Pilot: Part 3
Harry didn't move. He just stayed where he was lying uncomfortably on the ground. His head hurt. It pounded away behind his eyes like there were one hundred men playing the drums behind them. He tried to recall what had happened to him but nothing came to mind. It was probably because he didn't have the energy to put any thought behind it, probably because his brain felt so foggy and tired. He stayed there for several minutes trying to build himself up to doing something more than just lying still. He tried to move but found his body fighting against it, completely uncooperative with what Harry was telling it to do. It was also because his arms were tied forcibly behind his back giving him no room for movement.
Eventually, after several more minutes of doing nothing Harry opened his eyes, closing them quickly again when light poured into them from the building they were in. When his eyes stopped stinging Harry opened them again. This time more slowly. He squinted into the building so the light didn't hurt his eyes so much and when they adjusted to the lighting around him he found he could open them fully without any problems.
The first thing Harry noticed was the fact that he was no longer in the alley way that he last remembered being in. In fact Harry was unsure whether he was even in Starling City anymore, considering the area he had been in hadn't had any abandoned buildings in site. And Harry was certain he would have seen this building if they'd driven near it, considering the size of it.
Harry moved his head ever so slightly to adjust his site and saw opposite him was somebody else in the same position as him. They were lying on the floor with their hands behind their back. At a closer look Harry realised it was Tommy. Confused Harry hissed out the older man's name in an attempt to get a response out of him. When that didn't work Harry tapped him with his foot. He did this a couple of times and still didn't get a response so he tried again but harder, kicking Tommy on the shin.
Harry gave up when he didn't get a response and craned his neck ahead of him looking for Oliver. If Tommy was here then he assumed Oliver would be too. He could see several people ahead of him, about five metres away, and there was Oliver. However, unlike himself Oliver was tied to a chair.
Harry watched uncomfortably from the position he was on the floor.
"Did your father survive the accident?" one of the men asked as they moved in front of Oliver. There was silence for a couple of seconds before Harry heard Oliver shout out in pain. He moved about on the floor to see if he could get into a position where he could see Oliver but where ever he went the man still managed to hide Oliver from Harry's view.
"I ask the questions and you'll give me the answer" the man said. Harry rolled onto his front and concentrated on his breathing. He heard Oliver shout out in pain again and looked over to him. The man had now moved slightly which gave Harry the chance to look at Oliver. The older man caught Harry's eyes and tapped his foot very slightly on the floor three times. Harry recognised this as directions telling him what to do.
One meant stay still and don't draw attention to yourself. Two meant attack. Three meant wait for my signal and then attack. Four, although rarely used or listened to, meant run.
Harry and Oliver had used this form of communication on the island on more than one occasion and Harry was shocked to see Oliver use it now. To show that he understood Harry tilted his head downwards slightly as if to nod. The movement was so small that unless you were looking for it you wouldn't have noticed it had even happened.
Harry ignored what was going on around him now and tensed his hands as tightly as he could. When he couldn't tense his hands any further he pulled his arms forwards without hesitating once so that his hands hit his back at a constant and sudden force.
He felt the pressure on his hands loosen and he quietly and silently stood up from the ground before silently walking towards the men who had their concentration fixed on Oliver.
"Did he make it to the island?" the same man asked behind the red mask, his voice still deep and gravely, like he'd been hit in the throat several times. "Did he tell you anything?" As Harry carried on walking, stopping at random points when it looked like one of the men in masks was going to turn around.
"Yes he did" Oliver said back to the man as his eyes flitted around the room quickly. If he had seen Harry walking towards them he didn't show it.
"What did he tell you?" the man asked and Harry could clearly see he was starting to get impatient. Harry wondered why these men cared or had even gone to the effort of kidnapping them but his mind quickly turned to the task at hand.
"He said I was going to kill you" Oliver said just as Harry positioned himself behind the furthest man from the group.
The group of men started to laugh and their leader turned around only just giving Harry enough time to hide behind a stack of wooden crates and rubbish to his right. "You're delusional." Harry moved from behind the boxes and stood behind the man again when he heard the main guy start talking. "You're tied to that chair" he said.
When Oliver stood up Harry went into action and grabbed the man by his throat before turning violently to his left and putting his foot out so that the masked man he was holding tripped over his foot and landed on the floor choking and gasping for air. When the man made a move to get his gun Harry kicked it away before ducking behind the crates and rubbish again when one of the other men turned his gun on him. He heard the thud as the bullets ricocheted off the crates. When they stopped he jumped over the top of them giving the element of surprise to the man who had paused firing his weapon when Harry made no effort to come out from behind the crates.
In the back of his mind he could hear weapons being fired off and crashes coming from ahead of him but he ignored them, instead concentrating on what was going on concerning him.
