The Protectors of Starling, Chapter 1
I don't own Arrow.
A man wearing a green hood was sprinting down a forest hill, a blonde-haired woman wearing torn grey clothes followed him as they raced down the hill.
The man jumped off a cliff, grabbing onto and swinging off of a tree branch and landing on the green grass with a role, only to continue sprinting down through the forest, with the woman directly behind him.
The man and woman emerge from the forest and begin climbing a stone cliff, revealing both to be bare-footed. When reaching the top, the man stops and pears over a ledge, revealing a ship passing by the island. Here, it is shown that the man is also blonde-haired and has an over-grown beard.
The man turns back and nods to the woman before running long the top of the steep hill, jumping from peak to peak running as fast as possible. The woman was once again close behind him.
Both the man and the woman then jump down onto a large area of grass, both entering another area of forestry. They reach a point in the rocks where a large piece of folded cloth lay. The man pulled out a knife and drove it into the stone. The man unfolded the cloth revealing a bow and arrow, he quickly retrieved the bow and an arrow.
The man dragged the arrowhead across the knife quickly, creating a spark and lighting the arrow head on fire. The man then quickly nocked the arrow, taking aim at a bonfire on the other side of the beach.
The man's hand started to shake and he started to lose focus until the woman grabbed his face and brought him into a chaste yet passionate kiss. The man nodded to the woman before turning back, drawing the bow, taking aim and releasing the arrow.
The pair held their breaths as they watched the arrow fly and pierce the bonfire, causing it to explode. The pair released their' breathes watching this and both shared a small smile between them.
A small fishing boat noticed the explosion and set course for the beach, hoping to find the cause of the fire.
"The name of the island that they found us on is Lian Yu. It's Mandarin… For purgatory. We've been stranded here for five years. We've dreamt of our rescue every cold, black night since then. For five years, we've had only one thought, one goal: Survive… Survive and one day return home."
"The island had many dangers, to live… we had to make ourselves more than what we were. To forge ourselves into weapons."
"We are returning. Not the children who were shipwrecked, but the man and woman who will bring justice to those who poisoned our city. Our names our Oliver Queen and Sara Lance."
"Oliver Queen is alive. Along with Miss Sara Lance, the Starling city resident was found by fishermen in the North China Sea five days ago. Five years after the pair was missing and presumed dead, following the accident at sea which claimed the Queen's Gambit."
"Queen is the son of Starling City billionaire Robert Queen, who was also on board but now officially confirmed as deceased."
"20% of his body is covered in scar tissue. Second degree burns on his back and arms. And X-Rays show at least 12 fractures that never properly healed. And Ms Lance is only slightly better, with 16% of her body covered in scar tissue and at least 9 fractures that never properly healed." The doctor informed the antsy couple of worried parents. These people were revealed to be Moira Queen and Quentin Lance.
"Has either of them said anything about what happened?" Moira asked.
"No. They have barely said anything. Although Mr Queen was very aggressive towards anyone who tried to separate the pair. The only time they talk is when their huddled together and even then, it's in very hushed whispers. We eventually just gave up and did our checks while they were together." The doctor states.
"Moira, Detective, I'd like you to prepare yourselves. The Oliver and Sara you lost… might not be the ones they found." The doctor warns. Moira nods and slowly opens the door, Quentin close behind her.
The pair stood for a moment and watched the couple as Oliver had his arms wrapped around Sara's waist in a protective, yet loving embrace.
Moira was the one who broke the silence.
"Oliver?" She asked wearily.
Oliver turned around keeping one arm wrapped around Sara's waist, keeping her close to him as he watched his mother stand in front of him for the first time in 5 years.
"Baby girl?" Quentin greeted. Sara removed her eyes from Moira's face, as she notices her father standing beside Moira.
"Mom." Oliver greets, dropping both his arms to his side so that Sara can greet her father.
"Daddy?" Sara asked, making sure that it's not just another trick or a dark, twisted dream.
