Author's Note: Thanks to each and every one of you that reviewed and helped the creative process. This is a bit of a heads up, I've decided to incorporate bits and pieces of Team Arrow and the Bat-Family, in what capacities, well you just have to find out won't you? The series will border on the edge of Canon, I think you'll see what I mean as the story goes on. It deviates from the episodes actual course and some episodes are completely cut but I think it's for the better of the whole story.
Also, some clarification right now as to changed events.
Oliver and Sara dated instead of Laurel, Tommy blames Bruce for the Ship sinking, Sara is for 100% dead with no chance of possibly coming back, and this series will reference Smallville in some minor ways. (Clark's existence will be mentioned and Lex, Chloe and Lionel will appear in minor roles.) I just happen start that show in the last few weeks and have fallen in love with Chlex so expect that to be mentioned.
Spoilers for the events of Lian Yu below.
The Island events changed and will be seen in Nightmares and Flashbacks. Occupied by Fyers originally before Oliver, Slade and Shado defeated him, Ivo then arrived and began his reign which ended shortly after Shado's death thanks to Slade's use of the Mirakuru and finally the League of Assassins arrived offering to train Oliver to fight Slade after his escape, Oliver never left the Island for Hong Kong but was instead trained by Ra's Al Ghul personally. All of the Island's changed events will be shown in Flashbacks, anything not mentioned is best assumed to not have changed.
Also, Barry Allen will not appear. At all. I'm sorry to Flash fans but to me he's the most annoying superhero in the DC Universe following the Martian Manhunter and I REALLY hate him.
So now that I've likely offended more than half of you, please stay patient with me on updates I have a fairly heavy semester starting this week with mainly University level Law and Psychology classes so I have to juggle homework, friends and maintain quality in this series. That won't be easy and it may take a week or two for an update sometimes though I promise a minimum of 5k words per chapter.
Without further ado, please, enjoy.
Oliver truly never expected to leave Lian Yu after five years on the hellish island that had become his whole world. He wasn't sure he deserved to leave after everything he'd done. He had destroyed more lives than he would every truly know, that was counting the family and friends of the people he'd killed to survive. Who knew if those men had families or loved ones that would be destroyed to learn they would never see them again.
Oliver pushed these thoughts from his mind as the car rolled down the gravel driveway of the Queen Estate toward his home. Home. For the last five years his home had been a cave, a crashed plane, a cage on a boat and a wooden hut. Oliver forgot what it felt like not to be in constant danger, not having to look over his shoulder every minute. He was both relieved and disappointed. He no longer had to worry about continual torture or people trying eagerly to kill him to prove their worth and that relieved him, but he could also never forget the feeling of excitement and adrenaline that had rarely left his body during his stay on the island. He had always dreamed of returning home but never expected it to happen, and now that he was home all he wanted to be back on the Island.
As the car crept to a halt just in front of the main door to the large, three story Tudor-style mansion that he remembered so well yet nearly forgot, Oliver stepped from the back door before the Driver could climb out and get it for him like he used to. He made purposeful, long strides toward the front door and hesitated for a moment as his hand reached the doorknob.
Was he ready to return home? Could he still face his family now that he'd changed so much, he wasn't the person they knew and yet he knew they expected him to be.
Oliver felt a sudden rush of fear as the doorknob turned in his hand and he realized he no longer had a choice, he had to return home. The moment the door swung open Oliver was attacked by a mass of brown hair that wrapped her arms tightly around his waist. Oliver quickly realized that his little Sister had indeed grown up, she stood nearly a foot and a half taller and was dressed considerably more womanly then the little sister he'd left behind.
"Hey Thea." Oliver couldn't have fought the bright smile on his face if he wanted to as he wrapped his weeping little sister tightly in his arms. "I've missed you." He whispered quietly into her ear as he rubbed soothing patterns on her back. He pulled her from him enough that they could enter the home to meet the rest of the family yet allowed Thea to continue to cry on his shoulder. The entire time she was in his arms Thea had been trying to speak but it mainly came out as a series of sobs and incoherent rambling which Oliver politely ignored knowing they would catch up later when she had composed herself.
Oliver wasn't surprised to find Bruce and Selina together with the Raven-haired Billionaire's arm around the dazzling brunettes waist and tear-stains on Bruce's shoulder. Selina's teary eyed smile matched Moira's near perfectly while Bruce and Tommy stood as stoically as possible.