The man who had fired at him before pulled his gun up to shoot again but Harry kicked it out of his hand shocking the man and making him take a step backwards. He dodged a punch aimed at his head and made a punch of his own. The thug in front of him knocked his arm out of the way and with incredible speed Harry grabbed the man's arm and pulled forwards. Again he put his foot out and the man tripped over it giving Harry the edge. The man, who was severely unbalanced, was now easier to flip over his shoulder.
Preoccupied with a man aiming a gun at him Harry didn't notice the first man he'd taken down come back up behind him until he felt a pair of arms wrap tightly around his neck cutting off his oxygen supply.
He twisted his entire body to the left so he and the man turned one hundred and eighty degrees. The gun that had been previously aimed at him went off and he felt the man holding him jerk suddenly as the bullets hit him instead of Harry. The tension around his neck decreased and it gave Harry the opportunity to turn around and push the man towards the one who had fired the gun.
Both men went down in a muddle of arms and legs. It only took Harry one punch to knock the man who'd fired the gun out. He then looked down at him sadly before taking a breath in and breaking the man's neck.
Harry turned around and saw Oliver chasing a guy who was trying to escape. "Keep an eye on Tommy!" he shouted as he left the building. Harry carried on running for a second thinking about ignoring Oliver and then stopped, turning around and walking over to Tommy knowing that Oliver could take on one guy on his own without an effort or difficulties.
Tommy was how Harry had left him, unconscious and oblivious. He checked his pulse to make sure he was alive and sighed in relief when he felt a steady heartbeat under his finger tips. He shook Tommy again, this time rougher to get through to the unconscious man. When he heard a groan and saw Tommy's eye lids flutter open he helped the man sit up against a wall. Only when he was certain that Tommy wasn't going to fall to the side did Harry walk over to one of the bodies and search him, looking for a knife that he could use to cut the zip tie around Tommy's wrists.
Luckily Tommy was still a little out of it when he cut the ties so he was able to put the knife back where he found it without Tommy really knowing what was going on.
Oliver returned just before Tommy seemed to fully come out of it and Harry looked up at him ready to mouth a question but Oliver shook his head and mouthed later to him. Harry nodded and turned to Tommy. "Are you alright?" he asked.
Tommy looked around the building and then at Harry and Oliver. His face took on a look of complete confusion when he said, "What happened?"
"We were taken by these thugs" Harry said looking to Oliver to finish the explanation.
"And then these two guys in hoods showed up and killed them all, untied us and left." Tommy still looked confused. He stood up, using the wall for support.
"What are we going to do?" he asked looking at the ground and the bodies.
"I've called the police. Are you alright?" Oliver asked looking at his pale friend.
Tommy answered that for him without actually answering the question. "I never thought I'd hear Oliver Queen say he's called the police." Harry and Oliver smiled. Tommy was definitely okay.
-o-0-o-
"And what happened to you?" Detective Lance asked Harry. Harry sat next to Oliver on the couch in the Queen's living room whilst Detective Lance interviewed him, Oliver and Tommy.
"I went out to get some fresh air from this café me and Thea were at and they just came out of nowhere" Harry said, making sure he kept his story as vague as possible. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Oliver look suspiciously at him, maybe he should have just said he went to the café on his own. Instead of giving his brother the wrong idea.
"Out of nowhere?" Detective Lance asked, his voice clearly saying he didn't believe or care about what Harry had to say.
"Yes. That's why is said it" Harry said in a neutral voice. Detective Lance stared at Harry who kept his face straight and stared back. Apparently finding what he was looking for Detective Lance turned to Tommy.
"And you. You saw these hood guys?" Tommy looked at Oliver and Harry unsure on how to answer.
"I was kind of out of it. Anything I did see was blurry" he said. After this the conversation turned slightly, with Detective Lance suddenly going cold and unfriendly.
"It's funny, isn't it? You're back for one day Oliver and already people are after you. Aren't you Mr Popular?"
Oliver stayed silent and so did the other occupants in the room. He didn't show any emotions but Harry could tell his friend felt uncomfortable and was working on controlling his emotions.
"The men that were there, did you find out who they were and who they were working for?" Harry asked changing the subject to its original one.
"Their weapons were untraceable, and if they've been arrested we have no record of them. Why did you ask if they were working for someone?"
Harry now felt uncomfortable himself but he chose to hide it. He wasn't comfortable with having the detective's cold tone on him. "They just seemed like the sort" he said going back to his original decision of saying as little as possible. In this situation it seemed he'd get himself into less bother. As long as it seemed he was giving them full answers then they wouldn't ask too many difficult questions that neither he nor Oliver wanted to be answering yet.
"Well whoever they were, they probably expected you to pay a king's ransom to get your son back" the detective said whilst he put his notebook in his pocket. "Or a Queen's ransom in this case." No one in the room seemed to find this funny, not even the man who had made the joke in the first place. Harry figured the man was trying to get under the Queen's skin; it didn't seem to be working though. "Parent's do try and do everything they can to protect their children. Don't they, Mr Queen?"
