Hey guys here is a new story that came to me and I thought I would share it. I do need to let you know that William does not exist in this story. So, I hope you enjoy it and I can't wait to hear what you think.
Walking through the familiar elevator doors of the executive floor in Queen Industries, Oliver makes his way to his former and his wife's current office. Earlier this evening, Felicity had called and asked him to pick up some important files that she had left on her desk before she had left for Gotham City several days ago.
When he reaches the glass doors of the CEO office, he stops and takes a moment to really soak in the space. Looking around he had noticed a couple things that had not been there since the last time he had visited this office. Like for instance, the little chair and table near the window, with a coloring book and crayons perfectly placed on top of the flat surface. And the red roses he had sent her a couple days ago, that were silently wilting away, which made him make a mental note to buy her new ones. But the biggest difference that caught his eye, was the new picture frame that sat upon her desk.
Walking over with curiosity, he soon finds the newest picture to join her collection of 'happy moments', as she likes to consider the many pictures that graze her desk. It is a picture of him and her at one of the dinners they had had with the team, Lyla and Thea. The picture was of them gazing into each other's eyes lovingly, as if they were the only two there, but the best part of the picture in his opinion was how her eyes lit up and her soft smile made her radiate with beauty. He had to remember to thank Thea for this beautiful picture.
Shaking his head, he gets back to the reason he came here in the first place, "Files". Looking through the many drawers she said they could be found, he finally finds them. When he reaches for the last one that is in the top shelf of the filing cabinet, he hears shuffling coming from outside of the door. Turning quickly to assess the area and the cause of the sound, his senses go full on Green Arrow mode.
As he continues to look for the reason behind the sound, he mindlessly grabs the first thing that he could use as a deadly weapon if the time arose, the scissors.
Preparing himself to attack, he soon finds out that that is the last thing he will have to do, because as soon as he is about to strike, the root of the noise appears through the glass door, and he goes motionless.
Looking at the many faces that have walked into the office, he realizes that he is holding his breath.
"Ollie, are you ok?" the first voice asks worried.
"Oliver, darling is everything alright?" comes the second guest.
But it is not until the next one speaks that he realizes that this is not a dream.
"Oliver, son, what's wrong?"
Taking a sporadic breath, he finally finds his voice. "Dad?" he whispers. And then his gaze ventures over to the other faces spread around the room. "Mom? Tommy? Laurel?"
Taking a deep breath, he tries to tell himself "this isn't real, this isn't real. They aren't here, they're dead" and he keeps repeating this over and over to himself until he realizes that it's not working, because they were all still standing in the office.
"Oh, Sweetheart, are you ok?" Moira asks.
"Yeah, Ollie, you look like you've seen a ghost" Laurel jokes.
"Better yet, multiple ghosts" Tommy adds, which brings out a laugh out of everyone but Oliver, who is still trying to comprehend what he is seeing.
When he finally finds his voice again, the first thing that manages to make it out of his mouth is "What are you doing here… how are you here?"
"Well crazy story, we all somehow ended up at the docks and we have absolutely no idea how we got there, but somehow, we got there, and then your dad thought that we should come here, and here we are" Tommy said, as if he were telling Oliver a normal story.
As Oliver tries to wrap his mind around the idea of all of his dead loved ones standing right in front of him, alive, and the story Tommy just said, all he can do is shut his eyes and nod his head.
"Ollie, are you ok?" Laurel asks laying her hand on his shoulder trying to get him to open his eyes, so that they will meet hers.
When he does finally open them, he finally says "yeah, no I'm fine, I just have a bit of a headache. It's nothing."
"Well, that's good because we have been walking for the last fifteen minutes and it would be nice to go home, what do you say Oliver?" Moira asks as she looks at her son with a look that means, this is not up for discussion.
And he only responds with a forced smile and a slight head nod. "Yeah, I was actually just heading out."
"Well, great" she responds and then turns and makes her way to the elevators.
When she leaves the room, soon everyone follows and he just shakes his head one more time, making sure that this really isn't a dream or hallucination, he finally takes a deep breath and grabs the three files his wife asked for and soon followed his guests.
When they make it down to the parking garage, he is very thankful that he decided to drive the Range Rover today, instead of his bike, or else he would have been screwed.