It was in that moment that Oliver realized that Malcolm Merlyn and Walter Steele stood dutifully to the side watching the happy reunion with pleasant smiles. Oliver could understand Malcolm's appearance, though a ruthless businessman he had always managed a certain level of Uncle-figure to Oliver. What Oliver couldn't understand, was Walter's stake in Oliver's return. Why had his father's old CFO come to welcome Oliver back, sure he'd known Walter before the Gambit's sinking but they had nothing close to friendship, more a friendly business relationship than anything.
Thea had found the strength to leave Oliver's side and instead turned to Tommy for comfort allowing Moira to pull Oliver into a tight, teary hug. She welcomed him back in hushed whispers as she barely managed to keep herself composed in his arms before stepping toward Walter whom wrapped her in his arms while she finally broke down. So that was his stake in Oliver's return, he had taken advantage of Robert's death to secure his position as CEO of Queen Consolidated by comforting Moira. The glare he sent at Walter could only be described as vicious before it was interrupted by Selina barreling into his arms.
She broke down in his arms and squeezed him as tightly as possible while thanking every deity known to man and some she probably made up for his safe return. She wept for a solid minute before she finally stepped away from him with a shy smile and tears streaming down her face. She thanked him finally for his safe return and fell back to let Bruce pull his friend into the tightest hug he'd every received. Oliver was almost certain that Bruce's hug could crack ribs if he squeezed any harder.
And last but not least Tommy pulled him into yet another hug, not nearly as tight as Bruce's but still full of the same brotherly love that Bruce's had been. He was excited to catch up with his old friends when he finally settled into life as a regular person again. Tommy didn't have the same teary eyed, happy grin that the rest of the room shared, instead his gaze was clear and full of uncertainty like he wanted to ask a question but could tell it wasn't the time as he stepped back beside his father.
It hadn't escaped Oliver that Tommy had been glaring menacingly toward Bruce as he settled beside his dad at the exact opposite end of the room from Bruce and Selina. He refused to destroy the pleasant air of the room by commenting on the animosity as Moira announced that they would all be staying for dinner which would be ready in the next half hour.
They had spent that half hour in one of the Dens watching t.v while Tommy and Bruce pretended the animosity didn't exist. They had caught him up on anything they deemed important. Lex Luthor's take over and subsequent expansion of LuthorCorp, the winners of the last five Stanley Cups, Super Bowls, NBA Finals, and World Series' and all other 'relevant' information that Oliver barely cared for. As the half hour came to a close the conversation finally turned toward the Batman and Catwoman.
The family seemed to have mixed feeling about the duo, while Tommy and Malcolm considered them just another criminal with a mask Walter and Bruce seemed adamant that the duo fought crime in the Glades better than police.
"I'm just saying that if these people can dress up in costumes and kill people without getting caught they're just good criminals, not heroes." Malcolm argued as he and Tommy sat together on the loveseat both adamant that the Vigilantes were evil. Bruce and Walter sat opposite them with Selina in the middle arguing the opposite while Selina looked as if she was ready to pull her hair out.
"These Vigilantes have put a considerable dent in organized crime Malcolm, that should make you happy. That means people susceptible to your fear tactics will fill the business market while removing the Criminals that might rob you." Bruce argued back, his point made valid sense. Since his return Oliver had heard nothing but bad things about businessmen, people like Adam Hunt, a man that defrauded forty million dollars from the already struggling people of the Glades, ran rampant in Starling.
"Just because they keep my finances safe doesn't mean I have to like them." Malcolm grumbled sourly as Moira came in with a pleasant smile and announced that dinner was ready and waiting in the dining room.
The group marched into the dining room and took seats, Walter at one end while Oliver sat at the other with Bruce and Tommy on Oliver's left and right. Selina and Thea sat beside Bruce and Tommy respectively, while Malcolm sat across from Moira on Walter's left. The dinner had been delicious and the conversation only had to be forced a little bit after the disagreements over the vigilantes soured the mood slightly. After the conversations got rolling the mood found its way back up toward friendly only souring slightly when Tommy would intentionally interrupt Bruce or vise versa.
"So, Walter, how long have you been CEO of Queen Consolidated?" Oliver asked interrupting both Bruce and Tommy after their constant rivalry and interruptions had riled him to a breaking point.
"A little over three years now, I didn't realize you wanted to get into business Oliver." Walter smiled pleasantly at his step-son eager to share something to bond over.
