|Ghosts That We Knew|

A/N - Revised version of the first chapter? In all honesty this may be too long? Do people prefer long chapters or broken up chapters. Basically my attempt to make it feel less like a canon carbon copy where it's just a transcript written out.

Hopefully it comes across that way.

Wooo there's more angst.

Also the people who's POV's we'll see throughout the fics will be; Thea (mainly), Oliver (nearly mainly), Tommy (quite a lot later on) and Laurel. Simply because I love the sibling relationships between Oliver and Thea and Tommy and I like Thea and Laurel's friendship and Oliver and Laurel's friendship.


. . .

'Breaking News' The Queen Siblings Are Alive! The missing billionaires and heirs to the Queen legacy were recently found on an island on the North China Sea where they have reportedly been missing for the past five years! Happened upon by a Chinese fishing boat the pair are being rushed back to Starling City. The Queen Family has asked for privacy during this time.v

Thea Queen stared out at the twinkling landscape of Starling City, thinking about all she has been through during the past five years. All Oliver had been through. After five years of Hell they were finally home, finally free to begin again and to carry out their Father's legacy.

She could vaguely hear the Doctor talking to her Mother, years of relying on her senses has heightened them "Fifteen percent of her body is covered in scars...twelve fractures that never quite healed properly and several severe second-degree burns." She tuned him out, idly wondering about how she and Ollie were going to explain the tattoos. They couldn't exactly say that they had gotten them whilst on the Island had and that it had had some kind of tattoo parlor, although maybe they could.. People's reactions would certainly be interesting to see.

"T-Thea..." A wavering voice called out from behind her, breaking her train of thought. She turned to see her Mother standing behind her in the doorway. She looked completely different to the woman Thea remembered, the woman Thea had dreamed about seeing again. But Thea recognizes her Mom's eyes and the love in them. She could remember how those same eyes could become dark pools of fury whenever someone did something to evoke her wrath. Usually Ollie.

Though she'd never told Oliver her memory of home, of Mom and Tommy and even their Father, had become blurry during their time away. Like a dream that she could never quite remember.

A part of her wondered how her Mom had looked when she hadn't turned up to school that day, when she'd gotten the news that the Yatch had sank - dragging her children down with it.

"Mom.." Thea's chin trembled and she feels her lip quiver. Imagining seeing her Mother again and actually seeing her were two very different things. She feels herself turn back into the twelve year old girl who had wanted nothing more than to go home as she broke down into sobs and embraced her Mother. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry...I would never...if I'd known..." She sobbed, she had forced herself to forget about home - dwelling on the past could get you killed. And it wasn't until she felt her Mom wrap her arms around her that Thea realised just how much she had missed her.

She could see her reflection in the window, she was no longer the slightly chubby twelve year old with pigtails - she wondered how her Mom was reacting to that. How she would react to getting them both back. A part of her felt guilty about lying about what happened, especially since she wasn't meant to have been on the Gambit in the first place. She chuckled lowly as she tried to imagine who she would have become, some kind of spoilt rich brat probably.

Her Mother tries to soothe her as she murmured reassurances to her daughter, "It's okay Thea...your home now...oh my baby...my sweet baby girl...your home now...oh I've missed you." She could feel her Mother shaking against her as she held onto her.

Thea heard herself whisper, "I missed you too."

...

It was around 9am the next day when their Mom came back, the Hospital had demanded to keep them both in overnight, to 'observe them.' Thea was pretty sure they wanted their Mom to place them both into an Asylum. She had overheard Doctor Lamb suggesting that they both be placed into therapy, to help them deal with the trauma they had gone through.

The Doctor reasoned that it was more than likely that she and Oliver had PTSD and that would need to be addressed so that they could both fit back into and function in normal society.

Oliver had refused, stonewalled the Doctors and reminded them that he was an adult and legally in charge of his own treatment which meant that he got to avoid being sent to the nuthouse every week.

Her Mom had scolded her when she had called it that whilst Doctor Lamb had let out a semi-forced burst of laughter and assured their Mom that it was okay. An honest to god session with a shrink, to "talk about the trauma that happened to her whilst on the Island." She couldn't wait to lie her way through that one, or she could just pull an 'Oliver' and say nothing - send the therapist a death glare if he pressed her for answers.

A brief smile flickered across her face at the mental image, quickly being replaced by a grimace when her Mom signed the paperwork that assigned her to a six-week therapy program.

This was going to be interesting.

. . .

It had taken longer to do her discharge paperwork due to the fact that she was a "Juvenile," the whole tone of the conversation annoyed had her. She liked Doctor Lamb, he'd been treating her since she was born but the fact that the man was acting like she wasn't in the room was starting to grate on her.

The Doctor had wanted her to not be there whilst discussing it but her Mother had argued that Thea had a right to know as it concerned her, the whole debate between the two had sparked a warm feeling to ripple through her. She had forgotten what it was like to have a Mom, the closest things she had was a sister in Sara and Shado and a Father esque figure in Slade.

At least before everything had went wrong.

And small part of her wondered if that made Anatoly the "fun" Uncle.

Either way, it was nice to have a Mom to stick up for her.

Luckily she'd escaped the hell of having to re-attend school, the argument being that she would be too behind academically and it would be a pointless source of trauma when they considered the fact that she would have been graduating in a couple of months if she hadn't disapeared.

And so she was to have private tutoring at the Mansion, just until she got her GED.

Her brother's paperwork had taken a lot less time, he was old enough to sign his own medical paperwork and despite the Doctor's protests he had declined the offer of Therapy. All in all she was jealous of her brother in that moment.

Thea felt her Brother squeeze her shoulder reassuringly as their discharge papers were offically signed.

They were going home.

...

When they arrived at the Mansion and Thea froze, she hadn't been home in years and a part of her had forgotten what it looked like. It felt like something out of a dream rather than the place she had spent twelve years of her life. After taking a moment to ready herself she stepped outside, standing alongside her Mother. She heard Oliver take the trunk from the Driver, still surprised by the fact no one had questioned that they had brought something with them from the Island.

Ollie had been right, no one had questioned them. He had almost ridiculed them for it during the planning but to Thea it made sense. Mom was just happy to have them back, if letting them bring back a old green wooden trunk back with them meant she would get her children back then there'd be no reason for her to protest.

"Your rooms are exactly as how I left them," Thea heard her Mom say, she winced and hoped that a Mother-Daughter shopping trip would fix that. She didn't really feel like living inside twelve-year old her's bedroom.

She wasn't that little kid anymore.

"-I never had the heart to change a thing."

The entrance hall was as grande and ornate as ever, pictures in silver frames and quite a few vases of flowers were dotted around the room, her attention was caught by a picture of herself, her Mother, Ollie and Dad stood outside of the Mansion - all with smiles on their faces. She looked so young, so did Ollie.

It was like looking at a stranger, Thea noticed that her brother had been staring at it too.

A man's voice caught both of their attentions, her head jerked up and she looked up to see a man watching them both, he practically bounded over to them. She frowned, something about him seemed familiar to her but she couldn't quite place him. Her brother placed himself in front of her, effectively blocking the man from reaching her should he be a threat.

She didn't need him to protect her.

"Oliver! Thea! It's damned good to see you," He immediately grabbed Oliver's hand and started to shake it, a bit too enthusiastically judging by Oliver's expression. She shot him a small polite smile and shook his hand, firm grip - if slightly sweaty.

Seemingly disappointed by the lack of a reaction he spoke again, "It's Walter...Walter Steele." The name sent a wave of recognition through Thea, the man who used to sit her on his lap and tell her stories of her Father's youth, give her cherry and grape soda, he was a regular fixture at family dinner and was her Godfather.

Malcom had been Ollie's, her mind supplied.

Idly she wondered if he would be making an appearance, the man had been close to her parents before the accident and if Walter was here waiting for them then maybe he was too. But judging by the stony expression on Oliver's face after seeing Walter she wondered if there was something more to her brother's lack of a reaction because if she remembered the man, despite the fact she was twelve when the Gambit sank, he must have been able to. Raising an eyebrow at him in a silent question she tried to work out what exactly it was that he was doing.

When her brother still didn't react a wave of tension shot through the room, creating an awkward silence, "You remember Walter? your Father's friend from the company?" Their Mother prompted, trying to get a sign of some sort of recognition from her son. When Oliver still didn't react Thea shot Walter an apologetic smile. Her brother was really sticking to the whole "silent and brooding," thing thus far.

A figure standing slightly off to the side caught her Brother's attention and a warm smile appeared on his face, a clear contrast to the one he had used to greet Walter It was the most he had reacted to anything so far since they'd left the hospital. Thea watched as her Mom and Walter both stiffened at that, clearly unhappy that the 'Help' had gotten a warmer reception than them. "It's good to see you Raisa."

Thea wasn't surprised, Raisa had practically raised Oliver when he was younger and her brother had loved her. "Welcome home Mr. Oliver," Raisa greeted, just as warmly before turning back to Mom and Walter, "Mr Merlyn phoned...if Mr. Tommy is okay with it he'd like to join you all for dinner."

Why would Tommy need to approve who came to dinner at their house? Thea's question was answered only moments later when a familiar figure appeared at the top of the staircase, "What did I tell you? Yatchs suck."

"Tommy?" She questioned, clearly shocked.

"Tommy." Oliver grinned, his entire demeanor changing, "Hey." The man's, because he was a man now not the teenager that Thea remembered, expression changed to match Oliver's as he raced down the stairs and enveloped his friend into a bearhug.

They clung to each other for a couple of minutes, patting each other on the back and muttering things that Thea couldn't quite hear. After a while Tommy and Oliver broke apart and Tommy's attention focused on her, she ran towards him and felt herself practically be scooped off of the ground by him. She let out a content sigh, "I missed you Tommy."

"Missed you too, speedy." He replied warmly, she had always thought of Tommy as a brother and although she hadn't been expecting to see him so soon she was glad he was here to welcome them back.

She shook her head and rolled her eyes as he let go of her, smiling the entire time, "Worst nickname ever, five years on a deserted Island and you still won't let me live it down."

"And I never will." He replied, with just as big of a smile.

. . .

Tommy, it seemed, hadn't changed in the past five years. He still dominated the conversation and practically oozed charisma and charm, he reminded her of the old Ollie just a bit less of an asshole. Tommy had taken it upon himself to catch the Queen siblings on everything that they had missed over the past five years.

He also appeared to still hate and resent his Dad, the man had shown up for Dinner but after a screaming match with Tommy the man had left and Moira had been left to calm the situation.

The ease in which she did it told Thea that that was something that happened a lot.

"Ok." Tommy muttered, trying to work out what he had missed, "What else did you miss? Super bowl winners... Giants, Steelers, Saints, Packers, Giants again. "

Thea chuckled and leaned in closer to her Brother from where she was sat on the corner of the table, next to him, "You owe me ten dollars." Causing everyone at the table to let out a chuckle or too, Thea thought that her Mom and Walter's seemed rather forced. On their way back they had bet on who would have been the superbowl winners, even during their time off of the Island they hadn't had time to catch up on pop culture and the modern world but they'd had time to kill on the plane from the embassy and they couldn't talk about anything important due to all of the prying eyes and ears around them.

"A black president, that's new." He shot them all a significant look, "Oh, and "Lost," they were all dead...I think." The man's head tilt at the end implied that he didn't seem to understand the ending himself.

Thea hadn't watched that show but Ollie had loved it.

"So, Tommy?" Thea began, "How long you been living here? I would have thought you'd be over at the Merlyn Mansion with your Father?"

Her Mom and Tommy both winced at that whilst Walter grimaced, "After you both...you know...your Mom struggled...before she met Walter and I was on my own." He shook his head and clenched his fists slightly, it clearly wasn't a pleasant memory, "I'd basically been living here since I was eight anyways, even before you disappeared, so I thought that I would make it official and make it so that your Mom wasn't completely on her own."