Oliver looked at Detective Lance and gave him a pained and exhausted smile. The classic Oliver Queen that everyone but Harry knew. "That's what I've heard Detective."
"I don't find your tone very appropriate. Perhaps it would be best if you leave" Mrs Queen suggested but her tone left no doubt that it wasn't a question but a statement. The detectives let themselves out but Detective Lance didn't leave without one final sentence, one that was clearly meant to get to Oliver more than the others. "Your luck just never runs out does it?"
When they left Tommy decided to go too, his reasons being he needed to get back home. After that Oliver and Harry left the living room too and went upstairs to Oliver's room. Oliver went over to his desk and opened up his laptop whilst Harry took up the entire couch. His legs resting on the arm of the couch closest to Oliver and his head resting on his arms so he could see over his feet. If there was one word to describe it, Harry looked relaxed. Something he hadn't felt in several years. On the island you could never fully relax, you always had to have one eye and ear open, ready in case there was some kind of attack. Even when he was asleep he was never fully relaxed. At the Dursley's Harry didn't always feel relaxed either, he was always prepared for someone from his 'family' having a go at him, blaming him for Dudley's mistakes.
Harry closed his eyes, subconsciously feeling the bruise forming on his neck from the dart that had knocked him out. "Oliver?" Harry said sitting up with ease as he contemplated about asking what was on his mind. Was it actually his business? Or should he just ignore it?
"Yeah" Oliver said as he typed away at his computer not bothered by Harry's presence.
"What was up with that Detective? I mean, it was clear you were bothering him."
Oliver sighed and lent back in his chair. Harry could see him thinking about the answer like he didn't want to say. His trust in Harry and the fact he looked at the boy as his younger brother made him tell Harry what he was thinking. "You remember Sara?" he asked, his face instantly looking darker at the thought of the blonde girl from the island. Harry instantly regretted asking the question, knowing that Oliver didn't like talking about the girl who had died three years ago. However, despite this he nodded his head. The damage was already done anyway so he might as well get the answer to his question before his curiosity burned a hole through him. "Well that was her dad. He blames me for what happened."
Harry looked at his feet unsure of how to answer. Anything he could say would sound kind of lame. As he went through the options in his head he realised there was nothing he could say that he wouldn't mind being said to him if the situation was reversed.
"Did you find anything on Hunt" Oliver asked and Harry nodded swinging himself over the side of the couch and walking over to the computer.
"Yeah. What do you want to know, apart from the fact he's the biggest waste of space and lowest scum on the planet?" he said.
Oliver chuckled to himself. "Well anything that we didn't know already would be great."
"Okay going on that I found that he owns a business called Hunt International, which by the way is a ridiculous name, no offence to your dad's business name or anything. They just all sound the same. Could I?" Oliver pushed his chair backwards to give Harry room to use the laptop. He watched Harry as the seventeen year old typed something in on his laptop. The only time Harry seemed to be himself was when he was around Oliver, although the boy was starting to open up, he just had to be around people he knew. "Any way, Adam Hunt is a billionaire, although he crossed the line between fair and corrupt a long time ago. Two years ago he stole forty million dollars from the public with the reasons of it being helping out the city. Obviously it didn't and the money wasn't seen again."
Harry stopped midsentence when a maid, Raisa, knocked on Oliver's door. Oliver quickly took over and shut down the web browsers Harry had opened whilst Harry picked up the book containing the list of names and subtly put it in his pocket without Raisa noticing. Or at least that was what Harry and Oliver thought when the woman walked in carrying a tray of food.
"You are different. " At the look on the boy's faces she explained further. "It's not like you to read a book."
"I missed you too Raisa" Oliver said as he cleared a place on his desk for the food. The woman smiled at the look on the two of their faces.
"No kitchen on the island?"
"No. No friends either" Oliver said.
"Hey" Harry said in mock hurt as he punched Oliver non to lightly on the arm.
"Hey" Oliver said back as he rubbed his shoulder. "You're more like the annoying younger brother I can't get rid of."
"Well the feeling is mutual." Raisa smiled when she saw the two boys joking about between each other.
"You need someone who can look up to you and give a positive influence on" she said putting down the food.
"Yeah well, I think he's more of a positive influence on me" Oliver said. "Am I really that different?"
"No. You're still a good boy."
Oliver let out a laugh whilst Harry held one back. "I think we all know I wasn't" he said looking at the food. "I want to be the person you always told me I could be."
The woman smiled. "I'm sure you will be. Mr Oliver said you liked lasagne" she said to Harry who was staring at the food and waiting as patiently as he could.
