Title: Committed (to the Cause)
Words: 3614
Pairing: Sara/OMC, Laurel/Oliver
Genre: Action/Romance
Status: part 2 of 2

Summary: Sara and David go missing after their engagement party and Laurel and Oliver, who have had a tempestuous relationship the past couple of months, must work the case together.

They pushed the door of the ring store open and Laurel walked in first with Oliver behind her, "Come on, Ollie hold my hand. And an occasional smile wouldn't kill you," She told him.

He laughed a little, "There in short supply right now, wouldn't want to waste one," She kicked him lightly in the shins with her heels. Regardless of how light it actually was it hurt and he squeezed her hand because of it. "You are not being a very good fiancee." He whispered in her ear.

"Well, well, well, I never expected you to come into my shop Mr. Queen. Didn't think you believed in the lifestyle," The man chuckled at his own joke about Oliver's playboy lifestyle. Laurel frowned. It was one thing for people who knew him to make jokes. It was quite another for strangers to do so. "Is there anything I can help you with?" The sales associate asked.

Oliver smiled to him and looked down to Laurel. "Well, finally managed to find the right girl. We are finally out ring shopping. Because I am the luckiest man in the world to have this gorgeous woman," He said as she looked up at him with that very loving look on her face. He had to admit she could sell this pretty well.

"Yeah, he's a totally new man, completely doting," Laurel added. "My sister said that your store was the best in town for rings and I thought I want nothing but the best," She told the associate who smiled to them.

"Is there a particular piece you're interested in looking at?"

Laurel took to the glass cases and saw the all of the sparkling engagement rings. There were one with sapphires and topaz and emeralds and diamonds. Oliver smiled at her. She was a kid in a candy store around her. "What about this one, darling?" She asked as she pointed at a glinty platinum ring with two large pink stones on the side with a whopping diamond in the middle.

"Anything you want, pumpkin," He said as he stood on the other side of the case and put his hands in his pockets. The associate unlocked the case and took the ring out and gave it to Oliver who pulled his hands out and looked to Laurel as he held it. "Must be a hell of job to see so many happy couples come through here everyday." He said.

"Oh," The sales associate's smile gleamed. "It's very fulfilling, helping solidify the bond between husband and wife." He said as he looked down at his shoes and then looked back up to Oliver who held the ring. "Excellent craftsmanship, IF clarity, color G, round cut, and a carat diamond. A symbol of transparency and eternality of your love," He said to them. "Why don't you try it on?"

Oliver looked at the ring that Laurel picked out. It was beautiful in way that couldn't be stated. He thought a lot about love when he saw that ring.

"Come on, sweetie," Laurel said, as she waned to squeeze his hand, but couldn't and she simply held it out in front of him as he marveled at the ring. "Can't get stage fright now. You're gonna have to do in front of the sold out crowd sooner or later." She told him.

The associate laughed a little at her joked and Oliver snapped back and looked to her. He took her hand gently in hers and put the ring on her finger. It looked more beautiful on her finger than it did in the case or in his hand.

"Well wouldn't you know, a gorgeous fit for a gorgeous lady," The sales associate said as he looked at the beautiful way that it set on Laurel's hand. She breathed a little happy and smiled to it. Perfection really. She clasped her other hand behind it.

The door opened behind them and they looked behind them. Slade Wilson came in. Well, that was different. "What are you two doing here?" He asked them.

"Slade," Laurel said as she looked at Oliver and then looked back to Slade. "Your invitation must have gotten lost in the mail."

"Invitation?" He asked as his brows furrowed together.

Laurel nodded. "You should tell him, love," Laurel took Oliver's hand and held it in her own and he stroked the knuckles.

"Laurel and I," He said as he looked at her with a beaming smile and then looked back to Slade. "We're finally getting married."

Slade laughed. Was it that unbelieveable like Oliver had said before? They were a couple for years. They had their bad moments. And he'd also spent five years on an island. And there was some rocky moments afterwards, but they shouldn't be that unbelievable. Laurel flashed her ring at him and smiled a little sadly, "Oh, you're serious about that?"

