Hello there! I hope you guys are enjoying the story. So this chapter contains lots of Olicity and our first Hong Kong flashback! I aim to do this for all the characters. There is also touch of Laurel in the beginning. Now I didn't like her arc in Season 2, but she is not totally irredeemable, and I aim to make you guys actually like her! I don't generally ship anyone, but am more focused on what I think works for the plot. While it appears that I ship Olicity it is only because the writers said that Oliver would explore their relationship. So I think this is relatively canon so far, even if it is mostly from my imagination and predictions. Felicity and Digg's current roles in Oliver's life are still a mystery to me but I think what I made up as their current positions work well enough. I apologize for any mistakes in the time scores and grammar and so on. I'm writing out as much as I can before school starts (starting university next week yikes!) and it takes time to plan and write out these chapters. Hope you like the chapter :)

September 9th 2014

Prince's Square, Starling City 15:44 PM PST

He milled about the square situated between the Justice Courts, Bisque Museum, and Queen Consolidated. There was still a ball of guilt in his stomach after the argument with Diggle and it made him question whether he had made the right decision.

John had made reasonable points as to why he was wrong, but if he took Diggle away from his daughter he would never be able to forgive himself, this was the safest route to take. As a leader he needed to adhere to his judgements. 'If you are indecisive, no one will follow you', his father would lecture when he tried to goad Oliver's interest in QC, but of course, Oliver was more interested in his next female conquest.

The other members of the team were unaware of Diggle exclusion, but that was a problem for another day. The List was put on hold for the week while he focused on being Oliver Queen, on the business side, The Board of Directors were considering Palmer's bid. As for Oliver's personal life—

At that moment he spotted a familiar lean physique exiting the Justice Court. In a pristine white suit and briefcase, Laurel Lance walked across the square checking her phone.

"Laurel!" He called, causing her to spin; she was pleasantly surprised upon seeing it was Oliver.

"Ollie!" They hugged, "I haven't seen you since—"

"You locked up the Arrow's last target?" He supplied, with a hint of mischief in his eye that only two people sharing a secret could create.

She snickered and beckoned him to walk with her, she leaned closer and said, "you catch 'em, I cook 'em" there was undefeated pride in the way she said the words. "If you keep this up there wont be any criminals left for me to prosecute". The List cases had been going very well for the pair, Laurel was on a winning streak as a lawyer, and she had undeniably become one of the best in the city.

"How's your dad by the way? I heard he was promoted to Captain? That's good news, congratulations."

"Thanks" she said. Quentin deserved it after displaying astonishing leadership skills during Slade's attacks, and since being discharged from the hospital he had become a hero amongst the Starling police force. Crime rates were dropping, the police force was recovering, and Captain Quentin Lance had called off the Anti-Vigilante Task Force. Without the hindrance of SCPD, his Team could move more quickly through their manifesto, it may be his father's List but it was theirs now too.

"There's a lot of politics involved and he's not as hands on like he used to be as detective, but he has more control than he did before, which in my opinion, is an advantage for us."

"I agree".

"Did you ever think we'd end up as business partners?"

"Then you're on the Ted Grant case I presume?"

Laurel took his arm and they stopped walking, "tell me you have something" she whispered eagerly, turning to face him to allow them more privacy.

It was not the first time they had traded unauthorized information concerning a name on the List, most of which was provided by the Arrow and Laurel's personal access to police records. Her forgiveness for his lies meant more than she would ever know. After the bottom she had hit last year proceeding Tommy's death, this was quite possibly the happiest he'd ever seen her in a very long time. After Diggle stormed off (he did not want to assume he had lost the solider as a friend as he would like to believe John would come around and forgive him eventually) he realized just how much he needed the support of those who believed in what he was doing.

The flash drive was deposited discreetly into her hand, "the Arrow's conversation with Vern Skinner, he confesses to poisoning Ellis Smith and to smuggling weapons out of Starling City with his partner Matthew Flint."

