Disclaimer: See chapter 1

Please see my A/N below for further information.

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Chapter 7 – A Hero Born

"Just so you know, archer-boy, I made a few improvements down here for when you decided to come back." There was a note of laughter in Felicity's voice as she followed Oliver down the steps into the lair, running her hand down his arm before she freed her hand so that she could go to the light box to pull down the red switch.

As the lights came on one by one, it showed an expanded and much improved underground foundry. As each area lit up, his eyes widened with surprise with just how much she had managed to do in just six months considering how badly the lair had been damaged in the earthquake. Even in his worry for his sister, he could not help but be impressed by the improved medical area which more rightly could be called a bay nor did he miss that each of them had their own work area that were vastly larger than they had been before.

"You always knew didn't you, princess, even before... that I would come back eventually." He felt her slip her hand into his as his gaze fell on the glass box that contained his green suit and gripped her fingers in silent thanks. He then gestured over to her bank of computers with his free hands. "Let's get to work then, what do we know about these hoods?"

"I've been working on that ever since we heard about them on our arrival back." She replied as she pulled him with her over to her computers. Releasing his hand, she sat down before noticing that he was gazing at his salmon ladder - conveniently stationed in front of her so that she had a full view for when he was working on it. "Of course I kept it, Oliver, I loved watching you working on it and that was before my memory came back."

Oliver simply shook his head, the very faintish of blushes high on his cheeks at that – much to the amusement of Diggle – as there really wasn't much he could say in response to that and quickly brought them back to the matter in hand.

It didn't take long before Felicity had zeroed in on a possible candidate – although the fact that he had lost his hand and his wife in the earthquake struck all three of them hard. As she continued to find out what she could about Geoff Deveaux, she caught sight of Oliver approaching the case that contained his mission ready arrows and run his hand over the space where his bow should have been.

Diggle having caught the movement and knowing what she had done immediately nodded his head towards the case that lay on the table next to the casement that held Oliver's leather outfit. With a small smile, she rose to her feet and headed over to it. "You're going to need this, archer-boy, I had it custom made for you, and at least now I know why I knew what be right for you."

As he joined her, Felicity opened to the case to reveal a highly-crafted compound bow that he pulled out and weighed up. "How did I do?" She asked softly, even as a smile played on her lips as she already knew what his answer would be.

"It's perfect but then you knew it would be." He turned to her and pulled her to his side, leaning down to kiss her softly before Diggle coughed slightly. "I have to go; I need to get Thea back."

He ran his finger down her cheek before he headed to the changing rooms but could not miss hearing her say. "Just remember there is another way, Oliver, even if they do have your sister."

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Lance was beginning to think that this day was never going to end. What with the attack at Queen Consolidated, then the attack at Verdant plus the kidnapping of Thea Queen, it had been a day that almost equalled some of the worse that had happened before the earthquake or 'The Undertaking' as he once accidently heard Felicity Smoak refer to it as.

And now here he was, on a phone call from the same-said Ms Smoak standing in an alley in the Glades behind a ruined church waiting for something (or someone) he was not consciously hoping would be there. A sudden sound had him swinging round to find himself looking at four men in hoods tied up to the fence behind him.

"What the...! You!"

Emerging from the shadows, the tall lean figure stood watching him and for the first time, even he could feel the slight hint of amusement that emanated from the hooded man, "Detective Lance."

"You've been gone a while..." And he waved his hand at the four unconscious figures against the fence. "And this isn't your usual M.O!"

"Even vigilantes need to take holidays, Detective and I've..." He paused for a moment, "Been persuaded to try something different."

"Then Ms Smoak is back to being your contact." Lance called after him as the Hood turned to disappear.

"Always," With that he fired an arrow and disappeared into the night only calling back. "Thea Queen is at the front of the church."

Lance actually growled to himself. "And something tells me that I am going to have to get use to that," before he turned to take is radio out and request assistance with the four men he had been left to deal with. Only a vague note in the back of his conscious memory was taken that the vigilante had returned to business on the same day as Oliver Queen had returned to Starling City.

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Oliver sighed as he sat down and rested his head against the back of his chair, listening to Felicity's quiet confident steps move towards him after seeing Walter Steele out of the conference room where he had just faced down the inimitable Isabel Roche (and was definitely understanding why his genius IT had such a dislike for the woman). Just as she reached the chair opposite him, he opened his eyes, reached out and pulled her into his lap. "I am so glad that we got that over with, without any visible bloodshed, to my physical self at least, even if my ego didn't escape... again!"

Laughing slightly, she reached out and touched a button that sent the shutters of the conference room sliding shut before settling back against him, her left arm around his shoulders as she ran her fingers over the back of his head while she played with the lapel of his suit jacket with her right. "Well, you did do it – now you're the major shareholder of Queen Consolidated once more – just like I knew you would."

She ran her finger over his nose as he tightened his arms around her waist. "Not bad for someone who got a D in tenth grade algebra," only to laugh as he buried his head against her with a groan. "If it's online, archer-boy..."

"I know, if it's online you can find it." He continued as he raised his head to look into her eyes, running his hand through her hair and cupping her cheek. "It's just like a good friend once told me, there's always another way, and I just had to find it."

He pulled her down to kiss her softly and then drew back. "Thank you princess, if you hadn't..."

She rested her finger on his lips, silencing him. "You would have found a way, Oliver," and then she sighed. "And we need to get back to the foundry; something tells me it's time we had that talk about our night business."

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Throwing his suit jacket over the banister at the base of the stairs leading into the underground lair, Oliver slipped his arm around Felicity's waist as they walked across the room to where Diggle was reading the evening headlines on the larger presentation screen.

"Looks like Starling City's back down to only one man in a hood." Diggle turned to look at them, folding his arms across his chest as he leant back against the monitor.

"And we just need to decide how we are going to go back into the archery business." Felicity responded as Oliver pulled her to sit down on the evidence table. "My archer-boy here..." She rested her hand on his chest over his heart. "Is not the man that started out as the avenging killer anymore! As much as we still need to deal with your father's list, Oliver, and F.Y.I. Rochev just happens to be on that list by the way..."

Diggle watched with a grin as Oliver silenced his babbling girl with a kiss before speaking, "So..."

"I need to be something else, something that Tommy would have been proud of." He replied even as he tightened his arm around Felicity's waist. "That the princess can be proud of, you two helping me, now that was the first step. Getting my real memories back, I think we can take that as the next step."

"Something tells me you've got a plan, archer-boy, because let me tell you, I'll learn to live with the Tarzan thing, it's always been one of your things, but the landmines, pretty down on them." Felicity replied and making the two men smile.

"The city still needs saving, we've seen that already." Diggle said calmly as he placed his hands on hips. "It needs a hero."

"And the hoods have kind of ruined your original nickname." Felicity added as Oliver rose to his feet.

"But not by the Hood." He moved across to the display cabinet containing his bow and arrows. "I don't want to be the Hood anymore; that was a man that was just crossing names off a list."

Diggle moved forward as Oliver took out one of the arrows and rolled in his figures. "Okay, then what do you want to be called Oliver."

Felicity moved to his side, placing her hand on his shoulder as he raised the arrow in the air. He slipped his arm around her waist and held the green-tinged arrow up between the three of them. "Arrow, I want to be called the Arrow."

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Second chapter of the weekend and it's even longer than Ch 6 which would have meant this would have been a ginormous chapter if I hadn't broken it into two.

This one is a bit more Amazoned that the previous chapter which was apparently a little more subtle than I thought!

If your reading this one many thanks and if you've read Wizard's View thanks too, please go and leave a review for both stories. It would be greatly appreciated. ;op