A/N: So, here it is! The sequel to When Destiny Calls and the third story in the Destined For Redemption series. Needless to say, reading When Destiny Calls prior to this story is paramount to understanding the context and universe of this story, but reading 'Do I Wanna Know?' is not required unless you're interested in seeing the humourous genesis of Oliver and Kara's relationship.

The summary mostly says it all. Oliver will be dealing with the aftermath of Azrael's systematic attack on Star City. The city is now vulnerable and prone to new threats, but Oliver will have some help along the way in dealing with them. There is one character who I haven't tagged on purpose but will be appearing in the story, one who is most definitely an "old friend" of Oliver's and will receive, in my opinion, a fitting closure to their arc which I believe the show didn't really provide. You'll find out who it is a few chapters in, but until then, I'm sure the design of the cover image can give you a pretty good clue of who it could possibly be ;)

The first chapter is quite long, picking up directly after When Destiny Calls. Enjoy! :D

[10 OCTOBER 2024]

[EARTH-38 – 08:49]

"Ah."

Waking up, Oliver immediately groaned as he brought his hand up to scratch his eyes. Pain enveloped nearly every area of his body. His arms and legs were stiff, filled with lactic acid while the right side of his abdomen and head were throbbing. His face ached less than the other areas, but it was still sore due to the several powerful strikes it had absorbed the previous night.

But while his body was in distress, his mind was not. In fact, he couldn't ever recall such a contrast between his state of mind and state of body. With physical pain usually came misery but not right now. Unfathomably content, he took a deep breath while attempting to recall everything that had happened the previous night.

He clearly remembered the beginning and end of his fight with Azrael, but the entirety of it was still murky. Azrael was not only one of the most proficient fighters Oliver had ever encountered, but by far the most powerful as far as non-enhanced humans were concerned. Any and every strike of his was concussive, and while Oliver hadn't taken as much damage from him during their second bout, he wouldn't at all be surprised if he had another concussion.

While the fight was hazy, what happened after it wasn't. Waking up in the mansion and talking to Mia before coming over to Earth-38 to speak with Kara. Their kiss, and then everything after.

"Morning."

Kara's soothing voice spoke next to him. Oliver groaned again as he turned to face her. She was far livelier than him, having already woken up.

"Morning," he replied with a smile.

"A little beat up?" she asked.

"Yeah, but from the fight."

"Not from me?"

"As far as I can tell, no. But I wouldn't be surprised," he replied, grinning.

"Sorry," she replied meekly.

"It's okay. The bruises are all worth it anyway."

From the first day that they starting dating, Kara was always concerned about her strength. When they started to become sexually active, she was very cautious to ensure that she didn't hurt him. Even as she got more comfortable and more intense, he never sustained any injuries. Of course, Oliver did end up with a bruise here and there when they got a little too enthusiastic, but bruises were all he ever sustained.

"You staying for breakfast?" asked Kara.

"Don't you have to go to work?"

"I'll just call in sick."

"I have a lot of things to take care of," he replied.

"I'm sure they can wait," replied Kara, sliding her hand over his chest. After a moment of consideration, Oliver decided to stay.

"Yeah, it sure can," he said as he brought his face closer to Kara's, only to be stunned when she immediately pulled away.

"Woah, slow down there. You have morning breath," she said, disheartening Oliver. "Don't worry, I'll kiss you later. I'm going to shower, want to join?"

"Sure."

After the shower, Kara supersped herself into clothes and to the kitchen. Oliver joined her in the kitchen a few minutes later, being handed a cup of coffee by her.

"Can I get that kiss now?" he requested after taking a sip. She happily obliged, wrapping her arms around her waist before lightly pressing her lips against his.

"I'm hungry," she said as she broke away, "Your scrambled eggs still as good as I remember?"

"I hope so," replied Oliver, "I'd hate to disappoint."

"I doubt that's possible for a man of your culinary expertise," she said before superspeeding away to collect the ingredients. No more than a couple of seconds later were they all neatly arranged in front of Oliver on a chopping board. A dopey smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.

"What?" asked Kara.

"Nothing. I just forgot how useful it is to have someone with superspeed helping around in the kitchen."

"Yeah, well, it's all you from here on out. I made the coffee, breakfast is all yours," she said, mischievously grinning as she sipped on her mug.

"Correction: The coffee maker made the coffee."

"But I pressed the buttons."

Oliver lifted his hand to dispute before realising that this was an argument he wasn't going to win. "Okay, I'll give you that."

"As good as you remember?" asked Oliver as Kara took a first bite of the dish.

