Chapter 8
AN1: THANK YOU SO MUCH TO Mocking_point who has helped me more than I can put into words.
AN IMPORTANT: So my plan was to make only little changes and then go from there, but I decided, and supportive reviews encouraged me, to change more than I was planning as it felt right, as it allows me to really focus on what I want to focus on. So, I hope you like the changes; they'll really start to become obvious over the next few chapters.
Having arrived home, with food, half an hour earlier, Laurel, Thea, Roy, and Sin are in the kitchen making snacks that they plan to eat while watching their movies.
"So, what movies are we watching tonight?" Laurel asks curious as Thea, Roy, and Sin were the ones who picked the movies.
"You'll see," Thea says, with a smirk, as there is a knock on the door.
"Roy, can you get that?" Laurel requests, as he is the closest person to the door.
"Sure," Roy says and he heads to the door, without even looking through the peep whole Roy opens the door to find Oliver on the other side, and it's hard to tell who is more surprised, Oliver or Roy.
"Can I help you?" Roy asks.
"Um, yeah," Oliver says, having no idea who Roy is. "Is Thea home?" Oliver asks.
"Who's asking?" Roy asks.
"Her brother," Oliver answers.
"Oh, so you're Oliver," Roy says, anger in his voice. "Let me guess, you're here to hurt Thea and Laurel more," Roy comments, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Roy," Laurel says in a warning tone of voice, as she walks over, having heard parts of the conversation.
"What?" Roy asks innocently.
"Go help Sin and Thea, make sure they're not making too much popcorn again," Laurel tells Roy.
"There's no such thing as too much popcorn," Roy comments, not looking away from Oliver.
"Go," Laurel tells Roy, and he walks away, glaring at Oliver as he goes.
"He seems charming," Oliver says, sarcastically, as Roy walks away.
"He's a friend of Thea's, of both of us, and is pretty protective," Laurel explains. "What do you want, Ollie?" Laurel asks, crossing her arms over her chest.
"I wanted to talk to Thea," Oliver explains.
"Really? After you stood her up today?" Laurel asks, anger in her voice. "She didn't deserve that, Ollie, you hurt her," Laurel says, clearly angry and feeling protective.
"I know, and I meant to be there, I did…" Oliver starts to explain, as he really, really doesn't want to hurt Thea, but he also wants to make sure that she is safe.
"Then why weren't you?" Laurel asks, cutting Oliver off before he can explain more.
"Tommy and I were kidnapped," Oliver reveals.
"Seriously Ollie? That's what you're going with? I know you like your over the top excuse, but that's a bit much," Laurel informs Oliver, feeling even more annoyed.
"It's not one of my excuses, it's the truth," Oliver tells Laurel, not surprised by her reaction considering their past. "You can ask your Dad if you don't believe me, he took the police report," Oliver explains, and that is enough to convince Laurel that he is telling the truth, as he knows he wouldn't suggest that if he wasn't. "I was really looking forward to spending time with Thea, and nothing other than being kidnapped would have kept me from her," Oliver explains, telling the truth. "I want to do better, Laurel, I don't want to let Thea down again," Oliver explains.
"You better not," Laurel says, stepping forward. "I want to make something perfectly clear, you may be Thea's brother, but I am her guardian, and it's my job to protect her from anyone who will hurt her, or cause her disappointment, and that includes you," Laurel explains. "I won't let you hurt her," Laurel informs Oliver, meaning her words.
"I love Thea," Oliver says, in his defence, though he is glad that Laurel is so protective of his sister.
"That is exactly why I am saying this, in my experience it's the people you love who get hurt by you the most," Laurel reminds Oliver. "Thea's been hurt by too many people too many times, and I won't let you be added to the list," Laurel explains.
"You're different," Oliver comments, as he doesn't remember Laurel being this brutally honest.
"It's been five years," Laurel responds.
"I know you have no reason to believe me, but I do want to do better," Oliver admits, as that is something he is sure off. "I don't want to let Thea down again; I'm going to try harder," Oliver tells Laurel, being completely determined to do that, as while he doesn't want to protect Thea he also wants to be close to her.
