Running. That's all we'd seemed to be doing for the last five years is running. But this time we were running to safety instead of running from danger. I followed the man who hadn't left my side in all that time up a cliff to see a fishermen's boat not far from shore. We jumped over more rocks and ran over more ground to a small site we'd made camp at not long ago. I jammed a knife into a space between two rocks as he prepared his bow and arrow. He grabbed an arrow and used the knife to lite the tip on fire before setting the weapon. He fired and hit the burn pile we'd built, creating an explosion so the fishermen would find us. We waited until the fishermen arrived on the rocky shore before stepping out so they could find us. Once they got us onto their ship they offered us both water before continuing to China. The name of the island they found us on is Lian Yu. It's Mandarin for "purgatory". We've dreamt of our rescue every cold black night since then. For 5 years, we have had only one thought, one goal... survive. Survive and one day return home. The island held many dangers. To live, we had to make ourselves more than what we were, to forge ourselves into a weapon. We are returning not the children who were shipwrecked but the man and woman who will bring justice to those who have poisoned our city. My name is Ashlee Merlyn and my constant and only companion for the past five years is Oliver Queen.
They ran all sorts of tests in China before sending us back home to Sterling City where they did the same test for the same results. The only difference between home and China was the pampering that was sent to my room before my father arrived. A hairstylist shampoo and conditioned my hair to death before cutting it to where the tips would fall to the top of my waist. My hair wouldn't be straightened for a while though since I wouldn't touch a straightener unless needed for our plans. A manicurist fixed my nails and painted them my former color of choice, red, as well as my toes. It was like a spa day at the hospital for a while before someone came in with a dress that would have been very much my style five years ago until they saw the scars on my legs that showed from the bottom of the short dress and where my cleavage showed. Finally, we decided on a red skirt that was solid until it hit mid-thigh then went sheer slightly lower. I wore a white tank with a red off the shoulder top and white heels. I wore white pearl earrings, red bracelet, and two rings on my fingers; one white and one red. On the hospital bed was a red coach purse with a gold chain so I could carry it on my shoulder. It took me a while to remember how to walk in heels after so long, but it was like riding a bike. The outfit showed my toned arms and legs that had been left un-scared. They had put red lipstick on me, red eyeshadow, black eyeliner in cat-eye style and mascara framed my clear blue eyes, and rouge on my cheeks. I felt strange, being in my old clothes, my old life didn't seem to fit my new body. I stood staring out the window aware of my father and doctor outside my door talking. I wondered what Oliver was doing right now as I stared out into the city.
"Over 15% of her body is covered in scar tissue. Second-degree burns scars on her back, front and arms. X-rays show many fractures that never properly healed. There's possibly physiological damage as well as a bond between both her and Oliver Queen. She and Oliver were almost inseparable when they came in from China." The Doctor told Malcolm Merlyn as they both watched the young woman put her hand on the glass in front of her. Malcolm looked at the pictures they took of his daughter's injuries.
"Have either of them said anything about what happened to them?" Malcolm asked his daughter's doctor.
"No. The only words out of their mouths were when they were screaming at us when we separated them. As you can see they've calmed considerably." the doctor told him. "Malcolm, I have to warn you. The daughter you lost might not be who they found on that island." Malcolm just looked back at the doctor before walking into the room and to his daughter before either of them spoke.
"Ashlee." I turned from the view of the city to my father.
"Dad," I said with a small smile. He pulled me to him and hugged me tightly, as though he was refusing to ever let me go again.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." He whispered to me.
"I'm okay, Dad, really. Oliver and I looked out for each other." I told him, my smile growing. I saw him frown. "What?"
"I don't want you anywhere near the Queen family." He told me.
"Dad, that's not happening," I told him plainly.
"For once you will do as you're told." He demanded and I shook my head at him.
"I'm past the age eighteen, Dad, legal adult. I've been gone for five years and the only reason I am alive right now is because of the man you want to separate me from." I told him. "If there's one person who I will probably always be looking for in a room, it's him. If there's one person who I will look to for comfort, it will be him." I left the room, grabbing my purse from the bed and went the next room over to see Oliver hugging his mother. At least his welcome home was going far better than mine. He looked up at the door and smiled at me which I returned and waved before walking away to my father at the end of the hall.
"Ready to go home?" he asked me and I nodded. We stepped out of the hospital and were immediately surrounded by the press throwing questions left and right.
"Miss Merlyn, what happened to you on that island?"
"Miss Merlyn, what happened on the Queen's Gambit?"
