A.N.:

Hi, dear Reader!

It's been a really long while once again. In this attempt at getting back to this story, I hope to have it finished by end of this year with more regular updates, as the plot is all planned out and several chapters already prepped. For me return to this story was a need to finish an era in my life from the moment I started writing it - to now. I hope you will still enjoy it as it goes. Canon after second season of Arrow will not feature here, except by accident as I haven't really followed the show after the 3rd season, and anyhow that's not what this story was about anyway.

So, here's to rebirth, journeys and happy endings - which is what this story was supposed to be about.

Thanks for giving this another chance :)

Chile 7 – He did it

He had left Starling at midday, and it was a late morning that greeted him as he stepped out on the airfield in Pichoy, the closest airport to Valdivia – a city that lay on the border of the southernmost temperate rainforests in the world and a national treasure to Chile. The temperature was stifling as he moved from the plane to the car that was already waiting for him.

The driver reflexively apologized, saying that a heatwave had been going over the region for the past few days and Oliver nodded, breathing in the cool, conditioned air of the car. Any other reply was beyond him. He rolled his shoulders, but the tension did not ease.

It had been a nearly full day's flight and there was still a considerable car ride to reach the high rated spa hotel that had made the latest charge on Thea's card – and there had been quite a few others, he could track his sister's activities from Santiago, down the country through the hotel bills. Which he had had to request through the bank and his family's account as Felicity had resolutely refused to assist.

The forced inactivity from the flight had made him even antsier than he had been before getting on the plane in Starling, but he had been unwilling to compromise the length of the route with layovers longer than were strictly necessary for refueling.

There was something that had been low-key eating at him in Starling city, but now seemed to consume him like a forest fire. But that was just paranoia, he had no reason to worry, right? Other than the fact that he was unwelcome and would likely not be well received, there was no other reason for worry… Right? Yet he had learned to trust his instincts over the years, and something didn't feel right, and now that he was away from Starling and all its distractions – he felt it all the more keenly.

It was like the city and his mission and ongoing troubles with Slade had masked a worry that had been ringing like a smoke detector in his head for weeks. Something was off.

And he had no idea what it was.

He ran through the past few weeks in his mind again. It had been mission after mission, and he'd barely made a dent in the List with all the trouble Slade had been puppeteering in the city and, honestly, to himself, Oliver could admit that his head was spinning. He couldn't remember the last time he had taken a breath; it almost took him back to a time before the Queen's Gambit went down. Before he even got on that damn boat.

He winced and shook his head – he hadn't thought of what-if or how-life-could-have-been in forever. The situation was what it was, and he had his mission, there was no point in wallowing. It wouldn't help him survive and do what must be done.

And yet… "Sorry, how far are we now exactly?" Oliver spoke to distract himself, nervous energy danced across his body, and his fingers reflexively clenched into fists. He wanted, he needed to move, to do something, to hit something.

"Another 45 minutes, Mr. Queen," the driver replied as he glanced in the rearview mirror. The hotel was some way from the city itself near a national park.

Oliver's mouth tightened. "Thanks," he rolled his shoulders again, muscles popping in his back, and he donned the bored billionaire playboy look on his face burying down any other feeling. "You don't happen to have any vodka, do you?"

It didn't stop him from nervously dithering from one thought to another internally, but maybe the vodka would.

IKYWT

Considering she felt like years had passed since they'd been captured, the ride to the closest town seemed shockingly short. Laurel was almost startled when less than half an hour later the heavy military jeeps rolled into a small, dusty village square. It was mind boggling how close to a civilized place atrocities could happen.

"We are not going back to the hotel?" Laurel asked to – well, anybody who could answer, but Daniel was nearest to her in the car, so she turned to him. She hadn't noticed when she and Thea had clutched hands during the ride, but they stayed clinging to each other. She squeezed Thea's palm and was reassured by the squeeze back.

Only a moment later she realized that it might be perfectly reasonable for none of their rescuers to know where they were staying. Something in her eased, even though she hadn't noticed that she tensed up the moment the car stopped.

"You guys are staying somewhere in Valdivia?" Daniel asked, pushing his glasses back up his nose.

"Ah, no, we moved more inland before the hike," Thea piped up. "We were staying at a SPA, near the lake, I think it was Paz.. something." She hadn't looked at the price or the name. It was one of the places on the initial tour list that had been compiled by the receptionist at the first hotel. Thea's main and sole concern had been Laurel, so she had relied on her credit card to do the heavy lifting for everything else.

"Paz de Bosque, peace of the woodlands," Daniel finished for Thea. "I know it… How ironic the title seems now... It is still about two hours ride away, though."

"We will have to stay here for the night," Jack spoke up from the front seat. "The teams will process the people you rescued and set up camp outside the town, but we still have the rest of that trafficker cell to deal with – and we want to do it now. We have taken over the local 'mom-and-pop' B&B as a command center. We'll find a room for you to stay, get a doc to check you out and when you're ready – get your official statements. We can drop you both off at your hotel tomorrow."

"It's just getting late, and you've been through too much today to try and push everything through in a rush," Daniel paraphrased Jack's meaning more gently.

Laurel nodded, feeling dazed. The driver stepped out of the car and as she looked from the general to their guide, something clicked, "Drop us off… But what about you?"

Thea frowned.

"Ah…" Daniel stammered a bit. "I'm with Jack, I mean with the Air Force, actually."

"You don't look military," Thea poked him and Laurel with her elbows as she moved in the backseat where the three of them were squashed.

"I'm not, I'm an archeologist…" Daniel started, apologetically.

"And a linguist and about a dozen other things that they give doctorates for," Jack smirked, interrupting.

