In the Middle of Somewhere

by geniewithwifi

Three days ago, Felicity Smoak ran away from home. She meets Oliver Queen, a man who knows her secret. Oliver Queen is man who has just returned from war and is suffering from many different kinds of pain. Together, they set out to fix their lives. However, both of their pasts catch up to them and the find out that maybe their lives are more entwined than they thought.

4. Roy

AN: I feel like I should apologize for giving you that cliffhanger and then no update for three weeks. Actually, no, I'm not sorry.

This chapter will answer many of your questions. Also, Two things. One, pay attention to the timeline, when everything occurs in Oliver's past. Second, every single chapter has foreshadowing. See if you can find it.

A big big thanks to alizziebyanothername over on tumblr for reading this over and getting back to me so quickly.

Reviews Feed the Muse!

Thanks For Reading!

The motorcycle purred under Oliver. After cruising backroads and alleyways for the better part of an hour he'd finally started to calm down. What had happened had scared him badly; in a way that fear had never paralyzed him before. It was fear of himself.

The moment he had realized he had become a monster was around two years ago, during his induction into the ranks of the Bratva. Only now has he accepted what Waller had made him into.

Three years ago he'd looked into the eyes of The Devil Incarnate and with no thought to the punishments of his soul, sold him his life. He had put himself in the Devil's Hands and become one of them. Her dirty work was his business, her hand his hand. He became the Devil.

A few short hours ago he thought he'd been free: free of the Devil, of his punishment, of the monster inside of him. With the appearance of Agent Michaels his carefully crafted cage of disillusionment had come crashing down. He wasn't a person. Oliver was a cold steel weapon, crafted from people trying to kill other people. He was a soldier, there to follow the commands of his betters.

And so, as any good soldier does, he reports for duty.

Pushing his unease of how right Diggle was aside, that Oliver wasn't as unaffected as he liked to pretend he was, Oliver made his way north on his stolen bike to a place he had only been once about a year and a half ago.

ARGUS Headquarters.

Hell itself.

Security stopped him at the door. Oliver had never been given an ID badge seeing as most of his work was undercover, rather than a desk job. The base in Mongolia hadn't been this secure—still highly secure as most ARGUS bases were—but seeing how this was Headquarters, this was probably the safest place in all of the world. Triple checks at the gate, ID badges, each and every agent proficient with three different types of weapons as well as technology. Oliver should feel completely relaxed and safe.

Then why did it feel like he was walking into the Lion's Den?

The first guard performed a fingerprint, facial and retinal scan, the backup procedure to a "Lost" ID badge. The next one a vocal sample. The final check was questions only Captain Queen would know. Thankfully, none of them addressed his two years in the snow. Just some of the training code words.

By the time he was finished, an agent was waiting for him. Waller never liked to wait around and seven days was a very long time.

Oliver predicted that she would be furious from the fact that he had gone dark. He was right.

Thinking that ARGUS had just pulled him out for good, Oliver had escaped to the States, after Contact got him out, determined not to let ARGUS ensnare him again. For seven days that had been possible, staying away from cameras, hiding out under bridges during the day, coming out only at night. Oliver recognized that that was no way to live but it was better that doing ARGUS's dirty work.

His mistake was contacting Diggle.

He had lied to Felicity when he said he flew in from New York. He'd been in San Francisco, cowering from cameras. Desperate for food and some human companionship, Oliver had reached out to his old commanding officer. Diggle always had a knack for getting him out of a tight spot.

If Oliver had known that Dig's wife was an ARGUS agent—even worse, his handler – he never would have even breathed in Diggle's direction .

As soon as Diggle had told Lyla Oliver was crashing at their place, Michaels had probably alerted Amanda, letting her know Oliver's whereabouts.

Which is why she greeted him just outside security, two agents flanking her.

"Mr. Queen," she sneered, a frigid exterior tightening her entire frame. As predicted, she was furious. "So glad you could join us after your…impromptu, ah vacation. Come, there is much to discuss."

She swept ahead of him, not letting him argue in anyway, as was her typical fashion. Everyone had a flaw.. Amanda Waller's was her predictability of being a bitch.