"Yes," Oliver said as he wrapped Laurel in a hug where she could still look at Slade. "We kept it under wraps because you know how much the media would have a field day and Laurel wants to be able to go to work every morning without a media frenzy."

Slade looked at Laurel, "Seriously? You're gonna marry him? Last time we talked you two were friends." He said.

"Oh, you know, we've always been friends," Laurel said, slapping the air, and pushing that thought away, "But you know, we had a magical night and something changed and he kissed me and then we decided we'd give it another go. And this time it worked. We were both in the right place at the right time with each other," She said as she looked down at her feet.

Slade looked at both of them and just couldn't believe it. "Something about this smells off," He gruffed out.

Oliver let Laurel go and gave Slade a pat on the back. "Well, it's all true." They had to go. Slade knew Oliver better than anyone and they shouldn't be there any longer.

They walked out and the sales associate made a noise but it was too late. "See you at the wedding," Laurel breathed out as she waved to Slade and they were out the door and they were gone. "That was a close one." Laure said as she pushed her hair back. "What the hell was he doing in there?"

Oliver looked at her puzzled, "Hell if I know. Slade's never exactly been the commitment type. Except to rage. He's surprisingly good at committing to that." He looked at her finger. "You still have the ring on your finger."

"Shit," She said. "We can't take it back. We'd have to explain to Slade. And that weird associate."

Oliver just sighed. "They'll just put it on the Queen tab no doubt. They know we're good for it." He looked a little amused in the end, "Besides, it looks good on you."

"And it gives you credibility," She told him as she smiled. She looked to her list of vendors, "So the next place on the list is the cake place that they've all checked out." She told him. "Ready to pick the most important flowers of your life?"

"Not really, I just want to find your sister." He said and pinched the bridge of his nose.

Laurel nodded her head to the side. "Well, you don't get much of a choice. We're going." She told him as they perused the list. Everyone was very nice to them and they were always welcome in the shops. He'd realized that Laurel knew a lot of people in the wedding business and seeing her interact with them was something amazing.

Still nothing seemed out of the ordinary and Felicity looked into everywhere they pinged for more than about fifteen minutes which was all of the wedding places.

He couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable around all of it. Laurel knew exactly what to say. He sort of enjoyed when she had shaken down the stationary store in hindsight. But everyone acquiesced when she asked the weird questions.

She seemed tired of the whole charade after the linen's vendor and picking out shades of green that the table settings should be. She pulled him to Maven's Cake Shop, which was just about the most highly regarded wedding cake place in Starling.

He watched as she wheeled and dealed just like a regular bride would and it was starting to feel very real and she looked like she could be doing this for real. Her acting skills rocked. They had a tasting and she talked to the baker like she knew him. She probably did know him, now that he thought about it and it was just odd.

They stopped talking and Laurel went to look at something in the backroom with another baker and the head baker looked at him, "You are Mr. Queen, sweet of you marrying Miss Laurel. She save my cake shop two years ago, crooked landlord wanted to take us out of business, but Miss Laurel, she helped me take him to court and get him to lower the rent. She has very good taste in cake. You very lucky man." Laurel returned when he said that and he looked at the baker. The baker looked back at Laurel. "I wish you all the best on a very happy marriage, Miss Laurel. And remember Mr. Queen, very lucky man."

"You have no idea," He said as he took Laurel's hand and walked her out of the cake shop. "Are we done with the list?" He asked.

She chuckled at him. "You'd think someone was trying to kill you. Not asking you to be pretend to be happy. If this is how you take nonserious weddings, well, at least your eventual wife will get everything she wants from the wedding. If not from the marriage."

"What's that supposed to mean?" He asked her as he stood out in the street.

Laurel marveled at the ring that she'd been allowed to keep. It still felt extravagant, but it felt perfect for a Queen bride to be. She looked over at him. "I mean if this is how you take pretending to committed to someone, I do not envy your future model wife, but she'd have a blank checkbook to do as she pleased with the wedding."

