He had stayed quiet since the party, he realized that he didn't play traumatized stowaways last time because the kidnapping had rushed him to speed up his plans, but now that he managed to take care of the hunt he spent most of his time lying in wait and planning.
Moira was at first relieved that Oliver was spending so much time at home, but their relief turned into concern after the first three days. Oliver had never been a homebody even as a child, he preferred to spend time outside with people. Now it seemed like he only spent time with them when it was unavoidable. Once she saw the results of something that she set in motion she was in horror. She wondered if this faux attempt on his life made the trauma that he was going through even worse, but it wasn't like she could come out and ask. The only bright side of the whole thing was that he remembered nothing about what they got from him.
Oliver walks down to everyone waiting for him and gives them his best-strained smile, "Do you have any questions about today, Oliver? It's a simple proof-of-life declaration." what could be more simple than declaring I'm alive after five years?
"It's fine, Walter, I've been in a courtroom before." Tommy enters just in time to attest to the four times and after a trip down memory lane, they left for court. He keeps it a lot more short and simple this time around wanting to limit the risk of seeing Laurel. "Now, onto the offices. Everyone is waiting to meet you there."
"Uh, Mom, that was, uh...a little bit heavier than I was expecting it to be. Can we do that tomorrow? Please?" Moira was hyper-aware that today was the first time that this was the first time her son had been out more than an hour since his welcome-home party and although she didn't want him to return to being cooped in his room, she also didn't want to push him too hard. "Of course, we'll go tomorrow."
Tommy and Oliver were led back to the car by Dig and just like last time, he drove off leaving his two best friends at the courthouse steps. He didn't want to reveal himself as the arrow just yet but wasn't willing to take the chance that he would move up his plan to hurt Laurel, so he decided the best course of action would be to bug their office on the docks.
When he made it back to the mansion Dig was again getting chewed out by his mother for not being able to keep an eye on him, "I hired you. That makes me the client. Now where do you think my son is going on these chaperone-less excursions?"And just as last time big could only say that he did not know. "And he truly doesn't." she turned her sights on him, "Then perhaps you'd like to share with me, you know, where it is you run off to." he chuckles, but it's not the same carefree laugh that he used to use to distract them, but an honest one. "I've been alone for five years."
She sighs at the reminder of this fact, "I know that Oliver." Now it was his turn to sigh. He hated to give her so much grief, but right now until the undertaking was dealt with he has to keep her at arm's length. "No, Mom you don't, for five years I had no one, but myself… then I was suddenly thrust back into society, where no one wants to leave me alone for more than five minutes. I'm not as delicate as you all seem to think."
"I see. I just don't want to lose you again. You've been kidnapped once and I cannot go through that again. Even after all the things he had been through these past eight years his mother was his weakness. "I'm sorry, from now on Dig's my guy." she nodded, her thanks not trusting herself to speak. She didn't want to make Oliver feel as though she wasn't capable of being told these things without breaking them down.
Once she was gone, Oliver ran his hand through his hair in frustration. He did hate playing her emotions against the people closest to him, but he would do it to keep them alive. "Sorry, for the problems I've caused you."
Dig had a bit of sympathy for the man and all that he had been through, he could tell that things were hard for Oliver. But was about to keep trying to protect someone who didn't want it. "I served three tours in Afghanistan, Mr. Queen. You don't even come close to my definition of "problem," He pauses and leans in wanting Oliver to understand that he meant this wholeheartedly "But I tell you what... You ditch me one more time, no one will have to fire me." Oliver intended to walk past Thea without saying anything about the nightly activities that she was going to get up to, he couldn't stop her and it would only put a strain on their relationship. "What happened? I heard mom laying into the new bodyguard and now she's upstairs having an hushed conversation with Walter. Is it about you?" Oliver rolled his eyes at his nosey younger sister. "Why? Don't you have somewhere to be, I assume that you are staying home dressed like that."
Anyone else would have left after that remark, but Theo wasn't just anyone and Oliver was her brother. He tried to hide it, but she knew that he had a lot going on in his head. Upon her return from her late night outs, she could hear her brother's muffled grunts and cut-off screams from nightmares. She had wanted so many times to go in and offer him help, but Oliver made sure to lock his door every night to prevent anyone from coming in. "If you want… I could cancel my plans and I could catch you up on all the worst movies that have come out while you were away?" And just like that for the first time since he had found himself in 2012 again he was at a loss for words. "Thea you don't have to put your life on hold for me." he sure as hell didn't want her going out to get drunk, but what he wanted even less was for her to put her life on hold to take care of him. In this life, he wanted to make sure that his sister would get the chance to live for herself and not everyone around her. "Ollie, it's not a big deal. One night of staying in won't kill me as long as you don't ditch me."
That being said, the Queen siblings spent a nice night bonding with each other. The next morning he woke up and got dressed ready to head to his father's company. The ride between the three them of was the same amount of awkwardness last time. Nobody said anything until they made it into the building. Walter was the first one to break the silence looming between them, with talk about the company. His mother went along with the small talk until they got away from prying eyes, but when they finally made it to her office she decided it was now time to get down to business.
This time he did take the offered seat, hoping with all of them sitting the conversation wouldn't escalate like it did last time. "The company's about to break ground on a new site for the Applied Sciences division, and we would like to honor your father by dedicating the building in his name." He smiles at the mention of honoring his father, the irony it was to put his name on something that he died trying to stop. "And we'd like to make an announcement at the dedication that you will be taking a leadership position in the company."
