Oliver Queen's POV 

I walked into Tommy Merlyn's office, closing the door behind me. 

'Sure beats the back of a bar,' I called out. He turned. 

'I saw your name in my schedule, thought it must be a typo,' he said snidely, but I couldn't care less. 'Why so serious? Did someone decide that they didn't want you putting an arrow in them today?'

'I thought it was past time we talked,' I offered, trying to ease the situation, but he didn't take to it. 

'About what? Me leaving the bar, you and Evelyn being serial killers? We're not lacking for topics.'

'Let's start with Laurel, since you're still in love with her.' 

'So are you,' he snapped. 

'I can't be with her, Tommy. You know why I can't.' 

'So what? I'm her consolation prize; I'll pass.'

'She's not anyone's... property. Laurel can make her own decisions. And she chose you. Until you couldn't handle it. Lord knows I am guilty of a lot of things between us, but not you and her. That's all I came to say.' I turned and walked away, but stopped in the middle of the room as Tommy sat down in his chair. 'What exactly do you do here?'

'I work closely with my father,' Tommy said. I gave a nod and said nothing more, just left the room. I walked through the hallways until I caught Malcolm Merlyn walking through the halls with a member of his security detail by his side. 

'Oliver!' he shouted in greeting. 

'Mr. Merlyn,' I said and shook his hand. 

'I must say, I'm surprised to see you here.' 

'Tommy and I just had a little unfinished business.' 

'Ahh. I know things have been challenging between you two, but I trust you're working things out,' he said kindly, but I saw nothing nice in it. I heard the commotion from Felicity and Diggle in my earpiece, but thought the better of it. 

'I'm sorry, I have to go. There are some investors waiting for me back at the club.'

'I'm heading out to a meeting myself. I'll walk you down to the lobby.' 

We came down to the lobby. 

'Tell your mother I said hello,' Malcolm said, shaking my hand. 

'I will,' I replied, trying to be courteous. He walked off, and I put my hand to my earpiece. 

'Got held up. Heading back upstairs,' I said in my earpiece. 

'Ollie?' a voice said. I looked over and saw Thea.

'Thea?! What are you doing here?' Over near the door, a young man was standing with a red hoodie on, hands in his pockets, back turned to me. 

'I, uh, just saw Tommy.'

'Yeah, me too. I'm gonna run back up, don't want to be late.' 

'Oh, I thought you just came down,' she asked, a suspicious look growing on her face. 

'Is that your friend Roy?' I asked. 

'No, um...'

'No?'

'Yeah, he gave me a ride.' 

'Thea, what are you really doing here? The truth, please.'

'The truth?'

'Mn-hmn.' 

'Well, we're trying to find the vigilantes.'

'What?'

'Roy's been kind of obsessed with them ever since they saved his life at the subway. And I overheard Detective Lance saying that the other archer was connected to Merlyn Global, so...' I grabbed her arm. 'Hey!' she shouted. Roy Harper turned. 

'Roy,' I called out. 'We haven't met yet. I'm Thea's disapproving older brother.' 

'Yeah, I know. Good to meet you.' He opened his hand to shake mine, but I grabbed his hand forcefully. 

'Don't mess around with the Hood and Athena. They're psychopaths, they're dangerous, and anyone who gets near them winds up dead. That will not be my sister. Do you hear me?' 

'Okay.' 

'Take her home... now.' 

Time skip 

At the Queen Mansion... 

Third Person POV 

Moira Queen walked up the stairs of the mansion and nearly bumped into Walter. 

'Oh, good. I was just coming to check on you to see if you'd like some tea, or...' He said nothing, only handed her a slip of paper. 'What is this?' She unfolded it and her hand automatically closed over her mouth in shock. 'Walter... Please. Divorce is an extreme reaction.'

'Well, considering the circumstances, I find it somewhat reserved. Or do you think I believe that my abduction on the night you told me that I was getting too close to your conspiracy was a coincidence,' he said, walking down the stairs. 

'You - you were in danger. This arrangement, it saved your life.' Walter scoffed. 

'Well, that's ironic. Because it feels like you've destroyed it.'

'Walter...' she begged. 

