This is the Arrow part preceding Crisis on Infinite Earths and the final part following my other two stories "Forging own destinies" and "One last race". And before we get started, I'm going to make a couple of things clear.
This is not going to be an Olicity fic, but Oliver/Sara story. Any complaints that Sara is a selfish whore, that Oliver belongs with either Felicity or Earth-2 Laurel or that Laurel is the one true Black Canary or other comments of such nature are going to be ignored, since I'm not going to give a damn. If you harass me by complaining about the things that I have mentioned despite my warning, then all you will be doing will be wasting my and your own time and show how pathetic and meaningless your lives must be, if you try to roast me because of me not pairing Oliver with Laurel but with Sara instead or say that Laurel is the one true Black Canary or whine that Oliver should be with Felicity, I'm not gonna waste my time arguing with idiotic fanatics and obsessed trolls. Don't like what I write, either look for it elsewhere or try writing what you would like yourselves instead of harassing me, to fulfill your apparently meaningless lives, you pathetic jerks.
I don't support Sara/Ava, since the clone thing ruined it for me, plus, it was forced and rushed and shoved down our throats, so, Sara left the Legends at the end of Season 3 and returned to Star City. Frankly, the writers ruined Sara by her constantly leaving Oliver and her family to run away from her problems, which was mainly for Guggenheim and Mericle to focus on Olicity, which I find insulting on so many levels, just as much as Laurel giving Olicity a blessing on her deathbed, which was an insult to injury.
I do not support Olicity at all, so in this story, they are not married but yes, William is with Felicity, since I did like her surrogate mother role she had for William and as much as I like the concept of Oliver/Laurel, to be honest, Oliver/Earth-2 Laurel feels more like a rebound than anything else and it wouldn't make much sense to have them get together, considering what happened in Seasons 5-6.
Emiko is not going to be the New Green Arrow here, but you can take a guess who and I'm not going to introduce the Ninth Circle either.
And no, I'm not going to do Elseworlds, because that crossover was nothing but Oliver hate fest, considering that Oliver threw away his life to save Barry and Kara and his deal with Novu will be slightly different than from what happened in the show and trading one life for two is a really cheap exit for Oliver and the disrespect to Oliver in Elsewords and Crisis on Infinite Earths and the Arrow finale seriously pissed me off. After 7x08, Novu is still going to show up and then I'm going to skip to the events of Season 8 and I'll explain later in the second arc what deal did Oliver make with Novu and most likely describe some things that happened in Elseworlds in the flashbacks and I'm not going to introduce Kate Kane but someone else as Gotham's vigilante (NOT Bruce Wayne, but you'll see, but perhaps you can take a guess).
And no, I'm not doing the flashforwards either, because they showed how much did Oliver's legacy become worth nothing, considering Star City being turned into a hellhole, nor am I going to introduce Mia or adult William or have them teleported to the present, since as much as I can see why some people support the theory of Mia being Oliver/Sara daughter and I do support it too, to be honest, as much as I find Oliver having children with either Sara or Laurel intriguing, first of all, the planned "Green Arrow and the Canaries" spinoff ruined her for me, since that's nothing more than pushing more feminism IMO, and in Season 8, even though she came around later, Mia annoyed me with several things, them being her reckless and arrogant attitude and her flipping out on Oliver for abandoning her and Felicity in the first place, plus, the idea of William being gay was stupid and was mainly because the actor Ben Lewis, who played the adult William, was gay himself and one of his interviews really ticked me off, where he urged Marvel to introduce more LGBTQ+ characters and was a jackass about it but I do have an idea about how to do the Deathstroke part in Season 8.
If my decisions disappoint you, well, I hope you do understand my issues but frankly, not really in the mood to do Mia being Oliver/Sara child, because as much as I like the idea and support it, honestly, I'm not in a mood to go into heated arguments with Olicity or Lauriver stans and fanatics, plus, Season 8 ruined Mia for me, so Mia is not going to be introduced here at all.