Looking at Oliver up and down Laurel realises that he does mean what he is saying and so she steps aside and let's Oliver into the apartment.
"THEA!" Laurel calls, as she closes the door behind Oliver and a few second later Thea walks out from the kitchen.
"Ollie," Thea says, and from her tone of voice it is clear that Laurel was right and that Thea is pretty hurt by his or at least that's what Oliver assumes.
"Why don't you two talk in the office," Laurel suggests. "I'll go make sure Roy and Sin aren't destroy the kitchen," Laurel comments.
"Please, we both know the only person here who is likely to destroy the kitchen is you," Thea says, with a teasing grin, and as Laurel heads to the kitchen Oliver and Thea head into the office, and the second they walk into Laurel's office Thea throws her arms around Oliver and hugs him tightly. "Are you okay?" Thea asks worried.
"Yeah Speedy, I'm okay," Oliver assures his little sister, kissing the top of her head. "Speedy I meant what is said to Laurel, what happened today was the only thing that would have kept me away from you," Oliver promises his sister as they break apart.
"Good to know," Thea responds.
"There's a bed in here now?" Oliver asks surprised as he looks around, noticing that everything in Laurel's apartment seems the same, except the bed.
"Yeah, Roy stays here a lot so Laurel put the bed in here so he doesn't have to keep sleeping on the couch," Thea explains, and Oliver
"Roy huh, are you two…." Oliver starts to ask.
"We're just friends," Thea quickly says. "But I cannot believe that that is one of the first things you want to know after five years of being away," Thea says, a little amused as she realises that she now, once more, has two overprotective adults in her life.
"I want to know everything about your life," Oliver explains. "Which is part of the reason I want you to have this," Oliver says as he pulls a stone arrowhead out of his pocket.
"You want me to have a rock?" Thea asks, giving Oliver an 'are you serious look'.
"It's actually a Hozen, in Buddhism it symbolizes reconnecting," Oliver explains, as Thea takes the Hozen from him. "I kept in in hopes that one day it would reconnect me with you," Oliver explains.
"Wow, thanks Ollie," Thea says, feeling glad that it seems like Oliver does want things to be good for them.
"I want to be in your life Thea, so I was hoping we could give spending time together another chance," Oliver explains. "I'll try not to get kidnapped this time," Oliver says.
"I'd like that," Thea admits, as she really wants to spend more time with her brother.
"Snacks are ready, movie's starting soon," Sin says as she walks out from the kitchen, carrying ood and drink Laurel and Roy right behind her.
"How about Saturday," Oliver suggests. "We could spend the day together," Oliver offers.
"Saturday, but what about…" Sin starts to say.
"It's okay," Laurel quickly says before anyone can explain what is going on Saturday as she isn't ready for Oliver to know yet. "Thea can miss that if she wants," Laurel says as even though she really wants Thea there she wants it to be Thea's choice.
"Oh, if you already have plans, we can do it another time, Sunday if that's better," Oliver comments, having completely forgotten that his sister would have plans that don't involved him, but wanting to show that he is supportive and wants to make it clear that Thea is his priority as she is.
"No, Saturday's good, I can do both," Thea says, already coming up with an idea, as Laurel Roy and Sin head into the living room.
"Okay, I guess I should get going," Oliver comments. "Enjoy your movie night,' Oliver says before heading towards the door.
"Ollie," Thea says, before he can get to the door, turning him to turn around. "Why don't you stay," Thea suggests, as she would really like that, she wants her only original family to be apart of her new family.
"I'm not sure that would be a good idea," Oliver comments, resisting the urge to look over at Laurel as he is pretty sure that she wouldn't like the idea.
"You can stay if you want," Laurel says, to the surprise of everyone, as even though she would prefer Oliver not staying she knows how much it would mean to Thea if he did.
"Then I might just do that," Oliver says, as he walks over to the living area.