"Miss Merlyn, are you and Oliver Queen an item now?" These were the only questions I could hear clearly. Why would they be concerned about my love life; priorities of the press at its finest. The driver my father had opened the door for us and we quickly got inside as the press continued to snap pictures and ask questions.
"You know, I have the same questions they do." My dad told me.
"I figured," I said looking out of the window to watch the city pass us by.
"Are you going to tell me the answers?" he asked.
"Dad, one day you'll get all the answers to all the questions you want to ask me. For now, the only one I will answer is if Oliver and I are a thing: no. Oliver is still in love with Laural Lance, not me." I told him. I watched his reaction in the window as he watched me. Nothing, either he didn't believe me or his poker face was better than I thought growing up. When we got home the driver got out and opened the door for us and I immediately went to the trunk and pulled out the wooden suitcase that almost matched Oliver's.
"Why don't you let the driver get that?" my dad asked me.
"I can get it," I told him with a smile before we walked inside the house. I looked around and nothing had changed.
"I left your rooms the same way they were before you…" he dropped his sentence and I kissed his cheek.
"Thank you," I whispered before going up to my bedroom. Everything was the same. That's they my dad grieved me, I guess. After 5 years, everything that was once familiar was unrecognizable; from the clothes in the closet to the color on the walls. The face I saw in the mirror was a stranger.I put the case under my bed and made sure the locks were secure before leaving my room and going back downstairs to see my twin brother.
"Tommy," I said smiling at him. He walked to me and gave me a tight hug. "I feel like a nice dinner. What are you doing tonight?"
"I'm going to the Queen Mansion for dinner." He told me slowly and my smile grew.
"Then why are we keeping the Queen family waiting?" I asked him. We went out to his car and drove to the Queen Mansion.
"Ash, we didn't you tell anyone you were going with Oliver on the Queen's Gambit?" he asked me suddenly.
"I wasn't going with Oliver, Tommy. Robert asked me to come with them for business. He told me he was going to offer me Queen Consolidated if Oliver didn't straighten his act up." I told him.
I moved from my cabin to the hallway to see Mr. Queen and Ollie talking.
"What's going on?" I asked them over the thunderstorm.
"Nothing, Ash. What's up?" Ollie asked me.
"Nothing, just can't sleep through this storm. Mind if I bunk in your room?" I asked him.
"Not at all." He told me with a smile and I turned and went back to his room.
We walked into the Queen Mansion and I smiled at seeing Oliver. He'd been my stability for five years and he was really the only recognizable thing in this city.
"What did I tell you? Yachts suck." Tommy told his best friend. Oliver turned to us and smiled at me before moving his eyes to my brother.
"Tommy Merlyn," Oliver said hugging him.
"I missed you, buddy," Tommy said finally releasing him.
"How are you doing Ashlee?" Oliver asked giving me a hug. I sighed at his familiar warmth and the strength of his arms around me.
"Probably as good as you," I told him with a smile. We all walked to the dining room with his arm still around my shoulders. We all sat at the table, Walter Steele sat next to his mother, Thea sat across from me and I sat between both boys.
"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." Tommy told us as Oliver and I held hands under the table. Neither Oliver nor I had eaten much on our plates.
"What was it like there?" Thea asked us and the table went silent and you could cut the tension with a knife.
"Cold," Oliver told her with a small smile as I looked down at my full plate.
"Tomorrow, the three of us, we're doing the city. You've got a lot to catch up on." Tommy told us and I smiled at him.
"That sounds like a great idea," Moira said with a smile on her face looking at us.
"Good. Then I was hoping to swing by the office." Oliver said smiling at his mother and Walter and I gave him a small unnoticeable look except to him. Walter was about to take a sip of his wine but stopped looking to Oliver.
"Well, there's plenty of time for all that. Queen Consolidated isn't going anywhere." Walter told him with a smile. I watched the interaction between Walter and Moira for a moment before looking back at my plate taking what I'd seen in. Raisa came to set a bowl of pears on the table when she tripped between Oliver and I. I caught the bowl as Oliver caught her and restored her balance.
"Oh, I am so sorry, Mr. Oliver, Miss Merlyn.
"Eto ne bespokoystvo. (It's no worry)." Oliver told her in Russian.
"My oba prosto rad, chto ne sdelal bol'no. (We're both just glad you didn't get hurt.)" I told her in the same language. Everyone looked at us stunned.
"You two speak Russian?" Tommy asked us.
"I didn't realize either of you took Russian at college," Walter told us.
