Disclaimer: WB/DC own these characters. I'm only borrowing them for a while. I own the original ideas found in this.
AN: I apologize for the delay. I am writing the story as I plan it out. (Currently, that's how I write all my stories). Sigh, I hate it but it is as it is. I was too excited to share the very first chapters of this story. Ha. (I also didn't plan on carrying it out as far as this, but even though it is difficult, I love the idea of coming up with an alternative season two with Laurel an active part of Team Arrow).
So, I do thank you all for continuing to read this story and to encourage me onwards. And for your patience.
If he'd look back at this summer, Oliver would say he couldn't have predicted all which would occur. Beginning with his mother. To the surprise of no one, she had been charged with conspiracy of murder, and was denied bail. Malcolm Merlyn would've been charged as well, but of course he had died at the hand of the Arrow. At least according to law enforcement.
Walter had taken over as CEO, in spite of his divorce with Moira. Luckily, he hadn't allowed any bitterness to exist between them, and so he had willingly accepted the position. However, over the course of the summer, many problems beset the company, placing it in danger of being overtaken by any interested competitor.
Meanwhile, as the summer passed by, Laurel's fighting skills continued to improve in the Arrow lair. Oliver took pains not to overwhelm her with learning new skills, beginning first with building upon her street fighting skills. He then decided to introduce her to the use of bo-staffs, figuring it would augment her fighting style.
Oliver watched as Laurel threw herself into learning this new skill, like she did with everything she ever wanted to do. He'd always known Laurel to be a force to be reckoned with. With learning the bo-staff, she was understandably clumsy at first, getting accustomed to the feeling of the bo-staffs. Slowly but surely, she progressed in using them. Laurel didn't say, but Oliver could tell she preferred boxing versus the bo-staffs, but he reinforced the importance of developing different fighting skills, to have a variety of choices to fit the circumstances.
There was another change in Laurel's life. Despite her wishes, Laurel and Jo Anne really had no other choice but to give up their law practice in the Glades. With the overwhelming damage in that part of the Glades, there was no way for them to raise the money to rebuild. Jo Anne decided to move to Coast City to work with one of her brothers in his law practice, and so Laurel took up the offer from the District Attorney's office to join their fight.
As Laurel's life was changing, so were Tommy and Felicity's lives as well as their relationship developed. Tommy quickly became a nice surprise for Felicity. She herself hadn't expected to find love while helping a vigilante fight crime, but in fact she did. Tommy brought out a lightness in her she had lost somewhere along the way, something that had been lost when her college boyfriend Cooper had died.
One refreshing aspect of their relationship was the fact she didn't have to hide anything from him. If she had to cancel a date, she didn't have to come up with a cover story. Tommy may not always like it, but he understood. He refused to keep her company most nights she spent in the Lair, even though his relationship with Oliver was slowly being rebuilt and his objections about Oliver's vigilantism were slowly disappearing.
After a few months, Tommy decided to spend the evening in the Lair, his desire to be with Felicity overcoming any remaining anger or discomfort with Oliver and Laurel. Before the team went out for patrol, they sparred against each other. Laurel was becoming more and more comfortable with sparring with Digg and Oliver at the same time. She had thought Oliver crazy the first time he suggested it, but he convinced her to at least give it a try. The ending result wasn't as bad as she had feared; she actually held her own, for at least several minutes.
This night she could tell Tommy was impressed as she took the two men on. She was able to hold her own, and even was able to sweep Dig's legs from under him. Of course, she was so happily surprised she lost her focus for a moment, allowing Oliver to tackle her to the ground.
"Wow, Laurel, you sure are doing well," Tommy told her.
"You want to take her on, Tommy?" Oliver asked.
Laurel rolled her eyes at him, and Tommy shook his head. "No thanks. Laurel was able to beat me up before your training, so now, I wouldn't stand a chance."
Laurel, having left the sparring ring, slugged Tommy lightly on his upper arm as she grabbed a water bottle and took several swallows. Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, she told him, "I don't think so, Tommy."
"You forget how you wiped the floor with Max Fuller's men at Poison last fall?"
"Yeah, Laurel, you were very impressive then," Oliver said as he placed an arm around Laurel's shoulder.
Laurel smiled up into Oliver's eyes. "Why, thank you, sir." She then pecked a kiss on the cheek.
"My eyes, my eyes," Tommy teased, covering his eyes with one hand.
"Tommy!" Felicity admonished.
"What? Are you lonely all the way over there?" Tommy sprinted over to Felicity sitting behind the computers and gave her a quick kiss on her lips.
"Oh, you!" Felicity said as her face turned a bright red. Tommy then grabbed her, dipping her backwards and kissing her.