"Thank you Raisa" he said as the woman turned around and walked out of the room. Harry waited a little while until he knew the woman was out of ear shot. He then turned to Oliver and burst out laughing, having to take a seat next to the two plates of food. Oliver looked at him with a mixture of confusion and amusement written on his face. Harry had never been the more outspoken one out of the two of them on the island so Oliver had been a little nervous at how he would fit in with the Queen family. The most out spoken family on the planet. He was pleased to see the boy had settled in well and seemed to be able to relax in his home.
"What?" he finally asked when he noticed Harry was close to falling to the ground with laughter.
"Nothing" Harry replied trying to contain his laughter to a few muffled hiccups of amusement. "Two things, number one, You? Good?"
"Shut it Harry" Oliver said pushing Harry gently. Unfortunately Harry was already laughing again so he fell to the floor with the gentlest of nudges. The boy did manage to land on the floor lightly, which was a positive.
When he finally managed to stop laughing for a second time he finished his sentence. "Number two. You want to be the man she always said you could be? What? Did she know you were going to go out at night wearing a hood and wielding a bow, trying to do your best impression of Robin Hood?"
Oliver shook his head at the childish persona Harry had suddenly adopted. "Be careful or I won't ask Raisa to do anything nice for you in the future."
"Of course you'll still do it. You want to be the good boy she always knew you could be." At that Oliver picked up both plates of food and ran out of the door with them, somehow managing to keep both meals on their respective plates. Harry soon chased after him, by which time Oliver was down the stairs and outside in the garden. The two didn't know Mrs Queen had watched them both messing about with the food. Instead of telling them off for it, Mrs Queen decided to let them carry on, deciding it was what Oliver and Harry needed at the moment. To be acting like brothers and being childish instead of acting serious all of the time like she had seen them so far.
-o-0-o-
The next day Oliver and Harry both got up early and changed into clean clothes like they'd planned the night before. Today they were both going to go to Oliver's dad's old factory in the Glades. According to Oliver it would make the perfect place for them to use as a base of operations as they went out as the red arrow and the green arrow. They were both a little apprehensive about it but they were also prepared. They'd been planning on doing this for five years on the island and they weren't going to stop now.
As the vigilantes, Harry and Oliver would visit each person on the list in the book and bring justice to the city. Depending on who it was and what they had done to the city depended on what they were going to do. So far all they knew was who their first target would be. Adam Hunt. They didn't know how they were going to deal with him just yet.
"I still can't believe we've been back a day and already we're on the news as the vigilantes" Harry whispered to Oliver who was putting on a jacket whilst Harry waited by the door for him. When Oliver was ready he opened it and they both walked out into the sun.
"Yeah well, it was going to happen at some point" Oliver replied leading the way out of the Queen property.
"I guess. It's better sooner than later I suppose." Harry and Oliver stopped when they heard their names called by Mrs Queen behind them. Oliver turned around and smiled at Mrs Queen politely.
"Oliver, Harry. This is John Diggle. I want him to accompany you from now on."
Harry and Oliver both looked at each other at the same time, a similar look of shock written plainly across both of their faces. They hadn't planned for this. Not once. "Mum" Oliver said looking back at Harry again. "We don't need a body guard."
"Or baby sitter" Harry whispered without moving his lips. Keeping his voice low enough so only Oliver could hear. Oliver felt a smile tug at his lips but he ignored it.
"I know you don't but I want you to" she said using a guilt trip on her son. "After everything that's happened, just getting you back, the kidnapping. I can't lose you again."
Oliver looked at Harry who saw what he was going to say and shook his head not so unnoticeably. Oliver ignored him even when he could see the movement out of the corner of his eye. "Mum" he started but was interrupted.
"Oliver, I want this for you" his mum said showing no sign of backing down.
Figuring they'd get away sooner if he just agreed Oliver said, "Okay."
"Good" his mum said hugging him and walking back into the house.
"Where would you like to go?" John Diggle asked. His face was completely emotionless.
"The Glades" Oliver said turning around and walking towards the black car. Harry followed imitating Oliver as he walked to his own side of the car and climbed in himself.
Once in the car Harry sat back and wondered what they were going to do now. How were they meant to do anything with a man breathing down their neck as they went? Obviously it would be easier for him as John Diggle was mainly hired for Oliver, but still, he needed Oliver's help with this just as much as Oliver needed his. Plus they could easily handle themselves if the time came. Although he could hardly see himself explaining that one to Mrs Queen.
A part of him wanted to laugh at the idea. He imagined himself going up to Mrs Queen, a woman he'd just met, and try to explain how he and Harry were perfectly capable of defending themselves. He could imagine that Mrs Queen would either not believe him or be very concerned. He'd be concerned if he had a child who had been away and then returned able to defend themselves and over power people in a fight. Especially if they were his age. Technically he wasn't even out of school yet, he still had a year left to do, whether that was in Hogwarts or a normal muggle school. Harry's thoughts stopped in their tracks as he thought about the last time he'd looked at someone as a muggle. That had been five years ago now. On the island it was a simple way of seeing things. Black and white. There would good people and then there were bad people. People who wanted to help Oliver and himself, and people who wanted to kill Oliver and himself. Even though life on the island had been hard in different ways like finding food and surviving, it had been easier in some ways too. One of the reasons being the way he looked at things.