Sorry, went off a bit of a rant here but I have various issues with Arrow post Season 2.
Disclaimer: I do not own DC Comics or the CW TV shows Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl or any other characters or elements pertaining to the mentioned franchises.
For the past five months, Oliver was trying to keep a low profile in Slabside prison, even though he was locked up with criminals that he had put into prison as the vigilante, such as Daniel Brickwell, Ben Turner or Derek Sampson but despite all that, he tried not to get into fights and keep his head down, all while thinking about returning home to his son William and his friends.
When Oliver woke up, a guard Yorke tapped on the bars of his cell with his baton. "Morning, 4587. Beautiful day."
Oliver was in the yard in the gym area, doing pullups, when a scrawny inmate approached him, excited about meeting him.
"You're the Green Arrow." Stanley said.
"Wrong guy." Oliver shook his head. The last thing he needed was an enthusiastic fan following him and getting into trouble.
"But I saw you on TV. The beard threw me off a little bit, but… it's definitely you. I'm a big fan. 'You have failed this city.'" Stanley said, mimicking the Green Arrow's voice.
"OK, I'm not that person anymore, alright?" Oliver snapped.
Stanley turned nervously to Brick and Turner, who were observing before turning to Oliver again. "Look, I'll join whatever gang you're in. I don't care what I have to do. I just… I need your protection."
"I'm not in a gang." Oliver said. All he wanted to do was to try to keep a profile and not unnecessarily extend his sentence.
"Or your lookout or something. Please. Just, I… how am I supposed to survive in here?" Stanley begged.
"I don't know. Leave me alone." Oliver said bluntly as he walked away.
In the cafeteria, Oliver was alone at the table, while most of the inmates he had locked up, Sampson, Brick and Turner included, observed him. Turner passed by an inmate and spilled a cup of milk on him and the inmate mistakenly assumed that another inmate did this as a fight began.
Oliver observed and his instincts turned on as he dodged, when Sampson and Brick attacked him.
"I told you this wasn't over, didn't I?" Brick sneered.
"We waited a long time for this. Revenge is a bitch." Turner said, twirling in his hand a knife he made from a piece of sharpened metal.
"We don't have to do this." Oliver reasoned.
"But we want to." Brick smirked.
Oliver dodged and jumped over the table as Turner swung his knife but was hit in the face by Brick and Sampson bashed his tray at him. Oliver blocked and dodged their blows as he drove Turner's knife into Sampson's leg and dodged Turner's kick, while Sampson accidentally hit Brick in the face. Oliver pulled the knife out of Sampson's leg and dodged as Turner kicked Sampson by accident and Sampson slumped against a wall.
Turner grabbed Oliver and slammed him against the table, beating him up before guards entered as one of them hit Turner with his baton.
"Break it up! You've all had enough fun for today, don't you think?" Yorke said as Oliver, Turner, Sampson and Brick were on their knees with their hands behind their heads and Yorke pulled the knife out of Turner's shirt. "You know the penalty for being in possession of a weapon, Mr. Turner. Take him to the hole."
Turner glared at Oliver, when the guards dragged him away. "You're dead. When I get out, you're a dead man! He planted that! That's not mine!"
Star City
Jason Stent, a suspected weapons dealer, was walking down the street, making a deal over the phone, when arrows shot the lights and then Stent screamed as an arrow shot his hand. A rope arrow shot him in the leg as he fell down and stared in horror at the hooded archer.
"It can't be you!" Stent screamed in horror as the archer neared him.
SCPD
The officers stared in surprise to see Stent restrained at one of the cruisers.
"Go get the captain." Nick ordered.
Slabside Maximum Security Prison
Oliver was sitting in his cell, when Yorke approached. "4587, you pull that crap again from yesterday, I'm gonna make an example out of you. Understood, inmate?"
"Yes, sir." Oliver said.