"And I didn't realize you wanted to sleep with my mother." Oliver said placing a napkin over his plate and rising from his seat. "May I be excused?" Oliver asked for politeness sake and left without an answer. He marched back to his room rather angrily, he couldn't wrap his head around how Tommy and Bruce had been acting. He couldn't imagine what had brought on this vile hatred for one another. He sat in his room doing various work outs including sit up, push ups, and shadow boxing when he was interrupted by a knock at his door.
He quickly threw on a white cotton t-shirt over his scarred chest and answered the door to find Bruce and Selina smiling happily as they marched into his room without invitation.
"Ollie, we're going out on the town tonight. You need to let loose and have fun!" Selina demanded as she started to sort through his clothes for the appropriate clubbing attire. Bruce on the other hand took a seat on the rocking chair that sat mainly unused in the corner of the room. They had both been dressed to the nines for Oliver's return. Bruce was in a thousand dollar, custom tailored designer suit while Selina had squeezed into a form fitting, glittery black dress of the same designer that showed off all of her curves like it was supposed to.
"I have no say in this do I?" He smiled kindly at his friends as they both shook their heads. Selina had pieced together half of a elegant grey suit Oliver used to favor before the accident. Oliver decided now would be a good a time as any to get the scoop. "Since when do you and Tommy hate each other?" I asked curiously from where I sat on my bed staring toward Bruce for an answer.
"Since he blames me for your disappearance and Sara's death." Bruce didn't look up, his neutral tone spoke volumes about the situation for him. "Just before you came back he was so prepared to hate you. Laurel blamed you for Sara's death and when they started dating Tommy started to hate you too. So about two weeks ago I told them that you didn't want to go and that I encouraged you to go on the cruise and take Sara with you." Bruce's eyes finally met Oliver's and he saw the sorrow and pain of lying to one of his best friends.
"Why would you tell him that, you didn't even know we were going." Oliver was confused, it made sense why Tommy would hate him for that, but why had Bruce lied in the first place.
"You were his best friend, not mine. We barely spoke after you.. disappeared." Bruce struggled to keep him composure, Tommy's hate hurt him more than he was willing to admit and Oliver could understand. Tommy might not have considered Bruce one of his best friends, but Bruce had considered him one. "It was easy for Tommy to accept that I was the villain in this scenario, I didn't want you to come back home to your best friend hating you."
Oliver was nearly floored by this revelation. Before his return Tommy had hated him, probably hoped he'd been died on the island with Sara, and in that moment, Oliver agreed with that sentiment. If he had died on Lian Yu then Bruce and Tommy wouldn't be at each others throats and Tommy would only have to hate a memory, not one of his oldest friends.
Selina had stayed silent during this whole conversation having finished piecing together the suit. Not wanting to interrupt she decided to hand it to him silently and gestured toward the bathroom. Oliver stood silently, still stunned by the new knowledge he changed quickly and sprayed just enough cologne to appease Selina before emerging from the bathroom.
"Ready to rock?" Selina smiled widely hoping to pull Oliver from his sullen mood with her own cheer. Oliver's crisp nod was enough confirmation for her to take his arm and pull him along with Bruce trailing behind by a foot or so. When they slid into Bruce's Porsche he revved it up and took off toward Club Zero, arguably the hottest club in Starling, much to Oliver's disappointment.
He had been hoping for a bar or a smaller club where they'd be able to drink and have fun, at a place like Club Zero you had to watch your drink, who you danced with and where you stepped. One wrong step and you could be drugged, fought or killed depending on the offense. Club Zero may have been the hottest club, but it was also a known affiliate of the Black Mask's drug and prostitution ring. If you stepped on one of the girls you could lose a foot, if you stumbled into a drug dealer you could find yourself overdosing on a combination of various drugs. That was how the Black Mask ran his empire, and that was how he managed to eliminate all of his competition. The most Ruthless businessman won, that was how the Black Mask played his games.
They had stayed for nearly two hours which Oliver spent at the bar drinking turning down the various prostitutes that approached him. In a place like Club Zero four out of every five girls weren't there by choice. After he had finished his fifth beer Bruce and Selina stumbled back over to him sweaty and unkempt, Oliver knew exactly what they'd been doing before they returned. With the excuse of near exhaustion Oliver managed to convince his friends to leave the Club with him and stumble back to the Porsche.
