Disclaimer: No copyright infringement intended. All characters owned by CW/WB.
AN: What had started as a one-shot, I have decided to add to it. The rest will be partly AU, partly directly from the show, depending upon what the show does. My main goal is to add to the story, adding scenes and/or inner thoughts of Oliver. I will pick and choose from canon, and add to it as the muse dictates. I partly want to add more excitement to these scenes.
Parts of this chapter appeared in my one-shot story EscapingHongKong, but now I want to incorporate into a multi-chapter story. I apologize for any inconvenience for anyone who already read it, but I add it now because I figured how to connect the two stories. That part of the story is about one-third into this chapter, with original content following it. Please read all and let me know what you think.
The rest of the car ride took place in silence. Oliver felt that he would not get any further answers at this juncture. His attempt at word games with the enigmatic young woman in front of him was tiring to his brain.
The car pulled up beside a nondescript building in a seemingly poorer neighborhood. Oliver had never been to Hong Kong, which at this moment he regretted tremendously. The soldier opened the door, got out, and gestured Oliver to get out as well. Amanda then followed, and they all entered the building. The thought of escape crossed his mind momentarily, but he quickly decided against it. For one, there were the guns the guards had. Second, he really needed to know what this was all about.
It was a huge cavernous room, appearing to be some type of warehouse. They crossed the floor to the opposite side of the room, where there stood a computer with several chairs. Amanda took a seat behind the desk, and began to type on the keyboard. Oliver wondered what she was up to.
"The opportunity to pick you up did catch us rather unawares, so I have to finish the paperwork for you at this time." Amanda explained, not stopping once from her typing.
Paperwork? Oliver really did not like the sound of that. "You have yet to tell me what exactly you expect me to do for you."
Amanda stopped typing and looked up at Oliver. Her lips pursed into a thin line as she considered her answer.
"You sure are persistent, aren't you? Well, Oliver, we are needing you to kill certain people for us. And if you don't, you will not like the alternative."
Oliver's eyebrows lifted at surprise with this abrupt change in Waller's demeanor. Before, she was a little more subtle, but now she put it out there on the table. It indeed sounded like a bad spy novel. A spy organization gone bad, agents gone rogue. Oliver never did like those movies.
"I also need to utilize your knowledge of your family business, and what your father wanted to do in Hong Kong."
"I don't know what my father wanted to do. This business trip, he never did tell me what he wanted to do in China. It was China, not Hong Kong, that we were headed for…..I don't know anything. About Hong Kong, or anything else. I told you that."
Panicking a little, Oliver wondered if he should have lied. But all along this adventure, being truthful had worked for him best.
"Well, Oliver, we shall see. Eventually, you will realize you have no other choice but to cooperate with us fully. Without question or hesitation. We will forge you into a weapon for your government. Or….you will not like the alternative. Just remember, you really do not want any harm on any of your friends or family."
Oliver attempted to glare at Amanda again, but she ignored him. "Upstairs in this building is what we call the 'dormitory'. It is where you will be sleeping or resting. When you are not in training. The training rooms are down here on the first floor and basement."
"What type of training?"
"Again, the questions? I will be telling you more later. Right now, you will be shown your room and you should get some rest. You will need it."
~~OQ~~OQ~~OQ~~OQ~~
On a beautiful autumn day, Oliver found himself running through the streets of Hong Kong, with an assassin hot on his tail. All he wanted was to get home, to be with Laurel. If only he could return to her, he would never be unfaithful again. He would settle down, be the son and brother he was meant to be. Work in the family business like his father had wanted him to.
As he ran, he could not believe how quickly the Parkour lessons had returned to him. He was surprisingly holding his own, the distance between him and the assassin increasing bit by bit as he flew over obstacles in his path on his way to freedom. He gained speed as he leapt over various carts, wagons, and such.
Oliver looked desperately for any government building that could assist him as he made his way through the streets. As he dodged carts and pedestrians, he struggled to hold onto only one thought: get to safety. He had no specific plan, taking advantage of an opening made available moments before he took it. The only chance of escape he had seen in the past month.
Just when he thought he might actually be successful in eluding his pursuer, his world became dark. Seemingly out of nowhere, a fist connected with his face when he had looked behind him and successfully knocked him out. Unconscious, he was then picked up by two men and dragged into a van that had pulled alongside them.
Oliver came to in another unknown building. Sitting in a chair. Then he heard it. Those blasted heels she always seemed to wear. They approached him from behind, then circled to the front of his chair. Oliver rested his arms on his upper legs and wearily raised his head. He met Amanda Waller's eyes through the long hair that had fallen into his eyes. He did not say anything.
They stared at each other in a small battle of wills . After several minutes, Oliver decided it was no longer worth it. He no longer cared as he broke the silence. "You should know I will never stop trying to escape."
