Disclaimer: I don't own Arrow.
Prompt: Oliver doesn't have his balls chopped off in 5x10 when Felicity undermines him three times.
Green Arrow vs Overwatch
By
ArlyssTolero
Oliver Queen understood what it was like to lose someone, to let the grief over their death affect your work. He had had it happen himself on several occasions. But he had done his best to push forward when action was needed and ignore his desire to let his emotions rule him. Even after nearly a decade, Slade Wilson's philosophies still held true for him in certain arenas. Allowing your emotions to cloud your judgment could get your people hurt or even killed. Yet after nearly five years, Felicity Smoak had yet to learn this. It was something Oliver learned the hard way in the aftermath of the reveal about the fact the Laurel they had just sent away to an A.R.G.U.S. facility was in fact Black Siren, Laurel's doppelganger from another Earth.
As stated previously, Oliver knew that it was best to not let his emotions cloud his judgment, to push past that during the mission. But the mission was over, and he had called a team meeting. He was standing, looking at the assorted costumes of his original team, which were almost a mockery now when he thought over the past few months. Felicity was icing her hand, Rory was looking a bit subdued (he had been taken down by Prometheus before he even realized the man was there) and while Curtis and Rene were in good spirits, those were dampened by the tense atmosphere that had been permeating the Bunker since they had returned.
Oliver turned from the suits of his previous team to look at the new team, the only veteran being Felicity. "The past few days have been tense," he said quietly. "Normally, I would wait a few days to do this, but nothing is going to change. Felicity. You're out."
"What?" Felicity asked, not sure what he meant.
"You're off this team. You can't be trusted to keep your emotions in check. You undermined my authority repeatedly, and I can't have that. Not anymore. Prometheus is too dangerous for me to have a loose cannon on my team, and as much as Rene might fit that bill… he knows when to buckle down and get serious. You don't."
"You're a fine one to talk about keeping your emotions in check," Felicity sniped. "Can you say this would have gone differently if this person didn't have the face of one of your ex-girlfriends?"
"Her name is Dinah Laurel Lance, no matter what Earth she comes from," Oliver said firmly. "And I checked the security recordings in full, Felicity. I saw what you did. You pushed her to the point where she decided that she wouldn't be able to make a better choice. I was getting to her until you let your emotions get the better of you. You gave orders that directly contradicted mine. I can't have you on this team. Now go and don't come back."
Felicity looked up, perhaps ready to argue, but she saw a glint in Oliver's eyes she hadn't seen since his days as the Hood. She nodded sharply and left.
"As for the rest of you," Oliver said, looking at them. "You know what we're up against. You have a choice: you can follow Felicity, or you can follow me. You cannot do both. I won't have divided loyalties on my team." Oliver gave a hard look at Curtis. "You, especially, need to make the decision. Go home, all of you, and think about it. But keep in mind that if you follow Felicity, you won't be a part of Team Arrow. You'll be Team… Snowflake."
"Snowflake?" Rene asked incredulously.
"Seeing as you'd be embodying the worst aspects of the Millennial stereotypes, I think it fits nicely," Oliver said. "Evelyn's already shown herself to be the worst sort of Millennial. What choice will you make?"
*DC*
Oliver entered the room set aside for him to visit Black Siren in. She was escorted into the room by two A.R.G.U.S. agents. "Well, well, if it isn't the Green Bean," Black Siren said mockingly as she took a seat at the table clad only in the yellow jumpsuit A.R.G.U.S. clothed their prisoners in, Oliver following suit a moment later. "It's barely been a few hours. What reason could you possibly have to come see me so soon?"
Oliver glanced at the guards. "We'll be fine," he said. "Leave us." To Black Siren's surprise, the guards did as Oliver asked. Seeing her raised eyebrow, Oliver smiled. "I worked for A.R.G.U.S. once upon a time, and I have a good relationship with Director Michaels. I'm here to tell you that I know there's something of the Laurel we spoke of still in you, the Laurel that hadn't lost her family, her Oliver."
"I told you she doesn't exist," Black Siren said with an eyeroll.
