"Mia?" Oliver asked and I looked up from my plate of assorted vegetables and roasted chicken, blinking rapidly.

Sitting at the table for dinner, I scanned the faces of my friends looking at me. I set my fork down and clasped my hands in my lap.

"Hm? Sorry, I missed what you asked."

"You got that letter from the university," he said gently, and took a sip of his wine. "You want to tell them about it?"

I smiled, then tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. "Yeah. So, because of the... accident... the university sent me a letter saying they'd honor my degree. They said because I had taken extra credits, it was enough to get the bachelor's and waived the requirement for my thesis paper. I think I'll finish it on my own, but they're having a ceremony in a few weeks where I get to wear the cap and gown and cords and everything."

"Hey, Mia! Look at you! I'm so happy for you!" Tommy exclaimed from next to me.

I smiled and nodded. "Yeah, it's pretty exciting," I said as I stabbed at my broccoli. "I don't ever have to do homework again."

I made sure to smile at that for them, even though the idea of not having physically finished my degree in marine biology irked me. I had dreams- goals to work at the aquarium and say I had finished the degree myself, not had it handed to me. I had wanted more from my life.

"Are you going to look for any jobs?" Mrs. Queen asked gently.

I shrugged. "I'm... not sure my face is aquarium-friendly any more, and I'm not too much of a fan of boats anymore..." I motioned vaguely at the scars and sighed heavily. I had lost my already minuscule appetite.

"Mia, sweetie, you are still just as beautiful as the day you left," Moira said gently. "Besides, you can do anything you set your mind to- absolutely anything. And if someone has something to say about it, well, I say they can speak to me."

I smiled a little at that and cut at my chicken with my fork, trying not to look ungrateful. "Thank you, Mrs. Queen." I was truly touched by the kind words and the encouragement. Kind words were foreign to me.

I wasn't very hungry, but didn't want to offend them. I hadn't been able to finish a whole meal since returning. Conversation resumed around the table and I went back picking at my plate aimlessly.

"Ok, what did you two miss?" Tommy suddenly asked from next to me, and my shoulders tensed a bit, but he didn't seem to notice. "Super Bowl winners... Giants, Steelers, Saints, Packers, and Giants again. A black president- that's new! Oh, and Lost? They were all dead... I... think."

I smiled slightly at that, but it disappeared when Thea looked at me and asked, "What was it like there?"

I looked up at Oliver, and the façade of calm he had been maintaining seemed to slip for a moment before he turned to his sister and showed an easy smile. "Cold."

"Tomorrow," Tommy segwayed in. "You and me, we're doing the city. You've got a lot to catch up on."

"That's an excellent idea," Mrs. Queen said.

"Good. Then I was hoping to swing by the office," Oliver said and sent a pointed look at Walter.

"Well, there's plenty of time for that. Queen Consolidated isn't going anywhere," Walter replied, looking over at Oliver to see he had a terse smile.

Suddenly, the maid, Raisa, slipped and almost dropped a bowl of fruit, but Oliver reached up quickly and caught her and the bowl.

"Oh! I am so sorry, Mr. Oliver," she exclaimed.

He merely replied in Russian that it was perfectly alright, that no harm was done.

Raisa stared at him in shock and Tommy began to laugh. I looked over at her and said in the same language to the maid, "Don't worry about him- he's just a show-off."

She sent me a small smile and Oliver rolled his eyes at me.

Tommy began to laugh. "Whoa... where did you two learn Russian?" He looked between Oliver and I.

I shrugged. "There was this cool book at some gift shop we found and we were bored," I lied easily. "Seemed like something fun to show off to you all when we came home."

Tommy met my eyes, and I thought for a moment  he was going to question it, but he didn't.

"I didn't realize the two of you were interested in learning languages," Walter said.

"I didn't realize you wanted to sleep with my mother, Walter," Oliver replied with a small smile, nodding his head as Walter sent him a look of disapproval.