"I wanted to make sure I was prepared for anything when I went to school," I told them with a smile.
"And I didn't realize you wanted to sleep with my mother, Walter," Oliver said and another silence filled the room and the tension returned. Moira looked at Oliver then at Thea.
"I didn't say anything," Thea told her mother.
"She didn't have to," Oliver told her meaning he had seen the same thing I had and Moira nodded in acknowledgment.
"Oliver...Walter and I are married, and I don't want you to think that either one of us did anything to disrespect your father," Moira told him.
"We both believed that Robert, like the two of you, was, uh, well, gone," Walter told him. I watched Oliver and saw he was visibly pained and I tightened my grip on his hand.
"It's fine." He said releasing my hand and standing up. "May I be excused?" Moira nodded and Oliver smiled at everyone.
"Moira, do you mind if I stay for the night? I'm not sure how I feel about being on my own and Oliver has been such a stability in my life on the island." I told her and she nodded with a smile on her face. "Thank you. If you'll excuse me."
"Hey, don't forget about tomorrow," Tommy said as Oliver and I left the room.
"Oliver." I stopped him walking away from me and put my hands in his. "We knew things would be different when we came back." I reminded him.
"Not this different." He told me.
"We are different so why wouldn't they be?" I asked him. He took a few moments to breathe and I gave him a comforting hug which he returned. "We have to be able to accept that everyone in our old lives, they're different now. We're different so why wouldn't they be?"
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't be acting this way." He told me and I smiled up at him.
"We're still human, Oliver. We all react to things that are close to us. Come on; let's get to your room." He kept his arm around my shoulder and my arm around his waist as we walked up to his room together unaware of the eyes watching us from the dining room. We got up to his room and I stole a white muscle shirt and shorts from his dresser and started took off my red top. There wasn't a lot of privacy on the island so we'd seen a lot of each other's bodies.
"We're back home now. You could use the bathroom." Oliver told me and I turned and gave him a look.
"It's nothing you haven't seen on me before," I said as I slid my shoes off my feet and took off my skirt and tank leaving me in my undergarments revealing my scars. I felt fingers trace over one of them and I closed my eyes at the comfort it offered. I moved away from him and removed my bra before pulling his shirt and shorts. I watched as a storm rolled in before felling Oliver wrap his arms around my shoulders and waist and placing his head on top of mine.
"You going to be okay?" he asked me.
"Yes, just don't know how I really feel to be back," I admitted.
"Your dad?" he asked, knowing that he was the one person I'd dreaded to see.
"He told me I was going to be staying away from your family." I laughed lightly.
"Well, that worked out well for him." He joked. "Come on, let's get some sleep." He opened the window and laid down on the floor where I joined him. Our beds were like a taboo area right now since we had grown accustomed to the rocks as our beds. I was still awake when it started to rain on us. That and Oliver's heartbeat was the music that put me to sleep.
Lightening flashed as I sat on Oliver's bed and waited for the following sound.
"I think it's getting closer," I told him.
"And why do you think that?" he asked bringing me some wine.
"The time between the lightning and the time we can hear thunder," I said.
"That's not been proven to be a scientific way of finding that information out." He told me and I gave him a look.
"Says the boy who dropped out of four Ivy league schools." I laughed.
"I did manage to retain some things." He said as I put my wine glass down.
"Oh really? Like what?" I asked him.
"The exact spot you're ticklish." He said before he started to tickle me, making me fall back onto his bed.
"No! Stop!" I couldn't help laughing before we watched the champagne and wine glasses tilt. Suddenly the cabin flipped and we were thrown to the other side of the room. "Ollie!" I screamed and he quickly grabbed my arm before the ocean could rip me away from him.
"Ash!" he called to me and I forced myself up closer to him before we were both pulled from the Gambit and into the ocean. Still holding each other's hands we managed to swim to the surface before someone pulled us into a raft.
We turned and watched as the yacht sank to the bottom of the ocean, holding onto each other.
"Are you both okay?" Mr. Queen asked us. I simply nodded as Oliver and I tried to get comfortable next to each other, refusing to let go of the other. "Don't let her go, son. Never let her go."
"Oliver? Wake up. Oliver?" I woke to someone behind me moving quickly and grabbed Oliver's hand before he could hit Moira's throat and kill her.
"Oliver!" Walter called to him to try and wake him fully.