"Oh, my God" she exclaimed a little too loudly. "They're Ted's managers, he told me what they were doing, but he didn't have any proof that he was telling the truth, but now we do." She stated, holding the flash drive tightly in her first. He could see the cogs turning as she thought over the next step in the game plan to push for the win.

Distractedly, she waved farewell to him as she left in a hurry, "okay I have to go; I need to get this to the office. See ya."

Once she had disappeared, Oliver did not leave the square yet. Laurel was not who he was patiently waiting for on that idyllic afternoon. His tasks were not over and he definitely did not want to run from this. Last night, he'd tossed and turned in his bed wondering if it was the right time in his life to begin a relationship since he was and had always been absolutely terrible at keeping them.

The list of idiotic mistakes and hearts he'd broken verged on ridiculous. He was man, not a boy anymore, Purgatory taught him that. No longer could he remain in denial to their attraction, or use the city's protection and safety as an excuse, the city was at peace and he was ready. Thus, after several sleepless hours he came to a conclusion that if he didn't do it now he never would.

He glimpsed at his watch, 4 o clock, right on time, he mused and turned to his right.

And there she was.

There was a spring in his step as he walked to her. She was searching for something in her bag, not even seeing him approaching. That boost of confidence he had felt was fading due to nerves but he kept easing forward. He put his hands his pockets and leaned to her as she nearly went right pass him.

"Felicity" he said beside her ear. Startled, she reared back clutching her purse closer to her, realizing it was only Oliver she sighed in relief. He fell into step with her.

"Oliver, hey, what are you doing in the business district?" Thinking it was inappropriate she began amending the statement, "I mean, you can be here if you want, but—"

"I don't work here anymore." He finished for her, in the past her ramblings might have exasperated him but now he knew it was just a trait of hers, and he didn't mind it anymore. "We do have a fake technology company that we're starting together remember? It's—"

"A great excuse, to be seen talking to me", she gave a little laugh, "I almost forgot about that."

"I saw Laurel a minute ago; she's the lawyer on Ted's case so—"

She nodded, "you were giving her the evidence… and I have no idea why I'm finish your sentences, or maybe you were finishing mine first?"

A goofy smile was threatening to tug his lips all the way up, but he tried to keep it at bay.

"I'm actually here to see you. Not about a fake technology company, or Arrow business, or Queen Consolidated."

Her brows furrowed in confusion, "then why?"

They stopped walking and he turned to face her. "Felicity, would you like to have dinner with me?"

He unleashed the smile, staring at her as she reacted to the words with mild surprise, but slowly a matching smile brightened her face too.

Felicity's house, Starling City 19:45 PM PST

I shouldn't be this nervous, Felicity told herself as she clasped the delicate strap of her heels, it's just Oliver and dinner. Just Oliver and dinner, she repeated in her head to calm herself.

Standing before the full-length mirror in her bedroom, Felicity Smoak examined her appearance. She had her hair down in soft waves, and no glasses. She smoothed down imaginary wrinkles on her dress, it was an ankle-length, red halter, with a deep neckline that made her feel beautiful and powerful, but at times feel like running for the hills at the realization that she was actually going on a date with Oliver Queen.

It wasn't like he was intimidating, though at moments he could be, but it was because she was the one who'd said they were 'unthinkable', and after the minimal response she received when they were on the island, she had started to believe that perhaps it was better if they just stayed good friends. Considering Oliver's track record with women and relationships on top of the stress of being the Arrow she did not want to risk her heart. She should give him more credit; he was not the same man he was before the island, who indulged in debauchery and casual sex (mind you, she was ignoring that senseless incident with Isabel Rochev.)

Any girl would be wary, especially she, since she had seen first-hand what he was like when he dated Sara; it had clouded his mind and they broke up. Her heart had hurt a little too much in the past year and it was not something she wanted to experience ever again, so the walls came up and that was the end of that. Or so she wanted to believe.

