Pain can teach you much. What, have you nothing to say this morning?"

"Now you want me to talk." His hands fisted, as his bad knee throbbed with every beat of his heart, tormenting him.

"I do."

"Are planning to cripple me? You know I have an old injury. My knee is at least two times its normal size." Now, he no longer wished anyone to attack, instead he feared someone would, since his stiff knee would be a liability. Anyone could take him easily, when he probably couldn't stand, let alone fight, on his leg.

"Of course not. No, quite the contrary, if you would obey, I would heal that knee where it would never hurt again. But for now you need to learn this lesson on pulling strength from within and centering yourself, since it is in your best interest."

"You could fool me."

"Al Sah-Him, you must acquire the ability to fight injured, to use your mind to ignore the pain and overpower your enemy. Speed is the key. A great warrior finishes his enemy swiftly. Now, I will give you time to reflect on my words unless you have learned your lesson and wish to kill when you are told. This is your last chance."

Ra's hesitated, waiting for his answer. but he refused to rise to the man's bait.

"Foolish boy, always you take the wrong path. When will you learn it is pointless to defy me?"

And mad man walked away, leaving him to his own dark thoughts, the man pretending to be Al Sah-Him knew he did want to kill, and he knew exactly whom he'd willingly kill.

#####OQ#####

Ra's swept in after a time, just when he thought he couldn't stand his knee torturing him any more. "Do you know why I allowed you to have Felicity Smoak in your bed, Al Sah-Him?"

The mad man liked head games, and he knew it. "A condemned man always gets a last meal."

"I see your knee is getting the better of you, for you have a sharp tongue this morning. No, instead, I wished to reward your decision to take my offer with something you have long wanted and refused to allow yourself to have. I even encouraged your Ms. Felicity Smoak to visit you in your chambers, though I had hoped you would turn her away."

He refused to meet the man's dark eyes, instead studying the wood floor pattern.

The man paced, back and forth, with his hands clasped behind his back. "But alas, you did not turn her away. Instead, you tasted, and understand I wanted you to taste, to know what you had to give up, and to bear the pain to turn it into strength."

"She's of no matter now." His words came out harsh, and he meant them. "I sent her away. I stayed of my free will, so no harm would come to the ones I love. This is between us. She has nothing to do with this."

Stopping, he felt the man's eyes on him. "I'm afraid she has everything to do with this. I know you still think you will return to her, and you harbor that hope within you."

He steeled himself, refusing to rise to the bait, to soil their love by discussing it with this mad man, or to give this mad man any reason to believe his words true.

"Al Sah-Him, I know your weakness. You hide it but you are a man who loves and love makes you weak. As long as you love this woman, your enemies can use her against you. Women are men's downfall. Just as I used your love for Thea against you, I, or anyone else, can use your Felicity against you."

He grimaced.

"Love weakness a man. Your love for this woman is a terrible liability. You must sever all ties with her. Cut her out of your heart."

He controlled the tone of his voice, kept his mask in place. "Again this is between us. She has nothing to do with this. She is forgotten."

"Once again, you are wrong, and you are lying. Do you think I am a fool? Your woman has everything to do with this. And since, you have chosen to defy me, repeatedly. You will reap what you sow."

Oliver Queen, not Al Sah-Him, smelled her scent before he heard her, and his heart dropped like a stone.

"Get your hands off of me! I can walk by myself. Bullies, stop pushing! It wasn't like I got an invitation you know?" And with a hard shove from a hooded assassin, Felicity flew through the door, like a red bird, and burst into the room, her makeup running and holding her heels in her hands.

And his heart hurt.

No, his mind screamed. The blood pounded soundly in his ears. She should not be here, anywhere but here. He started to rise but one look from Ra's nailed him to the floor.

Panic enveloped him. He couldn't stop his fingers, as they twitched and became fists. He knew now the man planned a painful lesson, and Felicity was his Achilles' heel.

"Oliver?" her tone hopeful. She moved toward him and a hooded man drug her back and black rage engulfed him. Struggling against the man, she dropped the heels and demanded in bare feet, "What's going on here? Why have you brought me here? First these two idiots grabbed me off the street and threw me in a car and then on a plane. Oliver, I demand an explanation."

"Felicity Smoak," Ra's soft voice sounded deadly, and his stomach bottomed out. "Oliver Queen is dead. Al Sah-Him kneels before you, and you will address him as such. Now, child, I regret that I have disrupted your life, but Al Sah-Him has defied me repeatedly, and I required your presence to teach him a lesson."

"Computer question?" He couldn't help it, his eyes ate her up like a starving man, drinking her in like cool water, and he hadn't drunk in days, as she said smartly, "You could have texted. I would have come willingly if you'd asked."

"I don't text."

"Why am I not surprised? Though believe it or not texting turned twenty-five years old the other day. You'd think, as long as you've lived, you'd have kept up with the times or would have at least learned to text. Even my mother texts now." She tilted her blonde head. "Well, not well but she does text. Do you even have Wi-Fi here?"

"No, child. It's not necessary here."

"I'm not your child, so, please, stop calling me that. It's kind of creepy. But I could fix that for you. Not the creepy part, but your Wi-Fi, I'm quite good with computers. Wait, do you have computers here?"

Ra's laughed and turned toward him. "I have to admit she is quite delightful, Al Sah-Him. I see why you would think she is charming. May I call you Felicity, child?"

"Of . . . course. Like I could stop you? And it's better than child."

"No, Felicity, you could not, but I regret that this visit is more of a painful nature then my lack of internet."

"What you don't realize is your lack of internet's very painful to me. I mean this isn't the stone age, though you've got the medieval decorating down to a science, for sure. But I don't understand why you'd bring me here to watch you beat him up, since, frankly, I've seen him beaten up before. Multiple times. Beaten up with bruises, bleeding, lots of bleeding," she gagged a bit, before adding, "and lots of bandages and stitches."

So darn cute when she talked with her hands, he loved his brave Felicity staring a mad man down and babbling, but the blood rushed in his ears as the man turned to her, his grin smug.

"I fear you do not understand my intent, Felicity. He needs taught a lesson, so it is not him I intend to hit this time."

#####OQ#####

This story runs somewhat cannon for the first 9 chapters, though it ends AU since I wrote my ending before Oliver fights Ra's and kills him, so my story is different. The rest of the story is Oliver and Felicity living AU in a small town. It starts on chapter 10 if you want to jump. Regardless, welcome to my Arrow world and buckle up, it's going to be a great ride. And as always thanks for the read.