"Oliver, wake up. Rúguǒ jìxù xiàqù, nǐ yào shārén.(If you keep going you're going to kill someone.)" I told him. Oliver looked up at me then to Walter then down at Moira. He quickly released her and released her and held my hand tightly as I hugged him.
"I'm sorry. I'm so... I'm so sorry." Oliver said as Walter helped Moira up.
"Oh, it's ok, Oliver. It's all right, sweetheart. You're home. You're home." Moira told him.
"She's okay Oliver," I whispered to him while rubbing my hand in circular motions on his back.
The next morning, I was in the guest room that I'd always used when Tommy and I had stayed over digging through all the clothes I'd left five years ago. I sighed and pulled out random clothes that would cover the scars on my body yet still look nice. I wore an eggshell white shirt with black lining on the sleeves and the ruffles that would hide any scars on my chest, blue jeans, light gray jacket, and eggshell white heels that had jewels on the heel and down the spike. I wore a gold chunky bracelet, a gold ring with gems on it and diamond dangle earrings. I looked at myself in the mirror and applied light makeup on my face and sighed.
"Hey." I looked and saw Oliver standing behind me.
"I feel heavy. Like something's weighing me down. Could be the diamonds on my ears." I joked with him and he smiled.
"You look beautiful." He told me and I smiled.
"I look like a girl. Big difference." I corrected him. He walked up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. I leaned into his form and stared at us in the mirror.
"You've always looked like a girl, Ashlee. The island didn't have the latest fashions, but you were always beautiful to me." He said and I smiled at him.
"Thank you," I said before turning in his arms and hugging him tightly. It felt right, to be in his arms. I'd always cared for Oliver before the island, loved him even, and while there I fell in love with him even more. But he was in love with Laurel. Always had been, always will be.
"Tommy's here." He said smiling down at me before we walked out of the room together.
Tommy had decided that was the day to drive his Mercedes which meant that I had to sit in Oliver's lap for the trip around town. We'd down this before so it wasn't really anything new, but with how I felt about him this wasn't a fun ride.
"Your funerals blew," Tommy told us.
"Did you get lucky?" Oliver asked him and I laughed lightly.
"Fish in a barrel. They were so sad..." he told us.
"No." I translated.
"And huggy." He told us. "And I am counting on another target rich environment for your welcome home bash."
"At our what?" Oliver and I asked him.
"You two came back from the dead. This calls for a party. You guys tell me where and when. I'll take care of everything. And this city's gone to crap. Your dad sold his factory just in time. And why'd you want to drive through this neighborhood anyway?" Tommy asked as Oliver and I looked out the window to see his father's old steel factory.
"No reason," Oliver told him.
"So what'd you miss the most, steaks at the palm, drinks at the station, meaningless sex?" Tommy asked him.
"I want to see Laurel," Oliver said and I looked down at my hands in pain.
"Everyone is happy you're alive. You want to see the one person who isn't?" Tommy asked him.
"Let's just go and see her, Tommy," I told him.
Tommy and I watched Laurel and Oliver talk before she walked over to us. I kept my head down so I'd be staring at the ground as she walked by us.
"How did you think that was gonna go, Tommy?" she asked as she walked away from Oliver and us.
"About like that," Tommy told her. We walked back to his car in the alleyway. "Ok, so we took care of that. Good call. Now we can make up for lost time. If you're not too sick of fish, I suggest we find some leggy models and eat Sushi all day. What do you say?"
"No leggy model for me please." I joked with him before a van approached us from behind.
"What're they doing?" Tommy asked as three armed men in masks appeared in front of us. "What the hell?"
"Hey!" a bystander shouted before one of the men shot him dead. Someone shot Tommy's neck and then shot both Oliver and I. I took out the thing that was sticking out of my neck and saw a tranquilizer in my hand.
We were in the lifeboat for what felt like days with a fluorescent light above the boat.
"Here, son. Drink. Share it with Ash." Robert said and I looked up from Oliver's chest to see him drinking something.
"What the hell are you doing?!" the second man from the ship said pointing to the bottle Oliver had. "That's all we've got."
"If anybody's making it out of here, it's gonna be them," Robert said as Oliver handed me the bottle. "I'm so sorry. I thought I'd have more time. I'm not the man you think I am. I didn't build our city. I failed it. And I wasn't the only one."
"Mr. Queen. Miss Merlyn." A hood was yanked off my head and I blinked in the surprise of light on my face. I was zip-tied to a chair with Oliver sitting across from me in the same position. I moved my hands around trying to get the restraint off me. "Mr. Queen! Did your father survive that accident?" Oliver looked at me and I nodded my head slightly. "I ask the questions. You give me the answers or she gets hurt." The man in the mask warned before tasering me. "Did he make it to the island? Did he tell you anything?" he tased me again and I rolled my eyes.
