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Chapter 29: The Stand

It was around one o'clock when Oliver noticed that Felicity was acting strange. He'd just walked back into his office at Queen Consolidated after going to the bathroom when his eyes fell upon Felicity. The Beta was sitting behind her desk, her eyes glued to her computer as she chewed on the end of a pen. As Oliver's eyes fell upon Dig who was standing sentry by the door, he noticed the Alpha was also staring at Felicity.

"Felicity, is there a problem?" Oliver asked as he came to stand in front of her desk.

"Nope, nope. There's no problem here!" Felicity exclaimed, pulling the pen she'd been chewing on out from between her teeth.

Cocking his head to one side, Oliver fixed her with a stare. Usually, when Felicity had information for them related to recent outbreaks of crime in the city, she was forthcoming in sharing said information with him and Dig. Even when they were all at Queen Consolidated and couldn't actively focus their efforts on apprehending criminals. The way Felicity squirmed slightly under his narrowed gaze led Oliver to believe she wasn't keeping such intel from him.

After a moment, Felicity flopped back in her chair and let out a sigh. "You don't want to know about it, okay? At least, not right now you don't, but I promise I'll tell you about it later."

Before Oliver could question the meaning behind her words, Dig's voice drew his attention.

"Drop it for the moment, Oliver."

At this, Oliver frowned slightly. When Dig flicked his head in the direction of Oliver's desk, the Omega somewhat reluctantly took a seat.

It wasn't until the three of them left Queen Consolidated at six o'clock did Oliver question what Felicity was hiding again. Diggle was driving them down to Verdant and Felicity was in the back of the car beside him.

"What had you so… fidgety earlier?" Oliver asked, his gaze sliding over to meet Felicity's. "And why does Dig know but I don't? Whatever this is, I'm not going to like it, am I?"

"Not one bit," Dig stated. The Alpha momentarily flicked his eyes up to the rear-view mirror. As he'd expected, Oliver was scowling and Felicity looked nervous, biting at her lower lip.

Felicity let out a small sound of uncertainty before grabbing her tablet out of her handbag. She pulled up a webpage on the device before handing it to Oliver. "Just read this and it should make sense why I didn't want to bother you with this earlier."

Oliver promptly glanced down at the tablet. On it was a tabloid article displaying a picture of his face and just the sight of that alone made Oliver want to roll his eyes. Tabloids were disreputable and the Omega had learned a long time ago to not pay them much attention as oftentimes the information they spread was false. The title of the article caused Oliver's breath to hitch in his throat.

Oliver Queen: Alpha, Omega, or Beta anomaly?

"Great," Oliver huffed, averting his gaze from the webpage. This wasn't the first time the media had questioned whether he was actually a Beta or not but Oliver hadn't seen an article like like this in over seven years. He would have thought tabloid journalists would have lost interest in writing about his dynamic.

"I know," Felicity droned. "But… unfortunately, a lot of the information presented in the article is factual. I even did my own research to confirm it. Basically, the article's disputing that you're actually a Beta because of the dynamic of your mother and sister. This is just one of several articles to have cropped up in the last twenty-four hours."

I should have guessed that much, Oliver lamented to himself as Felicity took her tablet from him. Why wouldn't there be multiple tabloids trying to discredit my dynamic.

"I did some research earlier on dynamic gene inheritance—y'know, like how everyone takes their dominant gene, their dynamic, from their dam, and their recessive gene from their sire—and unfortunately, there's not a lot you can dispute here. All of the speculation in the article is at least scientifically plausible."

"Of course. Of course that'd be the case," Oliver said, his voice ripe with sarcasm at his own misfortune.

"So…" Felicity started after she'd put her tablet back in her handbag. "Either your mom isn't your mom, she isn't Thea's mom—which is a plausible theory as the public has no way of knowing if your mom's recessive gene is that of a Beta or an Alpha—you're a rare genetic anomaly where the genes you've inherited don't match up to your mom's, you're an Alpha, or you're an Omega. It's one of the five. The first two options raise the most controversy, the third is the least plausible, and option four… well, there's gossip flying around that you can't be an Alpha because you don't have a…" Felicity trailed off and waved her hand in the air.

"A knot?"

At Oliver's words, Felicity screwed up her face. "Yeah… because you can umm… feel it… and people who are claiming to have slept with you are saying you don't have one." She shook her head, some of the tightness vanishing from her face before she offered Oliver a sad smile. "So yeah, the tabloids and media will likely either dispute your or Thea's parentage, or you pretty much have to be an Omega. That's it."

Oliver let out a huff. "Why is it everyone always disputes my dynamic but I never hear anyone dispute Thea's?"

"Because Alpha and Omega scents can't be easily feigned whereas Beta sprays make it easy for people to pose as Betas," Dig chimed in.

Oliver didn't bother to tell the Alpha that his question had been rhetorical. Really, if he had to choose between people spreading rumours about his dynamic or his sister's, he'd rather the tabloids be writing about him. Thea didn't deserve people debating her dynamic as she had nothing to hide. He on the other hand did.

Silence fell over the trio.

As Oliver folded his arms over his chest and leaned back against the leather car seat, he realised something. The fact that an article debating his dynamic had just sprung up now struck Oliver as odd.

"I told Thea about my dynamic yesterday," Oliver said. His chest tightened as he spoke. Just the thought that Thea might have let slip the truth about his dynamic to someone made him want to squirm. He'd lived with secrets for so long, the truth that he was an Omega being the one he'd kept hidden for the longest now. Perhaps it had been foolish of Oliver to think that the city's inhabitants would eventually stop questioning his dynamic, as from a biological standpoint, he shouldn't be a Beta. Moira Queen, an Omega with an Alpha daughter, couldn't possibly have a Beta for a son.

His mother's words from several weeks back echoed in his mind. You seemed far more comfortable within your own skin living as a Beta. Back then, Oliver had agreed with that remark but now, the Omega couldn't help but wonder if masquerading as a Beta for so long had been a mistake. Nobody—except him and his father—likely would have cared that he was an Omega had everyone had simply known the truth since his dynamic manifested itself.