The Bitch that ruled the world.

He was introduced to a steel conference room, one chair in the otherwise empty room. Reluctantly, and knowing no good would come from trying to defy and resist, Oliver sank into the chair, Amanda pacing in front of him.

"I'm going to ignore the past seven days for now, Captain Queen, in favor of more pressing events. How much has Agent Micheals briefed you on?"

The silence that followed was much longer than what Amanda usually expected. He didn't want to tell her anything.

"Queen, it would be in your best interest if you reported to your superior."

Oliver glared at the woman who ruined his life. "On one condition."

That made her snap. "you aren't in any position to make demands, Captain Queen."

"On the contrary," Oliver replied, "I'm in a perfect position. You need my help. You need me. I've dedicated close to three years of my life to this role, breaking any and all of my moral codes to do your bidding."

"You agreed to it of your own free will and choice."

"No!" The clipped and matter-of-fact way she put that grated on Oliver's nerves. How dare she!? "You blindsided me and guilted me into this. I thought what you wanted was a soldier and I was in a low place after my entire squad was massacred. I was lonely and suffering and you preyed on that. I went along with your training and language tutoring. For nine months I was told and fully believed that I was going on assignment into Markovia. Instead, one day before I'm shipped out, I'm told, by you, that I'm to be an undercover agent in the Bratva! The Russian Mob! I was a soldier fighting for my country—"

"And you still are, Captain. Whether you worked for ARGUS or the US Special Forces you still are—"

"A Soldier? A Soldier that lives among the enemy? A soldier that has no backup, no friends, no one to get him out of a sticky spot. A soldier has his brothers. I had no one. "

"You had Contact."

Amanda's cold words snapped him out of his tirade. Flashes of unknown emails about the snow or pencils or a strange computer game with a white house came to his memory.

He had never met Contact, just knew he was undercover just as him. Contact had been in place about six months before Oliver was ever inducted into the Bratva. Emails with coded messages were the only way of communicating with him.

"Which is why you are here, besides the fact that this is still your mission."

"My condition first." Oliver was not going to get trapped again.

"Very Well, Captain, what is your 'condition'?"

Oliver looked her dead in her steel brown eyes. "I want out."

Amanda blinked. Then some of the tensioned drained from her shoulders. "That's it?"

"Yes. I will do this. I complete this mission, I get Contact out, I help you take down your organization and then I'm gone. I never want to see ARGUS ever again. Am I clear?"

Waller stared at him for a long hard minute, calculating the pros and cons of his demand. She abruptly gave a short nod.

"You can be out. ARGUS won't contact you again Captain."

Rather than deigning that with a comment, Oliver jumped right into the problem.

"My task is to gather information—"

"No. Your mission is still the same. Infiltrate."Amanda corrected him.

"But the Pakhan thinks I'm dead. There is no more Captain Queen."

"There is a Captain Queen because he is not yet dead. According to the Bratva records and information that Contact has been able to send us, you are currently declared Missing In Action. Mr. Queen, your task is to finish what you started two years ago. Join the Bratva to discover why they're attacking soldiers and citizens alike. Thanks to you, we know mostly who. The why is another matter entirely. Do what you must to retrieve Contact—intact and alive. You're dismissed."

The door swung shut behind her.

Frustrated by Waller's aloofness and dictatorship, Oliver took a swing at his chair, slamming it against the wall before raging from the room. The two agents accompanied him to the exit, most likely there to make sure Oliver left the building. They weren't necessary; Oliver wasn't planning on coming back anytime soon.

The worst part was that Waller's guilt trip was effective. Two years he spent in the Bratva, learning their ways, doing their deeds. His goal was to find those who had slaughtered his squadron. All he learned was that the operation wasn't Bratva sanctioned; it didn't come from the Pakhan. This meant that a Captain had taken upon him to fund the third party. The operation wasn't Bratva, ARGUS knew this from the beginning and Oliver confirmed it.

