Wasn't going to update so soon, but since a certain demographic had a meltdown over last chapter and filled my inbox up with hateful messages, well, it got pushed forward.

Italics are flashbacks while bold italics are translated from Mandarin.

Ellie Bishop: Yeah, Laurel was far too idealistic and naïve for a city like Starling. Laurel honestly would have done better in a city like Central. Her mindset is certainly more Barry's than it is Oliver's. Yeah, Thea's character development is one of the few things Arrow did right; I actually think Thea had the best character Arc in the Arrowverse. No kidding, Oliver tried to protect Thea so much all he did was end up driving her away. Glad how Roy and Lena met made sense.

Starling City

Night

Oliver got in the limo, deep in thought after his conversation with Lena. Silently, Rob began to take them back to the Queen Mansion when Oliver's phone started ringing. Digging it out, Oliver saw Tommy's picture flashing across the screen and answered.

"Tommy, what's up?...Tommy, slow down, I can't understand a word you're saying," Oliver paused, paling as Tommy, in a much slower voice, began to explain to him what had happened. "Rob, change of plans, get us to Starling General. And step on it."

Starling General Hospital

Later

Tommy was in the waiting room, his head in his hands. Hearing footsteps, Tommy looked up, seeing Oliver right in front of him.

"Oliver," Tommy said as he got to his feet.

"What happened Tommy?" Oliver asked, not beating around the bush.

"Something happened at Laurel's apartment, one of her neighbors, an off duty paramedic heard a gunshot. So he went to check on her, found her with her throat slit. He called 911 and tried to stop the bleeding," Tommy said with a shaky breath.

"And how is she?" Oliver asked bluntly.

In Laurel's room, Laurel lad in a bed stitches on her neck with a breathing tube in her mouth. She was breathing as Quentin stood talking to a doctor.

"She's still in critical condition, but she's stable. Honestly, I'm amazed she's still alive," the doctor admitted.

"She's a fighter," Quentin said, trying to hold it together.

"We've placed her in a medically induced coma to give her body a chance to recover. We'll have to keep her on the ventilator for now, and she'll need a blood transfusion, but I expect her to make a full recovery, in time," the doctor assured Quentin.

"Thank you, thank you," Quentin said emotionally as he shook the doctor's hand.

"I'm just doing my job Detective, as you do yours," the doctor said as they dropped hands.

The doctor then left, leaving Quentin alone with Laurel. The only sound in the room was the beeps from the machines signifying Laurel's heartbeat and the noise of her breathing. Quentin all but collapsed into the chair by Laurel's bedside, grabbing her hand as tears rolled down his face.

"Why…why did you have to be so goddamn stubborn?" Quentin asked the empty room brokenly.

The Foundry

Later

After making sure Tommy had gotten back to his apartment safely, Oliver had ditched Rob and made his way to the foundry. He was currently putting on his gear when he sensed a presence behind him.

"You shouldn't be here," Oliver said as he turned around to face Lena.

"I heard about what happened on the news. Are you okay?" Lena asked in concern.

"I'm fine, Laurel's the one who almost died," Oliver said his voice full of barely restrained anger.

"I know you're angry, and I know you're going after Somers," Lena started.

"I gave him a chance to right his wrongs, to face justice. Instead, he nearly killed Laurel," Oliver said angrily. "So now, he's going to face my kind of justice."

"And I won't try and stop you. Just make sure you're emotions aren't clouding your judgement," Lena pleaded with him.

"Trust me, my judgement is clear," Oliver said tersely as he grabbed his bow. "One way or another, Martin Somers will pay for his crimes."

Hong Kong, three years ago

Oliver was trailing after China White's courier, trying to be discreet as he did so. However, he apparently wasn't discreet enough. The courier turned around and tried to strike Oliver with his fist. On pure instinct, Oliver ducked before tackling the courier. The two crashed into some nearby crates. They wrestled for a bit before Oliver put the courier in a neck lock and twisted. There was a snapping sound and the courier went limp. Quickly searching the body, Oliver found an envelop. Opening it, Oliver found a picture of a mountain, to his confusion.

The Docks

Night

Somers was stuffing wades of cash into a duffle bag as fast as he could as his bodyguard stood in the corner.

"With Laurel Lance in a coma, its best for me to leave town until this blows over," Somers said hurriedly as his bodyguard pulled out his radio walkie talkie. "Tell Wallace to get the boat ready."

"Wallace? Wallace do you copy?" the bodyguard asked over the radio but got no response. "Wallace?"

"Wallace isn't here," Somers' blood ran cold as they heard Oliver's voice come over the radio. "But I am."

"We need to move, now. Move!" Somers barked as he grabbed his bag.

"Sir, we've got six men out there!" his bodyguard argued as they started running out of the room.

"It's not enough," Somers said worriedly, remembering how easily the vigilante had dispatched his men the other night.

