Oliver Queen went missing 5 years ago. He was kidnapped and presumed dead. After 5 years he was able to escape and find his way home. He is now at the Starling city hospital staring out the window of his room with an emotionless expression on his face while a doctor talks to his mom outside of his door.
"50% of his body is covered in scar tissue. Second-degree burns are on his back and arms. X-rays show at least 12 fractures that never properly healed."
"Has he said anything about what happened?"
"No, he's barley said anything."
Mrs. Queen looks at Oliver from the other side of the door.
"Moria I'd like you to prepare yourself the Oliver you lost might not be the one that was found"
Moria slowly opened the door and walked into the room.
"Oliver"
He turns around slowly and looks at her. Moria takes a step towards him.
"Mom" he says with a look of relief.
"Oh my beautiful boy" she says as she hugs him.
He flinches at the touch not used to the feeling of being touched in a positive way. Moria feels him flinch but doesn't comment on it. After being hugged for a minute it begins to be to much for Oliver. He lets go of Moria and steps back.
"Can we go home?"
"Sure"
After being discharged from the hospital Oliver is sitting in the back of the car with his mom as they drive. The whole ride his mom tries to get him to talk but he doesn't say anything. The car then pulls up to a massive stone mansion surrounded by vast grounds. Once out of the car Oliver looks up at his house as if seeing it for the first time. The door to the mansion opens and Oliver and Moria walk in. Oliver has a look on his face like he's stepping onto another planet. He hardly recognizes anything. Oliver sees a man walk over that he doesn't really remember.
"Oliver, it's damn good to see you"
He just looks at him with a confused expression.
"It's Walter, Walter steel"
When the maid walks in Oliver walks over to her.
"It's good to see you Raisa"
"Welcome home Mr. Oliver"
Oliver walks towards the stairs when he hears a door open. He looks up and sees his sister.
"Hey sis"
"I knew it, I knew you were alive" she then hugs him tightly "I've missed you so much"
"You were with me the whole time" Oliver whispers into her ear as he returns the hug.
Oliver lets go of Thea then goes up to his room. Even though everything in his room was the same he felt out of place like he was in a stranger's room. He then decided to take a shower. Once he took a shower he came out of the bathroom with the towel around his waist. Oliver walked over to the mirror and looked at all the scars reflecting from it. After 5 years everything that was once familiar is now unrecognizable. The face I see in the mirror is a stranger. Oliver closes his eyes as he hears thunder and thinks about the day he went missing.
[Flashback]
Oliver is walking down the street when he is jumped and knocked out. When he wakes up he's in a building chained to a wall. He struggles against the chains trying to get free but is unsuccessful. When the door opens he looks at the man who came in.
"Who are you?"
"That doesn't matter"
"What do you want?"
"To make your father suffer by making you suffer"
"Why"
"No more questions" the man says as he punches Oliver in the face.
[End Flashback]
Oliver is now fully dressed and holding a picture of him and his father when he was younger. When he hears the door open he jumps slightly. He slowly turns around. When he sees it his best friend he grins slightly.
"Tommy Merlyn" Oliver hugs him trying not to flinch.
"I missed you buddy"
Everyone is now seated in the dining room for diner. Tommy is catching Oliver up on what's happened in 5 years. Oliver watches as everyone else eat not being able to eat anything.
"Tomorrow you and me we're doing the city. You've got a lot to catch up on"
"That sounds like a great idea" Moria says with a smile.
"Good, then I was hoping to stop by the office"
Walter puts down his glass of wine "There's plenty of time for that Queen Consolidated isn't going anywhere"
Raisa comes to put a bowl of pears on the table. She trips but Oliver catches her and restores her balance.
"Oh I am so sorry Mr. Oliver"
"It's fine"
Oliver starts to feel overwhelmed so he stands up "May I be excused?"
Moria nods her head.
"Hey don't forget about tomorrow buddy"
Oliver leaves and goes up to his room. Once in his room he sits on his bed and takes a few calming breaths. Later that night after he falls asleep he ends up on the floor shaking as the rain from the window was hitting him and the dream he was having.
[Flashback]
Oliver watches as a table is wheeled into the room. He sees the table with knifes and a whip. The kidnapper picks up a knife and cuts Oliver on his side. Oliver screams in pain as he feels the knife cut him. After being cut multiply times they undo Oliver's chains. Once his chains are undone he falls to the ground. Oliver passes out once on the ground.