In the past five months, their relationship had shifted. And she found the wall she'd put between her heart and Oliver Queen was irrevocably crumbling, and there was nothing she could do to bring it back up. The names on the List were dwindling and he was different; he smiled much more nowadays that at one point it had become a tad unnerving. Last year it was true, she cared deeply for him, everyone around her saw it, even Oliver, she would've never thought that he cared too, enough to actually instigate this.

Alas here she was, steeling herself for the date with Oliver. Remembering that stupid smile he had on his face just four hours ago when he said the magic words brought butterflies to her stomach. She breathed in and out, staring at her reflection. She almost jumped out of her skin when she heard the doorbell ring and his voice on the other side of the door.

"You're a little early" she called, stopping at the foyer mirror for a quick final glance, and then turned the door handle, swinging it open as he said;

"Its 7:59, I'm on—" He seemed to forget what he was going to say as he caught sight of her.

"You picking me up like this, kind of reminds me of my senior prom, and FYI, that young adult milestone was a huge disappointment" she told him with her usual quirkiness.

Oliver was still staring as if she'd grown another head, but then she grasped he was checking her out, and not stopping; heat pooled into her stomach and rose to her cheeks. She closed the door behind her and tentatively stepped closer biting her lip, "Okay if you don't stop staring at me like that, my cheeks are going to turn the same color as my dress."

"You look amazing" he breathed his eyes taking their time, "I guess I never noticed how good you looked in red…" Then his eyes met hers directly and he faltered, "I-I'm sorry I'll stop looking— I mean not for the entire night, because obviously I can't do that". Felicity gave a little nervous laugh and smiled shyly, and it hit him that he was reverting to his playboy ways and immediately corrected his words.

"—But if it's making you uncomfortable then I'll try not to" he said threading his arm through hers. He considered himself confident man, but apparently Felicity could reduce him to babbling, this was definitely a first. She was studying him as if she noticed the change too. He pulled her towards the car, rubbing his face to hide his embarrassment. "Um, I don't even know what I'm trying to say anymore. Let's just go"

He drove them to La Maisonette, a five star French restaurant in the business district; he had never taken a girl out to eat here, mostly because he had never been interested in simply taking girls out for dinner, but also because he didn't want to jinx tonight by taking her somewhere he'd taken a previous date. He wanted to turn over a new leaf.

"Have you ever come here before?" He asked as he handed his car keys to the valet. Ever the gentleman he held the door open for her.

"Once, but not on date" she said as the maître d' showed them to their table. Oliver was tempted to reach out to her, brush her fingers with his, but he didn't, worried he'd spook her if he did.

"So, we're having a candlelight dinner?" Said Felicity, smiling, seeing the tall candlebra in the center of the table. He stared blankly at a loss at what she meant by that.

"I requested it" he replied flatly.

"I didn't know you were a romantic at heart, Oliver" she teased, taking the seat across from him.

"I can be when I want too, and I want too for you" he told her, but it was too intense, she blushed and averted her gaze, and then they fell into an awkward silence. A waiter put two menus in front of the couple and he was thankful for the mild distraction. The light from the candles drenched them in faint gold and brought out the redness of her lips, his heart clenched a little at her loveliness.

"Do you want to eat? Okay, that was a stupid question, of course you do that's what we're here for; we're at a table, in a restaurant, with two menus opened in front of us." He stated pointing at each blatantly obvious thing he'd listed like an idiot.

Where the hell was this coming from? It was like he was pulling out all the words from his ass, acting like a complete dork. If any of the girls he'd dated before had seen him stumble and fail monumentally they would've—hold on, what was he thinking? This was Felicity.

He didn't want her to be uncomfortable, but the last thing he wanted was for her to be concerned about him. "Are you okay Oliver?" she asked, her brows furrowed. "We don't have to stay here the whole night if you don't want too. I know you said it was dinner but we can do whatever we want" she smiled.