Once Oliver is in the living area Laurel, Thea, and Sin sit down on the couch, while Roy sits down on the armchair and having no idea where he should sit Oliver sits down on the floor near where Thea is on the couch.
"What movie are you watching?" Oliver asks curious.
"2012," Roy answers.
"What's it about?" Oliver asks curious as he has no idea.
"The end of the world," Thea comments. "Which you will be facing if you steal all the skittles again," Thea informs Sin.
"I only do that before you can," Sin argues.
"Thea, Sin, relax, I got more than enough for both of you, but if any of you steal the last of the Oreos I won't be responsible for my actions," Laurel says, looking between her kids and Oliver.
"We know," Roy, Thea, and Sin say together, and honestly Oliver is amused by that even if he doesn't let it show, and together the group of five drift into silence as they watch the movie together.
For the next few hours Laurel, Oliver, Thea, Roy, and Sin sit together watching movies and part of the reason things are so pleasant is because they have been mostly silent while they watch the movies.
"Okay, it's getting late," Laurel comments as the second movie ends. "Roy, Sin, are you guys staying tonight?" Laurel asks curious.
"No, I have an early morning tomorrow," Roy comments.
"And I have some work to do which I didn't bring with me," Sin comments.
"Okay, just be careful walking back," Laurel tells the pair as all three of them stand up and both Sin and Roy hug Laurel.
"Don't worry, Laurel, we've got someone watching out for us," Roy says, as he has a suspicion about just who the Women in Black is but he's not going to voice that, especially not in present company.
"Yeah, I very much doubt the Women in Black will let anything happen to us," Sin says, also having a theory, and hearing her words Oliver becomes more interested, wondering what else there is to know about the masked woman that Tommy didn't know.
"I thought you hated that name," Thea comments, as she has heard Sin's rant more than once.
"Oh, I do, I'm still working on something better," Sin admits.
"Even still, be careful," Laurel says, looking between Roy and Sin as she knows that she might not be able to get to them quick enough if something happens.
"We will," Roy and Sin say together before heading in the direction of the fire escape where Laurel always leaves the window open for them.
"Isn't the front door the other way?" Oliver asks confused.
"Yeah, but Sin and Roy don't use the front door," Thea explains. "Laurel always leaves the window open for them, and they tend to use it even when leaving," Thea informs her brother.
"You leave your window open? Laurel, that's not safe," Oliver says disapprovingly, as he can't help but be worried and protective of both Thea and Laurel.
"It's safe enough," Laurel responds, as she starts to clean everything up.
"You should tone back the disapproval," Thea informs her brother in a quiet voice once Laurel has headed to the kitchen with the dishes, as she really doesn't want Laurel and Oliver to fight because she loves them both too much. "Laurel knows what she's doing," Thea says.
"I didn't mean to make it seem like I was judging," Oliver admits, as the truth is he was just concerned.
"I know, but it sounded like it," Thea tells her brother. "If it wasn't for Laurel, I would be in a much worse place right now," Thea says. "She saved me, in more ways than one," Thea admits.
"Me too," Oliver mutters as he thinks about all the time, he spent looking at the photo of Laurel, or thinking about her, and how much that helped him over the past five years.
"What?" Thea asks confused, as she didn't hear her brother.
"Nothing," Oliver quickly says. "I should go," Oliver says, standing up. "I'm really glad things, even with everything that has happened, are good for you," Oliver tells his sister.
"Thanks Ollie," Thea tells him. "You should say goodbye to Laurel before you leave," Thea says.
"Right, yeah, night Speedy," Olive says, bending down and kissing his sister on the head, before heading to the kitchen. Walking into the kitchen a few seconds later Oliver finds Laurel washing up all the dishes.
"I'm going," Oliver tells Laurel.
"Okay," Laurel says, without even stopping what she is doing.
"Thanks for letting me stay, it was normal, it was nice," Oliver admits as he hasn't had a night like this for five years.
"I didn't do this for you, I did it for Thea, she's missed her big brother," Laurel tells her.
