Disclaimer: Arrow is owned by The CW, Berlanti Productions, and Warner Bros. Television. The characters of the Green Arrow and the Justice League is owned by DC Comics. I own nothing; I'm just playing in their universe.
Soundtrack: Beast by Nico Vega, Oliver Queen Suite by Blake Neely
FRIDAY
The first time Felicity's alarm went off, she hit the snooze. The same for the second and third. The fourth time, when she actually checked the time, she let out a curse and jumped out of bed. She grabbed a quick shower, dressed, then poured some coffee into a travel mug and grabbed a bagel before rushing out the door. Getting into her Mini-Cooper, she pulled out of her garage, headed down the alley and out onto the road. But today she wasn't rushing to get to Queen Consolidated, she was rushing to Queen Manor for the first meeting of the viewing party since they had returned.
Her route today took her through the Glades, past the old steel factory that Oliver Queen would eventually convert into a nightclub. She drove past the worst of the derelict buildings, the Rebecca Merlyn Clinic (which looked to be in rough shape), and she had to smile as she passed a group of teens, one of which was wearing a red hoodie. Eventually, she made her way out of the Glades, through the suburbs, and out into the Palisades where the large Manor houses lay. She slowed as she approached the gate to Queen Manor, but the gate opened of its own accord. She drove up the winding drive (why did rich people have such long driveways?) and pulled up next to a brand new Aston Martin DB9, whose owner was leaning against it.
"Smoaky!" Tommy Merlyn said with a smile. "Welcome to the big side of town!"
"Has Laurel ever talked to you about 'overcompensation'?" Felicity asked as she climbed out of her car. She eyed the Aston Martin. "Because if not, she really has to."
"Ha." Tommy replied. "I'll have you know this is the most understated car that I own."
"So she REALLY has to talk to you about overcompensation."
Before they could continue, the woman in question pulled up in her 1998 BMW M3, whose engine gave a pitiful sputter before shutting off.
"Laurel, you REALLY need to get a new car." Tommy said plaintively as she and her father climbed out of the vehicle. "Detective." He said in greeting.
"Merlyn." Lance replied shortly. He smiled at Felicity. "Miss Smoak."
"Detective." She replied with a smile.
"There is nothing wrong with my car, Tommy." Laurel argued. "And not everyone can afford to have a car for every day of the week."
"In my defense, it's only a car for every weekday. And you can afford to trade in that old clunker for a slightly newer clunker. Or—"
"Don't even say it." Laurel warned as she led the group to the front door. "You will NOT buy me a car!"
"Fine. You can HAVE one of mine!" Tommy declared. He smiled as the door opened. "Hey, Raisa!"
"Hello Mr. Thomas." The housekeeper said with a smile.
"Loose the 'Mister'. My father is the respectable one." Tommy joked, kissing the older woman on the cheek.
"Not according to what I hear." Raisa said crossly.
Tommy shrugged. "Yeah, well… respectable to the public."
"I hate having to agree with him, but Merlyn is right." Lance was telling his daughter. "That car's on its' last legs. Maybe it's time to look into getting a new one."
"I make a minimal salary working at a public legal defense office. And I have student loans. I don't have the money for a new car- especially when there's nothing wrong with mine!" Laurel shot back.
"It's so nice to be arguing about normal things, isn't it?" and amused Moira said as she and Walter walked into the foyer. They were followed by Dig.
Quentin chuckled. "Actually, it kind of is." He admitted.
"Hey!" Felicity said to Diggle, giving him a hug. "You beat us all here!"
"That because I'm now the head of security for the Queen family." He replied. "I think they wanted to ease me into having to babysit a guy who can disappear into the wind."
Walter shook the detective's hand, then moved to shake Tommy's. "And I hear you took a position at Merlyn Global." He said.
"Yeah. Figured it would be a good idea so I could keep an eye on the old man." He replied. "Plus, it was time I grew up."
