CHAPTER-2
Tonight had been futile. He had been out all night, trying to glean intel from street thugs by beating them into pulp. But so far the only piece of information he had was based on the intuition of another low life.
Well that was better than nothing, thought Oliver as he revved up his Ducati.
It was time to go back and check if Felicity had something useful.
It had been 6 hours since the Mayor's daughter had been abducted. The SCPD were turning Starling City upside down trying to find her. They were banging on doors, forcing anyone to come down to the station if they looked suspicious.
The Mayor and his wife had sat for a press conference, begging the kidnappers to not harm their daughter and in exchange they were willing to pay any amount of ransom on National Television. The kidnappers had not contacted them till now. The FBI and SCPD had set up a control centre at the mayor's residence.
Captain Lance had himself issued an official statement on TV saying that the SCPD were doing everything in their capacity and using every resources available at their disposal to find the girl. He even went onwards to say that finding the girl was top priority and that the Special Task force which was responsible for the capture of the vigilante would be corroborating with the FBI to try and rescue the girl.
For the last couple of weeks Captain Lance had made it his life's mission to apprehend the Arrow and put him in a cell. The Captain had certainly made him sweat during his nightly endeavors. Whenever he had stopped some kind of crime or busted up some kind of operation, the Captain along with his Task Force would swoop in and try their best to arrest him. Oliver had to use all his wit and expertise to evade them. Few times he even had shot arrows and knocked out few cops to escape. Even though he had been unhappy to do so, he rationalized that it had to be done.
It was evident that the Lance was getting more and more frustrated as his attempts to capture him was failing miserably. Every night there would be some cop who would end up in the hospital because of him. Lance was becoming more crude and visceral in his attempts to bring in the Arrow. It seemed to Oliver that as Lance's frustration, at not being able to capture him, burgeoned he was becoming more inclined to put him on the cold slab of a morgue rather than a cell.
Oliver knew that this sudden hate for him was not entirely because of his deep-seated loyalty to the law, but primarily because of the secret that he kept from him regarding Sara's death. It blew up a massive hole in their relationship. It was Laurel's idea and he had to respect it. Captain Lance had a coronary heart condition and he could only take so much. Everything had come full circles.
No matter how many times the Arrow pointed out that he was not involved in the killings, there was no way that he could make Captain Lance see reason. His emotions were clouding his judgement. Ra's Al Ghul was playing a very elaborate and meticulously planned game.
Ra's Al Ghul had made true to his promise and was making his life miserable. Ra's had left behind a pile of bodies just to turn the whole city against him and it was working. The Arrow made the news almost every night now. They whole city despised him. Those critics on TV would condemn his actions and make comments on what kind of a monster he was to have indiscriminately killed so many people. This really got Oliver's blood running hot. Those people were wrapped up in their own world and thought for no one other than themselves.
Their faux concern for the well being of the people may fool the audience but it could never fool him. It was just a sick ploy to hike their program rating. They never have to face what he faces everyday. They have no idea what the people on the streets go through everyday, what kind of evil breeds down there. He was the one who had to sully his hands by cleansing the city off the dirt and the evil. He was the one who had to put his life on the line everyday trying to make this a better place.
It would have been a lot helpful if he was in good terms with his team. There was friction between his team and himself right now. He was to blame for this. He had not been honest with them, he had kept them in the dark, especially Roy. Roy had always idolized him and placed him on a pedestal. They had segued from seeing him as their omnipresent, head strong leader to a damaged, selfish man who was more inclined towards hurtle head along into the darkness without any care for who he hurt in the process. His team was broken.
Even Felicity who always saw the light in him, who supported him, throughout everything was giving him the cold shoulder now. Just before he went off to face Ra's, he had professed his love for her. She had begged him not to go, but Oliver believing that he was doing this to protect everyone from this monstrosity of a man had not listened to her. She believed that if he truly loved her he would have stayed. He broke her heart.
Since his return, he realized that Felicity and he were never meant to be. He had hurt her and you are not supposed to hurt the one you love, or so he believed. Felicity was like a light which brightened up his dark world. His soul was already doomed. He was going to hell and didn't want to poison her. He would burn if he touched the light that was Felicity.
Oliver felt the darkness inside him sometimes. It would often blur his belief of the right and wrong. Everyone who had been in contact with him had been hurt in some way or the other. This crusade of his had come at a cost. His father, Tommy, his mother and countless number of people had laid down their lives because of him. It was his immense spirit that was keeping this darkness at bay. Sometimes the darkness would rear it's head and strike, trying to take control. And there were times in the past when the darkness had taken over, and he had almost done some terrible things which he regretted.
A soft vibration in his chest shook him out of his musing. It was his comm. He tapped on his chest to answer it.
"Oliver…"
It was Felicity. And he was glad to hear her voice.
"How far out are you?" she asked.
Oliver frowned. Her voice was cold as usual but was laced with a sense of urgency. Since his return, Felicity had been faintly aloof from him. Gone was the jolly, perky, ebullient girl. She wouldn't crack a smile whenever she saw him, and acted cold and professional towards him. Not that it was affecting her job; just the opposite. She was spending more time at the cave and he noticed that she had dark circles under her eyes. It was evident that he had really hurt her and now she was pulling away from him and withdrawing into a shell.
"I am just 6 blocks away. Why?"
"There's been a break in the case. You should see this immediately." she answered coolly.
"I will be there under 10 minutes."replied Oliver but was met by the sound of the phone's tone. She had hung up.
Yup, he had hurt her pretty bad.
He picked up speed as he weaved through the traffic and sighed. He had really screwed it up with everyone in his life. And now life was screwing him back. His team was avoiding him like the plague. His sister was fortunately oblivious to all the fiendish incidents happening around her. He was pretty she that if someday she came to know about it all, she would surely cut ties with him. The SCPD had a target on his back. Ra's Al Ghul was, in his own abominable way trying to coax him into joining his league. He had even turned the whole city against him. Starling City now saw him as a criminal, a monster.
It was nights like this that made him doubt his actions. He didn't owe the people anything, and in spite of it all he donned the costume every night and kept the city safe while everyone slept soundly. It was nights like these he wished that he could drop every responsibility and take off. He wished he could just shed this side of his, just like shedding skin. The Arrow was poisoning everything. It was taking him over. Whatever was left of Oliver Queen was slowly being engulfed by the Arrow. A person couldn't have two identities. He had to let one go.
But then he reminisced about all the good he did for the people; his battles against Malcolm Merlyn and Slade Wilson. How he had given his all to stop them from destroying his city. His thought went out to the girl who was most probably gagged and tied up, scared out of her wits, waiting for someone to come and rescue her. These thoughts emboldened his spirit. This city still needed the Arrow, no matter how much they condemned him. He knew that someday the Arrow would have to go, he would have to answer to the people of Starling City for his crimes. But tonight the stakes were high, tonight that girl depended on him. Tonight Oliver Queen had to go under and the Arrow had to take over.
Author's note-
I hope this chapter answers all your questions about the premises, the setting and Oliver's relationship with everyone around him. In this story I will try to recreate what the show runners said they would depict in season 3 and failed miserably. In this chapter I tried to delve into the conflict that Oliver face with his duality and how it affects everyone.
This is my first fan fiction, so please trudge carefully around it and bear with me. I promise I will improve and this story will be a hell of a ride.
Of course I do appreciate constructive criticism.