Meanwhile, Oliver leapt from one walkway to the other, firing an arrow. His arrow hit a guard in the shoulder and, as he went down, Oliver climbed down to the lower level. Turning around, he fired, getting another guard in the shoulder. Oliver then jumped over the railing, dodging the bullets another guard shot at him. Landing on the next level, Oliver whirled around, notching an arrow and firing. He got another guard in the shoulder, sending him down to the floor. As Oliver continued on his way, he notched another arrow and fired above him, getting the guard on the higher level in the shoulder. He cried out in pain as he went down, falling down a few steps. As another guard from a higher level fired on him, Oliver fired an arrow into the air. His aim struck true and the guard fell to the ground with a wail. As Oliver walked on, he saw his target, fleeing for his life.

"Somers!"

Oliver jumped down, chasing after Somers. He pursued Somers into what appeared to be a storage room. Notching an arrow, he fired. The arrow hit a crate, inches from Somers' head.

"Oh, God, no, no, no!" Somers wailed.

"He can't help you," Oliver snarled, firing another arrow, which hit the other side of Somers' head. "I want the truth about Victor Nocenti!"

"I can't! The Triad will kill me!" Somers pleaded.

"The Triad's not your concern right now!" Oliver snarled, firing another arrow, this one hitting between the man's legs.

"All right, all right, all right! It wasn't me that killed him, it was the Triad!" Somers finally confessed.

"Acting on whose instructions?" Oliver demanded and Somers hesitated. "Whose?!"

For good measure, Oliver fired another arrow, this one hitting above Somers head. This seemed to sure him into action.

"All right, all right! It was mine. It was mine, all right? Nocenti said he was gonna testify against me," Somers confessed.

"And you ordered the hit on Laurel Lance to, didn't you?!" Oliver snarled.

"Yes okay?! Yes," Somers said in a sob.

At that point, he saw something over Oliver's shoulder and let out a strangled gasp of horror. Oliver whirled around.

Apparently, having Laurel in a coma wasn't good enough for the Triad. They wanted to get rid of all evidence, including Somers. Oliver stiffened as he saw China White standing behind him.

"Move away from him," She said.

"Make me," he challenged.

With a snarl, she moved towards him, whirling her knives. He blocked with his bow and they parried back and forth for a few moments before she sent a kick to the side, sending him down to the ground. He used his hand to save himself on a circle of stone and pushed himself back up, blocking with his bow. They danced for a few more moments before she took him by surprise with a kick. Oliver landed on his back but, before either of them could do anything-

"This is the Police! Put down your weapons or we will open fire. I repeat, lay down your weapons!"

Oliver and White paused, taking a moment to regard each other. But silently, both reasoned that continuing to fight served no purpose at this point. White took off in one direction as Oliver jumped to his feet and fled in another. Oliver fled on top of some shipping containers, jumping down and landing on the ground. Before he could move, another voice spoke up.

"Freeze!" Oliver stiffened as Detective Hilton approached him, taking aim. "Bow on the ground or I will shoot. Your choice."

For a moment, Oliver didn't move. Then, he whirled towards Quentin and threw his Flechette at him. It hit the gun and Hilton was disarmed as the flechette hit the shipping container behind him.

When he looked back at where the vigilante had been standing, he was gone. Hilton breathed a sigh of frustration before turning around to look at the flechette. He paused as he saw a blinking green light. As he approached it, he saw there was an audio recorder attached to it. Curiously, he touched it and was surprised at Martin Somers' voice.

"All right, all right! It was mine. It was mine, all right? Nocenti said he was gonna testify against me!"

The Foundry

Later

"So Martin Somers gets what he deserves," Lena noted as Oliver put his bow away.

"Yeah. I just hope Laurel gets through this alright," Oliver said with a sigh.

"If half of what I've heard about Laurel Lance is true, she'll survive this. She's a fighter that one," Lena noted and Oliver nodded.

"Yeah, yeah she is," Oliver mused and she looked at him oddly.

"You okay?" Lena asked, sensing something was on his mind.

"I thought by putting distance between my loved ones and me, I could protect them. But Laurel was almost killed when I had nothing to do with it," Oliver mused grimly.

Lena stared at him for a moment, his response to her the night of his welcome home bash now making a lot more sense. She was silent for a moment before she spoke up.

"So…what are you gonna do about it?" Lena asked and Oliver didn't respond.

ARGUS base, three years ago

Oliver was pacing back and forth as Lena uploaded the picture onto her computer.

"What kind of message is that?" Oliver wondered out loud.

"Have you ever heard of stereography?" Lena asked and he looked at her blankly.

"I'm gonna guess that's not the dinosaur with the plates on its back," Oliver said and she fought a grin.

"No. That's stegosaurs, steganography is when you hide a message within another message," Lena said.

"Or in an image," Oliver realized and Lena nodded.

On the computer, the mountain faded away, leaving only four words in white.

"Find Li Kuan Hui," Oliver read. "Who's Li Kuan Hui?"

