Two weeks after the Undertaking
Oliver walked down the now ruined Glades as some thugs approached him, recognizing him as he stared at all of them blankly.
"Jackpot." One of them smirked. "Don't you recognize this dude?" He turned to his partner.
"'S Oliver Queen, yo."
"Rich boy like you should know better than to step into the Glades. Especially since the quake." The thug sneered at Oliver who kept a blank expression so far.
"True that." The other thug nodded.
"Glades be like fucking Afghanistan since the quake." Another thug pulled a knife. "Guy like you come to the Glades, you don't get mugged, yo. You get your shit cut the fuck up." He pointed the knife at Oliver. "So you're either stupid or you're looking for some trouble."
"I'm not stupid." Oliver replied coldly as he disarmed the thug with the knife and slapped him in the throat while kicking another one as the third thug was about to stab him.
"Gonna cut you to pieces, you…"
Oliver grabbed him by his arm and broke it as the thug threw in reflex the knife to a nearby wooden fence and kicked the remaining two back before snapping the neck of the one he had held and then he ran to the fence, picking the knife as the other thug was about to attack him. "Gonna kill you, you mother…"
Oliver stabbed him in the chest as the last thug stared in shock and got up on his feet, about to run but Oliver threw the knife at him, hitting him in the leg and causing for him to stumble on the pavement.
He crawled down the pavement before the shadow covered him as he turned to Oliver, horrified. "Why… why are you doing this, man?"
One week ago, Starling Cemetery
Oliver was standing in front of Tommy's grave as the guilt flooded through him while he knelt down.
"Why?" He whispered with guilt and sadness in his voice. "Why you? That's what I keep asking myself. It should have been me. I was the one who was supposed to die. I was ready to. I'd said all my goodbyes. To everyone. Except you." He knelt down, running the gravestone with his fingers, remembering...
The night of the Undertaking
The Hood was racing with his bike towards CNRI, trying to ignore the world around him crumbling down, evading the cars in his way before the following tremor caused a crack in the road as the Emerald Archer fell down from his bike and tried to get up on his feet but a nearby collapsing building made him retreat before he heard a woman screaming in the alley, seeing that some muggers were about to snatch her purse and one of them was nearing a knife to her.
"Somebody help me!" And Oliver was faced with a moral dilemma, since he could not save them both in time but they both needed his help.
An innocent woman in trouble, or the woman he loves? A complete stranger or your best friend in life? The woman he loves or a woman he does not know?
And as he looked at the faces of the muggers…
Two weeks after the Undertaking
… Oliver stared down at one of them hatefully, as if it wasn't for them, things could have turned out differently.
"Why are you doing this?" The thug begged as Oliver grabbed him and pinned him to the fence.
"During the quake, you and your buddies thought you'd have a little fun." Oliver snarled.
"We… we didn't hurt her none, man…" His voice trembled.
"I don't believe you." Oliver said coldly.
"I'm telling you the truth. You… you gotta believe me…" The man said with a single tear rolling down his cheek before Oliver stabbed him in the chest and dropped him dead on the ground before leaving.
"No. I don't have to believe you."
One week ago, Laurel's Apartment
"What the hell do you want?" Quentin demanded.
"To see Laurel." Oliver replied politely.
"Well, she doesn't want to see you." Quentin said bluntly. "She wants to be alone." He sighed as Oliver glanced down, nodding in understanding. "She's in a bad way. I haven't seen her like this since… you know… since Sara died."
Oliver glanced down on the floor in shame. "Well…" He raised his head again. "Could you tell her I stopped by?"
"Yeah." Quentin nodded.
"Thanks." Oliver said as he was about to leave.
"You know…" Quentin spoke up as Oliver stopped at the doorstep and turned to face the cop, who had a sad and sincere expression on his face. "He was your friend too, so I guess… I'm sorry."
"Thank you." Oliver nodded.
"And your mother…" Quentin paused. "Of all you Queens, she was about the last one I expected to end up in jail." He said honestly. "I never liked you much."
"I know." Oliver conceded.
