A/N: Oliver and Briar are 29 when they get back not 27 and Slade is 36 when they return to Starling city. I did this because of the age gap that would have been between Slade and Briar.
Disclaimer: I do now own Arrow or any of the characters associated with the show. I do own my own plot inserts and Briar my OC and any other OC's I bring in. So if you recognize it I don't own it, if you don't I own it...unless you've never seen the show, then this is just awkward.
Chapter 1:
Briar and Oliver stood in the hospital room. Oliver stared out the window while his sister leaned against the window frame and sighed.
The blonde male turned to his sister. "We'll find him Bri." He said placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.
His twin looked at him with saddened blue-green eyes. "I know Ollie. I just wish we could have found him before leaving the island." They heard the doctor outside and returned to their original positions.
Hearing the door open Briar was able to make out the doctor talking to their mother. "Twenty percent of their bodies are covered in scar tissue. Second-degree burns on their backs and arms. X-rays on Oliver show at least twelve fractures that never properly healed. On Briar the x-rays showed eight of the same type of fractures."
"Have they said anything about what happened?" Moira asked.
"No. They've barely said anything. If they do it's only to each other." The doctor replied. "Moira, I'd like you prepare yourself. The Oliver and Briar you lost might not be the twins they found."
"Oliver. Briar." Moira said as she stepped into the room.
Briar tensed slightly at their mother's voice. She saw Oliver out of the corner of her eye shift slightly, he was getting ready to have their mother closer than anyone had been to him in a while. Truth be told, if Moira tried to hug Briar, the girl was more likely to put their mother on her back. It was just the way the island had changed them. Briar saw Oliver look at her, sigh and turn around to face their mother. "Mom." Briar mentally sighed at the fake tears Oliver had produced. They had to fool everyone it seemed. Though she had told Oliver that she was going to tell Thea everything. They couldn't leave their sister in the dark.
It would only come back to bite them in the end.
Moira moved to meet Oliver. "Oh. My beautiful boy."
Briar tried to not let it get to her. Briar had always been closer to their father after all. She hardly knew Moira. Especially since their father had allowed Briar to join all those self-defense classes when she was young, it seemed though, that the straw the broke the camel's back was Robert signing Briar up for fencing classes.
She winced as she saw Moira hug Oliver tightly. Before Moira's attention turned to her. "Briar. Oh Briar." She released Oliver and made her way over to the other girl.
Oliver gave his sister a sympathetic look as Moira took the girl into her arms and started crying. Through it all Briar wore a mask of sadness as their mother hugged her. 'Just relax Briar, soon you'll be home and talking to Thea.' Briar pulled away and walked over to the boxes that had been brought with her and Oliver from China. Moira said something about arranging their release and a car to take them home before leaving.
Briar looked at Oliver and nodded. "Time to put on the masks?" She asked.
"Until we get alone with Thea? Yeah." Oliver responded. He smiled faintly at her. "We can do this Bri. Just take a deep breath alright?" He said hugging her close.
"I'll feel better when we're with Thea, and when we finally find him teina*." But Briar took a deep breath anyway and soon they were all piled in a car headed for the Queen Mansion.
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Pulling up to the castle that was Queen Mansion made Briar nostalgic for the island already. She had always seen her home as a cage and now she was being forced back into it. But she put on a smile for her mother as she noticed Oliver was doing. Getting out and hearing Oliver tell the driver that he and Briar would get their crates, they followed their mother inside.
"Your rooms are exactly as you left them. I never had the heart to change a thing."
"Oliver, Briar." A deep british voice greeted. The twins turned to look and saw their father's best friend Walter Steele. "It's damn good to see you." He said honestly.
Briar had always liked Walter, he was a good man and had never lied to them. He had been a good fencing partner on days when Briar would visit her father at the company but wanted a challenge so the man would spar with her and laugh all the while. For the first time since they got back Briar's smile was genuine. "Walter!" She said her eyes filling with happiness.
"You remember Walter, your father's friend from the company." Moira explained to a confused Oliver.
Briar noticed her brother's gaze shift to someone who had just entered the room and found her own gaze softening at the sight of the woman. They both approached the maid who had basically raised them. "It's good to see you, Raisa."
"Welcome home, Mr. Oliver, Ms. Briar."
"We missed you Raisa." Briar replied as her brother hugged the woman.
"Mr. Merlyn phoned. He wants to join you for dinner." Raisa said talking to Moira.
Briar flinched slightly at the mention of Tommy. They might have to tell him as well. Tommy was a steady friend, he wouldn't turn on them because of their mission in Starling.
