The news came a day later; the Particle Accelerator, the thing Barry was so excited to see, exploded. Dozens of people dead, and dozens more missing. It took Laurel two days to call them. "Are you okay?" Olivia questioned as soon as her girlfriend called.

"Yes, I'm fine. The power was out for a couple days, so I'm sorry I've just now been able to get a hold of you."

"What happened?" Tommy questioned, grabbing the phone from Olivia's grasp to put it on speaker.

"I'm honestly not sure," Laurel answered. "There was this explosion, and – and it felt like a wave of energy went through the entire city. Power, phones, everything was knocked out. Apparently, a few planes went down, too. It's been a nightmare." She paused. "Barry is in a coma." Olivia and Tommy blinked at each other in surprise. "He was struck by lightning."

What the actual fuck," Tommy sighed, rubbing a hand down his face tiredly.

"Do they think he'll make it?" Oliva questioned.

"That I don't know," Laurel answered with a deep sigh. "I don't think it looks good for him, if I'm being honest. Not many people survive getting struck by lightning." God, poor Barry, Olivia thought. She vowed to herself that she'd cover his medical bills, knowing the Forensic Analyst didn't make whole lot of money at the CCPD.

"Would you give his family my contact information?" She questioned.

"Gonna offer to pay his medical bills?" Olivia frowned.

"I'm not that predictable," she griped playfully.

"Yeah, babe, you kind of are," Tommy teased. "He saved your life, so you're returning the favor." Olivia's frowned deepened, making Tommy chuckle and kiss the pout away.

"I'll make sure to pass the message along to his foster father, and then I'll be heading home in a day or two. Liv, honey, you and I have to go dress shopping soon for the gala," Laurel reminded her. Ah, right; the gala.

"Okay," Olivia sighed.

"Don't sound so glum," Laurel laughed. "Just think; we'll have to get Joe and Slade in tuxes." Olivia perked up. That was true! Since Joe had taken over "bodyguard" duties from Diggle while he was bouncing, Slade has been an almost constant tag along. Not that Olivia minded, obviously. She'd missed him a lot after the mirakuru took a hold of Slade's mind. Speaking of Slade and Joe -

"Before I forget, I'll be heading to Australia for a few days," Olivia informed them both. "We're going to go pick up Grant and bring him back."

"Are they all going to fit in Slade's hotel room?" Laurel questioned, and Olivia cursed, realizing she was right.

"They can stay here," Tommy offered, and she looked up at him. "It gets lonely here. I was actually planning on asking you two to move in with me," he admitted.

"Are you sure?"

"That's a pretty big step," Laurel added.

"We spend most of our time together anyway. The three of us haven't slept alone since I got out of the hospital. Aren't we practically living together already? I love you both, and I know you both love me and each other. Why not?" Olivia searched his face, his eyes, for any hint of doubts or regrets in his offer; she found none.

"Okay," she found herself saying with a smile.

"Okay?"

"Okay," she repeated with a laugh as Tommy pressed a hard kiss to her mouth.

"Hey, now. No celebrating until I get back," Laurel teased while still on speaker.

"No promises," Tommy retorted, and Olivia knew that all that three of them were smiling at this point.

"We're really doing this?" She questioned.

"Looks like it, Liv."

They talked for a little bit longer, before Laurel announced that she was going to get some dinner and pack up the rest of her things for her journey back the next day. After hanging up, Olivia and Tommy shared a slow, soft kiss. "I love you, too, by the way," she whispered against his lips. He pulled back quickly, icy eyes bright.

"Say it again?"

"I love you," she repeated, kissing him again. His arms wrapped around her tightly as Olivia pressed herself against him snuggly, one hand tangling in his hair and the other pulling his shirt out of his dress pants. His hands slid to the front of her blouse, fingers nimbly unbuttoning as his lips trailed down her jaw to the long column of her throat. As her chest was bared before him, Tommy continued his path down, nipping at the skin showing above her bra. Olivia groaned, gripping his hair tighter between her fingers.

Their clothes quickly pooled at their feet, and Olivia gently pushed Tommy back until he was lying on his bed, flat on his back. She climbed on top of him, Tommy reaching out to grasp her hips to keep her steady. She lowered herself on him slowly, Olivia letting out a breathy moan at the slide as he filled her, which he echoed with a groan.

He backed himself up to the headboard, keeping her on top of him and himself still inside her, and Olivia rocked her hips slowly, grinning when she pulled another groan from him. Tommy's hands slid around her, warm palms leaving streaks of heat along her skin in their wake as they climbed up the expansion of her back and pulling her flush against him.