He looked to her, "Right, well, if you want to find your sister, this is taking too long. We should split up and cover more ground." Everyone seemed to love the idea of them as a couple, the vendors at least, but he wasn't so sure about it.

"We've already told people. What if the guy comes after after you because he already knows?" She asked him.

He looked her straight in the eye and said, "Then I'll handle it."

"What if I get hurt because he comes after me?" She asked him. She saw the flash of hurt in his eyes and she smiled. "That's right, we're sticking together." She told him, "But we should probably go back to the cave. The last couple of ones seem harmless enough. I've known all of those guys, they're vetted." She told him.

He drove them back to the Foundry and as they got out of the car, her phone rang. "Really?" He asked her. "Who is it?"

"My dad," She told him. "I've got to take it."

Someone flashed their lights behind them and he looked over at them. "Hey bro, you're not supposed to be here. The parking lot for customers is over there."

The next thing he saw was a gun and a gravely voice started, "Let's see if you and your fiancee know real love," He said and then there was a shot and he was done.

"Oliver, hon, my dad wants to talk to you, they found Sara and Owen, they know who it is, it's that creep from the ring store." She said as she looked behind her and saw Oliver on the ground, "Oliver." She took in the scene with his body, "Oliver, stay with me!" She yelled at him and pushed the button that alerted Felicity they were in trouble.

The gravelly voice took his time "Don't worry, you'll be with him soon," And then he shot her too and dumped them both in the back of the car.

They both woke up kind of hazy and Laurel rolled her head to the side and then back to the center and saw Oliver sitting on the other side of her and a man with a really sharp knife in front of her. "Ollie! Oh god, Ollie!" She screamed.

Oliver looked at her and tried to hush her. "It's okay, we're gonna get out of this." He told her as he looked at the Laurel who was all done up in polygraph equipment and he looked down and he was too.

"I know who he is, he's the guy from the ring store," Laurel told Oliver and tried to even out her breathing.

The sales associate from the ring store took of the mask and smiled to them, "Well, you know, at least I don't have to wear the mask now," He told them as he fiddled with the equipment.

"That's it. We're dead. He took off the mask and we're dead because we've seen his face," She said as she looked into Oliver's eyes who just looked at her like she was the most important person on earth.

The sale's associate shrugged. "My name is Derek." He said and the bored expression on his face said everything. "And don't be so sure about death. Really, if you love each other, it shouldn't be a problem."

"Just let her go," Oliver ground his teeth and struggled against the bonds. Laurel should never have to deal with this. She was only trying to help her sister.

Derek grinned from ear to ear. "Oh, don't worry, Ollie. Once she goes, then you'll get your round."

"Is this some kind of sick game to you, you psychopath? Do you get off on this?" Laurel asked in a panicked voice. She didn't need this. Oliver struggled against his bonds again to no avail.

Derek stroked her face and she shuddered. "Oh, no game. This is very real. And it's a test. To see how much you're truly keeping from each other." He went back over to the polygraph machines and smiled as they seemed to be working in fine order. "If you pass, you're gonna want to invite me to the wedding and I'm gonna get a big piece of that cake from Maven's and if not, well cake is gonna be the least of your worries, darlings," He told them as he fiddled with a few more things. "Oh, by the way, nice ring,"

Laurel looked down at her hand and the band was still on her finger and she looked to Oliver who didn't know what to do and resolved that they would get out of this one way or another.

"So ladies first, have you ever slept with someone who wasn't your fiancee in the time you've known each other?" He asked her as he held the knife in his hand.

Laurel looked to Oliver and looked to Derek who was a crazy person and strengthened her resolve. "No, of course not." She said, proud and confident. But the line pinged in a direction that Derek frowned at and he went over to Oliver and slit his right pec right open, nice and deep. Oliver groaned in pain and Laurel screamed. "What are you doing? You're killing him. Stop it."

Derek did and went over to her and wagged his finger in front of her face. "Your lies are what's killing him."

"I take it back, okay? Just don't hurt him, please don't hurt him," She was crying.