Oliver nodded and sighed, "You're right, we can go back to my place afterwards, or yours". I chose tonight to have a bad case of foot in the mouth syndrome? He thought when her eyes grew large, "—or not! No, not to any of those places, I'm not suggesting anything" he affirmed shaking his head, wishing the menu was larger so he could hide his face behind it after that colossal fail.

As he stared holes into the wine selection he suddenly felt her fingers brush over his on the table, he lowered his menu.

"Oliver, you're nervous. Don't be." She told him with a reassuring smile, holding his gaze. She had her warm hand over his. His heart stopped hammering so fiercely and his muscles relaxed; he could feel the anxiety drain away instantly. She always knew how to make the situation better.

"I remember the first time we met" she mused, letting go of his hand.

He snickered, "I came to you with bullet holes in my laptop, and I told you my coffee shop was in a bad neighborhood."

"Oh you know what your worst cover story was?" He quirked a brow up, prodding her to go on, both back to their usual banter now that the jitters were gone.

"The energy drink in a syringe when you ran out of sports bottles, definitely the worst."

He squeezed his eyes shut and groaned at the memory, it was just that bad. They shared a laugh.

"I was under the influence of Vertigo; you can't blame me for running out of decent ideas."

She chuckled, "Thank God your lame cover stories have improved though."

"I knew you were too smart to believe any of them. Honestly, telling you the truth was one of the best decisions I ever made." And Oliver Queen meant each word wholeheartedly.

There was a nostalgic look in her eyes when she replied; "I could say the same about joining you. I'm glad that you trust me with your secrets."

He stopped smiling and bit his lip, she was glad? How could she be? When she didn't even know the half of it? He was lying to her face even now. He couldn't keep the five years all to himself, in the end they came back to bite him. With what he'd decided to become after those five years, his story was theirs as much as it was his, they had decided to join him and he couldn't lie to them anymore.

"There are still somethings you don't know about me" he said gravely.

She frowned, wondering when this had taken such serious turn but at the same time growing worried. The last time he didn't tell them something; Slade Wilson had risen from the dead and popped up in his living room, and then all hell broke loose.

"Like what?"

His jaw tightened, he leaned forward and caged his fingers, watching her eyes intensely.

"The five years I was away, I wasn't always on Lian Yu".

Felicity's gaze widened slightly but other than that, her face remained impassive while slightly intrigued.

"Where were you?"

2009

Hong Kong, Unknown Time

The car door slammed shut. He had to take a moment to register the fact that he was in a car. Oliver plastered his face and hands against the window like a child at the aquarium, gaping at the skyscrapers in the sky line a sight he'd thought would never see again. The car rolled into traffic. After blinking in pure shock for several long moments, a desperate kind of happiness was making him giddy, yet he had an uneasy inkling that this was not at all what it seemed. He had learned on the island to always be prepared for the worst outcomes.

He turned to his captors, or were they his saviors? He very much doubted they were either of those.

"Where are we going? To the airport? Who are you people?" He demanded at the two in front of the Mercedes.

For a moment no one said a word, then the Chinese man in passenger seat in the front said; "Ask questions later."

His uneasiness consumed him and sent his primal instincts on high alert. He might be on a different island now, but nothing had changed, he still had to survive. He would never be safe until he was in Starling City again. Oliver tried to door handle but obviously it was locked. He shot scorching glares at his captors but none of them took notice of his growing agitation, in fact they pretended he wasn't even there. He spent the rest of the journey to who-the-hell-knows where on the edge of his seat prepared to attack if need be.

The car stopped in front of a white-washed dilapidated building in what he supposed was downtown Hong Kong, judging from the littered cramped streets and tangled power lines. The doors unlocked, and to his surprise none of the two men bothered to open the door for him, weren't they worried he'd run if they didn't restrain him? This was getting more perplexing by the second. Maybe these people weren't his enemies, but he wasn't about to fortify his opinion just yet. They waited for him to emerge and then -making a decision that he was sure he would regret later -allowed them to escort him inside, only the three of them, no one else.