They rounded the corner to the private parking garage where Bruce had parked the car earlier. Oliver quickly sensed something was amiss as two cargo vans approached from either direction and effectively block them in before masked men climbed out loaded for bear with military grade assault rifles. Oliver collapsed in a jolt of pain as twelve hundred volts of electricity flooded his body. As his consciousness abandoned him he saw his captors pull syringes from Selina and Bruce's neck as they collapsed as well.
"Mister Queen." A voice broke through the painful haze and Oliver opened his eyes to find himself in darkness. Feeling the bag hang around his neck Oliver had the sense to realize that panic wouldn't help his situation. "Mister Queen!" The voice demanded angrily as the bag ripped off of Oliver's head to reveal six men in devil masks carrying M16 rifles. The man directly in front of him flashed a taser in his face and sparked it to scare Oliver.
Oliver's gaze traveled around the dusty warehouse that served as Oliver's new prison he noticed Bruce and Selina unconscious and tied up way on the opposite side of the Captor. Oliver glared harshly at the six men in front of him as he started to formulate a plan of attack.
"Did your father survive that accident?" He asked squatting down in front of Oliver to be eye level. "Did he tell you anything?" The voice had a odd calmness to him as he sparked the taser once more before growling viciously. "Now, I don't want to hurt you Mister Queen, but my friend here," He gestured to one of the goons on the man's right. "His specialty is torture." The smile on his face was loud enough to be heard in his voice.
"Now, one more time. Did Robert Queen tell you anything?" The man asked patiently waiting a minute before handing the taser to the man on his right. Oliver didn't have a second to prepare as the man drove the taser into Oliver's chest. The scream of agony tore its way out of Oliver's throat before he could try and stop it. The shudders racked his body as the electricity burned through his veins before leaving him shaking painfully.
"Again, did your father make it to that Island? Did he tell you anything?" The original interrogator asked from his position a few feet behind the torturer. Oliver struggled against his binds as he felt them tear loose, he had began working them the moment he'd woken and none of his captors had realized. With an accomplished smirk Oliver opened his mouth to speak.
"Yeah.." Oliver gasped formulating a quick plan as he stalled for a moment, "He told me..." Oliver realized that the Torturer still had his rifle slung around his back and would be easy to beat. "That I'm going to kill you." This sent Oliver's captors into a laughing fit allowing him another minute to finish his plan.
"I find that hard to believe Mister Queen, seeing as how we have automatic weapons and you're zip-tied to that chair." The interrogated laughed menacingly as he waved the torturer to continue.
As the man's arm came down to Oliver's chest Oliver quickly grabbed the man's hand before he could electrocute Oliver. Ripping the taser from his grip Oliver quickly stabbed the man in the throat with the taser puncturing the carotid artery sending him to the floor in a pool of blood. Taking the chair he'd sat on and smashing it over the Interrogators head shattering the chair and knocking the man unconscious.
Using the serrated pieces of the chair leg Oliver quickly eliminated the closest two captors by shoving chair legs through their chest before launching himself into the third captor and snapping his neck with ease. The final captor raised his rifle quickly and unloaded two bursts that Oliver blocked with the third captor's body. The shock of having shot his friend gave Oliver the chance to pull the dead captor's knife and hurl it between the man's eyes effectively freeing himself from the Captors.
With the captor's dead and their leader incapacitated Oliver turned his attention to Selina and Bruce. The latter of whom sat wide awake in utter awe of Oliver's raw talent, calm demeanor and fluid motion in the heat of combat and potential death. Oliver quickly made his way to his friends and cut them free with another captor's knife. Bruce wordlessly pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and began wiping down any evidence of Oliver's involvement.
"This was the Batman." Bruce told Oliver as he pulled his phone from his pocket. "We all came too to find the Batman finishing off the last captor before he cut us free." Oliver nodded in agreement not wanting anyone to know of his skills. Selina came too slightly after Bruce and seemed to buy the Batman story truthfully considering she'd been unconscious and didn't seem to doubt the fact for a moment.
The police arrived on scene in force when Bruce reported the Batman had saved him, Selina and Oliver from the captors. Oliver wasn't sure he wanted half of the Starling City police force on his case but was glad that they took the threat against their lives seriously. The interviewing detectives, Laurel's dad Quentin and a nice, middle aged man named Jim Gordon had at least be courteous when taking their interviews.