A hot mouth found a nipple, tongue circling it slowly. Olivia moaned again, hips stuttering a bit before picking the rhythm back up. It was slow, sensual; love-making. She could easily say she'd only ever felt like that with Laurel and Tommy.

She'd had many partners, obviously, and yes, there were a few that were against her will. There were a few men in the League that she slept with, and a mark or two while on a mission, and there was Helena. The two only slept together once, and both realized fairly quickly that they were each other's rebounds and there was no real connection. Helena was still mourning her lost fiancé, and Olivia was grieving the end of her and Laurel.

Pressure coiled low in her belly gradually, and Olivia came with a soft cry a few moments after Tommy reached between them and rolled her clit between his fingers. Tommy followed shortly after. She leaned forward, resting her forehead against his as she fought to get her breathing back under control and gently lifted her hips to let his softening member slip out of her.

Tommy's hands smoothed along her ribs gently as he adjusted his hold on her. "Are your ribs doing alright? Are you in any pain?" She shook her head, relaxing against him.

"I'm okay, don't worry." She was a little sore, yes, but that was expected as it was less than a week since her run in with the Mirakuru soldier. "Hey, you wanna go over some basics and work up a sweat today? Start some training?"

"We didn't work up enough of sweat a minute ago?" He questioned with a smirk crawling across his handsome face. Olivia rolled her eyes with a grin and smacked his chest tightly with the back of her hand before rolling off of the bed.

"Come on, I want to show you how to disarm someone with a knife."

Tommy's back hit the floor and he let out a loud groan of pain while Olivia stood over him with a grin. She helped him up, correcting his footing. "You lean too far forward. It makes it easier to knock you off balance. Shift your weight to the back a bit." He followed her direction, and the two began another light spar.

After a few minutes, Olivia knocked him on his ass again. "You're progressing much quicker than I did," she encouraged, helping him to his feet again.

"She's right," Slade piped in from the steps as he and Joe made their way down. "I thought she was going to get us killed quite a few times," he teased, making Olivia frown at him.

"That's rude," she huffed.

"Look at you now, though," Joe laughed, motioning towards her with a wide swing of his arms. Olivia flipped him off with a grin. "Love you, too, big sister."

"How quickly can you two be ready to go shopping?" Slade and Joe both pulled the same face, mouths twisting in distaste.

"I think I'm coming down with something," Joe said, placing his palm against his forehead and letting out a fake cough. "I don't think I can go today. Or any day this month." Oliva raised an eyebrow, staring him down. "I think I'm suddenly feeling better! Let's go, pops." Slade just sighed, clearly done with the antics of his two oldest.

"The gala is in four days, and I know neither of you have a good enough outfit."

"Aren't I going as your bodyguard?" Joe questioned, confused.

"No, Diggle is going as my bodyguard. You and Slade are mine and Tommy's plus ones."

"Laurel isn't going?" Slade asked, spinning an escrima stick between his fingers too quickly to track with ease.

"She was invited personally by Sebastian Blood," Tommy answered with an eyeroll. "Fucking tool." Olivia snorted, grabbing her clothes and towel to take a quick shower in one of the stalls she had installed a few months previous.

"I'm with Tommy on the 'tool' part. He also has an obvious crush on our girlfriend."

"Are you talking about the gala Sebastian Blood is hosting? Ray Palmer is taking me." Olivia glanced up to see Felicity making her way down the steps with Diggle in tow.

"Isabel gave you the day off?" She questioned the other blonde, ignoring the part about Ray Palmer.

"Vacation day," she answered. "Remember, my mom is in town." That's right, Olivia thought.

"How's Donna doing?"

"Pretty well. She's thinking of moving here for some reason."

"Right, living in Starling City; the horror," Olivia deadpanned, passing Tommy and giving him a quick kiss. "Want to join me?" She whispered, hopefully low enough for Slade to not hear. Instead of answering, Tommy just grinned down at her, grabbing his own change of clothes. "We'll be back in a minute," she added a bit louder as they headed to the back.

Olivia slipped out of her workout gear, grabbing Tommy and pulling him under the warm spray of the shower head in one of the stalls, pulling the frosted door shut behind them for privacy. "Didn't work you over too hard, did I?" She murmured, pressing her lips to his wet shoulder, mouthing along his skin.

"Definitely going to be sore tomorrow," he chuckled, ducking down to kiss her gently. She ran her fingers threw his hair, tangling in the short strands near the back of his neck. He pulled away, trailing kisses down her neck, nipping at her jaw softly as he went. "We shouldn't go too far. There are people in the next room, and you are loud." Olivia slapped Tommy's chest in retaliation making him flinch.

"You are so rude today."

