"How could I have killed those station workers? They were innocent people trying to protect their city and I murdered them in cold blood," thought Roy as he sat on the Arrowcave's stone staircase, his bruised hands resting on top of his knees.

He didn't have to open his eyes to know what the rest of the team was talking about.

But Roy honestly didn't see the discussion as an argument, they should have just turned him into the SCPD when they were being interrogated. At least, then he couldn't hurt anyone else.

They should stop treating me like a friend because I'm no hero.

It had been only hours prior that Team Arrow had set out to deactivate Emiko's biochemical weapon, venturing into the usually deserted subway tunnel system located directly underneath Star City. Oliver had instructed the team to split up into three groups. Two went after the bioweapon's possible location while the remaining one took control of the switch room.

Spartan and Wildog headed towards the ventilation shaft, searching every crevice for the deadly component until they ran into Emiko. She was suited in green emerald leather (just as her brother always wore). She didn't say a word, rather fired two warning arrows near Wildog's head. He instinctively jumped to the side as he watched the arrows hit into the wall behind him.

"She's mine, secure the device," stated Wildog, nodding to his teammate before running after Emiko.

Spartan stood there for a few seconds, contemplating whether or not Wildog needed back-up or if he should continue with the original plan. From his extensive field experience though, even when only he and Oliver were running the ops, his help was always needed before the mission was completed, despite what Oliver liked to claim both then and now. He ran off after Wildog, a pistol gripped in his right hand.

He better not get us killed...

Overwatch and Arsenal hurried into the switch room, the latter making sure to lock the door tightly behind them. Arsenal heavily doubted it would do much against their highly trained enemies, but he remained silent regardless.

If it makes her feel safer then, there's no need to mention it.

"Wow, this thing is a fossil, and not in the fun Ice Age way," commented Overwatch as she immediately plugged her tablet into one of the computers.

"Can you shut it down?" asked Arsenal, hurriedly.

"Once I shut down the ventilation, we should be able to minimize the damage," responded Overwatch, smiling hopefully.

Arsenal watched her nimble fingers type various buttons on her tablet, her movements seemingly getting faster with each click.

I might've been gone for a while, but some things never change.

Clang! Was the sound that flooded Arsenal's ears as his attention was suddenly directed at the closed door. It was the distinct sound an arrowhead makes when it hits metal. He remembered it clearly from his time tracking the Arrow years prior considering Oliver shot at him a multitude of times. Overwatch and Arsenal exchanged worried looks for their team's safety.

"They could probably use your help," reasoned Overwatch as she typed, trying to connect her device to the bioweapon.

She would've tried to activate a remote shutdown, but the detonation was "titchy," to say the least.

"No, I can't just leave you here without backup," protested Arsenal, incredulously.

He wasn't going to jeopardize her safety just to go help the others with a potential threat.

"I'll be fine, go," reassured Overwatch, gesturing towards the door.

Her unconvincing nod most certainly wasn't helping his feelings of skepticism, but she was right. The team needed his help. So he unlocked the secured door and headed towards the place where the unsettling noise had echoed from.

Hopefully, I'm making the right decision.

The Arrow kicked down the ventilation room door, keeping his bow held at the ready. Standing in the middle of the room was none other than Virgil, Emiko's right hand man, who was delicately connecting the last few wires into the device.

Felicity was right about where the bomb was located, as she always is.

He fired an arrow straight past Virgil's shoulder, landing it directly in the weapon's rectangular activation mechanism.

"You're a real pain, you know that?" commented Virgil, rolling his eyes lazily as he gestured for his men to get into battle positions.

The heroes quickly immobilized the men, knocking them to the ground with little effort.

Seeing as he was quite clearly outmatched, Virgil made a quick escape, using his many men as human shields as he dashed out the unguarded door and into the pitch black night. The Arrow and Black Canary immediately jumped into action, fighting the men in physical combat. He weaved between their heavy punches, shooting arrows into various non-lethal locations across their bodies. Black Canary went toe-to-toe with one of the men, parrying his every blow with her metal bow stave before swiping his legs out from under him.