"How?" Laurel was rather too astonished to finish the sentence with either – how were you our guide or -how are you with the military?

"How much did I pay to have you as a guide?" Thea managed to ask when she got her jaw to close.

"Ahh, I hope Martin didn't rip you off, I did this as favor, as I was going to be hiking in the vicinity anyway, and he said you would enjoy hearing about the history of the place and…" well, Daniel appreciated the opportunities to share his knowledge. He was a scholar but also a lecturer at heart.

"We did," Laurel said, a feeling of incredulousness and gratefulness almost made her choke. "So, the reason we had you, the reason we were rescued, it was all … actually… a very lucky coincidence, just because…"

"Nooo," Daniel empathetically shook his head. "You rescued yourselves. And so many other people, who will tell you exactly that too. I'm just happy to be able to give you guys a ride back and so sorry that this happened in the first place, it seems trouble follows me, and I dragged you into it," there was an apologetic, slightly sheepish expression on his face.

Laurel hadn't noticed when she started crying, but she those were definitely tears rolling down her face. She sniffed and shook her head, "Oh, no, it's me that trouble follows." And killers and vigilantes, mobsters and city destroying earthquake devices. For a minute she thought of Tommy, and it felt like a muscle tearing apart.

"Alright then," this was getting too much for the general, who as cheerfully as possible went on to say, "Then it'll be for the best if we make sure you're all in one piece and get you two trouble magnets as far as possible from one another. Only so many kidnappings one general can deal with in a span of a week. Let's go."

The moment was broken. Relief flooded her being. Laurel took a deep breath and exited the car, Thea trailing after her. A laugh bubbled up in her after the tears. Perhaps she wasn't cursed. Perhaps she was. But she definitely wasn't the only one.

IKYWT

Oliver paced his room. He had checked in the hotel, charmed the receptionist and all of that only to find out that Laurel and Thea were not here. He turned on his heel bristling like an angry thunderstorm cloud and paced along the balcony door.

Apparently, his sister had checked in nearly a week ago, and had already left. On a nature hike of all places. The receptionist assured him that they were expected back within days as they still held on to the guest's luggage and rooms. He turned on his heel again.

"Thea hates nature. She hates hiking. Since when does she hike? Since when does Laurel?" he snarled under his breath. The closest thing he and Laurel had ever done to hiking was city tour in Verona.

He stopped. Suddenly. Pressed his palms against his eyes, like trying to chase away a headache. His mind felt sluggish from the vodka and endless frustration. He felt like he had run halfway across the world only to fail. His shoulders drooped in defeat. He had to wait. He could not find them on his own. Not right now.

It felt odd. It felt uncomfortable to admit defeat if only to himself. He had survived in more dangerous woods than the ones that lay beyond his balcony, but… He didn't know these woods. He didn't know this entire territory and it was huge. He could go in tonight and there would still be 0% chance that he'd find Laurel and Thea.

He was helpless. Nothing he could do would effect a change. He couldn't even get in touch with them. Laurel's phone had been offline for weeks. Thea's phone was not with her and last time he had called, she had texted to tell him, that calling was too 90s. He had no way to look for two women in one of the largest rainforests in the world – no satellites, no heat signature seekers, not even a damn drone. It made him feel like his hotel room was a cage.

He hated this feeling. He hated waiting. He paced.

IKYWT

Laurel tried to sleep. She put her bandaged wrists together and pushed her hands under the pillow in the classic sleeping position. It did not help.

Across the small room Thea was already fast asleep. She snorted – seemed to laugh at something in her sleep.

Laurel smiled, amused, turned to her other side and wished that she had such good dreams. But as her brow creased – she did what she had done back at Slade's. It's not like she had bad dreams. It was just, that she didn't seem to have dreams. At all.

She had lost all her dreams.

The thought hit her in an entirely different way. It's not that she didn't dream at night, it's that she didn't dream. She slept, she woke, she ate, she worked, she existed. Five things. That's all it was – five things on repeat, because she had forgotten, or she had lost or… It doesn't matter, she realized. One way or another her dreams were gone and along with them her hope, her vision for future… Her will to live.

Laurel sat up in the bed, hugging her knees. She tried to breathe quietly, but deeply in the little private shelter she made for herself. The realization hurt. It felt like she could see herself from outside – this slight woman, sweating in tropical heatwave, hugging herself and trying not to hyperventilate – sad and tiny, because sadness had made her so small.

But with every deeper breath she realized that while this hurt, it didn't hurt like breaking apart. It hurt like a wound when it is cleaned. Like a broken bone when it is set right.

Because, yes, she felt small, she was small – here, on this bed, struggling for regular breaths and so lost she had forgotten all the things that once had given her wings. She was broken. But she was also healing. This was not the end. She had a power inside her. She and Thea – they had saved those people.

Laurel uncurled from her protective position. She was small. Oh, but she could grow big. She could grow strong. And maybe even have dreams again.

And that thought lifted her up from the bed. She could not sleep while she felt so much life coursing through her veins. She felt antsy – she wanted to share this realization with someone, but Thea was sleeping, and Laurel dared not disturb what looked so peaceful a sleep.

She bit her lip as if to hold back the sudden thought that came into her head, but it didn't hold her back long. A moment later she picked up the phone that Daniel had loaned her and Thea in case they wanted to get in touch with someone - they hadn't, as Laurel hadn't wanted to talk to anybody, and Thea felt there was no reason to worry her mother or brother, but now… Laurel decisively and quietly slipped out of the room and pressed in the number that was at the forefront of her memory.

It picked up after three rings. For a moment she was frozen and then, "Hey.. Uhm. It's Laurel."