"Better than I can remember," replied Kara with a smile of approval.

As they dug in, Kara easily noticed that Oliver was deep in thought and it didn't take a rocket scientist to know about what.

Oliver Queen was an overthinker by nature. He could recall only less than a dozen occasions in his life when he had revelled and just stayed in the moment. This perceived detriment proved to be advantageous in the life that he lived. Before a problem even arose, he would already have at least three routes to a solution planned out. Star City may not have been destroyed and Azrael may be dead, but to Oliver, he may have just won in the end.

Star City was now no longer a haven, no longer a symbol of hope. It was once again the pit of impudence and barbarism where people survived rather than 'lived'. It had taken Oliver two terms as mayor and two stints as a vigilante to turn Star City's fortunes around. Would it take another twelve years to set things straight?

He was pulled from the cube of his thoughts and brought back to reality when Kara snapped her fingers in front of his face.

"Hey," she said, making sure that she had his full attention, "Star City is going to be fine."

Oliver tilted his head, not sharing her optimism. "Twelve years, Kara. Twelve. Years. Flushed down the drain in the span of six months."

"It won't take another twelve years to recover this time."

"What makes you so sure?"

In truth, Kara wasn't. As unpredictable as their line of work is, there appears to indeed be one consistency; As soon as one threat is gone, another will take its place. It just seemed to be a matter of time before the peace was broken and conflict arose.

In an attempt to put him at ease, Kara lied. "Because things aren't as bad as you think they are… Since I know that you're not going to stop thinking about it, talk to me. What are you going to do when you get back?"

"Hold a press conference to explain how I'm still alive. Assess the damage and then speak with Quentin on how to go forward. I need to see a doctor too," replied Oliver, massaging his neck, "Azrael beat the shit out of me."

"You still won, didn't you?"

"Of course I did."

"That's my man," she replied with a proud smile, prompting Oliver to chuckle.

After a moment, he turned serious, now speaking earnestly. "Thank you for giving me a second chance, even though I don't deserve one."

Kara sighed. "It took me a long time to forgive you for leaving, but also to realise that the reasons why you left me had credence. Worrying about having healthy children and then raising them while we were on separate Earths, you wanting me to have someone who was going to live as long as me… To an extent, they were valid, but you do have a problem, Oliver, and that is you always thinking that you know what is best for others."

"That's not the only problem that I have."

"There's nothing wrong with that as long as you're working on them. Are you?"

"Trying to."

"Then you do deserve a second chance."

"I still have the same concern about having children. Has anything changed regarding that?"

"No human male has ever had children with a female Kryptonian, but I spoke to my mom and she said it's possible. But we still can't rule out the possibility of birth defects and whether or not the pregnancy will have adverse effects on me. I'd need to go Argo City for the duration of the pregnancy, for my safety and the baby's."

"How long would that be?"

"Kryptonian gestation is 6 months."

They both took a deep breath, realising what that would entail. They'd both have to leave their worlds for that time, maybe even longer.

"I'm willing to do it," said Oliver, "As you are, but only when the time is right. We both have too much on our plate right now to be worrying about it. I think we should take things slow. Take our time, get the hang of this again before we even consider all of that."

Kara nodded. "Yeah."

"I meant it when I said that I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I'm never going to leave you again, Kara," he said resolutely, "No matter what."

"Not by choice. You're still going to be the Green Arrow, right?" she asked.

For as much as Kryptonian memory was a blessing, it was an equally monstrous curse. Of the many things that Kara wished she could forget, the entire ordeal of Oliver's near-death was near the top of the list. He'd been beaten to within an inch of life and if she'd found him just a few seconds later, he might not have survived. An experience like that only made her more protective and anxious for his safety.

"Trust me, if Azrael couldn't kill me, nobody can," he said, prompting a slight laugh from her. "It's going to take a multiversal crisis or some godly being to kill me."

"Don't say that, it might just happen," joked Kara.

"With you by my side, we'll take care of it," he replied, with a warm smile. Suddenly, a sharp yet dulling pain started to spread through his head. The same pain that had plagued him for the past five months…

With a busy day ahead, Oliver returned to Earth-1 right after breakfast, saying goodbye with another kiss. He arrived back in his room at the mansion and went downstairs to find Quentin after a change of clothes. He heard voices coming from the dining room, finding William, Mia and Zoe having breakfast.

"Morning," he said, greeting them warmly.

"Your talk with Kara must have gone well," remarked Mia.

"How'd you know?" asked Oliver.

"Because you were there the whole night," remarked Mia with a grin. William held in his laugh while Oliver nervously smiled.

