I don't have enough time. It's been three days. I can't waste any more time. But I have to keep up the pretenses, which means going to Tommy's insistent welcome home party. At least I was able to talk him into a venue that would allow me access to Adam Hunt.
Riesa announced that my car had pulled around to the front of the house. I missed the sound of her voice. I smiled when I reached her at the bottom of the stairs.
"Thank you Reisa." I put my hand softly on her shoulder.
"You are very welcome Mr. Queen. Don't get into too much trouble with Mr. Merlyn." She smiled sweetly.
"Promise." I laughed a little.
I walked out the front door unbuttoning my sports coat. How would I get rid of Mr. Diggle tonight? I smiled and opened the back door on the car. Before I could climb in, I paused when I saw, none other than, John Diggle already sitting in the backseat.
"Put on your seatbelt, sir." He smiled. "I wouldn't want you to miss your party."
This complicates things a bit. I couldn't help but crack a small smile though as I settled in next to him and closed the door. Maybe I had been underestimating Mr. Diggle up to this point.
Jesus. I paused briefly at the top of the stairs taking in the colossal mess at the bottom. I started down the stairs pulling my cell phone from my pocket and taking note of the time. Adam Hunt has only 53 minutes before I have to make good on my promise to end him. Part of me wanted both. I wanted him to return the money and right the wrong, but for some reason, I really wanted to kill him too. I shook the thought. Get your head right.
Tommy met me before I reached the last few steps. The music stopped and he slung an arm around my shoulders. You're on Ollie.
"Hey everybody!" Tommy shouted. "Man of the hour!" The club patrons erupted in cheers as they raised their glasses.
I stepped down into the pit of the club into a sea of lifelike Barbie dolls. "Hey ladies, please," Tommy started, "Give this man a proper homecoming!"
I hopped on the nearest table top to get started on my performance for the evening. "Thank you very much everybody!" Tommy handed a shot up to me. I took it and threw it back. Nothing compared to Russian vodka. "I missed Tequila!" Cheers rang out and I stepped down. Tommy took me over to the bar.
My take of the surroundings was short lived when a dolled up blonde came to stand in front of me at the bar. "Hi there." She smiled playfully.
"Not interested." I kept a smile plastered to my face and she bowed away gracefully. Honestly, women are the absolute last thing on my mind right now. I know, I said it and I mean it.
Tommy made some absent cracks about my mom appointed babysitter, Diggle. I bantered with him for show. I did wonder momentarily, how would I shake him tonight? I'm sure I'll improvise something.
Tommy continued, "By my rough estimate, you have not had sex in 1,839 days. As your wing man, I highly recommend, Carmen Golden." He spun me around, our backs to the bar now to look at three average girls dancing drunkenly on a table towards the middle of the club floor.
I'll bite, "Which one is she?"
"The one that looks like the chick from Twilight." He answered.
"What's Twilight?" I asked confused.
"You're so better off now knowing." He answered.
My gaze drifted to the middle of the club crowd, where I saw my darling baby sister. Who the hell would let her in here? I watched for a moment, taking in the buy. Very quickly, sneakily and nearly professional like, she bought drugs and tucked them away without missing a beat.
"Back in a minute." I walked away from Tommy without waiting for a response. I slipped my arm around her back, spun her and started to walk her towards the door.
"Ollie! Hey!" She smiled beamingly. "This party is sick!"
"Who let you in here?" I stopped and looked down at her.
Her smile never faded, "I believe it was somebody who said, right this way Ms. Queen."
"You shouldn't be here." I barked, inconvenienced by her boldness.
Her smiled dropped away and was replaced with the look of hostility, "Ollie, I'm not twelve anymore."
"No, you're seventeen." I stated matter-of-factly.
"Ollie, I love you, but you can't come back here and judge me…especially for being, just like you." She looked me up and down.
"I know that it couldn't have been easy for you when I was, away…"
"Away," she interrupted with a sarcastic laugh, "No," her face went serious. "You died. My brother and my father, died." I looked down away from her piercing, angry eyes, trying to find the words. In that instant, I slipped my hand into her bag and fished out the drugs she had just bought. "I went to your funerals," she continued.
"I know." I said through gritted teeth and tight jaw.
"No you don't!" She interrupted again. "Mom had Walter, and I had no one. You guys all act like it's cool. Let's forget about the last five years…. Well, I can't. For me, it's kind of permanently in there. So I'm sorry, if I turned out some major disappointment, but this….me? This is the best I could do with what I had to work with." I closed my eyes so I could try to forget the pain in her eyes and the shake in her voice. She turned back to her friends and left before I could even protest.
I made it to the nearest trashcan and ditched the drugs. I didn't know until I looked up that I had been watched. Mr. Diggle. I don't have time for this, but I can feel his eyes following me as I make my way through the club.