He was shaking his head no before the statement was out already. "No, hear me out, mom. I'm not a leader, besides from everything that I just heard Walter is doing more than a good job. Moira was obviously beginning to get frustrated with the direction this conversation was going. Oliver sighed so much for sitting in hopes of keeping tensions low. "You said that you wanted to be a different person. You are Robert Queen's son."
"I know who I am and that is not a person with an MBA. What, being shipwrecked is supposed to blind everyone to the fact that I am wholly unequipped to run anything let alone this company." Oliver assumed that his being Robert Queen's son had nothing to do with her wanting to have a spot in the company and everything to do with being able to keep an eye on him. He would agree to her request to appease her, knowing that her heart was in the right place, but he couldn't do what needed to be done with eyes constantly on him and that was just the way it was.
"Everyone here understands that this transition is really difficult for you. We are happy to take it slow, we just want you to give it a thought." Moira wants to say more, but Walter puts his hand on her shoulder to stop her and they walk out together.
The rest of the tour was spent purposely steering away from the topic and him forcing himself not to go sneak a look at Felicity. He knew that one look at her and all of his resolve to keep her out of it this time around could crumble, which was something he could not afford right now.
Same as last time the reporters were willing to wait for hours to get a picture, there seemed to be more than there were the first time around. He guessed that they were even more desperate to get a picture of him since he didn't go out much these days. Diggle gets into the back seat with him and studies him for a moment before saying, "You know, I spent the first 27 years of my life in Starling City, and the next five in Afghanistan. You want to know what I learned?" he didn't answer knowing that it wouldn't stop him from telling him anyway. "People always think that coming home is the easy part, but it's just the opposite. Home is a battlefield. Back home, they're all trying to get you. Get you to open up, be somebody you're not sure you are anymore." It was hard not to think back on the moment he knew that he wasn't the same person he was when he got on the boat. "Or I could be wrong. Maybe after five years alone, you're not as messed up in the head as you have every right to be."
Miraculously, the threat on Laurel and Nocenti's daughter came, it didn't take long for him to arrive to the conclusion that it was a ripple effect of him not giving Somers a warning. "Hey, Ollie…Wait, how did you get those? He was quicker than last time to put on a shirt, but still not fast enough to keep Thea from catching aglima peek. "It's not important." Thea ignores her brother's words and adjusts his body so that she could see better. She pulls the shirt back to see a myriad of different scars all over his upper body. "Mom said that there were scars, but... I-I'm... Oliver, what happened to you out there?" he turns away and buttons his shirt up not wanting her to see anymore. Cursing himself for forgetting about this, he hadn't wanted her to see this again. "I don't want to talk about it." he heard her scoff and make her way towards the bedroom door, this time he let her go.
Oliver thought that the matter was over and done with until he was told by Raisa that Laurel was on her way up to see him. "Your sister called me, said you needed someone to talk to, and that I was the only one who could help." Before he could dispute Thea's claim and send Laurel on her way, Thea came from wherever she was hiding and spoke, "Ollie, when you were gone I used to talk to your tombstone every day about everything and sometimes, I'd even beg you to find your way home. Now you're here and I think I was closer to you when you were gone. I called Laurel because I was hoping you could open up to her, please try. You gotta let someone end." He could only nod, giving it to Thea to be the one to always make him speechless.
"I see that I'm not the one you've been pushing away," Laurel let loose as soon as they made it to his room. "I'm a big girl and no stranger to you pushing me away, but you could try harder with your sister. If you took your heart out of your ass long enough you would be able to see that." The way she was staring at him made him feel like a little kid in front of the principal. Laurel was always good at cutting him down to size when he deserved it. " We both know that I've always been a jerk. The only difference now is that I'm an honest jerk, right?" Laurel turns her head, not able to look him in the eye for the moment. She knew that Oliver was trying to make her angry to push her away, but she still let him do it. At the time she had reasoned with herself, that Oliver was a grown man who knew what was best for himself, but who was she kidding? "Look, Ollie…" Laurel cut off her words, not knowing where to start. "I'm sorry that Thea involved you and I'm even more sorry that I pushed you away when you just trying to reach out to me, but this is what's going on with me. It isn't something that I can just talk about easily. I am trying my best to put the past behind me."
"I feel like you're apologizing since you've been back and I don't want that for you." Laurel gave in to the feeling of wanting to hug Oliver. She had been fighting the urge since she came back and she felt that it was appropriate now. "Laurel, thank you."
After a bit more talking and alot more reminiscing Laurel left and Oliver felt lighter than he had in months. "Mom, I would like to talk, if you aren't busy." He caught her sitting in front of the fireplace, he figured that now was as good as any to let her know he had no plans of taking over Queen Consolidated. "Of course."
"Mom, I don't…I have plans for my life. When I was on the island I would dream of what I would do if I ever made it back and working for the company never crossed my mind. In part because I know that it's not meant for me and another part because I don't deserve it. Please don't hate me for this."
Moira wasn't surprised that Oliver would be refusing to join the company, but she couldn't be upset about it when he looked at her so seriously. It reminded her more of her late husband than she cared to admit. "Oh, Oliver I could never hate you. I don't care whether you join the company and go back to partying every night." she stroked his cheek, so glad that she could touch her son once again. Something that she feared she would never get to do once again "I just want you to begin living again, do something besides stay trapped in the manor all day. I don't want you to keep living with your life on hold." Understood, that his mother was afraid that his time on the island had destroyed him, and if he could he would tell her exactly how his time on the island saved him. But, since he was unable to do that he settled on letting her know, "I think it is time that I stop sulking and do something more productive to do with my time." the day he made his first outing as the Arrow and Oliver Queen started working on his new club.