"Yes, he did," Oliver told him calmly.
"What did he tell you, Mr. Queen?" the man asked.
"He told me we're gonna kill you," Oliver told him.
"You're delusional. You're both zip-cuffed to that chair." The man laughed and I smiled.
"Not anymore," Oliver said showing his untied hands as I got mine out of the restraint they had been in. The first kidnapper attacked Oliver who dodged his attack by lifting his chair like a shield before breaking his neck with it. The second attacker went to attack him and I kicked his legs out from under him. Before he could get up I put my heel on his neck and watched the third kidnapper run away with Oliver behind him.
"You don't have to do this." The man told me and I looked down at the man. "Please."
"You shouldn't have kidnapped," I said before breaking his neck, killing him.
I sat between Oliver and Tommy with Tommy's arm around my shoulders and Oliver's hand in mine at the Queen's living room with the cops asking us questions about our kidnapping.
"So that's your story. A guy in a green hood and a woman in black flew in and took out 3 armed kidnappers. I mean, who are they? Why would they do that?" Detective Lance asked us.
"I don't know. Find them and you can ask." Oliver told him.
"Yeah. What about you two?" Detective Lance asked me and Tommy. "You see the hood guy and dominatrix?"
"I saw..." I looked at Tommy and waited to hear what he was going to say. "Just movement. Everything blurry. I was kind of out of it."
"I didn't see anything. They kept a hood over my head and tased me after asking Oliver questions." I told them as Tommy pulled me closer to his side.
"Yeah. It's funny, isn't it? One day back, and already somebody's gunning for the two of you. Aren't you two popular?" he asked us.
"Were you able to identify the men?" Moira asked as we heard the door open and my dad came into the living room.
"Scrubbed identities, untraceable weapons. These were pros." Detective Hilton told her.
"Ashlee, Tommy, are the two of you okay?" he asked coming to our sides.
"Hey Dad, we're fine," I told him hugging him.
"Yeah. Well, they probably figured you two'd pay a king's ransom to get your boy back or a Queen's ransom, as it were. After all, a parent would do anything to keep their child safe." Detective Lance told us.
"I don't find your tone appropriate, Detective," Moira told him as I saw my dad turn and glare at him.
"If Oliver, Ashlee, and Tommy can think of anything else, they'll be in touch. Thank you, gentlemen, for coming." Walter told them and Detective Lance chuckled.
"Your luck never seems to run out, does it?" he asked us before leaving. I looked down at Oliver as my dad held me closer to him. I knew why Detective Lance was angry with us, Laurel. Isn't it funny how one woman can be in the center of everything?
Once we got home dad made sure I was resting in my room with a book and didn't have to get up for any reason except to use the bathroom.
"Dad, I told you already. I'm fine." I told him.
"This is the second time I nearly lost you when you were with Oliver Queen. This is the last time you spend any time with him." He ordered and I rolled my eyes.
"You know you can't really stop me, right?" I asked him. "I'm an adult and I could move out anytime I like. Stop ordering me around."
"I'm your father. I get to order you around." He told me.
"And I'm your daughter. I get to disobey." I told him. "Besides, you're not my jailer or my commander."
"I forgot how much fun you were at home." He said sarcastically and I smiled at him as he left my room.
The next morning I waited for Oliver at the steel factory we'd decided to use as a hideout for our plans to save the city. When he walked to me I smiled at him.
"You're late," I told him.
"My mother wants me to have a bodyguard." He told me.
"Well, my father wants me to stay away from you," I told him as we threw our bags over and scaled the fence. The abduction was unexpected. It forced us to move up our plans, but what we told the police was true. The man in the green hood and the woman in black were there in that warehouse, and they were just beginning. We entered the abandoned factory and opened up a way into the subbasement and lowered the items we needed to do what was needed. We opened up the area so it was just one large floor plan before setting things up and getting some power going. We made sure everything was ready and working before he sat down and sharpened his arrows and I prepared my outfit and weapons. My outfit was black leather pants, black leather knee high boots, black gloves, a black mask, and a black leather long-sleeved top that still showed off some cleavage. I just couldn't seem to find anything that didn't know and days. Luckily the top would still hide the scars so if anyone did see me they couldn't identify me with them. After everything was set up we began training. He grabbed a steel pole and used it and two poles, that looked like they would have held up shelves or something, and climbed up using only his dead weight and muscle. I climbed anything I could find, bending my body differently so I could make it to the ceiling and back down repeatedly. We both had placed our wooden chests here versus keeping them at home. Anyone could find them there but here they would be safe and hidden. In his, was his bow and in mine was an assortment of blades. I had throwing knives that would line my arms and thighs, a small sword that would be sheathed on my back, and two Sais that were sheathed in my boots. I watched as Oliver released tennis balls and shot them all into a wall before I made sure I was still just as sharp with my blades.
