Starling City Chapter 1: Artemis

It had been almost a year since Sara died, and the man responsible had been brought to justice. He was now serving a life sentence in prison, but many felt that it wasn't enough. Wounds and the pain of her loss had healed. Oliver was surprised when an invitation came from Ray Palmer, the new president and CEO of Queen Consolidated, to join him at the office for a meeting. He agreed to attend, but wondered why he was being summoned to the company he'd once owned.

Darkness had fallen over Starling City as Oliver walked off the elevator and into the executive office. Ray met him with his hand extended in greeting. Ray looked at Oliver and said, "Right this way."

Ray went and sat down before a laptop, and began pulling up files before motioning for Oliver to take a seat. Oliver followed Ray to where the laptop was and hovered behind him and looked at the screen. He was shocked at what he was reading and said, "Where did you find these?"

Both men looked up as Felicity walked into the conference room. Her hands clasped a manila folder, and her face was brightened by a smile. She handed the folder to Palmer and then sat down between the two men. She was happy to see Oliver considering everything that they've been through this past year. He could see that Oliver wanted to get down to business. Oliver sat in the chair to the right of Ray and said, "I decided to accept your invitation. I'd like to know why you are involving me in this. It's not like we haven't seen each other in the past year."

Ray quickly typed in a file name and then turned to address. He looked at Oliver and said, "This is the reason I asked you here tonight. These were found on a hard drive that had crashed. Felicity helped me recover most of the data. After seeing these, I was shocked at the weaponry that was being developed and then sold to other companies."

"I've never seen any of this before in my life. I assure you if I had known about this while I was at QC I would have dealt with this matter and had the plans destroyed", Oliver replied with a serious expression.

Felicity also went to see the screen and was shocked at what she was reading and wondered who created these weapon designs. Outside the window, a drone hovered silently. Emblazoned on its side was a Queen Consolidated emblem. It moved to a line its sights with the three unsuspecting people sitting at the conference table. Across the street, a man sat watching in the shadows with a controller in his hands. This man was named Deadshot, and he was hired to kill Ray Palmer.

Oliver chanced a look out the window and saw the glint of metal in the moonlight, and then the drone came into view.

"Get down", he yelled.

Glass rained down as bullets whizzed by. A bullet pierced Oliver's shoulder as he fell to the ground, out of the line of fire. His shoulder burned and as his arms came up to cover his head A bullet pierced Oliver's shoulder as he fell to the ground, out of the line of fire. His shoulder burned and as his arms came up to cover his head. Ray pulled Felicity down, shielding her with his body to protect her from the glass as well as the bullets that continued to fly past. He helplessly watched the drone as it continued to fire, trying to think of a way to disarm it.

Oliver crawled towards the window closest to the drone, while desperately trying to come up with a plan. As he reached the opening, he was shocked when an arrow came flying from out of nowhere, and struck the drone causing it to come hurtling into the office. Sparks were coming out of the drone and an unknown arrow stood out of it. As Oliver stood slowly to his feet, he searched the darkness for the archer who'd shot the drone down. His good hand came up to clasp his injured shoulder as he bent to examine the arrow protruding from the defeated machine.

Ray got up and then reached down to help Felicity. He gently pulled her to her feet, and then both of them moved to examine the sparking drone. Oliver stood, the arrow in his hands, and watched as Ray examined the thing that had nearly killed them moments earlier. He was shocked when his eyes landed on the company logo printed on the side. Both men stared at the mark, somber expressions on their faces.

Felicity saw that Oliver had been hit and walked up to him and said, "Oliver you were hit."

"The bullet went through my shoulder and out, just need it bandaged. I'll be heading to the hospital when I'm finished here." Oliver replied as he turned and made his way to the elevator.

Felicity grabbed her purse and followed him. They both watched as Ray walked to his office, pulling his phone from his pocket as he went. On a rooftop across the street, Deadshot stood up and opened a briefcase before placing the controller inside. He heard a sound coming from behind him, he quickly pulled his gun from its holster on his leg and aimed it at the female archer standing before him. Deadshot looked at the woman and said, "Who are you?"

"That isn't your concern." The female archer replied in a cold tone.

Before he could move, the woman raised her bow and fired an arrow into his eye. His hands immediately went to the injury and he fell to his knees. Blood quickly coated his fingers and ran down his face as he watched the female archer take the briefcase and disappear into the night.