"I must say Miss Smoak," Moira said to the hacker. "I had no idea you could work so fast."
"I'm not sure what you mean, Mrs. Queen."
Moira smiled. "Well, I was reading the paper this morning, and I read a notice that the Vice President of Acquisitions at Stellmore International was detained by the TSA earlier this week. And, after she was repeatedly belligerent to the agents, was subsequently arrested." She shook her head. "The poor dear; I even heard that someone drained her bank accounts and maxed out her credit cards on- get this- condoms. Scandalous."
"Well, that IS some bad luck." Felicity said with a smirk.
"You are truly terrifying." Tommy remarked.
"I'm one bad mutha-" she pointed to Dig.
"Shut your mouth." He finished with a grin.
Upstairs in her room, Thea stood looking out of her window, deep in thought. And the more she thought, the more she realized that not only was this the best plan, it was the ONLY plan. The only way to make sure the future she saw never happened. She saw the last car pulling up, and sighed. Time to go.
She turned and headed to her door, pausing by the vanity to look into the mirror. "Who are you?" She asked her reflection quietly.
As usual, it didn't respond.
Further conversation was forestalled by a knock at the door. Raisa answered it, and found Malcolm Merlyn standing in the doorway.
"Mr. Merlyn." She said coolly.
"Raisa." Malcolm replied, more amused than insulted. He handed her his coat after she shut the door, then smiled at Walter.
"Hello Walter." He said, holding out his hand. "How's business?"
Walter regarded him with barely contained rage. "If you think I'll shake the hand of the man who had my friend murdered, you are sorely mistaken."
Malcolm dropped the hand, and his smile became slightly strained. "I see Moira filled you in."
"Yes, she did." He replied, moving into his personal space. "Now tell me what's to stop me from throttling you like you deserve?"
"Well, there's the fact that he's a highly trained international assassin." They all looked up to see Thea walking down the stairs. She gave Walter a tired smile. "We all have to work together on this, Walter. Please."
He looked at Thea for a moment. Then sighed. "Very well. Let's move into the parlor, shall we?" The group made their way into the parlor.
"Thank you." Malcolm said to Thea.
"Yeah, well…" she trailed off. "Let's get this show on the road." They entered the parlor, and Thea took a seat next to Felicity. Moira stood, but Malcolm held up a hand to stop her.
"Moira, if I may," he began, "I have a few things I'd like to say before we begin."
Moira considered the man a moment. "Very well."
"I know you don't trust me." He began. "With good reason. I've brought a lot of pain to most of you over the past several years, and I know apologies wouldn't even begin to make up for it. But I promised Mia that I would try to be a better man, and I've already started taking steps—"
"That include dressing like the hood and tossing a skell through the department window?" Lance cut in. "What the hell, Merlyn?"
Malcolm smiled thinly. "I was just getting to that. Over the past week, I've worked to mitigate several threats that Oliver dealt with when he first came home, and I addressed the biggest problem he had while I did it. First off, Joseph Falk- AKA The Savior."
"The train guy!" Felicity exclaimed. "The guy who…." She glanced at Thea, "… killed a bunch of people on the subway."
"What subway?" Thea asked. "We don't have a subway."
"We used to." Diggle said. "It was decommissioned years ago."
"I've working on a plan to recommission and expand it." Malcolm said. "I was able to convince Mr. Falk to help with that, and at the same time dissuade him from his particular path of vigilantism. As part of that plan, I've brought on Alderman Blood so that I may keep a closer eye on him. Also, and I think you might be interested in this, Mr. Diggle," Malcolm said, looking at Dig, "I've hired on Blackhawk Security to be the main security firm for Merlyn Global. I'm hoping that more… respectable work will mean that they won't go knocking over armored cars. Also, I can keep a close eye on Ted Gaynor and his group in case he does." He smiled. "Doveryay, no proveryay."
"Trust, but verify. Smart." Dig agreed.