[End flashback]
Moria and Walter are now in Oliver's room trying to wake him up.
"Oliver? Wake up. Oliver" Moria says as she puts a hand on his arm.
When she touches him Oliver wakes up in attack mode. Thinking he is getting attacked he lashes out. Moria ducks his attack.
"Oliver!" Walter says loudly.
Oliver looks at Walter then at Moria. He quickly moves to the window horrified.
"I'm Sorry. I'm so…I'm so sorry"
Moria kneels in front of Oliver as she tries to calm him down.
"It's ok, Oliver. It's Alright, Sweetheart. Your home. Your home."
Oliver was breathing heavily as he looks at his mom and Walter. It took a while for them to calm him back down. Once Oliver was calm Moria and Walter left his room hoping he would get back to sleep. After they left his room Oliver got into dry clothes and sat on his bed. He knew he wasn't going back to sleep.
The next morning after he got dressed he went downstairs seeing that Tommy was there.
"The city awaits" Tommy says as they leave the house.
They are now in Tommy's car driving through the city. Oliver is quiet as he stares out the window. He looks over at him when he hears him speak.
"Your funeral blew"
"You get lucky?"
"Fish in a barrel. They were so sad"
"No"
"And huggy. And I am counting on another rich environment for your welcome home bash"
"At my what?"
"You came back from the dead. This calls for a party. You tell me where and when. I'll take care of everything. This city's gone to crap. Your dad sold his factory just in time. Why'd you want to drive through this neighborhood anyway?" Oliver looks at his father's old factory.
"No reason"
"So what you miss the most?"
"Laurel"
Tommy drove to where Laurel worked. Once there Oliver got out of the car and walked into the building. Once he saw her his body froze. When she came over to him he put on a smile as best he could but failed miserably.
"Hello Laurel"
Laurel put what was in her hands down and hugged him. Oliver returns the hug. They go outside to talk.
"I'm so glad you're alive"
Oliver just looks at her not sure what to say.
"Are you ok?" Laurel asks noticing that he wasn't speaking.
"I haven't been ok in a long time"
"If you ever want to talk I'm here"
"Thanks"
"I have to get back to work I will see you around"
Oliver nods and walks back over to Tommy and his car. As they get to his car they are suddenly ambushed by armed men wearing red masks. The men shoot them with tranquilizer darts. Not again. The last thing he sees is one of the men kill an innocent bystander.
"Mr. Queen" Someone yells as a hood is yanked off of Oliver's head.
Oliver looks around trying to figure out where he is. When he sees the kidnapper Oliver struggles against his binds. Oliver then looks around for Tommy. When he sees him just laying there without binds he puts his focus on the three men in front of him. All three had guns. He learned a long time ago not to ask questions. By the looks of things they were going to hurt him no matter what. The kidnappers then punch him in the face. Oliver doesn't make a sound which makes the kidnappers punch him harder. After being hit for a long time he can't hold the pain in anymore and groans. He closes his eyes as the hits keep coming. When they stop he opens his eyes to see the kidnapers were gone. He wonders where they went but he doesn't care at the moment, he is just glad they left. Oliver then sees Tommy wake up and walk over to him. Tommy checks to see if he is ok before he cuts Oliver's binds with a knife.
"Where'd you get the knife?"
"One of the kidnappers dropped it as they ran out of here"
It felt like an hour later that the door to the warehouse opens and the police come in. Oliver jumps at the sudden noise. When Oliver sees all the police he starts panicking. Detective Lance rushes over to him and tries to calm him down. When Lance buts a hand on Oliver's arm he flinches away. It takes at least 15 minutes for Oliver to relax after that. Once he is calm Lance takes Oliver and Tommy to his car and drives them to the queen mansion. Once there Moria comes out and hugs Oliver tightly. After a few minutes Oliver walks into the house and goes to his room. Lance follows him to his room. Once in the room he closes the door and looks at Oliver.
"Are you ok?"
Oliver just looks at him and shrugs his shoulders.
"What happened to you?"
"A lot"
Was all Lance got out off Oliver before he got a look on his face as if he was somewhere else. Lance left Oliver's room and Oliver laid down on his bed feeling very tired. Within a few minutes he was fast asleep. He only slept for an hour before the nightmares started. After tossing in turning violently he falls out of the bed and wakes with a start in a cold sweat. The door opens and Moria is standing there looking at Oliver with a worried expression.
