Note: Hey guys! I'm back to this story now that Crumbled Papers is finished! I just wanted to say that chapter 3 is being written, but I'm working too, so I can't promise weekly updates with this story! At least not until I get a free day or two from work! Then I promise I'll sit by the pool and write, write, write! ;)

Anyway, please enjoy this chapter and if you're confused by anything (I swear I have to read it like ten times to make sure I don't mix up the dream world and the real world!)!

Oh, and from now on, I'll make sure to write "Real world" in italics when the world changes. But you should know that the first part of the chapter is always Oliver's coma-dream-world! ;)

Now, enjoy! :)


"Alternate"

Chapter 2

Word count: 3,677


The minutes were passing slowly and Oliver found himself wondering when his mother had bought that clock that was continuously ticking away. He was currently seated on one side of the table with both of his parents on the other side of the table. Raisa had been there just a few minutes ago and told him that his own omelet would be ready in a moment and Oliver hadn't had the heart to tell her that he didn't want anything, because he felt as if he was going to empty the contests of his stomach at any second.

He had barely managed to give her a nod, because he was feeling dizzy, and then his parents had led him to the chair he was currently sitting in, before joining him at the table. Now, they were looking at him as if they wanted an explanation, but Oliver didn't know where to begin.

If he told them the truth, that up until this morning he had been living a completely other life, acting as CEO for Queen Consolidated at day and being Starling's vigilante-slash-hero at night, they would probably be checking him in to a mental institution. However, if he accepted the fact that he seemed to have woken up in some kind of alternate universe where his father was alive and well, he was engaged to Laurel, and everything in his life seemed to be the way he had always wanted it to be, he thought he might check himself into said institution.

He couldn't accept it, because why would he otherwise have such vivid memories of being on the Island and becoming the Arrow? It wasn't possible for it to have just been a dream; an incredibly long nightmare. But how would he explain it to his parents? That he was one hundred percent sure that his father was in fact dead and that he had been so for almost seven years, and that he wasn't engaged to Laurel, because Laurel was currently going through a difficult time with her drinking problem, which seemed to be running in her family? There was no way to explain it, so instead, Oliver just sat there and stared back at his parents, without saying a word.

Raisa walked back into the room and put the omelet in front of Oliver.

"Spaciba, Raisa," Oliver said without thinking, causing both his parents and Raisa to look at him in surprise.

"Russian?" Moira question and Oliver tried not to look panicked. If it was true that the Island had never happened, he shouldn't be able to know Russian.

"I looked it up online once," he shrugged, touching the omelet with his fork lightly. The lie just flew out of his mouth and Moira and Robert seemed to accept his reply, but kept looking at him expectantly. He knew that they wanted him to speak to them, but he wasn't really feeling like telling them that he thought he might be going insane.

A couple of footsteps sounded as someone descended the stairs.

"Morning mom, morning dad!" Thea called out as she walked into the room. "Ollie? I didn't know you were coming for breakfast," she said, sounding genuinely surprised but happy at the same time. She walked over to him and kissed him on the cheek.

"It wasn't exactly a planned visit," Oliver explained curtly. Thea didn't seem phased by it at all and instead she sat down on the chair next to him as Raisa brought out another omelet.

"Have you prepared for your presentation?" Robert asked and Thea nodded.

"I can proudly say that think I'm gonna ace this one," Thea said, indeed sounding confident. Oliver just sat there and stared at his plate, only listening to the casual conversation taking place. "How's Laurel, Ollie?" Thea asked politely, finally making Oliver look up at her. He took in her carefree face and light smile. This Thea, whoever she was, hadn't been tainted by the loss of her brother and father, that much was clear. She looked happy, almost like everything in her life was just as it should be and he didn't now if he was ready to ruin it all by telling her too that it wasn't real.

Was it real?

Before he had the chance to even try to process the question again, the doorbell rang. He heard the door open and shut and then hurried footsteps made their way into the room. Instantly, he was on alert, worried about who had intruding, but relaxed slightly when he saw Laurel's familiar face in the doorway.

"Oliver!" she exclaimed, letting out a breath as she ran up to him and embraced him. The hug was awkward, at least on Oliver's part, because of obvious reasons. The other members of the Queen family seemed to notice his wariness, and looked at him just as confused as Laurel looked when she finally pulled away to face him. "I was so worried. You didn't say where you were going, so I had to look for you everywhere," she said. Oliver slowly removed her hands from his shoulders and stood up, slowly walking backwards as he stared at the people in front of him.