"Oliver, I don't think your sister would have told anyone about your dynamic," Dig affirmed. In the rear view mirror he could see Oliver gritting his teeth.

"What else do I have to believe?" Oliver hissed, directing a harsh glare in Diggle's direction. "Only you two, my family, and Slade know about my dynamic!"

Gingerly, Felicity settled a hand on Oliver's forearm. There had been a distinct urgency and a hint of fear in the Omega's tone. Felicity gave Oliver a reassuring squeeze which caused Oliver to meet her eye. Although Felicity still didn't entirely understand why Oliver had begun hiding his dynamic in the first place (and continued to do so to this day), the idea that other people knew about his dynamic clearly made him uncomfortable.

"Dig and I have never told anyone about your dynamic and I'm sure your family and Slade wouldn't have said anything either," Felicity reassured.

Oliver broke his gaze away from Felicity's as he began to grow anxious. Who else knows about my dynamic? His palms felt clammy and he was faintly aware of beads of sweat trickling down the back of his neck. He barely registered Felicity rubbing his forearm as he stared out the window, attempting to sift through his thoughts and memories.

Could it be a coincidence that the tabloids were just now choosing to start writing about his dynamic again? Or was someone attempting to spread rumours—or rather, the truth—about his dynamic? Despite what he'd just told Dig and Felicity, there were indeed plenty of people that knew he was an Omega. Amanda Waller and some A.R.G.U.S. operators knew , so did Anatoly and various other members of the Bratva, but Oliver could hardly see any of these individuals caring to expose his secret. None of them really had anything to gain by doing so.

Oliver felt his pulse quicken as memories from last month crept to the forefront of his mind. "Slade lets you run around like quite the disobedient little Omega pet." That's what Sebastian Blood had said to him—said to the Arrow—the Beta grinning from ear to ear. Last month, he'd paid Sebastian a visit, in hopes that he could get the alderman to reconsider holding a unity rally in City Plaza when there was a serial bomber at large. It was back then that Oliver had deduced that Sebastian and Slade had somehow been involved together.

It dawned on Oliver that while Sebastian knew he was an Omega, Isabel knew he was the Arrow (courtesy of Slade). Curling his fingers into the leg of his pants, Oliver mentally tried to clear his head of unwanted thoughts. Willed his heart to stop pounding away at the back of his sternum as if it were trying to escape the confines of his ribcage.

Oliver fell silent for the rest of the drive back to the foundry. Once Dig parked the car, Oliver swiftly clambered out of it. As he entered the basement beneath Verdant, Oliver shed his jacket and threw it over the railing of the stairs. His chest felt flushed; his underarms were slightly damp causing his shirt to stick to him, and the Omega would have ripped off his tie and undone the top buttons on his shirt already if he wasn't worried about Dig and Felicity seeing the bite mark on his shoulder.

As he looked out over the foundry, Oliver was unsurprised to see Slade already there. The man was still dressed in normal clothes and his—or maybe it was now their—bandana hung around Slade's neck. A part of Oliver was pleased to see the man was still covering the Bonding mark just off his neck like Oliver had asked him to. However, this didn't dull the irritation that shimmered within him towards the man.

Their eyes met and Oliver fixed Slade with a firm stare as he walked towards him.

"Slade, can we talk outside," Oliver stated, no room of argument in his voice as he brushed past Slade.

He heard Dig and Felicity's footsteps on the stairwell but Oliver paid them no mind as he exited Verdant and walked out into the back alley.

Turning around, Oliver watched as Slade shut the door to the foundry behind him.

"It's only Monday and you're already taking me to the woodshed. What is it this time?" Slade let out with a huff.

Crossing his arms over his chest, Oliver shook his head. "I'm not, I just need to talk to you about something." The Omega paused before continuing. "Sebastian Blood knows about my dynamic."

Slade scowled at the pointed gaze Oliver was fixing him with. "Don't gimme that look, kid. I've never told your dynamic to another soul. I suppose you can partially blame me for Blood having found out about your dynamic, but that wouldn't have happened had you not gone snooping around Cyrus Gold while you were in heat."

The Omega's expression softened at Slade's words. Deciding to go after Cyrus Gold after the man had nearly left him for dead—while stupid and admittedly his fault—had been what had led him and Slade to have their first encounter in Starling City together. It seemed like Slade, despite his madness and hatred for him at the time, hadn't been able to bear the thought of him stumbling around the Glades whilst he was in heat. Considering the fact that he and Slade were now in a mostly stable and happy relationship… well, Oliver was content to accept whatever consequences arose from Slade's prior alliance with Sebastian and Isabel.

Slade remained silent as Oliver told him about the tabloid articles that had started to crop up about him.

"So you believe Blood is behind this?" the Alpha asked before frowning slightly.

At that moment, Oliver found Slade to be looking at him with a rather dark, intense stare. However, the Alpha's next words confirmed to Oliver that the man's hardened gaze wasn't intended for him.

"This is too smart for Blood. Too clever, too discreet."

"What makes you think that?"

"Because he set up that Vertigo-dealing wanker to try and kill you," the Alpha spat.

The Count, Oliver's mind supplied. Come to think of it, Oliver did remember the Count alluding to the fact that someone had set him up to kill the Arrow. "You poisoned me and put me in a hole. You have no idea how much I hated you for that. Turns out, someone else hates you too." Swiftly, the Omega mulled over his past memories trying to determine why Sebastian would hate the Arrow though couldn't come up with anything.

"Fine, so you believe none of this has anything to do with Blood then?"

Slade shook his head. "I didn't say that." The Alpha paused momentarily before continuing. "I stopped making contact with Blood and Ms Rochev after… well, you know when, after I pulled your ass off the streets when you were in heat. I haven't seen either of them since December. If you suspect someone is intentionally trying to bring your dynamic out into the public light, I'd put my money on this being Rochev's doing over Blood's. There's a good chance they're still in contact."