I resisted throwing a roll at him, settling with sending him a glare.

Thea laughed uncomfortably as the table turned tense. "I... I didn't say anything."

"She didn't have to," Oliver replied softly, his eyes never leaving Moira's.

"Oliver..." Moira began as she reached for Walter's hand. "Walter and I are married, as I said before. And I don't want you to think either one of us did something to disrespect your father."

"We both believed that Robert- like you- was, ah, gone," Walter tried to explain awkwardly.

Oliver nodded, seeming to accept their explanation, but I could see the hurt in his eyes. We knew how Robert really left this world, but had decided that sharing that piece of information would only serve to hurt others. He stood, then asked, "May I be excused?"

"Of course," Moira replied and watched worriedly as he walked around the table, winking at Thea as his hand gently squeezed my shoulder and slapped Tommy's as he passed.

I chewed on my lower lip, staring at my hardly-touched plate, and went to say something when I looked up to see everyone was now staring at me. I squirmed uncomfortably. "What?"

"Mia, you... you've known him the longest, and you were there with him," Moira began, swallowing hard. "I understand how you both feel about this question, but, what could have happened to make him... and you... so different?"

I set my fork and knife down completely, dropping my hands into my lap as I fiddled with my napkin, weighing what to say- what I could say. I pulled at the cuff of my sweatshirt, adjusting the fabric as my fingers graced against the jagged scar up my left forearm.

I didn't say anything for a few moments as I finally decided on what I should say to Oliver's family and best friend. What I could say to them that wouldn't hurt them.

What I could say of the torment we endured for those five years in order for them to understand how badly we wanted nothing more than to not ever speak of it again.

Finally, I said, "To be honest, Mrs. Queen, if I were to share with you even what happened to us just within the first month on that island, you wouldn't be finishing your meal." I released a shaky breath and said, "The scars on my face were from day two on the Island. I won't share anything more than that. The people there..."

I shook my head and looked down at my clenched fists, steadying my breathing, my heart beginning to pound. I closed my eyes, released a breath, my body calming itself automatically after months of conditioning.

I looked up at her and continued, "We don't sleep, as you can see we don't eat much. There's only so long you can live on constant high alert before you immediately become aware of every tiny detail like second nature. Anything can attack you. And it will. You don't live like that for five years, then come home the same way you were, and then not notice obvious changes in your family."

I stood, gently squeezing Tommy's offered hand as he helped me stand. "Hell, Mrs. Queen, is as simple of an answer as I can give you for what we faced there, and I'm not sure even that completely covers all the torture."

I then turned on my heel and left the room to find Oliver.

******

~ Five Years Ago: On the Island ~

I slowly woke up, blinking through the searing pain in my body- and mostly my head.

I went to lift my hand to my forehead only to find it was cuffed to my other. I opened my eyes fully to see what was happening to meet the bright eyes of a man sitting behind a desk across from me.

I looked around to see I was in a green camo tent, and my first thought was the army. I looked back at the man as he spoke.

"Hello, my dear. I found you on the beach with a nasty gash in your head," he said as he leaned forward on the desk. "Tell me, what's your name?"

I swallowed hard as I watched him set a glass filled with ice on the table and begin to pour water into it- or was it seltzer water?- from a bottle. "M-Maria Walker. But everyone just calls me Mia," I rasped, my eyes focused on the liquid.

"Well, Miss Walker, Mia, do you know where you are?" He asked as he took a sip from the cold beverage.

I swallowed hard and licked at my chapped lips. "No, I don't."

"Then why are you here?"

"We washed up here. My best friend and I. Our boat malfunctioned during a storm and it sank. We were the only survivors and our life boat washed up here. The next thing I know is he's getting shot with an arrow, and-"

"An arrow? Did you say an arrow?" He asked, leaning forward as his eyebrows raised in interest.