Whatever the Captain was allowing was bringing in revenue. The Pakhan would've forbidden it otherwise. Oliver couldn't get close enough it to find out who was in charge or even why they attacked camps in Mongolia, Markovia and China. For two years, Oliver worked, becoming Captain just to get close to the other Captain, the one in charge of the kidnapping operation.

Things were close until they all fell apart simultaneously. The Captain disappeared, the operation struck again in the US, and ARGUS wanted him out. Oliver didn't have a choice.

Now he was shoved back in again.

Knowing that he had to make an appearance to the Bratva to maintain his place as Captain, Oliver planned to go find the one person he trusted inside the brotherhood besides Contact.

A one Roy Harper.

XXXX

XXXX

It seemed that Roy wasn't hard to find. The young man always haunted the same places; the main garage in Starling, his home, alleyways in the Glades or Verdant.

The last one gave him comfort.

Oliver found him at the garage, Alexi managing him. Roy was working on the underside of the car, in a gray mechanic jumpsuit. The last time Oliver saw him, he had been a runner. It appeared that Roy was moving up in the world.

Not wanting the Bratva to know that he was back, yet, he settled down to wait for Roy to get off his shift. It wasn't long; just shy of an hour later, Roy left the shop, weaving through the rough patches of the Glades, heading towards the Queen Industrial Steel Factory that housed his sister's club. The club that used to be Oliver's.

His and Tommy's.

After dropping out of his fourth college, Oliver gave up on school. There was no point in setting himself up for failure. So, he followed the advice one counselor he may have ended up sleeping with gave him: Do something you love.

Back then he'd loved partying. What better way to keep partying than to open a club? It turned out to be more difficult than he'd anticipated. His father died during the initial stages of contracting, the Queen's Gambit sinking to the bottom of the Pacific. Oliver threw himself in the work, immersing his mind so deep in paperwork that he didn't have time to dwell on his grief. He became focused on the club.

Tommy had been surprised at Oliver's zeal and determination, but he went along with it. Verdant opened a mere three months later. Oliver had considered Verdant his greatest accomplishment.

Five years later and he hadn't changed his mind.

Roy disappeared into the club. Oliver decided not to follow him in, even though he knew the password on the other door, the one that led downstairs.

A few minutes later, Roy came out carrying empty bottles. The red clad boy dumped them in the recycle and Oliver saw his opportunity. He emerged from around the corner, leaving the tiny shadows cast by the afternoon sun. Roy caught the movement from the corner of his eye and jumped in surprise. Curse words followed when Roy took him in.

"You're supposed to be dead." Roy stated in disbelief. "They all say that you're dead. A new Captain is supposed to be chosen."

Oliver smiled a tight, wry smile. "By chosen, you mean a blood bath where everyone battles each other until there is only one left alive?"

Roy let out a huff. "It is you. And yes, that's what's going to happen. But now that you're alive, I guess that is not going to happen. I like Alexi, I'm glad he won't be dying anymore."

"What?" Oliver was puzzled with that last statement. Alexi was in the running for kapitan?

"Why would Alexi be dying?"

"Oooh, you don't know. This happened three days ago. Korvich ran into the other Kapitan and pissed him off. Disappeared the next day. Alexi then took charge of most of Starling, except for the section the other Kapitan runs."

Oliver's head was swirling with all this information. When he was here about a year ago, there had only been him, Korvich taking orders from him until the Pakhan called him back to Moscow.

The Kapitan was here.

This is why Oliver was sent back to Starling. Because the man he had been hunting in Russia had made his way to Starling City.

With understanding clearing his mind, Oliver focused his attention back on Roy.

"Kapitan? You know him? You've met him? Where is he? Roy, tell me! Blin!" Oliver's hands snuck out and grabbed the boy's shoulders.

"Whoa there, I've never met anyone. I'm only a Shestyorka, remember? All I know, okay, all I'm not supposed to know is that he's a high ranking member of the City Government. He traveled back and forth from Russia until he gained his position. That's it. I only heard this because I overheard Alexi talking to Korvich that the new Kapitan refused to come and see him. I believe Alexi knows him name, but we don't know much."