Moira smiled. "Wonderful." We heard a door close upstairs and we both smiled, knowing who it was. "Oliver? Briar? Did you hear that?"
The twins ignored her and continued towards the stairs. Briar's smile got bigger as she heard the footsteps get closer.
"Hey sis." Oliver greeted Thea with a genuine smile gracing his face. Briar could hardly contain herself from rushing to meet Thea but waited for their sister to get to them.
"I knew it! I knew you were both alive!" Thea said running down the stairs and threw her arms around first Oliver then Briar. "I missed you both so much." She said with tears in her voice.
Briar held her close as Oliver continued to smile. "You were with us the whole time." He said.
"We need to explain some things to you later Thea. I promise we'll tell you everything." Briar whispered in her little sister's ear. "But there are things mom and Walter cannot know. That no one else can know." Thea, while confused nodded against her sister's shoulder.
"Alright Bri. We'll talk later."
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Later that night Briar and Oliver were in their own rooms. Briar walked out of her bathroom and made her way to the box on the bed. Running her hands over it almost lovingly, she undid the locks and opened the lid. Closing her eyes for a moment she opened them once more and caught sight of the bundle of cloth inside. Smiling sadly she picked it up, only to have it be revealed as a keffiyeh, the same one Slade had worn on the island. Placing it down on her bed, she ran her hands over the hood that Shado had worn. Her brother had the one from Yao Fei in his own crate. The next thing her hand rested on was the twin katana. Slade had disappeared from the island, leaving these behind and she felt compelled to take them with her. Dressing for dinner she made her way to Oliver's room, knowing that his mind was probably going the same place her's was.
"Oliver?" She asked quietly opening the door to see her brother, fresh out of the shower standing in front of the window.
"After five years, everything that was once familiar is now unrecognizable. The face I see in the mirror is a stranger." He said in a broken voice. Then he jerked.
"Oliver? Come on come out of the flashback. You're back in Starling, you're safe." Briar said as she walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder. After getting him to come out of the flashback, she left him to dress.
They met in the front foyer when a door opened behind them.
"What did I tell you?" Came a familiar voice. "Yachts suck." 'Ah, good old Tommy' Briar thought smiling as an answering smile came to Oliver's face.
They both hugged. "Tommy Merlyn."
"I missed you buddy." Tommy said pulling out of the hug. He turned to Briar. "I even missed you little Warrior Princess."
Briar smiled and shook her head. "How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that Mr. Magician." She said hugging him as well. "Missed you too Tommy."
We were sitting at the table eating dinner, so far the conversation was all on Tommy and he was taking full advantage to try and make them laugh. "Ok. What else did you miss? Super bowl winners - Giants, Steelers, Saints, Packers, Giants again. A black president, that's new. Oh, and "Lost," they were all dead...I think." Briar chuckled at his attempt at humor.
"What was it like there?" Thea asked.
Briar saw Oliver tense up at the question but it was Thea, so he didn't take it to heart. "Cold."
Tommy picked back up again. "Tomorrow, you and me, Oliver, we're doing the city. You've got a lot to catch up on. You're welcome to tag along Briar if you want?"
"I'm alright Tommy, I've got a few things I need to do. But thanks for the invite." Briar said smiling.
"That sounds like a great idea." Moira piped in.
"Good. Then I was hoping to swing by the office." Oliver replied.
"Well, there's plenty of time for all that. Queen Consolidated isn't going anywhere." Walter replied and Briar could see he meant well, but Oliver would probably take it as a barb.
Raisa tripped and fell into Oliver. "Oh, I am so sorry, Mr. Oliver."
Briar smiled as Oliver replied in Russian. Trying to tell her it was alright and wasn't her fault. But the oldest Queen daughter saw the reaction of everyone else at the table and mentally sighed. 'This is going to be harder than we thought.'
"Dude, you speak Russian?" Tommy asked impressed.
Then Walter had to put his foot in his mouth. "I didn't realize you took Russian at College, Oliver."
Briar saw her brother bristle. "I didn't realize you wanted to sleep with my mother, Walter." He replied in kind with a subtle glare aimed at the man.
Thea sighed and leaned back. "I didn't say anything."
"You didn't have to Thea. It was obvious from the beginning, to both Oliver and I." Briar replied staring her mother down while Oliver's gaze stayed fixed on Walter.
"Oliver, Briar, Walter and I are married, and I don't want either of you to think that either one of us did anything to disrespect your father." Moira said jumping to the man's defense.
"We both believed that Robert, like you both, were, uh, well, gone." Walter managed to get out under Oliver's intense gaze.
"It's fine." Oliver replied. "May I be excused?" At Moira's nod he started walking off taking an apple with him.