Inside the elevator he took note of his escort, all Asian in black suits, with rigid standardized posture and expressionless faces, he wondered if they were military, whether they were trained in any martial arts. There was nothing on their clothing that suggested who they were; they were blank-slates to him. Each had holstered guns and he wondered if they were going use them on him, and then the doors slid open.

They stepped into a modern room, no windows, carpeted and decorated in dark, somber colors, it was an expansive office space, he could see sleek chrome computer in one corner as well tall servers blinking with little lights. Several men and women in navy blue cargo jumpsuits were at the desktops with comms in their ears, ignoring him completely. There was an insignia sewn on their breast pockets he didn't recognize.

A side door opened automatically, the same slender dark-skinned woman who'd given him the mind-boggling news that he was in Hong Kong walked out. The others clearly held her with high respect. She was the boss, her cold, emotionless countenance with its permanent scowl told him as much. He was over-flooded with questions.

"Why am I here?" He wanted to know, not bothering for needless pleasantries.

"My name is Amanda Waller, I am the Commander of A.R.G.U.S"

The name was familiar, but where did he hear it? He had no idea what the other part of her statement meant.

"Do you know who I am?" He demanded pointing at his chest. His father was a world-renown billionaire, they'd probably made headlines for months when the Gambit went missing, he struggled to remember whether Queen Consolidated had a branch here, and for the life of him he couldn't.

Amanda sized him up, and a faint smile brushed her lips, but it wasn't remotely amiable, in fact it was more of a sly, devious smile.

"What I see is Oliver Queen; son of billionaire Robert Queen, lost at sea in 2007 in the North China Sea. What you are, is a ghost."

"What?" He said, blinking at her in confusion, he didn't ask for a riddle he wanted answers, real answers. "My family is in Starling City, I need to go home, take me home" he said through gritted teeth, losing his patience and edging closer to her. The guards were watching him like hawks and followed his movements but did not intercept yet.

"I am not here to take you home Mr. Queen".

Everything around Oliver shattered into a million pieces, and in the broken fragments he could see Laurel, Thea, his mother, Tommy, all mourning for him, all hating him, all waiting for him.

Not again, this cannot be happening again! Everywhere he turned someone wanted something from him, someone wanted to destroy him. She didn't want to kill him, not yet anyway, because if she did she would've done so already. "What do you want from me?" He growled his fingers clawed at his sides, itching to feel her slim neck caged between them to squeeze the life out of her.

This was just business to Amanda Waller, she seemed to revel in his hurt and anger as if he had truly wronged her in the past, but what did he ever do to her? She glared at him.

"You caused a lot of problems for me during your time marooned on Lian Yu. More than you could ever imagine."

It hit him like a ton of bricks. "You were Robert Fyers employer" he shouted, stabbing a finger at her the truth rocking him, "you wanted to blow a commercial airplane out of the sky!" Yao Fei, I may have failed your daughter, but I can avenge you now, this woman put both of you on that God-forsaken island. Somehow he knew she was the one to blame for everything that happened on the island, for all he'd done.

The guards were closing in on him, sensing his murderous intent, and he was very much aware they all had guns to kill him with, but they were hesitant to stop him, but why? Why? And then quite simply she told him why;

"And you foiled my plans, but no longer will you be a problem for me…because you're going to work for me."

And Oliver Queen understood. There was not time to think, only act. He fake-lunged forward and a guard drew his gun; Oliver backtracked into him and elbowed him in the ribs as shots fired. He clasped the guard's wrist and aimed his hand up, bullets struck the ceiling. He twisted his wrist and threw him over his shoulder just in time to spin and kick the next hostile in the face. He worked fast and disarmed all of them, using all the skills he'd learnt from Slade, whilst whirling his head around to find an exit that wasn't the elevator. Once that was done, he ran and shoved Amanda to the floor as he leapt on the computer desks knocking and kicking everything in his wake. There was no way they did not have a fire escape, and blessedly he spotted one and sprinted towards it.