Flicking his eyes over the wall above Slade's head, Omega let out a sigh. He should have suspected that this could have potentially been Isabel's doing. Why wouldn't dad's jilted lover want to make life difficult for me? The fact that both Sebastian and Isabel likely knew that he was an Omega and that he was the Arrow was certainly unnerving.

"Where did you find these people, Slade?" Oliver mused aloud.

"I set up an ad on Craigslist looking for people who hated the Queen family," Slade responded sternly.

Before the Omega could utter out a response, Slade flashed Oliver a small smile. "I'm kidding."

A moment of silence passed between them.

"Alright. So if this is Isabel's doing then what sort of response is she looking to evoke from me?"

Slade shrugged. "She wouldn't do this unless she believed it could potentially benefit her. Though, she is also a vindictive woman, perhaps she just wants to watch you squirm."

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Pottering back into the foundry, Slade trailing behind him, Oliver leant back against a table. His eyes sought out Slade as he watched the man come to a standstill near him.

"This isn't going to go away, now is it?" Oliver lamented, folding his arms over his chest.

"What's not going to go away?" Felicity chirped as she spun around on her computer chair to face Oliver.

"Oliver believes Ms Rochev is the one spreading rumours about his dynamic," Slade answered.

"She knows about your dynamic?" Dig asked as he approached Oliver.

"Yeah well… so does Sebastian Blood, unfortunately." Oliver paused as he noticed Felicity shoot Slade a look though the Alpha either didn't notice or didn't care. "It was an unforeseen complication."

Of having a relationship with Slade, Oliver finished to himself.

"Just ah, don't ask about it," Oliver followed up with. "It was stupid and I… should have known better than to hood up when I was going into heat."

"Well, I did try caution you against going after Cyrus Gold but I suppose, we won't dwell on that now will we," Dig commented.

"While I am not proud of my involvement with Ms Rochev and Blood, what I can tell you is that Rochev plays smart, Blood does not," Slade offered.

"Laurel's onto Sebastian Blood," Oliver added.

"What do you mean she's onto him? You said you and Laurel talked Saturday night though you didn't really elaborate what about," Felicity queried.

The Omega shrugged his shoulders. "Something about Blood struck Laurel as odd. She went digging into his past, believes Blood killed his mother and father. Though she has no physical evidence of this which suggests there might not be any."

"And really…" Oliver shook his head. His mind was racing and he couldn't seem to shake the dread and unease that coloured his thoughts. "I almost don't care. Right now I've got to figure out if Isabel's paid tabloids to write think-pieces about my dynamic and also work out how I'm going to deal with this."

"Well, one thing I do know—" Slade began before he rounded the table he'd been leaning against to come to a standstill behind Oliver. "—Is that Blood is paranoid. While Blood is hardly a seasoned killer, he has the means to have Laurel disposed of if he thinks she poses a threat to him."

Oliver met the Alpha's gaze with cold steel in his eyes. "He does that and I reconsider putting an arrow in him."

"Okay!" Felicity exclaimed drawing everyone's eyes to her. She was fidgeting with her hands in her lap and she sounded slightly nervous as she continued speaking. "Not that I want to play devil's advocate here—I mean, who would want to advocate for the devil—but it would seem to me like you and Slade have discussed… getting rid of Sebastian and possibly Isabel before too. And maybe we've gone over this before but remind me again, why you haven't just put an arrow in both of them? I mean, besides the whole not wanting to murder everyone thing. And doesn't leaving them alive seem like it's coming back to bite you in the ass now."

"I don't know. I suppose Sebastian gives people hope. At present, he's the only person that seems to care to want to run for mayor after the last guy was murdered. And after the Undertaking… this city needs hope. I honestly didn't expect him to be much of a problem."

"While Blood might not get his hands dirty often, he's got plenty of goonies and followers to do his bidding. Therein lies the problem, kid," Slade stated.

"What about Isabel?" Dig asked.

"She's even harder to deal with," Oliver admitted. "It's pretty obvious to everyone at Queen Consolidated that there's animosity between me and Isabel. If she dies… it might look like I put a hit on her. And to be honest, I think I might need her at Queen Consolidated. I definitely can't run the company by myself."

"No, you can't," Felicity chimed in, a playful smirk on her face though Oliver didn't even so much as glance in her direction.

Internally Oliver couldn't help but curse Slade for making Sebastian and Isabel so difficult to deal with—difficult to justify quietly disposing of. Or perhaps it was Oliver's conviction in murdering people that was wavering and that's what was preventing him from disposing of them.

"So," Felicity drawled, "Isabel and Sebastian have got us in a stalemate?"

"What?" Oliver asked, glancing up at the Beta from where'd he'd been absentmindedly staring at the floor.

"Y'know, a stalemate, like in chess."

The room was quiet as all of the men in the room just stared at Felicity.

"Really?" Felicity gaped throwing her hands up in the air, "Am I the only one that plays chess here? Well, I guess I'll just have to explain what a stalemate is. If your opponent puts you into a stalemate, that means that your king isn't in check but has nowhere to move where it won't become checked. The king has no legal move it can make. I guess, in this situation, Oliver would be the king and maybe Slade would be the queen as the queen is the most powerful piece—"

"—So in summary," Dig started, cutting the Beta off. "If my understanding of what everyone has just said is correct, we're hesitant to take Rochev and Blood out because doing so either puts Oliver in a bad position or we're morally against doing so."

"I know what a stalemate is, Felicity, and this isn't one," Oliver said with a shake of his head, "Clearly I haven't been focused on the company lately but if Isabel's making a move, now is the time for me to refocus my attention on her."

"So, what's the plan?" Felicity asked.

"I… I don't know. Right now I need to figure out how to deal with the fact that my dynamic might have been outed." After these words left his lips, Oliver started to pace without quite realising why he was doing so.

Felicity spoke up from behind him.

