Laurel carried Dinah block after block. Dinah was losing a lot of blood. Laurel's head was still reeling. Oliver survived on the island for eleven years? That didn't seem possible. It probably wasn't possible. And if he wasn't on Lian Yu the whole time, why didn't he come home? Laurel burst through the hospital doors. "This is very important" she shouted. "You need to help her. The police captain has sustained an injury to her stomach".
Dr. Schwartz approached Laurel. "Thank you for bringing her in, Laurel. We're gonna do everything that we can for her, but she needs space". With that, Laurel left Dinah in the hospital's care. Now she had time to contemplate what she should do next. She had taken Dinah to the hospital by herself, fearing that her Ollie could not show his face in public. He told her he was staying in the ruined Arrow-cave, the one Ricardo Diaz destroyed. She thought she should at least offer him a warm bed to sleep in, given all that he had been through.
"I am glad that you reached out," Ollie said, while he sat on Quentin's living room couch, that was now Laurel's.
"Are you hungry?" Laurel asked him.
"Starving" he replied. "All I want is the taste of a home-cooked meal, accompanied by the view of my favorite girl".
"Ollie" Laurel said "You have to tell me now. I have so many questions. Where have you been? Have you been on Lian Yu for eleven years?"
Ollie stared back into Laurel's eyes. "I- I want to tell you the truth, so uh- no. I haven't"
"So where were you?" Laurel asked in a serious tone.
"I was a lot of places, I did spend some time on the island. 3 years. But then fate took me off the island. Fate was slowly taking me back to you..." Ollie said, which merited a serious look from Laurel.
"Ollie, cut the shit, tell me exactly where you went after you left Lian Yu," Laurel said.
"I went to a hospital in China," Ollie said.
"How long were you there?" Laurel asked.
" A couple months. After I was treated, I moved in with a girl named Mai, she was the sister of a girl I met on the island. We weren't intimate, I swear. Laurel, I haven't had sex, since the last time we had sex" Ollie emphasized.
"That's a long time," Laurel said. "Ollie, why did you move in with Mai? Why didn't you contact me?"
"Mai's sister and father died on Lian Yu. They were her only family, Laurel. I couldn't leave her alone. I was able to inform her about her father and her sister's final years. It felt like what I had to do" Ollie said.
"Okay so, how long did you live with Mai," Laurel asked.
"I think Mai started to develop unrequited feelings for me. I started staying out more and investigating the Chinese Triad. I wanted to contribute something to China while I was living there. I got involved in things that Mai considered dangerous, and she told me to stop, but I refused. Mai kicked me out of her home and told me she never wanted to see me again" Ollie said. "That was like a year and a half later. I was homeless for a little bit, but I made money by winning street fights. I wanted to earn enough money to go back home to you. But my mission overseas was far from over".
"Okay, so that's almost 5 years, Ollie. What happened after that?" Laurel asked.
"I got noticed by the Yamashiro's. Maseo and Tatsu, they were a big-time couple in Hong Kong and they offered me a place to stay if I did something for them. They wanted me to continue my work surrounding the Triad, but also continue at the fight club." Ollie said. "But the Yamashiro's weren't the friendly young people I took them for. They were actually a the top of the Triad along with an associate of theirs, Chien Na Wei. They tried to kill me. But not in the way you would expect highly trained assassins too. They attempted to murder me with poison over a long period of time. Maseo and Tatsu pretended to be on my side and they "fought" against their own associates. They were my friends and I trusted them. I shouldn't have trusted anyone" Laurel stared at Ollie's tremoring hands. She knew how he felt. She had been betrayed too. "The worst part is, Laurel, these weren't the first people who had gotten me to trust them and then abused that trust".
Laurel wanted to hold him. She didn't want him to relive this pain that for him was still so fresh. She especially hated that the man she loved felt the same pain that she did. "Ollie, you didn't deserve that. You have always been the man that I loved, a good, caring, loyal, and affectionate man. The Oliver Queen of earth 1 could only rot in jail, going out of his mind, wishing that he could've been more like you. Maybe then I wouldn't be dead on this earth".
"Your doppelganger is dead... I guess that is why people don't ask questions" Ollie said.
"What happened with the Yamashiro's?" Laurel asked. She got up and moved to the fridge. She probably had something she could heat up for Ollie. Oh yes, left-over Boston Market. She put it in the microwave.