"Oh!" When I turned to leave so quickly, I ran directly into another person. When she looked up, the world melted away. Laurel. "You're here?" I pushed my eyebrows together in confusion. I never thought she would actually come. What reason could she possible have?
"Tommy." She said. "He made the point that we have too many years between us, to leave things the way we left them." Her eyes locked onto mine, and never left. "Is there some place quieter that we could go?" She asked.
I wanted to. I wanted to whisk her away into the other room and hear everything she could possibly have to say. I looked down at my phone. 10:00pm. Adam Hunt…
Time. I don't have it. "Maybe next time." I didn't stick around to see the disappointment on her face. I couldn't afford anymore distractions. I pushed past her and continued through the club towards the kitchen. I pushed the swinging doors open and started through the kitchen to reach the planned exit at the end of the back corridor.
I stepped out into the hallway. Someone, someone is following me. I changed the weight fluctuation in my steps allowing my feet to hit the ground more audibly, intently. If this person is following me, there has to be a reason. I don't want them to think that I'm sneaking. I'll fake drunk until I find out who it is. There's something. A small hint of lavender makes its way to my nose. As I step out into the next hallway opening, my back is talked at making me pause.
"Something I can help you with sir?" The heavy, unmistakable voice of John Diggle. Now, I'm getting angry. I turned to face him.
From the corner of my eye, I caught the faint figure of a woman standing near the doorway leading from the kitchen into the corridor.
"I just want a second to myself." I said to John. I think I really meant it. After putting on a façade all night, I was getting tired and I knew that I needed every bit of my mind and body to handle Adam Hunt.
"I would believe you, Mr. Queen, if you weren't so full of crap." He answered with an arrogant smile. This is going to be fun. "The party is this way." He gestured towards the side door that leads back to the club floor and I obeyed.
I reached for the door handle and shook it with a light grip. "It's locked." I turned to face him. When he reached for the handle, I threw my left arm under his, wrapped it around the back of his head and pulled him downward applying pressure. When I looked up towards the corridor, I finally saw her.
Her long dark blonde hair had hints of white laced throughout the wavy layers and her eyes were the iciest shade of gray. There was a stillness about her as she cocked her head to the side studying me. Her slender, but muscular frame left little to the imagination barely hidden by skin tight jeans with strategically placed rips up and down her thighs. The black leather jacket she wore, clung to her body tightly and I could make out an amazing shade of tanned skin that peeked out from under the plunging neck line of her barely there shirt.
I applied the slightest increase in pressure to Mr. Diggle's neck and felt him slink down to the ground at my feet as I released and he went limp. I stood up straight and smoothed my jacket down, never taking my eyes off of the exquisite creature staring back at me. "Can I help you?" I finally asked.
"How interesting." She swallowed hard, fighting something inside herself as she looked me up and down.
Almost simultaneously, a baker's pan hit the floor further down the corridor and she was gone. I sighed heavily. Are there any more distractions that can appear tonight?
I traveled down the side hallway and into the stairwell as I changed my clothes. As I neared the top floor I secured my quiver on my back and drew my bow. When I burst out onto the roof, I let the first arrow loose, securing my zip line to the building across the street. I slipped through an air vent in the roof, slithered through the crawl space in the ceiling and dropped down into the main elevator that ran through the center of the building. I stabbed an arrow through the electric lines in the wall of the elevator making sure that I only disrupted the main power and not the auxiliary or the elevator would fall 26 floors with me in it. The elevator surged momentarily and continued down to the 25th floor. I crouched down in the floor of the elevator and drew an arrow back in my bow. As soon as the doors started to open, I released it into the dark room. The next few moments were filled with a rush of adrenaline and instinct as I made my way through the room, taking down Adam Hunt's muscle without hesitation.
When I came face to face with Adam Hunt, I released an arrow into the wall behind him.
"You missed." He hissed.
"Really?" I asked. I was blindsided with a fist across my face.
He caught me so off guard that he was able to strip my bow from my hands as he hit me again. I did my best to block what was coming, but he landed multiple blows to my head and stomach. I had to change it up. I used my body weight to sling him through the air. I landed in the middle of a glass coffee table that shattered into a million pieces, but I was able to get a hold of him like I wanted. He rolled out and the next few blows were exchanged evenly. He pulled a knife and I deflected him into a wall where he crashed through a vase and then down. The window to my far left exploded inward at the same time the vase shattered. I knew someone else was here, but I couldn't stop. This hired muscle was good. Not good enough, but good nonetheless. In four blocks I had him down on his knees where I landed a devastating blow to his face. He went down onto his stomach. I saw him grab the gun. I couldn't deflect the bullets at the rate they were going to come. I lunged towards the desk at the far end of the room for cover as the bullets began to fly. It felt like a sledge hammer struck me in the chest when the first one hit me. I hit the floor with a thud. I remember hearing the shooting stop. Why would he stop shooting? Amateur. You never stop shooting until you're sure the target is eliminated. I looked under the legs of the desk, back towards the man. He was still standing, frozen. I could see his feet barely moving in place as if he were trying to keep his balance. The next feet that hit the floor were smaller and just behind him. Black combat boots, half way untied. I could see that the owner was wearing tight jeans with rips leading up each leg. The man fell and in an instant the room was flooded with police. I grabbed my bow and zipped back to the roof top across the street.