"You never talk about your reasoning for choosing to hide your dynamic. Or even have really fully explained it to Dig and I. You said your father didn't approve of the fact that you were an Omega and you've just been hiding the truth from almost everyone since you were sixteen."

"Oh boy, this'll be good," Slade added.

Although Oliver hadn't turned to face Felicity, he'd been able to detect a hint of incredulity in her voice. This wasn't the first time Oliver had heard the words 'you never talk about' directed at him before someone asked him to open up and Oliver imagined Felicity was presently staring at him with raised brows.

The Omega found himself leaning forward on a pillar, his palm flat against it as he pressed his forehead into the cool concrete.

"Are you alright, Oliver? I haven't seen you this uptight since, well, the last time you were in heat," Felicity questioned gingerly.

Oliver heard Slade chuckle. "Close, but not quite."

The Alpha's words caused Oliver to turn to face him as he shot the older man a glare. He felt like Slade had just told everyone he'd been in heat yesterday.

"Don't give me that look, kid. Felicity's assumption is right. You Omegas are always hormonal bastards." His eyes softened, and Oliver could detect a genuine care behind the Alpha's next words. "I'd tell you to settle petal, but nobody can blame you for being uptight with the way things are."

"Thanks, I guess."

Walking back over to his friends, Oliver plonked down in a chair.

"So, you want to talk about it or not?" Diggle asked, steepling his hands together.

"About what?" Oliver responded flatly.

At this moment, Felicity leant forward in her chair. "You were going to tell us why you choose to hide your dynamic, disregarding the whole 'my dad didn't like the fact that I was an Omega' thing as you've told us about that already?"

I agreed to no such thing, Oliver thought to himself but refrained from voicing these words aloud. A moment passed and then another. A part of Oliver recognised that if this situation with the tabloids did get out of hands, eventually he would have to make a statement to the public, speak about his dynamic openly. His friends already knew the truth about his dynamic so maybe speaking to them now would possibly make him more comfortable speaking to strangers in future if he did have to.

Huffing, Oliver deflated back into his chair. The back of his neck was coated in sweat and Oliver figured he'd need a shower before he left the foundry.

"I feel like I've got so many reasons for wanting to hide the truth about me but none of them seem like good ones in hindsight," Oliver explained.

"Well hindsight is twenty-twenty, surely back in the day you felt you had valid enough reasons to want to hide your dynamic," Dig offered.

"I told you that I had my first heat when I was sixteen, which isn't abnormal for Omegas, but most Omegas have their first heat around fourteen," Oliver begun to explain. "I suppose, the fact that my parents never gave me a talk or ever even so much as mentioned to me that I might end up being an Omega… well, in hindsight, I didn't appreciate that. I got too comfortable living as a Beta, something my parents would have known I couldn't be but didn't seem to care to share with me. Just about everyone I was friends with in high school… we didn't talk about Omegas, and even Beta females, favourably. We were pretty sexist. I never wanted to be seen as different, didn't want to be ostracised or cast out by my friends just because of my dynamic, something I couldn't control. My dad offered me a solution and I buried my dynamic. The media flagged me as a Beta dilute—something considered to ruin a dynasty of purebred Alpha and Omegas—but I didn't care. Anything was better than having people looked at me like I was an object."

"Okay," Dig spoke, as I leant back against a nearby pillar. "That still doesn't explain why you choose to hide for so long though. Hide from your mom and sister what and who you really even after you got back from the island."

Shaking his head, Oliver tried to rid his mind of unwelcome memories that clawed at the front of his psyche. All of them were vying for his attention and threatening to drag him back into headspaces he'd rather never be in again.

"Dig, I don't expect you to understand," Oliver said solemnly. "Here in Starling, I may hide my dynamic out of habit, but on the island, that was survival. When you have had people try and leverage your dynamic, let you know that the way you were born and something you can't change about yourself is what's going to get you killed or worse, maybe then you wouldn't be so comfortable sharing your dynamic with everyone either."

As Slade listened to Oliver speak, listened to the urgency in his voice only continue to grow, he heard Oliver's heart start to beat more frantically. Aside from the Mirakuru having enhanced his physical strength, stamina, and speed, it also had affected all of his senses. He'd first noticed Oliver's heartbeat seemed faster than normal once the Omega had pulled him outside to talk. A trained athlete's heart rate usually hovered between forty and sixty beats per minute and at this rate, Slade could barely detect the Omega's heart rate without intensely focusing on it. However, when they'd spoken earlier, Oliver's heart rate had definitely been picking up speed. It hadn't sounded abnormally fast but the Alpha could distinctly hear it pounding away behind the Omega's sternum.

The moment Oliver had started to speak about people having leveraged his dynamic, Slade knew Oliver's heart was racing. His heart reminded Slade of a scared bird, flapping about in a cage too small for it. Oliver's heart was going faster than Slade could remember it having gone in recent times. Diggle and Oliver's heart rates usually hovered around the same, but when Oliver's heartbeat sounded twice as fast as Felicity's did, the Alpha knew there was something wrong.

A look of hurt, and perhaps understanding had just crossed Felicity's face and Dig looked impassive, but Slade paid them no mind as he approached his Omega. Oliver's heartbeat was so loud, it was actually starting to make him uneasy, though evidently Oliver was more than just uneasy at present. Settling his hands on Oliver's shoulders, Slade kneaded his fingers into them, knowingly putting pressure on where he'd left his claiming bite on the Omega.

Almost instantly, the Omega winced.

"What was that for?" Oliver remarked, trying to twist his head around to see Slade. Sharp pain had just shot up the side of his neck and down into his shoulder. He could feel the Alpha's fingernails pressing into where the bite mark just off his neck was.

You're tense, Slade thought to himself though refrained from saying this as he moved his fingers off the spot where the bonding mark was. Gingerly but firmly, Slade began to massage his hands over the Omega's shoulders. "You're overthinking this, kid. And this would be exactly what Isabel would want if she's behind this. She'd wants you frazzled and not thinking so she can try and usurp you."