The Arrow panted, his hand pressed against his bruised ribs as they swiftly moved over to the bio weapon. It was successfully deactivated! But their feelings of victory lasted for only mere seconds as two gunshots rang throughout the nearly empty room, reverberating against its hollow walls.

Arsenal walked cautiously through the vacant corridors, his bow clutched firmly in his hand.

They have to be somewhere around here...

Tap, tap tap. He heard quiet footsteps moving closely behind him. He stopped in his tracks, loading his bow with a ruby red-tipped arrow. Without another thought, he whipped around and shot the cloaked man, getting a clean hit off to the shoulder.

Another one of the Ninth's Circle's men ran at him, fists raised, though Arsenal easily blocked the attack with the lower limb of his bow. As the third man charged at him, he lept off of his enemy's shoulders, landing a few feet away, just barely out of the man's brute punches.

There really are a lot of these guys, aren't there?

Two more came rushing at him, each holding a metal pole in one hand. This time, Arsenal was the one to take the offensive, returning to the air once more. Using his built momentum from the powerful jump, he simultaneously kicked one of the men in the chest while punching the other one onto the cement ground. These were the times when his street-fighting skills really came in handy.

But as Arsenal was standing up from the previous attack, a man slammed the heavy metal weapon against the side of his face. A jagged line of maroon blood slowly dripped down the left side of his face. His vision started to blur as an unbearably loud noise pounded inside his skull, drowning out all other thought, but the will to keep standing. He stumbled backwards for a second, trying to steady himself before slumping to the ground, unconscious, or so they thought.

His mind had shut down, just as any given human's would when dealt such a strong concussion, only his body didn't. Adrenaline flooded his entire system, jolting his body upright. His blue eyes shot open with fiery rage. Several of the men stepped backwards, confused by their enemy's inhumanly quick rebound.

Arsenal reached out his hand as if about to choke someone before yanking one of the men to the ground and pummeling him with a flurry of deadly blows to the ribs. Every time his fist collided with the man harder, each blow being more excruciating than the last until Arsenal was the only one standing. He felt his hands clench at his sides, the fresh blood covering his black gloved knuckles.

His head instinctively jerked backwards, hearing boots running through a nearby hallway. Chasing after his prey wasn't a choice, it was nature. With each step he took closer to his enemy, his feelings of pure anger became more clear. It felt as though a wild animal was locked inside of his chest, breaking away bits from his very soul until there was nothing left, but the ravenous creature controlling him.

This was no longer the hero that Team Arrow had known as an ally, a friend, as family. This was a monster.

Arsenal ran head first into the wide room, his eyes searching for his desired feast. His heart was beating rapidly against his chest. Wham! Arsenal felt one of the rogue men's metal poles slam into his ribs, knocking him onto the ground. He didn't even flinch from the impact, instead rebounding more vicious than the last time.

The man could do nothing more than throw his hands in front of his face as Arsenal's baton struck his entire upper body with insurmountable force.

"Hey! What the hell's going on down here!" shouted an incoming Star City station worker, his flashlight illuminating Arsenal's face.

He tilted his head animalistically, furious at their interruption of his confrontation with the enemy.

The worker rushed towards Arsenal, wrapping his right arm harshly behind his back. They were prey walking unknowingly into their predator's waiting grasp.

"I need backup! Heel and McGuire, Metro station," called the other worker hurriedly through his walkie talkie as he watched Arsenal flip the unsuspecting worker onto his back.

The second worker watched in horror as Arsenal beat his already immobilized friend, holding his gun shakily in his hand. Arsenal didn't move his gaze from his first enemy, throwing punch after punch against his chest until he heard a loud crack of bones breaking.

"Ahhhhhh!" screamed the second worker, firing his only weapon. Two shots released from the pistol before the worker befell the same horrific fate as his partner by the monster's hands.

Wildog finally caught up to the woman, only feet away from his once-trusted ally.

"Emiko, it's not too late. Let me help you," he pleaded, desperately.

"I don't need your help. And I spared you once, this time, I won't be so generous," stated Emiko, clearly.