"Yeah. It's me baby girl." Quentin nods before they both run towards each other and clash in an embrace of tears, clenching each other, refusing to let go.
Oliver walks up to his mother and stops in front of her. Moira sobs quietly and proclaims.
"My beautiful boy." Before she collapses in his arms and cries.
Later, a deep blue Bentley parks in front of the Queen Manor and Oliver quickly walks towards the boot and puts his hand on the driver's shoulder, stopping him from picking up the wooden box in the trunk.
"I've got it." He claims, eyeing the driver with a stern, yet calm look. The driver nods and backs away nervously.
Oliver and Moira make their way into the Manor, Moira opening the front door with grace.
"Your room is exactly as you left it. Never had the heart to change a thing." She proclaims while making her way through the hall.
A well-dressed man walks into the room and greets to pair.
"Oliver! It's damn good to see you… It's Walter. Walter Steele?" The man asks, thinking that Oliver possibly forgot who he was.
"You remember Walter. Your fathers' friend from the company." Moira clarifies.
Oliver ignores this though, and brushes past them and walks towards the woman who helped raise him.
"It's good to see you Raisa." Oliver greets with a smile.
"Welcome home Mr Oliver." The woman gives a small laugh, still finding it had to believe that the man before her is the same boy who left five years ago.
"Mr Merlyn phoned. He wants to join you for dinner." Raisa informs Moira.
"Wonderful. Oh, also, Raisa, we will be having the Lances over as well." Moira informs the maid.
"Oh, of course Mrs Queen." Raisa nods before making her way into another room.
Oliver looks up the grand stairs and watches as his little sister makes her way down the stairs. Still not noticing him. She stops on the landing as she makes eye contact with her long-lost brother.
"Hey sis." He smiles and watches as she practically skips her way down the stairs.
"I knew it, I knew you were live." She mumbles before jumping on her brother and hugging him. Tears falling from her eyes.
"I missed you so much." She states.
"You were with me the whole time." He replies with a whisper.
Later that night, both the Queen and the Lance family's (Along with Tommy) where sitting in the dining room, eating their meal. Tommy then decided to start conversation.
"Okay, let's see what else did you guys miss? Superbowl winners: Giants, Stealers, Saints, Hackers, Giants again. A black president. That's new. Oh, and Lost? They were all dead. I think." Tommy finishes letting loose a small laugh before Laurel kicks his leg under the table and gave him a glare. Oliver and Sara shared a glance at this before returning to their respective meals.
"What was it like there?" Thea unexpectedly asked. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked between Oliver and Sara.
Oliver and Sara shared a look before looking towards Thea and simultaneously replying, "Cold."
"Tomorrow, you and me are doing the city. We've got a lot to catch up on." Tommy proclaims, pointing his fork in Oliver's direction.
"That sounds like a great idea." Moira nods.
"Good. Then I was hoping to swing by the office." Oliver proclaims. Moira and Walter share a look at this.
Moira hums while nodding and Walter replies, "Well, there's plenty of time for that. I mean, Queen Consolidated isn't going anywhere." He chuckles, humorously.
Raisa approaches the table with a fruit bowl but trips. Luckily Oliver catches her and helps her regain her balance.
"Oh, I am so sorry, Mr Oliver." Raisa apologises.
"Это не беспокойство." Oliver replies in fluent Russian.
"Dude. You speak Russian?" Tommy gasps.
"I didn't realise you took Russian at college Oliver." Walter states.
"I didn't realise you wanted to sleep with my mother Walter." Oliver swiftly replies, wanting to change the topic of conversation. Only for it to backfire.
"I didn't realise you wanted to sleep with my sister Oliver." Laurel drives in suddenly. Leaving Quentin to look at his daughter in shock.
"No, don't look at me like that dad. That man cheated on me and then led us to believe that Sara was dead for five years, and now we are suddenly eating dinner with him like nothing happened?" Laurel asked in outrage.