"And I've missed her," Oliver admits, knowing that that is an understatement. "Though it looks like she's found pretty great substitutes," Oliver comments.
"None of us could replace you or your parents," Laurel says as she turns to face Oliver. "And we never tried to be," Laurel explains.
"I'm not saying that you did," Oliver says, not wanting to have another fight with Laurel. "I'm glad. I hate that Thea has gone through everything that has happened without me, but I'm glad that she has had you, and Tommy, and Roy and Sin," Oliver admits. "With you is the best place for her, and I don't want to do anything to change that," Oliver explains.
"Now that, I'm glad to hear," Laurel admits. "Night Ollie," Laurel says.
"Night Laurel," Oliver says before leaving.
Three days have passed since Movie night at Laurel and Thea's and to Laurel's relief she hasn't had to deal with Oliver again, though Tommy did invite her to Oliver's welcome home party on Sunday night; something which she is pretty sure she won't be going to.
It is about ten on Saturday morning and Laurel and Thea are the only ones who are at their apartment. While Thea is sitting on the couch, already ready for her day with Oliver, Laurel is getting ready for how she will be spending her Saturday.
"What time is Ollie going to be here?" Laurel asks Thea as she packs her bag.
"He was meant to be here by Ten, so I'd say anytime in the next hour," Thea comments.
"Right, Ollie time," Laurel comments. "I've got to get going soon, but I can hang around if you want," Laurel offers.
"Nah, it's okay," Thea assures Laurel. "I'll be there, on time, to watch you today," Thea tells Laurel.
"You don't have to be if you want to spend the entire day with your brother," Laurel informs Thea.
"Of course, I'm going to be there!" Thea exclaims. "I haven't missed watching you once. There is no way I'll miss you today," Thea assures Laurel.
"Thanks, Speedy," Laurel says, with a smile, being glad that Thea is going to try to be there to watch her.
"I'd wish you luck, but I know you don't need it," Thea informs Laurel.
"That's one of us," Laurel comments. "I better get going, I really don't want to be late, Laurel says as she picks up the bag she was packing. "Love you," Laurel says as she bends down and hugs Thea.
"Love you too," Thea responds as Laurel heads out of the apartment
For the twenty minutes that follow Laurel leaving Thea just sits on the couch reading a magazine while she waits, until she finally hears a knock on the door.
"About time, Ollie," Thea says as she gets up and heads over to the door, and just like she was expecting when she opens the door she finds her brother on the other side.
"Sorry, I'm late," Oliver says as soon as Thea opens the door.
"For you you're early," Thea comments, honestly feeling glad that this is something that hasn't changed.
"True," Oliver admits. "You ready to go?" he asks curious.
"Yeah," Thea says as she grabs her jacket, keys and purse and follows Oliver down the corridor. "So, what have you got planned for us today?" Thea asks curious.
"Well, I thought we could go to some of the places we used to go to and then have lunch, and then after lunch I was thinking you could pick what we do," Oliver explains to Thea.
"That actually works perfectly," Thea comments. "There's something I want to show you this afternoon," Thea admits, as she and Oliver enter the stairwell.
"Oh?" Oliver asks curious. "What would that be?"
"You'll have to wait and see," Thea says. "It's a surprise," Thea says with a smirk.
"Oh, okay then," Oliver says, truly wondering what Thea would like to show him.
For the next few minutes Thea and Oliver continue to walk downstairs and out to the car where Diggle is waiting for them.
"You haven't even been back a week and you already have a new driver?" Thea asks surprised.
"Mr Diggle is not my driver," Oliver explains. "He's my bodyguard," Oliver says.
"Seriously?" Thea asks surprised.
"The company insisted," Oliver explains as they reach the car. "Dig, my sister Thea, Thea, Dig," Oliver introduces.
"Nice to meet you, Miss Queen," Diggle says.
"Yeah, you too," Thea says. "But I think I've seen you before, quite a few times, at Big Belly Burger," Thea comments as they get into the car.
