Disclaimer: Recognizable characters owned by WB/CW. Not mine. Wish they were.

AN: Thanks for returning. Like I said, this is a simple two-shot. Not as well-developed as I would like, but the Muse isn't very cooperative. I hope you enjoy this AU anyway, especially Laurel and Oliver connecting in a way they never really had a chance to on the show.

Previously:

Oliver looked down at Laurel with tenderness and regret. "I'm so sorry you found out in such a way. I wanted to be the one to tell you."

"Instead of a mad man holding me hostage? Yeah, I should hope so." Laurel cocked an eyebrow at her long-time friend.

Oliver shrugged at her, and led the two women outside to Diggle's van. He got in with Laurel in the passenger seat, Felicity in the back. Looking at Laurel, who was staring out the window with eyes blazing, Oliver was sure he wasn't going to enjoy this conversation.

The journey to the foundry was interlaced with Felicity's nervous ramblings regarding the day and the sights she was seeing outside the window. Laurel sensed Oliver's relief in not having to face an awkward silence between them. Part of her didn't care what Oliver thought. At the moment she didn't want to say anything more until they had reached this "foundry". She needed the time to further process all that had happened this afternoon.

Laurel wasn't too surprised to find the van ending up at Verdant. Oliver parked the van behind the nightclub and led the women to the back entrance. Laurel had thought she knew what the back of the nightclub had looked like, but realized she never really thought about several doors at the back of the club. One was barely noticeable. It had a number pad, which Oliver punched in a code and the door opened. He entered, and Felicity indicated Laurel to follow him. Felicity took the rear.

What met Laurel's eyes as she went down the stairs was truly a sight to behold. It looked like a mixture of a health club and Cape Canaveral central. She saw the rows of arrows, the wall of drawers, next to the row of computers and monitors, with exercise mats in the back. Her eyes then traveled upwards and saw a strange contraption looking like a metal ladder.

"That's what's known as the salmon ladder. It helps keep Oliver in shape. You should see him exercise on it. I call it my distraction." This statement made Laurel look at Felicity, who began to blush. Felicity stammered, "My mouth. And lack of a mind-mouth filter. As you get to know me better, you will get used to it as well."

Laurel cocked an eyebrow. Felicity continued, "I mean, since you now know the secret, we probably will see each other more. You know, since Oliver and I spend most of our time together. Well, not together together, but…"

"Felicity…." Oliver interrupted. "Why don't we sit down by the computers and talk?"

He led Laurel over to the desk. She sat down in one of the office chairs she found there, looked at the other two, and waited for one of them to speak.

"Why don't you update me first on what happened with you, Felicity?" Oliver asked.

Felicity told her side of events, which included a diatribe on how rudely her coffee break was interrupted by her being kidnapped as she returned to QC from a quick coffee run that afternoon.

Oliver then explained how his memory was somewhat sketchy after he had left QC for the day, but he must have been nabbed in the parking garage as he headed for his motorcycle.

Laurel gave her side of the story, which involved also being nabbed when outside on her lunch break. She paused, looking at the two people in front of her. Two people who had repeatedly lied to her over the past two years. She decided she could no longer wait to bring up the topic. And so she addressed it in her usual straightforward fashion.

"So. Oliver Queen is the Arrow." She leaned back into the chair and fixed Oliver a death glare.

Oliver blanched at her directness. "Like I said, I'm sorry you found out this way. And for getting you involved in this."

"My father was right." Laurel's thoughts turned to a year ago when her father had been humiliated after he failed to prove Oliver was the Arrow. Or 'the Hood' as he'd been known at that time.

"As he usually is."

Laurel's lips curled into a small, wry smile. She instantly remembered how a young Oliver was forever disagreeing with her father and almost always ending up on the losing end.

"So who was masquerading as the Hood that night?"

"My friend and partner John Diggle."

"Who's also your bodyguard."

"Well, he started off as such. Then I decided to enlist his help."

"And bypass me, an old friend."

"Laurel, like I said, it's..."

"Complicated. Yes, you keep saying that." Deciding she'd have to address the remaining anger and resentment later, Laurel asked her next question. "Who is Slade anyway?"

"We met on the island."

"I thought you said you were alone on the island."

"When I returned, I wanted to avoid all questions, and that seemed to be the simplest way of doing it. By saying I was alone. A lot happened on the island, and Slade was only a part of it." Laurel looked at Oliver, who continued. "Someday I'll tell you more. Even Felicity and Diggle don't know everything. Yet."

Probably because of the tense atmosphere, and knowing their past history, Laurel sensed Felicity was about to leave. "Oliver…I think you can handle it from here. Laurel, I'm so happy you didn't get hurt tonight." Felicity attempted but couldn't stop the word babble. "I know you're mad at Oliver for keeping secrets, but he didn't mean any harm. I hope you will be able to understand that."