"Which legally isn't something she can do," Felicity chimed in causing Oliver's eyes to drift over to her. "Unless, of course, you're not thinking and you start signing documentation and paperwork without reading it."

"Look, kid," Slade stated, hovering his lips close to the Omega's ear. "Nobody here gives a shit about your dynamic. Your family is okay with it and I think you're too focused on what other people think when the opinions of everyone whom you should be concerned about are already in your corner."

At his Alpha's words, Oliver couldn't help but look over his shoulder the best he could at the man.

"You're concerned about being seen as weak but being an Omega does not somehow make you weaker than any other dynamic. Isabel is exploiting the fact that you have a secret but nobody's going to physically extort your dynamic just because you're an Omega. And you wanna know why that is?"

The Omega paused for a moment and Slade waited until he nodded before continuing.

"Because you'd kick their fuckin' asses for doing so and if you didn't, then I would," Slade claimed before pulling back from the Omega, his hands leaving Oliver's shoulders.

A moment passed and then another before the Omega was able to speak. Oliver knew that he couldn't live in fear, couldn't hide forever as hiding was what had put him in this situation in the first place. "I know what I have to do," Oliver stated.

"Cook up a BS story to get the media off your back?" Dig enquired.

"I thought you said my BS stories were terrible."

Dig nodded. "Well, they are and always have been, but when it comes to lying, lying about your dynamic does seem to be one thing you're good at lying about."

Hopping up from his chair, Oliver proceeded towards the cupboard that doubled as his wardrobe down here.

"Where you going, man?"

The Omega slung some clothes over his arm before walking up the staircase, remembering he had to be careful about getting changed in front of his friends. When he'd arrived home this morning, Oliver had rearranged his wardrobe, shoving all his collarless shirts to the back of the wardrobe. Unfortunately, it would seem half of his shirts weren't wearable until he decided to tell his friends and family that he and Slade were Bonded.

"I… Laurel deserves to know the truth about me before all of this becomes published," Oliver addressed his friends. As he stared out over the foundry, his eyes gravitated towards Slade. "Slade should be fine to go out tonight without me."

Slade momentarily raised a brow before his lips curled upwards into the beginning of a smile. "Alright, kid."

There was a hint of something, what Oliver would perceive to be smug preening in his voice, like the Alpha knew Oliver was trusting him with something very important to him.

Felicity turned to Slade. "I knew I'd be setting up that Bluetooth for you eventually."

Oliver grabbed his jacket from over the railing of the stairs. His eyes met Slade's one last time before he broke away from the man's gaze and proceeded out of the room to get changed.

As the Omega left, Slade quietly smiled to himself. Oliver's heartbeat had been relatively quiet as he walked out the door.

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As Oliver drove over to Laurel's he allowed his mind to wander. Allowed himself to think of all the reasons why he and Laurel hadn't talked since November—a good three months ago—and found all he could come up with was excuses. The last time they'd seen each other had been that fateful day in court when his mother had been acquitted of murder charges. That had been a hard day for both him and Laurel, though Oliver didn't resent the Omega female for just doing her job. Rather, Oliver resented the legal system that had allowed Laurel—someone who had grown up by his side and had known his family for years—to prosecute his mother.

It had never been Oliver's intention to go without speaking to Laurel for so long. They'd been in contact and texted each other since that day in court but they both seemed to dance around each other and create excuses for why they couldn't see the other. While they were both admittedly busy people, Oliver could also admit that his priorities may not have been totally in order the past couple of months. He'd been so focused on Slade—on whether the Alpha would raze his city to the ground, then on building a relationship with the man—that he'd neglected the other people who were important to him.

Parking his bike outside Laurel's apartment complex, Oliver made his way up to the third floor. He hesitated in the corridor before walking up to her door. A part of Oliver felt bad that the only reason he was coming to see her was to talk about him.

Unlike when he'd spoken to his sister yesterday, at present Oliver was still covered in the muting smell of Beta cologne. Laurel had never liked the fact that he kept secrets and would refuse to open up to her. He expected her to have questions but Oliver also thought she might be able to help him deal with his current predicament. Laurel was smart and law savvy so maybe she could guide him in how to go about putting an end to the rumours being spread about him. He couldn't hide forever so he may as well try and work out the smoothest way of exposing his dynamic to the world.

Gingerly, Oliver rapped his knuckles on Laurel's front door. A moment passed before Oliver heard movement from within the apartment. He heard the sound of locks being undone before the door swung inward.

"Ahh… what are you doing here?" Laurel asked. "I thought we weren't talking," she continued, her eyes flicking downward.

"Yeah, well I… I didn't mean to give the impression that we couldn't talk. I realise it's been a while and I wanted to apologise for being distance. I know we both probably needed space after the trial but that still doesn't excuse the fact that I should have come to check in on you sooner."

"You didn't want to text me that you were coming over?" Laurel questioned.

Her face was an impassive wall Oliver wasn't used to and this prompted him to flash her a smile.

"I'm sorry, am I interrupting something? Because I can go if you need me to."

"Oh no, it's fine."

As Laurel spoke, Oliver caught a glimmer of emotion behind her eyes. It looked almost like hurt but that small flash of something—whatever it had been—was gone within seconds.

"Where are my manners, come in Ollie," Laurel said, as she opened the door fully and stepped back from it.

Uttering out a small thanks, Oliver brushed past the Omega and into her living room. As Laurel locked the door, Oliver's eyes scanned over Laurel's apartment. Everything was virtually the same as Oliver remembered it being though her apartment was unusually messy. Which struck Oliver as odd as, in the past, he would have considered Laurel to be a clean freak.

"Um, sorry about all this," Laurel was quick to apologise before she darted in front of Oliver. She hastily bundled up several sheets of paper from where they'd been strewn across the table. Laurel then swiftly disappeared from the living room before returning a moment later, sans papers.

"So," Laurel started, smoothing over a wrinkle in her top. "What can I do for you, Ollie? Because I think we both know you didn't just come over here to offer me an apology for being distant lately."

