A/N: So this story is adopted from Arlyss Maligue, so if you see similarities between the two stories, that's why. I'm going to try to honor his original plan as much as I can, so the beginning won't be that different. I hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed it. This first chapter is a direct copy and paste just to get it out there, but the chapters after it will be my work.

Oliver Queen opened his eyes and sat up with a start, his last memory that of being shot by someone he thought he could trust. Blinking, he looked around, and frowned in consternation. There were no recognizable shapes or even people. There was nothing but a blank, white space, and as he stood, he noted that there was not a scrap of clothing on him. As this thought came into him, a suit not unlike those he wore as Mayor of Star City came into being, fitting snugly to his person. As he checked around, he saw that more defined shapes and features were being molded into the world around him, and soon, he found himself in an ethereal version of his bedroom at the Queen Mansion.

A polite cough drew his attention, and he turned to face the person responsible. "Who are you?" Oliver asked, folding his arms across his chest.

"Just call me Messenger," the man said with a shrug. "It's what I am. No, this isn't Heaven, or Hell; its an in-between place. Some might call it-"

"Do not even think the word Purgatory," Oliver warned, causing the man's mouth to snap shut. "Now, why am I here? Do I have to wait before I get sent on?"

"No, what we have here is a unique opportunity of sorts," Messenger said. "You know now there are 53 Earths in the multiverse. What you don't know is that each Earth has variations to it to account for the decisions of every person who has lived or will ever live. Infinite variations of each Earth play out. As someone who has spent all his life, in one way or another, on top of a mystical convergence with barely a break away from them, you have been 'soaked' in mystical energies. This offers you the opportunity to take the place of any Oliver Queen who died due to his own actions or the actions of others."

Oliver blinked at the information download but nodded to show he understood. He mused that he should rightfully be freaking out here, but then again, after the insanity of his life, this sort of thing almost seemed par for the course. That, or he had finally snapped after everything and this was his mind's way of dealing with it all. "I'm assuming there are some variations that are very different from the world I was in?"

"In some ways, yes," Messenger replied. "There are some variations where your mother is completely onboard with the Undertaking. Others where your father never went on the Gambit but you still did in an attempt to be a better man. . . There are infinite variations, Mr. Queen."

Oliver's mind had somewhat ground to a halt at the idea that there were worlds where his father was still alive. "Would I be getting an 'information download' on the world I chose?" he asked.

"Yes, if only because it would be a bad idea for you to go in blind," Messenger replied.

"Is there a world where my parents are both alive but I still had most of what happened to be still happen?" Oliver asked. "I wouldn't want to reference something that didn't happen."

"Let's see. . ." Messenger said, his eyes going white. "Yes, here we go. Your parents are not willing participants in the Undertaking; Merlyn used your death against them and threatened the same to your sister. You died of poisoning by an agent of Kovar the night before you went to Lian Yu to stage your rescue."

"So I would take the place of the poisoned Oliver Queen in that variation?" Oliver asked.

"Yes," Messenger replied. "Oh, there is one other thing you need to know about this one: Laurel Lance was pregnant when you 'died' and you have a four year old daughter, Olivia."

Oliver considered whether he was ready for that kind of commitment. He had already begun to realize that he had 'settled' for Felicity because he had never thought he was worthy of Laurel, and he had always regretted not letting her know the truth on her deathbed, that she was the love of his life and always would be, even though he was unworthy of her. But life with Felicity as his wife had become. . . static. Anytime they had come up against a technological foe, she had basically insulted his intelligence and his ability to combat the enemy, and he had just taken it. No one had ever said anything, even Thea. . . well, Sara had the one time she was around, but by then, everyone was used to it, including Oliver himself. Unsurprisingly, after that, it was rare that Sara or her team popped up beyond those times they were needed (like with the Dominators and the Earth-Xers).

Maybe the possibility of having a daughter would be what galvanized him to take this new life by the horns. Oliver finally nodded and said, "Alright, that sounds like a good fit. Did that Oliver know about Laurel and Olivia?"

"No, he never found out," Messenger said. "Are you ready to begin your new life, Mr. Queen?"

Oliver blinked away the emptiness of 'death' and remained laid out on his back for a moment, his mind assimilating the information on this new world.

Sara had not gone on the Gambit with him, but remained in Starling with everyone else. That was good; he didn't have to worry about that stupid choice of his fouling things up with the Lances. He was already going to have to deal with a lot when it came to his own family, even though he was happy with the idea of having his father still alive. Of course, in this variation, he didn't have the List (yet), just the message from his father, so that would make for an interesting twist on things.

One of the differences in this variation was while he had worked against Shadowspire, they had been a Neo-Nazi group instead of just a mercenary band after the idol; Oliver had to admit that, considering Adolf Hitler's obsession with the occult, it would make sense for a radical group of Neo-Nazis to have that same obsession. He had also not gone to Starling City at any point, having made use of a fake half of the Alpha-Omega to get him and Maseo to Tatsu; he wondered why he hadn't thought of that option in his own universe. That, at least, explained why he wouldn't have known about Olivia in this universe.

Oliver pulled himself into a sitting position. First things first; he needed to expose the Kovar agent to Anatoli, and then inform his friend that there was a change of plans. He wasn't going to Lian Yu after all; one of the upsides to changing universes was that he now knew that the Red Death had been affecting him all the way through the destruction of Lian Yu; the island had become a 'beacon' for the Red Death and seeing it destroyed had snapped its hold on him. But if he went to Lian Yu here, he might end up with that serum in his system again, which had been the main thing that kept him from looking at things from every angle. If he had had that, so much could've been prevented, including Roy having to fake his death, Laurel's death at the hands of Damien Darhk, not realizing that Prometheus was just the tool of a far more cunning, wily adversary in the form of Talia al Ghul; so many problems that could have been avoided with a clear head.