"The suit alleges that Hunt committed multiple acts of fraud and theft against the city's underprivileged. Laurel Lance, an attorney for the city necessary…" the news was saying. Adam Hunt...his crimes went deeper than fraud and theft, but he'd been able to bully, bribe, or kill anyone who'd gotten into his way. He hadn't met us yet. We suited up and prepared our weapons before leaving for work.
We watched Adam Hunt walk in a parking lot with three men, talking about the upcoming case.
"You remind Grell I put him on the bench, I can take him off. I will turn him into a cautionary tale." Hunt told his men.
"Yes, Mr. Hunt." One man said.
"And this attorney Laurel Lance...you said she wasn't gonna be a problem anymore. I told you to fix that situation." They all stopped walking for a moment. "Why are you still here?" The man quickly left and they continued walking. I nodded to Oliver who shot an arrow at the lights and made them go out where we needed them to. I threw one of my knives at the bodyguards and hit one, killing him.
"Get in the car!" the second man said to Hunt. Once hunt was in the car he fired his gun up at the ceiling where he thought we were.
"Hey. You missed." Oliver called to him. Oliver shot an arrow as I threw a knife at him killing him. He fired another arrow at the car and the broke the glass next to Hunt. I walked to the car and yanked him out of it before throwing him to the ground. He looked up at us and saw Oliver pointing an arrow at him as I pulled out my Sais.
"What? What? Just... just tell me what you want." Hunt told us. Oliver jumped off the hood of the car and picked up Hunt by the collar of his shirt.
"You're gonna transfer $40 million into Starling City bank account 1141 by 10 P.M. tomorrow night," Oliver told him.
"Or what?" Hunt asked him.
"Or we're gonna take it, and you won't like how" Oliver warned him and we walked away from him.
"If I see you again, you're dead!" Hunt told us. I turned and threw a knife at him, scratching his cheek, as Oliver fired an arrow into his car once more, allowing us to both disappear from his sight.
The next night I wore a short dress that was pink on the bust while the waist down was black. The heels were white with black lace covering them; I also wore two rings, one black and one pink, and a necklace that I wrapped around my neck twice before letting it rest on my skin. My hair was half up and let the rest fall naturally. I'd used makeup to hide the scars to the best of my ability before meeting Tommy downstairs and leaving the house for the party. Once we were at the party all we had to do was wait for Oliver to show up and Tommy would make a big deal. I checked my phone and saw it was 9:07. Adam Hunt only had fifty-three minutes left before Oliver and I needed to make him do what we wanted. I looked up and saw Oliver walking down the stairs with his phone out to see the time just as I did. I nudged Tommy and he grabbed my hand before taking me up to Oliver.
"Everybody, hey!" Tommy called out as the music died down. "Man-and-woman-of-the-hour!" the crowd cheered at seeing us. "Whoo! And, ladies, please give this man a proper homecoming. Guys, stay away from my sister." He said making me laugh. Music played as Oliver and I approached and climbed onto the center of the stage together.
"Thank you very much, everybody!" Oliver shouted to the crowd.
"Ollie, Ollie, Ollie, Ollie. For you and Ash." Tommy gave Oliver two shots and Oliver gave one of them to me and we downed them.
"We missed Tequila!" he shouted and the crowd cheered again.
"Keep the music going!" I shouted as Oliver got down from the stage then helped me down. As we partied Oliver stayed by my side even as everyone came up to us and wanted to dance or just talk. I looked past Oliver to see a black man staring at him.
"Is that the bodyguard your mother wanted you to have?" I asked him.
"Yeah, what do you think?" he asked me.
"Looks like he takes his job very seriously," I told him.
"Hey. Does he wipe for you, too?" Tommy asked joining in our conversation. "Now by my rough estimate, you have not had sex in 1,839 days. As your wingman, I highly recommend Carmen Golden. And for you, dear sister, no one."
"Thanks, Tommy," I said sarcastically.