Oliver heaved a big sigh, disappointment running through him. If he just knew the identity of the other captain, then figuring out what he was doing with people would be a lot easier.

A thought struck him then. Perhaps this is what Contact knew. Contact worked finances in the Bratva as well as identity checks and more. Oliver only knew basics. Contact knew what the new Kapitan's operation was, as well as his name. He just wasn't in a position where he could tell them anything.

This is why Waller needed Contact out. Oliver was her plan A and probably plan B. Which is the only reason she agreed to the plan in the first place.

"Okay, Roy. Is there anything else I should know. Is Thea okay?" Oliver paused. "Wait. You're supposed to be with her. Roy!"

The boy's attention had drifted. Oliver shook him, still holding him by his shoulders. Roy looked back at Oliver, almost appearing scared. Maybe he was being a little intense.

"Why aren't you with Thea? I brought you into the brotherhood because I needed someone I could trust, someone who wasn't loyal to anyone else. Because I knew that as a Captain, I would have enemies, enemies who would do whatever to hurt the people I love. This includes my sister. You're supposed to be guarding her."

Roy clenched his jaw, defenses rising. "Thea doesn't need a babysitter."

"I never said you were or she did. She needs to be protected."

"She's on her way. She interns at QC in the morning. She should be here by now."

"But why aren't you with her?"

Roy shoves his head in Oliver's space. "People would get suspicious if Thea Queen's boyfriend followed her around her internship. Queen Consolidated has security guards. Except she should be here by now, she gets down at noon and it's almost two-"

It had taken a moment for Oliver to process what Roy was saying. As soon as he did though, Roy was shoved up against the alley wall.

"You're dating my sister? You? A little mysh like you? Hell no. I told you to be her friend, to watch her, make sure nothing happened to her. Not so that you could get inside her pants!" Oliver shoved the boy against the wall again, hard enough to slam his head back.

They both missed the door opening and closing.

"Roy William Harper Jr! What are you doing here?" No. It couldn't be. Oliver whipped his head around towards the familiar voice. Felicity stood there, hands on her hips, a surprised scowl gracing her features. Next to her was his sister, Thea.

Shit.

"Ollie?"

Oliver let go of Roy, stepping back quickly, feeling the familiar urge to run.

Suddenly, he wasn't in an alleyway. He was in a forest, snow piled on both sides of the road. He could hear dogs barking in the distance. Two miles ahead of him was safe. If the hunters caught him, then he was a dead man.

The newest boyevik wasn't supposed to kill the Kapitan.

But that's what happened. And now the men faithful to the dead man wanted revenge.

Oliver didn't think he could make it two miles. The dogs were so close now, human voices muffled by the trees.

He didn't stop running though. This was his mission. His task. If he died now, he would only have what he had done yesterday, the initiation to Boyevik. A violent act that he would regret for the rest of his life.

At least she didn't have to live with the pain.

He did though.

Oliver blinked and the gray stone flick back in his vision. The flashes were annoying, distracting him from the world around him, impairing his thoughts and feelings as well as his awareness.

He wouldn't admit it outloud but he needed help.

Oliver turned to run, remembering that Thea was standing there, staring at him. He needed to get away from her, now. He was all for it, two running steps away, except for a soft voice stopped him.

"Oliver. Wait. Please?" That's when he found out he couldn't say no to her. He turned back around, first meeting Felicity's gaze, then his sister's. He slowly walked towards them, his attention back on Felicity. He could feel Thea boring a hole in his cheek but he wouldn't look at her.

She would ask too many questions that he couldn't answer.

Felicity hesitantly smiled at him as Thea ran to him, wrapped her small arms around his neck, burying her face in his chest, muttering about how she knew he was alive. He hugged her back but watched as Felicity turned to the kid next to him and threw her arms around him.

Thea pulled back and they both stared.

Felicity started shrieking as Roy, instead of hugging her back, started tickling her, a grin breaking on his countenance. Felicity swatted at him.

"Stop stop STOP! I didn't know, you didn't… Roy! You're supposed to tell me when you start dating a billionaire!"