I leaned back from him, feeling tense. "Yeah. An arrow. Then some creepy guy in a green hood showed up and hit me in the head before I could help my friend," I said. "Can you help him? I am really worried, and..." I drifted off, feeling a deep dread fill me as I watched the expression on his face change.

An unsettling smile crossed his face as he merely set an additional glass down, and turned away from me for a moment. Heart hammering in my throat, I watched as he poured ice into the glass, then set a can of Sprite in front of me.

"I'll tell you what, Miss Walker. You tell me about that man you saw shoot your friend, and tell me where you were and how you found this place, and you can have this cold drink."

I frowned. "I... sir, with all due respect, I don't even know where I am- what country or where this even is. I'm really bad at geography- we left the west coast of the United States, so possibly in Asia is all I can think of."

I coughed slightly as the man stared at me, waiting for more. "All I know is that I washed up on a beach, there was a rocky river draining into the ocean, and we hid along some tree lines after we buried my friend's dad. He... he killed himself on the lifeboat so we could have the provisions."

I felt tears enter my eyes at the memory and wiped at my eyes with my cuffed hands before dropping them into my lap again. He stared at me, as if he expected me to have more information than I was letting on. I felt a panic begin to rise in my throat but I forced myself to remain calm.

"Sir, all I know is I landed on a beach and I got hit and my friend, he got shot by some crazy guy, and for all I know, he's dead too," I began to laugh nervously, feeling my eyes water more and a tear slipped down my cheek. I released a breath, my heart pounding in sharp beats. "I'm sorry, alright? I just... I'm really scared right now. Do you know this crazy archer guy? I don't know where he is, but maybe if you caught him I could confirm it was him that attacked us? I'm just scared about Oliver..."

The man smirked, and I felt myself tense more, liking the interrogation less and less, but if I wanted any chance of saving Oliver, I needed his help. My goal was to find people, and here they were. They could get us home and save Oliver from the crazy archer guy.

I was willing to say or do anything to get Oliver and I home.

I cleared my throat and said, "If you don't believe me, I can say I know he was Japanese. Wild black and greasy hair, he was covered in dirt. Barefoot. Shoved me away from Oliver after he shot him with that arrow, and then hit me in the head with a rock."

"Who's Oliver?" He asked.

I clenched my fists, trying to keep myself calm as I was made to repeat myself again. "Oliver Queen- the friend I shipwrecked here I already told you about. It was his father's boat- the Queen's Gambit. He's a billionaire and was just going on a trip and invited me along so I could study the coral reefs," I blabbed, but wasn't sure what else to say other than the truth. "I'm a senior studying at Starling City University and I'm trying to get my degree in marine biology. Though my thesis and my laptop is at the bottom of the ocean now..." I sighed heavily and bowed my head, beginning to cry in frustration and feeling pathetic.

The man didn't speak, merely staring at me, and that panic came back, but I forced myself to keep talking, even if I was repeating the same words.

"Please, sir, I just want to go home. I want to find Oliver. We both need to go home. And that arrow went through his whole shoulder. He could be dead, too, now for all I know. We need to find him and save him from that guy. You don't seem to like him, either, so maybe we could have some sort of alliance or I don't know how this works. Please."

"Very well, Miss Walker," he said as he stood and I flinched, but he only unshackled my wrists. He sat back down and pushed towards me the cup of ice and can of Sprite. "I believe you are telling me the truth. You are on the island of Lian Yu, somewhere in the South China Sea. The man you saw was a renegade known as Yao Fei. This was the man, correct?"

With shaking fingers, I popped open the can and poured it into the glass. He handed me a photo as I took a sip of the drink, my eyes closing as I drank half the glass at once, shuddering slightly at the stinging of the bubbles down my parched throat and lips. I looked more closely at the photo and nodded. "Yeah, that's him. Way less clean-shaven, now. Looks more like a hobo, honestly... if hobos were also Robin Hood."