"Is this new Ollie?" Laurel asked with curiosity painting her features.
"Um, yeah" he said getting into the driver's seat, while everyone piles into the back.
When he pulled out of the parking lot, he made his way to his home. When he got on the highway that would lead him to his house, his mother's confused voice, floated over him.
"Um, Oliver aren't you going the wrong way? The Queen Manor is the other way."
"I'm well aware mother, but we're not going there." He said calmly.
"What do you mean, we're not going there?" she asks with a hard voice.
"Ok, listen there is something that you need to know, I don't know what year you think you are in, but I can guarantee you that you're not. You are in the year 2021."
At that revelation, everyone's eyes go big in surprise and shock.
"What do you mean, we're in the year 2021? That's impossible" Robert said.
"Well… technically yes, but it's complicated" he stutters as he tries to find the right words. "But I think something happened to you guys and somehow you ended up on the docks and right now I am as clueless as you are, and I promise that we'll figure this out but for right now I am going to take you to my home and give you a place to sleep."
As he says those words, he pulls into the long driveway that leads him to his beautiful home.
When the car reaches the front entrance, he stops and turns off the engine. Getting out everyone else follows and their eyes go big once again.
"This is where you live?" Tommy asked.
"Yeah, I mean I know it's not as big as the Queen Manor, but it's home" he says shrugging his shoulders and makes his way to the front door.
When he opens the door and walks in, everyone else follows and continue to look at their new surroundings.
"Can I get you anything to drink or eat?" he asks turning around to them.
As the question is hanging in the air, they all realize just how hungry they truly are.
"Well, actually food does sound really good right about now" Laurel says gazing into his eyes.
"Ok, um let me see if I have anything" he says turning back around and making his way to the kitchen.
When he gets there, he immediately walks to the refrigerator and looks to find anything to eat.
"Well I have left over chicken marsala, or I can whip up something real quick" he says as he continues to gaze into the stocked fridge.
"Oh, darling you don't have to do that, I think the chicken sounds perfect."
"Ok, then give me five minutes" he says pulling out the food and grabbing plates and begins to prepare their meal.
30 minutes later, with everyone satisfied, appetite wise, Laurel finally asks the question everyone has been wondering since they walked into the large home.
"So, Ollie, do you live here alone?"
"Um, no" he says clearing off the dishes. "I live here with my wife."
And unknowingly to him, Laurel gives off a deep blush and a wide grin.
"Oh, wow so your saying that the most eligible bachelor of all time finally got hitched?" Tommy asked in a teasing tone.
"Yeah, don't act so surprised" he says grinning at his friend.
"Oh, I am surprised because marriage was the last thing that I would have ever imagined you ever getting involved with."
"Well, let's just say that this woman made me rethink my life and see everything differently" he says with a secret smile.
And out of the corner of his eye he swears he sees Laurel grinning like a happy school girl, but he doesn't think too much about it and proceeds to the next task, rooms.
"I'm going to go get your rooms ready, and I'll be back" he says as he disappears upstairs.
When everyone is finally settled down in their bedrooms, Oliver finally makes his way down the stairs and into the living room. But before he can make it to the couch, there is light knock on the door. Changing direction, he makes his way to the front door.
After he slowly opens it, his lips form into a soft smile. "Hi, Speedy" he whispers, as he is cautious of the little boy in her arms. "Did you have fun today?"
"Oh, yeah we had so much fun at the zoo, but he made me pinky swear that I would let him tell you all about his exciting adventure he had today." She says with a smile dancing across her lips as she whispers to her brother.
"Did he now? That's my boy" he said proudly, as he slowly takes the little boy out of his sister's arms. "Thank you so much Thea, City Hall was an absolute disaster today, I honestly don't know what I would do without you?"
"Don't even worry about it, I love spending time with my nephew and I know he loves getting spoiled by me, so it's a win win situation" she says smiling.
"Thanks again Thea" he says hugging her and kissing her on the forehead.
"Anytime. Goodnight Ollie" she says making her way to her car.
"Goodnight Thea" he says as she gets into her car and he waits until she drives away before he goes inside and closes the door.
Walking up the stairs for the third time that night he finally makes his way to his little boy's room.
Laying him down in the toddler bed and tucking him in, Oliver finally gives his son a kiss on the forehead and whispers "Goodnight Tommy."