Into the stairwell, I changed my clothes quickly feeling the dull ache of the place where the bullet struck my chest in the Kevlar. Through the kitchen corridor and… I could still smell her. The faint scent of lavender actually helped me relax just a little bit before I stepped back out onto the club floor, just behind Tommy, but out of his view. The police scattered about the building. Detective Lance approached Tommy.
"Detective, this is a private party." I shoved my hands in my pocket and stepped in next to Tommy.
"Yeah. Well, there was an incident at Adam Hunt's building tonight. Would you know anything about that?" He stared me down, hatred filling the air between us. The truth is, I don't blame him.
I shook my head, "Who's Adam Hunt?"
"A millionaire bottom feeder and I'm kind of surprised you aren't friends." He said. His intended insult was well heard.
"I've been out of town for… a while." I replied.
"Well, he just got attacked by the guy with the hood." He said. "The guy that saved your ass the other day."
"The hood guy?" I asked with a laugh. "When you find him… I'm going to offer a reward." I turned to the club crowd and shouted. "Hey everybody! Two million dollars to anybody that can find a nut bar in a green hood!" The crowd cheered and I turned back to face down Detective Lance.
He stepped dangerously close. "Did you even try to save her?" He demanded. "Did you even try to save my daughter?" He pressed his chest to mine, making me step back, but I kept my expression straight.
The Captain stepped in between us. "Sara wouldn't have wanted this. Let's go." He backed Lance away. "It's alright."
I looked down and away. The momentary sting of the guilt that came with the memory of Sara does get the best of me from time to time. I walked around Tommy and back to the table top, where I stepped up to get the crowd back.
"It's way too quiet in here! This is a party!" I shouted into the hushed club. Once again, cheers broke out and the music began thumping again.
I stepped down off the table and into Tommy, meeting him face to face.
"It's some coincidence," he started, "I mean, you asking to have your party here and Hunt getting robbed right next door and by the same guy who rescued us at the warehouse." He brought a martini glass to his lips.
I leaned closer to him, "If I were you Tommy, I'd just be glad you're alive." He looked up to stare into my eyes.
A look of fear overtook his face, "What happened to you on that island?"
I didn't blink, "A lot." I turned my back to him and left the club for the final time that night.
It didn't take me long to get across town to my dad's old factory. I sat down at my computer in the makeshift, basement lair and watched as the money from Adam Hunt's accounts was returned to the people he screwed out of it. He thought I missed, but I didn't. I wanted to kill him, but the fate he would suffer now is much worse than death. The arrow that pierced the wall in his office, bugged the room so that I could retrieve his account information without him knowing. I took out my father's book and struck a line through Adam Hunt's name. It won't be long now.
I leaned back in my chair, thinking about my father. "Right my wrongs." He said. I didn't know how I would do that, but I was going to try. His sacrifice would not be in vain. I sighed heavily, but I forced the air to stop before I could exhale it completely. Lavender.
"Who are you?" I asked without moving my body even an inch.
"Not your type." The silvery voice of an angel said evenly.
"Are you following me?" I asked as I searched the surfaces in front of me for a reflection of her.
"Not on purpose." She answered. I could hear her voice moving closer to me, but I couldn't hear her footsteps. They were so light, so dainty, that I wouldn't have known she was there at all if I hadn't smelled her.
"I'm going to turn around now." I said, putting my hands behind my head.
"No!" She hissed and I froze only turned half way in the computer chair I was sitting in.
"You were there." I said. "Why?"
"It's kind of a long story." She answered. "But let's call it, the right place at the right time."
"I call it interference." I said flatly.
"He shot you." She whispered sounding confused. "How are you alive?"
"A magician never reveals his secrets." I turned all the way around to face her before she could protest. She was closer than I thought. I could see traces of blood spatter on her chest where that barely there shirt opened into the plunging neckline. "Are you hurt?" I asked pushing my eyebrows together. I didn't understand where my concern was coming from. She's in my space, my secret space and I'm concerned about her being hurt? Get it together Oliver.
"Hardly." She smiled playfully. "Are you?" She cocked her head to the side and looked down at my chest.
