Fractured

**This is my first attempt at writing an Arrow story, so try to be gentle on me, LOL! If I screw something up, please message me privately instead of putting it in a review. Any flaming I just use to keep my ass warm, so you know. Hope you all enjoy!**

Chapter 1

It was a long night at the club.

Kadienne tossed her keys on the coffee table and sat down on the couch, leaning her head back against the cushion. She really needed a new job, something that didn't require her being out until 3, sometimes, 4 AM in the morning. Countless job interviews came and went, but she never received any callbacks or offers. It was a miracle her friend, Thea Queen, gave her a bartending job at her club, Verdant, or else she would currently be on the streets. As much as she loved hanging out with Thea every night, the pay wasn't very good and neither were the tips. Her feet throbbed painfully from standing almost 9 hours, only having a 15-minute break in-between. It was time for a shower and bed, though Kadienne wasn't sure which one would come first since she could barely keep her eyes open.

Yawning, Kadienne opened her purse and reached inside to pull out her bottle of aspirin, quirking a brow. "What the hell?" In her hand a few seconds later was a small bag full of greenish blue pills.

One thing Kadienne didn't do was drugs – of any kind. So who would plant these in her purse? As far as she knew, Thea didn't allow many people in the back area of the club where the employees put their belongings. Maybe someone at Verdant wanted her to have them, thinking she was a drug addict or something. Kadienne didn't know, but her curiosity heightened as she fingered the bag of pills while setting her purse aside. Turning them into the police wasn't an option because they wouldn't believe a word she said. She was a lowlife living in the Glades unlike Thea, who lived in a mansion and had millions to her name. No, going to the police would result in her being locked behind bars and Kadienne refused to be locked up for something she didn't do or involved herself in. Flushing the pills was the right thing to do under the circumstances.

"Damn it." Kadienne grumbled when the lights suddenly went out in her apartment. It wasn't the first time it happened and she hoped the fuse box hadn't overloaded again. "Stupid thing." Standing from the couch, Kadienne reached down to pull the drawer out connected to the coffee table and pulled out a flashlight, flicking it on.

A second later, her window shattered as a body flew through it and landed a few feet in front of the occupant. Kadienne screamed out of both fright and surprise, shielding her head with her arms to prevent her face being sliced from the flying glass. She stumbled back against the wall, crying out when the bag of pills was knocked from her hand due to…an arrow. Tear-filled emerald orbs grew wide with realization as she stared back at the Vigilante of Starling City – The Hood. Her eyes moved from him to the wall where another arrow was embedded before snapping back to the man in dark green.

"P-Please…" Kadienne didn't want to die, holding her hands up in complete surrender and couldn't stop shaking, her stomach tightening with nausea.

The Hood eyeballed the terrified redhead through the darkness, his eyes narrowing and moved his gaze down to the bag on the floor. Vertigo. He recognized the drug anywhere and felt his jaw tighten, slowly moving toward the redhead. Why did Kadienne Young have drugs? She didn't seem like the type of person who would do them, especially Vertigo. It was the most dangerous drug on the streets currently, even after its predecessor, The Count, had been taken down. Growling, The Hood snatched the bag of pills up from the floor and stuffed it in the front pocket of his hooded jacket, pulling the zipper up to make sure it didn't fall out. Then his attention went back to the redhead, noting the tears sliding down her cheeks and tried not to let it bother him. Pressing the button on a small machine that disguised his voice, it was time for a little interrogation.

"Where did you get Vertigo?" He demanded, his voice coming out a low dark rumble, which was the opposite of how he normally sounded.

"V-Verti-what? I-I don't know what that is…" Kadienne answered, ready to give him any information he wanted if he'd just leave her alone. It was hard to believe The Hood was in her apartment after breaking her window. "I-I swear…"

His eyes narrowed again, this time on her. "The pills. Where did you get them?" He tried again, holding his bow at his side since there was no reason to point it at her. "Tell me!"

Kadienne flinched at his raised voice, more tears falling and could only hope the Vigilante believed what she was about to say. "I-I don't know. I-I found them in my purse just a few minutes ago. Please, you have to believe me. I don't do drugs!" What if he sent the police after her? "I was about to flush them, I promise!"