"Yeah, you have, I've seen you," Diggle comments, remembering seeing Thea a lot, usually with two other teens or with a woman he knows to be Laurel, and on a very rare occasion Oliver's friend Tommy or slightly more common than Tommy a man that Diggle knows from around the neighbourhood who he believes is called Ted.
"Where to Mr Queen?" Diggle asks.
"The mall," Oliver answers as he figures that that is a good place to start.
A few hours later Diggle, who has driven Thea and Oliver to several different places, is pulling the car up at the location that Thea gave him.
"A boxing gym, in the Glades, why are we here?" Oliver asks Thea, being completely confused as it really doesn't seem like the kind of place his sister would go to.
"You'll see, come on," Thea says, looking forward to how Oliver is going to react, as she gets out of the car and Oliver, having no idea what to expect follows her, while Diggle follows them both.
About a minute later Thea, Oliver and Diggle walk into Ted's Wildcat gym, which is actually pretty busy.
"You going to explain now, Speedy?" Oliver asks curious, still having no idea why Thea brought him to this place.
"Laurel and I started coming here over three years ago," Thea explains as she looks around, searching the crowd for one person in particular. "We're here a lot. It's probably my favourite place to come," Thea admits, needing to tell Oliver that as she wants him to understand who she is now.
"You like spending time at a boxing gym?" Oliver asks shocked as that doesn't seem like the Thea he remembers.
"Yep," Thea confirms as she spots who she is looking for. "Come on, there's someone I want you to meet," Thea explains as she grabs her brother's hand and pulls her across the gym, causing Oliver to apologise to everyone he walks into due to Thea pulling him.
"TED!" Thea calls, and he turns around.
"Hey, Thea, I was wondering when you'd show," Ted says, looking glad to see her.
"I haven't missed it? Have I?" Thea asks worried.
"Nah, its meant to start in three minutes," Ted reveals.
"Good, I would have never forgiven myself if I missed it," Thea says, causing Oliver to become even more confused.
"If you're looking for Roy and Sin, I haven't seen them yet either," Ted reveals.
"Yeah, I know, they're on their way," The explains. "But actually, there is someone I want you to meet," Thea says. "This is my brother, Oliver. Ollie, Ted Grant, this is his gym," Thea explains.
"It's nice to meet you," Oliver says, sticking out his hand for Ted to shake.
"Yeah, you too," Ted says, forcing a smile as he returns the handshake. "I've got to make sure things are ready to get started, but we'll talk later," Ted tells Thea.
"Sure," Thea responds.
"It was nice meeting you, Oliver," Ted says before walking away from Thea and Oliver.
"Why do I get the feeling that he's not my biggest fan?" Oliver asks Thea, as he assumes that she will know.
"He's probably Laurel's best friend," Thea explains. "And knows…." Thea starts to say, but that is more than enough for Oliver.
"Right," Oliver says, not needing Thea to say anymore.
"I'll give you a quick tour before things start," Thea tells Oliver.
"What exactly is about to start?" Oliver asks curious.
"You'll see," Thea says as she starts to show Oliver around the gym. For the next couple of minutes Thea shows Oliver all around, leaving out all the private areas that Ted only lets her, Laurel, Sin, and Roy into.
"And this was the bag I managed to hit so hard that I almost knocked Laurel off her feet," Thea explains. "Twice," Thea adds, looking rather proud of herself. "I was pretty proud of myself, and Laurel was proud of me too," Thea explains, wanting Oliver to be proud too.
"Really?" Oliver asks surprised.
"Yeah. For about four months I said I would knock her over then I finally did," Thea explains.
"Ah right," Oliver says, understanding the pride now and before he can say anything everyone hears a booming voice that echoes throughout the gym which says;
"And now, our final match of the afternoon, for victory and bragging rights, newcomer Taylor 'Trouble' Williams and our reigning champion, Wildcat Gym's own, Laurel 'Justice Lance," Ted's voice says and the second Oliver hears the name he looks towards the ring in complete shock.