"You got a visitor." Yorke said.
Yorke accompanied Oliver to the visitor room as Oliver sat at the booth and smiled at Sara.
"Hey, Ollie. You've been worse." Sara said, smiling back.
"How's Felicity and William?" Oliver asked.
"Dig and Lyla are keeping an eye on them, 24/7 and I have some old friends from the League who are watching over them too." Sara assured.
"Has the FBI made any progress?" Oliver asked.
"No, but neither Watson or A.R.G.U.S. is gonna stop looking for Diaz. And me neither." Sara assured. "How are you doing? Honestly."
"I'm… trying to keep my head down. Hopefully shorten my sentence." Oliver said.
"Yeah, I guess that's a good idea but I doubt it's as easy as you'd like it to be." Sara noted.
"Cuts heal, Sara." Oliver assured.
"You know that's not what I meant. When there's a problem, you don't just bury your head in the sand. You always fight back, Ollie." Sara said.
"I've always done what I have to do. Right now, this is what I have to do." Oliver said.
"Ollie, are you sure?" Sara asked.
"I'll be fine." Oliver assured.
SCPD
Stent was in cuffs in the interrogation room as Nick observed him. "I want to talk to your captain."
"You sure about that?" Dinah teased as she entered with a file. "Because officer Anastas is a lot more patient than I am."
"Lady captain? Oh, nice." Stent teased.
"Well, you have quite the list of allegations against you, huh?" Dinah said, reading from the file. "Fraud. Racketeering. Embezzlement."
"The key word being 'allegations'." Stent countered.
"Well, when there's smoke, there's fire, Mr. Stent. And in my experience, innocent men don't typically show up bound and gagged at my doorstep without reason." Dinah said.
"There's a reason, alright? The Green Arrow." Stent sneered.
"Maybe you hit your head a little too hard but Oliver Queen is in prison." Dinah noted.
"Then there's another psycho in green leather assaulting people with bow and arrow." Stent said.
"There have been no vigilantes in this city for five months." Dinah pointed out.
"Looks like you got your work cut out for you then, don't you?" Stent asked rhetorically as Dinah looked annoyed. "Now, are you gonna let me go, or do I have to sue your asses?"
"Yeah. Just as soon as Officer Anastas takes your statement…" Dinah turned to Nick, who approached Stent as she left the interrogation room. "…very slowly." She finished.
Slabside Maximum Security Prison
Oliver was returning to his cell, when he saw Brick holding in his hand a photo of William.
"Cute kid." Brick smirked.
"Put. That. Down." Oliver growled.
"Slow your roll, Arrow. You wouldn't want this conversation to get messy." Sampson warned as he snuck up on Oliver with a shiv pointed at Oliver's back.
"You know I can just take that from you, right?" Oliver countered.
"Well, that'd be a good thing. You see, it'd save us the trouble of planting it, when we rat you out to Yorke, just like you did to Turner. Now, I know you're trying to get back to your kid." Brick said as he looked at the photo of William and smirked at Oliver. "You're probably counting down the days."
"Just tell me what do you want." Oliver said.
"Yeah. Well, you see…" Brick got up from the bed. "You see, me and Sampson here, we've got a three-man operation with Turner. Side hustle. And because of you, we're a man down, so I think you should take his place."
"No chance." Oliver shook his head.
"Now, here's a reason I don't believe you." Brick said, showing a photo of William, warning Oliver. "Now, I bet you really wish you hadn't stopped Merlyn from killing me, don't you?"
Brick smirked as he realized he had Oliver and walked off.
"See you soon, Arrow." Sampson whispered as he left.
The Glades
Tony, one of Rene's students from his gym, was buying guns from a dealer, when Rene showed up. "He's not interested."
"You followed me?" Tony demanded.
"Yeah. I figured you would do something stupid and it looks like I was right." Rene said, glaring at Tony.