"Whatever," said Oliver, brushing her insinuation off, "Where's Quentin?"

"He just left for City Hall," replied William.

"Diggle?"

"Right here." Diggle's voice spoke up, and Oliver turned around to see him approaching.

"How are you feeling?" asked Oliver.

"Fucked up," he replied bluntly, stretching his right shoulder, "You?" he replied.

"Fucked up," replied Oliver. "I need to go to City Hall to speak with Quentin. Care to join?"

"What for? Want me to be your 'black driver' again?" joked Diggle.

"I'd appreciate that, but mainly to be an ARGUS rep."

"So that your story doesn't seem like complete bullshit?"

"Yeah. Let's go," he said as they headed for the exit.

Once they reached the garage and picked out a car, Oliver chose to take a seat in the back instead of the front. Diggle smiled.

"We really doing this like old times, huh?" he asked. "Just don't sneak out on me again."

"Can't make any promises."

As expected, there was a pack of reporters at the entrance of City Hall who swarmed Oliver and peppered him with a series of questions as he arrived. Diggle managed to shield Oliver and shimmy him through the crowd, not without having to once again threaten to shove some cameras down throats.

Once in the safety of the building, Oliver's arrival was met with varied reactions from the police officers on duty. Most looked at him with respect and admiration, but others were slightly more sceptical and wary. Nonetheless, they let him through to the mayoral office without hesitation, where he found Quentin seated with Captain Matthew Smith and Detective Mack Morgan.

"I'll be damned," said Smith, as he stood up and firmly shook Oliver's hand. "How the hell are you still alive right now?"

"You'll hear about it once we're done here," replied Oliver.

"A bit roughed up, I see," he said, noting the subtle bruises and small cuts on Oliver's face. It was hardly a statement, in actuality much more a question.

"I was in the city helping with the evacuation," replied Oliver, already having thought out that excuse, "Ran into some trouble."

"Yeah, I saw you pinned down there for a second. Wouldn't have made it out if it wasn't for Supergirl," added Morgan, playing along with Oliver's excuse. Oliver thanked him with a subtle nod before introducing Diggle to the two of them. The five of them then moved to the conference room to discuss further.

"So, order has mostly been restored and people are returning to the city," began Smith, "We apprehended about 100 Cobalt members. Your men came in and took 'em," he said, speaking to Diggle. "Still got a lot of criminals out there. Diaz managed to slip away in the chaos of the evacuation."

"So far, civilian casualties are around 250," said Quentin, "Hundreds more are injured. Infrastructure damage, we're still not too sure about the costs. What we do know is that The Glades had it the worst."

"The plan going forward is simple," continued Smith, "Restore order, weed out the corrupt, lock up the remaining criminals, and curb the distribution of Burnout by taking down Diaz. The hard part is going to be getting it done. The SCPD is in shambles."

"How many officers were working for Cobalt?" asked Oliver.

"Close to 350, either under duress or as moles. 250 officers resigned over the past few months and I have a feeling that many more will in the coming weeks. Also assuming that all of the dead from last night are accounted for, we're currently down to 600 officers for the foreseeable future. That's half of our usual."

A worrying silence resonated for a couple of seconds before Oliver spoke. "Where are we with City Council?" he asked.

Quentin replied. "Hanes, Cavanagh and Cormier were under duress. Jones and Willis, the two that replaced Kullens and Pollard, they were Cobalt plants. They're in custody along with Jack Major and Brian Nudocerdo."

"Both the mayor and chief are dusted," said Oliver, "Quentin, you're going to resume as mayor?"

"The allegations they used to impeach me have been now proved fraudulent, and the remaining members of City Council won't object, so yeah."

"And the chief?" asked Smith. Quentin remained silent, as did the others. It was only after a few seconds passed did Smith realise that all of the eyes in the room were on him.

"What about you?" asked Oliver, but Smith immediately shut down that prospect.

"With all due respect, I'd rather not. There's a reason I stayed at Lieutenant and then Captain for years. I prefer a more hands-on approach. Besides, the only person I completely trust in the SCPD right now is Morgan, and no offense kid, you're not ready to be Captain."

"None taken," replied Morgan.

"Cormier was the chief before Nudocerdo," added Quentin, "I'll speak to him about returning to that role."

"Where do you fit into all of this, Queen?" asked Smith.

"Wherever you need me to," he suggested, "Doing any and everything I can to help."

"Our green-hooded friend took Azrael out, right?" asked Smith. Oliver nodded.

"Just out of curiosity, who exactly was he?" asked Morgan.