Thea smiled at him, "Thanks...for doing that."

"It really wasn't a problem." Tommy chuckled and shot a small smile at Moira which she returned, "We both needed the help and the company."

"So, what exactly was your time like there?" Walter asked whilst there was a pause in the conversation, Thea winced as tension filled the room. It was an innocent enough question but she didn't feel like answering it and even if she could she wouldn't. At least not honestly and if she didn't there was no way that Oliver was going to.

Before she could come up with a way to difuse the tension her brother called out a reply. "Cold." He said shortly, with a tone of forced humor.

The table all seemed to think about his answer for a moment, no one quite knowing what exactly to say next.

Tommy broke the silence, "Tomorrow, you and me, we're doing the city. You've got a lot to catch up on." Realising he had left Thea out of his offer he turned to her with a smile, "You can come too Speedy."

"I can't...I've been signed up for Therapy," Thea muttered with a pointed look towards her Mom, "You could drive me there and meet me afterwards? Would be nice to scope out Starling City." She was planning on spending tomorrow at the Mansion, she would have today if she hadn't been forced into Therapy by Doctor Lamb and her Mother.

She just wanted one normal day.

Moria voiced her approval, "That sounds like a great idea Tommy...it will be nice for the three of you to get out and see the city."

"Good." Oliver replied smoothly, "Then I was hoping to swing by the office."

Thea frowned at that and shot her brother a wide-eyed look, he hadn't mentioned that to her. Why would he want to go to Queen Consolidated when he could spend the time with Tommy?

Apparently her Mom also thought that was a strange idea, sharing an uncertain look with Walter before the man spoke, "Well there's plenty of time for all of that...Queen Consolidated isn't going anywhere."

Tommy opened his mouth to fill the lull in conversation and change the tone of conversation to a lighter one when Raisa walked in carrying a bowl of pears, the woman appeared to have tripped on the carpet when Oliver reached out and grabbed her. Steadying the woman before she could fall.

Raisa immediately became apologetic, "Oh! I am so sorry Mr Oliver."

Oliver quickly replied, though not in the language everyone had been expecting him to use, "Это не беспокойство, [It's no worry]."

Thea winced at her Brother's lapse, wondering if he had done it on purpose and if so to what end. Either way she could practically hear Anatoly's voice in her head commenting on her brother's pronounciation.

About the fact that he spoke with an American accent, Thea's accent however was perfect. She seemed to have a talent for languages.

"Dude?" Tommy questioned incredulously, "You speak russian?"

"I didn't realise you took Russian at college Oliver," Walter murmured as he dabbed at his face with a hankerchief.

Without missing a beat Oliver looked up from his plate with a calm and steely gaze, "I didn't realize you wanted to sleep with my mother, Walter." In a tone that suggested annoyance? Anger? Thea couldn't quite place it. He looked at Thea with raised eyebrows as if to say and jerked his head towards the pair, as if to ask her whether she had noticed or not.

She hadn't, apparently her observational skills still needed some work. She had still been surprised by her brother's cold tone, surely it was a good thing that Mom had moved on? As long as she was happy Thea didn't care who she slept with.

Walter and Moria both shot an accusing glance towards Tommy who raised his hands in mock surrender, "I didn't say anything to them ."

"He didn't have to." Oliver called out, taking the attention back off of Tommy.

Mom hesitated before responding, Thea wondered how long after their disapearance that 'it' had happened. "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."

Once again Thea felt herself wince, first they brought up the Island and now Dad. This wasn't exactly going how she had planned, maybe she and Ollie should have actually made a plan.

Walter chose that moment to cut in, "We both believed that the two of you...like Robert...were, uh, well gone."

Thea watched as her brother's shutters went down, a flash of pain shooting across his face before he gingerly stood up from his seat, "It's fine." His expression tightened before speaking again, "May I be excused?" When their Mom nodded he smiled to thank her and grabbed a pear out of the bowl on the table.

She guessed that being home was taking a bigger toll on her brother than he had expected.

Oliver winked reassuringly at her. "Hey! Don't forget about tomorrow buddy." Tommy called out, earning himself a pat on the shoulder off of Oliver.

Debating with herself for a second she smiled apologetically at Tommy, Walter and Mom in turn before standing up herself. "I should probably go after him." She murmured before excusing herself and chasing after her brother.

As she left the room she heard Tommy mutter, "Oliver never took Russian at college." She winced as she tried to work out how exactly they were going to fix this.

Things weren't going to be so easy for them after all.

...

She found her brother in his room, she was surprised that she still remembered the way there. When she was younger she used to sneak into it on a nighttime to watch movies with him when she was meant to be asleep.

As soon as she entered her brother spoke, "Thea...that dinner took a lot out of me...if your here to yell at me about how I reacted to Mom and Walter or about my linguistic lapse then I'd really love it if you could save it until the morning." He was sat slumped against the wall with his knees pulled up to his chest.

It was all too achingly familiar to how he had sat on the liferaft after the Gambit went down and the lost expression on his face made the anger and resentment she was feeling evaporate. Thea surveyed her brother and his expression, the Island had taught her a lot about reading people. Although if Mom and Walter were anything to go by it hadn't taught her enough. And she could tell he was on the edge, they had both known that coming back was going to be hard.

That they were going to have to deal with questions, the media hounding them, having to lie to the people closest to them and whatever repercussions their night-time activities would bring.

But she hadn't thought it would be this hard for him, Oliver had always been her rock - he had kept her steady and alive and in return she tried her best to help him hold on to his humanity.

He wasn't lying when he said he didn't have it in him to have a confrontation with her, truthfully she didn't either. Her anger had evaporated leaving her weary and exhausted, she was glad to be home but she didn't know how she was going to cope in the long run. She had prepared to come in all guns blazing and ask him what exactly his play was, why he had baited Walter into giving him a chance to reveal that he knew about their relationship and tell him that he should give the man a chance.

Technically he was their step-Father and she was just glad that their Mom hadn't been alone, in the rare moments she had allowed herself to dwell and think about Mom she had always felt a strong sense of guilt for leaving on the Gambit with Ollie and leaving their Mom behind. At least this way their Mom hadn't been left alone to be consumed by grief, instead she had found love.

Thea was happy for her.

"Why'd you react like that?" She questioned, it had been a shock to her and she assumed Ollie had been shocked when he realised that their Mother had remarried but she didn't understand why he had blown up.

He shot her a small forced smirk, "I reacted how they would have expected me to, arrogant playboy - remember?" He jerked a finger towards himself.

"We both know that's a lie..." She cut herself off and sat down beside him, resting her head on his shoulder, "How did you know? About Mom and Walter?"

"Why else would Dad's CFO be hanging around? Either he was really happy to have us back or they were together." He shrugged, she let out an annoyed huff as his shoulder jerked into her head, "The way they were acting at dinner...it brought back memories of Mom and Dad...family dinner's every other night...you'd babble about school and whatever had made you happy that day...everyone...we...just looked happy...I didn't think that I'd missed that as much as I had."

She sat up and looked at her brother in surprise, he had shared way more than she thought he would have. She was expecting monosyllabic answers at best, maybe being home really was taking a toll on him. "I missed it too, but we're home now...and we can't fix Dad's wrongs just to hurt Mom whilst we're back...otherwise we might as well have came back and not told anyone." She sighed, "I know we're here because of the list b-"

"Yes, we are." He cut her off, "That's why I came back." she could practically see his shutters going down as he forced himself to straighten up and his blank expression replaced the one he had been wearing before. "It's late Thea, you should go rest...busy day tomorrow."

"Ok." She sighed and got up, looking back at her brother with a sense of anxiety and dread, she wasn't used to sleeping far away from him. In Russia they'd shared a run down apartment, courtesy of Anatoli, in Hong-Kong they'd lived with Tatsu and Maseo and on the Island they had slept wherever there was shelter but it had always been within eyesight of eachother.

Now she was going to be about eight rooms down the hall and she didn't know quite how to feel about that. "By the way..Tommy knows you didn't take Russian...up to you how you want to handle that." He grunted in response and she sighed, "Night Ollie."

"Night Thea."

...

Thea was no stranger to nightmares, she knew how they brought out the darkest parts of your life and forced you to relive them. Her dreams often liked to remind her of Fyers, Ivo, Waller, Constatine and sometimes...although she'd never tell him...she saw Oliver or at least what he had done.

She loved her brother and she owed him so much but there was a darkness inside of him that she was afraid of.

It wasn't that she thought he was a monster or evil by any means, she had looked Monster's in the eyes and she knew that Ollie wasn't like that. But he had skinned someone alive and she could still remember hearing the man's screams, Anatoly and Oliver wouldn't let her see the body - not that she'd wanted to. Whilst Oliver hadn't known she had noticed how Anatoly had paled, his voice trembled ever so slightly and how he had dry-heaved upon leaving the room.

And he was the leader of a family of the Russian mob, he had seen gory deaths and corpses.

What Oliver did was beyond torture and she was scared of what he would do now they were home, now that he had everything to loose.

She remembered Waller showing her the videos of her brothers 'interrogations' the woman had claimed it was because of her naivety and youth that Thea hadn't understood how he could do that and when Oliver returned from his one year mission, he hadn't been the same.

So when she heard a voice calling out in the middle of the night, she knew it was her Brother and she knew that she had to get to him before Mom or Walter did.

Trying to wake her brother up the wrong way was the best way to end up black and blue.

She should know, she had tried it herself a couple of times.

. . .

"Oliver! Wake up!"

The nightmares came easily to Oliver, it'd been five years without a peaceful sleep. The day brought danger and death and then the night brought the demons inside of his head out to play, the guilt and the hatred and the memories would all come surging to the surface like a dam inside of him had broke. Sometimes they were of Thea and what Fyers and his men had done to her, sometimes they were of what they had done to him. More often than not they were about the sinking of the Gambit, the fateful event that had changed his life forever.

Changed who and what he was forever.

...

Thea Queen was a light sleeper, courtesy of the Island, so when her brother's cries echoed through the hallway it woke her up from her not-so peaceful slumber. She knew just how bad nightmares could be, especially Ollie's and she also knew the risks that could be associated with trying to wake him up from them.

Which was exactly what his Mom and Walter were probably going to try and do.

She cursed to herself and hurried towards his room, hoping to stop things before Mom ended up all battered and bruised.

The sight that greeted her was a familiar one, Oliver curled up into a ball - trembling and shaking as the memories and the nightmares fought to overtake him. "Mom!" Thea yelled as her Mother approached Oliver, "Don't touch him!"

Her Mother shot her a confused look, bordering on hurt, "Thea...he's crying...as if he's in pain...he's my son! I can't just leave him."

"I've seen him like this before!" Thea replied, "I've been in his position...wake him up the wrong way and he might kill you." She stared at her Mother, silently pleading for her to understand "If he hurts you he won't be able to forgive himself."

Something she said must have gotten through to her, she nodded at her in a silent thanks as she stepped away from Oliver. Thea could see the rain spraying his back and noticed the shards of glass scattered on the carpet, a part of her wondered when he had ended up on the floor.

He was moaning and writhing in agony at the memories, she couldn't begin to guess which particular demons had chosen to torment him tonight - five years of hell meant that there were hundreds to choose from. She took slow and careful steps forwards towards Oliver, murmuring assurances "You're safe...we're home...Ollie...it's me." She kept up the steady mantra as she approached him.

She jerked forwards slightly and grabbed his arm, reacting fast enough to get out of the way when he made a move to flip her. "Ollie! Your safe!" She placed her arms around his neck and muttered into his ear, "Wake up!"

Thea felt him go limp before jerking upwards, his eyes wide and frantic as he scanned the room around them. She watched as he assessed the situation, how he froze upon realising where he was and who he was with.