The sternness in her tone and the hard gaze Laurel fixed him with made Oliver want to wince. Instead, he chuckled softly and Oliver pinned that down to nervousness. "Ah, well actually I wanted to ask you something," Oliver affirmed.

Laurel cocked her head to one side though remained silent.

"Any chance you've seen the recent tabloids about me?"

"No," Laurel said abruptly which instantly made Oliver feel deflated before she followed up with, "Or at least, I hadn't until Jenny from work this afternoon asked me if you had a knot."

Oliver couldn't help but laugh. "And what you'd tell her?"

"I told her it was none of her damn business," Laurel frowned before plonking down on the couch. "Like honestly, that's such a personal question to ask someone."

"You would be the expert on whether I had a knot though," Oliver mused aloud as he took a seat next to her.

"I know you didn't just come round here to hear about the frankly inappropriate questions my co-workers ask me. So, what's up?" Laurel enquired, turning to face Oliver, her elbow propped up beneath her chin.

"I was wondering if you had any advice on how to deal with all of this? After spending five years on a deserted island, I think I'm a bit out of touch on how to deal with any rumours that are flying around about me."

"Really, Ollie?" she remarked with a quirk of her brows, "Just go to the doctor, ask for a karyotype test and share the results of that to the public. Undisputed scientific evidence like that will stop at least some people from disputing your dynamic."

"A what test?"

Laurel let out a small sigh and at that moment Oliver wondered if she was questioning his intelligence.

"A karyotype test is usually a simple blood test performed to get a full picture of someone's chromosomes. It's sometimes done on babies while they're still in utero to test for chromosomal disorders. Your dynamic chromosomes are intertwined with your sex chromosome. So all you need to do is get one done and publish the results to get people to stop questioning whether you're a beta or not."

Quietly Oliver couldn't help but appreciate the fact that Laurel had never judged him for being 'a Beta'. He couldn't remember her ever passing comment on the fact that he was supposedly a Beta dilute in an Alpha-Omega dynasty. Maybe that was part of what he'd liked about her.

"What if there's…" Oliver began before trailing off.

At his silence, Laurel caught his gaze.

"What if people's perceptions of me didn't match up with my karyotype?" Oliver tried posing the question again.

"What do you mean? Are you saying you believe you have a genetic or birth defect that would show up in a karyotype test?" Laurel asked attentively.

Great, Oliver mused to himself. Yesterday his sister thought he had dynamic dysphoria and that he was actually a trans Omega. And now Laurel was probably thinking he had some sort of birth defect, like maybe he was really a knotless Alpha.

Oliver shook his head. "No, it's… nothing like that. What would you say if I wasn't a Beta?"

"Well I'd," Laurel glances up at the ceiling before re-meeting his gaze, "I'd feel sorry for you. Finding out that your dynamic isn't what you always thought it was would come as a shock to anyone."

The Omega bit the inside of his cheek. Clearly Laurel wasn't getting what he was hinting at. He dragged his hands across his face before settling them into his lap. "No, I've… always known I was this way, or at least, since I was a teenager I did," Oliver affirmed.

"Like what?" Laurel implored, settling her palms on Oliver's.

And there's was an openness in her eyes that somehow just made Oliver comfortable to blurt out the truth to her.

"I'm an Omega, Laurel."

For a moment, it's like times frozen or moving far slower than it usually should. Oliver watched Laurel quirk her eyebrows slightly and he could practically see the gears turning in her head. As she slowly pulled back from him, she drew her hands up to her chest. A look of simultaneous confusion, disgust, and hurt crossed her face and this alone was far worse than any of the expressions Thea had fixed him with yesterday.

"Do you think maybe I deserved to know about this sooner?"

"Laurel, I'm sorry—" Oliver started, extended a hand out towards her but she swatted it away.

Jumping to her feet, Laurel clenched her hands into fists at her sides.

Instinctively, Oliver stood up not liking the fact that Laurel had been looming over him a moment ago.

"—Do you think maybe I deserved to know about this once we started dating. Huh? Do you think, oh I don't know, that this was something you should tell me? Did you think maybe I wouldn't have been attracted to you had I know? Had I known I was going out with someone I could never have children with and someone who wouldn't be honest with me!"

As Laurel spoke, Oliver took a step backwards from her. Despite the quaking of her voice, her words felt like daggers being driven into his heart. Her eyes were red and tears had started to stream down her face. He had no idea what had caused her to react this way but this was far in a way one of the worst possible reactions he could have expected her to have upon learning the truth about him.

His throat and chest both felt tight and it took Oliver a moment to muster any words to try and defend himself with. "Laurel, I can explain—"

"No!" she shrieked at him as she closed the distance between them, her face mere inches from Oliver's. "You could have told me the truth years ago and I would have understood. You come back to Starling and you'll fuck me but you won't be honest with me."

Pulling back from Oliver, Laurel wrapped her arms around herself. "I thought we were friends but it seems like you only want to talk to me when you want something," she whispered brokenly.

Oliver's arms remained frozen by his side despite a part of him wanting to reach out and embrace her. "I'm really sorry you feel that way but that's not true, Laurel," Oliver said, deflated.

"I don't know what the truth is with you anymore," Laurel muttered out before turning from him and disappearing out of the living room.

Taking this as his queue to leave, Oliver let himself out of her apartment.

Inside her bedroom, Laurel rummaged through her bag for her bottle of Oxycodone—the painkillers she'd lifted from her father's bedside drawer back in December. She tipped two pills into her palm thinking one wouldn't be enough for this scenario. After she downed them, she cracked open a bottle of wine.

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Once outside Laurel's apartment, Oliver walked down a flight of stairs before leaning against the wall in the fire escape. His heart felt all too apparent and tight in his chest as if his ribcage were constricting around it. Was this how Laurel felt right now? Swallowing several times, Oliver realised his mouth was dry. His palms felt sweaty and despite knowing that he was just being anxious—just anxious, nothing more—Oliver hated feeling like this.