"Former British soldier turned mercenary," explained Diggle, "Later on founded Cobalt with the intention of destroying the very system that created him."

"Shouldn't British intelligence have been on to him?" asked Morgan.

"Yeah, let's not go there," replied Diggle, pursing his lips and looking away. After contacting British intelligence about Azrael, Lyla later discovered that they already had his identity but kept it a secret to prevent getting a bad rep, not wanting to admit that they played a part in creating him.

"Azrael is dead, but a lot of his men are still alive," said Oliver, "As far as we know, Azrael employed a cellular structure to his organisation, which means that it's likely to fall apart without him at the helm but that's not a guaranteed possibility. The remaining members may want to finish the job."

"We've already begun crackdowns on international Cobalt cells," interjected Diggle, "If there's any in the city, we can help take them down."

"Green Arrow still sticking around?" asked Smith, turning to Morgan. He glanced at Oliver, who shot him a subtle nod.

"Yeah," replied Morgan.

"Good, 'cause we're going to need him. I think that's everything. We done here?"

They all looked around for a second, confirming that neither had anything else to say.

"Yeah, I think so," said Oliver, standing up with the rest of them before leaving the conference room.

Smith remained behind with Quentin, but Morgan headed for the exit with Oliver and Diggle.

After the meeting, Oliver took his place at the podium outside to address the people of Star City.

"I know you all have a lot of questions, but if you'll bear with me over the next few minutes, they will all be answered," he said. "Around five months ago, Quentin Lance and I began to have suspicions that there was a terrorist organisation trying to tear down Star City and that they were responsible for the horrific sequence of events that were beginning to unfold. Our suspicions were unfortunately proven right. As we began to work with the authorities and uncover their plot, attempts were made on our lives. A friend of mine from the Central City Police Department, Barry Allen, was in Star City the night that I was attacked. He managed to locate me before I succumbed to my injuries, but for my safety and my family's, my survival was kept a secret. I continued to work with the authorities whilst recovering, and we eventually discovered that Cobalt were planning to level the city with a weapon of mass destruction. Fortunately, that was prevented from happening"

"Care to address the claims that Azrael made about you?" Someone shouted from the crowd, interrupting Oliver.

"I doubt that simply standing here and saying that they're false will be enough to convince you. I believe that everything that I have done for this city and will continue to do for it speaks for who I am, and if you choose to take the word of a psychopathic terrorist over that, then so be it. Quentin Lance is set to be reinstated as mayor, I'm sure he will address you all soon. I'm going to continue to work with him and the authorities to help rebuild this city once again. It may take a while, but I've done it before, and I'm going to do everything in my power to make it happen again."

Oliver left the podium, this time not being harassed by the reporters on his way back to the car with Diggle. Diggle's phone buzzed, and he took it out to see a message from Lyla.

"Lyla needs me at HQ," he said.

Oliver sensed it was urgent. "Alright, you go."

"I can still quickly drop you off at Starling General," replied Diggle.

"Don't worry about it. It's only a few blocks away, I'll walk."

Diggle nodded, getting in the car and setting off in the opposite direction. Less than a minute later, a different car pulled up next to Oliver. The window rolled down and the driver stuck his head out.

"Need a ride?" asked Mack Morgan.

On the drive was where Oliver got his first good look at the aftermath of last night. The streets were practically empty apart from police, army patrols and a couple of ambulances. It was not uncommon to see burnt cars and damaged buildings along the way. If it weren't for Kara, much more lives would have been lost and the damage would have been far more catastrophic.

"Thanks for playing along with my excuse," said Oliver.

"You know how Smith is. Sceptical of everything. Probably still doesn't totally believe it, but I guess he has no choice but to," replied Morgan, shrugging his shoulders. "So… you're the Green Arrow."

"Big surprise, huh?" replied Oliver.

"Not for me, no, but it would be to a lot of people," he replied, "Don't worry, your secret is safe with me."

"Would never have told you if I didn't think it was."

"Right… May I ask why you retired?"

"My team died trying to stop Adrian Chase. I just couldn't continue without them."

"I'm sorry to hear that," replied Morgan compassionately, "You don't have any powers right?"

"Yeah, I'm unkillable."

"Really?"

Oliver chuckled. "No. Why do you ask?"

"Just seems crazy that you'd go out there without any. And you're buddies with the Flash and Supergirl, so I figured you'd have… something, at least."

"They're both old friends. I actually knew The Flash before he was The Flash."

"And Supergirl?"

"I met her through The Flash."

"Ah, okay. Mind telling her thanks the next time you see her? She saved my life last night."