He moved away from her and crouched slightly as he fought to control his breathing and get his heart rate back under control, Oliver knew that his Mom and Walter would both want an explanation but it wasn't in him to give them it. Not tonight.

Sighing Thea stood up and turned to face her Mom and Walter, "You have questions...but please...leave it for now." She clenched her fists and guided her brother back to his bed, murmuring apologies and reassurances.

This was nowhere near one of his worst episodes but it still left them both pretty shaken when one of them had a nightmare.

"It's going to be okay Ollie." Thea murmured, not entirely sure which of them she was trying to convince.

...

Thea made her way towards her Mother's room, she knew that their Mom was probably shaken from the events of last night. Thea understood exactly what had been going through her brother's mind and yet the scene that had unfolded had scared her too, her brother had always been the strong one.

She wasn't used to seeing him without his guard down.

It wouldn't be long until he threw himself into their crusade as a way to cope, using the Hood to separate himself from his emotions, using it as a reason and an excuse to pretend that everything was perfectly normal. That he was perfectly normal rather than allowing people to know how messed up he was, despite the fact that he had every right to be.

"Mom," She called out as she knocked on her door, slightly unsure about whether she would be able to just enter or not.

Her Mother's slightly flustered face greeted her as the door swung open, "Thea! Morning? What exactly are you doing here? I thought you would be with Oliver and Tommy."

"I am." She replied, "I just wanted to talk to you...about Ollie? Raisa said that Tommy was still getting ready so I thought I'd come talk to you now rather than later."

Her Mother stiffened for a second before nodding, "Last night?"

"Yes," Thea nodded, "About that...look...I saw your face yesterday...when he said hello to Raisa...you looked upset...and I wanted to try to fix that?" She explained weakly, not sure about whether she was even making sense or not, she wasn't exactly used to dealing with familial problems. "Anyways...I have something for you...technically Ollie does."

She handed her Mother the Hozen, explaining what it was before her Mother could question her about it, "It's a Hozen and in Buddhism, it symbolizes reconnecting." When her Mother's confused look remained she explained further, "On the Island Ollie gave me it...he'd tell me every night that as long as I kept this that one day...we'd get home."

Thea smiled nervously, "We kept it in the hopes that one day it would reconnect us to you." slowly she handed her Mother the Hozen, suddenly embarrassed about the entire gesture. "He didn't forget...he missed you...we both did."

"A rock!" A voice called out, she turned to see Tommy standing in the doorway with his usual shiteating grin firmly in place as he swaggered over to the pair of them. "You know, I want one of those t-shirts that says 'My friend was a castaway, and all I got was this crappy shirt."

"I'll tell Ollie," She teased before turning back to her Mother, "Sorry...it's probably a stupid gesture...I'll take it back if you want."

Her Mother shook her head and Thea was surprised to see a slightly tearful expression forming on her expression, without any warning her Mother pulled her into a quick embrace. "Thank you Thea...it's lovely..." She heard her Mother take a deep breath before pulling away and forcing a smile onto her face, "You are going to be late if you don't leave now though."

"Therapy...bleuch...who could forget." She mock-complained before giving her Mother a small shy smile and following Tommy out of the room.

. . .

Oliver drummed his fingers against the car seat as they drove into the city, they came to a halt outside of Starling City General. He chuckled at the annoyed expression on his sister's face, he had no doubt that she couldn't wait to get into therapy. He was thankful for the fact that there wasn't a media presence in the Glades, otherwise he and Tommy would have to spend most of the day avoiding the journalists and media frenzy.

"Don't let him get you into too much trouble," Thea called out as she exited the car, "You just got back, take it slow." He couldn't help but feel that warning had a double meaning to it.

Once they were sure she was safely inside Tommy pressed down his foot on the gas and Oliver watched as they sped through the city, idly thinking back to the days where they'd speed through the city in an attempt to break as many traffic laws as they could.

"The city awaits." Tommy called out with a smirk, "By the way...have you noticed how hot your sister has gotten?" He murmured, briefly taking his attention off of the road to grin at Oliver.

Oliver shot his friend a death-glare, silently daring the man to say anything else - he would beat up Tommy without any hesitation if he tried to make a move on his sister. He could only hope Tommy was joking.

His friend gulped and turned his attention back to the road, carefully avoiding Oliver's deadly expression and warning glare, "Because I have not."

The two fell into silence as Oliver looked out the window at the city around them, it looked the way that he had remembered it. Then again, it had only been two years since he had last been in Starling City. It was with a pang that he realised that very same year he had been forced to look through the scope of a gun down at his friend and then plunge a syringe into that very same friend's neck.

He wondered if Tommy was going to mention that, mention that he'd went all the way to Hong Kong to try to find him. Or the subsequent kidnapping that had happened.

"Your funeral blew." Tommy muttered.

Oliver chuckled and grinned, shaking his head at his friend, "Did you get lucky?" He would be shocked if Tommy Merlyn hadn't used the situation to his advantage.

"Fish in a barrel." Tommy commented with a sly grin, "They were so sad..." He broke into laughter at the memory as he thought about that day, choosing to remember the better part of that day rather than the funeral of the man he considered his brother.

"No.." Oliver said with mock-scandal, trying not to picture just how his friend had spent the night of his funeral.

"And huggy." Tommy added, "And I am expecting another target rich environment for your welcome home bash."

"At my what?" Oliver shot his friend a confused look, he hadn't been planning on having a party. Though maybe it could work to his advantage, what better way to show everyone that he hadn't changed, show that his playboy persona was still firmly in place by throwing a party.

Just like the old Oliver Queen.

"You came back from the dead. This calls for a party. You tell me where and when. I'll take care of everything." Tommy planned, clearly not planning on taking no for an answer. They came to a halt in a rough part of the glades, Tommy looked around at their surroundings with a look of faint disgust "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?"

Oliver looked out of the window to his left, where his Father's factory still remained. A shell of what it had once been. But maybe it could still be useful, serve them as a base of operations and would help him help the city as the Hood.

He didn't quite know how 'Oliver Queen' would help the city though.

"No reason."

Tommy paused as if waiting for him to elaborate before his smile was fixed firmly back in place, "So...what'd you miss the most...steaks at the palm...drinks at the station..." His friend rose his eyebrows suggestively, smirking "The meaningless sex."

"Laurel." Oliver replied quietly, thinking back to the photo he had carried with him for years. His reminder of home throughout the hell he had endured. He noticed how his friend had tensed up at the mention of Laurel, he wondered if that was because of their not so secret 'secret' relationship.

Tommy groaned, "Everyone is happy you're alive." His friend questioned with disbelief, "You want to see the one person who isn't?"

"It would be stupid of me to expect her to feel otherwise Tommy, I got her sister killed but that doesn't change the fact I want to see her...I need to see her." A part of him wondered if Tommy's reluctance was due to their relationship, he wondered if Tommy was going to tell him. He only knew because of Waller dragging Thea and himself back to Starling City.

Oliver shrugged helplessly in response earning a sigh from Tommy and a string of muttered curses about how this wasn't going to end well.

. . .

Meanwhile

On the ride to the office she'd been stricken by how shitty the Glades had become, they weren't exactly the lap of luxury before but now they were practically the slums of the city. All thanks to her Father and his rich friends.

Oliver was probably having a great time with Tommy, even if there was the whole 'Laurel' shaped elephant in the room or more accurately the car, whilst she was stuck in a Therapist's Office waiting for an appointment with her Shrink.

Doctor Pressnall, was to be her psychiatrist - although Thea was not going to let the woman perscribe her any drugs. Drugs and sedatives led to a lack of an awareness which could only ever lead to danger.

Being in the Therapist's Office was bad enough, she was on high-alert and tensed up at every sign of movement. There were too many unknown variables whilst she was stuck in a room full of strangers and if she was attacked she didn't know if she could defend herself properly without ruining everything.

If they knew what she and Ollie could do then it'd be far too easy for the SCPD and the general public to make the link between the two returned Castaway's with fighting abilities and the two vigilante's who had magically appeared overnight.

The therapist's office was far too clean and polished for Thea's tastes, it lacked the personal touch that she would have expected a place like it to have. Surely they'd want to make patients feel at home rather than boring them to death with a white and grey colour pallate.

Several magazine's were littered across the table in front of her, she eyed up the headlines curiously, the old her used to be obsessed with tabloids - who was sleeping with who, which singer had released a new albumn and what were the best TV show's to watch.

It seemed that the world hadn't changed that much.

She occupied herself by making observations around the people around her, that was the talent of hers that Waller had decided to hone; The receptionist's nails were down to the cuticle - she was probably stressed and judging by the way she kept eyeing up the door to a Doctor Streseman's office she assumed it had something to do with him - probably a romantic relationship that had gone horrible wrong, a man was sat opposite her with dogtags around his neck - war Veteran.

"Thea Queen," A voice called out from behind her.

She groaned as she stood up and walked towards the office, she should have blackmailed Ollie into getting their Mom to ease off, "Here." Thea muttered in response.

This was going to be a long, long 35 minutes.

. . .

His meeting with Laurel did not go well.

Oliver stood in the middle of the street with Laurel opposite him, "You went to Law School? You said you would." A fond expression flickered across his face as he remembered the night when Laurel had first told him of her plan to become a Lawyer, he was pretty sure he had made some asshole-esque comment and had spent the rest of the night trying to make it up to her.

And now here she was, Laurel Lance...Lawyer extraordinaire, championing the rights of the underdogs.

"Yeah." Laurel replied shortly, "Everyone's proud."

He winced at her tone, he hadn't been expecting a warm welcome but it didn't make it any easier to hear her cool tone. "Adam Hunt's a heavy hitter." He murmured, trying to make conversation "You sure you want to get into the ring with him?"

She let out a short sharp disbelieving laugh, "Five years and you want to talk about Adam Hunt?"

"No." He replied softly, shaking his head, "Not really."

Laurel snorted and turned around to face him, her composure slipping, ""Why are you here Ollie?"

He hesitated, trying to find the right words to say what exactly he wanted to say, "To apologise." He settled on finally, "It was my fault...and I wanted to ask you not to blame her." His mind flashed back to Sara, finding her and then loosing her on the Amazo.

He had gotten her killed twice.

"For what?" Laurel raised her eyebrows, gearing herself up for a fight as she finally let out her anger and frustration. Let out what she'd been forced to bottle up for five years, "Falling under your spell. How could I possibly blame her for doing the same things that I did?"

"I never meant to..." Oliver tried but Laurel cut him off, clearly not finished.

"She was my sister!" Laurel yelled, "I couldn't be angry because she was dead..I couldn't grieve because I was so angry! That's what happens when your sister dies whilst screwing your boyfriend." She sighed, "We buried an empty coffin because the body was at the bottom of the ocean where you left her." She pointed an accusing finger towards him before taking a step back.

Hatred and venom filled her expression, "It should have been you." She spat at him.

"I know that it's too late to say this...but I'm sorry." He offered weakly, not knowing what else he could do to fix things between them.

"Yeah I'm sorry too..you got my sister killed and made it so that yours went through Hell...whilst I would never wish that upon Thea I'd hoped that you'd rot in hell a whole lot longer than five years." She shook her head and walked off towards where Tommy was standing at the door outside of her office.

"How did you think that was going to go Tommy?" She muttered with a frustrated expression.

Shaking his head he watched as she walked off, "About like that." He murmured, wishing that his friend had just taken his advice and let things be between the two of them.

He didn't want either of them to get more hurt than they already had.

. . .

Meanwhile

Thea had been sitting across Doctor Pressnall in silence for about twenty minutes and Thea had never been so bored. She wasn't used to sitting around doing nothing, she could feel herself practically vibrating with energy - although she made sure to keep herself composed and seemingly at ease in front of the Doctor.

"You need to let me help you Thea," Doctor Pressnall spoke carefully, she seemed to weigh up her words before speaking and Thea shifted uncomfortably under the woman's gaze. Her voice was calm and she seemed to genuinely care about her, although Thea was sure that that wasn't true.

