A/N: Please read and review!

The days following the return of Oliver Queen to the land of the living made everything seem to be completely surreal. Helena was unable to spend more time with Steve, unlike she would have wanted to, but that could not have been helped given the way everything that had been happening.

There came a point in time when she went to spend some time with Laurel Lance. Give the circumstances surrounding the disappearance and presumed death of Oliver, his father, and her sister on a trip where he had been cheating on Laurel. That would have been why Laurel was acting the way she had been.

Conflicted would have been an understatement.

Despite everything, she still had some feelings for him. They had dated for a number of years, and there would always be a part of her that would have wanted to know what had happened to her sister during that kind of disappearance five years before.

"I'm so. . ." She was saying to Helena. She let out a bitter laugh. "He better not come by, if he wants to continue to enjoy being back among the living."

They were at Ted Grant's gym. Like Helena's father, Captain Quentin Lance asked him to teach both of his daughters how to defend themselves. They both never really mentioned that to anyone or to each other. They sort of understood that was happening and had to accept that much from each other. That may have been why she wanted to talk there. Ted Grant was close by, busy working on something else at the moment but still being able to listen to anything they were talking about. He knew they were having a serious conversation, but he needed to know what was happening inside of his gym while also giving them the respect of secrecy they deserved.

"He came by to where I worked," she said to her, shaking her head. She was so furious that she had to really focus on what she had to say to her. "Had the. . .audacity to tell me that he was only able to survive because of me, and he apologized for what had happened."

"The nerve," Helena told her. She could not exactly see what was happening.

Laurel gave her a look. "He was cheating on me with my sister when that accident happened. I couldn't really grieve for her because she was involved with my boyfriend. I was mad at her. That's what happens when she was sleeping with my boyfriend when she died."

Helena grimaced back at her. There was a part of her that could understand that kind of feeling. That had been similar to what she had been feeling when she had lost her mother and started to live with her father. She blamed her father for her mother's death. He should have known what could have been happening, and he should have been able to stop the whole thing.

"I know that feeling," Helena found herself saying to Laurel. She could see that kind of change over Oliver. They were very obvious to her, but Laurel refused to really believe that of him. "But, keep an open mind. Whatever happened to him on that island changed him. A lot."

"Nothing could ever change him," Laurel told her. "Never him."

They worked on some of their training, and they were not going to talk any more about that. It was clear they were not exactly agreeing on anything regards to Oliver Queen. Helena could not exactly explain to her old friend how she was able to see that change in Oliver Queen. That may have been why Helena, Kara, and Lyta had been so close as friends. There really was no secrets between them.

Laurel stopped what she was doing and walked towards Tommy Merlyn, another friend from their social circle as they had been growing up. They spoke with each other for a moment before Tommy walked over to Helena.

"I just talked with Dick," Tommy said to her. "He said you might come to the official welcoming party for Ollie."

"Considering it," she said to him, taking a drink of her water. She was not going to wonder why that would have been the case. "I'm not going to go with him or Tim. Your parties make me want to not be to be alone."

He winced at that as he had given Laurel a look. "Can't say that I blame you."

"I'm sure you have someone in mind," Laurel had said to her. She chose to ignore that veiled comment that Helena was saying to all of them. "According to Kara. . ."

Helena could only roll her eyes back at her. Kara would obvious look for any reason to tell anyone that. There were times when she got that carried away. It would stop when Helena would speak to her about that. "Of course she told you."

She was going to argue her some more, but she had decided that it was better that she was not going to argue with her in any way because that could make it appear to be true for them.

"And," Laurel said before she and Tommy were starting to leave the old gym. She was starting to wear a smile for Helena over that sort of thing. "I remember seeing him come in."

Helena knew he was there, but she was not going to make a big deal over that sort of thing, not when they were there. When Tommy and Laurel were gone, she had walked over to Steve, and they were able to talk to each other. That may have been why she was able to get him to take her to that kind of a party, and there was a part of her that did not really seem to mind about that. She had found herself to be excited about what could happen, and she could tell that she was not the only one as she had looked back at Steve.