"I've also dealt with Miss Bertinelli—"
"Christ, Merlyn! Don't admit you killed someone in front of a cop!" Lance exclaimed.
"I didn't kill her." Malcolm said coolly. "But I've sent her away to a place where she won't do anyone in this city any harm."
"Well, alright then." Lance said, settling back down.
"Now, onto the item you most want to discuss. Earlier this week I delivered Daniel Brickwell to you in the guise of the Hood. I did this for two reasons. The first is that, when you finish running ballistics against his weapon, you'll find it was used in a dozen unsolved murder cases- including the murder of Rebecca Merlyn." Moira gasped, and Lance swore softly to himself. "The second is rather obvious- in 8 months, Oliver will return and immediately become the prime suspect for being The Hood. However, if the Hood was shown to be active before he came home…"
"He won't be a suspect anymore." Tommy said with a smile.
"Pretty smart." Thea said.
"And finally, there is this." Malcolm set his briefcase on the table in front of Moira. "This is everything I have on Unidac, the Markov project… everything to deal with the Undertaking. The only thing I've kept is a master list of documents to make sure everything is accounted for. As for this- I'm giving it to you." He slid the case towards Moira. "And at the next meeting of Tempest, I'm going to suggest that you take over leadership of the group."
"Well, if there is no Undertaking—"
"There is one." Tommy said, surprising everyone. "We actually wanted to talk to you and Walter about it today." He went on to explain his dad's new plan to rebuild the city. "With Queen Consolidated on board, we'd have the majority of large business interests in Starling City, along with the Mayor, City Hall and…. Alderman Blood," he ground out with a grimace, which caused Thea to snort in amusement, "all working towards rebuilding the city."
"That last one really hurt, didn't it?" Laurel said in amusement.
"You have no idea." Tommy replied dryly.
"Back to Unidac," Malcolm said to Moira, "I'd actually recommend that Queen Consolidated purchase them when they come up for auction. That way, you can oversee the destruction of the devices and all of the research personally."
"We'll consider it." Walter said.
"Then, that's all I have." Malcolm said, taking a seat.
"In that case," Moira rose. "Now we have to decide about what to do with the information we've been given. Specifically, what we should do in regards to Oliver. I have to say, I'm of the mind to charter a boat to go to Lian Yu right now and pick him up."
"Yes, absolutely." Laurel agreed.
"No."
Everyone looked in surprise at Thea. "Sweetheart?" Moira asked uncertainly.
"Oliver got off the island." Thea reminded them all. "Hell, he was back in Starling City at one point. And we know he made it to Russia at one point."
"So…" Laurel said uncertainly.
"So, in the first place- we don't even know if he's ON the island right now." Thea explained. "He could be in Russia, or China, or… god knows where. And second- if he was off of the island, he chose to go back. Maybe there is a reason for that."
"So we stick to the timetable." Tommy said. "We know where he'll be in eight months; let's let him come home on his own terms. But once he's back, what do we tell him?"
"I'm guessing you'll say it's a bad idea to tell him everything." Laurel groused, crossing her arms.
"Absolutely." Tommy said. "Look, I don't like it anymore than you-"
"Then why not TELL HIM!" She exclaimed.
"Because it would do more harm than good." Malcolm said.
"Of course YOU would say that. When Oliver finds out what you did to the Gambit, he'll kill you." Laurel pointed out acidly.
"I'm well aware of that." Malcolm retorted sharply. "And when the time comes, I will not try and stop him. He's more than earned his justice. But believe it or not, I'm not worried about me; I'm worried about Oliver."
"And why would telling him the truth be such a bad thing?" Felicity asked.
"Because he took great pains in hiding his true nature from his family when he came home the first time." He explained. "And more than a convenient cover story, it was to make them happy. Thea, Moira, Tommy, Laurel- they didn't want to be reminded every day that he was a changed man. They didn't want to think about what he went through for five years. All they wanted was the 'Old Ollie' back, and he gave it to them. Because he felt that was what they wanted, and because he desperately didn't want them to see him as he is now." He looked to Laurel. "If we tell him everything we saw as soon as he gets back, he will panic. He will run. And he will get himself killed."