"Sure. When is your family coming back?"

"Not any time soon. I'm going to wait for the dust to settle. You know, let things somewhat get back to normal before they return," he replied as he pulled up to the entrance of Starling General.

"Thanks for the ride," said Oliver, getting out of the car. He turned back to talk to Morgan once more through the window. "I'll see you soon, Detective."

"Looking forward to it."

While the hospital was busy, Oliver only had to wait 10 minutes for Dr Schwartz to meet him. Having given her the run-down of what he'd endured the previous night, she insisted on an MRI to check if he'd sustained a traumatic brain injury as well as x-rays to determine if he'd broken his ribs again. The latter was hardly a concern for Oliver. The prospect of a TBI was far more unsettling.

Broken bones would heal, bruises would dissipate, but the brain could never fully recover from trauma. Up until this point, brain damage never seemed to be a concern for Oliver. When he started his crusade, head trauma was an afterthought. Catching a bullet was, rightfully so, his only worry, but now, looking back at just how many fights he'd been in and with who, Oliver realised that he shouldn't be surprised about the recent occurrences of headaches that had started immediately after his first fight with Azrael.

Malcolm Merlyn, Slade Wilson, Ra's Al Ghul, Damien Darhk and lastly, most importantly, Azrael. The first fight with Azrael had no doubt taken years off of his life. It was a beating that no man would ever be able to fully recover from, not even Oliver Queen.

After doing the scans, Dr Schwartz returned to the room with the results.

"Good news about your ribs," she said, placing the scans on a board for Oliver to see, "No breaks. The pain you're experiencing is likely just bad bruising."

"And my brain?" asked Oliver.

"The scans showed no signs of an acute TBI," replied Dr Schwartz, allowing Oliver to let out a sigh of relief. "Although you do still need to see this."

She hung three more brain scans on the board in front of Oliver, who immediately noted the differences between them. The brain on the left appeared larger and fuller than the other two, which appeared slightly smaller and a bit shrivelled.

Dr Schwartz explained. "On the left here is the brain of a healthy middle-aged individual. The middle is of a professional MMA fighter 7 years into his career, and the last one is yours." Oliver immediately noted how similar the last two looked. "Have you at all recently experienced chronic headaches, impulsive behaviour and memory loss? And if so, to what extent?"

"Headaches sporadically, impulsive behaviour… My whole life, and memory loss, no."

"Okay, that doesn't sound too bad. Look, it's no surprise that you have some brain damage, given that you've spent a large portion of your life getting hit in the head. You're at a high risk of developing CTE, but for now, your brain is still relatively healthy."

"Then why did I need to see this?"

"I just thought that you should know how much trauma your brain has suffered up until this point so that you can keep that in mind going forward. With your ribs and a possible concussion, I'd advise taking some time off."

"Sorry, Doc, I can't afford to do that right now."

"What about your friends? Can't they help for the time being?"

"They have their own cities and problems to deal with, so they can't stick around."

"Well, if you really have to go out there, just try not to get hit in the head any time soon. I can give you a cortisone shot for your ribs."

"Thanks."

As Dr Schwartz prepared the injection, she asked an unexpected question of Oliver. "Is she your girlfriend?"

Oliver frowned. "Who?"

"Supergirl."

"What makes you ask that?" inquired Oliver.

"Nothing. Just wondering."

Oliver nodded. "I suppose you could say she is."

"Where'd you meet her? Superhero Tinder?"

Oliver chuckled. "No, I met her when she helped stop that alien invasion eight years ago."

"Ever thought of getting married? Maybe even settling down?"

"It's come up, but I'm not sure if we'll ever get the chance."

"Not sure if you'll ever get it or if you'll ever take it?"

"I already retired once, Doc. Trust me when I tell you that I won't hesitate to do it again when the time comes."

"Well, I sincerely hope that that day comes soon."

Nightfall came in Star City, and although the National Guard were still patrolling the city and keeping the city's criminals in hiding, Oliver had no intention of resting on his laurels. Mia arrived in the lair as Oliver had just begun suiting up.

"First day on the job and you're late?" joked Oliver.

"Sorry, I was just a little busy doing my actual job," replied Mia as she walked over to the computers, "Nice set-up you got here. Although I'm disappointed to see that you're still running on 2016 software."

"It'll do for now. You can update everything later," replied Oliver. "It's going to be difficult to track any Cobalt members if they're still in the city, so tonight, I'm going after The Scorpions, Diaz's gang. They're the ones running the drug game right now."

"I see," replied Mia, "So… where do we start?"