Holding up a dark charcoal jacket in one hand and a lighter gray one in the other, Olivia tilted her head as she studied both next to Joe's face. "Isn't this a black-tie event? Shouldn't I be wearing, I don't know, black?"

"You don't have to wear only black at a black-tie event, you idiot," she shot back, giving Joe a look.

"He gets to wear black," he complained, motioning to Slade off to the side.

"Can you see him wearing anything but black?" The two went back and forth, much to Slade's visible amusement. "Just try on the damn suits!"

"Fine!" He snatched both out of her hands, grumbling to himself as he made his way to the changing rooms. Olivia looked over at Slade, shooting him a wink that he returned a grin with.

"Alright, pops, I know we're going with a classic black suit, but did you want to go white dress shirt or do black on black?" She questioned, holding up one white dress shirt and one black.

"I guess the black," he sighed, reaching for it.

"Color me surprised."

"You are very mouthy today, Olivia," he noticed, eyeing her. She sighed.

"Sorry. Galas stress me out. They used to not bother me until I got back. Now, I'm just constantly on edge and always expecting an attack." He cupped her cheek with his right hand, rubbing his thumb gently across her cheekbone.

"You'll be okay, Kid."

"Of course, I will. You'll be there."

"Damn right." He turned on his heel, stalking his way towards one of the other changing rooms. She watched him go with a small smile on her face, and then took out her cell phone, seeing a text from her mother.

Need you home tonight.

She sighed, replying that she'd see her then, and shoved her phone back into her jeans back pocket. Just what she wanted – to spend the night with her mother. Not that she didn't love Moira, obviously, but Olivia had much better things to do with her time. Like hunt down the guy who broke into Queen Consolidated and the blood bank. She owed him a fight. Felicity was still working on getting a name for her, but Olivia had faith in the IT tech's skills with a computer.

Joe pushed open the door to the changing room he was in and Olivia walked towards him, straightening out his jacket. "Looks nice," she commented, smoothing out the lapels.

"Yeah, guess you were right about that gray." He adjusted the sleeves in the mirror, tugging on them lightly. Slade followed shortly after, looking much more displeased than Joe did.

"Have I mentioned how much I hate suits?" He grumbled lowly, his one dark eye stormy as he pulled on the collar of the black dress shirt uncomfortably. Olivia batted his hand away, adjusting the neck a bit to make it a bit more bearable for him.

"Better?" She asked. He nodded before giving Joe a once over.

"Liv, was right, pops; all black looks great," Joe said.

"Of course, I was right. I'm a socialite," Olivia chuckled. "Did you guys want to check out any other styles or colors?" She questioned, jokingly holding up a powder blue suit towards Joe. He shot her a look, raising a dark eyebrow. "Okay, I'll take that as a 'no'." She placed in it back on the rack before motioning for them to go back into the rooms and change back into their normal clothes.

"Aren't you going to get a dress? Or do you have seventy of them to choose from?" Joe snarked.

"Laurel and I are going shopping for dresses tomorrow," she answered. "Tommy is coming with us for a tux. None of his fit him anymore since the coma."

"Didn't think about that," he said.

"I didn't know you could think at all," Olivia sassed.

"Don't be such a bitch."

"Don't be such a-"

"Kids," Slade warned in a low voice.

"Sorry, pops," the two chorused.

Hey, sorry I'm late," Olivia said as she slipped off her jacket and made her way into the living room of the Queen mansion.

"Don't worry about it, Olivia, we're quite used to it by now," Moira commented tightly with Thea hovering behind her. Olivia hadn't talked to her sister much since Thea's comment in the hospital a couple weeks prior, and she was still a bit sore about it if she was being honest.

"Hey, Ollie," the dark haired girl said softly.

"Hi, Speedy. So, what's going on, mom?"

"It will be announced publicly at the gala later this week, but Sebastian Blood is running against me as mayoral candidate." Olivia blinked, surprised.

"That's not good."

"No, it is not. He has public approval, while I do not. We need to think of something."

"Shouldn't you be talking to your PR team, not your children?" Thea piped in drily.

"Well, as my children are part of the public, I wanted to get your input," Moira answered.

"Maybe host a fundraiser," Olivia tried, plopping down into one of the plush armchairs.

"Yeah, maybe for cancer research," Thea agreed.

"Or towards rebuilding the Glades," Olivia suggested.

"Oh, that's good," Thea agreed, pointing at the blonde. Moira's blue eyes that Olivia had carbon copies of narrowed in thought.

"A fundraiser is a good idea," she said finally.

"QC will make a sizable donation, and I'm sure Merlyn Global will, as well," Olivia said with a small smile towards her mother. Her phone went off a moment later, and she saw it was a text from Felicity.