"Felicity, she's not a billionaire…"

"Whatever, trust fund baby, a famous person! You got a girlfriend and didn't tell me. I thought we didn't keep secrets like this."

Roy raised his eyebrows. "Then would you like to tell me how you know Oliver?"

Queue Thea. "That's a very good question Roy, would you mind answering it for me?" She snapped, her voice with a sarcastic edge. "Please tell me exactly why you knew my brother was alive and didn't tell me? And you, Felicity, you seem to know Oliver and Roy as well. So please, why don't you… enlighten me!"

The air was icily tense after Thea's demand, no one looking at each other. Oliver just watched them, waiting. Felicity was the one who broke the ice.

"Okay, fine. I guess I'm going first. Roy, this is Thea, my half sister. Thea, this is Roy, my cousin. as to how I know Oliver, I met him yesterday, he gave me a ride to Starling. He's the one who told me who your father was." That was directed fully at Thea.

"Your cousin?""Your sister?" Roy and Thea spoke at the same time. They both launched into speech, trying to talk over each other.

"You mean I'm related to my boyfriend? Although…"

"Thea's your sister. Your half-sister. Is Oliver your half…"

"...it's quite distantly, still that's gross and ugh…"

"...brother? Because that just messed up. Yeesh Blondie…"

"Quiet! Both of you." Felicity cut them off. "No, Roy, Oliver is not my half brother. And don't call me blondie. How about we go inside and talk about this. The whole world doesn't need to know."

Oliver wordlessly opened the door to Verdant, ushering the trio inside.

Felicity started talking as soon as the door swung shut behind him.

"Malcolm Merlyn is my father and Thea's biological father. Oliver is Thea's half brother. I'm her half sister. Tommy was also mine and Thea's half-brother."

Roy stopped looking angry and just felt sad. He went up to Felicity and gave her a hug, rubbing her back. An unbidden thought rose to the surface that Oliver wanted to be the one doing that. He should be the one doing that. He quickly squashed it down.

Thea wasn't done though. "How are you and Roy cousins? He's never mentioned it before."

Felicity looked over at Roy. "You wanna answer this? Or should I?"

"I will." A pause. "Felicity's mom and my mom were sisters. Felicity and I were very close. We spent summers together, all the jewish holidays. Neither of us practice much anymore, well, Felicity more than me. But we were the best of friends. Until my mom died around five years ago."

Felicity grabbed Roy's arm in what Oliver determined as comfort. "That's the last time I saw him. I flew out from MIT to Starling for the funeral. Got an interview with QC at the same time. It's how I came to work there. "

Oliver braced himself. He knew that questions to him would come next. He wasn't wrong.

He must have made a noise because Thea and Felicity looked over at him, the former approaching him, while the latter just gave him a sympathetic smile.

"Ollie? I thought you were dead? They told us that you were missing in action, three years ago. You died." Thea choked on that last word. Oliver drew her to him "You were dead, and you were never coming back and I couldn't handle it. So I opened Verdant because it was yours, it was the last thing I had of you and now you're back and…" She trailed off.

"It's okay." Oliver spoke for the first time since Thea and Felicity's appearance. "It's okay. I'm back now, everything is going to be alright. Okay? I'm here, I'm right here." He attempted to comfort his sister, after not seeing her for a year. She had grown up from the scrawny teenager he had left the first time. She wasn't a baby or a child. She was a grown woman, strong, independent. Thea had made something of herself through her grief.

Just like him.

"Hey Thea?" He asked, peering down at her.

Thea untangled herself from him, quickly drying her tears. "Yeah?"

"Why don't we go hang out somewhere? Just the four of us."

Thea shook her head. "But the club…"

Oliver leveled her with a look. "Can wait. I haven't seen my sister in over five years. I think this calls for family bonding time. I need to get to know the person my sister has become, Speedy. " He couldn't help but smile at the nickname. Thea groaned, tilting her head back.

"Please, not again."

"What? It fit you very well when we were young. Maybe… it still does? Come on, I'm still your brother."

