Demon's Head

Chapter 1: New Life

Cold. That was the first feeling he awoke to, the sound of a waterfall rushing nearby, his clothes were wet and soaking, and he could distinctively feel 2 sharp pains in his chest. But no penetration to his body. The first thoughts of awareness playing back memories, Starling City, biological attack, coming here with the League, Ras, Nyssa…

More information rushed by in his mind as he started to put the pieces together, a fight occurred. He was shot. He was laying on the bank of a river lying there after fighting and killing Ras Al Ghul. He laid there for a moment longer, remembering the looks of his friends, what was once his family looking at him with disdain, with distrust, with complete and utter disregard for him. He, Oliver Queen, Al-Sah-him, the Arrow, had completed his task, he had saved his city. But at what cost? What price did he pay to achieve this crushing victory against the League of Assassins, what did he lose, besides, is friends, his family, their trust, their support, their love. Felicity. She told him she loved him, loved. –ed. Past tense. He was alone, cold, and wet. No one had come to look for him, no one had come to rescue him. His former father-in-law was right. The city he once loved, now hated him, his friends betrayed him, and his loved ones despise him. What did he have left… a cause?

"I gave you my holy mission, my crusade," Those were the words Ras Al Ghul said to him right before he jumped off the plane. The words reverberated around in his head. A crusade.

Oliver Queen was finished, he no longer had to hold on to the burdens, the social responsibilities of being Oliver Queen. He no longer had any family left. All he had… was the mission. The League.

Movement in the tree-line had him immediately on his feet his wounds knowing not to bother him now as he reached for a blade eager to dispense justice. "My Liege" a warrior dressed in similar garb as him kneeled on the ground. Awaiting commands. Oliver knew right there, and then, he had a purpose, he no longer had one city to save, but thousands, and He had a world to crusade for. A line from a movie long past played in his head. "Now it's back to all the darkness and everything I hate" Riddick's voice playing in his head as he finds himself agreeing with that statement. "Re-call our fighters, we are leaving this city." Oliver doesn't even realize he had spoken, the command coming easily to him. He was Ras Al Ghul now, and he had work to do.

Ras found himself walking back with a veritable army of soldiers at his command following behind him, it was time to leave. Ras knew he would never connect with his old family now, he was a different person, a different being now. He silent said a small prayer for Thea, his beloved sister. And hoped she would one day understand if they crossed paths. As Ras found himself at Ferris Air boarding the plane with his followers he finally let himself relax and fall unconscious eager to rest. A new herald beckoned in the early dawn, a new crusade, a new war, and unlimited resources at his disposal.

Meanwhile…

The Team mourned, while they had saved their city, they had proven themselves worthy of being a team, of masks, of heroes. They had lost someone very important, their rallying point. Oliver Queen, the Arrow had fallen. Felicity was beside herself she knew listening to Ray and saving the city instead of convincing him to use the A.T.O.M. to save Oliver was the right call, it was the call Oliver himself would have made. But she felt in her heart that she had betrayed the man she loves. She looked over to Thea, seeing the heartbroken sounds of her sobbing as she lost another member of her already small family. Her brother taken from her yet again. The pain, the suffering, occurring all over again, she was alone yet again in the world, with only the dark psychopathic-evil, murde…. Oops yeah her Father. That title. Ill-deserving and ill-meaning but it was all Thea had left. The team stood there, slowly their numbers dwindled. Dig left first, vowing to take up the crusade in honor of Oliver. Leaving and going home to his wife and family. Malcolm took Thea home back to the loft, doing his best not to mourn alongside her, He had always seen Oliver as his son, and he connected more with Oliver than he had with his own son. Tommy was more of his mother's child then his. Yes they shared looks, but that was it. Oliver was his son in everything but blood. A fellow killer on the dark path of life.

Ray Palmer vowed then and there to use his suit to be like Oliver, to uphold his friend's image and protect this city.

Laurel stood there crying at the loss of a man she had loved and lost, and loved again. She never told anyone that she had fallen in love with Oliver Queen, kept those feelings buried down deep. She knew she lost Oliver to Felicity, that he deserved a woman who'd be his equal. But she hoped, dreamed that he would be hers in some way someday again.

Nobody saw Nyssa leaving, nobody saw the tear that ran down her face as she thought of her husband, of his loss. Another person she had come to love had been cruelly taken from her. She never let on to anyone, not even herself at times that she had fallen for the Emerald Archer. That he had taken a place in her heart next to her Beloved Sara. Sara was and always had a place reserved in her heart as her first love, but Oliver, with him she knew, she knew that despite her father's meddling in her life, that he had assured her to be loved and taken care of in his own sick and twisted ways. She was forced to marry a man she respected but did not love. It was only now she saw her foolishness and realized she loved Oliver with all her heart. As she headed back on the first ship headed back to Nanda Par Bhat. She wondered if her father would accept her or kill her, it didn't matter. She would be with her loves once more.

A/N: This is right now marked as a One-shot for me. My first. It was a thought that just popped into my head and I had to write it down. I might continue this. Or leave it as it is, as inspiration for others to follow this path.