Oliver was used to entering the Arrow-cave at the end of a long stressful day. Being Star City's mayor by day and protector by night had him the most exhausted he had been since the five years he was away. He walked out of the elevator and was questioning how tired he really was because he saw a figure in his line of vision. As he got closer, before she even turned around, his breath hitched as recognized her. A woman that he had come up behind so many times, wrapped his arms around her and kissed her neck.
She could hear him behind her and she turned slowly. "Hi, Ollie" Laurel said quietly.
Oliver stood in his place, inches away from her. "Laurel, this is impossible".
"You need to believe me," Laurel said with panic. "I was kidnapped".
"I saw your body" Oliver tried to say.
"The body you saw was not mine," Laurel said.
"Are you bleeding?" Oliver asked.
"Probably out of more places than one" Laurel said.
Oliver couldn't keep up with the questions running through his mind. He looked at Laurel from head to toe, her face was badly cut and looked as though there was a small depression in her skull. There was a dark bruise all the way around her neck and two large burns on her cheek. Her hair looked like it hadn't been washed in well, nine months.
When he stopped observing, he noticed that she was crying. Against his better judgment, he opened his arms up for her and pulled her to his chest. The second his hand touched her skin, he knew that he could believe her. Maybe the night he thought she was killed, he was so overcome with grief, that he wasn't able to figure out that the body wasn't hers.
Oliver kissed the top of Laurel's head while she sobbed into his chest. From the looks of it, Laurel had spent the last nine months in hell. It had been hell for him too, but not this way. "Was Dahrk responsible for this?" Oliver asked after a long moment of silence.
"He stabbed me" Laurel choked. "I thought that I was going to die, but I remember I was in the dark for hours and in so much pain. I was so weak, I couldn't fight" Oliver gently rubbed Laurel's back in a circular motion.
"It's okay. They don't have you anymore, Laurel. I do. You're with me" Oliver soothed. "You won't have to live like that anymore. What do you remember after waking up?"
"Being told that everyone I loved thought I was dead. That I should be dead. The first few weeks I don't remember well. I don't remember much until Dahrk died. The last nine months have just seemed like a really long, hellish day of being starved and tortured" Laurel cried.
If Dahrk wasn't dead, Oliver would've killed him 100 more times. What he had caused to happen to Laurel was worse than death. "You didn't deserve that".
Just then the elevator opened and in walked Felicity, causing Oliver to turn around with Laurel still wrapped in his arms. Felicity stopped in her tracks at what she saw "Oh my god... Laurel! What happened? How is this happening?" Felicity rushed forwards to embrace Laurel, but Oliver turned his body, blocking Felicity's access.
Felicity gave her ex-fiance a look and Oliver just whispered: "She's been through a lot". After a few more minutes of holding Laurel close to him, he helped her into a chair.
Felicity asked: "I can get Curtis to come look her over and assess her health..."
"Call him" Oliver instructed and knelt down next to Laurel. Tears were rolling down her cheeks again.
"Why can't I go to the hospital, Ollie? I want my dad. I want to see Sara" Laurel asked softly.
"I'll tell you later. After Felicity calls Curtis, she is going to call your dad, but here's the thing... when you-you died" Laurel cut Oliver off.
"My dad started drinking again," Laurel said as her face changed from grief to anger.
Oliver placed his hand on top of Laurel's. "Your dad is making strides in treatment though" he assured her.
Felicity joined them and smiled softly at Laurel. "Curtis is coming. He can't wait to see you. I am gonna call your dad, but I'd like to be able to give him some answers. Can you tell me where you were?"
Laurel gulped: "I was trapped in a cabin in an unknown location with a small group of rogue HIVE agents.".
"Why?" Oliver asked.
Laurel closed her eyes and took a huge breath: "They were punishing me. Showing me exactly what happened to right-fighters, to heroes. They told me no one would find me because nobody was looking. They said they made sure would survive my brush with death, because death would be to kind for me. They almost made me forget my own name, forget everything I loved and what I fought for... but the worst part is I think they were trying to make a new Dahrk".
"What do you mean?" Oliver said.
"Very often they attempted to connect me with a Khushu Idol, but every time they failed and they said I wasn't ready," Laurel said emotionlessly. "I'm not sure if they were right..."
"Of course they were right!" Felicity reassured. "Laurel even with everything you have been through, you are one of the best people I have ever met. You would never be a match for the Khushu Idol".
"I don't know, Felicity, I am not a hero anymore," Laurel said.
Oliver felt his heart break under his skin. He would get her to believe she was a hero again. "What do you mean, Laurel? Just because these evil men bested you doesn't mean you are not a hero. I've been beaten too".
"No, Ollie, don't you get it? Don't you get how I escaped? I killed them all"