Oliver looked over to Derek who went and fiddled with the machines again. "Hurting us, killing us, isn't going to help with your pain,"

"I'm not doing this for me. I'm doing it for you." Derek said as he brought the knife back over and explained. "The broken hearted. They're zombies. They're dead and they have to live with that pain. So I'm making sure that you guys are the third option, actually sweethearts, but if you aren't well, I'm sparing you a lot of pain," He told them. "It's actually romantic of me."

"You're crazy. And look," Laurel said as she looked to her shoes and focused on them for one minute before looking up at the madman. "the things is, we're not even really a couple. We're just friends who were looking for my sister. This test doesn't mean anything."

Derek looked back and twirled his knife as he had the readout in front of him nice and clear "Deep down, underneath it all, are you in love with this man?" He asked.

Laurel looked to Oliver who shook his head. This would surely be the downfall. This was where they were going to die. He knew he didn't deserve her love and he didn't have it. This man was obsessed with love. And the truth. There was no chance in hell they were going to win with love. But there was a chance that if the result came out as truth that Derek might let them live a little longer. "Just tell the truth, Laurel. It's okay."

"Yes, keep in mind, that I will kill him if you lie to me," Derek said, holding a knife to Oliver's throat.

Oliver gulped a little and looked Laurel in the eye. "Don't overthink it. Just tell the truth."

"Do you love him?" Derek asked as he twitched the blade a little closer and breathed in. He was getting off on this in a weird way.

Laurel looked back to Oliver's face, who told her again. "Tell the truth. It's gonna be okay."

"Do. You. Love. Him?" Derek screamed at her as he brought the blade to the point where it was pricking skin.

Laurel looked down at her shoes and let out a small sob. This was not what she wanted for either of them. This was not the way she planned things. She looked back up and her face resolved, and she started to look into Oliver's eyes and said with clarity, "Yes."

The polygraph stayed where it was at and Oliver didn't hear the scratch and he looked at her. She loved him. She loved him. She loved him. She loved him. Why the hell she did that, he'd never know, but she loved him and that was all that mattered.

He went to the polygraph and smiled at Oliver's. "And you, are you in love with this woman?" He asked.

Oliver looked away and refused to answer. He stole himself away to the mental training he'd had.

"I can't hear you. You're gonna have to speak up. Are you in love with this woman?"

"Freeze!" Booming voices shouted as Oliver grabbed the guy with what little leverage he had and threw him to the side. Diggle and the gang. Oh thank god.

They undid both Laurel and he from the bonds and he thought they were okay, until the scrawny jerk climbed on her and stabbed her in the shin.

Oliver flung him across the room and made sure the knife wasn't with him when he took part of his shirt sleeve and ripped it and put it around the wound after her took the knife out. "Are you okay?" He asked.

"I'm not sure," She said to him as he picked her up bridal style and carried her out.

"Let's get you out of here," He told her as he carried her up the stairs and they had a conversation with a few of the police which had magically shown up just in time.

A few days later, he knocked on her door. "So you got everything smoothed over with Sara?" He asked.

"Yeah," She said as she turned from her desk and looked at him with a smile, "We talked about how it was sweet that I cared that much about her, but that I need to pick appropriate destinations for the avenues of my truth. Even made up with Owen."

"Haven't seen you since you said you were in love with me." He said. "We've been at the same parties where I know you were there and I didn't see you in the past couple of days. Are you avoiding me?"

"No," She said, blushing and looked down at her hand with the ring still on it and the her feet, "I just didn't know how to deal with you. And us. Because I meant what I said back there. Always have and always will."

"Do you want to try dating again? I mean I already got my greatest girl a ring? That sort of entitles me to another shot right?" He asked with a smile.

Laurel looked up and saw a smile on his face. "You're not joking around?"

He smiled. "Nope. Sort of want to try to committed thing again. It was always best when it was with you."

"Then let's give it another go. Crazy as that is." She said as she leapt to her feet and hugged. him and felt his body up close. He hissed and she looked apologetic. "I'm sorry," She said as she remembered his pec had been cut.

He shook his head, "Don't be. I always knew it was dangerous being in love with you." He gave her a quick kiss and then put her down. "How about dinner?"