He seemed slightly amused, and I wasn't sure that was a good thing or not. "Well, Miss Walker. My name is Commander Fyres. While I believe you are telling me the truth, I can't help but wonder what else there is you're not telling me."

I raised an eyebrow as I finished the glass and set it on the table. "I... there's nothing else for me to say. What would you want to know?"

"Everything," Fyres said, his eyes glinting darkly.

I realized then I wasn't getting out of this, and most likely, out of this tent alive. The realization hit me, and I felt like there was a million-pound weight sitting on my chest. I felt grief and relief all at once, and strangely enough, I didn't think death would be all that bad.

"I'm twenty-two years old, almost twenty-three, and I've been best friends with Oliver Queen my whole life," I said finally, resolving that I would not leave this world without someone knowing who I was. "I can assure you I'm telling the truth because if you look up Oliver Queen and Maria Walker missing on the news, you'll see us there. The name of the boat I already gave you. My face. You've got technology and Internet access, it seems. Oliver's famous back home. And his family has a lot of money. I'm sure they'd pay you a lot to get us back."

"You speak of his family, but not your own," he says and raises an eyebrow, leaning back in his chair, and strangely, still seeming amused by me, but in a way that I was like a new insect he hadn't expected to find, and had me trapped in a clear plastic cup, looking down at me squirm. "Why is that?"

I clenched my jaw. "I never see my dad. He's always working, so I stayed with the Queens most of my life. I have no siblings. My mother left me and my dad when I was four. The Queens are my family..." I drifted off, then clasped my hands in my lap as a sudden boldness took over me. Probably foolishly, but did so anyways.

If he was going to crush the metaphorical plastic cup, and I was still that interesting bug, he might as well go ahead and do it and get it over with. I didn't want to be alive anymore if this is what I would deal with for the rest of it.

I lifted my eyes to meet his squarely. "But, Commandeer Fyres, I'm not sure I'm going to tell you more than that until I'm sure you're going to help me and my friend."

Commander Fyres chuckled at that, and it sent a chill down my spine. "You have spunk, Miss Walker, I'll give you that. And audacity to believe you are in any position to bargain with me."

"Well, what do you want? I've made it clear what I want," I asked bravely, lifting my chin slightly. "I have been honest and forthright this whole time. I don't have any reason to lie to you, and I haven't. I've told you everything, and even more irrelevant information about home."

"Hm, unfortunately, I don't believe you," he said as he stood up. "I want the truth from you, and based off of our conversation as it has been going thus far, I do not think it'll be too easy to get it out of you. Luckily, I have a friend who specializes in getting answers out of... difficult people."

He stood, and motioned behind me and I slowly turned to look in horror at a man with a strange mask, half yellow and half black. He bore a pair of swords on his back and as he began to approach me, I began to panic.

"N-No, Commander Fyres, listen, that is the truth!" I tensed as the man grabbed my arms and lifted me out of the chair easily, lifting my arms over my head to secure my hands into the cuffs again, securing the cuffs to a hook above my head in the tent pole.

"Please you have to believe me!" I sobbed as the scary mask dude began to draw a sword from his back and unzip my father's sweatshirt...

"We don't believe you, and now you'll talk if I have to cut the answers out of you," the man snarled coldly as he pressed the blade to my cheek, and I felt the blade cutting into my skin. "Hm... what a pretty face..."

I cried out as he sliced the blade across my cheek, and then with a flourish, sliced it across the right side of my face, over my eye.

I screamed, blood dripping into my eye and mouth. "Stop! Stop, please! I told you everything!"

But it didn't stop, and after what felt like hours, I passed out. Coming in and out of consciousness, I was barely aware through the pain of the torture as he demanded answers to questions I didn't have. And any time I said "I don't know", he cut me more, or punched me, or...

I was only semi-aware of screams in the distance and a shadow entering the tent and taking me down from the pole before I passed out once more.