With a deep sigh, Oliver opens his eyes with the soft glow of sunlight, illuminating his face. When the events of last night came rushing back, he takes a deep breath, preparing himself for the day ahead of him.
Slowly getting out of bed, he decides he needs a nice hot shower to truly brace himself for the unknown that will occur today.
When he gets out of the shower, he dresses into some dark jeans and a dark blue Henley and makes his way to the kitchen to start making breakfast.
After about 20 minutes he is immersed in making pancakes with his homemade strawberry sauce and scrambled eggs that he decided to make. He was so focused on the task in front of him he didn't hear his guests walk in.
"What is that wonderful smell?" Tommy asks sniffing the air.
As the rest of them emerge into the kitchen, they find who is responsible for waking them up with the amazing smell of breakfast.
"Oliver? You cook?" Moira asks looking at her son like he had lost his mind.
Looking up from the glaze he was making, he looks at his mother and gives her a shy smile. "Um yeah, a little."
"Since when?" Laurel asks looking equally dumbstruck.
"Since about a couple years ago" he said turning his attention back to the sauce.
"What… you know, I don't even want to know" Tommy said laughing, and Oliver just shakes his head at his friend's amusement.
Before Oliver can jab back at his friend, a pair of small feet shuffle down the hall and the next word he hears is "Daddy" yelled excitedly by his three-year-old son.
"Hey Buddy" Oliver says wiping his hands and making his way over to the end of the counter and bending down, so that his son can run and jump into his arms, and a few seconds later he does just that.
When his son reaches his father, he holds onto Oliver as if he hadn't seen him in weeks. "Hi daddy" he says leaning back to look his father in his eyes, and then leans in and kisses him on the lips, which Oliver happily accepts. After ending the kiss, he goes back to holding tight onto Oliver and laying his head on his shoulder.
Picking him up from the floor, Oliver rubs his back and whispers in the little boy's ear, "did you sleep ok?" and he only gets a head nod on his shoulder, as he makes his way back to the eggs cooking.
All while the little boy and his father are in their own little bubble of happiness, the rest of the visitors watch the duo speechless and surprised.
"Where's mama?"
"Mama should be home soon" Oliver says flipping a pancake with one hand, while holding Tommy in the other arm.
"Straw-berr-y" stuttered as he looked at the red fruit on the counter.
"Yeah that's a strawberry, good job buddy" he said proudly while he grabs the berry and hands it to him. "You like strawberries, don't you?"
"Yeah" he says putting his head back on his father's shoulder.
And as the group continues to watch Oliver play a role they had never seen him nor ever imagined him in, Laurel reacts happily to the news she had just heard.
When she had first seen, the little boy run into the room, she felt a sense of happiness course through her veins, knowing that that little boy was hers, at least she thought he was.
Before she could continue to think about her future family, a door opens in the hall and a pair of high heels are heard shuffling in.
As soon as this happens the little boys head snaps up and he looks into Oliver's eyes with excitement.
"Who is that?" Oliver asks matching his son's excitement.
"Mommy?" he screeches.
"I don't know, why don't you go find out?" Oliver asks as he sets the boy down on the ground and as soon as his feet touch the floor he sprints out of the room as quickly as his little legs will allow him.
Felicity walks in feeling tired and restless, as she sets down her purse that feels like it weighs a hundred pounds, she is immediately welcomed to her little boy running towards her.
"Mommy" Tommy says running towards her with his arms spread wide.
"Hey Buddy", she says leaning down to pick him up and embrace him into a big hug. When she is fully standing, she adjusts him perfectly over her burgeoning 7-month baby bump.
Breathing in the scent of her son, she closes her eyes and smiles unconsciously as she finally knows she is home. She lets her fingers glide through his soft, dark chestnut hair. As Tommy snuggles into her neck, he leans back and looks her in the eyes and whispers, "I missed you" and she softly responds, "I missed you too" and then he frames her face with his small hands and brings her into a kiss, which she gladly returns.
When he breaks the kiss, he goes back to hugging her and gazes behind her.
"Hey little man" Dig says winking at him.
"Hi, Uncle Dig" he says contentedly with a smile.
As the mother and son continue to enjoy the moment of feeling each other's embrace, a presence comes into her vision and causes her to break out into a smile of relief.