Things were clearer on the island and he only had to worry about himself and Oliver. Since he'd been back he had noticed some of his previous worries from before the island return but he'd locked them away and kept them hidden. Refusing to think about them. And in a way refusing to remember his old life. His life was here now. In Starling city. It was his home. He had a new family and was making new friends. He had a different outlook on his life and could concentrate and be seen as the person he wanted to be. Not how other people expected him to be.
He wouldn't pretend he hadn't thought about calling Hermione or Ron though.
He came out of his thoughts when Oliver tapped him on the shoulder. The man signalled at him to take his seat belt off which Harry did. "So Dig, you're ex military?" Oliver asked so there would be voices masking the sound of the seatbelt un-clicking.
"Yes sir, but I'm retired. I don't want there to be any confusion so I'll let you know now. My ability to keep you from harm will outweigh your comfort," Diggle said looking at the road ahead of him. "That will be for you too Mr Potter, I've been assigned to keep an eye on the both of you. Do we have an agreement?" he asked. Harry and Oliver both opened their doors and rolled onto the road. Harry ignored the pain and got up, running after Oliver who was now heading towards his father's old and run down factory. Jumping out of cars was a lot harder and far more painful than it was made to look like in films.
-o-0-o-
Leaning over the side of the small life raft Harry felt the ocean waves brush gently against his hand. As he wasn't tall enough for both of his hands to dip into the ocean he settled on just one and rested his head on the other. The storm had broke, following the sun from the horizon behind him, and now left a bright blue sky, one that definitely didn't show the storm that had caused the devastating events from the previous night. No one would be able to tell anything had happened if they didn't notice the life boat that held four people, keeping them floating above water. Harry didn't want to think about what would happen if this boat decided to sink too.
Annoyed with himself Harry looked around the boat for something wooden. He really didn't want to jinx that thought. If he had his wand on him he'd be able to touch that. He'd probably be able to do a lot of things to make their stay far more comfortable, not a lot of things as he'd only completed one year at Hogwarts but he was certain he'd be able to do something. Ever since he'd gotten his wand at Diagon Alley just under a year ago he hadn't gone anywhere without it. He guessed that was rather stupid now. He had relied on it so much, he depended on it to defend him and now he didn't have it. He felt bare without it.
Lost.
If he ever made it back to England and bought a new wand or even found his old one by some miracle, he would make sure he never relied on it fully again.
It was ridiculous when he thought about it more. That he felt lost without his wand when he was literally lost at this moment in time. He was in the middle of the ocean with people he didn't know, or had even spoken ten words to, and he was worrying about a piece of equipment that they didn't even know existed.
As the hours slowly went by Harry found he was slowly drifting off to sleep, the movement of the boat quite relaxing. The meagre rations of food and drink they did have was shared out in a strange sort of way. Mr Queen would look after the food and every now and then, in an estimation of time way, he'd give everyone some water and some food. It wasn't enough. There wasn't enough. Not for one person let alone four. But they were managing with what they had on offer.
Harry wished he'd picked up his bag now. The new one that was somewhere at the bottom of the ocean. That had more food in than what the group of four had started out with here. Even Hagrid's rock cakes were appealing to him. He hadn't bought them with him they were still under his bed back In England, but right now, his groaning stomach would have taken anything. Even with the risk of breaking his teeth on them.
It was when Harry was slowly starting to drift off to sleep when he finally realised how dire a situation he was in. He looked up abruptly to the sudden and very loud bang that went off behind him. What he turned around to wasn't what he'd been expecting. Mr Queen was holding a gun in his hand and the fourth occupant of the boat hung limply over the side of it. Eventually his weight became too much and he fell into the ocean casting splashes of water over Harry.
Immediately Harry was fully awake. He was panicking and found he'd pushed himself as far back into the boat as possible. Mr Queen then turned to him and stared at him. His eyes looked strained, like he was fighting a battle in his head. The expression changed to sadness and for a slight moment Harry thought the man was going to shoot him too. But as soon as that thought entered his head Mr Queen turned the gun to his own head and pulled the trigger but not before looking at his son and saying one word to him.
Survive.
Unlike the fourth, and now lost, occupant of the boat Mr Queen fell against the side but stayed out of the ocean.
Harry heard Oliver shout out but wasn't paying attention. The shock of what he'd just seen still in his mind. Replaying over and over again in front of him like a broken tape.
-o-0-o-
The abandoned factory was perfect for them. It was better than perfect. It had everything they needed. A big space to train, a basement where they could keep all of their things without anyone coming across it by accident. No one would enter the building. After all it did look like it was about to collapse in on itself. And anyone with any sense would avoid the place like the plague. Fortunately Oliver Queen and Harry Potter ignored the sense telling them to stay away.