They hadn't been open in their disappointment that their statements hadn't given them any new leads nor did they voice the fact that this was not the Bat's modus operandi. Quentin had all but refused to say a word to Bruce for obvious reasons though it seemed like Jim and Bruce had a good friendship from the way the interview had turned from a professional interview to catching up on someone named Barbara.
Quentin took Oliver and Selina's statements and grumbled to Jim about going to get coffee before wandering away without hesitation. After finally being cleared to leave Oliver had been picked up by Moira and Walter while Alfred picked up Bruce and Selina returning them home.
By the time Oliver had made it home Bruce was sitting in their driveway leaning against his Lamborghini. Oliver excused himself to speak to his friend and left his mom and Walter to wander into the house.
"What's up Bruce?" Oliver asked casually hoping his friend would ignore his display earlier. The sun had set sometime during their time in captivity though the night was still early, if necessary Oliver could claim exhaustion and leave at any time.
"I wanted you to come over, Selina and I have to talk to you." He gave Oliver a knowing look that let him know he wasn't off the hook for the incident and he glumly climbed into the passenger seat of the Lamborghini. Bruce had driven like a maniac back to his house managing to make the usual ten minute drive in three. As they rolled up Bruce's driveway he rolled at an understandable pass before creeping to a stop in the large, ten car garage of the large mansion.
The large ten thousand square foot Gothic-style mansion complete with a courtyard out front and five acres of land surrounding it reminded Oliver just how well off Bruce was. Not to mention the collection of million dollar cars he had stowed away in the garaged they'd just entered. Oliver felt a small twinge of jealousy remembering that all of the money he had came from his parents while Bruce's had been earned by years of blood, sweat and tears.
Oliver wordlessly followed Bruce through the house toward what Oliver soon realized was Thomas Wayne's old study. The walls were lined from floor to ceiling in thousands of books. Over the years Oliver had attempted to read some of the books that lined the room. They ranged from history textbooks to business guides, self-help books to biographies of the world's most successful men, no subject was out of Thomas Wayne's interest.
'You can never know enough.' That had been Thomas' motto during life something Bruce had lived by from a young age. As soon as he could read he started with history and moved to biology before starting with chemistry followed by years of law study. Bruce's intelligence rivaled Lex Luthor himself and the man was known for his IQ being two-hundred-seventy-four.
Oliver noticed Selina lounging casually on a loveseat taking up the length with her legs reading Shakespeare's Julius Caeser and Oliver smiled. Selina would never have touched a book, let alone Shakespeare before his disappearance.
"Oliver." Bruce's voice snapped Oliver from his reminiscence reminding him of the matter at hand he turned to face Bruce seriously. "Did your father tell you anything about the Undertaking?" His tone was curious and stern at the same time. Oliver racked his brain for any mention of the Undertaking and shook his head as nothing came to mind.
"Do you want to know why my parents were gunned down?" Oliver's curiosity peaked as he heard this, "It's the same reason the Gambit went down." Selina had lost interest in Shakespeare as she watched her best friends apprehensively. Oliver's intense glare at Bruce could reduce any regular man to ashes in an instant but Bruce met his glare with a firmly blank expression.
"Of course I want to know." Oliver snarled angrily, the fact they had to even ask offended him. They were supposed to be his friends, why would they consider not telling him.
"The Black Mask." Bruce said slowly hoping to deliver the news slowly and ease the pain. "He has a plan." Bruce could tell the slow and steady approach was failing as Oliver's glare intensified, demanded with one look that Bruce tell all. "We know is that it's called the Undertaking, and that our parents died trying to stop it, but otherwise we're clueless." Bruce admitted sadly as he slumped into his father's old reading chair and stared earnestly at Oliver.
"We..." Bruce paused and glanced to Selina apprehensively, only continuing when she nodded reassuringly. "We need your help." Bruce admitted glancing toward Selina who smiled happily at him before both their stares turned to a perplexed Oliver
"How do I help?" He said with a determination neither had ever heard from their friend before. Oliver was eager to bring his father's killer to his knees and make him beg forgiveness before ripping his life from his hands.
"You suit up." Selina spoke happily as she and Bruce stood and made their way to an old unused Grandfather clock and waited for Oliver to follow. Realizing they were waiting for him Oliver stood and made his way to his friends even more lost than he was a moment before. Bruce pulled side of the large grandfather clock and Oliver gasped in surprise as the large clock swung open with ease revealing a small hallway and a small, bare bones industrial elevator.