"Why are you doing this!" shouted Wildog, throwing one of his hands down in anger.

"Because the Queens took everything from me and now it's my turn to take everything from them," answered Emiko.

"This isn't you. You care about the Glades, you're dressed as the new Green Arrow and you killed Dante," he insisted, pushing his pistol back into his upper hoster in hopes of peace.

"And that proves what exactly?" she snapped, her bow still held steadily in her hands.

"It shows that finding your mother's killer means more to you than the Ninth Circle. Why else would you risk murdering their leader!" continued Wildog, angrily.

I know she's better than this!

"You really don't get it. Dante wasn't their leader," continued Emiko.

The next few seconds hung in silence, Wildog afraid to hear her final response.

"I am," finished Emiko, spitefully.

"Your mother would hate what you've become," said Wildog, disappointment seeping into his voice.

She released the arrow from her bow, letting it slash across the back of his hand. But with the injury he endured, all hope of Emiko's redemption left his mind, leaving him standing alone with his thoughts.

Spartan raced to Wildog's side, gun held at the ready, but nothing was there.

"She got away," said Wildog, solemnly.

Bang! Bang! They heard two gunshots ring throughout the ventilation shaft room. Without so much as a nod of their heads, Spartan and Wildog ran towards the discomforting noise, hoping they weren't too late.

C'mon, Felicity! You just have to manually override a bio-engineered bomb before it kills an entire city. Piece of cake, hopefully...

Bang! Bang! Overwatch heard two gunshots blare from a distant room in the facility, piercing through her racing thoughts.

"Oliver," she whispered, fear for her husband's life immediately spreading through her body.

The Arrow hurried through the halls, surveying every corner for signs of movement. The Black Canary was close on his heels, her bow stave held firmly in her right hand in case of any interference from Virgil or his men.

This can't be Emiko because she never uses guns. So, who in hell is shooting at my team?!

The Arrow immediately stopped in the next room's doorway, his face freezing in shock of what lay before his eyes.

Roy kneeled on top of the second worker, whacking one of his batons continuously against his chest. It wasn't just a blow of retaliation, it was unadulterated ferocity. The need to kill the very thing that stood in his presence.

It was bloodlust.

"Roy! Roy, stop it!" shouted Oliver, rushing over to his teammate's side.

He used his right hand to grab the baton that Roy gripped so firmly, looking his former sidekick in the eyes. He didn't recognize the face that stared back at him, his eyes so full of fiery flames that they would surely burn him if looked into long enough.

I know this isn't you, Roy.

"Just look at me," Oliver pleaded, his voice lowering.

Roy's clenched fingers released the weapon from his grasp as he fell backwards onto the ground, his heart racing a million miles a minute.

The rest of the time rushed into the room, bewilderment covering their faces as they too saw the remnants of the scene that had just occurred. Oliver dropped the baton to the ground, letting it slowly roll across the room until it hit Dinah's feet as she bent down to check one of the worker's for a pulse.

"What, what did I do?" thought Roy fearfully as he involuntarily pushed himself against one of the main structures' pillars. His heart was now beating so loudly that it nearly echoed around the room.

"Rene, don't touch that," exclaimed Felicity quickly as he picked up the abandoned baton.

Diggle squatted down, pressing two of his gloved fingers against the other worker's neck.

There was no pulse.

"They're dead," announced Dinah in disbelief as she glanced over at Roy.

Felicity gasped in surprise, her hands practically shaking at her sides as she looked over at Oliver.

"What the hell happened here?" questioned Diggle to Oliver who was now kneeling in front of the panicking Roy.

Oliver didn't respond, his gaze remaining fixed on his teammate's blood-covered face.

"What are we going to do?" asked Rene, honestly.

Roy just looked up at Oliver, terror consuming his every thought.

I just killed two people. They need to leave now before I hurt one of them, too.

But Oliver would never leave his team behind when they needed him most, especially Roy.

"We have to protect him," reasoned Oliver, his voice holding firmly.

The other team members exchanged looks of concern, but Oliver didn't waver for a single second.

I've never left Roy behind before and I'm not going to abandon him, ever.

