"Ollie? Are you okay? I woke up and you were gone." Laurel said questioningly.
Oliver smiled and he looked at Laurel with a soft expression on his face, as he came down the stairs. "I know, I'm sorry Laurel. I should have called or left you a note". The two of them were now standing inches apart from one another.
"Are you okay? You can tell me anything." Laurel offered.
"I know I can. And thank you for that. Listen, Laurel, nobody in my life is who I thought they were... except for you. Nobody in my life is more important to me or more loved by me than you are" Oliver paused and he was looking into Laurel's eyes, which were growing watery. "I have to go now, Laurel. Please, if you love me at all, stay out of The Glades tonight". Oliver's lips crashed into Laurel's and all thoughts plaguing her mind were obliterated. He pulled away from her and walked out the front door of the Queen Mansion. She stood there for a moment but then she wiped away the few tears rolling down her had things to do before William returned on the afternoon school bus.
Yes, Ollie (and not to mention, Tommy) told her to stay out of The Glades, but neither of them gave her a reason. If there was no particular reason, she would have to get to CNRI. Laurel had a lot of work to do, and the only time she could find to get through it was tonight. She didn't like working nights... she would rather be at home with her son. However, something that she wanted to instill in William was the reward of helping others and asking for nothing in return.
Laurel collected William from the bus. "Hi mommy" he beamed.
"Hi, baby. How was school?" Laurel asked him, smiling.
"Good" he replied.
"What did you learn today" she tried.
"Nothing" Of course. Typical post-school day convo with the mini.
"Are you ready to spend the night at Ben's house?" Laurel laughed.
"Yes! I am so excited!" William shouted, nearly breaking Laurel's eardrums.
Laurel dropped William at Ben's and told Ben's mother that she and her husband were life-savers. Then, it was into The Glades and of to the CNRI building. Laurel said hello to her co-workers and sipped on a room-temperature latte while she dealt with a pile of case files that had found their way onto her desk.
Oliver was geared up and ready to leave so that he could defeat Merlyn and stop the undertaking from happening. He was praying to god that Thea didn't get any ideas about trying to go see Roy tonight. And that Laurel and William were going to stay out of The Glades as well...
John Diggle entered the foundry. "Dig", Oliver said, " You might want to call Carly and tell her to get herself and Andy Jr. out of The Glades tonight".
"I did already, Oliver. I did as soon as we figured out what Merlyn's plans were" Diggle replied. "Hey, Oliver. Now that you have slept with Laurel, it might be worth telling her the truth about who you are. I mean it's like you said. It's always been Laurel and Oliver and I am guessing that won't change".
Oliver nodded his head. If he and Laurel did get back together, or even if she was just going to continue to be in his life, he would have to tell her the truth... he wanted to, really, he did. Though, he wasn't sure how she would take it. Would she still let him see William? Would she trust him?
No time now.
While Quentin Lance was following Felicity's instruction on disabling Merlyn's earthquake machine, Oliver and John had surrounded Merlyn on the roof of his own building. Quentin confirmed over the comms that he had disabled the machine and that The Glades were safe. "It's over, Malcolm" Oliver shouted. "The Markov Device has been disabled". Oliver punched Merlyn in the stomach.
"You only think that you have won, Oliver" Merlyn laughed.
"I have" Oliver screamed and John restrained Merlyn twisting both his arms into uncomfortable positions behind his back.
"Ahhh" Merlyn groaned. Oliver punched him with a right hook to his face. He only laughed again. He swung his leg forwards and swung it back, kicking Dig's shin and causing an audible crunch to be heard. Merlyn then went on to put up a fight with both Dig and Oliver at the same time, which lasted for a little over ten minutes, before Oliver saw an in. He retrieved an arrow from his quiver and he stabbed Merlyn's chest.
A look of shock was present on Malcolm Merlyn's face. Then a smile as blood began to pour from his mouth. Oliver got angry. "What?" Oliver growled.
"Detective Lance only disabled one of the Markov devices. I anticipated being stopped from The Hood's first appearance in Starling City, so I took extra precaution" He began to cough as he began to die.
Oliver spoke into his comm. "Felicity, you need to locate a second Markov device now. Is Quentin still down there?"
"No," Felicity said, worried.
Oliver took out his phone that he only used for vigilantism and immediately hit the only number in his contacts: the one he used to communicate with Quentin Lance.
Laurel's eyes were growing heavy and she glanced at the clock to see that it was nearing 10:00 pm. Most of CNRI's staff had left hours ago. She got up to refill her coffee when a sudden shake in the ground caused Laurel to fall back toward her swivel chair, which was rolling backward across the floor, so Laurel's ass hit the hardwood floor.
Furniture was slipping and sliding and item flying and falling all around Laurel while she struggled to get up. The other CNRI employees were quickly vacating the building, forgetting Laurel and leaving her on her own.
"Help" Laurel desperately cried, even though she knew no one could hear her over the sounds of the earthquake and building around her crumbling. "What about Ollie?" she thought. "What about whatever happened between us last night? And what about William? Oliver may no longer be a spoiled billionaire playboy, but he isn't quite single parent material... If I die, will anybody miss me?"
Her thoughts were broken up by the voice of her recent ex-boyfriend, Tommy Merlyn. "Tommy" Laurel shouted hoarsely.
"Laurel" Tommy shouted in response.
"You- huh-you came for me" Laurel voiced cracked.
"I love you" Tommy confessed.
Tommy bent down and assisted Laurel up to her feet. As he pulled her upright, he stumbled and fell. Laurel bent down to help Tommy but saw she was too late, as Tommy had already been impaled by a piece of debris. She heard the voice of The Hood behind her shoulder say: "Go! I've got this".
Laurel looked in Tommy's eyes and a tear rolled down her cheek as he nodded his head, weakly. She turned and bolted for the exit as the foundation of the CNRI law firm fell away around her.
Oliver squatted over Tommy's body, as the life was escaping it. Oliver pushed back his hood and Tommy could see that he was sobbing. "Tommy, I am so sorry" he croaked.
Tommy had lost a lot of blood and even he knew that his life could not be saved. He tried to give his best buddy one final smile and he asked with final breath "Did I save Laurel?"
Oliver, wiping sweat from his forehead and tears from his cheeks, replied: "Yeah, you did, buddy".
He cupped Tommy's face in both of his hands let his tears fall onto Tommy's shirt. He allowed himself only a moment because he had to make it to the roof of the building before the roof itself fell through.