It was her job to pretend to care, just because she was nice to her didn't mean that Thea was going to suddenly just tell her everything that had happened to her. The idea was laughable, why would she tell a stranger something she could barely deal with herself?

Five more weeks and then her mandatory period of Therapy was over and she hoped to God that her Mother wouldn't issue any more sessions.

"Neither of us are going to gain anything by sitting in silence Miss Queen," Pressnall said calmly as she tapped her pen against the notebook on her lap, "Do you wish to know what I think Miss Queen?"

Thea muttered sarcasitcally, "I have a feeling you're about to tell me."

"It's obvious that you are suffering from PTSD," The Doctor began, "You've been through five years of unimaginable pain and suffering...and it all started from such a young age for you so if you weren't suffering from PTSD then I'd be far more concerned." She tilted her head and narrowed her eyes at her young patient, "Perhaphs I'm wrong...maybe your not as damaged as you have every right to be."

The Doctor paused, "You don't wish to relive the trauma that you've experienced and that is perfectly understandable Thea but the only way to get through it is to accept that it happened and share it...lighten the burden...you can't push trauma like that into the back of your head and refuse to acknowledge it...like a wound it will only grow and fester until it's almost impossible to bear."

"I'm fine." Thea snapped, wishing for the session to be over. The Doctor didn't understand and seemed to think that all of her problems were going to be solved through a heart to heart, as if the key to reaching her was going to be metaphors and meaningless talk.

"You can't just lock everything up and pretend your okay," Pressnall continued, "Sooner or later this wall...mask...whatever you wish to call it will fall apart and things will be much harder for you when it does."

The Doctor narrowed her eyes at her and Thea huffed slightly, "So you want me to relive every bad thing that has happened to me to satisfy your own curiousity? So you can slap a bunch of lables onto me and call yourself a Doctor." She growled out, letting her anger free, "I have PTSD...I accept that and I've never denied it but I don't want therapy...you don't know what I've been through and what I've done and you never will...these sessions are a waste of both of our times."

Thea clenched her fists and sagged against the chair, "I'm sorry okay...but this isn't where I want to be...I'm sorry for taking up your time Doc." She shot the Doctor a semi-apologetic look before leaving the room and her Psychiatrist behind her.

. . .

"Okay! So we took care of that, good call!" Tommy called out sarcastically, as he and Oliver made their way back towards the car "Now we can make up for lost time...if your not too sick of fish, I suggest we find some leggy models and eat Sushi all day." Oliver tilted his head at his friend, observing him carefully, had his friend really not changed in five years? Or was it an act, to try and help 'ease' him back into life?

Seeing that his friend hadn't said anything Tommy grinned, "What do you say?"

Oliver didn't reply, something felt wrong, something felt off.

He span around to see a figure approaching them, they let out a sharp whistle and waved. Thea. That whistle was the signal that they had developed on the Island, one sharp whistle for when it was safe and one low one for when there was danger.

"Thea!" Tommy called out with a grin, "How was Therapy?"

That earned him the middle-finger in response and Oliver chuckled at that reaction from his sister, it was the most normal teenager-ish thing that he had seen in decades. Maybe Starling City was rubbing off on her.

"Tommy was just suggesting that we find some models and get some sushi." Oliver added with an eye roll, they had both ended up with a love-hate relationship with fish after the time on the Island.

Thea shruggd, "As long as we get some food inside of me and do something to make me forget about the horrors of Therapy I'll be fine with whatever."

The hairs on the back of his neck were standing up and goosebumps rippled across his skin, the Island had taught him to trust his senses - they were all he could rely on. He noticed that Thea had tensed up too, if they were both feeling it then it was probably more than a hunch.

Oliver's reply was cut off as a van sped into the small alley where Tommy had parked his car, he grabbed his friend and pushed him forwards - in an attempt to make sure it couldn't collide with him.

"What the hell?" Tommy cried out, Oliver tensed up - feeling the adrenaline surge through him.

Something wasn't right.

Armed men appeared from around a corner, effectively cutting them off from both ends.

They were trapped and he could feel everything inside of him going into overdrive. "What the hell?" Tommy cried out, Oliver tensed up - feeling the adrenaline surge through him. He noticed that Thea was taking up a defensive stance and was readying herself for a fight.

Whilst he wanted to keep his new fighting ability private he was going to do anything to protect Tommy and Thea.

The men had red skull masks on, masks usually meant that they weren't planning on killing their targets. Otherwise they'd have nothing to hide, a dead man can't spill the names of his killers.

He watched as Tommy stumbled, the distraction enough for the masked men to land a dart in Oliver and Thea's neck. He winced as a tranq dart landed in his neck. Hazily he pulled the dart out of his neck, trying to work out wht exactly it was.

Before he could do anything he fell to his knees, his vision was blurring and for one horrible second he thought that this was it. That he was going to die, in a back alley of the Glades. He tried to threaten them, tried to channel the darkness but it gave way to exhaustion and numbness.

His arms and legs felt like lead, too heavy to move and he was too exhausted to try to make them. He was slipping away from the world and being consumed by the darkness, his anger and desperation to protect Tommy and Thea giving away to the abyss.

The last thing he saw before he collapsed to the ground was a wave of bullets tearing into an unfortunate passerby's torse.

The man collapsed to the ground and the blood stained the grey slabs of the Glades.

He couldn't do anything before the black dragged him under.

...

Thea came round to the dark and the cold, weakly she called out for her brother. Oliver wouldn't let someone take her, plus they had kidnapped the three of them together. No point doing that unless they needed the three of them.

She could vaguely make out her Brother in front of her, tied to a chair with restraints around his wrists. Her lip twitched slightly at that revelation, zipties couldn't and wouldn't hold her brother - Anatoly had taught them both how to escape them.

Making sure to stay as still as possible she decided to play dead, or more accurately play unconcious, like a Possum from one of those nature show's her Dad used to watch with her.

"Did you make it to the island!?" An impatient muffled voice demanded, she heart the hum of electricity and a grunt from her brother. She winced as it brought memories of Slade crashing back to her, he had made them listen as he electrocuted her brother.

And now it appeared someone was trying that paticular torture tactic again, even if they happened to be going a hell of a lot easier on him than Slade had.

She watched as the man questioned him, how her brother offered no response - Thea knew exactly what her brother was doing. Using the pain from the taser to hide the real source of his pain, escaping restrains wasn't painless and it hurt like a bitch.

But it was effective.

Thea forced herself to ignore her brother's cries, he had to be pretending. He had to be otherwise her brother was currently in a world of pain and she was doing nothing to help him. Should the situation be reversed she knew that he would start fighting straight away but she also knew that he would tell her to continue playing dead.

She prayed that he was close to getting the zipties off.

"Did he tell you anything?"

Her Father's confession, she realised with a sudden jolt of clarity. That was the only thing they could be talking about - unless their Father had any other deathbed confessions that he had failed to make.

But why? All he had done was give Ollie a notebook and go on to say how he had failed the city. Hell he hadn't even explained the book to them, instead leaving them a video that they came across years later.

"Yes." He sighed, "He did."

Thea tensed up, getting ready to spring up from where she was - either they had somehow broken her brother in what would quite frankly be record time or he was free. And if he was free then the men who had taken them were dead-men.

"He told me that I'm going to kill you."

The men broke into laughter and Thea rolled her eyes at their arrogance, he was going to make them pay. And she was going to make sure that Tommy was okay. Maybe beat up some of these hired thugs.

Maybe not in that paticular order.

"You're delusional." The man taunted, "You're zip-cuffed to that chair."

Not anymore.

And as Oliver jumped up from his chair Thea almost felt a pang of sympathy for the men, either her brother was going to kill them or she was. They kidnapped her and her brothers, because as far as she was concerned Tommy was a honorary Queen, electrocuted her brother and drugged her.

They were so dead.

She sprang to life, pausing briefly to look at Tommy before throwing herself into the action. Thea grabbed a pipe from where it had been discarded on the ground and lunged towards one of the men, hitting him in the back of his skull she watched with a satisfied smile as he collapsed to the ground.

The sound of bullets caused her to jump the ground, mostly on reflex, Ollie grabbed the thug he had been fighting and spun him around - using the man as a human shield. She mentally stored that trick for later, maybe it could come in handy.

As the man with the gun dropped it and fled she shared a look with Oliver and nodded at him, "I've got Tommy...you deal with him."

He paused, seemingly conflicted before nodding at her and sprinting after the man. Thea knew that he wasn't going to get away, he could run as far as he wanted to but no one escapes her brother after hurting his family.

She let out a sigh as she felt Tommy's pulse under her fingertips, the steady drum of his heartbeat causing her to sigh in relief. Tommy was alive.

He was okay.

Sighing she realized that the 'Starling Vigilante's were going to have to make an earlier appearance in the city than they had originally thought.

. . .

An ambulance had checked them all out at the scene, giving the three of them a clear bill of health - albeit a bit reluctantly. When they had discovered that Oliver had been tasered they had wanted to keep him in for observation but he had assured them that he was feeling alright.

Whilst Thea was aware that she and her brother had a very different idea of 'alright' when compared to most people she believed him. He had been through a hell of a lot worse and it was going to take more than a couple of hired thugs to take them out.

When he had came back they had shared a knowing look, he nodded in a silent affirmation that the man had been taken care of and Thea, as much as she hated it, had felt relieved at the knowledge.

Thea kept shooting concerned looks at Tommy on their way back to the Mansion, the man had been silent and shaken since their ordeal. Not that she was or would be holding it against him, it was his second ever kidnapping and the first one hadn't really counted.

Technically.

Plus it had probably brought back bad memories of that kidnapping, she wished that she could offer him some kind of comfort or tell him that she knew all about Hong-Kong but that would pose too big of a risk and raise too many questions. She couldn't tell Tommy that he had in fact found them, that he had been less than a meter away from her and Oliver and he hadn't even known it.

The police had let them go back to the Manor to make their statements, although Thea suspected that kindness was mainly for Tommy and herself - she doubted he would ever show her Brother any kindness. But as they actually got into the interview it seemed that allowing their statements to be made in the Mansion was about as far as he was willing to go in terms of showing any of them kindness.

And after Oliver gave Quentin his statement she was pretty sure that the man wanted to punch him. "So that's your story?" The man questioned incredulously, "A man in a green-hood flew in and single-handedly took out three armed kidnappers?" He let out a short laugh, "I mean, who is he? Why would he do that?"

"Find him and you can ask." Oliver said calmly.

Detective Lance barely suppressed an eye-roll as he turned to Tommy and Thea as he gestured towards the sketch his companion was holding, "What about you? Did you see the 'Hood' guy?"

Thea shook her head, "They drugged us...some dart? Maybe...I remember masks.." She took care to make sure that her voice trembled in the right places and that she was appearing to strain with the effort of remembering, "I woke up and there was this movement...Ollie was tied to something? A chair? This guy came in...killed them...cut Ollie's binds and he disappeared...I was pretty out of it Detective."

She wouldn't have noticed her brother's look of approval if her gaze hadn't flickered over to him.

Tommy shrugged helplessly, "I just..saw movement.." he squinted and his brow furrowed in thought, "Everything was blurry...I was kinda out of it...like Thea said...they drugged us."

"Yeah." Lance muttered, "It's funny isn't it? One day back and already somebody's gunning for you." He snorted and barked out a short laugh, though there was no warmth behind it, "Aren't you popular." He turned to face Oliver for the last part of his statement.

Thea noticed how his Mom stiffened, shooting the Detective's a disapproving look, in an attempt to diffuse the tension between Detective Lance and Oliver she smoothly cut into the conversation "Were you able to identify the men?" She frowned at the way her Mother was fiddling with her wedding ring as she asked that, she must be anxious.

