A.R.G.U.S., HQ, night before,

A dark sedan drove through the gates unhindered and disappeared into the lowest level of the parking garage. There it came to an abrupt stop in front of an elevator. The jerk of the car sliding to a stop made him jump, his senses immediately on high alert.

"Stand down!"

The order came from his left and it made him feel good to see that the man had backed away from him. With a smirk he left the car and they rode the elevator, his escort keeping a safe distance, which again filled him with great satisfaction. The ride to Waller's sanctuary – as Oliver had dubbed it – passed in a heavy silence. When they entered the room Amanda Waller was already expecting them hand outstretched with the palm turned upwards. Wordlessly they handed over the USB device to the White Queen. Without even looking at it she handed it over to a technician.

"So?" Turning toward Oliver again she took in the battered appearance in front of her an eyebrow lifted. She'd known he wasn't back to full health when she'd sent him to QC to execute his mission, but then there had been no question of getting hands to hands with several opponents. The initial goal had been to retrieve intel from QC and to test Oliver. She wanted to see if he would comply with what had been asked of him. Oliver Queen was one tough and stubborn man. He had shown her that trait of character years before and this time he had managed to get back without too much damage apparently. She filed away the information for later. He had fulfilled the mission he had been tasked with, but by getting discovered he'd put her entire op at risk.

"What were you thinking?" she barked in his direction. This sparked movement in the man in front of her. With one swift motion he removed his mask and the hood that had been hiding part of his face. He stepped up to her, his face only inches from hers. Anger was clouding his eyes.

"What was I thinking? He spat back at her. "What did you expect? That the intrusion wouldn't get noticed? In case you haven't known it before, QC has one of the best IT experts in the world!"

"I expected you to rise up to the standards I trained you!"

"You trained me?" A bitter laugh escaped his lips. "That's not how I remember it … You have always been good at delegating the dirty work … "

*************** flash-back ***************

Hong Kong,

The flame flickered. It formed a lonely spot of light in an ocean of darkness surrounding him. Focus! He had been told. Listen to your senses! That had been minutes earlier or was it hours? He had lost the sense of time.

Even the slightest puff of air made the flame drift thus permitting the volatile object not to be extinguished. Fascinated his gaze remained riveted to it, eyes burning from the prolonged stare at the bright spot. Every now and then it moved, the form changed slightly before returning to its normal appearance.

Suddenly he realized this strange dance was in fact a fight, a fight for survival. Survive! The voices of his father and Yao Fei briefly echoed in his mind.

Earlier that day,

Maseo had handed him over to his wife after a particularly hard training session, when he'd been too dumb to understand what his handler wanted to teach him…

"You must understand the mind and the actions of your opponent… this takes both stillness and movement…" Maseo explained patiently, while executing perfectly choreographed katas with his bokken. It was still to soon to use real weapons. Oliver wasn't ready yet … if he would ever be. A sigh escaped the master as he observed his apprentice struggle to counter his moves.

"But … this makes no sense …" a panting Oliver objected, leaning forward, both hands planted on his knees. "How can something be still and move at the same time? That is crazy!"

"Follow her! You have to understand and accept that concept before we can continue."

He nodded towards Tatsu, who was sitting to the side of the training mats.

As Oliver turned to her, he could catch a glimpse of disapproval before her stoic mask slid back into place. He didn't understand why this woman hated his guts so wholeheartedly. He hadn't done anything to deserve it. After all, it hadn't been his idea to be parked here with them in Hong Kong.

Tatsu rose with a swift, agile movement and left the room without looking back, so he hurried to follow her. There, she took a candle from a small sideboard and set it on the ground while settling next to it. She lit it and gestured to the opposite side of it. "Sit!"

Here we go again… Oliver thought, but he did as he was told, wondering what this strange ritual was supposed to accomplish. It couldn't be about remembering something, because he had never known how to fight properly. His confusion must have shown on his face, because Tatsu spoke up in a harsh tone.

"Your eyes can see, but you are blind…"

"How is this supposed to be helpful?"

"Focus! Breathe in … breathe out … Let your mind rid itself from all unnecessary thoughts… in … and … out …"

Slowly a strange calm invaded his senses. His vision tunnelled, closing in on the small flame in front of him, nothing else mattered any more, only the small light was important …

*************** end flash-back***************

Focus … The voice in his mind faded away and his attention was drawn back to a still very irate Waller.

"Oh please! Let's remain realistic! I'm in charge here! I can't very well do all the work by myself, but don't try to get me off track! You almost singlehandedly derailed a carefully planned mission all by yourself!"