Harry actually felt excited to get into the building and get to work. Something he was surprised about. But then again, since he'd come to Starling City he hadn't done much at all and the thought of getting some proper work done was a thought that made him happy. Especially when the work was physical and he wasn't stuck researching things behind a computer. Not that he didn't like relaxing, but since the island he was used to working hard, whether it was to stay alive or keep boredom at bay. Either way Harry liked the thought of actually getting back to work.
It was strange. Only this yesterday he was hoping it would be a couple of weeks before anything, even a conversation about his and Oliver's mission, would come up but now he was counting down the seconds before they could talk about it. It was probably the events from the day before with the kidnappers Harry guessed. The fight had managed to get his adrenaline racing, something that hadn't happened for a couple of weeks, and now that he had had a taste of it he remembered what it felt like. Plus at the moment he was in the mood. He wanted to get down to business and if he waited another day he knew he'd happily be waiting weeks for the mission to start again. Harry leant against the wall whilst Oliver disappeared from the room; the older man walking in such a way that Harry knew Oliver was ready to get to work too. The adrenaline obviously pumping through his veins still as well.
Whilst Oliver was gone Harry looked around the main part of the building they were in. The room itself was very big and Harry assumed it had been the entrance to the factory before it was abandoned. There were no windows apart from the small ones that lined the walls where they met the ceiling. Clearly used for airing the building out Harry knew they didn't need to worry about anyone looking through them; even if some where cracked and smashed in places from five years through lack of care. The light that managed to get past the cracks in the windows was enough to light up the building's interior so Harry and Oliver were able to see the few chairs and tables that were stacked in the corner of the room.
Oliver returned to the room with three bags slung over his shoulders. When he saw harry leaning against the wall he slung them down in front of the younger man with little effort. "So…" he said getting onto his knees and unzipping one of the bags. "Boxes or sledge hammer?" he asked.
Harry made the effort of looking thoughtful before smiling and saying "What do you think? Sledge hammer." Oliver rolled his eyes.
"I should have known. The day you don't want to cause destruction is when I should be worried." Oliver pulled a sledge hammer out of the bag and passed it to Harry. "Be careful. The last time you got hold of a hammer you broke your hand."
"Yeah and I was also fourteen" Harry said back taking the hammer and walking away from his friend with a mischievous glint in his eyes.
"I should be worried" Oliver said. He stood up and followed Harry, "I looked at my dad's plans of this building and there's a basement. The door leading to it is in the next room, but it's a good place for our things."
"Speaking of that" Harry said stopping in front of the door and allowing Oliver to walk in front of him. "When are we starting our crusade?" Harry looked to Oliver doing his best at not looking as curious as he was. Neither of them were the leader of the other in the group, they were partners and they had equal responsibility, however Harry looked at Oliver as the decision maker, considering it was Oliver who decided that he would go after the list of names. Harry had decided to tag along and help him when he decided that he'd not be going back to England.
"As soon as possible." As Oliver said this he turned to face Harry and then braced his shoulders and threw his body weight into the basement door. The door fell open and he and Harry walked through it down the stairs. "I was thinking a couple of weeks, we get settled here first and then start. But the abduction, now the men in the hoods have shown themselves once they need to do it again. Are you sure you want to start this?"
Harry was silent. He'd asked himself the same question over and over again. Every time it came to his head he wondered if this was truly his path. His true destiny. And every time he asked himself this question he came up with a different answer, a different reason and excuse for the change in feelings. However, now that he was being asked directly. Being asked from someone other than himself he knew for certain.
When the silence dragged out for more than a couple of seconds Oliver looked up and put a hand on Harry's shoulder. "This isn't your fight Harry. If you don't want to get involved that's fine. I understand but I want you to do what you want."
Harry looked up at Oliver and smiled. The smile reached his eyes but this time showed something Oliver hadn't seen in a long time. Mischief. "I'm involved Oliver and it's staying that way. Besides, I can't let you be Robin Hood all on your own. You'll get lonely."
"We're not Robin Hood's" Oliver shouted after Harry as the younger man ran lightly down the stairs to the basement.
"Really cause our first target's Adam Hunt. He's rich. We're stealing from him to give to the poor. The people he's in turn targeted and victimised." Harry swung the hammer around in his hand with ease. "We've been gone for five years and come back to help others. I've not been in England for five years but I'm still pretty sure the legend is the same. We're Robin"-
"You're the only one who thinks that" Oliver shouted placing the bags on the basement floor. Harry raised an eyebrow at him in habit. Without realising it Harry had picked up the habit on the island as a response to Oliver's sometimes stubborn statements.
"I'm gonna get the equipment" Oliver said.