"Laurel?" Oliver asks shocked as the last thing he expected was to watch Laurel take part in a boxing match.
"Yep," Thea says with a grin. "This is my surprise," Thea reveals.
"I see," Oliver says, not looking away from where Laurel is standing in the ring for a second.
"ROY! SIN!" Thea says as she sees them and as soon as they see her Roy and Sin walk over to where she, Oliver, and Diggle are.
As Roy and Sin walk over to Thea, Oliver, and Diggle the boxing match starts. As the match starts there is part of Oliver who wants to run and stop any of the blows from hitting Laurel while another part of him is incredibly proud as not only is Laurel holding her own but it is clear that she is a superior boxer.
"She's good," Diggle comments, being able to recognize a good fighter when he sees one.
"Yeah, she is," Oliver says, being able to admit that even though ever single one of his instincts are screaming at him to get Laurel out of the ring.
Watching the match, due to his training, Oliver is able to determine Laurel's strategy easily, she is trying to wear her appoint out, for about a minute Laurel just blocks or ducks, or just avoids basically all the attacks before, just as her opponent is starting to tire, Laurel does two quick japs to her opponent's stomach before she throws a single punch with just enough force to knock her opponent out, but not do any serious damage or injury.
"One round," Oliver says to himself, being slightly amazed by that.
"Basically, all Laurel's matches are one round," Thea says with a grin, having heard what her brother said.
"How long has she been doing this?" Oliver asks curious.
"Two years, good or take," Thea reveals. "Come on," Thea says, trying to pull Oliver to where Laurel is climbing out of the ring.
"I don't know…" Oliver starts to say, but he lets pull him along.
"Laurel!" Thea exclaims as she basically throws herself into Laurel's arms. "You were amazing," Thea says.
"Thanks Speedy," Laurel responds. "I'm glad you made it," Laurel explains.
"There was no way I was going to miss this," Thea assures Laurel as they break apart and as they do Laurel sees who is standing with Thea.
"Oliver,"
"Laurel, interesting hobby you've got here," Oliver comments.
"I see it more than therapy than a hobby," Laurel admits.
"Good to know," Oliver responds, being a little amused, and not sure what to think about the fact that Laurel is now a boxer, a boxer who has some pretty good moves from the little he just saw.
"Ollie, we always go to Big Belly Burger after a match. Do you want to come?" Thea asks curious, wanting to get Oliver involved in the traditions that she, Laurel, Sin and Roy have.
"Thanks for the offer, Speedy, but there's something I have to go do," Oliver says as he plans to go pay a visit to Adam Hunt. "Maybe next time," Oliver says before hugging his sister.
"Oh okay, bye Oliver," Thea says as she returns the hug, honestly a little disappointed as she wanted to spend more time with her brother, but she isn't going to let that show.
"You were great out there," Oliver tells Laurel.
"Thanks, I think," Laurel responds, and Oliver leaves. "So Big Belly Burger?" Laurel asks, looking between Thea, Roy and Sin.
"Definitely," Sin confirms, answering for all three of them.
"Great, just give me a couple of minutes to get changed," Laurel comments. "I'll be right back," Laurel says as she heads towards the locker room.
"See if you can get Ted to come!" Sin calls at Laurel as she walks away, causing the older woman to turn, smile, and not, being willing to try but not expecting to succeed as while Ted sometimes joins them he usually passes on the trips just after matches.
The next afternoon Laurel, having been unsuccessful in attempting to get Ted to join her, Thea, Sin and Roy at Big Belly Burger the day before, is sitting in her apartment office with Thea. While Laurel is working on the Adam Hunt case Thea is doing her homework.
"So, all day, I've been expecting you to ask if you could go to Ollie's welcome home party," Laurel says as she pauses the music she and Thea are listening to while they work. "Is there a reason why you haven't?" Laurel asks curious.
"Yep, I don't want to go," Thea responds, as while she wants to spend time with her brother she doesn't want to do so at a party.