"What do you mean suit up?" Oliver asked as Selina and Bruce walked purposefully into the hidden passage and stood patiently on the elevator.
"Follow us and find out." Bruce challenged with a playful wink and was joined by Oliver on the elevator not even a minute later.
As the elevator descended Oliver couldn't imagine what he might find beneath the surface of his friend's mansion. The reality as the elevator touched down had blown anything Oliver could have imagined out of the water. The large cavern was entirely decked out with a large, multi-screened supercomputer tucked into the corner with hands typing away at it furiously. Oliver noticed a workout area with complete a complete home gym, free weights and a salmon ladder, two large glass cases containing a male and female mannequin wearing the Batman and Catwoman costumes respectively and a sparring arena with bamboo sticks, shock batons and MMA gloves.
The long whistle that rang out brought Oliver's attention back to the supercomputer where he now noticed a large, buff African-American man standing over the computer chair's shoulder smiling toward the three. Bruce and Selina wandered over quickly while Oliver meandered through the cave in awe. He inspected the costumes in the cases and noticed they seemed to be made of a reflexive kevlar suit with a similarly reflexive titanium plating over vital organs.
"Ollie!" Selina whistled to catch his attention and he marched over quickly realizing they were waiting for him. As he stepped up beside his friends he found the large ex-soldier staring him down trying to size him up. Apparently Oliver passed the man's visual test because he held his hand out to shake.
"John Diggle." The man introduced himself as Oliver took his hand. "I already know you." He said reassuring Oliver hadn't needed to introduce himself as he opened his mouth to do so. Next Oliver's attention snapped to the sight of the blonde in the chair in front of him as she turned to look up at him curiously. Oliver held out a hand to shake and the Blonde took it with ease.
"Hi, I'm Felicity, and you're Oliver Queen." In that moment, Oliver wasn't even sure. The girl in front of him threw him off his axis, she seemed to kind and innocent yet her cerulean blue eyes held a merciless deviance at the same time. She was so beautiful he was sure he'd seen the wrong person sitting in front of him. There was no chance that a blonde as beautiful as her was a computer tech, she deserved to be a model or superstar.
"This is the part where you say something." Bruce nudged his shoulder jokingly and the crowd erupt into laughter, well everyone except for Oliver and Felicity whose gaze hadn't broken since the first moment of eye contact. "Alright Felicity, show him." This seemed to knock the blonde out of her haze as she quickly snapped her eyes to the screen in front of her.
"Yeah, right, the list, right." She mumbled to herself as she shook her head and Oliver couldn't help but wonder if she had felt the same thing he did the moment their eyes connected. It felt like a world had opened up, like every thing he'd went through in the last five years was worth it. Felicity settled into her computer and a natural ease flowed into her as she typed away happily before finally bringing up a long list of hundreds of names.
"This, is a list of every supporter the Black Mask has." Bruce announced as Felicity pulled up a file on Adam Hunt. "Alfred gave me this book about a year ago. It was full of these names, and that's when I started being the Bat. I wanted to bring his organization to it's knees." Bruce explained as Felicity cycled through other names on the list.
"During that year while plea for their lives I learned more and more about the Black Mask's organizations. He has a plan, it's called the Undertaking, and no one but a select few that call themselves Tempest know the finer details." Bruce explained before taking a breath. "Apparently, our parents were apart of Tempest and it's widely known among the Mask's supporters that he had them killed for trying to stop him. They became a lesson, they were a fucking lesson." Bruce growled furiously at the screen as more names flipped by. Oliver glared furiously at the list on the computer in front of him and turned to Bruce with a fierce determination and fire in his eyes as he spoke.
"We are going to destroy every single one of the names on this list, including the Black Mask."
And thus ends chapter one. Please let me know what you think in the reviews.
I know I cut most of the dialogue in this chapter but I absolutely suck at writing Oliver's return. I tried and tried and kept failing horrible so I decided to cut most of it in favor of summarizing it. I hope I met your expectations of this first chapter, and am happy to answer any and all questions you have. The next chapter will likely be double the length and bring the arrival of the Hood, and mark the first appearances of Jason Todd, Roy Harper and Barbara Gordon.
Don't forget to follow, favorite and review, it's what drives this story and all the time I put into it. Until next time, stay safe and continue to love Olicity.