Then again her son, daughter and unofficial-son were just kidnapped mere days after two of them returned from a deserted island, she was entitled to a bit of anxiety and unease.

It would be stranger if she was completely at ease with the entire thing.

Detective Hilton shook his head, "Scrubbed identities...untraceable weapons...these were pros."

Thea heard a quiet snort erupt from her brother and she couldn't help but think that they could have told the Police that. Working out who was a pro and who was an amateur was easy, these guys were professionals and must have been paid a lot of money by some shady businessman. Or woman.

At least now that person wouldn't have to actually pay the men they hired, really Oliver had done their would-be kidnapper's employer a favor.

"Yeah." Detective Lance muttered, "Well, they probably figured you'd pay a king's ransom to get your boy back or a Queen's ransom, as it were." He snorted, seemingly proud of his pun, "After all, a parent would do anything to keep their child safe." His tone became bitter and his gaze met Oliver's, he could see the fury in the man's gaze and idly wondered if he was going to punch him.

His mother's voice cut off his musings, "I don't find your tone appropriate, Detective."

"If Oliver can think of anything else, he'll be in touch." Walter cut in, "Thank you, gentlemen, for coming." He added with a firm yet polite smile, as he gestured for Raisa to escort the two men to the door.

"Your luck never seems to run out, does it." Quentin managed to spit out before he left the Mansion.

. . .

Thea followed behind her Brother on the way to his room with a grin on her face, "You know I think that Detective Lance is onto something," at her Brother's questioning expression she mimed having a hood on, "The Hood,' new country, new name right? Unless you'd rather be known as the 'Archer' again? Seems America's about as creative as Russia when it comes to their nicknames."

Her other ideas were; The Arrow for Oliver, Green Arrow & Red Arrow respectively, Artemis for herself and although she'd never admit it to her brother she had actually been considering using Speedy as an alias.

He chuckled, "What and what should I call you? Speedy?"

She lightly punched him on the shoulder, "That's not going to be my name."

"I don't know, I always thought that it fit you pretty well...running around after me as a kid." He teased as they entered his room, she thought back to when they were kids - she had been a typical baby sister who'd adored her brother and ran around after him all of the time.

His nickname for her did fit and now she was going to be running around after him during their nighttime activities she murmured, "Maybe it still does."

When they both got into his room she waited until the door was closed before she finally posed the question she had been desperate to ask. "Why do you think they were asking about Dad?" She asked hurriedly, the question coming out before she stopped herself.

Ollie shrugged but otherwise offered no response, she sighed and allowed the question to be ignored - not even offering a sarcastic or annoyed comment when he changed the subject. "I guess this means we'll have to move our plans forwards."

"I guess so." She mumbled, "Did you find somewhere for us to set up?"

Oliver nodded, "I thought about Dad's old steelworks factory...with a bit of fixing up it'll provide the perfect base...you ready for a bit of manual labor Speedy...I'm going to look into something and then we can go ahead and set up our new base of operations."

"Our own little Arrow cave." Thea murmured.

. . .

Oliver sat in front of his computer, a newspaper clipping in his hand - the name on the screen read 'Adam Hunt,' the revelation that Laurel was going after the man had caught his attention. And the man just so happened to be on the list. The man had robbed people of millions, destroying their bank accounts and their lives.

Maybe he could be the first scumbag that he and Thea put down.

A voice called out from the entrance to his room and he looked up to see Raisa standing there with a teasing smile on her face, "You are different." She strolled in carrying a tray of food, "Not like you to read a book."

He shot her a smile and placed the book front down on his desk, closing down the tabs he had open in his research on Adam Hunt. Leaning back in his chair he smiled, "I missed you Raisa."

She chuckled, "What? No kitchen on the Island?"

"No." He shook his head, "No friends either." He added, in a softer tone. When he was younger Raisa had been one of the few people to get to see the real him, not the spoilt playboy Oliver Queen but the boy who looked after his little sister and ran around the Mansion madly as he tried to do a million different things at once.

She had helped him mend the vase he had broken after he'd tried riding his bike inside of the Mansion for the first time.

And the three he had broken after that because it seemed he hadn't learnt his lesson after the first time.

He got up to take the tray from her, smiling at her with a grateful expression, "Thank you." He murmured as he took the tray from her and placed it down onto a small cabinet. "Do I really seem different?" Oliver questioned, his head tilted in curiosity.

He wanted to know if he needed to up his act, behave more like the old Ollie.

"No," She whispered softly, "Still a good boy."

"Oh, I think we both know I wasn't." He corrected with a smile, thinking back to when he had been in the media for his exploits and the times when he had ended up in court. There had been the time when he peed on a cop, punched a reporter, stolen a car and the time he'd swam naked in the fountain opposite the SCPD.

Raisa nodded her head in agreement, before steeping forwards and patting Oliver on the chest, "But a good heart."

"I hope so." Oliver murmured, "I want to be the person you always told me I could be." It was true, he wanted to be better than the man he was before, the spoilt rich kid that had smuggled his sister onto a Yatch that would go on to sink and to be better than the man who had learned to kill without remorse during the past five years.

He wanted to be the person that Thea, Tommy and his Mother deserved.

Now he was going to clean up his city, atone for his and his Father's sins.

. . .

Thea was up somewhat bright and early the next day, she was actually looking forward to her day as she wasn't going to be forced into spending time inside of a therapist's office. It was time for herself and Oliver to set up their vigilante base of operations, they couldn't exactly keep storing their things inside of the Mansion.

Someone would happen upon their things eventually and she'd rather not answer those questions - she didn't know how to answer them and, as naive as it probably was, she wanted to keep the lying to a minimum.

Today was their chance to set everything up ready to start taking down Starling City's corrupt elite.

But it appeared that their Mother had other ideas, "Oliver! Thea!" Their Mother called out as they were leaving, she gestured towards a man standing behind her and Thea watched as her brother tensed "I want to introduce you to someone." She grabbed a hold of Ollie's hand and turned to a man standing behind her, "This is John Diggle...he'll be accompanying you both from now on."

Thea flinched and eyed him up nervously, they didn't need a babysitter to be watching them the entire time and it would place them at too big of a risk if a stranger followed them around constantly. How was the man meant to guard them both? Thea was pretty sure that she and her brother wouldn't constantly be around each other, she for one had to go to therapy.

"I don't need a babysitter." Oliver said, voicing her thoughts before she could. And her was right, they had survived on their own - fending for themselves for five years, some man that their mother had hired would be more of a hindrance than a help.

"Mom," Thea tried softly, "We'll be fine...we don't need someone to look after us...plus it wouldn't be practical...I don't intend on following Oliver around all day...everyday and I'm sure that he feels the same way...so unless the man can split himself in half I don't understand what this could do."

Walter appeared to feel sympathetic to Oliver and Thea's protests and he turned to his wife, "Darling...Oliver's a grown man and Thea is a young woman..if they feel as if they don't need armed protection-"

"Yes," Moira quickly cut him off, "But this is something I need." She looked at Oliver with a pleading expression silently begging him to concede and let Mr. Diggle accompany him, even if it was to only put her mind at rest.

She watched as her brother sighed and she knew that her Brother had caved, she couldn't blame him. After the hell they had accidentally put their Mother through, from smuggling Thea onto the boat and Oliver going on it - even though they hadn't and had no way of knowing, they still felt a sense of guilt about it.

Maybe letting her guy tag along would help dissuade that.

Even if they were more than likely going to end up ditching him at some-point or other.

. . .

The factory was only a short walk from where he and Thea had ditched Diggle, he tossed his bags over the chainlink fence before climbing over it himself. Thea was quick behind him, he thought back to the younger version of Thea who used to climb trees as if she thought she was a monkey. How far they'd come.

The area around the factory had turned into slums, people were gathered around oil drum barrels and using them as bonfires in an attempt to get warm, the walls were covered in graffiti and the streets covered in trash.

He knew that the wasteland the glades had become was in part due to his Father and the closure of Factory, it had put thousands out of jobs and many of his rich friends had done the same.

It was no wonder that the Glades were as bad as they were.

He eyed up the old Queen Consolidated Factory with curiosity, unsure about how exactly it was he was going to turn it into a base of operations. He was lucky that no one had watched as he entered the factory, he didn't feel like answering the questions about why exactly it was he was sneaking off to spend his time in an abandoned factory.

He knew that Diggle had probably assumed he'd ran off to a bar or a strip-club or maybe just to go have meaningless sex with whatever pretty woman happened to catch his eye as he wandered the streets of Starling City.

It was what the old Oliver Queen would have done.

The inside of the factory was a dump, but he could work with it, papers were scattered around and he was pretty sure that there was a new kind of life growing in the pools of water that were dotted around the Warehouse.

He knelt down and picked up one of the discarded papers lying on the floor, it was a paper with his Father's face plastered on it. An old monthly report that he used to send out to all of the employees, he winced and tried to ignore the ache that he felt as he stared into his Father's features.

If he closed his eyes he could still picture that day on the life-raft.

He wished that he could forget it but he couldn't, so instead he was going to have to atone for the both of them.

And he hoped that his Father would be proud of what he was doing, what he was trying to do.

He hoped his Father was proud of both of them, himself and Thea.

. . .

Adam Hunt...his crimes go deeper than fraud and theft, but he's been able to bully, bribe, or kill anyone who's gotten into his way. He hasn't met me yet.

. . .

Thea looked around at their makeshift base, Oliver had forged them some new arrowheads and made a computer workstation. Being the children of two billionaires had it's advantages, it meant that they could spend as much money as they needed on their equipment and no one would be any wiser.

She knew that they needed a cover story, for where they spent their nights. Oliver's would be easy, everyone still remembered his playboy persona that slept with a different woman every week and spent his nights frequenting nightclubs and drinking until the early hours of the morning.

But Thea Queen didn't have any kind of persona to fall back on, barring being Oliver's baby sister who was also stranded on an Island.

"So...tell me about him." She called out, "Who's our guy?"

Oliver gestured for her to come look at his computer screen, "Adam Hunt." Thea frowned at that, memories of news reports and Laurel coming to mind, Adam Hunt was the man that Laurel Lance was currently trying to take down. A CNRI Lawyer against one of the biggest guys that Starling City had to offer. "Stole millions from people...ruined their lives...and he just happens to be on our Father's list...anyone who's come close to exposing him or taking him down has died or magically retracted their statements."

"So the usual bribery, threats and murder then?" Thea commented, "Sounds like an all-around great guy."

"Which is exactly why we need to take him down." Oliver muttered, he got up from the desk "But for now we're going to give him a chance to right his own wrongs."

Thea chuckled dryly, "Let's go have a nice little sit-down with Adam Hunt."

"Suit up." Oliver called out as he grabbed his bow from the trunk they had kept it in.

Thea hurried over to the other side of the room where her bow was stored, she'd gotten it made for her in Russia. A lighter bow with a better drawstring, it was also red which suited her perfectly.

She twirled it about in her fingers slightly, letting a smile flicker across her lips - she had missed this.

. . .

"So...tell me about him." She called out, "Who's our guy?"

Oliver gestured for her to come look at his computer screen, "Adam Hunt." Thea frowned at that, memories of news reports and Laurel coming to mind, Adam Hunt was the man that Laurel Lance was currently trying to take down. A CNRI Lawyer against one of the biggest guys that Starling City had to offer. "Stole millions from people...ruined their lives...and he just happens to be on our Father's list...anyone who's come close to exposing him or taking him down has died or magically retracted their statements."

"So the usual bribery, threats and murder then?" Thea commented, "Sounds like an all-around great guy."

"Which is exactly why we need to take him down." Oliver muttered, he got up from the desk "But for now we're going to give him a chance to right his own wrongs."

Thea chuckled dryly, "Let's go have a nice little chat with Adam Hunt."

"Suit up." Oliver called out as he grabbed his bow from the trunk they had kept it in.