"Hi" she whispers.
"Hi" he responds as he comes closer to her and takes her into his arms and kisses her.
With her eyes still closed and a deep satisfied sigh escaping her lips she says "Now I'm home."
"Yes you are." He says continuing to look at her, but she can tell something is bothering him.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing is wrong, is just that…" he says looking around and then finally decides to take this conversation outside. "Why don't we go outside?"
"Outside, why? I just came in" she says as he ushers her and Dig out the door.
When they are outside, Felicity turns around clearly flustered.
"What is going on?"
"I… It's complicated." He says trying to find the best way to bring up the conversation to his teammates.
Catching onto the important talk, Felicity instantly looks down at her son and says "Hey buddy why don't you go pick some pretty flowers for me?"
"Ok" he says eagerly, as she sets him down on the ground. And then he's off to find the prettiest flower for his mother.
When Tommy is out of earshot, she turns her attention back to Oliver. "Ok what is going on?"
"Well, I don't know how to say this."
"Man we have battled Aliens, nothing can surprise us" Dig said with his arms crossed across his chest.
"Ok, well my parents, Laurel, and Tommy are alive and sitting in the kitchen."
When he gets done with his revelation, Felicity and Dig look at him and then look at each other and then burst out laughing. When they realize that Oliver isn't laughing, they both quickly sober up.
"Oh, wait you're not kidding?"
"Why would I joke about all the dead people in my life?" he asks seriously.
"I'm sorry it's just… never mind. So how are they even here?" she asks watching her husband very carefully.
"I have absolutely no idea, they showed up at your office last night, when I went to grab those files you asked for. They keep saying that they mysteriously appeared at the docks, but don't remember how."
"So, let me get this straight, they just showed up out of nowhere. How much do they know?" Dig asked.
"Not much, other than the fact that it is the year 2021. But the thing is, they're from before the island, I don't know far before, but they definitely have absolutely no idea about the Gambit going down, or me disappearing for five years."
"Oh, this isn't good" Felicity says taking a deep breath.
"No, it's not" Dig agreed.
"Wait" she said confused, "you said they were all from before the island, do you mean even Laurel?"
"Especially Laurel."
"Oh, well that's just great I have the lovely Laurel Lance, ex-girlfriend of Ollie Queen to deal with… perfect."
"Mommy, mommy look, I found flowers."
"Yes, you did" she said turning her attention to her son, who had several daisies in his hands. "Their beautiful" she says taking them from his hands.
"So, what do you want to do?" Dig asks directing Oliver's attention back to him.
Taking a deep breath, he says "I guess call Barry and ask him if anything out of the ordinary has happened, because if there's anyone who would know anything about this, it's him."
Nodding, Dig says ok and starts to make his way to the car. When he opens the door, he looks back at his partner, "alright I'll see what I can find and I'll call you if anything comes up, in the meantime keep them on the DL", and Oliver silently nods in agreement. "Bye little guy, I'll see you soon."
"Bye Uncle Dig" Tommy says waving.
And with that, Diggle starts the engine and pulls out of the driveway.
"Well, this is not how I intended on being welcomed home today."
"I know, but I have a very special breakfast surprise for you."
"Ooh strawberry pancakes with extra strawberries?"
"Maybe" he says pulling her into a side hug and kissing her head, "you're just going to have to come inside and find out."
"I don't know Oliver, once everyone realizes that I'm not the destined Laurel Lance, they're all going to hate me."
"They're not going to hate you" he says shaking his head.
"Yes they are."
Before he can argue, Tommy comes running back with more daises, "momma more daisies."
"I see that, thank you."
"Oh, momma, momma guess what I did yesterday?"
"What did you do yesterday?"
"I saw monkeys!"
"What? You saw monkeys?"
Nodding his head really excitedly, he goes on with his babble of his day at the zoo with Aunt Thea, as she picks him up and then they make their way back into the house.
When they get to the kitchen, Felicity makes sure to keep her attention on her son, so that she doesn't see her unwanted visitors.
"And then he went 'ROAR'" he says making his hands into little claws.
Laying down the daises on the counter she quickly responds, "are you sure he didn't go 'GRRR'" she asks as she imitates the claws.
"No mommy" he laughs, "he went 'ROAR'."