Tommy spoke up, Briar saw the look on his face. Tommy was worried about Oliver and was doing his best to help his friends. "Hey, don't forget about tomorrow, buddy."
Oliver nodded at him and winked at Thea as he left patting Tommy on the shoulder before exiting the room.
Briar sighed loudly. "You all really don't get it do you?" She said standing up herself. "Five years may have been a long time for you to forget and get over it. But for me and Oliver? It was fresh everyday." She didn't wait for her mother to let her go she just nodded at Thea, slapped Tommy on the shoulder and left.
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Later in Briar's room, Oliver sat on the bed waiting for Thea to join the twins.
"It'll be alright teina, Thea wants answers, we'll give them to her. She'll understand." Briar said trying to calm her brother down. He was nervous about telling Thea about the island.
Oliver sighed. "I know tuahine*. I'm just worried about her reaction to what dad told us is all." He said squeezing her hand in response.
A knock came at the door and Briar smiled. "Come in Thea."
The girl poked her head in and smiled sadly seeing the twins looking nervous. "Hey guys, it's just me. Whatever you have to tell me, I'll listen. I won't judge you." She said sitting next to Oliver and rubbing his back in soothing circles.
Briar sighed and began their tale. Starting from when the yacht went down, to when they were captured by Fyers men. At the description of what they went through, Thea sobbed. Briar smiled at her in comfort. When she got to the part with Slade, Oliver had to take over because Briar had a hard time talking about him. The twins had to stop when they mentioned meeting Shado. By this time Briar was trying hard not to just break down crying.
Thea looked at her sister. "You fell in love with him...didn't you?" She said softly.
Briar gave her sister a watery smile. "At first I hated him. But I grew to like him, he was there for me when Ollie couldn't be. It grew to respect when he found out about my abilities with self-defense and then he was impressed at my knowledge with swords. The twin katana's I brought back with us were his that he left on the island."
"What happened to him?" Thea asked hugging her sister.
"We don't know. But we're looking for him." Oliver answered. "He's like a brother to me and we want answers about his disappearance. But first we have to find him."
Thea nodded and smiled at her siblings. "Alright, I think you've told me enough for one night. Get some sleep both of you, and remember, if you need to talk to someone else, I'm here."
"Thanks Speedy." Briar said quietly.
Thea hugged them once more before leaving the room.
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Later on after they had both separated to their rooms, Oliver and Briar were both asleep on the floor of their rooms in front of the open window. The sound of the storm outside helping them to fall asleep. But for Oliver, it brought back memories of the sinking of the Queens Gambit. Luckily, Oliver, Briar and their father were the only ones on board besides the crew when it went down.
Briar heard the shout and was up and running to Oliver's room. "Teina!" She shouted going near him and keeping the other's back. "Don't. It will only make him violent when he wakes up. Let me wake him up." She said as she looked at her family who had also rushed into the room.
"It's just Oliver having a nightmare." Moira tried to refute.
"This is not just any nightmare! From everything that has happened to us, we react violently when woken up by anyone we have not seen in recent years." Briar replied keeping her mother back. "Walter! Keep her back!" She yelled at the man. Walter nodded and grabbed a fighting Moira.
Thea watched in concern but knew to take her sister's words to heart.
Briar walked over to Oliver, making as much noise as she could. "Ollie? Teina? Come on, it's just a memory, you're not there anymore, you're home, not on the yacht." She tried to soothe.
Oliver woke startled, at first he tried to knock her over but she managed to stop the attack and hold his arms in a tight grip. He came back to his senses and looked at her. "I'm sorry….I'm so sorry." He whispered brokenly.
Briar took her twin into her arms. "It's alright teina. It's alright." She whispered holding him. "E kore koutou kei muri i reira. Kei a koe haumaru." She said relaxing as he calmed. She was aware of everyone staring at her but paid it no mind as she felt her brother fall back asleep.
The next morning, Briar walked into Oliver's room to see him opening his own box. Inside it held their father's book of names, Yao Fei's hood, and Oliver's bow. "Come on Oliver. Let's head out."
Briar left Oliver to deal with Thea's friend who had brought over drugs for them. Briar rolled her eyes and continued down the stairs. "I'll see you later Oliver!" She shouted as she left the house. Briar made her way to the Glades, just wandering around, reliving her time before the sinking. She smiled as she saw Laurel and her sister Sarah outside of CNRI. "Laurel! Sarah!" She called out getting the two brunette girls' attention.
Sarah squinted her eyes then opened them in shock. "Briar?! We heard you two had been found but we weren't sure how you were."