"Are you alright?"
"I am fine" He says as he gets to his feet.
His mom looked at him like she wasn't convinced but didn't push him. He then sat back on his bed as his mom left his room. He took a few deep breaths to calm himself down. Later that day he came out of his room and went downstairs. Oliver is leaving the mansion when Moria stops him and introduces him to his new body guard.
"Oliver, I want to introduce you to someone. John Diggle, he will be accompanying you from now on"
Oliver walks over to the car and gets in. He doesn't speak for a while after getting in the car.
"So what do I call you?"
"Diggle's good, Dig if you want"
"You're ex-military?"
"Yes sir, 105th airborne out of Kandahar, retired. Been in the private sector a little more than 4 years now. I don't want there to be any confusion, Mr. Queen. My ability to keep you from harm will outweigh your comfort. Do we have an agreement?"
Oliver then opens the door and jumps out of the car while it was still moving. He then walks to his father's old steel factory that was shut down years ago. Once there he scales the fence and goes into the building. He starts to them build a lair where he can train. After 5 years of pain he didn't want to be weak anymore. Once everything is set up he starts to train his body. He removes his shirt. Oliver goes on the Salmon ladder first. After a while on that he moves on to a self defense dummy. After working out for a while he looks at his watch and decides to head home. Once at the house he goes up to his room showers and changes for the party that Tommy is throwing. Outside the queen mansion Oliver opens the car door to go to the party to find Diggle in the back seat. He smiles in disbelief as he sits down.
"Put your seatbelt on sir, wouldn't want you to miss your party"
Oliver looks out the window as they drive to the party. Once at the party he gets out of the car and takes a deep breath before going in. He is going down the stairs as Tommy signals to cut the music.
"Everybody hey, Man of the hour"
The crowd cheers.
"Let's give this man a proper homecoming"
We are the champions' starts to play as Oliver goes to the center stage.
"Ollie, Ollie, Ollie, Ollie" Tommy says as he hands him a shot.
Oliver takes the shot and downs the shot "I missed tequila"
The crowd cheers and he jumps off of the stage. He looks over and sees Thea. Oliver walks over to her.
"Ollie hey, this party is sick"
"Who let you in here?"
"I believe it was someone that said right this way Miss Queen"
"Well you shouldn't be here"
"Ollie I love you but you can't come back and judge me especially for being just like you"
"I know it couldn't have been easy when I was away"
"Away, no you were dead. I went to your funeral"
"I know"
"No you don't" Thea says as she storms away.
Oliver looks down then runs into Laurel. Oliver tries to fake a smile when he sees her but can only do a half smile.
"Tommy told me what happened. Is there someplace quieter we could go?"
"Yeah"
Oliver leads her to a quiet room with a window and railing.
"Are you ok?" Laurel asks but gets no response. "It couldn't have been easy to relive that"
Oliver looks at Laurel with a blank expression "It was only for an hour so it wasn't that bad"
"You should stay away from me"
"What" Laurel says caught off guard.
"People close to me get hurt and I don't want to see you get hurt." Oliver says as he turns and leaves. Laurel tries to call him back but he is already out the door. Diggle approaches him when he's in the hall.
"Something I can help you with sir?"
"I just wanted a second to myself"
"Do you want to talk about it?"
Oliver then slides to the floor leaning against the door as he puts his head in his hands. After a few minutes he looks up.
"You know I didn't even want to come to this party"
"Then why did you"
"For Tommy and so everyone can see I haven't changed"
"You're a good man Mr. Queen"
"Please could you call me Oliver?"
Diggle nods as he stands up. Oliver stands up after him. When a door slams he jumps. Dig just looks at him but doesn't say anything.
"Thank you"
"For what?"
"Being the first person who didn't ask if I was ok"
"Sure"
Oliver manages a half smile as he starts to like Diggle.
"Can you please take me home?"
Diggle nods as he goes to the car with Oliver. Diggle watches Oliver on the drive to the Queen manor. Once there Oliver went to his room.
"Goodnight Dig"
"Goodnight Oliver"
Oliver then closes the door and falls onto his bed in exhausting. He was hoping for a nightmare less sleep tonight but he highly doubts he wouldn't have any nightmares.