"Ok, if you say so." She says shrugging.
"Hey, why don't you go sit down and I will make you a plate."
"Oh, you don't have to, I can…" but before she can finish he presses his lips to hers and says, "I insist."
"Ok, well if you insist" she says playfully and turns around for the first time.
When she sees the people, Oliver had told her were here, for the first time, it suddenly all becomes real. Her breath hitches and for a moment she can't breathe, it's not until, Oliver puts his hand on her shoulder that she finally feels like she can take in air again.
Finally seeing the people in front of her, she looks at all the people Oliver has lost and doesn't quite know what to do with herself, she almost feels like she doesn't fit in, in her own home. But she doesn't have to wait long to do anything because Laurel beats her to the punch.
"Who are you?" she asks bitterly.
Taking a deep breath Felicity prepares to answer the question, but once again she is interrupted before she can even form words.
"Everyone I would like you to meet someone, this is Felicity… my wife. And this is my son…" taking a deep breath, he continues "Tommy." As he says the name, he looks up at his best friend and sees pure emotion float through his eyes for a second, but is then replaced with his typical Tommy Merlin façade, as he approaches Felicity.
"No, my mama" her little boy says holding onto her tightly.
"Yes, buddy, she is your mom" Oliver said grinning.
"Well, it is nice to meet the woman that tied Ollie down" he said stretching out his hand. "I'm Tommy, but I'm sure you already knew that" he says with his Merlyn charm and Oliver can't contain his grin.
Returning the handshake, she gives him a smile, "it's a pleasure to meet you, Tommy."
"And you as well little man" he says to the little boy who hides his face even deeper into his mother's neck.
"Sorry, he's a little shy" she says with a smile.
"That's ok, we'll talk later" he said winking, stepping back and never letting his charming smile ever break from his face.
Oliver just shakes his head and silently laughs and remember just how much he missed his best friend.
When Tommy returns to his place beside Robert, Robert's trance breaks and he makes his way in front of Felicity.
"It is very nice to meet you Felicity."
"You as well Mr. Queen…I mean Robert…can I call you Robert…never mind, Mr. Queen" she babbles quickly and when Oliver notices her nervousness, he softly puts his hands on her shoulder and she instantly calms down.
When she meets his eyes, he reassures her that it's ok and she takes a deep breath, and Robert releases a soft chuckle.
"Robert will do" he says smiling at her and then he turns his attention to the little boy still holding on tightly to Felicity.
"Hello Tommy, it's nice to meet you" he says holding out a hand and slowly, the little boy loosens his hold on his mother and lifts his head from her shoulder and gives him a high five. After he touches the older man's hand, he immediately goes back to hiding and holding onto his mother tightly.
When Robert returns to his spot, the next person Felicity sees is Moira, but of course she isn't as welcoming as the first two guys.
As she looks at Moira all she feels are the eyes sending daggers at her and she notices the way her lips purse together and the way her head is held high as if she were about to fight a battle. But before she can hear her pungent comment, Laurel beats her to the punch.
"Is this some kind of joke?"
As Felicity shifted her gaze between Laurel and Moira, her eyes meet the daggers once again. Ignoring Laurel's question, Moira speaks instead.
"I have a wonderful idea, why don't we all have dinner tonight, so we can get to know you Felicity?" Moira asks through clench teeth and a sour smile.
"Yeah, so we can figure out why you ended up with this life and I didn't" Laurel seethed.
Taking a deep breath Oliver looks down uncomfortably and puts his hands in his pocket, while Felicity also takes a deep breath trying to keep her anger at bay for her son's sake, and ignores the jab and turns her attention to Oliver.
"Well, as much as I would love to stay and talk, I need to get to QI to finish some paperwork, and I think I will take this little guy with me." Turning to her attention to the little boy in her arms, she asks, "Do you want to spend the day with mommy and go play in her office?"
And the little boy nods excitedly "Yes!"
"Great, well then, it was nice to meet all of you, and I guess I will see all of you later for dinner." And without another word, she walks past them and out of the room.
When she's out of sight, Tommy gives a low whistle and says "Damn Ollie" and Oliver only responds with an eye roll. This was going to be a long day.
So, I hoped you enjoyed this chapter and I would love to hear what you have to say!