Oliver researches further into the mass shooting, while in the past, Mia receives help from Laurel Lance.

The dossiers of the other five victims were as bland as the first six. If there was a larger agenda at play with the shooting, it definitely revolved around Stafford and Davis. Whatever surface research Oliver could do regarding potential motivations proved fruitless. Davis was not married, so the age-old "revenge for screwing my wife" reason was thrown out the window. Furthermore, Oliver couldn't find anything to suggest that Stafford was stealing from the business or making Davis take a pay cut. In fact, Davis was the more extravagant of the two, with Stafford keeping a low-profile and not spending his profits on lavish excesses. Regarding what their shipping company was bringing in, it all seemed standard procedure. Construction materials, online retail items and product orders from local businesses.

A thought crossed Oliver's mind during his research. The sudden gang activity in The Glades had seemingly been bolstered by an influx of drugs and weapons. A fleeting rumour was that a new, addictive drug was starting to make its way to the streets, with the police clueless as to how it popped up. Could it be that Davis and Stafford were using their ships to transport the drugs and weapons into the city? And that Stafford wanted out of the operation and Davis couldn't take the risk of him blowing the whistle? No, the more likely case was that Stafford was unaware of the dealings and when he found out, he threatened to blow the whistle unless Davis stopped. A bold theory, one that was only backed up by weak circumstantial evidence.

With a yawn, Oliver glanced at the time and realised he had been glued to the laptop for several hours now. He decided to call it a day, closing the laptop and changing into pyjamas before climbing into bed. In the past, he would've worked through the night, not stopping until he was either sure or dismissive of his theories, but he took solace in the fact that the SCPD and ACU were probably doing the same research as him and that he could trust them with getting to the bottom of this. If that was the case though, then why did he even bother with doing research himself?

In fact, why was he so worried about this current slate of events at all? Star City had been equipped with the tools to deal with anything of the sort over the past seven years. He was the one who had personally made sure of that. Maybe he was overthinking things. After all, with all this free time on his hands, perhaps he just wanted to believe that there was something to look into so that he could waste some of this newfound free time. The city was in good hands. So good that probably whatever matters he was worried about would all be cleared up in good time, and then he could finally take up that position at Queen Industries that was waiting so patiently for him.

And yet, despite whatever reassurances that were in place, Oliver Queen did not have a peaceful sleep.

[11:42 – 5 FEBRUARY 2013]

Mia Dearden sat anxiously in her hospital ward, alone. Her jaw ached whenever she tried to chew, and her fractured cheekbone pained greatly whenever she moved a muscle on her face. It didn't take long for the dreadful realisation that she was now an orphan to sink in. On top of that, she had no other family to take her in. She shed no tears for her father. Her love for him deteriorated each time he had laid a hand on her or her mother, and it fully vanquished when he decided to sell her into the sex trade to pay off his gambling debts.

She had cried herself to sleep every night since her mother's passing. Despite her drug addiction, her mother had always tried her best to give Mia a good life, and now, she had no one left. What would become of her? She couldn't go back to school, because she had no one to pay her fees. Once she was out of the hospital, would she just spend the rest of her days scavenging for scraps on the streets?

Her thoughts were interrupted when a slender, brunette woman entered the ward. She was dressed smartly in grey formal clothes, holding a couple of files close to her chest.

"Hello, Mia," said the woman kindly with a smile.

"Hi," she replied nervously, unsure of what to make of the woman, who pulled up a chair and sat next to her bed. Mia shifted herself backwards, sitting more upright before conversing with the woman.

"My name is Laurel Lance. I'm an attorney at CNRI. Do you know what that is?"

"Uhh, no, Miss Lance."

Laurel chuckled at how Mia referred to her. "You can just call me Laurel, Mia. CNRI is a law firm that provides free help to disenfranchised people like you. I heard about your case, and I decided to try to help you". Laurel handed the two files to Mia before speaking further. "I've managed to find two foster families who are willing to take you in as soon as you'd like. I can personally vouch for them, Mia. I can assure you that you will be in good hands."

"What's the difference between the two?" asked Mia.

"One family is here in Starling. The other is in Seattle. After your ordeal, I wasn't sure if you wanted to stay in Starling City or not."

Mia opened the file of the family in Seattle, skimming through it before she made a final decision. "There's nothing left for me here in Starling. I'd like to go to the… Ryans," said Mia, momentarily glancing back at the file to recall the name of the family.

"Okay, great. So, you're going to be in the hospital for just a couple more days to recover. I will sort everything out. You don't have to worry about anything, okay?" Laurel took Mia's hand in hers, having picked up on her anxious demeanour. "It's all going to be okay, Mia."

"It's him, isn't it?" asked Mia.

"Pardon?"

"The Hood. He told you about me, didn't he?"

"Yes."

"Next time you see him, please just tell him I said thank you. Will you do that for me?"

"Of course," replied Laurel, before she pulled out a small card and handed it to Mia, "That's my number. If you need anything, or even if you just want to talk, call me, okay?"

"Okay," replied Mia, as Laurel smiled at her affectionately before letting go of her hand and standing up. A thought struck Mia, and she called after Laurel just before she was about to exit the room. "Laurel… Who's paying for my hospital bills?"

"Normally in such a case, you'd be treated for free."

"But there's a lot of girls from the warehouse here. Surely the hospital needs to cover the costs somehow?" Laurel noted her intelligence, perhaps a little too much for a girl of her age.

"Someone is paying, Mia, but he doesn't want anyone to know. He doesn't want any credit or publicity for it," replied Laurel.

"Is he paying for the other girls too?" Laurel nodded. "Could you please tell me? I promise I won't tell anyone." Laurel hesitated for a moment, before deciding that it wouldn't do any harm to tell her.

"It's Oliver Queen, Mia."

A/N: Quick thanks to all of you who are reading! I appreciate all of you. Things have been uneventful so far, but the action is going to pick up very soon, and we're going to see how Mia's story ties into the present.