"Oliver, what is going on with you?" Moira spoke, sounding both worried and annoyed at the same time.

Oliver raised his hands as he backed away, to keep them all at a safe distance. "It's not real," he said, mostly to himself. "None of it is real. You," he pointed at his father again, "are dead and nothing is as it was." He was having a hard time breathing properly now, knowing that he needed to get away from everyone, at least long enough for him to catch a breath and think things through. He couldn't stay in the room and for the first time in what felt like forever, Oliver turned around and ran. He knew he wouldn't get far when he heard his parents, Laurel and Thea all calling for him simultaneously, so instead of running out of the house, he found himself heading for the stairs. The next thing he knew, he was in his old bedroom. He locked the door to keep them from coming in and then took in his surroundings. The room was mostly empty.

His bed was there, but his other belongings weren't. Sinking to the floor while leaning against the door, he ran his fingers through his hair. Confusion seemed like the only thing he was able to feel at the time.

He didn't know how long he sat there. The only thing he knew was that no matter how much he tried to make sense of what was happening, he couldn't. Maybe the only thing he could do, was accept that it had something had happened, and not think and deeper into what that 'something' was.

A knock came on the door.

"Ollie?" Thea's voice rang out and Oliver swallowed thickly. "Will you let me in?" she asked. Hesitantly, Oliver stood up and unlocked the door. He only opened it a little so he could look out and make sure she was alone. He couldn't stand looking at anyone else but her, because besides her slight behavioral change, Thea was the only person that seemed normal to him.

He opened the door enough for her to step inside and then quickly shut it, locking it again. When he turned around, Thea was watching him, concerned.

"Can we please sit down?" he asked her, not giving her a chance to speak. "My head is spinning."

She nodded curtly and moved to the bed, sitting down and patting the spot beside her, motioning for him to sit down next to her. He moved slowly, still uncertain, but sat down next to her nevertheless.

"Will you please tell me what's going on?" Thea asked. "Laurel said you were acting really strange this morning and dad-"

"Stop," he said, not wanting to hear her talking about their father. His mind went to the conversation he had had with Felicity, about Thea's biological father. Instantly, he tensed up.

Thea looked at him and blinked twice. "Okay," she finally said. "You talk instead." She put her hand over his and he looked at it. It felt real, just like everything else since he had woken up this morning. That however didn't change the fact that he knew it couldn't be real...

"I know this is all going to sound crazy, Thea," he began, "but none of this is real."

"Could you explain what exactly isn't real?" she asked, looking at him neutrally, like he hadn't just said something that would make most people question someone's sanity.

"I, uh..." he trailed off. "I woke up this morning, in this world, where nothing is as it was yesterday," he tried explaining. "I know it doesn't make any sense," he sighed exasperatedly, once again putting his head in his hands, "but it's the truth. I went to bed last night in another world, where everything was different and woke up here."

"What other world?" Thea asked, sounding genuinely curious. "Do you want to tell me about it?"

Oliver shrugged, putting one of his hands over hers while letting the other fall to his lap. "You'll think I'm crazy," he told her, which caused her to chuckle.

"Well, no offense, Ollie, but you've already convinced me that you're having a psychotic break or something," she said. "So why not share anyway? I mean, how bad could it be?"

Very bad, he thought, and proceeded to tell her so.

"Almost seven years ago, dad and I went on the Queen's gambit," he began slowly. "The boat went down and dad died. I survived, but was shipwrecked on an Island called Lian Yu for five years," he said.

Thea's eyes widened slightly, but she nodded, motioning for him to continue.

"When I came back, you were all grown up and things had changed..." he drawled, wondering how much he should share. "Dad and I had been declared dead a long time ago and when I was found alive, the media was all over us and mom wanted me to take over as CEO for Queen Consolidated, but I couldn't because I had... personal things to take care of," he settled. Sharing that he was convinced he was from another world was enough. His sister didn't need to know that he was an arrow-shooting vigilante in that world.

"Where was Laurel when you came back?" Thea asked. "I'm assuming that the two of you were together before you left with dad," she explained quickly after seeing the confused look he sent her.

He should have been expecting that question.

"Yes, I was together with her," Oliver nodded. "But I was..different. I cheated on her...with Sara."

Thea's eyes widened. "If you decide to tell Laurel this story, I would suggest you keep that detail out," she told him and he nodded. He hadn't intended to share that part of the story with Laurel anyway, if he told her anything, that is.

