With 10 minutes left on the clock, counting down the seconds until Anatoly's help arrived near the sandy shores of Lian Yu, Oliver raced against time to catch what may be he and his friends last chance off this pure hell of an island. As he left Kovar's lifeless body on the ground along with six of his loyal mercenaries he ran through the thick forest searching for Slade, Shado, and Sara. He had been out hunting alone when Kovar's men managed to capture him and detain him in the same underground cage he was imprisoned in one year ago. He could only hope that his three friends, that he now considered family after all the life-threatening situations they had been through together over the last five years, would be at the beach waiting just in time to get the hell off this damn island. He could feel the overgrown trees and bushes scrape past his scarred skin and the leaves crunch beneath his sore feet as he hastily ran towards the supplies kit they had left hidden in the underbrush containing a beard and wig long enough to convince his friends and family in Starling City that he had spent the last five years on a deserted island with no barber shops. To his utmost relief when he arrived at the old wooden suitcase Slade was currently standing hunched over it while passing an old handmade bow to Shado.

Hearing the man approach Slade turned around and spotted Oliver, "Oh thank God kid, where the bloody hell have you been?"

"Ollie, I was worried about you, What happened?" asked a concerned Sara as Shado sat on the ground momentarily pausing the action of preparing an arrow to carefully examine over Oliver's body from head to toe and make sure he was indeed alright.

"It's OK, I'm fine. It turns out Kovar wasn't as dead as we thought but I can assure you that he most definitely is now." Oliver walked over to the suitcase and Sara handed him his fake hair.

"We can talk about this after the four of us are sitting contently on a fishing boat sailing away from these hellish shores so hurry your arses up and lets go!" proclaimed an anxious Slade in his deep Australian accent that made his voice sound like he had sand paper in his throat. So, the four of them continued to put on their hair extensions, throw away there shoes, and jump across the island, running at top speed, to reach the edge of a rocky cliff above a twenty foot high pile of wood waiting to be ignited. Oliver was the first to reach the finish line, "looks like I beat you again Slade!", he jovially called back to his now slightly annoyed brother.

"Umph just you wait kid, I'll show you how it looks to really win the next time we spar" Slade said with now an amused smirk on his face as he watched Oliver's stupid grin turn to an annoyed frown. Slade, with his experience in ASIS, had always been a better fighter than Oliver. Although to Oliver's delight he had always been a faster runner and better archer than Slade which he made sure to constantly remind him.

"Alright boys, you can bicker like children later on the boat but now Oliver would you like to do the honors", said Shado amused by their childish antics and sibling rivalry while she gave Oliver the flaming arrow in which he would use to hopefully light the signal fire.

"If you screw this up kid, I am going to kill you." Oliver drew the bow and without thinking released the arrow and watched it fly through the chilled air right into the pile of stacked wood causing it to explode into a burst of tall flames.

"That was perfect Ollie, and just in time, I think I can see the fishing boat that Anatoly sent!" exclaimed an excited Sara happy to finally be returning home to her family in Starling City. The four of them flew down to the rocky beach and threw their arms in the air, screaming and waving in hopes to catch the fisherman's attention. To all of their utter joy the boat began to move in the direction of Lian Yu. "I can't believe this is happening Ollie, we are finally going home. What if Laurel is super angry with me? What if after what I did to her she won't even care that I'm still alive?" Sara said worriedly, her initial excitement at seeing her family again clouded by the worry that after what she did to Laurel might make them not happy to see her.

"Don't worry about that Sara, if your family is going to be angry at anyone it will most definitely be me, OK. They love you and that it is not going to change over one mistake that happened five years ago. Your family will be so happy to find out you are still alive." Oliver said hoping to reassure Sara's doubts about seeing her sister again. He still blamed himself for everything that happened to Sara no matter how many times she tried to convince him otherwise. And he knew that her family, especially Laurel and don't even talk about Detective Lance, would not be waiting for him with open arms when they got back, more like a closed fist or quite a few actually.

Slade's thoughts started to wander to his son , Joe. He wondered how he was doing, what his life must be like. Although, one thing he did know was that for now his son was better off without him. He wasn't ready to start being a parent again and honestly after everything he had done he didn't think he deserved to be around his son again. Because of this he had decided that he was going to travel to Starling City with Sara and Oliver partially because although he hated to admit it he cared too much about the people he had learned to call family to part ways with them now.

Shado was looking forward to going to Starling City with the rest of them. After watching her father, Yao Fei, die right in front of her, by a bullet to the head, she had no more family left in China to return to. Her only family now was Slade, Oliver, and Sara which is why she planned on going to Starling with them. Although she thought about her father everyday she cared deeply about her friends and was so thankful that she had found them.

They all stood before the fast coming fishing boat contemplating the end of their time constantly trying to survive and the beginning of returning home and being alive.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed the first chapter!