"But… you've changed." Quentin admitted, finally seeing that he's not the reckless playboy who he had blamed for Sara's death but a broken man, overridden with guilt, trying to be better and now has suffered a loss the cop never would have wished upon him. "And I can only imagine all the things you must be going through right now, the things you've gotta be feeling."
"That's why it would really help to talk to Laurel." Oliver admitted.
"To be honest…" Quentin sighed, not wanting to put his daughter to more grief. "I don't know when she'll be ready to see you."
Oliver entered the manor as Thea rushed to him, hugging him with tears in her eyes.
"Ollie…"
"It's OK." Oliver tried to console his sister.
"No. It's not." Thea sniffed as she dragged Oliver to the living room, pointing at the TV, where on the news was bulletin about Moira's arrest. "It's never going to be OK again." Oliver sighed, glancing on the floor shortly before looking into his sister's eyes full of pain. "Her lawyer won't let me see her. He says…" She choked out. "Oh, God, he says they've got her on suicide watch. Ollie, what are we gonna do?"
The night of the Undertaking
'Well, Oliver, what are you going to do?' The Hood asked himself as he looked at the woman in danger before deciding to drive away. "Felicity, send a call for police-911 emergency—to 8th and 52nd."
"Oliver, what's going…"
"Now!" The Hood ordered as he heard the woman behind him screaming. "PLEASE! HELP!"
Present, Queen Manor
Oliver was sitting in the living room, staring at the window as Diggle, limping with a cane entered.
"What are you doing, man?" The ex-soldier asked, worried. "Sitting here, alone in the dark." Oliver turned around for a moment. "You lose your phone in the Quake? You haven't been getting my messages? Or Felicity's?" Oliver sighed as he turned to the window with an unreadable expression on his face. To Diggle, almost unreadable. "Don't do this, man."
"Do what?" Oliver snapped.
"Retreat." Diggle said simply. "Cut yourself off from everybody again. I've lost friends, remember?" He reminded as Oliver glanced on the floor, contemplating. "I know what it is you're going through."
Oliver took a breath as he turned to Diggle again, who could see the pure guilt in his eyes and on his face. "The last conversation Tommy and I had, Diggle, was about me sleeping with the woman that he loved."
"No, man." Diggle retorted. "The last conversation you had was in that rubble. He died seeing the face of his friend."
His words didn't seem to reach Oliver though, who kept staring at his reflection in the window and it felt like an eternity before he spoke up, even though it was just half a minute. "A million dollars was wired into each of your bank accounts earlier today. Yours and Felicity's."
Diggle blinked. "Wait, did we each buy lottery tickets or something?"
"Severance." Oliver said simply with a tone that seemed like if he was stating the obvious. "I'm going away."
"For how long?" Diggle asked and Oliver closed his eyes at his bodyguard's question and the bodyguard sighed upon realizing what was going in his friend's mind. "You're making a mistake, man. What about Thea? She needs you now more than ever."
"Not like this." Oliver turned to Diggle as his feelings were laid bare in front of him. "Not… the way I am right now."
"Self-pitying, you mean?" Diggle tried.
"You don't understand, John. I could have gotten there sooner. To CNRI… To Tommy… I could've gotten to him sooner but I made a choice." He remembered as he turned around upon his way to Laurel, trying to stop the muggers, just subduing them in process, not killing. "Those bastards… they cost me seconds… minutes… minutes when I could have… I could have saved Tommy." Oliver lowered his voice, ashamed.
"Don't do this, man…" Diggle sighed. "Don't torture yourself like this."
Oliver turned to the window, lowering his head. "It's too late for that… just like I was too late before… too late for Laurel… too late for Tommy."
"So, when're you coming back?" Diggle asked as Oliver got up from his chair and left, not answering his question.
Starling City Airport
Oliver was at the terminal, ordering his ticket.
"And when would you like to book your return flight?"
Oliver paused, contemplating. "Keep it open-ended, please."
"And your destination?"
Oliver paused again for a moment, considering. "Anywhere." He said finally as he went through the gate.
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Bl4ckHunter