"No." I stared into her eyes. I have never seen eyes that color before.
She took a step closer and I could see her draw a deep breath in through her nose. "Why are you running through dark buildings in a green hood?"
"Why are you interfering with me running through dark buildings in a green hood?" She knew my secret. I needed to see how much more she knew. My mind was racing. I was afraid that I was going to have to kill her.
"I don't know." She shook her head and backed up a few steps. "Who are you?"
"Oliver Queen." I answered. "Now, who are you?"
"Tristen."
"Tristen. No last name?" I asked, pressing her further. I had made the calculations in my head already. It would take me 1.2 seconds to be out of this chair and on top of her with the blade of my boot hidden knife at her throat.
"Please don't." She shifted her intent stare from my eyes to my left boot that held my knife and back up to my eyes as she took another step back, lessening my chances of being able to apprehend her.
I swallowed hard. "Okay." I relaxed in my chair. What in the hell is going on here? "Maybe we can reach an agreement. You want to know more about me and I want to know more about you. Right?"
"Maybe." She narrowed her eyes slightly. "What the pitch?"
"If you get rid of the knife in your belt," I glanced down at her waist. "I'll get rid of the knife in my boot."
"What about the one under the arm of your chair?" She smiled and raised an eyebrow arrogantly.
"Okay." I nodded.
"How do I know that you'll keep your word?" She pressed her lips together and for the first time I sensed a vulnerability. She wanted to trust me. I had to figure out why.
"Scouts honor." I held up the sign.
She narrowed her eyes again, studying me before she slipped a hand under her jacket and retrieved the knife in her belt so fast, I was taken off guard enough to instinctively slide the one out from under the arm of my chair and sheath it in my palm, ready to throw it. I felt my eyes widen as she opened her hand letting it clink to the floor. I opened my hand in response and let mine fall too. She drew in a strained breath before speaking.
"The other one?" Her eyes never left mine.
I slid my hand down my leg bending over slightly, but never losing eye contact. I retrieved the blade and dropped it like I had the other one.
"Why would you do that?" She creased her forehead and pushed her eyebrows together in anger.
"Do what?" I asked confused.
"Give up your only weapons so easily…" She continued to stare at me in anger.
I tried to understand the sudden shift in mood. "Why would you?"
"You don't know me. You don't know what I'm capable of." She took a few steps to her right and stopped. "Why would you let your guard down so quickly?"
"I never let my guard down." I said sternly. "If you take one more step, I'm going to assume you're attempting to flank me, and I'm going to be forced to act."
"No weapons." She smiled arrogantly.
"No weapons." I nodded.
She took another step to the right and stopped. Waiting.
I spun in my chair and shoved my feet up against the desk launching me backwards towards her. I braced my weight on the arms of the chair and threw myself out of it. When my feet hit the floor, I was completely shocked not to find her underneath me. I looked up to see her standing on the other side of the desk smiling. There's no way that she was able to move out of the way fast enough to avoid me.
"Too slow." She stood up straight out of an attack position and walked to the corner of the desk.
I didn't answer. I continued to stare her down as I stood up straight as well. How is she so fast?
"Who are you?" I yelled this time, hoping to get across how pissed off I was becoming.
"I told you my name already." Her eyes narrowed.
"Right." I replied. "Tristen. But that doesn't tell me what I need to know."
"What is it that you think you need to know about me Oliver?" She tilted her head slightly. Jesus, I love the way she says my name.
"Why are you here?" I demanded. "First, you were at the club tonight." I took a step to the left and she countered immediately. I remember how the lighting in the kitchen corridor bounced off her gray eyes making them shine, brighter than they are now in the dim lighting of my father's factory basement. "Then," I continued, "you followed me into Adam Hunt's building. I saw you there." Well, not really her, but those amazing legs. I shook the thoughts. "You did something to the man that shot me." I stepped again and she countered again. I could almost reach it. Not yet. "Then, you followed me back here. For what?" I demanded loudly and for the first time since I met her, I saw…fear. "Is this a game?" I raised my voice again feeling my throat burn at the anger I was trying to portray. Her eyes widened slightly. I have to do it now. "This is not my idea of a good time!" I grabbed my bow and fired an arrow in her direction. She never saw it coming.
I watched the arrow slice through her skin and into her shoulder in the joint just below her clavicle. She didn't even have time to look at it before she dropped to the floor, first on her knees, then lying down on her back. I ran to her and pressed my knee to her arm so I could hold it down enough to pull the arrow out. It didn't take much force to pull it back through the wound it created. Bright red blood spilled out of her arm and onto the concrete floor. It was only flesh, she would be fine when she woke.
"Goodnight." I said softly, smiling playfully. I had bested her. I won the game. It was a fun game.