In another part of town Thea Queen busied herself behind the bar of her nightclub, Verdant. She quickly poured the drinks and then handed them out to her customers. She was making sure everyone, who was at the club was enjoying themselves. She looked at her watch, realizing her bartender was late for her shift. She wondered where the woman could be since the shift had started an hour ago, and there was still no sign of her. Her shift was set to start an hour ago, but there was no sign of her.

Suddenly, movement drew her attention to the overdue bartender behind her. Startled, Thea gave a weak smile as she spoke.

"Sorry about that. It won't happen again. My name is Artemis. Thanks for hiring me." Artemis replied putting her arm out to Thea.

Thea shook her hand and said, "No problem. We'll talk later."

Thea's phone began to ring; she looked down at the screen before walking away to take the call. Artemis nodded to her, and then began to pour drinks for the people sitting at the bar. Hours went by and the club began to empty of its occupants. The club was empty and quiet when Thea began to count the night's earnings. She turned to Artemis, who was seated on one of the barstools with a sandwich in her hands.

"Here's your cut of the profits", she said handing the other girl a handful of folded bills.

"Thanks Thea", Artemis replied as she took the money and placed it in her pocket.

Thea with a glint of curiosity in her eyes, looked at her and said, "So what brings you to Starling City.'

"I came looking for my father. I'd heard rumors that he was in the area, and I wanted to see if they were true", Artemis answered as she began to wipe down the bar with the worn white rag.

Thea was shocked at the girl's reason for coming to Starling, but she sensed that there was more to the story than what she'd been told. In time, she hoped that Artemis would come to trust her enough to open up to her. She placed her hand over Artemis's and gave it a gentle squeeze before speaking.

"If you ever need to talk, let me know. I'm around anytime. You have my number."

Thea removed her hand and started for the stairs leading to her office. Once inside, she took her coat from its place in the closet. She pulled her arms through the holes and then stuck her hands into the warm pockets. Heading back downstairs, she could see Artemis was hard at work finishing the nightly cleaning. She had a mop in her hands and her hips swayed slightly as she pushed it across the floor. Thea stopped to look at her and said, "I'm about to head off and meet my boyfriend. Don't forget to lock up when you're finished."

"I'll be finished in about fifteen minutes and then I'll lock up." Artemis replied with a smile as she watched her boss go.

When she'd finished her cleaning she took the dirty water to the washroom and emptied it into the sink. She put the mop and bucket back in the closet before making her way out the door. Thea nodded and headed to the door and walked out and headed to where her car was parked then drove off.

At the hospital, Oliver hopped off the edge of the bed and was reaching out for his jacket, which was on the chair. He stood next to the bed and began to pull on the garment, hissing at the pain in his shoulder, as he put on his jacket. Felicity stood standing by the door and was looking at him and said, "Hi Oliver. How's the shoulder?"

At the sound of her voice, he turned to face her with a half-smile curving his lips and said, "My Doctor said that the bullet went right through and he bandaged me up and wants me not to use the shoulder too much. But we both know I can't do that."

He sighed as he pulled his keys from his pockets and started heading to where she was standing and walked past her. Oliver didn't want to discuss the distance that lay between them of late, and he could tell that that was exactly what Felicity wanted to talk about. He felt one of her small hands grab his arm as he passed her by and he came to a stop.

"You've been cold and distant lately. Did you honestly think that I wouldn't notice? Why won't you talk to me about it", Felicity asked concern coloring her words.

Removing her hand from his arm, Oliver met her eyes and said, "Do you really want to know why I've been distant? Alright, I'll tell you. The reason I've been distancing myself from you is because I saw you kissing Ray Palmer the night I caught Cupid."

"Why didn't you say anything", Felicity asked staring into his pain filled eyes.

"You have no idea how many times I've wanted to tell you, but I didn't want to get in the way in case you have feelings for him. I was coming to see you to tell you how I felt when I saw you, and I walked away", Oliver replied looking back at her.

Felicity felt her chest tighten and tears stung her eyes, "You're so scared that you'll put those closest to you in danger, but shouldn't that be their choice?"

Oliver nodded at her words, knowing they were exactly how he felt. He gave her a smile, pulling her into a quick hug before heading for the exit. Felicity began to cry as she watched him go, knowing that his fear would keep them apart. Could he be right? The question lingered at the back of her mind, but she had no desire to have it answered.

I'd like to thank my beta readers and everyone who has enjoyed this chapter. Tune in for more chapters.