Thea hurried over to the other side of the room where her bow was stored, she'd gotten it made for her in Russia. A lighter bow with a better drawstring, it was also red which suited her perfectly.

She twirled it about in her fingers slightly, letting a smile flicker across her lips - she had missed this.

. . .

Thea Queen stood in the shadows of one of Starling City's many parking garages, her red hood was firmly in place with her bow and mask to match. Her brother had insisted on using his greasepaint, probably as a tribute to Maseo, but she wasn't going to be doing the same, greasepaint didn't offer much in the way of a disguise and it was a bitch to get off in a hurry.

He claimed that masks got in his way when fighting and were a distraction that impaired his vision but she reasoned if he got used to fighting with a mask then it would be like a second skin - like their suit's.

Adam Hunt's voice rang out through the building as he spoke to the men around him, "You remind Grell that I put him on the bench and that I can take him off, I can turn him into a cautionary tale."

She looked over to where Oliver was waiting, she was going to cut the lights and provide an open window for him to take on the guards.

Then they'd both have a nice little chat with Hunt, "Yes, Mr. Hunt." The man muttered.

"And this attorney," Hunt continued as if the man hadn't spoken, "Laurel Lance...you said she wasn't going to be a problem...I told you to fix that situation." Adam Hunt came to a stop before looking expectantly at the man who had been walking alongside him, "Why are you still here?"

The man bowed his head slightly and ran off.

Thea drew back the bowstring, aiming it towards the light directly behind Hunt and his men. Letting out a deep breath she let go, watching as it flew towards the target and cut out the light. She nodded to herself at the distraction, it had worked perfectly, now she just needed Ollie to take care of Hunt's men.

Hunt was pushed into the car whilst his bodyguard fired shots over at where he thought the arrows had came from. Oliver chuckled, this guy was going to be no match for him.

"Hey!" He called out, he had deepened his voice, Thea had dubbed it his 'Vigilante' voice, "You missed."

It barely took him two minutes to deal with the man's bodyguard.

Thea jumped down from where she had been waiting and reached in and pulled Hunt out of where he had been hiding inside of his car. She tossed him towards where Oliver was standing and stood next to her brother.

They aimed their bows at him and watched as the man trembled and pleaded. He was meant to be a tough guy, someone people feared and yet here he was - a mess as he begged him not to shoot him. Thea frowned as she realised that she had been tougher than this guy at the age of thirteen - he was actually more of a mess than a teenage girl.

"P-Please...what do you want..What? What? Just tell me what you want!"

Oliver took a step closer to him, towering over the man, "You're gonna transfer $40 million into Starling City bank account 1141 by 10 P.M. tomorrow night" He ordered, he had to at least give the man a chance to right his own wrongs before he killed him.

"Or what?" Hunt challenged weakly. Thea barely supressed a scoff - was he seriously going to challenge the people with bows pointed at his heart and head?

"Or we're going to take it." Thea called out, miming shooting him with an arrow tauntingly, "And you won't like it if it comes to that."

She thought back to their days in Russia, when the Bratva essentially used them as hired thugs - go break this man's fingers because he's impeding on our business, go blackmail the competition, follow this man and find out his routine.

She supposed that's what they were now, only they were going after bad people rather than people who had crossed the Bratva.

Either way, Hunt's name needed to be crossed off of their list.

She and Oliver shared a look, he shot her an interceptable nod before walking off - shooting one last look at Hunt she followed behind him.

"If I see you again you're dead!" The man called after him, surprising how people magically seemed to gain courage as soon as there wasn't a bow pointed at them. She knew that she could spin round and kill the man without even trying, instead she fired a single shot into the car window, allowing that to serve as a distraction to let them get away.

Oliver wasn't the only one that could inspire fear when needed.

. . .

They returned back to their makeshift base, in their Father's factory, Oliver headed straight over to his desk and started typing away on his computer. Thea pulled down her hood and pulled off her mask, placing her bow back into it's box.

"Do you think he'll pay?" Thea questioned, unsure of why they didn't just make him pay then and there - it would have been more effective than hoping their threat of future violence would be enough.

Oliver shifted in his chair, the greasepaint still on his face and sweat on his brow, "I hope for his sake that he does...but if he doesn't then whatever happens to him is his own fault." He reached up and rubbed at his face, grimacing at the paint on his fingers.

"Having a bit of trouble?" She called out with a smirk, "That's what happens when you use paint instead of using a mask."

"Masks do more harm than good," Oliver retorted without missing a beat, he was used to having this debate with her, "They make you sweat more, stick into and dig into you and they impede on your vision so that you can't see everything you need to see during a fight...I'd rather have to deal with greasepaint than risk getting caught out in a fight."

Thea shook her head, "And when someone sees under your hood and finds out that the Vigilante is actually one of Starling City's most famous celebrities...Oliver Queen, you'll just what?" She tilted her head, "Go to prison for the rest of your life? Leave me alone here to rot?"

"That won't happen Thea." Oliver replied quietly, "And if it does then we'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

Her brother's answer, unsurprisingly, did nothing to ease her anxiety. She understood that he liked to be in control and he liked to be hyper-aware of everything but she didn't feel like either of them getting spotted or arrested anytime soon.

They'd end up dead, trapped in a cell for the rest of their lives or stuck inside of a Psychiatric Facility forever.

Drumming her fingers against her leg she jumped up and hurried over to where her brother had set up a makeshift training area - they still had a bit of work to do.

She decided a bit of target practice was in order, and if she just so happened to imagine that those targets looked like her brother's stubborn face then that was just a strange coincidence.

Because she wasn't annoyed, not at all.

The knife landed in the dead center of it's target.

It was on her second throw that she realised what exactly tonight was, tonight was the date of her 'Welcome back from the dead!' party - courtesy of Tommy.

. . .

Thea Queen headed out of the Queen Mansion alongside her brother, both of them feeling alien in the clothes they were wearing for the party - Thea had gotten her Mother to help her pick out an outfit, she had promised her Mom that they'd go out and buy something but she'd gotten sidetracked. Luckily her Mother had a couple of dresses lying around for her anyways. Thea wasn't used to having to think about what people thought, preferring to wear whatever was comfortable and whatever she could fight in.

Hell, she had worn the same tatty red denim jacket for two years and it never crossed her mind that what she was wearing was't exactly the height of fashion. She had been too busy trying to survive, and now she was back she was finding it hard to shift from that mentality and worry about mundane things.

She opened the car door to find their bodyguard waiting for them, she had been wondering what had happened to him. Whether he had just spent hours roaming the city searching for them or whether he'd gone straight to their Mother and simply waited for them to reappear.

It appeared that Diggle had now gotten someone else to act as a driver, all to keep an eye on them, "Put on your seat-belts...wouldn't want either of you to miss your party."

She had half-expected him to comment on the fact that Oliver was taking his underage sister to a party that was more than likely going to be full of drink and drugs - maybe he just assumed she was going to be following in the steps of her brother.

Thea chuckled and was shocked to see a smile appear on her brother's face as he shook his head in disbelief and sat down next to him.

Maybe this guy wasn't so bad after all.

That didn't mean that she was going to stop ditching him, she was probably just going to start feeling guilty about it. She was feeling guilty about a lot of things these days.

. . .

The party was loud, much louder than she had expected. Although with Tommy Merlyn being the mastermind behind it he didn't really know why she had been expecting anything else, Tommy had been known for throwing the best parties in Starling City - where the alcohol never stopped coming and even the police couldn't shut them down.

And of course there were numerous scantily clad women dancing on poles, it seemed that he still operated under the belief that a party wasn't a party without a stripper or two.

Not that Thea had ever gotten to attend them, with the whole her being twelve at the time of her brother's tearaway party boy phase, this was her first party. If the parties the Bratva threw to cover for their various illegal operations didn't count.

She stood slightly behind her brother, her Mother had taken her dress shopping - after spending at least ten minutes arguing with her Brother about her even being in attendance but he had reasoned that she had been through a lot worse than a party and deserved a break. Plus they shouldn't create more suspicion when they were planning to disappear half way through, at least by attending they gave themselves an alibi.

Plus it was a party in both her and Ollie's honour, it seemed stupid to invite hundreds of people that they didn't know to celebrate the fact they had returned from a desert Island.

"57 minutes." Oliver muttered, taking care to keep his voice low - Thea had to strain to hear him over the loud pulsing of the music.

She nodded and followed him down the stairs, keeping a calm mask firmly in place. Everyone turned around to look at them as they made their way down the stairs, she watched as Tommy signaled for the DJ to cut the music.

"Everybody! Hey!" Tommy yelled, his voice echoing throughout the loft they had hired for the party, he raced up of the stairs and clapped Oliver on the chest "Man and Woman of the hour!" He gestured to them both and the crowd broke into cheers again.

Thea suppressed the flinch that threatened to ripple through her body, she was not used to so many people having eyes on her at once. She looked over at Oliver to see if he was feeling the same way as her but his playboy persona was firmly in place and she watched as he greeted the crowd with a smile and grinned at Tommy.

He was beaming from ear to ear and it was an unnerving expression to see on her usually stoic brother's face, especially since it was fake. His real smile was nothing like that.

"And ladies please! Let's give this man a proper homecoming!" Tommy called out as he guided them down the stairs and through the crowds, people reached out to clap them on the shoulder or back and she was proud of how she was keeping her instincts in check. As they were screaming for her to flip every single one of them and force them onto the ground.

She chuckled as 'We Are The Champions,' began to blare throughout the room, Tommy's choice in music hadn't appeared to have changed that much. She still remembered the days where he and Oliver would parade about the Mansion whilst drunk, singing at the top of their lungs - that had been one of their favorites.

Oliver made his way up onto a raised podium, "Thank you very much everybody!" He called out to the room. She stayed firmly besides Tommy and watched her brother and the crowd with interest.

He looked completely at ease, his arms spread out wide as he acknowledged the crowd - "Ollie! Ollie! Ollie!" Tommy called out to him and passed a shot to him.

He immediately downed it, pretending to feel the burn before grinning and yelling to the crowd "I missed Tequila!" Determined to keep up the pretense of the spoilt, rich, playboy he grinned and opened his arms to the crowd in a mock bow.

Thea was pretty sure that he should have taken Drama whilst he was in High School, or at one of his four former colleges. She chuckled, that shot was probably nothing compared to what Anatoly would serve him whilst they were in Russia.

That was all it took to get the music and the crowd going again.

. . .

Thea was standing next to her brother at the bar, absently spinning an empty shot glass around on the table in front of her. Maybe if her mind wasn't currently on Adam Hunt then she'd be enjoying herself but as it was she was just counting down the minutes until his time ran out.

Diggle was watching her from the corner and she wondered what he thought of her, what assumptions he'd made about her and her brother and why he spent his time looking after spoilt rich kids. This couldn't have been the first party he'd been forced to attend, he was probably going to be deaf by the time he was fifty if this was how he had to spend his time.

She wondered about how she would have been if Oliver had left her behind, maybe she'd be into this kind of thing - getting drunk, getting high and drinking until the early hours of the morning. Maybe she would have been the next 'Oliver Queen' and alternating between being in the tabloids or handcuffs every other week.

"Hey! Does he wipe for you too?" Tommy's voice called out, bringing her back from her thoughts.

Oliver looked vaguely alarmed at the fact that Diggle had been watching them the entire time. Tommy used the grip he had around him to turn him around and point him in the direction of three women who were stood dancing on a podium.

"Now, it is by my rough estimate that you haven't had sex in about..1,839 days." He pointed towards the girls, "And as your wingman I highly recommend Carmen Golden."

"I really don't want to be hearing this.." Thea muttered, rolling her eyes.

Blankly Oliver stared at the three of them, "Which one is she?"

"The one who looks like that chick from twilight." Tommy called back earning an even more confused look from Oliver.

"What's Twilight?" Oliver questioned with his arms folded, squinting at the women.