"I don't know. But Waller will certainly want to," Lena said darkly.

Starling City

Morning

At the ceremony for the groundbreaking for the Robert Queen Applied Science building, Oliver and Lena stood with Moira and Thea as Walter took the podium to address the crowd.

"Good afternoon and thank you all for coming. Welcome to the future site of the Robert Queen Memorial Applied Sciences Center," Walter said, pausing until the applause died down before speaking. "Now, this is a building that will stand as a monument to the man whose company, and vision are his greatest legacies. And speaking of legacies, here is a man who would like to say a few words. Robert's own son, Oliver Queen."

The crowd gave a polite applause as Oliver took the podium. Oliver took a moment to compose his thoughts before speaking.

"Thank you all for coming. I know it would mean a lot to my father. My father was…a complicated man," Oliver said, pausing. "He expected me to take over the company when he was ready to retire. Something that is still expected of me now. But I am not my father, I wasn't ready to lead the company five years ago and I'm not ready now. So, for the foreseeable future, I will be working with Lena Luthor to show me the ropes so that one day, I will be ready. Thank you."

Oliver stepped back from the podium, rejoining his family as the crowd applauded. Moira kissed Oliver on the cheek, beaming with pride. Oliver flashed a tight smile before stepping up to her side, exchanging a significant look with Lena.

Whether he liked it or not, the plan had changed.

Starling General

Afternoon

Oliver stepped into Laurel's room, taking a moment to take in the sight of her, strapped to the machines, the beeping signaling he heartrate. It was steady, he noted hopefully as he took a seat by her bedside. The room was silent for a moment, save the beeping of the machines and Laurel's forced breathing.

"Martin Somers was arrested for Nocenti's murder last night," Oliver sad. "He's also facing the charges of attempted murder of you and for his involvement with the Triad. I hope that makes it easier on you, that you didn't end up here for nothing."

Oliver paused before continuing.

"You've always cared about this city Laurel, always believed it could be saved within the law. But the law, its being twisted and used by people who don't mind stepping on anyone who gets in their way. They are literally above the law. To save this city…I have to go outside it. I know you won't approve of what I'm doing…but you've always been better than me. I hope that one day; the fight for our city can be fought on your turf, in a court of law. But what this has taught me is that that day will not come anytime soon."

Oliver planted a kiss on Laurel's forehead before rising from his seat and exiting the room. Rob was standing outside, a disgruntled look on his face. No doubt still angry about his disappearing act last night. Oliver idly wondered how many more times Rob would put up with it.

"Going out tonight sir?" Rob asked.

"Absolutely," Oliver said instantly.

Laurel is still alive, although she'll be in a coma for a few chapters.

Before I continue with the nots, I have a message for the Laurel fanatics (and fanatics is what you are) who filled up my inbox with no less than ten hate filled reviews over me 'killing' Laurel. For those of you who are just reading, you can feel free to skip below to the other notes.

Message begins:

You guys realize how stupid you now look since Laurel isn't dead, right? Actually, there was never a version of this story where she did die and I even implied as such at the end of last chapter. I realize that common sense and critical thinking aren't your strong suits, but the last chapter literally ended with the words 'clinging to life', meaning Laurel was still alive.

Not only do you look stupid, you showed just how toxic and insane you actually are. I'm not sure why you think fanfiction exists only to pander to what you want to read, but, news flash, no one has to bow to your whims. If I want to write a story where Oliver is paired with someone other than Laurel, I don't need your permission. As a matter of fact, I don't need your permission to write any ships I want to write. The whole reason I no longer write Oliver/Laurel is because you people would harass and bully me whenever I wrote a different Oliver pairing or even so much as lightly criticized Laurel. And all you are doing is proving I made the right choice.

You lot are entitled to like Oliver/Laurel or whatever ships you do like. What you absolutely are not entitled to is to bully and harass anyone who disagrees with you, which you have done for years to the point that hardly anyone who doesn't share your extremist views on Laurel writes for Oliver/Laurel anymore. Funny, it's almost like your harassment and bullying kills anyone's desire to write for Oliver/Laurel.

Anyway, the fact you keep reading my stories just to tell me how much you hate it and my pairings says far more about you than it does about me. And I hate to break it to you; I don't really give a damn about your opinions. As a matter of fact, I care more about my dog's shit than I do about your opinions. Because you have proven yourselves over and over again to be a bunch of deranged idiots who care only for your own opinions. News flash, no one cares. No one cares that you only want Oliver with Laurel, no one cares that you hate Oliver and Sara, no one cares that you are entitled little snowflakes that think the sun rises and sets on their opinions. Putting it simply, no one cares what you think. Now kindly go find an Oliver/Laurel smut story, jerk off to it and go away! Anytime anyone asks me why I have guest moderation turned on, I just have to point to you and they understand.

End message.

So major deviation from canon in that Oliver is now working at Luthor-Queen Industries, which means no Verdant. While I like the nightclub angle, it just doesn't work for this story.