Disclaimer: Please see chapter 1

Please see my A/N below for further information.

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Chapter 6 – Travelling Road

Officer Quentin Lance stood watching the tall figure of Oliver Queen as he talked to one of the detectives that had flooded Queen Consolidated after the attack from the three hooded men. As always, the tall well built black man was just off to one side watching everything going on around him, his hand not far from his weapon – which was not really surprising considering the attack that they had just under gone. He cast a quick eye around for the third member of the team that was normally at his side and for a moment could not find the young woman he had grown to like.

There was something different about this Oliver Queen that was different from the first time he had returned from the island called Purgatory – he seemed to be more confident even in himself but he couldn't quite put his finger on what or who it was that seem to be the root core of the change.

Before his thoughts could delve any further, he found himself interrupted by the slender form of Felicity Smoak approaching him from behind. "I still can't get over you in that uniform, Detective Lance."

"It's officer now, Ms Smoak, for now. I'm just glad it still fits. Are you okay? Did they hurt you?" He replied as he noted that she was rubbing her wrists.

"I'm okay." There was a small smile playing on her lips as she brushed a lock of hair out of her eyes. "I knew I was in safe hands with Oliver."

He narrowed his eyes slightly at that response, instinct telling him that there was something peculiar about it even as he lowered his voice to ask his next question. "Have you heard anything from our mutual friend?"

She shook her head, even as her eyes glanced over to where Oliver was now talking to Diggle, his sleeves rolled up above his elbows – a small smile playing on her fuchsia coloured lips. "Nope, but I wouldn't be surprised if he turns up."

Oliver glanced back at her and caught the playful smile on her lips and raised his eyebrow at her in silent response. She shook her head very minimally and returned her attention back to Lance. "You'll let me know..."

"The moment I hear anything," She touched his arm in quiet reassurance and then moved swiftly across the floor to lay her hand on Oliver's bare forearm.

Lance watched as whatever she said had him relaxing from the defensive, argumentative mood he clearly been in within a second of her touch and voice – something that not even his eldest daughter had been able to do on one of their good days in their old relationship before the island. He also noted that he covered her hand with his own, the kind of silent communication that you normally saw between a husband and wife that had been together for years. 'Huh! Would you look at that! Never thought I would see that?'

He mentally filed that with all the other strange things that he had been recording ever since the Queen boy had returned the first time and went back to doing his job.

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Oliver and Diggle looked at each other as they followed a storming Felicity into his office. One of the younger police officers had just said something to her and whatever it was had almost had her raising her hand to slap him before Oliver had caught it, pulling her away from the young man.

"I know why you couldn't do anything, believe me, I do know that especially with that..." Felicity took a deep breath just to stop herself from saying the name of the woman she hated from the first moment she had seen her on paper (within her current memory patterns, that is) then continued. "...in the room at the time but..."

He caught her hands and pulled her to his chest. "Princess, it's the way things have to be, you know that." He pushes a lock of hair out of her eyes, pushing her glasses back up her nose with a gentle tap to the tip when he had finished.

Felicity pulled away and moved to stand looking out of the window at the Starling City skyline, arms wrapped around her torso, hands on opposite elbows. Behind her, Oliver and Diggle patiently waited her out. When she did speak, her voice was low but intense.

"I know why you don't want to be the Vigilante any more, Oliver, and I really do understand that." She sighed, closing her eyes for a moment. "Did you know that Amazons were famous once for using or killing men; then if they were not a warrior and a threat to us, we would send them home; warriors we would kill without a second thought. That we used to leave any male child born in the open to die or sent to villages near-by, at least that's what we did when living on the mainland. It's only been for the last century or so that the order to drown them once my people had got what they wanted from them was revoked where home is concerned so believe me when I say I understand why the idea of the old vigilante is not what you want."

She turned round to look at him, holding out her hand to him. "But I also know that you can be him without killing someone."

Oliver moved to her side, taking her hands in his and raising them to his lips. "Yes, and we all know the real reason that occurred." Behind him, Diggle chuckled at the memory. "Give me a little more time, Felicity, everything will fall the way that they should – now I have to go and make sure that person cannot get her hands on the last 10% of my company."

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Oliver stormed into his nightclub, Verdant and took in all the glass and bullet casings that were lying on the ground. Over to the corner nearer to the secret entrance to his underground lair, he caught sight of Felicity and Diggle. He was not slow to note that Felicity was shaking slightly, her eyes wide with worry as she took in the chaos of the club.

Diggle nodded his head towards where Roy Harper was currently talking to Detective Lance and Oliver nodded his slightly in return. (And only someone who knew them would have noticed all this happened in merely seconds!)

The moment the younger man caught sight of his girlfriend's brother, he started speaking. "I'm sorry, I tried to stop them but there were too many of them and..."

Oliver did something then that he would never have done before he had returned to the island a second time and regained the truth about his life there. He reached out and touched Roy's shoulder in quiet reassurance. "It's not your fault, Roy. Detective..."

Lance sighed, (although he was somewhat internally amused that the playboy billionaire was also continuing to call him by his former rank – he had also noted the quick look that he had sent towards the tall bodyguard and Ms Smoak before he had spoken to them.) "It's clear that they came here looking for you and when they couldn't find you, they took your sister instead to draw you out. Queen, we will do everything we can to find and bring back Thea."

"I'm sure you will, if you would now excuse me," He nodded to the two men and then moved towards Diggle and Felicity, taking her by the hand as he led them deeper into the club towards the underground entrance.

Behind them, even as he turned back to the young, anxious man in front of him, Lance was not slow to notice Oliver's peculiar behaviour and mentally filed it away with his other observations. Even street-wise Roy was a little astounded by the strange actions of Thea's older brother towards him and to the blonde IT genius.

"So is there anything else you can tell me?"

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And this would be the first chapter of two this weekend for all you lucky people - the next should be up tomorrow!

Please also leave a review for Wizard's View as well - I've never had a story that didn't have at least one review and I would hate for that one to be the first!

So next on Arrow and Amazon - 'A Hero Born' ;op