Chapter 7

"How dare you?" She said in the coldest tone she could muster.

"How dare you be here. Be alive. Be like nothing had happened" Tommy and Thea fixed their gaze on the ground while Oliver looked at her calmly, waiting to hear everything he knew he deserved to hear.

"I wish I could say that I'm glad to see you but no, you won't hear lies from me. I'm not like you" She clenched her fists.

"I'm sorry Laurel. I'm so very sorry, I know I did…" Oliver started but Laurel didn't let him finish.

"Don't. I don't want to hear your apologies; this lifetime is not enough for you to apologize to me. I'm done with you for the rest of my life. When it comes to your friend Tommy, or your family, it's up to them to be fooled by you" She took hold of the hem of her gown and looked at her husband.

"I'll wait in the car" She told him and marched away.

They stood silent for what seemed an eternity and then Oliver said.

"Well, it could have been worse"

"I'm sorry Oliver" Tommy said.

"Oh please, don't be. She has every right to be mad at me. No question" He made a pause.

"But I hope you are not too mad at me either" He added.

Tommy made a half smile.

"Oh, I was. You have no idea how mad I was at you and how much I missed you. You told me nothing, you didn't write me, I thought you were dead. You were my best friend"

He took a deep breath. "And you still will be. But we need more than a few dinner nights at the Verdant"

Oliver gave him a hopeful look.

"There are many things I want to tell you. To my family. But there is still a lot to process, even for me. Please be patient" He admitted.

"I will" He made a few steps forward, and winked to Thea.

"Now, won't you give a hug to your old friend?"

Oliver couldn't believe his ears. He hadn't cried in a very long time, he hadn't even cried when he'd seen his father grave for the first time. But now, in front of his friend, he felt his eyes filling with tears. He shook his head and opened his arms to Tommy. He had a long path ahead of him to recuperate Tommy's friendship and he knew he couldn't fail one single thing.

"You know, this lovely portrait is really making teary, but maybe we could move this affection showing somewhere else than a cemetery?" Thea said clearing her voice.

"You have a point" Tommy laughed.

They left the cemetery. When they reached the main entrance gate, Oliver didn't even attempt to greet Laurel, she was sitting in the backseat of the car staring at the opposite direction. Tommy and Oliver gave each other an understanding nod and left.

Oliver instructed the driver to drop Thea at the Verdant and then to take him to the magazine. A few blocks before he asked the driver to stop, he'd decided he wanted to walk to the building. It was a sunny day and he thought walking would help him clear his mind, precisely about Laurel.

He admitted to himself that there wasn't really something he could do about. Only time would tell if she could forgive him. Maybe a happy life at Tommy's side would make her put aside her hard, however right, feelings. He'd promised Tommy to tell him everything but he already knew he couldn't. He needed to think carefully about it. Circumstances had drove him further away from home, but it the end it had been his decision to stay in Africa. How could he explain it or justify it?

He frowned and looked around him. And then something caught his eye in a small alley he passed by. Two big men, dressed in dark clothes were threatening who seemed to be a young boy. Oliver came closer and saw that he was actually a young man, perhaps in his twenties.

"Now tell us where did you get this gun! Did you steal it? It's very expensive, it comes from the Merlyn Gun Factory and they sure as hell don't sell guns to a nobody like you" Oliver heard one of them say.

"I…I didn't steal it. I found it in a dumpster in The Glades" The boy yelled. It was evident that he couldn't stand a chance in front of those two, nevertheless he didn't seem afraid to stand up against them.

"Hmmm…I find it hard to believe" The other man said checking the gun "Well, it belongs to our boss, so we are taking it back"

The first man who'd spoke raised his fist to hit the boy when Oliver jumped and punched him down. Then, as he saw the other one preparing to hit him, he punched him down too. He grabbed the boy by the arm and run away with him.

He quickly glanced back to make sure the two men were still down and then he turned to the young man.

"Are you all right? What was that?" He asked gently.

"Nothing"

"It's far from nothing. But I understand you are shaken. Do you want to sit down somewhere, take a coffee?"

Oliver was still holding him by the arm, and realized the boy relaxed himself a little.

"No, I need to get back home, my mother is sick"

"Did you really find the gun in a dumpster?" He asked cautiously.

"Yes!" He said trying to sound outraged. "I thought I could sell it somewhere and get some money. But those men saw me and thought otherwise"

"Were they following you?"

"I think they were looking for that gun too, and caught me"

"Do you have a job?" Oliver asked.

"I live in The Glades man…there are no jobs, not for veterans, not for me. That place is one hell, criminals everywhere, starting from Merlyn. And the city doesn't care about us. But then, you look like a fine rich man, what would you know about it?"

"I have been away from home for a long time, there are a lot of things I don't know about my city anymore" Oliver admitted.

He gave a quick look at the young man. There was something quite fierce in his expression. Of someone who wasn't willing to give up but didn't know where to go.

"What's your name?"

"Roy…. Roy Harper, sir"

"If you are in need of a job, come meet me at the Starling Weekly. I'm Oliver Queen" Oliver nodded and left Roy stunned.

Roy had read on the papers the story of Oliver Queen. It had seemed so unreal. And there he was, offering him a job. He followed him mouth open as he walked away.

Oliver went back to his office. That piece of information Roy Harper had given him was more than interesting. There had always been something shady about Merlyn. Oliver always showed respect to him because he was Tommy's father and he seemed to be such a good friend with his own father. The Merlyn Industries included a gun factory, a construction company, and airplane engine factory. It wasn't the first time he'd heard rumors about Merlyn being involved in activities that defy legality, but as his father dismissed them vehemently he hadn't given them more thoughts. What could Merlyn possibly be doing in The Glades? He went through different possibilities in his mind.

Oliver stood up and went to the wall behind his desk, where the arrow Xhabo had given him was hung. He touched the string feeling the material in his hands.

"What kind of arrowheads do you use sir?" He heard a female voice behind him. It was Felicity.

Oliver was startled.

"I…I don't have any arrowheads left, haven't been using it since I came back"

"Would you use it again, if you had the heads?"

"What for? You don't hunt in Starling City"

"Fight the crime. The city could use some help" She said half-jokingly. She came close to him, in front of the bow.

"For placing this bow on the wall, it must have a very important significance for you. It would be a shame not to use it anymore, even if it was for practice. I have some material in the storage room, been there for ages. I think I could build you some arrowheads" She offered.

"I can make them too" He assured her.

"Off course. But mine would be much better. Give me a few days, can't take too much time off work you know" She said laughing while leaving the office.

Fight the crime. Where on earth did she come with this idea.

But then he remembered again his meeting with Roy Harper. And the fact that his father had died in a plane accident, a plane built by Merlyn's company. The thought that were rushing through his mind were becoming a plan. A plan that was crazy but somehow it made sense.