"Hold on. I know you." The dealer pointed at Rene. "You're the one that dropped a dime on Oliver Queen. Uh, Crazy Dog, or something like that."
"I don't know what you're talking about." Rene turned to Tony. "Let's go. Come on."
"Unfortunately for you, you just saw my whole operation." The dealer said, gesturing to his guns in the trunk of the car. "And that can't be good for anybody."
"Get down." Rene said as Tony backed away before Rene engaged the dealer and his thugs but then froze, when the dealer aimed his gun at him.
A moment later, lights exploded and an arrow flew into the trunk and exploded in flames, destroying the guns and an archer in green hood jumped down from above at the car, shooting down the thugs and knocking one of them down, while Rene disarmed the dealer and knocked him down and Rene stared in disbelief as the archer fired a grapnel arrow and rappelled away.
"You OK?" Rene asked.
"Was that the Green Arrow?" Tony asked.
"I don't know who the hell that is." Rene said as he pulled out one of the arrows. He had no idea who the archer was but he couldn't help himself but think there was something familiar about him.
Hope Springs
Felicity, now with dyed hair and with a new identity, was living with William and was working as a barista in a café and stared in shock to see on TV the news report about the new Green Arrow.
City Hall, Star City
Earth-2 Laurel, now taking over the role of the District Attorney, was addressing the press conference regarding the new Green Arrow.
"We have reason to believe that a vigilante impersonating the Green Arrow is out there. While we're still pursuing leads as to the identity of this unknown assailant, we can tell you with 100% certainty that he is not Oliver Queen. This is someone new." Laurel said.
"You said 'assailant'. Does that mean that the city hall considers this new Green Arrow a threat?" One of the reporters asked.
"To the rule of law? Absolutely. Star City continues to employ a zero tolerance policy against any and all acts of vigilantism. Anyone found committing or aiding and abetting these acts will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law." Laurel said.
A.R.G.U.S.
"I really miss this, guys. Not that I don't like being the head of R&D at A.R.G.U.S., it has better benefits, as in, there are actually benefits. I just miss the team." Curtis said as he talked with Sara, Diggle, Dinah and Rene, while trying to track down the New Green Arrow and Stent.
"Less talking, more typing." Diggle ordered.
"Right. Sorry." Curtis approached the computer. "Should only be a couple of minutes before I'm in, which Felicity could beat one-handed."
"Look, why are we even after this New Green Arrow, if he's trying to help?" Sara questioned.
"I'm not saying that he's not trying to do some good but he's only making things worse, considering that the vigilantism is outlawed now. The least we should to is bring him in quietly, since, if it's not us, someone else will and they might decide not to take him in alive." Dinah pointed out and Sara nodded.
"So, when we find him, are you going to protect him or arrest him?" Sara questioned.
"That depends on whose side is he on." Dinah said.
"He could've killed me last night and he didn't, that's good enough for me." Rene pointed out.
"Are you sure he saved you or were you just not his target? Because there's a big difference, Rene." Dinah argued.
"I think what Rene means that the least we owe this New Green Arrow is the benefit of the doubt." Sara said.
"If you arrest that vigilante, D., you're making a big mistake." Rene pointed out.
"No. I'm doing my job." Dinah said firmly.
Slabside Maximum Security Prison
Stanley sat across Oliver at the table, much to Oliver's annoyance.
"This food isn't as bad as I thought it would be." Stanley said excitedly.
"You can't sit here." Oliver said.
"It's just like high school." Stanley chuckled.
"I don't really know how to be much clearer than I've been being. Go away." Oliver warned.
"So, what do you think about your replacement? It's gotta bug you there's a new guy that can do all the things that you can't do anymore." Stanley said.
"OK, just because I have decided to let you sit here doesn't mean we're having this conversation, you understand?" Oliver asked, trying to keep the annoyance out of his tone.
Brick then approached Oliver's table. "You ready to hustle?"