"Don't blame me for the dangers you haven't seen coming … " Oliver yelled back.

"You should have eliminated all the witnesses! That's what you were taught!"

"There were innocent lives at stake!"

"Not your problem! We're not boy scouts. You're a trained killer, Oliver Queen! You're here because of me! Because I wanted you to! A.R.G.U.S. forged you into a weapon so you can take lives for the good of others! You have killed before so I suggest you get back into that habit rapidly. After all you've developed a great talent for it. And remember, it wasn't me who came knocking at your door. You'd made it very clear you wanted nothing more to do with A.R.G.U.S. and we respected that. Dismissed! See that he gets checked for his injuries and bring him to his temporary quarters."

Oliver's fists clenched at his sides as anger boiled up inside his chest, but he had to give in … she wasn't totally wrong ... He turned and couldn't help but notice the men that had been standing behind him had their hands on their weapons. They escorted him to his medical check and then back to his temporary quarters.

Exhausted he lay down. Sleep wouldn't come easy, not after tonight's events, but then it never came easy for him ... not since the island. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes releasing it softly, willing the tension to ebb away.

Almost immediately Felicity's eyes swam in his mind. God! He missed her! The only thing keeping him going was the idea that she was safer far away from him. Heck, even Waller's men, who were trained field agents, drew back in fear near him. It hadn't always been that way … Slowly his mind drifted, clouded by swirling memories…

...

A hand clasped his shoulder and shook him out of a dreamless sleep.

"Get ready!"

With bleary eyes Oliver looked around, he mustn't have slept for long, but apparently Waller had already thought of a new way to test him. Maseo pushed a bundle of dark clothes into his chest.

"Wear these!"

"What? Where are we going?"

"You ask too many questions."

"But…"

"Simply do as you're told. It's easier that way. Remember your life isn't the only one at stake here." Maseo instructed him as they drove through the night.

"At least give me some clue. How am I supposed to be of any use if I don't know anything." Oliver almost begged. He hated being drawn away at instant's notice to fulfil schemes for that Waller woman. Not that anyone cared about how he felt…

"We simply need to retrieve something." Maseo retorted, effectively silencing the younger man. They drove on for quite some time to reach the wealthier suburbs. These last years these had become refuge to those who had gained power and wealth, be it legally or barely so. Oliver observed the large homes. Some of them were almost as large as his own. Most were imitating western style houses; rarely a traditional estate was to be seen. It was always the same he realized; those that had power and money wanted, no needed, to show it. They stopped in a small side road.

At this late hour nobody was out so the chance of being noticed was small. The people living here rarely walked their streets on foot.

Maseo turned to him. "We go in. We take the package and we leave by the same way. Simple task." Oliver nodded, rubbing his sweaty palms against his pants. The older man gestured to follow him and so he did. They slid inside the house without encountering any opposition. Taking advantage of every shadow they made their way to their target. Oliver carefully trod in Maseo's footsteps doing his best to emulate his movements.

He led them to a room that resembled the one they had been training in. The walls were covered in intricate wood panels housing numerous kake with a large variety of swords and katanas. There were several complete traditional body armours placed throughout the chamber.

Oliver was fascinated and forgot their initial goal. This was easily the most precious collection of war art he had ever seen.

Maseo moved purposefully along the room, he clearly was searching for something specific. He stopped in front of a single stand on which rested a katana. As he grabbed it, an alarm started blaring in the house making both men flinch.

Oliver looked frantically to Maseo for guidance. "Go!" The two of them fled along the corridors at full speed. Footsteps could be heard. Panic spread in Oliver. How were they supposed to get out? He slowed down to look for escape routes. This distraction cost him dearly. Agonizing pain suddenly shot through his body and he fell to the floor. He last thing he saw before darkness enclosed him was Maseo disappearing into the night.

...

He woke with a start, his body covered in cold sweat, his heart pounding wildly in his chest. Disoriented he sat up looking around with wide eyes, breath heaving. Realizing where he was, he inhaled deeply trying to calm his heart rate. He had had a nightmare … again. Lately his ghosts had been haunting him relentlessly at night. They had appeared on Lian Yu after his first kill… Back then Shado had helped him put things into perspective again when he'd looked into the eyes of the monster inside him. Now that he was alone again it came back with a vengeance and he needed to face it on his own.

Reverting to his old habits he slid down on the floor to start push-ups. There would be no more sleep tonight for him …

A/N: This chapter has definitely grown a life of its own, dunno how that worked out…