Laurel had a look of relieved shock on her face. "Hellcat?" She whispered Briar's old nickname.
"Yeah, I'm back birdie." Briar said laughing at Sarah's scowl at the old nickname she hated. "Hey Laurel. Oliver's with Tommy touring the city after being gone so long. I thought I'd just come back here and wander around for a while. I'm glad I bumped into you." Briar said internally wincing at the nickname. For some reason, there were a lot of people who called her that. Shado and Slade among them.
Laurel couldn't take it anymore she lunged forward and hugged the lost Queen girl. "We had lost hope so many times. I'm so glad you're alright."
"Well, alright is relative." Briar pulled back with a wince at the memories. Briar looked around. "Is there somewhere we can go talk? There's something I need to tell you." At the nod she got from the sisters they led her to Laurel's apartment.
"So what's wrong Briar?" Sarah as concerned as Laurel got them all some water, remembering that Briar had never drank before and figuring that she wouldn't start now.
"Well, despite what me and Oliver have said, we weren't alone on the island." She told them about Fyers, about the torture they went through under Billy's sword. Her breath hitched as she started to explain Slade. "There's another reason I'm glad I ran into you. There's someone from the island, someone who kept us alive that we've been trying to find."
"If there's anything I can do to help you know I'll try Briar." Laurel encouraged.
"Thanks Laurel." Briar whispered, she closed her eyes then opened them with a sigh. "His name is Slade Wilson. He's an ex-ASIS agent who got stranded on the island. Billy was his partner before he betrayed Slade and joined Fyers. Slade didn't give up on us and helped Ollie change for the better. Oliver sees him as a brother and I...I fell in love with him." She said softly. At seeing the shock on the girls faces she continued. "At first we butted heads like crazy, I didn't approve of his training technique when it came to Oliver but we came to a kind of understanding. He took up Oliver's hand to hand and I tried to teach Ollie swordplay. We had to learn in order to survive. My background in self-defense and fencing helped a lot. Slade become impressed at my knowledge of swords, and respect followed when he learned how long I had been learning self-defense. He didn't expect it out of a "billionaire princess"." Briar said laughing at the memory. "After that it kind of just felt natural for us to always be talking about techniques or strategies to get off the island or to take out Fyers men. It was kill or be killed on the island and he helped get me and Ollie through it. But near the end of our time on the island, he vanished. We don't know what happened and he would never leave his twin katana's behind and he did. I just...I have to find him." She finished looking at the sisters.
"Is it mutual?" Laurel asked looking directly into Briar's eyes. She had always felt protective of the girl even after her and Oliver split, mutually agreeing they were better as friends.
Briar's eyes brightened at that. "Yes. It wasn't just because we were both stranded either. I never told anyone this but...I was being recruited by different defense agencies. Including ASIS. I went there for about a month. This was about seven months before the sinking. I met him during my time there, though on the island I didn't realize it was him at first. He's a good man Laurel. He's just had some really bad luck with his ex-wife."
Laurel nodded satisfied. "Alright I'll see what I can dig up. I'll get my dad to help too, he was glad when the news report came up about you two being found. He may not really like Oliver because of the way he was before, but he's never had anything against you Hellcat."
Briar chuckled. "Thank you Laurel, you too Sarah. I'm glad there's someone else besides Ollie and Thea I can talk to about this. But, about us not being alone on the island...besides mentioning Slade…"
Sarah cut her off. "We won't tell anyone anything about that. Only that you have a friend from ASIS you were worried about because he went off the grid and you met him before the sinking. It's the truth after all." She shrugged with a knowing smile.
"Thanks again, I should get going I was going to meet Ollie after Tommy brought him back." Briar said standing and hugging the sisters. "I'll see you soon." She left the apartment and felt the panic alarm on her bracelet go off warning her that Oliver was in trouble. Ducking into a side alley she changed into Shado's hood and put her katana's on her back. "Hang on Ollie. I'm coming." She whispered as she ran towards where the GPS was showing he was. Getting to an old abandoned warehouse she frowned as she saw Oliver and Tommy tied up to chairs. Getting her daggers ready, she heard them talking about her father and asking if he had told Oliver anything. She growled as they tased him.
She waited until Oliver had slipped his zip cuffs, before jumping to the ground and helping him take out the kidnappers. While Oliver handled the first and second, she went after the other two who had managed to get out of the warehouse. Motioning Oliver to stay with Tommy, she raced after them. Catching up to the first she slit his throat after stopping him with a dagger she threw at his leg. Grabbing the dagger, she saw the second man on the nearby rooftop, avoiding the bullets he was firing she finally caught up to him inside another warehouse and knocked him down, holding his neck in her hands. "He killed that man."
