Oliver's POV.

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Epilogue: In the dark at the end of my road

…I'm damned if I do and I'm damned if I don't
So here's to drinks in the dark at the end of my road.
And I'm ready to suffer and I'm ready to hope
It's a shot in a dark and right at my throat…

Shake It Out – Florence and the Machine

When Felicity called him that she had received a very alarming phone call and that she was heading to the… 'Arrow cave', Oliver was baffled at best, but immediately was on his way. When she explained that it had been Vera who had called with too little info but too much desperation and that Felicity had already found enough of nasty info about what was happening in New York City to convince her Vera and friends needed the Arrow's help – not to mention an unexplainable earthquake, that sounded too familiar –, Oliver had to admit his girlfriend was right.

When she dropped the bombshell that she had already hacked into a database of a private aircraft company to slip in a little note about a scheduled and already paid Starling-NYC top class flight, he decided the world was crazy and he was not getting over Felicity skills any time soon. Or over about just how well she knew him to realize he would want to be on his way. Of course, she had called Roy in as well – by the time Oliver's emergency Arrow bag was ready, Roy had appeared, taken aback but willing to join.

Sure, Oliver and Roy studied the file Felicity had prepared for them – how the hell, when, not that it only included the newest reports from the NYPD police, but also some older, which was how Oliver learnt that Vera's boyfriend had apparently been back for a while and decided to wear horns – yet, they were not ready for what awaited them at the private airport. Felicity managed to rent them a private helicopter with a pilot who didn't question two weird hooded men ready to jump down; no, Oliver was not getting over Felicity's skillset, ever.

They might not have the Queens Consolidated and its resources anymore, but they still had Felicity Smoak.

Of course, meeting the gang of wayward vigilantes of New York by Vera's side, including her very own boyfriend – fiancée actually if the ring on her left hand was any indication – was even weirder. And the situation was only getting stranger and stranger from there.

Exhausted, banged up, but quite happy for things ending surprisingly well, they left Matt's (who had told them his name, since they had been enormous help and Oliver had more or less saved his life) and Vera's apartment, changing in an abandoned building and heading back to the private airport. That day was full of insane surprises and Oliver hoped he ran out of a month supply of those.

He was wrong. Felicity called again, announcing Vera was heading their way and was probably about to ask Oliver about the possibility of hitching a ride/ flight with them.

So much for no more surprises.

…

Oliver and Roy watched the cab pull over, its door opening before the car fully stopped. A black-haired girl in glasses got out, a backpack hanging over her shoulder sloppily. She eyed them, hesitantly making her way to them. If Oliver could be forgiven, he would say she looked terrible.

"Vera, hey. You okay? What happened?" he hurried, meeting her halfway.

Her face twisted in a desperate grimace, her hand running through her damp hair. It wasn't raining or snowing – damn from shower? Had she left in such a hurry?

"I'm just— I'm sorry. Is there- you're leaving, right? Any chance there is a vacant seat?" she asked, her voice cracking. From screaming? Crying? Her eyes were red-rimmed, so crying it was, though he wouldn't rule out the screaming just yet.

"Of course, if that's what— Felicity called. What happened?"

"I need to leave. Go away from— from- everything," she stuttered, her left hand falling from her hair. It took Oliver half a second to notice the change; there was no ring. Vera wasn't wearing her engagement ring. That couldn't be good.

Oliver could only assume that the talk that must have followed after their leave had gone in the worst way possible, bringing her on edge. When people were on edge, they made stupid decisions; he could talk from experience.

"Vera… are you sure this is-"

"Please, Oliver? Please, just— just please," she pleaded, glassy imploring eyes, damp cheeks, a look of utter desperation.

It broke his heart to see her like this. In the past few days, she had been through more than some people in their lifetime. She deserved a vacation, no doubt, but taking her away like this? From Matt? After what had been probably a huge fight? That didn't sound like a good solution.

"Please, Ol-Oliver, please."

He set his jaw tight, cursing mentally. This was going to end badly for all people involved.

"I'll end up with a billy club shoved down my throat…" he sighed. Instantly, gratitude and relief faintly lighted up her face.

"Thank you," she breathed, settling the backpack on her shoulder, following Roy to the plane. The cab honked, making a turn and leaving.

Oliver asked the pilot not to rush, providing Vera enough time to calm down at least a little, making her silently question her actions, hoping she would change her mind. It was a vain effort – she hesitated when walking between the seats, yes, but only because she didn't know which one she could take. Oliver shrugged, not caring. He sighed as she simply chose the one she was currently standing at.

Vera inconspicuously slipped off her shoes, curling up in a ball, leaning her head onto the seat, mostly facing the window.

"We're all settled, Mr. Queen," the captain announced and Oliver didn't spare a glance at him, still watching the bundle of sadness. She looked like a stray kitten, wandering, lost, searching for home. Oliver knew for sure this was not a way to find it, but he nodded and the captain left. For all he knew, if they had rejected her, she might get herself into further trouble when looking for help elsewhere.

Vera didn't move when they were taking off. There was no screaming, no freak-out, no pleas to come back. Honestly, he suspected she was already asleep; she must have been exhausted.

Oliver observed her with his fist against his mouth, already regretting taking her with them.

"You sure it was a good idea?" Roy questioned carefully, not wanting to sound as if he doubted Oliver's judgement. Too late – Oliver beat him to the doubting.

"I'm sure it wasn't," he said honestly, eyeing the surprised man. "But I didn't have any better at the moment."

Roy just nodded in understanding, his gaze moving to Vera. "Did she really do that? Asked you to… take off your pants?"

Oliver chuckled tiredly. "Yeah. She did. She did a lot of things back then. That's why I needed to come here – well, apart from the search for any other earthquake-inducing device, which I closed off as a waste. Thanks for coming with me."

"Sure. Always."

"You did good back there, Roy. I knew I could trust you to keep her safe."

"Well, I admit that wasn't easy," Roy admitted, his eyes widening at some memory Oliver hadn't learnt about yet. "She meant it when she said she was a trouble magnet, didn't she?"

"Roy, from all fire escapes in New York, I crushed at hers," Oliver stated, slightly amused.

"Fair enough. But… considering everything, it turned out to be a good thing, didn't it?"

He sighed. "I just hope something good can come out of this too," he whispered, noticing Vera stirred in her foetal position.

He grabbed a blanket from the seat opposite hers, tugging her in, supposedly without waking her up. She just let out a distressed noise, curling up into a tighter ball, her restless sleep unaffected otherwise.

"I just haven't figured out what that could be yet."

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Just for you to know, the epilogue is meant to be sort of a prequel as well. I figured that if Vera's coming to Starling City, the story should be separated – because of the tags and because you might not want to read Arrow bits.

The sequel will be named 'Ready to Suffer, Ready to Hope', because I wanted to stick with the Shake It Out lyrics and it seemed fitting. It's not all angst, I promise, though if you're looking for one, there will be enough of it in a chapter 'Ain't how you hit the mat' from Matt's POV, so you can just check out that one when I post it, there won't be Arrow in it. Also, the fic definitely will have a flashback of Matt-Elektra interaction when they were under.

Thank you for reading!

I'm accepting the letters of complaint. If you liked it or disliked it, let me know, I'll appreciate both. If you have any thought to this whole thing you want to share, share :)