"I brought Sara with me on the Gambit, and that's how Laurel then found out that I had cheated on her," he explained, feeling horrible once again. Digging back into how he'd returned was hurting him more than he wanted to admit. "Where is Sara anyway?" he asked. "I mean, if we never went on the Gambit..."

"She's working in Central City," Thea answered quickly. "She finished college, had a good job and is engaged to some guy."

Oliver's heart skipped a beat. "Good," he said with a curt nod. If they had never slept with each other and went on the Gambit, he truly was glad that Sara had found her way to happiness.

"No offense, Ollie," Thea said, "but alternate-you sounds like an asshole."

"I was," he agreed. "And I regretted it all when I came back and met Laurel for the first time again." He didn't want to talk about the way he and Laurel had been up-and-down on both the relationship and friendship front since his return from the Island, and certainly not how Sara, who had survived, was back and the two of them were...something.

Instead, he knew he needed to find out the more important things from Thea, such as, what was really going on in this world.

"That's all I can tell you right now, without upsetting you too much," he said thoughtfully.

Thea tilted her head and looked at him. Something inside him fluttered and for a moment, Thea didn't look like herself. She was instead wearing a pink shirt, her lips painted a bright fuchsia color, glasses adorning her face and blonde hair pulled up in a ponytail. Oliver shook his head, trying to get the mental image out of his head for a second so he could concentrate.

"Good news, Ollie. I have decided to declare you crazy," Thea joked, punching him lightly. "No, but seriously. You've clearly been having trouble sleeping or something because that all sounds like a dream."

"I know," he agreed. "The problem is that I don't know what's real and what's not, because just as much as this," he motioned between the two of them, "feels real, the things I just told you feel just as real."

His head hurt and he once again saw flashes of blond hair in front of him. "I need to find Diggle and Felicity," he told Thea. "I need to speak to them."

Thea quirked an eyebrow at him. "Who are they?" she asked, and he was reminded of the fact that Thea had probably never met them. In this world, he never would have needed Diggle as a bodyguard, and he probably would never have gone to Felicity with a computer with bullet holes which led to them joining his crusade.

"They are my friends," he told his sister.

"In this world or the other?"

"The other," he answered honestly. He didn't see a point in pretending to have known them in this world in front of Thea, since she would probably connect it all later anyway.

"Are you sure they exist?" she asked and he nodded.

"Yes," he said. A world without Felicity and Diggle wasn't something he could imagine.

Thea stayed quiet for a while, watching him. He tried to look as convincing as he could, because he knew she already thought he was going crazy and he didn't want her to give up on him just yet. If he found Felicity and Diggle, he had a feeling that things would fall into place again, as long as he managed to get through to them.

"Okay," Thea finally said.

"Okay?"

"Okay," she repeated, this time followed by a curt nod. "If you're convinced that these Diggle and Felicity persons exist and that something is going on with you, I'll help you figure it out."

"You're going to help me?" he asked.

"By being there for you if you need me," she said. "Whatever it is that's gotten into you, Ollie, you need to set things straight, but you need to try and make sense of it by yourself. If you do however need someone to tell you how things are here in our world, I'll be here for you and help you."

Without thinking, he embraced her and kissed the top of her head. He worried for a moment that she might push him away, because he clearly wasn't her 'Ollie' that had gone to bed with Laurel, his fiance last night. When he felt her relax against him and her arms wrapped around him, he allowed himself to relax as well.

Whatever was going on, he knew he couldn't figure it out by himself.

That was why it was so important to find out where Diggle and Felicity were. If he managed to get through to them somehow, things might make more sense.


[Real World...]

Thea rushed into the hospital, closely followed by Roy and her mother.

"Oliver Queen," she said as she reached the reception. The nurse looked up as if she had been about to tell them to leave, which Thea figured had to do with the multiple paparazzi-photographers that were outside the hospital at the moment. However, when the nurse recognized Thea and Moira, she immediately stood up, showing them the way to Oliver's room.

"He came out of surgery a while ago, but the doctors are saying it will take a day or two for him to wake up," the nurse explained.

"So he's in a coma?" Thea swallowed, feeling her stomach sink as the nurse nodded.

"Why didn't anyone call us sooner?" Moira snapped, worry still evident in her tone. "His bodyguard was the one who called us, after he got out of surgery!"

"We called his emergency contact," the nurse informed impassively.

"His emergency contact? Isn't that one of his family members?" Thea frowned.

"I'm afraid Mr. Queen changed that during his last hospital visit," the nurse explained, sounding as if she didn't want to be pulled into any family drama. "He's in a private room, but still, no more than two visitors at the same time," she instructed. "Mr. Diggle and Ms. Smoak are with him now."