"You don't have to do this!"
"Yes I do. Nobody can know our secret." She finished breaking his neck.
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She made it back home in time to see Officer Lance interviewing Oliver and Tommy. Oliver was explaining about the hooded woman and man who had saved them.
"So that's your story. A guy in a green hood and a girl in a black one flew in and singlehandedly took out four armed kidnappers. I mean who are they? Why would they do that?" He asked skeptical.
"I don't know. Find them and ask." Oliver replied trying not to be snarky.
It didn't work.
Lance turned to Tommy. "Yeah. What about you? You see the hood guy or girl?"
Tommy still looked dazed and out of it. He had been unconscious the entire time so obviously he wouldn't have seen anything. "I saw...just movement. Everything blurry. I was kind of out of it."
"Yeah. It's funny, isn't it? One day back, and already somebody's gunning for you. Aren't you popular?" Lance said with a smirk.
"Ollie? Are you alright what's going on?" Briar felt now was a good time to intervene. She walked over to her brother and Tommy.
Immediately Lance's demeanor changed. "You're brother and Tommy were kidnapped. They say some guy and girl in hoods saved them. How are you Hellcat?"
"I'm alright Mr. Lance. I heard rumors of those two hooded vigilante's in the Glades when I was there a half hour ago. I wasn't sure if I should believe it or not." Briar said sitting down next to Oliver. "You two alright?" She asked her brother and Tommy.
They nodded with small smiles. "It's a good thing you didn't come with us Princess. You would have been taken as well." Tommy said with a worried frown.
"I'm more worried about you two." The blonde girl replied. "Thanks for bringing them back Mr. Lance."
"Were you able to identify the men?" Moira asked.
"Scrubbed identities, untraceable weapons. These were pros." Lance's partner replied.
"They probably figured you'd pay a king's ransom to get your boy back. Or a Queen's ransom, as it were."
"If Oliver can think of anything else, he'll be in touch. Thank you, gentlemen, for coming." Walter said standing up and addressing the two detectives.
The man smiled and nodded. "I should get going. Got a lot of paperwork that needs to be filed for this kind of thing." He said shaking everyone's hands. "Oh and uh, Briar? I'm helping Laurel with that thing you asked her about." He whispered to the girl when he passed her.
She smiled at him and nodded in thanks as he left.
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Later on in Oliver's room the twins were looking at the notebook. "Laurel mentioned something about an Adam Hunt when I visited her. His name is in the book Bri."
His twin nodded. "Alright then. His warning is tonight, if he doesn't comply…"
"Then his end has come." Oliver finished agreeing.
They left later and Briar noticed a car in the drive and a man she had never seen before standing in front of it with their mother.
"Oliver, Briar, I want to introduce you to someone. John Diggle." The dark skinned man walked forward and nodded at them. "He'll be accompanying you both from now on."
"We don't need a babysitter." Oliver replied.
"Darling, Oliver's a grown man and Briar a grown woman. If they don't feel they need armed protection…" Walter stepped in. Briar was grateful that he was backing them up.
Moira made a noise of protest. "Yeah, I understand, but this is something I need." She was playing the guilt card. Briar's eyes narrowed.
'The only men I trust to have my back are Oliver and Slade. And Slade is still missing.' Briar thought to herself mentally assessing John Diggle. He held himself like a soldier. 'Probably Special Forces, retired. He doesn't want to be here protecting us but he has no choice. All in all I don't think he's going to be too much trouble to slip away from.' She finished her mental assessment and gave Oliver a small nod that only he would see.
"Alright, alright. I'll relent." Oliver said giving up and looking over at Diggle himself.
A/N: Yes I know there are a lot of line breaks...suck it up, scene changes are hard for me to do sometimes and that's just the way my mind works.
Hopefully this isn't just another rehashed version of the episodes. I will be adding my own stuff in as you can see and since Sarah never went on the yacht with them, things down the road are going to be different in her regard. So Lance has less of a reason to hate Oliver now, and the hunt for Slade is going to turn out similarly but differently than the show.
I'm planning on doing each episode in two chapters, depending on the content, I may or may not give all of the flashbacks, maybe just the ones with Slade on the island IDK yet. Hopefully I've done this right and Briar isn't a mary sue. Also if my Maori is off, blame google. If there are corrections you want to tell me about feel free, I don't speak the language so any help would be appreciated.
*Maori translations (courtesy of google so if they're wrong please feel free to correct me)
Teina-brother
Tuahine-sister
e kore koutou kei muri i reira. kei a koe haumaru.- you're not there anymore. You're safe.