"Alright" Harry said turning his back on Oliver who was now running back up the stairs two at a time. Harry looked at the wall ahead of him and lifted the hammer into both of his hands. Another smile appeared on his face and he tested the weight of the tool before swinging his arms back and then into the wall in front of him. The sound of the hammer making contact with the wall reverberated around the room causing Harry to hesitate before hitting the wall again. When he was certain no one overhead the banging from outside he carried on.
By the time Oliver had carried down the last box of their equipment, this including tables, chairs and computers that they would need as their time as the vigilantes, Harry cleared out a big enough space for them to use as a place of operations. The two of them would clear away the rubble over the course of the next couple of weeks when they had time.
The two men then set up tables around the room, each one for a different purpose and therefore having different equipment on. So far they had five tables set up. The two closest to Oliver and the one he was currently setting up was loaded with computers. Oliver had opted to do this considering Harry was more or less useless when it came to setting them up or programming them. His area of expertises concerning computers started and finished with being able to use them for research, this mainly being due to the fact he never used them during his childhood as he wasn't allowed to or because he went to a school that prevented electrical devices from working and because he had spent the majority of his teenage life on an island without electricity.
The table Harry was setting up had their weapons on, their bows and arrows, as well as several different communication devices and a range of knives. The fourth table had first aid equipment that Harry was certain they would need at some point in the near future and the fifth table had their suits lying neatly on it until they could find a better and more permanent place to keep them. Suits that the two would soon be wearing and everyone would recognise.
-o-0-o-
"So we come face to face with Hunt tonight?" Oliver asked Harry making sure that was alright with his younger friend.
"Yes but what about your mum? Surely she'll start asking questions especially considering we, more you than me, ditched Dig" Harry asked back.
"She'll be in bed, besides I used to come home a lot later than midnight before the island, and back then I came home with several drunk friends none of whom I'd met before hand." Oliver heard Harry laugh from above him. He looked up into the rafters of the basement searching for the familiar black haired boy. He saw him perched happily in the corner, his legs hanging over a supporting beam that looked particularly unstable. "You alright up there bird boy?" he called up to Harry. From his position on the ground Oliver thought Harry looked more like a bird perched in a tree looking for prey than a seventeen year old who just liked heights.
"Never better" the boy said back.
Oliver let out a laugh. "What is it with you and heights? You spend far more time up high than you do on solid ground."
Harry shrugged his shoulders. "I like them. Plus I can see everything up here, you can't from down there." Harry stood up and walked across the rafters like this was something he did every day. Even the thin bars that spread the width of the room were easy for him to walk along. He may not be as great in combat as Oliver, although he was still a formidable opponent, Harry made up for it with his agility and balance. And it was something the he and Oliver both knew, Harry often being the one to volunteer to go up high or on precarious ledges.
"I guess, although it's harder to move around up high where there's little solid ground to stand on" Oliver said back.
"Maybe for someone as clumsy as you, but for me it's as easy as walking" Harry said whilst clapping his hands together loudly in a matter of fact kind of way.
Oliver again looked at Harry, shocked. He was always slightly amazed at how Harry changed from a shy and polite boy when around people he didn't know and fully trust to being loud and sometimes immature when around Oliver on his own. The politeness that the seventeen year old had when around strangers also dissolved when no one but Oliver was with him, it changing into a quick witted and sometimes sarcastic humour, a humour that the two of them shared. It also happened when Harry became the vigilante, like the hood was a cover, a shelter that let Harry come out of his shell.
"Clumsy is the wrong word. Agile, Athletic and coordinated are probably the correct words you were looking for." Oliver was about to say something else but was interrupted by Harry.
"They would be if you were describing me but…" Harry stopped mid sentence when he heard the small beep that came from his watch. Looking at Oliver he saw that the older man's watch had gone off too. The alarm signalling that it was time for them to suite up and let the vigilantes show themselves again. Stopping the alarm on his watch Harry nimbly climbed down to the basement floor, catching his bow Oliver had thrown him in one hand and grabbing his suit in the other.
Picking up his quiver of arrows and slinging them over his shoulders Oliver turned to Harry. "But what?" he asked.
"Hmm?" Harry asked pretending to be busy with something on his bow. Oliver looked at him as if he was trying to read Harry's mind. "Don't we have somewhere to be" he then added in an attempt to avoid the question. Quickly, before Oliver could say anything else Harry rushed up the basement stairs.
-o-0-o-
"I will turn Grell into a cautionary tale" Adam Hunt said, his anger sharper than normal. The trial was nearing closer and closer and so far his men seemed to be failing him.
Harry watched the bald man walking between cars, shouting and dishing out orders to his men. Like he had been earlier on that day, he was again crouched up high and out of site from people below him. Except this time Oliver was next to him.
"And this attorney, Laurel Lance, I told you to fix it. You said she wouldn't be a problem anymore" Adam Hunt almost bellowed.
Harry glanced at Oliver. "See, like I said. Up here you can see everything below you."