"So we tell him nothing?" Laurel asked.
"No, we don't tell him everything at once." He clarified. "We meter out the information; give it to him piece by piece." He looked to Felicity. "For starters, we need to make sure he meets you much sooner than he did, and that you become a bigger part in his life earlier."
"Me?" Felicity said in surprise. "Why me?"
"Because you have a humanizing effect on him." Malcolm explained. "When Oliver returns, he will be killing people. If we want him to stop, so that the police view him as less of a threat and more as a help, we need to talk him out of killing. I believe that you will be able to do that, along with Mr. Diggle."
"No offense, but the thing that stopped him from killing before was the fact that Tommy died, more than anything that me or Felicity did." Dig pointed out.
"Perhaps that started it, but you two helped to keep him on a non-lethal path. It stands to reason that you'll be able to do the same thing again."
"And maybe if I was less... antagonistic," Lance grimaced, "and if I acted better towards the Hood when he didn't drop bodies, maybe that will help, too."
"The sacrifice you make shall not be in vain, Detective." Tommy said with a smirk.
"Shut up, Merlyn." Lance growled.
"I can also try and help Oliver with his PTSD, though it will be a challenge." Diggle offered. "Usually though, you have to want to be helped for any help to work."
"It will be a start." Moira said with a smile.
The group spent the next few hours hashing out plans, approving or disapproving ideas, and generally getting things in order for the next 8 months. After several hours the meeting broke up, and everybody started leaving to get back to their normal lives. Malcolm was pulling on his coat when a voice caught him off guard.
"Malcolm, can I talk to you for a second?"
Malcolm turned and looked at Thea in surprise for a moment. "Of course you can." He said quickly. "I'm always available to you."
"Good." Thea said, then took a breath. "I've been doing a lot of thinking this week, trying to sort everything in my head. And one thing I keep coming back to is… I'm now the daughter of TWO billionaires. And eventually, that fact will get out."
Malcolm frowned. "If you're worried about your safety, I could speak to Mr. Diggle about increasing your protection detail." He offered.
"Actually… I was hoping that you'd train me."
Malcolm blinked. "I'm sorry?" he asked, nonplussed.
"I want you to train me how to fight." Thea repeated. "How to defend myself. How to handle myself if I get kidnapped by four goons with guns and held hostage in a church."
"How you handle that is sit there quietly and wait for myself or your brother to rescue you." He said sternly. He shook his head. "Thea, where is this coming from? Mia risked everything to change the future so that you wouldn't become her- and let's be honest, that's who you would become if I were to train you."
"I don't want to be her, Malcolm." Thea said harshly. "I will NEVER be her. Mia went into her training full of anger and resentment, and was trained by a Malcolm who was bitter and angry over his defeat by Oliver. They fed off of each other's anger, and it drove them both to ruin.
"And this isn't about wanting to put on a hood and shoot bad guys with arrows. This is about knowing how to defend myself and my family if something bad comes around." She took a deep breath. "Mia may have been right about a lot of things, but she was wrong about some things, too. She wanted to change the past and keep me in a bubble and expect that no harm would ever come to me. But I've seen my brother tortured. I've seen myself get kidnapped twice. I've watched as my mother was killed right in front of me. And I don't want to feel this pain again. I don't want to hurt. Or get hurt. Ever again. And you seem like someone who can teach me how not to."
Malcolm considered the girl carefully. "And if I were to say no?"
Thea shrugged. "Then I save the Lances a lot of grief and call up Nanda Parbat. Hire a certain bird to come train me."
"Are you out of your mind?!" Malcolm hissed. "You have no idea what kind of danger you'd put yourself in if you tried that! Or what kind of danger you'd put Miss Lance in! They would think that she was in contact with her family and kill her, then them, then you!"