When Tommy brought her upright, Felicity met Oliver's eyes. Oliver nodded slightly at her, and she looked down momentarily.
"Merlyn, you never change," Oliver said, walking up and slugging him on the back.
"Why should I? The ladies love me," Tommy said with a defiant toss of his head.
As Laurel and Felicity groaned in protest, Oliver said, "See Merlyn, these two fine young women here disagree."
"Isn't it about time for you guys to go out and catch some bad guys, leaving me here with my girlfriend?"
Dig had been quietly observing the teasing going on with a good-natured smile on his face. Rising from the chair he had taken when their sparring had finished, he said, "The boy is correct, Oliver. We should get going."
Oliver took up his water bottle and grabbed his bow in his characteristic flourish. "Of course. Let's get going."
~~OQ~~LL~~OQ~~LL~~
One night when it was just the two of them, they came across a young woman being assaulted. Before they could reach the group, however, a blur in black had jumped down in front of the two assailants and beat them unconscious.
Oliver grabbed her by the arm. "Who are you?"
As the woman attempted to throw Oliver over her shoulder, Oliver shook her off. She took advantage of this to send a rappelling cable up to the building above and suddenly she disappeared from Oliver and Laurel's sight.
Laurel asked in wonder, "Who was that?"
"I guess that is the Woman in Black who has apparently been saving women from being assaulted in the Glades."
"Why haven't I heard anything about her at work, I wonder."
"The police are probably trying to keep it quiet until they've gathered more information about her. Or caught her."
"But of course, Felicity has been gathering information, right?"
"Yes, so far there have been five different sightings in the past two weeks. However, we haven't heard anything from the streets regarding her identity or where we can find her."
"She sure surprised you with that trick arrow she had."
Oliver flashed her a smile. "Excuse me for not knowing I wasn't the only one in town with trick arrows." He quickly turned serious. "Now that I know she has such things, I'll be prepared to catch her."
For a week, they waited to catch a glimpse of the Woman in Black or another opportunity to apprehend her. Oliver even contemplated setting a trap for her. However, before he could, they came upon her stopping two other possible rapists. As she was involved with knocking the two men out, Oliver positioned himself in place and shot a rope arrow at the Woman in Black. Before she could cut through the rope, Oliver fired another one which was of stronger rope.
Laurel ran up to Oliver as he approached the woman. Through a voice modulator the Woman in Black told them, "If you don't let me go, your lives will never be the same again."
Oliver told her, "No I think your life will be different." He ripped off her mask and gasped loudly. Laurel cried out as well as she observed who was under the mask.
"How is this possible, Sara? I saw you die."
~~OQ~~LL~~OQ~~LL~~
As life was progressing without major difficulty for Team Arrow, besides Mrs. Queen being in jail, they couldn't be blamed for not knowing that trouble was brewing below the surface.
Oliver had an enemy who was about to reenter his life, seemingly returning from the dead. Someone who began as a friend but who ended up an enemy who had attempted to kill him. Who had threatened his entire family and friends, and for which Oliver decided to kill him with an arrow.
However, because of a secret army formula which Slade had been injected with, Slade hadn't died. Oliver wasn't aware of this fact because an explosion had knocked him unconscious, and a woman named Amanda Waller had rescued him before he could drown and brought him to Hong Kong.
In the years since Slade had swam to the shore, and made his way to the United States via Hong Kong, he had amassed a fortune by working as an assassin for hire. He wondered what had happened to the young man of whom he had sworn vengeance. He figured that Oliver's dumb luck would've ran out years ago. Instead, he was surprised to hear, one day, of the miraculous rescue of the playboy Oliver Queen rescued from a 'deserted' island. That description made Slade chuckle for a few seconds. 'Deserted', indeed.
In his travels around the world, acting as an assassin-for-hire, Slade had met a young businesswoman whose hatred for the Queen family rivaled his own. Slade made an agreement with her, accepting her assistance in bringing the Queen family down. Thus, Isabel Rochev became part of the plan to bring down Oliver Queen and his family.
It had taken them a year to place Isabel Rochev into a position to enter Oliver Queen's life. Slade had told Isabel, "He wouldn't know what hit him."
"Of course, I've told you, Slade, it's his mother's reaction I'm more concerned with."
"You have your motives, and I have mine. Luckily, they dovetail in such a way that'll bring havoc and despair to both the Kid and his mother, I promise you."
AN: I hope you enjoyed my weaving in items from Season 2 canon and changing them accordingly to include Laurel and Tommy. It took some work and some wrangling, so I apologize, but I finally did get it done, with your encouragement with reviews and PM's. I thank you for your continued interest, and hope you will let me know what you thought of this chapter.