"Really?" Laurel asks, sounding slightly surprised.
"How can you be surprised?" You know I don't really do parties anymore," Thea comments.
"Yeah, I do. I was just expecting this to be different," Laurel admits as she is pretty sure that Thea hasn't been to a Star City party in about two years. In fact, the last party Thea would have gone to was Tommy's birthday party where she, Roy, Sin, and Mary, who came from Gotham with Bruce who was attending the party, though neither Laurel or Bruce knew the kids were going to attend the party, decided to play investigator to try and find out who was the drug dealer that sold a friend of theirs drugs that caused an overdose.
"I thought about it," Thea admits. "But then Roy, Sin and I decided to go play pool," Thea explains.
"Okay, just no hustling this time," Thea requests as she had to talk to the owner of Roy, Sin and Thea's favourite pool hall a few months ago to prevent them from being banned.
"I promise I won't, but I can't make that promise for Sin and Roy," Thea explains.
"As long as you don't," Laurel tells her as they drift into silence, as they do Thea tries to think about the best way to phrase what she wants to say.
"I think you should go," Thea tells Laurel.
"Speedy," Laurel says with a sign.
"Look, I know Ollie hurt you in the worse way, and I don't want you to go if you'll just hurt," Thea says as she stands up and walks over to Laurel. "But you and Ollie have been friends for…. Longer than I've been alive. There is so much history between you guys, and now he's back do you really want to throw that away?" Thea asks curious.
"I don't know," Laurel admits.
"Look, I know that whatever you said to one another the day he got back was bad, which I get; but do you really want to leave things like that?" Thea asks curious.
"I'll think about it," Laurel says, as she avoids answering Thea's second question.
"Good," Thea says, being pretty sure that that means Laurel is going to go. "I think you're making the right choice," Thea says as she heads back to where she was working.
"I haven't decided yet," Laurel reminds Thea.
"Yeah, you have," Thea responds, knowing that because she knows Laurel.
Hours, and one ranting phone call with Bruce later, to Thea's joy, Laurel is arriving at Oliver's party. As she starts to look around for the man of the hour, Laurel literally finds herself walking straight into him.
"Oh! You're here," Oliver says, surprised, as he really wasn't expecting to see Laurel.
"You can thank Thea," Laurel explains, not mentioning Bruce as she doesn't want to make this conversation even more complicated. "She made me realise a few things, one of which is that we have too many years between us to leave things the way we left them the other day, both times," Laurel explains. "Is their somewhere quieter that we could go?" Laurel asks.
"Yeah," Oliver says and the two of them head up to the observation floor. "You're not limping anymore," Oliver comments.
"Like I said, it was just a cut," Laurel tells him. "I'm sorry about saying that you should have been the one who died. That was wrong," Laurel tells Oliver as she has truly felt bad about what she said, and honestly she has been regretting it ever since she said it.
"If I could trade places with her, I would," Oliver tells Laurel, completely meaning that.
"About Sara, there's something that I've been afraid to ask, but I need to know," Laurel admits.
"Okay," Oliver says, not sure if he is going to like where this is going.
"Did she suffer?" Laurel asks.
"No," Oliver lies.
"I think about her every day," Laurel admits.
"Me too," Oliver responds.
"I guess we still have one thing in common then," Laurel says, not realising that they actually have a lot more than she realises in comment, and as she does she finds herself speaking before she even thinks about what it means in the long run. "I can't believe I'm gonna say this, but if you need someone to talk to about what happened to you, I'm here," Laurel says and before Oliver can respond his phone vibrates. "Something wrong?" Laurel asks curious.
"I asked somebody to do something. They didn't do it," Oliver says and knowing what he has to go do Oliver knows what he has to say, even though it hurts. "Laurel, you always saw the best in me. Right now, that's what you're doing, looking at me and you're wondering if that island changed me somehow, if it made me a better person. It did. Stay away from me," Oliver says, partly telling the truth because he is sure that Laurel will just get hurt. "Otherwise I'm just gonna hut you again, but this time, it'll be worse," Oliver admits. "Gotta roll, I've got five years of debauchery to catch up on," Oliver says, putting on his old playboy persona on, and as he does he sees both pain and Anger reflected on Laurel's face.