"Then I suppose you'd better say yes." Thea countered evenly.
Malcolm's eyes narrowed. "What does your mother think of this idea?" he asked.
Thea shrugged nervously. "Better to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission?" she tried.
Malcolm smirked. "Oh, no. You have to tell your mother about this." He considered for a moment. "You have two weeks to tell her, and I will be talking to her once you've said you have. Then, on February 1st, you will be at my Manor at 5 a.m. If you are late by so much as a minute, I will know you are not serious about this and all bets are off. But if you are willing to allow me to teach you as I was taught, if you are willing to put in the effort- then I will train you. But I warn you- it won't be easy, and I won't be kind to you, even if you are my daughter." He held out his hand.
Thea took it and gave it a firm shake. "Agreed."
Malcolm chuckled. "Good luck with your mother." He joked as he turned and walked out of the door, leaving Thea alone in the hall with her thoughts.
8 MONTHS LATER
A figure ran through a dense forest, swinging from branches over fallen trees, jumping over other obstacles. Exiting the forest, the man scrambled up a sheer rock cliff face. As he reached the top, Oliver peered over the top of the cliff to the bay and spotted a small fishing vessel. Moving quickly, he ran across the top of the cliff and back slightly into the woods, where a small bundle of supplies lay wrapped in a cloth. Rapidly he withdrew his bow, and an arrow whose tip was covered in tar. Using a flint he lit the arrow head on fire, then nocked it, drew back on the string and took a moment to aim. Then he let the arrow fly-
Into a pre-made signal on the beach, which exploded into a ball of fire.
On the fishing boat, the two man crew notice the fireball and head towards shore to investigate. As they came onto the shore, they walked past a ragged looking mask on a post. It was half blue and half gold, and an arrow was stuck through the right eye hole.
Oliver fell to his knees in front of the two fisherman and slowly let down his hood. His face was filthy, his hair and beard matted with dirt and grime.
A short time later he was on the boat, bundled in a blanket, and one of the fisherman brought him some hot tea to warm him up.
My name is Oliver Queen.
In Queen Manor, John Diggle walked up to Moira Queen and handed her the latest security plan, which she approved after a quick read-through.
For 5 years, I was stranded in hell with only one goal- survive.
In Grant's Gym, Laurel Lance was wailing away on the punching bag. Finishing up, she stepped back and took a few deep breaths. Sensing someone behind her, she turned towards the door and saw her father standing there. Quentin Lance smiled at his daughter and held up the salad and water; an invitation. Laurel smiled and nodded, then headed towards her locker to change.
Now I will fulfill my father's dying wish- to use the list of names he left me and bring down those who are poisoning my city.
At Queen Consolidated, Felicity Smoak was finishing arranging things on her new desk in her brand new office when the door opened. She smiled at Walter Steele as he walked in, personnel files in hand, and prepared to pick her new staff.
To do this, I must become someone else.
At Merlyn Global Group, Malcolm was in his secret armory, sharpening his sword. Finishing, he put it back into its scabbard that hung on the belt of his uniform. He considered the uniform for a moment, before turning and looking at the picture of himself, Tommy, and Rebecca that sat prominently on the work table. He picked it up and ran his fingers gently over the picture of his wife, then looked up at the door as Tommy appeared. He looked at Malcolm questioningly, and Malcolm nodded silently in reply, setting the picture back down and heading out of the room, sealing the door before leaving with his son.
I must become something else.
In Queen Manor, a room in the east wing had been converted into a gym. In the gym Thea Queen and Sin circled each other, escrima sticks in hand.
"Are you ready?" Thea asked, sizing up her opponent.
"Bring it, Princess. Lets' see what you got." Sin taunted with a smirk.
"With pleasure." Thea replied, then lunged forward.
To Be Continued in Sin: A Prequel to 'A Future Imperfect'