"Which one is Carmen Golden?" Oliver asked Tommy.
"The one who looks like the chick from "Twilight."" Tommy said and I looked at him confused.
"What's "Twilight"?" Oliver and I asked him.
"You're so better off not knowing," Tommy told us. I smiled at him before seeing Oliver staring intently somewhere. I turned and saw Thea getting drugs from a guy and sighed.
"Back in a minute," Oliver told us before he walked to his sister and pulled her aside from her friends.
"This isn't going to be pretty," I said. Tommy gave me a curious look before following my gaze to Oliver and his sister.
"I'm so glad that was never you." He told me and I laughed at him.
"That wasn't me cause you were right next to me doing the same drugs I was." I reminded him and he laughed before nodding.
"That's right, how could I forget that?" he asked me.
"Well, we were high most of the time with Oliver next to us," I said and he nodded. "So, who are you dating now?"
"No one." He told me.
"Still opting for the one nighters verses a real relationship?" I asked him.
"I actually have a girl I'm interested in, but she has this ex who she's still in love with and he still loves her." He told me and I nodded.
"You should fight for her. If you really care about her then you gotta fight Tommy." I told him. "You might lose her if you don't."
"Thanks for that." He told me while giving me a hug.
"I just want my brother to be happy," I told him before looking up and watching Oliver throw something away as he walked back to us and I smiled lightly. Then he bumped into Laurel and my smile faded slightly.
"Oh! Oh. You're here." I heard him say.
"Tommy. He made the point that we have too many years between us to leave things the way we left them. Is there someplace quieter that we could go?" Laurel asked him.
"Yeah." He said before they both left the party area. I looked at Tommy and watched him watch them leave.
"Laurel. She's the girl you're interested in." I said and he turned to me with a sheepish smile.
"That obvious?" he asked me.
"Only to someone who's used to seeing that look on their own face," I told him with a smile.
"So, who does my baby sister like?" he asked me throwing his arm over my shoulder.
"You are only older by five minutes so don't give me that "baby sister" crap." I laughed hitting his arm.
"That still makes me older." He told me.
"If you're older then you get away with nothing and I get away with everything." I laughed.
"You do get away with everything." He said and I laughed again.
"Hey, whatever happened to Sarah?" I asked him as my cell vibrated. I looked at it and saw it was 10. I swiped the screen to the account and saw nothing in it.
"She went to school and never came back. Her mom then up and left her dad leaving Laurel and Detective Lance alone." He told me.
"Hey I gotta go, I'll be right back," I told him before meeting Oliver in the service hallway and walking to our destination.
"Something I can help you with, sir?" I turned and saw Oliver's bodyguard Diggle behind us.
"We just wanted a second to ourselves," Oliver told him putting his arm around my waist as I put my arm around his.
"I would believe you, Mr. Queen, if you weren't so full of crap. Party's this way." Diggle told him motioning to the door and I smirked. I liked this one. Oliver and I walked to the door and he pretended to try and open it.
"It's locked," Oliver told him. Diggle went to check the door and I quickly grabbed him and put him in a sleeper hold and immobilized him. We both waited until he was unconsciousness before going continuing on our way. After we were dressed Oliver aimed an arrow at Hunt Multinational and fired the grappling arrow close to Hunt's office. We made our way over quietly to one of the lower floors and took the elevator up to his office. When the door opened Oliver fired an arrow and I threw a knife at two of the men pointing their guns at us. We came out of the elevator fighting, Oliver using his bow and me throwing punches. I threw a knife at someone who was aiming his gun at Oliver as Oliver used a pillar to jump on a guy's neck and throw him to the ground. Another man fired at us as we hid behind a pillar. I snuck behind him and threw him into the glass door where he was killed by another one of Hunt's men. Oliver shot the man who killed his own guy and I pulled out one of my Sais and hit another man in the neck as Oliver shot an arrow into the wall behind Hunt before arming his bow again.
"You missed," Hunt told him.