If there was one thing Oliver hated about anxiety was that it reminded him of being in heat. What with the way his skin grew sweaty, his palms clammy, the way he felt sick to his stomach and had no desire to eat anything. All of it reminded Oliver of being helpless. Memories long since past replaying in his mind reminded him of why he'd never wanted anyone to know about his dynamic.

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Oliver lay on his bed in the shitty bungalow that Amanda Waller was keeping him prisoner in. Waller was in charge of this operation though the Omega hardly saw her. Instead, he had two handlers that frequented his living room. He'd tried to escape a couple days ago—when one of his handlers had stepped outside to smoke—and all he had to show for his attempt was a black eye. Despite the fact that he was technically a prisoner, he supposed he could accept that he was living in a gilded cage and his living conditions here were certainly better than they were on the island. He had a bed, running water, food. Hell, Waller even let him have access to Beta-scented toiletries and suppressants though she'd never mentioned why she cared to supply him with such things.

Yesterday, Oliver had finished his suppressants bottle. He believed he's been in Hong Kong for over a month and a half now because some of the suppressants he used to take came with a month and a half's worth of tablets in a bottle. Oliver hardly cared to interact with his handlers as they rarely seemed interested in speaking English to him but this time he'd make an exception.

Walking out into the hallway, Oliver leaned against the wall as he glared at the two men stood in front of the door. "Can I have my suppressants?" he asked flatly.

One of the handlers said something to Maseo—or at least, that's what Oliver thought the dark-haired man's name is—and despite what Chinese Shado had taught him he would hardly consider himself fluent in the language. A lot of what his handlers said around him sounded like total gibberish to him.

"Waller hasn't permitted us to give you any more," Maseo stated matter-of-factly.

"What?" Oliver gaped, stalking forwards towards the Beta. Halting a couple feet away from the man—he didn't want to get too close to him, not when he'd learnt how painful Maseo's fists could be the other day—Oliver folded his arms over his chest. "I'm out of suppressants and maybe as a Beta you're not aware of this, but I will go into heat within 24-48 hours if I don't take my suppressants."

"Good, at least if you're in heat that'll make my job easier as you're less likely to be running around trying to escape," Maseo responded.

As Oliver had expected, less than forty-eight hours later he was lying in bed in the throes of his heat. He frankly felt like shit and was silently thankful that he'd barely seen his handlers all day. Despite Waller having told him she had a purpose for him—one that seemed to involve keeping him alive and relatively unharmed—he didn't trust her employees not to do anything to him. Burying himself beneath his threadbare sheets, Oliver attempted to just sleep through his heat.

Footsteps entering his room caused Oliver to jolt up in bed. His back hit the wall as Oliver noticed Maseo walking towards him.

"Waller wants to speak to you," Maseo stated, placing a mobile on his bed before exiting the room.

Snatching it up, Oliver quickly barked out a "What do you want?"

"Is that any way to speak to the person who saved you from drowning in that freighter off the coast of Lian Yu?" Amanda chuckled. "No matter, you're in heat, I'll let some of your insolence slide."

"Why'd you cut off my suppressants supply?" Oliver growled lightly. In all honesty, he wouldn't be surprised if this was punishment for his escape attempt.

"I didn't. I gave you a month and a half's worth of suppressants and now that you've exhausted them you're due for a heat. I prefer to track my operative's heats rather than have them going into heat at random due to continual suppressant usage. This is by no means random and once you come round to working for me, I won't have you going into heat in the field."

Gripping the phone in his hand, Oliver grit his teeth. "I will never work for you and you should know that I'll never stop trying to escape either."

Amanda laughed hollowly. "I wouldn't do that right now if I were you, Mr. Queen. An Unbonded, Caucasian Omega like yourself would probably fetch a hefty price in the black markets of Hong Kong."

Oliver fell silent for a moment, disliking how his stomach positively rolled at her words. He let out a shaky exhale. "If you were interested in money, you'd let me go back to my family."

"While you're absolutely correct, should you continue to try and escape your accommodations, who knows what trouble may befall you. You'll come around eventually, Mr. Queen." And with that said, she hung up on him.

Placing the mobile on the floor, Oliver rolled over on his bed so he was facing the wall. His mind wrestled with the idea of trying to slip past his handlers again once his heat subsided. A gilded cage was still a cage after all, but it was no doubt better than the cage he'd find himself in if someone else decided they wanted to kidnap him.

He was pretty sure Hong Kong had a high sex trafficking rate.

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The worst thing about being initiated into the Bratva was that Oliver wasn't allowed to mask his scent during the initiation ceremony. "You hide nothing from your brothers," Anatoly had told him. The gawks and sometimes lecherous stares he'd get from his so-called 'brothers' made him uneasy though and Anatoly had accordingly become aware of this. Although he was now an official member of the Bratva and could conceal his scent once more, that didn't change the fact that people already knew about his dynamic.

He was standing in the Bratva headquarters after Anatoly's pulled him aside to talk in private. Anatoly remained silent as Oliver ranted to him for several moments about how he didn't come all the way to Russia just to have Alphas sliding him drinks they'd obviously spiked in an attempt to get into his pants.

"Okay, I have great plan," Anatoly stated astutely, clapping his hands together. "You afraid people look at you like they want to fuck you, which is true who wouldn't want to fuck the rare Omega strong enough to become Bratva. Nobody touches Captain's property though."

"Property?" Oliver baulked, not liking the sound of where this was going.

"Yes, Alpha and Omega each other's property," Anatoly continued.

The Omega remained silent as he merely glared at the Alpha.

"'You come sleep in my bed and that'll ensure nobody else touches you."

"I'm not going to sleep in your bed, Anatoly. And how the hell would that solve anything anyway?"

The Alpha shrugged. "Then you could sleep on floor in my house, effect is same regardless. So long as Bratva believes you are property of Captain and you smell like Captain's property, no one will touch you. Though, one can always ask if someone's else mate would be open to a threesome," Anatoly guffawed.