She snorted, she wasn't surprised that Oliver didn't know what it was and quite frankly he was better off not knowing. In a fit of boredom she started reading the series whilst in Russia - when Oliver was infiltrating the Bratva she'd had a lot of time to kill and Tommy was right. The likeness was astounding, if slightly disturbing.

They both stared at the three women, "You're so better off not knowing." Tommy replied without taking his gaze off of them.

She frowned as Oliver's head jerked towards a figure in the distance, "I'll be right back." He muttered before hurrying off. Thea noticed Diggle's gaze flicker between her and where her brother was headed - she nodded at him and gestured towards Tommy.

That seemed to be enough for the man to straighten and hurry after her brother.

Tommy turned to her with an exasperated expression and she shrugged, "Guess a pretty girl must have caught his eye."

"Well he could have shared." Tommy muttered.

"I really didn't need that mental image, the headlines the morning after you did that the last time were enough for me." She mock-shuddered, thinking back to that day and how many 'interesting' conversations that had let to her having with both her brother and Mother as they tried to explain what exactly the article had been talking about. "You and Ollie corrupted me."

He chuckled, "We provided you with an education...if you hadn't...you know...then you would have been the next 'Billionaire tearaway." Tommy paused, seemingly conflicted "But I'm glad that you didn't turn out like me and Ollie...even if it was because of such horrible circumstances."

"You can say it..." She murmured, "What happened...it's not taboo or anything...I won't have a mental breakdown and cry if you mention the Gambit and that it sank." Tucking a bit of hair behind her ear she grabbed a glass and drank it, all in once, at Tommy's surprised look she shrugged "I need to try alcohol at some point right?"

She wasn't about to admit that she'd had plenty of it in the past year. The familiar burn eased the tension she was feeling ever so slightly, she wanted to be able to talk to Tommy and tell him everything - besides Oliver he was one of the few people she'd had that actually looked out for her when she was younger.

She had missed him.

Tommy smiled and shook his head, "Make sure you don't get drunk now Speedy, or make that nickname literal, Oliver would kill me if I let anything happen to you...and I will happily kill anyone who tries to deal to you."

"I won't...pinky swear." She teased, before pointing towards a group of girls in the distance who had been eyeing Tommy up for the past few minutes, "I think your adoring fans are waiting...better not keep them any longer, right?"

"Right." Tommy called out, smirking and waving at the women, "Yell if you need anything!" He yelled as he was leaving, she didn't acknowledge him with a response - he was already too far away to hear anything that she said.

. . .

Meanwhile

"What's Twilight?" He didn't pay attention to his friend's reply as a familiar face in the crowd caught his attention, Laurel was currently making her way through the crowd and appeared to be headed straight for him.

"Back in a minute." He muttered as he ran over towards Laurel, surprised by the fact that she had shown up.

"Oh! Your here?" Oliver called out, accidentally phrasing that last part like a question but he couldn't help it. He had assumed the last place she would want to be would be anywhere near him.

"Tommy." She answered, "He made the point that we have too many years between us to leave the things the way we left them." Laurel looked around at the chaotic party scene around them and then frowned, "Is there someplace else we could go? Somewhere quieter?"

Oliver jerkily nodded his head, still too shocked to say anything apart from, "Yeah."

. . .

The pair made their way to a quieter section of the building, Oliver was painfully aware that Hunt and therefore his deadline was running out. Laurel turned to him and seemed to be weighing up her words, "I'm sorry for saying that it should have been you that died...that was wrong."

Oliver shook his head, he didn't want to make her feel as if she had to forgive him, "If I could trade places with her I would." And his words rang true, if he could trade his place with any of his fallen friends he would do it, in a heartbeat.

She sighed and kept pausing before speaking, making Oliver tense up slightly in anticipation of whatever she was going to say next, "About Sara...there's been something I've been afraid to ask but I need to know."

"Okay." Oliver nodded, eyeing her up carefully.

"When she died, did she suffer?" Oliver froze, he could feel Laurel staring at him as she waited for the answered that could crush her and break her into a million pieces. He didn't know what to say, should he tell her that she made it for two years and then cruelly snatch it away or tell a white lie and tell her that Sara had drowned on the ship.

A small part of him wished she had instead of her having to go through the two years of hell that she had been forced to go through before she died on the Amazo. And then Sara's request, that if she didn't make it and he did - for him to tell them she died on the Gambit.

"No." He finally managed to breathe out and he made sure to keep eye contact with Laurel as he told her, carefully watching for her reaction.

Laurel nodded, seeming to process the information before speaking again, "I think about her everyday."

"Me, too." He answered honestly, there wasn't a day that went by without him thinking about Sara or Shado or Slade. Thinking about how he had lost them, thinking about Akio's death and his grief-stricken parents Maseo and Tatsu. Thinking about Taiana, how she decided to die rather than become a monster.

He carried their deaths with him every single day.

That seemed to resonate with Laurel, "I guess we have one thing in common then." She let out a shaky laugh as she ran a hand through her hair, "I can't believe I'm going to say this but if you need someone to talk about what happened to you or Thea needs someone to look out for her...I'm here."

Oliver was about to respond when the sound of his phone vibrating cut him off, he pulled out his phone and saw that it was now ten o'clock. It appeared that he now had an appointment he needed to get to with Adam Hunt.

Laurel must have noticed how his expression clouded over as her voice called out to him, full of concern "Is something wrong?"

"I asked somebody to do something for me, they didn't do it." Oliver closed his eyes, already hating himself for what he was about to do but if it saved Laurel in the long wrong then he was going to have to. This was for the best. He had to believe that. "Laurel..you always saw the best in me." And it was true, she had been one of the few good things in his life and yet he had still managed to ruin it, his voice became cold and almost mocking "Right now, that's what your doing, your looking at me and wondering if that Island changed me somehow."

And it did, it had changed him from a spoilt party-boy to a Monster.

Something that was barely human and didn't deserve to be viewed as such.

He ignored how hurt she looked how tears seemed to be building up in her eyes and how confused and upset she looked, she had just trusted him and tried to make amends. Hell she even offered to be a shoulder to cry on to the man who killed her sister.

She should hate him, he was just going to make it easier for her.

"It didn't." He muttered, his voice becoming deathly calm as he continued, as if he was telling someone the weather rather than crushing the woman he had once loved. Knowing that there was no going back, he continued "Stay away from me...otherwise I'm just going to hurt you again but this time it'll be worse."

Without leaving her a chance to do anything he plastered on a smile and gave her a wave, putting his persona back in place "Gotta roll! I've got five years of debauchery to catch up on!"

She didn't let him walk away, strolling right back up to him with her eyes full of anger she squared up to him, "You know what Oliver? You're wrong, that Island did change you." She let out a bitter laugh and shook her head, expression full of disgust and hatred, "At least now your honest."

He watched as she walked away without saying a word, he had never hated himself as much as he did in that moment.

Oliver hurried back towards the party and found Thea back where she had been when he had left, he placed his hand on her shoulder and leaned in so that only she could hear him - "Time's up." She immediately stood up and nodded at him.

They made their way towards the maintenance and staff corridors of the building, someone needed to make the man pay for what he had done, if Laurel couldn't do it in the courtroom then he'd do the courts jobs for them.

The city must really be failing apart if it took two former castaways to right it's wrongs.

As they made their way through the hallways, hoping that none of the staff would notice them and think anything of their sudden appearance there and disappearance from their party - A voice called out from behind them, a mixture between annoyed and amused, "Something I can help you with sir?"

They both sighed and spun around to see Diggle following behind them, non too happy about the fact that the two people he had been assigned to protect had ditched him yet again.

If the man didn't have a habit of showing up just when he needed to be alone Oliver might have been impressed by Diggle's ability to appear out of nowhere.

"We just wanted a second to ourselves." He replied with a forced smile.

He felt Thea nod beside him, "It was too loud in there...we'll be back in a minute or two Diggle."

Diggle shook his head and made his way towards him with his hands in his pockets, "I would believe you Mr. Queen if you weren't so full of crap." The man gestured towards where an entrance to the room where the party was being held, "I believe the parties this way."

Oliver chuckled and nodded to himself as Diggle called him out on his lies, he guessed he'd have to resort to Plan B. He walked towards the door and pretended to push on it, when the door didn't move he turned around to Diggle and shrugged, "It's locked."

When the man leaned forwards to check it out for himself Oliver chose that moment to strike, grabbing and placing the man into a choke hold. Leaving him immobilized and unconscious, when he was satisfied that his body guard would be alright and that there would be no permanent damage he placed him against the wall and hurried over to where he needed to be.

Thea looked at him as if she was deciding whether to thank him or scold him, she seemed to settle on something in the middle of that, "Did you just choke-hold our security guard? Isn't that going to raise the question of where and how you learned to choke-hold people? Why did you choke-hold him? We could have just ditched him in the crowd..Ollie!"

He shrugged and raised an eyebrow at her, a silent way for him to ask her what she'd been planning on doing.

They didn't have time to debate when Adam Hunt was waiting for them.

It would be rude of them to keep him waiting.

. . .

Thea cut off the power in Hunt's building, she smirked as she imagined how people had probably started to run around like headless chickens just about now. Power-cuts were the perfect distractions, people were far too dependent on fighting in well lit areas that if you turned the lights off then they tended to be at a disadvantage.

And since she learned to fight on a deserted Island then in abandoned warehouses and a small Hong-Kong home then in ARGUS facilities and whatever run down place Anatoly was operating out of.

She hurried back towards the elevator where she and Oliver would be entering, the elevator had it's own generator and system - she cut the power that went to the lights but most of the building's other functions were still working.

Making sure her hood and mask were firmly in place she shared a look with Oliver before they got inside of the elevator. She checked that she had her knives, that she was ready to fire from her bow and that she remembered the plan.

Being inside the elevator was bringing back bad memories and so she was distracting herself with the case, with Adam Hunt and how they were going to take him down.

He really should have taken their option of paying back the money of his own free will.

"You fire out at the guards furthest away from the doors whilst I'll handle whoever is directly outside of the elevator." He ordered as he thought it through in his head.

She nodded and got ready to go, they were only two floors away from the top.

Where hunt and his men were going to be waiting.

The sound of the elevator arriving at Hunt's floor signaled that it was time for them to start, as soon as the door opened she fired off an arrow towards the man opposite the elevator - he fell to the ground before he could even get off a shot at them.

She turned her attention to scanning their surroundings and checking for anyone else she needed to take out, Oliver jerked into action as he attacked the men outside of the elevator. Using his bow as a weapon, Shado had taught him that - that people didn't expect a bow to be used as a hand to hand weapon, he took on the two guards nearest to him. Slamming the end into the man's arm and then jerking it backwards to take out the man who was about to attack him from behind.

Thea smirked as they went crashing to the ground, it appeared that five years of hell had taught them well, she grabbed the man who was approaching them and flipped him onto the ground - sending the two men who Oliver was fighting with onto the ground.

"I had them." He muttered as he raised his bow and readied himself for an attack.

She smirked, "I know...but why let you have all of the fun." And she had totally just saved him, even if he would never admit it.

"Focus." He grit out as they advanced on Hunt's office.

A man appeared from the wings with a machine gun raised towards them, they simultaneously threw a knife and a bow respectively towards the man.

Oliver jumped up at the wall and used the momentum from jumping off of the wall to grab the man's neck and twisted it around. Thea grabbed man's body before he hit the ground and used it to shielded herself from the bullets that had been fired towards her - Oliver had dived behind a column.

She supposed his trick from the warehouse really had come in handy.

He jumped and grabbed his bow from the ground but another gunman came out of the shadows, Oliver jumped forwards towards the man, wrestling the gun off of him and sending him hurtling towards the glass.

A part of her felt sorry for the man, she completely understood why Oliver had done it - everyone inside of that room would be acting purely on instinct and would have fired on them straight away as soon they entered the room.