'You know, I read about people in forced captivity. Some of them said it was a simple thought that got them through the isolation and fear...' He chuckled drily, stopping at the bottom of the steps, near the front door, '... returning to their loved ones. So I don't know really why I'm still alive, Moira, because I didn't have that.'

'Walter, please...' she repeated, tears in her eyes. 

'What do you think you can say to me to convince me that everything I knew, my whole life... hasn't just, evaporated?' He turned away from her and walked to the front door. Thea opened the door, and he stopped in his tracks to see her shocked face. 

'Where are you going?' she asked. He beckoned her to him, and she fell against him, shock and pain written all over her face. 

At the Arrow hideout... 

Evelyn Queen's POV 

'In addition to the download, I also took the liberty of uploading a trojan to Merlyn's system. Figured it might come in handy,' Felicity said.

'That's smart,' Diggle said approvingly, coming up behind her. Oliver strolled around the table, deep in thought. I was sitting on her computer desk, watching the conversation. 'If Merlyn thinks he's been compromised, it'll help if we know first.' Oliver sighed. 

'Can you locate the seismic device?'

'I'm working on it. But there's at least a terraflop of data to go through.' He looked away, still deep in thought. 

'You alright?' Diggle asked Oliver. 

'My father, he told me that he failed the city. Asked me to write his wrongs, but I never knew what he meant until now. It's the Undertaking. I promised myself that when I crossed all these names off the list, I'd be done, but... Taking down these people, it doesn't honor him. I was just treating the symptoms while the disease festered. I stop the Undertaking, I wipe out the disease.' 

'What are you saying, Oliver?' I asked him. 'You would hang up the Hood?' He turned to me. 

'Merlyn's plan is what I returned from the island to stop.' I walked over to the stairs. 

'Where are you going?' I called to him. 

'Out.' 

I called him not long after. 

'What is it?' he asked over the line. 

'Felicity found the Markov device. Merlyn's keeping it at a warehouse his company owns in the Glades.' 

'Good. Coordinate an attack. You and Diggle take the device, I'll take Merlyn. Got a location?'

'Yeah. According to Felicity's trojan, Merlyn's logged onto his computer from his office.'

'I'm on my way,' he said, then hung up. 

Time skip 

Diggle and I went to the abandoned warehouse, Diggle with his gun, me with my daggers. I opened a door and we rushed through, still searching. In a corner, we saw a box labelled Unidac Industries and ran over to it. Coming over, we looked all around, Diggle shining his flashlight. 

At Merlyn Global... 

Third Person POV 

'Very well. I'll be in touch,' Malcolm Merlyn said as he closed off the phone call. 'Can I help you?' He turned to see the Hood there. 'No. I wasn't talking to you.' 

'Malcolm Merlyn... you have failed this city.'

'And how have I done that?' 

'The Undertaking. It ends now,' the Hood said gravely. 

'Oliver, the device. It's gone,' Diggle said over the line. 

'Where's the device?' the Hood asked, loading an arrow in his bow and pointing it at Merlyn. 

'Safe. I don't know how you got that trojan onto my system, but it prompted me to take precautions. There is nothing you can do to stop what's about to happen. And you shouldn't. This city needs what is about to happen in order to survive. The people who are destroying it from the inside need to be erased from the map.' He shot the arrow, but Merlyn caught it just before it hit his chest. 

'Fine. Let's start with you.' 

'Ironic, isn't it? Last Christmas, I almost killed you. A few months ago, you saved my life. And now, you're trying to kill me. You should make up your mind.'

'Done.' He threw the arrow and it broke the glass pane behind him. A round of violent fighting ensued, during which neither opponent broke their stride. The Hood's bow was broken, and still he persisted. Punch after punch was traded. But the Hood was down and Malcolm Merlyn kicked him mercilessly, until one last kick rendered him unconscious. Kneeling down, he pulled the hood off of the Hood. (see what I did there?) Underneath, he cradled the face of Oliver Queen, the man beneath the mask. 

'Oh, no,' he said as he took in the swift, sharp realisation. No one else could be the female vigilante. None other than Evelyn Queen. 

He knew. 

Oliver and Evelyn Queen were the vigilantes. 

They were the Hood and Athena.