"Really?" Oliver asked him. Suddenly a man attacked me and threw my Sai out of my hand and started wailing on me. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched Oliver aim his arrow at the man before I threw both of us to the ground and hit my legs around his neck. He managed to push me away from him and Oliver kicked him back even further. Oliver grabbed the back of the couch and used it as leverage to jump up and grabbed the neck with his legs and threw him to the ground. The man pulled out a knife and I pulled out my other Sai before the man attacked Oliver. Oliver moved out of the way and the man broke a vase and ran into a wall before turning and attacking me. I blocked his knife attack and punched him a few times in the face and gut before he got his knife hand free. He attacked with his knife again ad I grabbed the arm and took his knife before throwing it to the ground. He punched me a few more times before Oliver grabbed his arm and broke it over his knee and threw the man down. At the last minute I saw the gun, but before I could grab it the man did. Oliver and I ran to the desk as he started firing at us. As we jumped over the desk I threw one last knife and killed the guy before we landed and the floor. I looked and saw Oliver unconscious. I crawled to him and hit his face trying to wake him up. Once he did I smiled down at him as he grimaced in pain. He rolled over and picked up a bullet that was next to him.
"Lay down your weapons, or we will open fire!" Oliver grabbed his bow and I grabbed my Sais. "I repeat, lay down your weapons." Oliver shot the light from one of the officers and they started shooting at us as we ran to the window and he held onto my waist as we jumped out, grabbing the wire on the arrow he'd shot earlier. We landed back on the roof of the party and quickly ran to our party clothes and fixed ourselves up again before going down to the party.
"Detective!" Oliver called to Detective Lance as we walked up to where he was talking to Tommy. "It's a private party."
"Yeah? Well, there was an incident at Adam Hunt's building tonight. You know anything about that?" he asked us.
"Who's Adam Hunt?" Oliver asked him.
"He's a millionaire bottom feeder, and I'm kind of surprised you aren't all friends." Detective Lance told him
"We've been out of town for...a while," Oliver said.
"Yeah. Well, he just got attacked by the guy with the hood and the girl in leather who really likes knives, the two that saved your asses the other day." He told us.
"The hood guy and the knife girl. You didn't find him? I'm gonna offer a reward. Hey, everybody. $2 million to anybody that can find a nutbar in a green hood and his girlfriend in black leather." Oliver called out and the crowd cheered before becoming quiet again. Detective Lance was quiet for a moment.
"Did you even think of Laurel before hooking up?" he asked us. "You were her friends and you both betrayed her." His partner quickly pulled him away from us and I looked down at the ground before looking up again to Oliver.
"It's way too quiet in here! This is a party!" Oliver called out and everyone cheered.
"Let's wake this town up!" I shouted taking a shot as the music grew louder again.
"Some coincidence, I mean, you asking to have your party here, and Hunt getting robbed right next door and by the same could who rescued us at the warehouse," Tommy said taking a drink.
"If I were you, Tommy, I'd just be glad you're alive," Oliver told him as he gave me a hug. He knew how much Laurel's friendship had meant to me.
"What-h-happened to you two on that island?" Tommy asked us giving us both a nervous look.
"A lot." We told him.
On the lifeboat, Oliver still held onto me tightly as his father held him to him.
"There's not enough for all of us. Save your strength. You two can survive this, make it home, make it better, right my wrongs, but you two have got to live through this first. You hear me, Ollie? Ash? You hear me?" he asked us.
"Just rest, dad," Oliver told him before holding me close to him.
"No!" the second man said before a gunshot forced my eyes open in shock.
"Mr. Queen?!" I shouted out.
"Dad?!" Oliver shouted out.
"Survive." His father told us before pointing the gun at his own head.
"No!" Oliver and I shouted before he shot himself in the head.
The next night Oliver and I had dressed up and I followed him to Laurel's place of business to see her walking with Tommy.
"You left the party pretty quick last night, even after I made sure the bar was stocked with Pinot Noir," Tommy said.
"It wasn't really my scene." She told him.
"I thought maybe you and Oliver went mano-a-mano again. Ash and I saw you two head out." Tommy revealed to her.
"There's nothing between Oliver and me, not anymore." She told him and I grabbed Oliver's hand.
"Here I thought the only thing between you and Oliver was us," Tommy said.
"I wouldn't exactly characterize us as an "us," Tommy." She told him.
"Then what would you call it?" he asked her.
"A lapse." She said.
"That's quite a few lapses... your place, my place, my place again." He listed off and they laughed.
"Oh, come on, Merlyn. We both know that you're not a one-girl type of guy." She told him.
"Depends on the girl." He told her.
"I have to go back to work." She told him.
"Dinah Laurel Lance always trying to save the world." Tommy poked fun at her.
"Hey. If I don't try and save it, who will?" she asked him walking under where we were. There are many more names on the list, those who rule our city through intimidation and fear. Every last one of them will wish we had died on that island.
Oliver hung his head out on the lifeboat as I cried into my knees.
"Ash, look." I turned and saw an island in the distance.