"No." Oliver declined, glaring at Brick. "Listen. If you try to leverage my family, ever again, I will expose whatever it is you have going on to every single guard in here."
"Disappointed to hear that. We'll just have to try it a different way." Brick said.
"This your new friend?" Sampson asked, nearing Stanley, who paled as Sampson moved away his tray of food.
"It has nothing to do with him." Oliver said.
Sampson slammed Stanley's face onto the desk.
"It has now." Brick said.
"I didn't do anything." Stanley begged as Sampson punched him.
"Do you want to come with us now, Queen?" Brick asked.
"No." Oliver declined.
"Oliver…" Stanley looked at Oliver brokenly.
"I can't help you." Oliver said.
"Oliver, don't…" Stanley sobbed as Oliver walked away before Brick and Sampson continued beating Stanley up.
Later at night, Yorke accompanied Stanley back to his cell, which was next to Oliver's before the doors closed.
"Are you OK?" Oliver asked.
"What do you care?" Stanley sobbed and Oliver sighed, remorseful he didn't help him. "I'm not gonna survive in here."
"Yeah, you will. You'll be fine." Oliver assured.
"You… you just left me to die." Stanley said.
"I…" Oliver took a breath. "I knew that they didn't want to kill you because they… I knew that they were coming after me."
"So you just let them beat the crap out of me?" Stanley asked incredulously.
"I'm on the guards' radar after what happened the other day and I… I get another strike against me and I'm back to square one and I want to get back to my family. I can't do that to them." Oliver said.
"I have a family too, did you ever think about that?" Stanley argued, sobbing and Oliver could feel himself deflate, realizing what a coward he was. "I mean, I shouldn't even be in here. I was wrongly accused of murder. And that's what this city is like now. There's no justice."
Oliver then remembered Barry's father as he tried to assure Stanley. "Just keep your head down. You'll be fine."
"That's your advice?" Stanley asked incredulously. "All this time, I thought you had a raw deal, like I did. But it all makes sense now why there's a new Green Arrow out there. Because the old one is a coward."
Oliver took a breath, realizing Stanley had a point.
Star City
Stent was making another deal, when Dinah and the SCPD was about to bust in and were waiting for the Green Arrow to show up. Suddenly, the lights exploded as Dinah and the SCPD entered.
Stent attempted to run, when the Green Arrow jumped down from above and fired a rope arrow into Stent's back as Stent screamed in pain. The Green Arrow yanked the rope as Stent crashed against a wooden wall before the archer aimed at him another arrow.
"Please, I'll give you anything." Stent begged.
"I have what I came for." The Green Arrow said before he notched another arrow. "Jason Stent, you have failed this city."
Suddenly, the SCPD burst in with Dinah, surrounding the Green Arrow.
"Drop your weapon now!" Dinah ordered. "Don't be stupid."
A nearby light exploded in sparks, blinding the police as the Green Arrow jumped through a hole.
"Vigilante heading north!" Dinah yelled as the officers scattered and Dinah looked up to see Wild Dog on one of the rafters.
Slabside Maximum Security Prison
It was another day for Oliver as he woke up and was heading into the shower.
Hope Springs
Felicity was waking up and about to prepare breakfast for William, when she heard gunshots, slamming and fighting outside.
"What's going on?" Felicity asked but screamed, when a bullet passed by her, destroying a light and she saw Sara fighting with Diaz.
"Felicity, run! Get William out of here!" Sara yelled.
Slabside Maximum Security Prison
Oliver was in the shower but sensed someone sneaking up on him and dodged, when one of the inmates attacked him with a shiv and fought back before he was cut in the leg. Another inmate attacked but Oliver slammed him against the shower stall as it shattered but groaned when another inmate punched him in his side and due to lack of clothing and his skin exposed, Oliver was more susceptible to pain.
Hope Springs
Felicity and William had run down the fire escape as Sara was fighting Diaz. Sara blocked Diaz's blows and elbowed him in the face but Diaz grabbed Sara by her leg as she attempted to kick him and threw her down. Diaz pulled out his gun but Sara kicked it off his hand before kicking him in the face and knocking him down.