"And you should know it is extremely easy to kill someone the world already thinks is dead," Amanda Waller, said so coolly that it sent a shiver down Oliver's back.
They continued to stare at each other for several seconds. Then Amanda smartly turned and walked out. A man with Japanese features, short black hair slicked back, walked out of the shadows.
Maseo Yamashiro, newly assigned the position as Oliver's handler, said, "I warned you, kid. There is no way out of this. Not until she releases you."
~~OQ~~OQ~~OQ~~OQ~~
Another opening to escape presented itself three weeks later. Maseo turned his back on Oliver, and he took advantage of it. He ran through the streets, attempting to look for streets he had not been on before, in the hope of finding the American embassy. In all the weeks, he had not been able to find out the address for the embassy.
Maseo was reducing the distance between them; Oliver looked ahead, and saw what appeared to be an internet café. He didn't know Hong Kong had them. He rushed into the café, hurriedly apologized to a man at a computer and knocked him off his chair. Oliver quickly accessed his email account and had just finished typing, "Mom, I am alive" when gunshots blew up the computer screen.
Maseo reached Oliver in what seemed to be in two steps. Knocking him off the chair with a roundhouse kick, Maseo proceeded to pound his fists into various vulnerable spots on Oliver's body. He stopped to say, "I warned you, another escape attempt and I was going to beat you again."
Oliver lost count of the punches Maseo gave his battered body and lost consciousness. The next thing he knew he was waking up in an unknown bed. Eyes unfocused at first, he slowly became aware of a woman bending over him. Her long dark hair brushing his shoulder as she leaned over him, she said to him, "I am happy you are awake."
The young Japanese woman continued. "Welcome to our home. Supper will be ready in thirty minutes."
Oliver rested until Maseo poked his head into the room. "We would like if you would join us for supper."
Oliver shrugged his shoulders. Until he knew more, he needed to play along with whatever they offered. Whether he liked it or not. Which he did not, but he had to learn the ropes of this new environment. In some ways, it was like still being on the island, with danger all around. However, the rules of this game were radically different as well.
Maseo introduced Oliver to his family. Maseo's wife and son were stilted at first around him, but then halfway through the meal, they dropped all pretences and carried on like any other family. Interacting like any other family. Oliver had to fight the homesickness that threatened to overwhelm him. He concentrated instead on his food, enjoying once again being able to enjoy a meal in civilization and shutting off any other feelings. In the dormitory, he had three meals a day, sharing them with various men and women who came and went. But not getting to know anyone.
Oliver had attempted to get to know the various people he met throughout the past three weeks, at meals or at training sessions, but none were forthcoming with information. He was constantly being told, more or less directly, not to search for information. With all his attempts, Oliver still did not know any more about the organization than he did when he first came to Hong Kong.
After supper, Maseo led Oliver to the room from earlier. "I need to discuss some things with you."
"Is that so?" Oliver could not control his rebellious nature.
"First thing. Amanda thinks I can control you better if you live with me now. She can better control both of us with you living here. With my family. So you will be staying here with us instead at the 'dormitory'. This will be your room."
"Sorry I have to put through the inconvenience. Why don't I just leave instead?"
Maseo ignored the sarcasm. "Second. Amanda has your first assignment. It is set for tomorrow."
"I said, I'm not killing anyone."
"And I say, if you do not complete your assignments, if you keep trying to escape, if you cause any difficulty whatsoever, Amanda will harm my son."
"Are you telling me, if I do not kill the person Amanda wants me to kill, she will kill your son?" Oliver looked at Maseo in amazement, after hearing the bombshell Maseo had oh so casually dropped.
"Yes, that is what I am telling you. I told you before, she will do anything to get what she wants."
Oliver turned away from the other man, brought up both his hands, and threaded his fingers through his hair. "I keep hoping I wake up from this nightmare. I do not know why she thinks I can do this. I am just a college drop-out, a goof-ball. Why would she think I can do this?"
Maseo shrugged his shoulders. "I am sorry. I do not know. She has her ways of controlling all of us. For her own reasons." He turned around and left the room.
Oliver never thought he would hate a person to the amount and the extent that he hated the woman named Amanda Waller. She had indeed come up with the perfect threat. A young child, how could he be responsible for the death of a child? But then again, how could he justify one life over another? It was worse than the choice Ivo gave him on the island between Shado and Sara.
Walking to the window, he looked out at the busy streets of Hong Kong. Who would have thought he would have ended up here? Living this kind of life? He closed his eyes and attempted to clear his mind and find a moment of peace. Otherwise he would have jumped out of the window.
The survival instinct that he did not know he had a short two years ago burst through his being. He will survive this like he survived Fyers and Ivo and Slade. Somehow. Oliver got into bed and attempted to clear his mind to get some needed rest, in order to be able to face tomorrow. And the day after that, and the day after that.
AN: Thank you for reading! Any constructive criticism would be appreciated.