Got some info on our blood burglar. Meet me at the Arrow Cave.

I'll meet you there in fifteen.

"Mom-"

"Yes, I know, you have to go. What is it this time, Olivia? Emergency at Queen Consolidated? Verdant?" Moira questioned, head tilted to the side almost mockingly as she stared her down. Olivia sighed tiredly and opened her mouth to say the first lie she could think of, but Moira cut her off. "Don't bother. I suppose we'll see you the next time you decide to grace us with your presence." The older blonde stalked off down the hall, and Thea shot her older sister a dark look.

"She's so worried about you, and all you can do is give her grief."

"That's rich coming from you," Olivia snapped back without thinking. Thea reared back in surprise.

"That's not fair. I had been grieving my dead father and my dead sister."

"And I'm trying to get my life back on track after spending eight years on a goddamned island. Forgive me if intergrading back into society is a little tricky!" Olivia turned on her heel and grabbed her jacket from the coat rack by the door and made her way toward her motorcycle. Anger simmered just beneath her skin, and she needed an outlet.

Even if she had been stuck on an uninhabited island for eight years, instead of only two, she would still be a wreck mentally. She couldn't even imagine the stress and anxiety she'd feel being surrounded by people again after all that time. Of course, she's changed, and obviously she's going to want to spend some time on her own. Why was her family treating her as if she was the same fifteen year old that left them?

She reached Verdant quickly, speeding through a few stop signs. She saw Slade and Joe's bikes already there and parked next to them before hurrying down the side steps and making her way into the main base. "What have you got for me, Felicity?"

"His name is Cyrus Gold," Felicity supplied, spinning in her chair to face Olivia. "Haven't found out a lot about his history yet besides the fact he was a pastor at an orphanage." Olivia leaned over the desk, eyes scanning over the information on the monitor for herself.

"Good job, Felicity. Would you please send over your findings to Quentin, and we'll come up with a plan." Felicity nodded, turning to tap away at her computer. "Whoa, looks like our assassin in black is back," she added, pulling up a security feed downtown. Sara's blurry form was jumping across two buildings and landing on a fire escape before climbing up the taller building to the roof. Olivia met Slade's gaze over Felicity's head and the two nodded at each other, agreeing that it was time to talk to Sara again.

She suited up quickly, about to put on her face grease to mask her identity, before Felicity appeared, handing her a box. "What's this?" She questioned, opening it. Inside was a black domino mask, big enough to cover her eyes and cheekbones. There was a note attached with Barry's familiar scrawl. He must have sent it before the Particle Accelerator blew.

Hope this comes in handy. It should t block your view while you fight. - Barry

She smiled softly down at the note, heart clenching a bit at thinking of the gangly forensic assistant. She put it on, noting that it didn't obstruct her vision in the slightest. She placed the note back in the box, and lowered it to the desk. "Looks good, boss," Felicity commented.

"Thank you. Ready to go?" She asked, looking towards Slade and Joe. The two nodded from behind their masks and the quickly made their way towards where Sara was spotted on their bikes.

When they got there, Olivia could hear fighting coming from up top the three story building Sara was last seen on, and Olivia quickly shot a grappling hook arrow towards the roof and when it connected, she pressed a button on her bow and let herself be pulled up.

When she reached the roof, she took in the sight before her; Sara was fighting a masked assailant with a familiar outfit. It was a member of the League. Olivia quickly kicked him away from the other blonde, dropping into a crouch as the assassin quickly got his bearings and fell into a similar position. "This is none of your concern, Malikat Alsahim," he said in Arabic.

"You're in my city, which makes it my business. What do you want with her?" Olivia asked in the same tongue, not leaving her defensive position in front of Sara.

"Ta-er al-Sahfer must come back to Nanda Parbat. We allowed her to stay for far too long."

"You want her? You'll have to go through me."

"We have your back, Arrow," Joe said as he and Slade appeared, flanking her. Olivia noticed Slade's mask tilt towards Sara as if he was studying her. From the stiffness in her shoulders, Olivia figured Sara noticed, too. The assassin studied them and took a measured step back. He knew he was outnumbered.

"Twenty-four hours, Ta-er al-Sahfer, and then you will join us once again. Malikat Alsahim will not be able to save you once more." He took one more step back, falling quickly off of the building. Joe ran forward to peer over the side, but Olivia knew he wouldn't see anything. She turned around to see Sara glaring at Slade from behind her mask.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't stick one of your arrows though his remaining eye," she spat.