"You know what Oliver? You're wrong, that Island did change you, five years ago when you didn't want me to do something you'd just be evasive, now you're cruel," Laurel says before walking away from him, knowing exactly what she wants to do right now, while Oliver is confused about how she knew exactly what he was doing.
More than a few hours later, after spending most of the those hours beating up criminals in the glades, Laurel arrives back home by climbing in her window. As she climbs back in Laurel realises that the living room light is on. As she doesn't want to head out therein her Woman in Black clothes just in case Roy and Sin are over, Laurel quickly gets changed before heading into the other room, but the only person she finds is Thea, sitting on the couch and eating ice cream.
"What are you still doing up?" Laurel asks.
"Waiting for you," Thea comments. "So, I'm guessing that things at the party went well," Thea says as Laurel sits down next to her, looking glad about that.
"No, the opposite actually," Laurel reveals. "I've been in the Glades for the past few hours," Laurel admits as she takes the ice cream off Thea to take a bite.
"Without coms, and without telling me that you were going out, things must have been really bad," Thea realises. "Is my brother to blame?" Thea asks, and Laurel just takes another bite to avoid answering. "I'm gonna take that as a yes," Thea says, being able to tell her brother hurt Laurel, with whatever he did or said, even if she tries to hide it. "Do you want to talk about it?"
"No, it's complicated and you have to go to bed," Laurel tells Thea as honestly she wants to figure out what it is that Oliver doesn't want her to know. "It's way past your bedtime," Laurel says.
"But…" Thea starts to say.
"Bed," Laurel says sternly.
"Fine, night Laurel," Thea says, giving Laurel a hug before she heads to bed.
After Thea heads to bed Laurel just continues to sit by herself eating ice cream, trying to do her best not think about the fact that after so long, after so much Hurt Oliver still has the ability to hurt her, and trying even harder not to think about the fact that that seemed to be his intension.
As she sits by herself staring into darkness Laurel feels her phone vibrate. Checking the caller ID she isn't at all surprised to see a text message from Bruce which says, 'How'd it go?'
'He's now cruel instead of evasive," Laurel sends back and she isn't surprised when seconds later her phone rings, and Bruce just allows her to listen as she speaks, not saying anything just allowing her the opportunity to rant without input or judgement.
Late the next afternoon, having just hung up with one of her clients, Laurel turns to Jo who has just walked over to her.
"I just got a grateful phone call from one of our clients against Adam Hunt," Laurel informs Jo.
"Me too, do you think it was the Woman in Black?" Jo asks Laurel curious.
"Somehow managing to get someone to hand over money they stole, doesn't seem like her style," Laurel comments, though she would love to know was behind it.
"Yeah, guess not," Jo admits. "It looks like Star City has another guardian angel," Jo comments. "Your kids are here," Jo say sand Laurel turns to see The, Roy and Sin, who are walking towards her.
"Hey, just let me pack up what I have to bring home and then we can go," Laurel tells them.
"Okay," Thea says, and the three of them watch as Laurel packs up the stuff she needs to take home with them.
A few minutes later Laurel, Thea, Roy, and Sin are walking down the alley heading back towards Laurel and Thea's place, none of them realising that they are being watched by a hooded figure that unknown to them is Oliver.
"Why did you bring so much work with you? I thought the Adam Hunt case was over," Sin comments.
"Thanks to some help," Roy adds.
"It is, but fighting for those who can't fight for themselves never ends," Laurel explains, looking between the trio as she speaks.
"Dinah Laurel Lance, always trying to save the world," Thea says with a grin as she puts her arm around Laurel's shoulder.
"Hey, if I don't try to save it, who will?" Laurel asks with an amused look on her face causing the four of them to exchange smiles as they walk down the alley.