Oliver threw her a look, which quickly made Felicity stop her babble. She cleared her throat and said, "So…I'm going to go now. I'll talk to you later, Oliver." Oliver watched as Felicity climbed the stairs and quietly left the Foundry.

He turned to the woman in front of him. "Laurel, she's right. As she usually is. I never meant to hurt you."

"But you did. So…you were going to tell me that night, though."

Not surprising, Oliver knew which night to which she referred. The night before the Undertaking. When they'd slept together.

"Yes, when I thought everything was going to change. When I thought I could hang up the hood for good. But we weren't able to completely stop Merlyn, and…and I went off the edge for a while."

"So I gather you really weren't in Europe last summer?"

"No…I returned to the island."

Laurel looked at Oliver with a shocked expression on her face. "Why would you do that?"

"I…I needed time to think. To mourn Tommy. To process my failures."

"Failures?"

"Letting everyone down."

Laurel studied the young man in front of her. The man who she thought she knew so well since they were young. The man she had fallen in love with so desperately when she was sixteen. The man who let her down so many times before that stupid shipwreck. How could that man change so much into the one who was now sitting in front of her? The man, despite all which he had apparently accomplished this past year while wearing a hood, still doubted his worth.

"How could you say that?"

"And how, of all people, can you ask me that? I let both you and Tommy down."

"Why, Oliver? You said you tried to stop Merlyn, you did all you could. If it's anyone's fault, it's mine. If I'd only listened to you, I'd never would've been at CNRI and Tommy wouldn't have died."

Oliver studied her. "You don't really believe that, do you?"

"I suppose as much as you believe you're at fault." Laurel gave a short laugh. "Maybe why we didn't work as a couple was that we're too similar. We're both too stubborn for our own good."

"Hey, speak for yourself!" Oliver said, but with a small smile on his face and a little twinkle in his eye.

"Oh, I am, Mr. Queen, I am." The smile in her eyes and on her lips disappeared as she remembered what they had been discussing.

"So…Slade is part of the reason you became a vigilante in the first place?"

Oliver shrugged. "Kind of. Like I said, there's a lot I still haven't processed from those years I was gone."

"So…"

"So, I keep protecting the streets as the Arrow. Felicity, Diggle, and Roy help me."

"And what about me?"

"What about…you?"

"Now that I know, I can help."

"No, Laurel, I can't involve you in this."

"Why not?"

Oliver sighed. Knowing the infamous Laurel Lance stubbornness, it was better if he would just address this issue right away. "In what way?"

Laurel was momentarily taken aback by his sudden recapitulation. "I…I don't know." Shrugging, she continued, "I'm new at this. What…what do you suggest?"

"Why don't we leave that for another discussion? Do you have any other questions about what happened today?"

Laurel bit back a sarcastic remark. How typically Oliver to attempt to avoid their issues. "Oliver, of course I still have questions. Starting with, when were you going to tell me?"

Oliver's face adopted the look Laurel knew very well. The "I have to lie but I don't know what to say" face. Which Oliver usually gave her when she had caught him cheating, years ago.

"You weren't." Laurel's voice was flat, formal, accusing.

"Laurel, you have to understand...this is a very dangerous role I've taken. I didn't want you to be involved. To be hurt."

"Would you have told me if we'd stayed together?" As Oliver struggled with an answer, Laurel rushed in and said, "Only if you had to, I suppose,"

Oliver shrugged. "Please understand. This mission, this...thing I do. I always only meant to do it alone."

"How do you explain Diggle and Felicity?"

"They just sorta happened."

"What happened, Oliver? You were never like this, a loner. Self-sacrificing to the utmost." Laurel grabbed Oliver's hand. "The island...those years gone...they were that bad?"

"Yes. They were. And I never intended to tell anyone any of it. But it sure keeps reappearing in my life."

Laurel looked at the good, kind, dedicated man in front of her. In that instance it seemed she understood the man he was, now. Truly, more honorable than she'd ever would've thought five years ago. And for the first time since his return, Laurel could see them be friends. True friends.

"So, why don't you take me out for some food? Almost getting killed sure can give a girl an appetite."

Oliver smiled the smile Laurel knew was only for her and said, "I'd like that."

AN: Thank you for reading this two-shot. When I first began it I only thought about the adventure aspect. Glad it gave me the opportunity to explore some possible Lauliver. I may return to this universe at some point. Perhaps have Laurel develop into Black Canary without the whole addiction thing. I know, I know. But a person can decide to become a crimefighter without some deep trauma. I think the seeds were there in season one. So we shall see. Thanks again for reading!