"Oh, well yeah. I went into a coma and was as good as dead. Meanwhile, the Yamashiro's and Chien Na Wei were in development of this horrible airborne
bio-weapon. They plan to use it to not only kill their enemies but make even more money by selling off a limited supply of the only antidote" Oliver continued. "As for me, a student of mine, Akio found me. He revived me; He turned out to be the cousin of Maseo but told me that Maseo stopped being his family when he established a leadership role in the Chinese Triad. Akio said that the two of us were going to defeat the Triad and destroy the bio-weapon. I thought that we would need more help so I reached to a contact from the island. His name was Anatoly Knyazev" Ollie shared.
"Anatoly, I worked with his doppelganger," Laurel said. "He came to China?"
"Yes," Oliver said. "He came to China and he said he would help if both Akio and I promised to join The Bratva. We both said yes. It took a few months but we destroyed the bio-weapon and I killed The Yamashiro's for what they did to me. Anatoly had a plane come to pick him, Akio, and myself up and take us to Russia, but Akio refused to leave. He said his place was in Hong Kong. Anatoly shot Akio in the heart. He didn't even give me time to process". Oliver paused closed his eyes and let out a long breath. "We landed in Russia and I went through a death-defying process, in which would allow me to be considered for the Bratva. I was the last man standing, and I was even surprised. Some of the others seemed a lot tougher. The Pakhan, Ishmael Gregor welcomed me to The Bratva, I became an instant product of their organization. After my induction, Anatoly made it clear that I was to kill The Pahkan so he could take his place. I agreed because he helped the destroy the bio-weapon and allowed me to get revenge".
"Gregor was a bad man? You wouldn't kill somebody who didn't deserve it?" Laurel asked. Though she glanced down guiltily, many of her own victims deserved better.
"Gregor was corrupt. He was in cahoots with a crime boss who intended to take over the Russian government. Enslave the Russian people. It was horrible. I thought Anatoly would be a better Pahkan, as his first order of business would be to stop this person: Konstantine Kovar. Anatoly, a Bratva member named Viktor, and I made a plan to kill Gregor and we ambushed him while he and his men were in the presence of Kovar. I was captured by Kovar though. Anatoly was beaten badly and Viktor was killed. Anatoly and I were flown back to Lian Yu and that is where we found out a terrible truth. Slade Wilson, a man I thought that I had killed was still alive. He was answering to Kovar, running a military-style work camp that was home to anyone who Kovar considered an enemy. Slade wanted to kill me but was under strict orders not to. Immediately, Anatoly and I were put to work. We met brother and sister, Taiana and Vlad Venediktov, hostages from Russia. With them, Anatoly and I formed a resistance and we planned to slowly infiltrate the whole operation and then somehow kill Slade and Kovar. However, behind the back of Taiana, Vlad, and myself, Anatoly turned against us and earned himself a military uniform" Ollie said.
Ollie's demeanor changed slightly and Laurel placed a hand on his back and rubbed lightly. "Whatever it is, you can tell me. You can trust me. I still love you" Laurel whispered.
"Tommy was also there, on Lian Yu. He was a military officer, too" Ollie said
"Okay, I believe you. Because Tommy left, but, how did he know about Lian Yu?" Laurel asked.
"That comes later in the story," Ollie said.
"Did he know who you were?" Laurel asked.
"He told me that Oliver Queen was dead, and so was Tommy Merlyn" Ollie said and finally, a tear dropped down his cheek.
"You can stop if you want. I know you will tell me everything, Ollie. You don't have to do it all right now" Laurel said.
"I have to. It'll be a lot easier, trust me" Oliver said.
"Then, I'm listening," Laurel said with the ghost of a comforting smile on her face.
"Okay, well, we were down a man with Anatoly changing sides. I can not really say that I am surprised that he did though" Oliver said. "Anyway, I was forced to do this intolerable work. Demeaning and dangerous. Slade had special plans for me. I was brutalized and tortured the most and I put up with it. About a year passed".
Laurel put her hand over her heart and her other hand on Ollie's chest. "How did you survive?" Laurel whispered.
"There were times I wanted to die," Ollie said. "But in the end, there was something I wanted more". Ollie put a hand on Laurel's cheek. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and continued to speak. "The resistance, we made our move. Tiana cut my hair and trimmed my beard and the plan was that I would kill one of the officers and take their place. I set my sights on Anatoly. I snapped Anatoly's neck and I stole his uniform. Taiana reported that Conklin, another guard, had killed Oliver Queen. Slade was enraged and had Conklin publicly whipped".
"They really didn't recognize you?" Laurel questioned.
"Taiana thought of everything. She used a magic ritual to conceal my identity to those who intended to hurt me" Ollie said.
"Magic?" Laurel asked.
"You bet" Ollie replied causing Laurel to shrug. There was so much she didn't know.