"No, I think she does," Oliver said. "I think that you were hurt by what Felicity said, and you lashed out with that pain. A man I once knew, a friend of sorts, told me that there are two types of people who go through a crucible, Laurel." Black Siren tried to interrupt, but Oliver caught her gaze, and her objections died in her throat. The gaze of the Oliver across from her was so serious, yet so full of compassion, that it rocked her to her core. "There's those who go through the refining fires and come out stronger. Then there's those who love the fire, and they stay there, in constant pain and fear of what they are becoming. You? You're the second type. But I think you're starting down the path to being the first one. Do you know why?"
"Okay, Ollie," Black Siren said with a devil-may-care shrug. "I'll bite. Why?"
"Because every single member of my team is alive," Oliver said. "I spoke to The Flash. He told me about what you can do. Flesh, blood, and bone isn't nearly as strong as buildings, or that statue. You could've destroyed all of us with your powers, but you didn't. You could've destroyed The Flash when he confronted you, but you didn't. Because deep down, there is a part of you that's still Dinah Laurel Lance, still the woman I loved and fought for five years to get back to. We might not be each other's Laurel and Oliver, but that doesn't mean we don't have a connection. I'm not going to give up on you, Laurel. I wanted you to know that, and to know you should expect to see a lot of me."
Oliver stood and moved to the door. Behind him, he heard a quiet voice say, "Dinah."
He turned. "What?"
"Laurel is the girl you knew," Black Siren said. "I'm not her, even if there's a part of me that is. Call me Dinah."
"All right," Oliver said. "I'll see you again soon, Dinah."
"Gotta have something to look forward to. Might as well be visits from you, Ollie," Dinah replied with a smirk. The guards returned and escorted her back to her cell while Oliver headed back to Central City.
In the end, Ragman, Mr. Terrific, and Wild Dog chose to continue working under Oliver, knowing they needed a harsh teacher if they were ever going to stand toe-to-toe with Prometheus. Felicity would eventually hook up with Tina Boland, who was much like the Huntress in her need for vengeance, as well as join forces with Carrie Cutter and China White in an attempt to take down Prometheus. This led to Tina's death at the hands of Prometheus, and the rest of Felicity's team becoming permanent guests of A.R.G.U.S. Black Siren eventually reformed and took up her predecessor's mantle, and Roy Harper returned to help the team.
After the defeat of Prometheus, revealed to be a resurrected Tommy Merlyn, Evelyn Sharp was sent to Lian Yu where she would spend up into her thirties, while Ragman joined Team Legends. Wild Dog went on to work in Hub City, and Curtis found his calling as the tech specialist and hacker, replacing Felicity, for a few years before he was deemed ready for the field. John Diggle found a new calling for Spartan as the commander of the new Task Force X, which included old foes like Slade Wilson, Digger Harkness, and Evelyn.
As for Star City, it flourished under the custodianship of Mayor Oliver Queen, who enacted a series of Good Samaritan laws that would allow the non-lethal operations of the Green Arrow, Black Canary, Arsenal, and Speedy, though lethal actions were authorized in extreme situations, such as The Siege. Eventually, the Earth-1 Laurel Lance's mind was melded with that of E-2 Dinah, returning the woman Oliver loved to life and giving her an edge in Black Siren's proficiency in hand-to-hand and her Siren's Scream, which became the Canary Cry.
A/N: I hope everyone enjoyed the story. I left most of it unchanged, just adding the bit about the fact Black Siren could've destroyed both The Flash and every member of Team Arrow.
I also envision this E-2 Laurel/Dinah as having the background I created for her years ago: an A.R.G.U.S. agent who was working undercover to take down Zoom and knew Barry was the best chance of that, and so she spared him. It's also why I left the original conclusion of Prometheus being a resurrected Tommy Merlyn in place, since that made more sense to me than their switching it up and making it Adrian to, according to a friend, subvert the expectations of comics fans as they preferred to do.
Ironically, doing that repeatedly over the years is what led to Arrow having barely a million viewers by the time it ended. Not their smartest choice, but then again, they're not the most intelligent bunch to begin with despite being given ample opportunity by fans, myself included, to make up for their fuck-ups. Sadly, they never did.