Diaz pulled out a knife but Sara dodged and knocked him down. Realizing he was in over his head, Diaz ran off and jumped through the window. Sara was about to chase him but when she looked down, Diaz had managed to escape.
Sara entered Felicity's apartment and went down the fire escape and saw Felicity and William hiding in a nearby store.
"It's OK. You're safe now." Sara assured.
"Where's Diaz?" Felicity asked.
"Gone. But he'll be back. Come on, let's get out of here." Sara ordered.
Slabside Maximum Security Prison
Oliver had managed to beat up the inmates, when the guards broke up the fight and decided to let the fight slide, since Oliver was defending himself. Later, Oliver was back in his cell, when Yorke approached. "4587, you have a visitor."
Oliver was in the visitor room, talking with Sara.
"How's Felicity and William?" Oliver asked.
Sara took a breath. "Diaz went after them but don't worry, I fended him off for now. They're in A.R.G.U.S.'s protective custody, until this is over."
"Thank you." Oliver said.
"I promise, I'm not gonna let Diaz get away with it. And I'm not going to stop until he's dead or in prison where he belongs. I'll make him pay for what he did to you and me and Dad and our families." Sara promised as she reached out with her hand and placed it on the glass, while Oliver did the same. "Whatever happens, I'm always here for you, Ollie."
Later, the Glades
Rene used the money he had stolen from Stent to renovate his gym and other businesses in the Glades, when Dinah visited his gym.
"I should be arresting you for the crap you pulled the other night, do you have any idea of the position you put me tonight, Rene?" Dinah demanded, glaring.
"Hey, I'm sorry, D., but I couldn't let you lock him up, alright? He's not a criminal and you know it." Rene said.
"No, I don't and it's not a leap of faith I'm willing to take." Dinah snapped. "You know, I am working so hard to restore the city's faith in the men and women who serve it. Rene, if you go out as the Wild Dog again, I will not hesitate to lock you up just like that vigilante."
"Are you serious, D.?" Rene asked incredulously.
"I just want you to think long and hard about what that means, OK? For these kids and for Zoe and for our city, man, because I'm not giving you a second warning." Dinah warned before she left as Rene considered.
Slabside Maximum Security Prison
Knowing now that his family was in danger and that keeping a low profile was not going to work anymore, Oliver went into the gym yard, looking angry.
"Check it out." Sampson said, looking intrigued.
"Queen, you don't look too hot there. Maybe I can help you—" Brick grunted, when Oliver slammed his book into Brick's throat as Brick choked before Oliver hit him in the back of his head, knocking Brick down and was nearing Sampson.
"Stand down." Yorke warned as Oliver stopped, turning to him. "Don't be a hero."
Oliver picked a weight and bashed it at the head of the huge guy, who attacked Oliver in the shower and told him that Felicity and William were dead and started to beat him up before the guards surrounded Oliver.
"You should have killed me." Oliver warned before he went on his knees and put his hands behind his head as the guards took him in.
I think you can guess who the New Green Arrow is.
Frankly, Diaz drawing it out with his villain monologue, when he was about to kill Felicity and giving her an opening to fend him off with the coffee maker, was stupid, since Diaz had a chance to put a bullet in her but like I've said countless time before in my other stories, Diaz is among the lamest villains in Arrowverse, so Sara got the drop on him, since she was checking in on Felicity and William before he could attack them. Plus. Felicity sending William away, so that she could go after Diaz on her own, while understandable, was stupid, since the least William needed was at least one parent figure in his life and we all know how that turned out later in the flashforwards, so in here, Felicity and William are together in A.R.G.U.S. custody.
So, what do you guys think? Is it good? Is it bad? Should I continue?
Please review and let me know if you have been enjoying this.
With regards
Bl4ckHunter