"No word from Laurel yet?" Thea asked her brother as she entered his office.
"None. I don't get it, she said on the phone she'd come home after all the Earth 2 metas were put behind bars, but that was weeks ago and she's still out in Central City." Oliver said.
"Maybe she wanted to continue helping fight metahumans, since she's also one." Thea said.
"She would've called. I'm getting worried about her." Oliver said.
"Ollie, maybe instead of worrying about Laurel, you should focus on the fact that you literally saved the whole world from Damien Darhk and nuclear destruction." Thea asked.
"I'm trying to Thea, but it would be easier if Laurel would answer my calls and I had a team again." Oliver said, since after they'd stopped Darhk, Thea, John and Felicity had left the team to pursue their own paths. Felicity had gotten her job at Palmer Tech back and had renamed the company Smoak Technologies, John had reenlisted in the military after some stuff that happened with his brother and Thea had decided to leave the team just to see if she could be anything other than Speedy and was currently Oliver's chief of staff.
"Ollie, you know why we left." Thea said.
"I know, it's just, I got so used to having a team watching my back that it's a bit of a change to be back to doing it alone." Oliver said.
"You know, no one would blame you if you wanted to take a break from playing Robin Hood and just be Oliver Queen." Thea said.
"Unlike you, I don't have that luxury. This city still needs someone to protect it." Oliver said, right as his phone beeped.
"Looks like my other duty calls." Oliver said as he got up.
"Where are you going?" Thea asked.
"Sorry, that's classified." Oliver said as he walked out of the office.
When the elevator doors opened, Oliver was surprised to see there was someone waiting for him.
"Laurel." Oliver said.
"I took so long to get home, but Zoom nearly killed Barry's father and he asked me to keep an eye on Henry while he handled it." Laurel said.
"At least you have a good excuse." Oliver said.
"Also, I wanted to surprise you." Laurel said.
"So, I assume that you sent me that alert and it was fake?" Oliver asked.
"No, it was real. Only I didn't let you see it until after I sent the guy to Iron Heights like an hour ago." Laurel said with a smile.
"Why?" Oliver asked.
"Because, I wanted some alone time with you Mr. Queen." Laurel said.
"You know, I tried calling you back, several times actually. You never answered." Oliver said.
"I was a bit busy trying to keep my head on." Laurel said.
"So you still feel the same way about me?" Oliver asked.
"Yes, but the question remains, how do you feel about me?" Laurel asked.
Oliver walked up to her and cupped her cheek in his hand.
"I think this should answer your question." Oliver said as he kissed her.
"Good answer." Laurel said with a smile.
"So, are you here to stay?" Oliver asked.
"As long as you want me to." Laurel said.
"Then I guess you're staying forever, because I've lost you twice now, once when the Queen's Gambit went down and once when I let you go to Central City without a fight. I don't intend to make it three times." Oliver said.
"So, where's the rest of the team? I thought you'd all come running." Laurel said.
"There is no more team. They all left after I killed Darhk. Felicity retook control of Palmer Tech and generously returned my bank accounts and mansion to me by the way, Dig rejoined the military and I'm not sure what country he's in right now and Thea is currently my chief of staff." Oliver said.
"Why would they do that?" Laurel asked.
"Well Felicity was just being selfish, but I understood John and Thea's reasoning. John left because of some things that went down with his apparently not dead brother Andy, which resulted in him actually having to put Andy down for real and Thea felt like after everything that had happened with the bloodlust and she just kind of jumped right into being Speedy, she needed time to get away and figure things out." Oliver said.
"Well, I think you can consider me the first recruit of your new team." Laurel said.
Oliver smiled and as he kissed her again before saying "I think I'll need to see your credentials first."
"If you've got some comfortable furniture in here, I'll more than happily show you a lot more than that." Laurel said with a smile.
"Follow me." Oliver said.
Rather than following him, Laurel wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist and Oliver quickly picked up on what she wanted and smiled as they continued to kiss.
After they'd finished getting reacquainted, Oliver and Laurel got redressed and headed back out to the main room of the bunker where Lyla Diggle was waiting for them.
"Lyla, what's up?" Oliver asked.
"Well for starters, you 2 were not quiet at all, so congratulations." Lyla said with a knowing smile.
"Thanks, but I get the feeling that you're not here for that?" Oliver asked.
"You're right. I'm here because Johnny's back in the states and he's in trouble." Lyla said.
"What sort of trouble?" Laurel asked.
"General Walker framed him for trying to sell a stolen nuke. John's in prison on false charges." Lyla said.
"So, you have connections with Argus, can't you find some proof that John is innocent?" Oliver asked.
"I would except he doesn't want me to. He believes he deserves to pay a penance for killing Andy." Lyla said.
"Than I guess it's a good thing I don't give a damn about what he wants. I'm not gonna let another friend suffer for false charges." Oliver said, showing that he still blamed himself for Roy.
"I was hoping you'd say that, since I need your help breaking him out. Sara and JJ need their father and I need my husband back." Lyla said.
"And I need my best friend and partner back. I'll get him out. Laurel, I'm not expecting you to agree with that though." Oliver said, turning towards his new/old girlfriend.
"I'm on board. But, I think it's best if only you and Lyla do this. My powers would raise too suspicion." Laurel said.
"Agreed." Oliver said, kissing her before he and Lyla walked out to finalize their plans.
"Besides, I think I know something that needs to be made right, especially given the status of the team." Laurel said as she pulled out her phone.