The hysteria in her voice told The Hood she was indeed telling the truth along with the fear in her emerald eyes. "They were planted on you. That means Verdant is compromised." He backed away to give the petrified woman some space and turned to head out the window, not having any other questions to ask.

"Wait!" Kadienne was out of her mind to stop this man from leaving her apartment, but once again her curiosity had gotten the better of her. She pushed off the wall and took a few timid steps toward him, ignoring the possibility of her heart giving out from how fast and hard it pounded in her chest. "W-What are you going to do?"

"Find the one who planted these on you and make sure they don't do it again. Your window will be replaced in the morning." Then he hopped out and was gone, no traces of The Hood left behind besides the shattered glass window.

Kadienne swallowed hard, feeling the life give out in her legs and dropped down on the couch, wrapping her arms around herself hoping this was a dream she'd soon wake up from.

It wasn't.

"Kadi, earth to Kadi!"

Snapping out of her deep thoughts, Kadienne looked up at Thea waving her hand in her face and blinked, clearing her throat. "Sorry. What did you say, Thea?"

"You look like you got zero sleep and you keep dazing on me. What's going on?" Thea asked, placing a hand on her shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze. "You can talk to me about anything, sweetie."

Not this, Kadienne thought, cracking a phony smile to hide her distress. "Just one of those sleepless nights, I guess. Don't worry, I'm fine Thea. I promise."

There was no way she could tell her friend about The Hood breaking into her apartment and scaring the daylights out of her. One thing about him was crystal clear: The Hood was a man of his word. Her window had been fixed at 9 AM that morning. It didn't match the rest of her dungy apartment, but at least she wouldn't have to keep plastic over her window for the foreseeable future.

Thea eyed her friend and employee suspiciously, trying to decide if she was lying or not. "Alright, if you're sure…" Her attention turned to the front door opening and her brother, Oliver Queen, walking inside toward her. "Hey Ollie, it's a little early for you to be here…"

Oliver smiled at his baby sister and kissed the top of her head. "Just checking in on you. Is that wrong?" He was extremely protective of her and still had reservations about her involvement in his club. "Don't forget, this is technically my business."

Brushing that statement off, Thea turned to where Kadienne was busy prepping behind the bar and cleared her throat. "Then you need to make time to meet your employees, don't you? Starting with a friend of mine." She slammed her hand on top of the bar counter, gaining Kadienne's attention and chuckled.

Kadienne hadn't met Oliver Queen yet, avoiding the big brother as much as possible after the stories Thea said about him. He'd been stranded on a desolate island for 5 years after their family's ship sank to the bottom of the ocean. Somehow, Oliver was the only survivor and endured the treacherous island before finally making his way back to Starling City. Even with all he must've gone through, Kadienne couldn't understand how he remained ruggedly handsome and the scruff on his face just made him more appealing. From the moment he'd been home, Oliver changed and Thea wasn't sure if it was for the better or not since he continuously lied to them about his whereabouts. That was until he opened up Verdant, though Thea still had her doubts about his reason for doing so.

"This is Kadienne Young. Kadi, this is my overprotective big brother, Oliver." There was no sense dropping the last name since they were a very well-known family throughout the city.

Emerald met ocean blue across the bar counter as Kadienne slowly rose to her feet from a squatting position. "Hi – Hello, Mr. Queen." She extended her hand to him with a soft smile and felt her insides turn to putty at the charming smile on his face.

"Mr. Queen was my father. Just call me Oliver." He requested, taking her hand to give it a gentle yet firm shake before looking back at Thea. "Looking good around here, Speedy. Keep it up."

He then walked past his sister to the back of the building and looked around to make sure nobody else had followed him, opening the door to the basement closing it behind him. Kadienne Young…Oliver removed his dress jacket and unbuttoned his shirt, tossing both to the side. He preferred being shirtless down in the Foundry and moved to the three computer screens set up. They were connected to every surveillance in the city, including the police department and traffic lights. It was his way of keeping track of all the crimes throughout the city.

