He couldn't say with any amount of certainty how long he'd been there for, but what Oliver could say is that this so-called paradise dimension wasn't all it was cracked up to be.
To be fair, it wasn't the worst place he'd ever been. In fact, it was probably the most peaceful place he could imagine. It could be, well, whatever he wanted it to be. His childhood home, the cabin he and Felicity had lived in when Mia was born. The beach in Bali where he'd first realized he wanted to propose. The trouble was, in this place, no matter where he was he would always be alone. At least until Felicity found him, which, knowing her, would happen eventually, but time passed strangely in this dimension. He didn't know if he'd been gone three days or thirty years. And, so, Oliver Queen was bored.
And lonely. But mostly bored.
His life had been so action packed he'd thought this would be almost like a retirement of sorts. A relief after everything he'd been through. A gift for the sacrifices he'd made. But now he just wished the Monitor had left him with something to do. Some mission or task that needed to be done. Anything.
At first he tried to keep himself busy. Working out, exploring different places. Hell, he'd even tried to create some crossword puzzles to solve, but manifesting your own crossword puzzle is… a lot less fun than doing the one in the Sunday paper. And the fact that Oliver Queen thought crosswords could be fun was just another testament to how boring paradise could be.
That was, until the first portal opened.
At first he thought that this might be it. This might be Felicity coming to find him. But no one ever came through.
Then a while later another opened and then another. No one ever came through and nothing ever appeared or changed. They didn't happen frequently or last very long, but they were consistent. Always popping up in the same place. He wasn't sure if he was supposed to follow them or ignore them and, not for the first time, he wished the Monitor had left him with some sort of instructions.
Eventually, his curiosity, and boredom, got the better of him.
Walking up to the portal, one that looked an awful lot like one of Cisco's, Oliver reached his arm through. It was surprisingly cold on the other side. The always perfect temperature of his paradise made it all the more startling a sensation. That in itself made up Oliver's mind.
"I'm already dead," he muttered to himself. "What could it hurt?"
And with that, he stepped through into whatever unknown awaited him.
###
The first breath was painful.
Way more painful than it should be, which was strange considering he'd found himself standing on a rooftop in the open night air. It was cold, but not cold enough to burn his lungs, and yet there he was huffing like he'd just run a marathon. He bent over, placing his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath, his clothes tightening and bunching around his waist in a way he hadn't felt in… forever.
His suit. He was wearing his leather suit.
"Who the hell are you?" a voice demanded, and Oliver looked up to see a man in a robe standing beside a pool. The man gave him a once over, taking in his bent, wheezing form. "And what's wrong with you?"
Oliver blinked, trying to work out who the man was and what was going on, but before he could blood burst from the man's chest and he fell head first into the pool. Reacting on instinct, Oliver darted for cover behind a bar just as another bullet pinged off the wall behind him. Careful not to peek his head out of cover, he looked around knowing the sniper was on the roof across the street. He spotted the gleam of a gun just as another bullet pinged off the bar, ricocheting and grazing his arm.
Suddenly, Oliver knew exactly where he was.
This was the rooftop of James Holder's penthouse apartment, which meant the sniper had to be Floyd Lawton. Which also meant that the bullet that had just grazed his arm was laced with curare.
The portal had somehow taken him back to 2012.
###
The first thing Oliver did was get back to the lair and crush up some of his herbs before he inevitably passed out from the curare. And once he woke up, the second thing he did was try to figure out a way to determine if this was real.
He could have finally snapped from loneliness. But he'd seen James Holder and he'd been shot by Floyd Lawton. And if they were here, even if they were only his delusion, then Felicity might also be here. And if she was, then he had to find her.
And he knew exactly where she'd be. The only problem was, if this was real, he hadn't met her yet. She didn't know him, or know that they were married. Hell, they weren't married. But if this was only a delusion, couldn't it be whatever he wanted? Maybe he could go home and she'd just be there, waiting for him. And if it was real… Well.
If it was real then maybe this was a second chance.
A tiny kernel of excitement took hold in his chest as he realized the true implications of that second possibility. He could change things. He could change anything he wanted. He could be with Felicity from the start. He could save Tommy.
He could save his mom.
If this was real, then she was here. His mom was at home right now, with Thea. All he had to do was get dressed and go see them.
So that's what he did.
###
Oliver's heart sped up as he pushed open the door to the mansion. He hadn't been here in so long. He'd stayed in his Earth-2 counterpart's home for a few days, but that wasn't the same. That wasn't his home, or his mother. But this…
It was exactly as he remembered. It even smelled the same. The slight hint of lemon from the wood polish that Raisa liked to use on the furniture.
"Oliver, sweetheart?" His mother's voice drifted in from the right and he felt his breath catch. "Is that you?"
"Yeah." He cleared his throat. "Yeah, Mom, it's me."
Moira turned the corner, stopping in her tracks when she saw him. Concern swept over her face, and she hurried over. "Oliver, what's wrong? What happened?"
It wasn't until that moment that Oliver realized he'd started crying. He shot her a smile and wiped at his eyes. "Everything's fine, I'm just…" He grinned wider. "I'm just really happy to be home. I missed you."
Her expression softened and her own eyes began to water as she pulled him into a hug. "Oh my beautiful boy. I'm right here and I'm not going anywhere."
He hugged her back, silently agreeing. He didn't know exactly what was going on, or what that portal meant. But what he did know was that he was going to use this opportunity to change his past. And his mother's future.
To fix the things he'd gotten wrong the first time around. His mom. Tommy. William. Emiko.
Felicity.
###
There were butterflies in his stomach.
He couldn't help but roll his eyes at how cliche he was. He had butterflies because he was about to see his wife. You couldn't get anymore sappy than that.
To be fair, she wasn't technically his wife yet. She didn't even know him, so this was, for all intents and purposes, their very first meeting. Again.
And Oliver really needed it to go well.
He had spent the better part of the morning coming up with all the ways he was going to charm Felicity, to fix the mistake he'd made by keeping her at arms length all those years. But, first, he had to get through this meeting. Probably a few more meetings, too, unfortunately. And here he was, slightly worried he was going to break down the moment he saw her.
With a sigh, Oliver stepped into her office. She was facing away from him, just like the first time. A red pen dangling from between her lips. She was beautiful and a sight for sore eyes.
"Felicity Smoak?" he said, his voice wavering just slightly.
She didn't seem to notice, startled as she was. With a small jump, she spun in her office chair, the red pen falling from her lips as her eyes went wide.
Oliver smiled at how precisely this moment matched up with his memory of her. He was still worried that none of this was real, but it didn't matter the moment he met her eyes. Whether this was some kind of memory or a delusion or a gift from the universe to fix his mistakes, all he knew was, he was going to make the most of it.
"Hi, I'm Oliver Queen."