Either way that guy was certainly dead now.

They waited until the sound of gunfire ended and headed towards the hole where the glass had been shattered, he pulled back his bow and fired an arrow at the man who had been shooting a couple of seconds before.

Thea shot an arrow towards one of the gunmen who had been about to fire at them.

Oliver used his spare hand to punch the man off to the side he watched as he fell down to the ground, he scanned the room for any more threats. Thea let off a warning shot and fired behind Hunt, at least she hoped that was what he'd view it as - they'd worked for a long time on that arrow and if he moved it from where it was then they'd never get their money.

"You missed." Hunt taunted, in an attempt to hide his fear.

"Really?" Oliver questioned dryly, his bow pointed in the direction of the man's face. All he had to do was let go and the man would end up with an arrow through his eye.

He wouldn't be able to hurt anyone then.

Movement from besides him caught them both by surprise and they ducked as a figure jumped out and grabbed the end of Oliver's bow. Oliver and Thea cursed the fact that they hadn't noticed the man's presence and fought against the newcomer in the fight.

He blocked and deflected the man's punches, ignoring how the one's that he failed to defend himself from send waves of pain through his body.

He could block it out long enough to fight.

Movement from besides him caught him by surprise and he ducked as two figures jumped out and one of them jerked towards him and grabbed the end of his bow. Oliver cursed the fact that he hadn't noticed the man's presence and fought against the newcomer in the fight.

He blocked and deflected the man's punches, ignoring how the one's that he failed to defend himself from send waves of pain through his body.

He could block it out long enough to fight.

He wasn't about to let Hunt get away.

Vaguely he could hear Hunt talking to someone as he ran out of the room, "He's here!" And a part of him was aware of Thea fighting another guard behind them.

Adrenaline coursing through him he sent the man over his shoulder and crashing into a coffee table behind him, the man tried to get himself on top of Oliver in attempt to choke him or pull down his hood.

Oliver used his legs to get the man into a choke hold, he watched as the man gasped desperately for air, trying to pry Oliver's legs off from around his neck.

The man used his body as leverage and swung himself to the side, escaping Oliver's grip.

As he tried to make a break for it Oliver jumped up and chased after him, using a roundhouse kick to send his foot flying into the man's face.

He stumbled and went crashing into a vase, the man pulled out a knife and Oliver jerked back into action.

Knives meant all or nothing, hand to hand was one thing but weapons were another.

Pulling his own knife from out of it's sheath he jerked forwards towards the man, pulling at his hand and trying to wrestle it out of his opponents grip. He heard the satisfying sound of the man's fingers breaking as he pulled his fingers backwards.

Using the fact that the man faltered to his advantage he jerked his knee into his groin and pushed the man toward's the ground.

He thought that he had gained the upper hand when he realised just what he had pushed his opponent towards, he jerked backwards as the man went for the machine gun. Desperately trying to avoid the spray of bullets that were making their way towards him.

Grabbing an arrow from his sleeve he threw in towards the man as he jumped towards the opposite end of the room, he hit the ground as he landed and felt himself be claimed by the darkness.

Unconsciousness taking hold no matter how much he tried to fight it.

Oblivious to the police force that were making their way towards him.

. . .

Meanwhile

Thea spun around as the two men emerged from the shadows, she silently cursed the fact that they hadn't noticed them. She let Oliver go for the larger one and went for the other man, spining around and the gun out of his hand to stop him shooting her brother.

The man pushed her towards the wall and she let out a grunt of pain as she was sent crashing into it, that was going to leave a hell of a lot of bruises, pulling herself back up she grabbed her bow and lunged towards him. He didn't have a gun but a glint of metal told her that he had a knife, she gripped her bow in her hand spun it so that it hit him in the face.

She kicked him in the shin and slammed her bow into his back, using that momentum to knock him onto the ground. He let out a grunt of pain and she winced and cried out slightly as he jerked his head up into her stomach.

The man used that to push himself up from the ground and bolt towards where Oliver was currently fighting another man. She could vaguely hear Hunt calling out to someone from his office and she frowned as footsteps echoed through the building - backup.

Crap, things were about to get more complicated.

She used her bow to fire off a shot towards the man as he tried to run away, it pierced through his shin and he stumbled. She used that stumble to catch up to him and knock him back onto the ground, copying one of her brother's usual moves she hit the man on the head with a bow and knocked him out.

His eyes rolled back and he fell into the abyss.

She let out a satisfied noise before turning her attention back towards Oliver where he was currently fighting the other man, the sound of bullets echoing through the room caused her to fire off an arrow towards her brother's attacker before jumping down to avoid the bullets. She cried out as he went crashing into the wall and she watched as he fell unconscious.

Making sure to stay low she hurried over to him, "Wake up...crap...crap.." She muttered to herself as she tried to wake him up, lightly slapping his cheek.

The sound of footsteps and voices caught her attention, reluctantly tearing herself away from her brother she shot off a couple of arrows towards them in an attempt to stop them from getting too close to them. She couldn't risk them getting caught whilst Ollie was unconscious.

. . .

He felt himself jerk awake and let out a pained grunt as he rolled onto his front and made his way towards his bow. He couldn't risk blacking out again, if he did that he would either end up dead or behind bars for the rest of his life.

Ignoring the pain shooting through his body from where a bullet had managed to graze him he grabbed his bow and ducked for cover, the sound of the police's footsteps could be heard loud and clear.

They were nearly upon them.

He looked up to see Thea shooting off arrows towards the man approaching them, groggily he grabbed the bow and shot the man before shooting a couple of arrows towards them before making a desperate dash towards the window, sending himself flying out of the window. He used his bow as a way to cling onto the zipwire he had created before, he had shot an arrow from the roof of the building of the party as a last ditch escape route.

Thea smirked and was pretty proud of her foresight, the zipline had been her idea - Oliver's idea had been to scale the building or just fight their way out. She quickly fired an arrow towards the nearest officer before copying her brother and going down the wire.

They flew down the line, leaving two very confused detective's in their wake.

. . .

Oliver rushed through the building as he took off his Hood disguise, he knew that the first place the Detectives would go would be to the party and he couldn't risk being noticeably absent. Not with the way Detective Lance already being suspicious of him.

Thea hurried alongside him, pulling off her mask and disguise to reveal what she had been wearing before. Sighing she decided that flats would have to do as she'd forgotten to stash her heels on the roof.

He made it back in time to see Detective Lance talking to Tommy, he clenched his fists as he overheard the last part of their exchange, "Did you roofie anybody special tonight?"

He tensed at that, even in their younger days that was a line that Tommy would never have crossed. Oliver couldn't say anything about himself but Tommy was better than that, Tommy had always been better than that.

"Detective!" He called out with forced cheer, "It's a private party."

Lance scowled at him, his anger increasing by the second, "Yeah? There was an attack at Adam Hunt's building...you know anything about that?"

He chose to feign ignorance, shaking his head and shooting a confused look at Tommy, "Who's Adam Hunt?"

"He's a millionaire bottom feeder," Lance replied with venom, "I'm kind of surprised that you two aren't friends."

Thea chose that point to cut in and shrugged, "We've been out of town for a while."

"Yeah." Detective Lance looked at Oliver with an accusing expression, "Well, he just got attacked by the guy with the hood, the guy that saved your ass the other day."

"The hood guy." Oliver asked with raised eyebrows, he shot the Detective a shiteating grin and stood up on the platform to address the crowd, "You didn't find him? I'm gonna offer a reward." He raised his voice, "Hey, everybody! $2 million to anybody that can find a nut bar in a green hood!"

His playboy persona earned him a disgusted look from Lance, "Did you even try to save her?"

Detective Hilton shook his head, wanting to stop the situation before it went any further, "Sara wouldn't want this." He reminded his partner in a low tone.

"It's not-" Lance protested but Hilton cut him off.

"It's alright." He gently guided Lance away from Merlyn and Queen, "It's alright...let's go."

Oliver tensed under his friend's scrutiny before grinning and calling out to the crowd, "It's too quiet in here! This is a party!" He jumped down from the podium as the crowd cheered and the music came back on.

"Some coincidence," Tommy joked although Oliver could see the suspicion behind it, "I mean, you asking to have your party here, and Hunt getting robbed right next door and by the same guy who rescued us at the warehouse."

Not in the mood to deal with his friends' questions he patted him on the back, "If I were you I would just be glad you were alive."

Tommy looked up at him with a confused expression, the change in his friend's tone caused him shake his head at Oliver "What happened to you on that island?"

With a deadly seriously expression he met his friend's inquiring gaze, "A lot."

A hell of a lot.

He put his hands into his pockets and walked away, not looking back at the hurt and confused expression on his best friend's face.

Thea shot Tommy an apologetic look, "I'm sorry...I guess he isn't in the mood for a party Tommy...I'll see you at the Mansion alright?" She wished she could tell Tommy everything but he'd probably hate her, hate her for what she had done on the Island and what she had been doing ever since. She wasn't as cold as Ollie but that didn't mean much, she was still a Monster - she could just hide it behind a smile and a sense of humor.

Sighing she hurried after her brother, at least they'd gotten the money for Hunt's victims.

. . .

Whilst he made his way back to the lair he could practically hear Adam Hunt's screaming and confusion from the factory. He knew that the slightly discrepancy in the man's bank account would have probably been noticed by now.

When he got back he watched the bank transfer happen on the screen, he was probably going to let Thea handle the tech stuff in the future - she was better at it than him.

And as much as he hated it he knew that the Hunt job would have been a hell of a lot smoother if he'd brought Thea along.

The money was being transferred to Hunt's victims, $50,000 each. He wished it could be more but Hunt's list of victims was so long that even $40,000,000 didn't stretch that far.

Oliver stared into the paper booklet he had salvaged whilst cleaning up the warehouse, his Father's face was staring back at him. Oliver could only hope that he was doing the right thing, that his Dad would have wanted him to do this.

To save the city.

Sighing he looked down at the notebook and crossed a name off of the list, one down - hundreds to go.

"Thought I'd find you here," He looked up to see Thea approaching him, "Hoped you might have gone to the Mansion...Mom's probably waiting for us."

"I'll be there in a bit Thea." He murmured, eyes fixed on the notebook.

"We did it, Hunt's victims got their money and we didn't even have to kill the guy." She tried again, "I'd call that a win Ollie."

...

Thea sat cross legged on her bed, she had gone back to the Mansion in the hopes that Oliver would be joining her soon but he hadn't been. She assumed he'd decided to stay in the lair and finish up their business with Hunt back in the lair, she'd covered for him and told their Mom that he'd gone with some girl. She hadn't been surprised at that.

A knock at the door caught her attention, she looked up to see Tommy Merlyn hovering in the doorway with a paper bag in his hand. "Tommy?" She questioned, "What's up?"

"Well...I was thinking...I have five years of movie nights to catch up on..you've missed the last three Harry Potter movies...and so that got me wondering," He smiled and pulled out two bags of popcorn, "Sweet or salty Speedy?"

"Sweet," Thea chuckled as she caught the bag, "I thought there was only two left...did they write another book or something?"

"Nope," He replied as he sat down next to her on the bed, "They split the last one into two movies...money making and all that." Tommy grinned at her, "So...what do you say? I've got the movies ready all you have to do is say the word Speedy."

"Don't call me that." She murmured, lightly shoving him.

Tommy rolled his eyes and put on the movie, "I'll have you know I missed out on two beautiful models for this...I think that earns me the right to call you Speedy."

Sighing she shuffled to get into a more comfortable position as Tommy put the movie on, she let out a content sigh as she got ready to watch the movie and she felt normal for the first time in a long time. She had missed Tommy and she had missed being normal.

It was a nice feeling, she just hoped that Oliver would get to feel it too.

For now she could forget about the Mission and the hell they'd been through and just enjoy some stupid movie.

...

A/N - Hopefully that's better.