"I never disagreed with you" Oliver muttered quietly back his eyes never leaving Adam Hunt and his two body guards. The other man had left rather quickly and in a rush to get his work done, obviously not liking being on the wrong side of Hunt. Which was understandable considering Adam Hunt wasn't afraid of getting rid of the people that got in his way. Unfortunately Harry and Oliver were about to do just that.
"Do you want to blow the lights" Oliver said to Harry. "We won't lose an arrow if you do."
Harry gave him a grim smile. "Sure." With that Harry turned to the closest light, the one above Hunt, and concentrated on it. He felt a small sensation build up inside of him and then the light smashed above Adam Hunt, showering him and his men in shards of glass.
"No matter how many times you do that I won't ever get used to it" Oliver stated.
"Well I guess it's good I don't use it often then. Especially with what we're doing." Oliver had found out about Harry's magic on the island and at first he had had mixed feelings about it. Luckily he had relaxed about it and he didn't look so nervous when Harry used it, even if Harry did use it as little as possible. Without a wand Harry's magic wasn't as strong, but he'd learnt to use it without a wand when he was on the island. Thanks to the help of a friend the two had made there. Oliver knowing about his magic had made his friendship a lot easier as it meant there were no secrets between the two, Harry could talk about his life before the island easier, which in turn meant Oliver knew what Harry was thinking about most of the time.
The two returned the attention two Hunt when he started shouting out.
"Who's there?"
"Show yourself!"
Oliver pulled an arrow and knocked it to his bow and Harry copied him and pulled the bow string up to his cheek. The arrow head that rested on his forefinger was red though instead of green. "Well, you heard the man" Oliver said and the two hooded fingers fired their arrows at the two bodyguards.
The body guards shouted out in pain as an arrow made contact with each of them. The one Harry shot, the tallest of the three men stood up holding his side like his life depended on it. Well, Harry thought. It did. The man pulled out his gun and fired it in the direction the arrows had come from. Harry and Oliver had already moved from their though so the bullets ricocheted off the wall and ceiling instead. "Get in the car!" the man shouted and Hunt did so without complaint. Harry fired another arrow at the man this time getting his leg which sent the man to the ground whilst Oliver pulled Hunt back out of the car none to nicely.
Harry watched Oliver as the man pulled Hunt off the ground. "Your men missed" he said sending his fist flying at the man crawling on the floor in the direction of his gun. There was a loud smack as Harry's fist made contact with the bodyguards head, knocking him out immediately.
This made Hunt flinch and panic more than he already was. Although Harry wasn't sure if that was possible. "What! What do you want?" Hunt shouted at the hooded figures. There were beads of sweat on his forehead showing that he was scared. "Please, what do you want?"
"We want you to transfer forty million dollars into the Starling City bank account one, one, four, one by ten o'clock tomorrow night" Oliver said into Hunts ear. The green hooded figure had his head inches from Adam Hunt's and Harry was only able to hear what was being said when he strained his ears.
Hunt stared at Oliver defiantly, his stubbornness still overcoming his small side of being sensible. "Or what?" he hissed back, his voice amplified in the darkness and quietness of the car park.
"Or we'll ask again nicely" Harry said with his bow at his side but still with an arrow knocked to it. Just in case. He'd had enough experience with this sort of thing to not be ready for every possibility.
Even in the dim lighting Harry could see the corners of Oliver's mouth curl into a wicked grin. "We'll take it" he growled, his voice deep and low, it getting lower with every word. "And you won't like how."
When the lights flickered again the two disappeared leaving Hunt shouting at the empty car park.
-o-0-o-
Harry and Oliver walked into the Queen mansion at eleven o'clock both of them staying quiet in case anyone was asleep. Harry quietly closed the door behind him and he and Oliver walked into the living room. Oliver turned on the TV whilst Harry sat down on the couch.
He looked down at his hand, the one he'd used to hit the body guard with. It ached slightly and he could see the start of a bruise forming around his knuckles. His brow creased in annoyance. He knew he'd have to keep his hand hidden from anyone until the bruising disappeared. Otherwise people would wonder how he got it.
When the two were settled on the couch watching the TV Oliver turned to Harry and pulled something out of his pocket. "I got you this yesterday" he said handing the phone to Harry. "I thought you might need it at some point and I've already put mine, Tommy's, mum's, and Thea's numbers into it, that way you can contact someone if you need to."
Harry looked at the phone, shocked. "Thanks" he said taking it from Oliver.
"Yeah well, it was actually Tommy's idea. He thought it would be a great way to repay you for the 'souvenir'" Oliver said. "I still bought it though."
"Still, thanks" Harry replied, pocketing the phone just as the door to the house opened and closed. Harry and Oliver both looked over the back of the couch.
"Hey Dig" Oliver said pulling his best innocent smile. Diggle scowled in response.