After a couple moments of mulling the idea over in his head, Oliver signed and let out a "Fine."

After a time, he ended up warming Anatoly's bed, though if only to prevent Anatoly from bringing other people into said bed. Oliver had gotten real tired of sleeping on the floor and listening to Anatoly fuck Russian whores through the wall. Despite the fact that Anatoly sometimes got wasted and tried to grope him, overall he was nice to him and the Alpha's plan had worked. Nobody ever tried to touch him though most of his so-called Bratva brothers still stared at him like they hated his guts.

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Inhaling deeply, Oliver slid down the wall he'd been leaning against. His knees had started feeling shaky. He exhaled slowly, leaning his head back against the cold stone of the wall.

His mind felt like a heavy fog had been laid over it and he just wanted to sleep. Sleep so he could forget about everything that had happened today. He honestly just wanted to bury his head in the sand and pretend to be oblivious to the fact that anyone was spreading rumours about his dynamic.

After several moments of trying to calm his breathing, Oliver pushed himself to his feet. Frankly, he had no idea what to do know now that Isabel or someone else was attempting to reveal the truth about his dynamic. What he did know though was that he had to try and keep his cool. If he was anxious, he wouldn't be able to think his way out of this. Maybe Slade was right that Isabel was attempting to get under his skin. Whatever the case may be, Oliver had to find a way to combat this. And to patch things up with Laurel though, for now, he'd just give her space as clearly she was hurting and didn't desire his comfort nor an explanation for his secret keeping.

Exiting the stairwell of the fire escape, Oliver headed home.

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Whilst driving home, Oliver found he was able to clear his head and ground himself. Ignoring what had just happened with Laurel, his life was largely stable at present. He had a loving Alpha, caring family, and understanding friends, meaning he could get through this. The fact that Isabel was potentially paying tabloid journalists to write articles disputing his Beta nature definitely unnerved him but thinking about it realistically, what was the worst thing that would happen if his dynamic was publicly revealed to the world? He'd be judged (not have people leverage his dynamic nor would he be living under the threat of rape again). Though, if going public with his dynamic was really that simpleand he wasn't somewhat afraid of being judged—he would have done so by now.

Walking into the Queen Mansion, Oliver promptly ran into his mother.

"Oliver," Moira started, reaching her hands out towards him, "Are you alright? Thea mentioned the tabloids."

"Yes," Oliver nodded, allowing her to intertwine her hands with his own.

"I know the timing of things may seem all too convenient but she wanted me to let you know that she didn't say anything to anyone about your dynamic." Moira paused, tilting her hand to one side. "Well, she may have let slip the truth to Roy that you're an Omega but she assured me that she didn't believe Roy would have said anything to anyone either."

"Mom, it's okay," Oliver reassured, gently squeezing her hands. "I think… this could be Ms Rochev's doing."

"Isabel?" Moira asked, looking taken aback. "But why would she know about your dynamic?"

"Look it's a long story but… I'm really not sure how to deal with all of this right now."

A part of Oliver knew he had to find a way to deal with this before things got out of handespecially if Isabel was plotting something—but he also likely couldn't lie his way out of this.

"Oh sweetheart, would you like me to contact a PR representative so we can get all this cleared up and so that you won't have to worry about this."

"No," Oliver said with a shake of his head.

Shifting on his feet slightly, Oliver noticed the look his mother was giving him. Her brows were quirked slightly and look she was giving him made Oliver think she could tell how much he'd wanted to say 'yes' a moment ago. Yes, let someone else deal with this mess. He looked down at their hands for a moment, stroking his thumbs over her knuckles.

"Mom, do you remember what you said after I threw you that welcome back to Queen Consolidated party?"

Which in hindsight had probably turned out to be a bad idea but Oliver hadn't regretted throwing it, hadn't regretted showing his mom that she still meant the world to him despite what the public might have thought of her.

Moira nodded. "Yes. I told you that I didn't care what anyone in this city thought of me. I only cared what you and Thea thought of me and that still stands to this day."

"Exactly," Oliver let out solemnly. "I… I shouldn't care what people have to say about me if they find out I'm an Omega. All the people most important to me already accept me for the way I am. I can't let the public just spread lies about our family though, like that you're not my mother or Thea's."

Moira smiled. "Well this is your secret to share with the world, so it's up to you if and when you want to say anything. I'd advise you to do something sooner rather than later but I also won't push you to do something you're uncomfortable with." When Oliver said nothing, Moira added, "Would you like me to arrange a press conference?"

"No, I was thinking something a little bit more personable, like an interview with Channel 7 News. But I need time to think about this. I only just learnt about this in the last couple of hours and I don't want to do anything stupid."

If Isabel was trying to rattle his cage then no doubt she would expect or want him to do something stupid that would put her in an advantageous position.

"I… I'll make a decision about what sort of public statement I want to make by Thursday."

As Moira pulled her hands away from Oliver, she clasped them together. "Planning to keep the public in suspense, are you?"

Oliver flashed her a grin, finally feeling like himself once for today. "It wouldn't be like me not to cause a stir now, would it?"

Brushing past his mother, Oliver knew he'd made the right decision despite having not actually made his mind up about what he was going to do yet. He couldn't live in fear. Not after he'd spent a good five years of life doing so. As Oliver headed upstairs, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialled Felicity.

"Hey, Felicity, if you're not busy, I was wondering if you could talk me through how Queen Consolidated is currently doing. And when Slade comes in, can you tell him I'm going to need a favour. Uh… it's a pretty big favour actually."

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Author Notes:

This chapter has artwork, so if you're reading this fanfiction on FF, I'd highly advise yu check out this fic on Archive of Our Own. You can find me there under the same username Mz_Valkyrie.

As always, feel free to leave me a comment or any feedback you have on this series or send me an ask over on my tumblr: sladiver .

Glossary:

Wanker – an idiot. Similar to calling someone a tosser, a jerk, or a jerk-off.

Settle petal – synonymous with 'settle down' or 'calm down'.