"Go!" She commanded a group of agents who'd emerged from the elevator and were met with the sight of their comrades on the floor. Her eyes were alight with fire. She stood and straightened her suit and told one agent in particular; "Go, before he gets too far, bring him back alive, if you would, I am not finished with him yet."

Oliver flew down the stairs, not taking them but jumping and over three steps at a time. He burst into a dusty alleyway, his heaving body and disheveled appearance made a few market-goers and hawkers stare in curiosity but he paid no mind to them. All the signs were in Chinese, but it didn't matter he had to keep going no matter what. He needed to find a connection to the outside world, a computer, or phone, anything, no way was he going to become Amanda Waller's slave. He went right and ran just as he heard more guards burst through the door he'd escaped through. Running, he soon came upon the main street.

There were no more trees, or sea, or dirt for him to live off and contend with, he was back in civilization now and bumping into streets swarmed with people felt alien to him. Usually it was Slade, Shado, and Sara versus hostiles on the island trying to kill them. That was all he'd known for the past two years. But nearly everyone around him here was innocent, unarmed and totally oblivious to his current predicament.

They shouted curses in Mandarin at him as he crashed into their carts and kicked their wares aside in his haste to get away and find technology. He spared a glance behind him and saw to his dread that they were gaining on him; he increased his speed, shoving anyone in his way. He was nearing a stack of wooden crates. He twisted and pushed one, unbalancing the whole pile, they toppled over; he hoped it would slow them down.

He didn't stop running though, up ahead he saw the market come to an end and shops come into view, he leapt over a table where a man was seated and painting calligraphy, he brought it crashing to the ground startling tourists.

It might have been his eyes tricking him but he saw a computer inside one of the shops, a Chinese-lion statue sitting outside the doorway. He ran inside, it was a computer café, the store clerks frowned at him. Urgently he reached for one, when an arm shot out and placed him in a chokehold. Using all his strength he leaned forward and hauled the attacker over his shoulder. But before the man's could fall onto the floor, he spun and landed softly onto his feet, his fist propelling like a cobra at him.

Oliver dodged it smoothly, slightly stunned by the attack, frustrated that the toppled crates did not hinder the A.R.G.U.S agents. It was only him and the guard. Without giving it a second thought, he attacked next. They came to blows blocking one another's fists, this one was more skilled in martial arts than his fellows, and his body was growing weary as he tried to keep up, vaguely he wondered when he'd last eaten anything.

Oliver kicked high and he rolled away, he wanted to end this fast before the others caught up. His hand darted out as the guard aimed a punch at his torso. He right-hooked him and wrenched his arm 360 degrees and then kicked him in the groin. He collapsed onto the ground, groaning in pain. Oliver bent over and regained his breath as his mind went slightly dizzy, stomach growling for sustenance.

Regaining his composure he rushed to a computer, cupping a mouse, all the old school-taught IT lessons coming back to him easily, if he could just tell someone he was alive it would be enough, home, he could almost taste it—

A bullet shattered the screen.

The sound was still ringing in his ear as he ducked to the floor in instinctual anticipation of another bullet.

"Get up" a voice said in accented English. His jaw clenched hard, resisting the excruciating urge to run, but he was cornered and defeated. Slowly, he stood and turned, but did not surrender.

"You won't kill me" he challenged angrily glaring at the man yielding the gun, he was Asian too, with dark hair, slightly older than him. He knew he was playing with fire, this was the first gun shot fired from any of A.R.G.U.S agents and the next one could cost him his life, but he sensed that this whole insane ride was far from over. They still wanted him. The man did not put the gun down, but instead narrowed his eyes as if to aim more accurately at Oliver.

"Ms. Waller may want you alive, but you are still worth something even with a gunshot wound".

Oliver's shoulders tensed; begrudgingly he held his hands up in surrender. Starling City was looking further away than ever.

Next chapter: Well let's just say the date goes downhill, even more disappointing than Felicity's senior prom!