"Laurel, honey calm down-". Quentin tries to soothe his daughter, unsuccessfully.
"No, I won't calm down. What happened to killing the man who took your daughter away from you? Five years of hating that man and then suddenly we're all sitting down in HIS house, eating HIS food. So, tell me. What changed?" Laurel demanded. Standing up abruptly.
"He brought her back to me." Quentin replies. But Laurel wasn't done yet.
"But she never would have been gone if he didn't… take her there! That man killed your daughter and-". She was cut off by the sound of a slam. Everyone turned to see Oliver standing on his feet with his fist in the table. For the first time in 5 years, Oliver made eye contact with Laurel before swiftly turning and making his way towards his bedroom.
Sara looked to her sister with cold eyes before lightly touching her father's shoulder.
"I'm gonna go make sure he's alright. I'll see you tomorrow okay?" She asked her ad.
"Wait. What? Tomorrow? Why?" Quentin asked his daughter, confused.
"Tomorrow daddy. Ollie needs me and I'm not gonna abandon him. Especially tonight." She then kissed her fathers' cheek before running after her boyfriend.
Quentin sat there thinking of what the importance of this particular night was, until it hit him. Today was the 5 year anniversary of the day the Gambit had sunk, taking Oliver's dad with it.
"Alright. Thank you for your hospitality Mrs Queen but I think we should be going now. I'm so sorry for Laurel's behaviour. I'm sure it won't happen again."
"It's fine Quentin, and please, if you ever need anything, I'm just a phone call away." Quentin nodded before following Laurel out the front door.
Later, we see Oliver thrashing around in bed, with Sara holding him trying to calm him down.
~Flashback~
"1, 2, 3. It's getting closer." Sara says while peering out the window, watching the storm unfold.
"It's not very scientific." Oliver states while approaching the younger Lance sister, handing her a glass of champagne.
"And, what would you know about science, Mr Ivy League drop-out?" Sara teases.
"Oliver grins at her before replying. "I happen to know a lot about science. I know… fermentation. I know… biology." He then kisses the blonde gently.
"Laurel's gonna kill me. She's so gonna kill me." Sara states while putting her glass down on a tray beside the bed.
"Your sister will never know… Now, c'mere." He then picks her up before throwing her on the bed pinning her down as she giggles at his antics.
Another bolt of lightning strikes outside, closer than the last one.
"Okay, that one was really close." She proclaims worriedly.
"Sara… we are gonna be fine." He then leans down and kisses her before the boat tips, along with the bed, flipping the two across the room. Oliver looks up in time to watch as Sara is pulled into the ocean screaming his name, before he too is pulled up to the surface where he looks up to see his dad and another member of the crew on a raft.
Robert gestures for Oliver to climb up, Oliver is about to grab his hand when he hears Sara scream his name. Oliver looks at his father who pleads for his son to get on the raft but Ollie turns around and swims to Sara. He grabs her waist and pulls her tight against him before swimming quickly back to the raft.
Oliver pushes Sara up into the raft before climbing in himself. When Oliver looks back into the water he sees one of the crew members in the water, dead.
~End flashback~
"Aaarrgghh!" Oliver grabs Sara and rolls off the bed pinning her underneath him in a protective manner.
"Hey, hey, Ollie it's okay. We're home and everything's gonna be okay now alright? I'm here." Sara soothes him until she sees his tensed muscles relax.
She starts placing kisses up his chest, neck and face until she wraps her arms around his head and pulls it tightly against her chest, rocking him to sleep.
Eventually they fall back into a peaceful sleep, in each other's arms.
A/N I know that I'm kinda digging myself into a hole with what, 5 stories? 6? Regardless, I just really wanted to get this out. I've read a bunch of Arrow fics and decided to put my piece out. But don't worry. I plan on finishing everything that I start. It may just take a while. I've been getting writers block on Chuck for a while now and I refuse to force myself to write chapter because I want it to come naturally and not be a forced pile of crap.
Expect another chapter of One More Life soon. Adios.