"I took on a new name, I took on the name, Baron Reiter. New officer. I was surprised that Slade didn't think much of it. He didn't even ask Kovar. There was a man who didn't believe me though. It was Tommy. He encouraged Slade to look into Baron Reiter, at least check with Kovar. He said the details of Oliver Queen's death was fishy. Vlad said we had to kill Tommy and that caused a lot of arguments between me and him. I thought that I could redeem Tommy. Eventually, bring him home. Tommy and Conklin went behind Slade's back and they checked with Kovar about Baron Reiter. When Kovar reported that there was no such person, they tortured another prisoner, John Constantine, into reversing the magic that Taiana performed right in front of Slade. Slade instantly recognized me. As punishment, he forced Taiana and Vlad to their knees and held them both at gunpoint. He forced me to choose who I wanted to live more, despite my begging him to leave them alone. Ultimately, I chose Taiana, so Slade executed Vlad. Both, Tommy and Conklin were present. Slade had Tommy throw me and Taiana in a cell in an old Chinese prison located deep in the caves of the island. I had a bad fever, and even though Taiana was furious that I chose her over Vlad, she knew it was an impossible choice for me. She took care of me. Tommy put John Constantine in the cell next to mine. It was a good opportunity for us to talk. He revealed that when he saw the look on my face during Vlad's execution, he saw nobody but his best friend. He said he would make sure I lived. I made him promise that Taiana would live too".
"So, obviously, Tommy made good on his promise. Tell me how this ended" Laurel said.
"It ended with me killing Slade. For real, this time. Taiana was killed, unfortunately. As for John Constantine, he died saving me. He was man heavily involved in magic and the dark arts. He gave me all his life force to break my fever because he believed I could stop Slade" Oliver said. "Tommy and I returned to Russia with the other prisoners. I took over as the Bratva's Pakhan. Tommy, as well as, the other prisoners became Bratvah members. I got this black sun tattoo on my chest", Oliver moved his shirt to show Laurel, "to represent my status in the Bratva. My first order of business was to kill Konstantine Kovar. Meanwhile, Talia and Nyssa Al Ghul contacted me. They informed me that Malcolm Merlyn had murdered their father and taken over the League of Assassins and they wanted my help with revenge. I informed Tommy and he said Malcolm was the reason he went to Lian Yu. So we trained with them to fight Malcolm and the League. Taila and Nyssa introduced Tommy and I to Adrian Chase, a student of theirs, and one of the best guys I know to this day". Ollie noticed the wince on Laurel's face. "Are you okay, beautiful?"
"Yeah, it's just I knew the Adrian Chase of this earth and he was... scary, a psychopath. Even to me, and I have made some bad, bad choices, in your absence" Laurel said.
"On our earth, Chase was only training under the Al Ghul's to become a vigilante and save Starling city from people like his own father" Ollie said.
"On this earth, he trained under Talia to torture your doppelganger for killing his father," Laurel said. "But anyway, I am sorry. This is your time".
"Well, I continued hunting Kovar with the Bratva. Kovar ended his tyranny and went into hiding. I was also still training with this new team and Talia gave me my vigilante outfit. The Green Arrow was born. Tommy became Spartan. Adrain became Prometheus, Nyssa became Artemis, and Talia became The Demon. Team Arrow was born. Together, Team Arrow led the Bratva and we found Kovar and I killed him as The Green Arrow. I stepped down as the Bratva's Pakhan and Team Arrow went to Nanda Parbat and took on Malcolm and the League. I killed Malcolm, and Talia left Team Arrow to focus on the League. But the League would be our ally when we needed them. We almost returned to S.T.A.R. City then, but ARGUS, run by the ruthless John Diggle reached out to us. He sent Team Arrow on several missions in Khandaq, the Republic of Kasnia, and all around the world and the nation. And that brings us to about April 2016. Team Arrow was let go by ARGUS, though they remained our ally, so we decided to go to Starling city, where I reunited with Thea and my parents. Thea told me you moved to Central City and went all super-villain. She asked to join Team Arrow, so we trained her and she became Speedy. She told me you had a sonic scream and I knew I could get through to you and your sonic scream could be useful. And I missed you, so, so much. I traveled to Central City but you were gone so I came back, dismayed. Team Arrow cleaned up the streets of Starling City, while I searched for you part-time. I found a way to get here, and I just knew you were here, so I came alone. And- and here I am" Ollie said.
"Here you are," Laurel said, reaching her hand to his lap. They both stood up slowly. Laurel closed the small distance between them, crashing her lips into his.