"Yes, and Felicity is my sister. It wouldn't hurt to get to know her some more. I guess we're closed tonight. Roy! Go call Mandy and Laury, tell them not to come in. I have to go turn off the lights. One sec."

Thea raced off with Roy, leaving him alone with Felicity.

"Oliver. Look at me." He did, noting the scarf wrapped around her neck. He met her eyes, seeing nothing but kindness shining from them. Slowly, Oliver lifted his hands and pulled down the fabric. Her neck was blue and in some place purple, almost black. He roughly moved away from her.

Felicity wrapped her hand around his wrist, pulling him to a halt and stepping around him.

"Hey! No more running. You can't run from me Oliver. I'm not going anywhere. Dig says I should stay away from you but I believe he's wrong. I can help you Oliver. I've done it with John and I can do it with you. Please, let me help you."

No. She couldn't help. If she knew what he had done, what he needed to do, what he had experienced she would run. Run run away and never return. "Felicity…"

She silenced his protest with a finger. "You flashed in the alleyway didn't you?"

Oliver nodded.

"And you didn't hurt anyone. You came right back. What was different this time" He didn't answer. "Come on, Oliver, please. For me. you can tell me. What was different this time?"

"No one was attacking me. I wanted to run and… I felt like I was running again. Like they were hunting me." His confession spilled from his lips.

"Good, good. Can you tell me who they were?" He shook his head. "Hey, it's okay, I don't need to know. But Oliver, you should know that I believe that you can be helped. You're not hopeless okay, not a monster. Yes, you've killed people, done things in the name of freedom but you can come back from that. No one is lost."

He stared at her. Just stopped and stared at her, utterly baffled. She had met him yesterday and yet could poke through his armor to the problem, the cancer in his head. Without his consent, his hand not held by hers tangled in her hair, pulling her to him, his lips to hers. She kissed him back, slowly, tenderly. This wasn't a peck or one filled with passion. It was devastating, slow and methodical, one of healing and faith. This was a promise, filled with hope and friendship. And perhaps more, but Oliver didn't dare open that door.

"Oy!" A voice squeaked. Oliver slowly separated from Felicity, turning to look at Thea standing there in shock. "Are you sure you just met yesterday? Because then that" she gestured to the space, what little there was of it, between Oliver and Felicity, "is moving fast. Real fast. Like fairytale fast. Probably fast than you should be taking it. Oliver, you just got back. Don't you think you might need some time."

Oliver nodded, "Your right, it was a mistake." Though the words cracked his already broken heart. Felicity's slight gasp beside him concerned him and he held her a little tighter to him, hoping Thea wouldn't notice.

Roy appeared then, carrying a bottle of wine. "Thea, it's only just afternoon! We should not be drinking alcohol!"

"Silly boy, the afternoon is the best time to drink alcohol! All the Queens know this."

"Thea," Oliver interjected, still not yet releasing Felicity, "You're not old enough to drink. Roy, don't let her have any." He leveled him with a stern glare.

Oliver turned back to Felicity.

"Don't think I've forgotten what happened in the alleyway, Oliver." She whispered. "You are going to explain to me how you know Roy and why you were tossing him around. He's my cousin, Oliver. Leave him out of this."

" I didn't know he was your cousin."

"Then why-"

Felicity was interrupted by the door crashing open. A man wearing a police uniform walked in.

"Ah, hell." Felicity stated. Oliver quirked an eyebrow.

"Miss Smoak." Thea drew up short as the police officer passed her, heading towards Felicity. Oliver could hear Felicity gulp a big breath.

"Hello, Captain Lance. How did you find me?"

"I didn't. But, it turns out that someone saw Thea Queen eating lunch with a strange blonde. They caught it on camera." Lance held up his tablet. Across the top were the words THEA QUEEN SPLURGING? With Felicity almost recognizable, eating a fry with Thea. Felicity grabbed the tablet from him, whipping through the article. Oliver shrunk back, ducking his head. He didn't want Lance to recognize him.

"I recognized you, especially since your mother filed a missing person's report. She's worried sick about you. It's time for you to go home."