"Ms. Smoak?" Moira questioned, her eyebrows furrowing.

Thea looked over at Roy, who was keeping his face neutral. That didn't mean that he was very good at hiding the emotions in his eyes. He was clearly worried, and at the mention of a Ms. Smoak, he hadn't even blinked, which meant that he knew something about this girl that Thea didn't.

The three of them stopped outside of Oliver's room. The blinds were down, but weren't completely shut, which meant that they could clearly see Oliver's bodyguard standing by the wall, his arms crossed across his chest, looking intently at the unconscious body on the hospital bed. On a chair, by the bed, sat a blonde woman wrapped in a blanket. Thea couldn't see her face, which meant that it was impossible to recognize her. She did however see how the young woman clung to Oliver's hand, almost desperately, which made her mind wander.

"I'll inform them that you're here," the nurse said sweetly, stepping inside the room and closing the door after herself. Thea watched as the blonde turned around, and instantly, she recognized her as Oliver's Executive Assistant. She had only met her a few times, and she remembered seeing her once or twice at Verdant.

The blonde nodded once, saying something to the nurse and the nurse nodded before stepping outside again.

"Well?" Moira asked impatiently.

"Ms. Smoak would just like another minute or two with Mr. Queen and then she'll step outside," the nurse said, as politely as she could.

"She's been in there long enough," Moirasaid, displeasure clear in her tone. "I'm his mother."

"And yet, Ms. Smoak was his emergency contact," the nurse inquired curtly. Suddenly her eyes widened as she realized what she had said. "I am so sorry, Mrs. Queen. It's not my place," she said, taking a step back. "I'll step away now, if you don't have anything else to ask."

Moira looked at her bitterly, but didn't say anything, so the nurse turned to walk away. Thea shot a glare at her mother before following the nurse.

"Excuse me," she called, waving a hand at her. The nurse stopped and turned around.

"Ms. Queen?" the nurse said, still looking like a deer in headlights. "I apologize for-"

"Don't worry about it," Thea said quickly. "I have a couple of questions about Ollie- Oliver, I mean."

"Yes?" the nurse nodded, calming down a bit. "I'll try to answer them for you."

"Is he really in a coma? What are the chances of him waking up?" Thea asked.

"Yes, Mr. Queen is in a coma, but the doctors are trying to be positive about it," the nurse explained. "He was in a motorcycle accident and his body needs time to recover, which is best done if he's asleep."

"Do they know how long he might be...asleep?" Thea asked, her throat thick.

"As far as we know," the nurse said, "it can take a few days for him to wake up. They still have to do some scans, but they'll probably do that tomorrow, since he just recently got out of surgery."

"Was he conscious when he came in?"

"I'm afraid not, but the surgery went well, Ms. Queen. There is nothing to do now but to wait," the nurse said, putting a comforting hand on Thea's shoulder.

A thousand thoughts were running through Thea's mind as she pictured Oliver's bruised and bloodied body being rolled into the ER. She had seen way too many episodes of Grey's Anatomy to not be able to visualize it vividly.

"Has Ms. Smoak left my brother's side at all?" she finally asked and the nurse shook her head.

"Since Mr. Queen came out of surgery, Ms. Smoak has been there," she answered. "There must be a reason why he listed her as his emergency contact, after all, right?"

When the nurse offered her a small smile, Thea only nodded before thanking her and walking back to Oliver's room.

She found her mother sitting on a chair, still waiting for Ms. Smoak and Mr. Diggle to step out. Roy was standing by the window, watching Oliver and the other two people who were with him. His finger was tapping impatiently against his arm that was was crossed over his chest and when Thea stood by his side, he wrapped an arm around her shoulder. Thea leaned into him and inhaled, feeling his comfort before once again looking through the window.

It was clear to her that her brother and his Executive Assistant had something going on between them, whether it be friendship or something more, that he hadn't told her about. As she watched the mysterious Ms. Smoak rise from her chair, Thea decided that it was time for her to find out just how close the woman was to her brother.


Note: Hey! Leave a comment if you liked it! =) And I just wanted to add one last thing: I'll try to not get too OOC with the characters in the real world, but in Oliver's dream world, the characters will most likely be at least a little OOC, especially our very confused Oliver! But it's his dream world, so that's a little expected, right? So that's a warning, if you don't like it when characters get a little OOC (because quite frankly, it annoys me too a bit), then you don't have to feel any pressure in reading this fic! :)

Now I'm headed off to work!

Have a great day people!

xoxo