Everything had been set up by…her. Oliver shut his eyes, refusing to think about his fallen partner and moved past the computers after making sure the streets were quiet. First he would train to warm his body up with the salmon lift he installed and then he'd go out to find whoever planted the Vertigo on Kadienne. If she was telling the truth, someone out there was trying to frame her and he wouldn't let that stand in his city. People called him The Hood or Vigilante, – hell, even Robin Hood – but he was far from a hero. He didn't want to be one either. That was never his purpose for becoming The Hood/Vigilante in the first place or escaping the island, Lian Yu.

"Hey John." Oliver greeted, finishing his last rep on the salmon lift before dropping down, landing on his feet like a cat with a sweat caked body.

John Diggle was his partner, the very first person Oliver trusted to tell his secret and the man stood by his side through everything. "Oliver, what's going on tonight?" He asked, not expecting to hear from the man that night.

"Kadienne Young. She works for Verdant as a bartender."

"What about her?" John was confused, raising a brow while taking his jacket off and recalled a redhead serving drinks for the last few months.

Oliver walked over to the computer systems and brought her picture up along with a complete profile that included a background check. "I wanted to check up on her and went to her apartment last night. Followed her home and watched her take a bag of Vertigo out of her purse. It wasn't hers, or so she says."

"You want me to look into it? See what I can find out about her besides what we already know?" John sat down in front of the computers to read the information on Kadienne Young and leaned back in the chair, tapping his fingers on the table. "If her father is a millionaire, why the hell is she living in the Glades?"

"Maybe he cut her off. Making her live her own life? I don't know, but what I DO know is we have to find out if she lied or not about doing Vertigo." Oliver sat in the other chair opposite of the computers, staring at the floor in thought.

John folded his arms in front of his chest, eyeing Oliver trying to figure out what was going through the man's mind. "How do you plan on doing that?" It was healthy to see Oliver pursuing something else besides finding their partner's killer. "After Felicity…"

"Don't." Oliver ordered, unable to hear her name let alone speak it for the past year. "I'm not giving up on that. I'll never give up finding whoever killed her. But if Vertigo is back on the market, that's a problem and people will get hurt if we don't do something about it." He shut his eyes briefly, painfully. "She'd want us to keep going with the crusade."

Felicity Smoak was the light in their team. She was beautiful from head to toe, had an incredible mind and loved with her whole heart. Oliver relied on her many times and not just for doing the job either. She was a vital asset and they did everything they could to protect her, especially Oliver. In the end, it hadn't been enough. Oliver had gone after a drug lord, dragged Felicity in the mix by using her as bait -it had been her idea and he was against it- and in turn, they targeted her. The night after the drug lord had been busted and put in jail, Felicity had gone home to get some rest without protection. She was murdered in cold blood, shot in the chest directly through the heart and forehead.

Oliver had been the one to discover her body and he cried over her for hours, holding her tightly against him staining The Hood suit with her blood. He never got the chance to tell Felicity how he felt – that he'd fallen in love with her. Oliver had a horrible habit of keeping the people he loved and cared about at arm's length because of the life he chose to live. He didn't want to put anyone in danger because of him and it backfired. Felicity's death opened his eyes to the harsh realization that nobody close to him was safe, no matter what. It was several hours before Oliver could peel himself from Felicity's body and called the police, reluctantly leaving her to be discovered and taken to the morgue.

The funeral was a few days later and Oliver, god help him, couldn't attend it without having a breakdown. He had a suit on and everything, ready to go say goodbye to Felicity and couldn't bring himself to do it. Saying goodbye was too final for him – too soon. So instead, Oliver spent the day down in the Foundry sitting on the concrete floor staring at the wall and silent tears wet his cheeks. He still hadn't been able to visit her grave and it'd been a year since her death. Up until this Vertigo problem, Oliver hadn't stopped looking for the hitman who took Felicity from him. One day, he would find the murderer and show him the meaning of pain before ending his life the same way he ended Felicity's. The light in his life was gone and all that remained was pure darkness for Oliver. It showed in everything he did, though he tried not to drop bodies because it would only tarnish her memory.

"Go ahead and dig up all you can on the Young family. I wanna know everything."

John watched Oliver pull the green hooded leather jacket on and flipped the hood over his head, painting his eyes green like a mask. "And where are you going?"

"Out. Stay alert."

With that said, he left the Foundry to go search Kadienne's apartment since he knew she'd be working late at Verdant.