Even just thinking about what happened to those civilians made Roy cringe. Guilt was the singular emotion he'd felt since they returned from the precinct.

Why didn't Oliver just leave me in that station to take the fall? I deserve a punishment far worse than jail for what I did.

"That wasn't mirakuru," commented Oliver as he walked over to Roy, his voice breaking through his constant thoughts.

His muscular arms were crossed in a way that resembled that of an older sibling, his expression somehow being simultaneously firm, yet comforting.

"No, I..." started Roy, his words quickly trailing off.

No explanation is a good enough reason for what I did.

"How'd it happen?" questioned Oliver, leaning up against the slick wall closest to the stairway.

"What do you mean?" said Roy vaguely, not having the will to look his old mentor in the eyes.

"How'd you die?" rephrased Oliver, bluntly.

Roy turned towards Oliver, a look of surprise covering his face.

"How'd you know?" asked Roy, his brow furrowing.

"You, Thea, and Nyssa left Star City over a year ago in search of lazarus pits and I haven't seen bloodlust like that since Thea was resurrected by one," explained Oliver, calmly.

I can't deal with this right now. He just, he just wouldn't understand.

Roy pushed himself off of the stair's middle step, walking into the tech lab in hopes of avoiding any more questions.

"Great," muttered Oliver, gritting his teeth in frustration as he watched Roy walking off.

I'm making it clear to him that I'm here to talk to, so why won't he just open up to me?

Roy leaned up against one of Felicity's work desks, once again staring down at his hands. They were a constant reminder of the violence caused that day or rather, he was.

Thea should have never brought me back using that pit. My life's worth nothing compared to the ones I've killed.

"To help, I need to know what happened," continued Oliver, joining Roy in the lab.

"The Thanatos Guild had us surrounded. I tried to get Thea to safety but I was hit with an arrow which, is ironic," explained Roy, tears forming in his blood-shot eyes.

A smile crossed Oliver's face as he listened to his friend's story.

There's the Roy I know.

"I don't really remember a lot after, except for seeing Nyssa and Thea destroying the pit," finished Roy, honestly.

"The one they used to bring you back?" confirmed Oliver, understandingly.

Roy sighed, standing up straight for the first time since they'd returned to the bunker.

"Yeah, Nyssa had the lotus elixir. She and Thea thought we could control the bloodlust and we did..." said Roy, slightly trailing off again.

"Until you didn't," finished Oliver, nodding.

Resurrecting the dead is never an easy task. And I should know because I've been on both sides many times.

"I keep trying to figure out why and all I can think of is that maybe the mirakuru changed something," stated Roy, hypothetically.

"Yeah," breathed Oliver heavily, his arms still crossed in the same position as before.

How can he always stay so calm?!

"But I never would have come here if I knew what was going to happen," affirmed Roy, his watery eyes looking into his mentor's.

How can he stand there and try and help me after all that I've done to him and the rest of the team?

"I never meant to hurt anyone," added Roy, his forehead creasing tightly together.

"I know," said Oliver, nodding reassuringly.

He needs to know I understand that what happened wasn't his fault. But lying doesn't help anything.

"But keeping this information from us, it jeopardized all the things that we've been working towards this past year," explained Oliver.

"I never asked you to cover for me. I didn't want you to," admitted Roy, looking away again.

They're better off without me anyway.

"You never have to ask me, ever," stated Oliver, gently.

Roy didn't know what to say, so he just smiled.

That means more to me than he's ever going to know.

The Arrow had been Roy's hero for the last six years since he saved his life from a killer in the Glades, regardless of how much he really deserved to be saved. That fact had only been further solidified as he got to know who the real Arrow was, who Oliver Queen was. Yes, he could be a demanding leader and highly controlling, but he was so much more than just a hero. He was a truly inspiring person who's sheer will allowed him to persevere past all the numerous hardships he'd endured. Oliver Queen was the person Roy wanted to be more like, not the Arrow.

And in those words Oliver spoke so generously, a small slither of hope reappeared within him.

It doesn't matter what happens, we're all always going to need each other.