"I'd like to see you try, little girl," Slade rumbled darkly from behind his mask. Olivia could see Sara's muscles bunching, preparing to strike, when she quickly stepped in between them.

"Enough, Sara. Give me one good reason why I shouldn't chase you out of my city?" Sara blinked, blue eyes shocked.

"What do you mean?"

"There's been peace between myself and the League for almost seven years, and I might have just ruined that for you. You ran?" Sara nodded, not meeting her eye. "You never told Ra's?"

"No, I just left."

"I'm surprised you've been given the choice to leave with them. If I had ran, they'd have hunted me down and slit my throat, if I was lucky." Sara stayed silent. "Are you running again?"

"You and I both know they'll go after my family. Of course, I'm running again," she snapped, starting to pace the length of the roof. "I can't put my dad and Laurel in danger."

"Sara-"

"No, Ollie. This is my mess, and I'm going to clean it up."

Two Thousand and Five; Lian Yu

"Slade?" Olivia tried again, reaching out to grab his unmarred shoulder gently and giving it a little shake. "Slade? Slade, please," she begged. Shado reached forward, brushing the back of her fingers lightly over his cheek while Olivia's gaze never left his chest, just waiting for it to rise. For him to take a breath.

"Please, open your eyes, Slade," Shado pleaded, tears starting to fall down her face. Olivia let out a sob, curling into the older woman's side as they held each other. Sara stayed off the side behind them, just trying to stay out of their way as they mourned.

Olivia barely heard the sound of the door opening and people climbing into the submarine. She heard Sara let out a grunt a moment before a pair of hands grabbed the top of her arms and bodily lifted her away from Slade and Shado. She screamed and kicked and scratched to get away from them and go back to Slade's body, but their grip was too tight as she was pulled out of the hatch and back into the sunlight.

She was dragged into a clearing, had her arms bound behind her, and then was tossed to the ground. She was pretty sure she bit her cheek when blood pooled hot in her mouth, and the metallic taste overwhelmed her taste buds. Shado was thrown down next to her just as harshly, but Sara was gently placed on the ground. "Hello, miss Queen," a voice said softly from behind them. She turned her head to see Anthony Ivo standing there, a gun held loose in his hand, tapping against his outer thigh. "I knew you were lying to me," he added, watching as the rest of the Mirakuru serum was packed away and most likely taken back to the freighter.

"She didn't lie, Anthony," Sara pleaded, bright blue eyes locking into the man's imploringly. "We found the submarine, and I remembered reading your notes on the miracle drug. We took a chance to see if it would bring back Slade." He looked down at her with an almost fond expression, reaching out to grip her chin and rub at her cheek with his thumb once, twice, before pulling away.

"I wish I could believe you, my dear, but I don't." He waved his hand and suddenly Shado and Sara were on their knees on either side of Olivia, and a hand gripped her hair tightly to keep her looking at Ivo.

"Anthony, please!" Sara cried, tears falling from her eyes. /i

"They're only kids," Shado tried to reason. Ivo ignored them, tilting his head down to meet Olivia's gaze.

"One of you is dying today," he said, pointing his gun at Shado, then Sara, and finally settling on Olivia. "You get to choose who dies." Olivia felt her blood run cold.

"What?" She whispered, shaking.

Choose, miss Queen," he said again pleasantly. "You have thirty seconds."

"Me!" She shouted, pushing herself forward to be closer to the gun. "Me, kill me!" She couldn't watch Shado die. She couldn't. And Sara was so young, barely fifteen. She couldn't let her die, either. Ivo studied her, letting the gun rest against her forehead as tears formed in her eyes.

Olivia had barely lived. She was sixteen; she'll never go to prom with Laurel. She will never see Tommy or Thea get married. She'll never feel Shado's warm hugs or hear Slade's deep laugh again. But Sara was younger, and she deserved to live more. She was going to do something with her life. She was so smart. Olivia wasn't smart. She was just a young socialite that wouldn't get very far in life without her family's money. She was nothing.

Shado was going to be a doctor. They were going to go on and do great things. She wasn't.

"I choose me."

"I'm very sorry, miss Queen, but you were not one of the options, and now I get to choose for you," Ivo said, the gun now being aimed at the back of Sara's head as her sobs grew louder.

"No, me!" Olivia screamed, throwing herself in front of the gun again. "Me! Kill me, please! Leave them alone.

"It looks like you've made your choice." He turned the gun on Shado, and Olivia tried to get her legs to move quicker, but Ivo pulled the trigger and Shado crumbled.

Olivia fell to her side, staring at the bloody mess that was the back of Shado's head, and screamed.

She wasn't sure if the roaring she was hearing was the blood rushing through her head or something else entirely.