3: DEEPER
Oliver easily acquired a bow and arrows from a trader, claiming he was opening a weapons exhibition back home, and made his way to Amanecer by following the signs. While he was worried about what he may or may not find inside, he was glad to have some distraction so he didn't have to stay focused on the destruction he had left behind in Starling City. It also helped him to think about anything other than picturing Tommy and the mass of guilt he felt over his demise.
He found the selection of building, all with a large fence around it. However, Oliver knew that wouldn't be a problem for him. He was surprised at how many security officers were around the perimeter, but a black hoodie and a scouring of rooftops later so him about to jump from outside the perimeter and onto the roof of one of Amencer's buildings without being seen. As he climbed down the building's gutter, he carefully slid open a window and rolled inside, thankful whoever was staying in that particular room was out. He picked the lock of the room door and managed to get out into an empty corridor. Looking at each door carefully, he soon found a storage cupboard which he put the hoodie, bows and arrows into. Mentally noting the floor and room number, Oliver made his way down to the entrance and soon found the reception. A woman was sat at the desk in a navy blue suit and black rimmed glasses. Oliver smiled as he saw the glasses; they reminded him of Felicity. He knew she'd be somewhere worrying about him but he couldn't think about that now.
"I'd like to see Joseph Sterven, please." Oliver said. The receptionist glared at him.
"No one is allowed to see Mr Sterven unless there is a significant matter that must be discussed."
"I do have a significant matter to discuss. I'm Oliver Queen, and I'd like to make a donation to Amanecer and hopefully be a sponsor." Oliver lied. The receptionist's interest was obvious.
"I'll, uh...I'll brief Mr Sterven and get him to meet you in his office. It's the first door on the corridor behind this desk." She said and let Oliver pass.
"Thank you." Oliver said and made his way to the office. He opened the door and looked around, surprised by the amount of files and folders that were in shelves across the whole room. He took a seat in front of the empty desk and wait in an anxious silence until the door slowly opened and in walked Sterven. He glanced at Oliver, who stood up and shook his hand.
"Mr Queen, I've been informed you wish to support Amanecer." Sterven said.
"Yes, and possibly Armtry too." Oliver said happily. Sterven's face dropped.
"I, um...I don't associate myself with Armtry as much as I used to. Amanecer is my priority now. I prefer not to talk about it." Sterven said coldly, putting Oliver in his place.
"Oh, okay. I thought as much; I hadn't seen it or you on the news as much recently." Oliver said. Sterven smiled slightly.
"Yes, that'll be why. So you have heard of me before? I'm not used to that here. I'm afraid I only know little about you, Mr Queen. The man who came back from the dead. You're quite the miracle, Mr Queen."
"Please, call me Oliver."
"Well, Oliver, what brings you to Hong Kong?" Sterven asked.
"I just...needed time to myself. I don't plan on staying too long. But while I'm here, I felt I could show Amanecer my support. I'm all for the protection and healthcare of the important. I am one of them after all." Oliver laughed, making himself out to be a smug jerk. Sterven chuckled quietly.
"Quite."
"But before we talk that, Joseph, I'd like to know more about Amanecer itself. How it ticks, etcetera. You seem pretty busy all the time, so what do you do to take up so much time? Got any secret plans for this place?" Oliver asked with a smile. Sterven didn't look impressed at all.
"I'm not a liar, Oliver, but I refrain from answering certain questions. To get the information they want I like people to make the effort and ask the right questions. I like people to know I can be a challenge, Oliver. Like a wild animal; aggressive when threatened." Sterven stated bluntly with a slight anger behind his eyes. Oliver was extremely suspicious.
"Well, I'd like to think I could tame wild animals." Oliver said sternly.
The two men stared at each other intently before being interrupted by the receptionist's voice over the intercom.
"Mr Sterven, your new employees are here."
Sterven coughed and headed to the door.
"Well, please excuse me, Oliver. See yourself out, won't you? Or do I need you escorted? I'm sure we'll have more time to discuss this later." Sterven said.
"I'm sure we will. I'm sure I can get out just fine." Oliver said. Sterven smiled and walked out, grabbed a walkie-talkie from his pocket and spoke into it.
"Find out everything you can about Oliver Queen."
Oliver had to work quickly. He scanned every single file on the shelf but found nothing that stood out to him. Eventually his attention turned to the desk, and he realised if anything important was in the office it would be in there. He broke each of the draws open and searched round.
Pens. Spare paper. Photos.
Oliver stopped as he felt something stuck to the bottom of one of the draws. He pulled it off and saw it was a file with CONFIDENTIAL written on it. His heart racing, Oliver opened it and saw inside was a list of names; guests staying at Amanecer. As he read each name Oliver was glad he'd kept up with the news and politics since returning home after five years of hell. All the guests were high ranked officials from various countries and various companies but they all had one thing in common; they all had a role and expertise in the management of nuclear weapons, the cause Armtry was against. Knowing some much deeper was going on behind the surface of Amanecer, Oliver slipped the file under his shirt and tidied up quickly before rushing out, giving the receptionist a smile as he passed her and ran off as soon as he left the building, promising to return for the hoodie, bow and arrows later. For now, he needed to find somewhere to spend the night.
...
In the Foundry, Oliver sat up on the table, panicked at the news that a bomb was inside him.
"You all need to get out of here. Right now." Oliver demanded.
"Oliver, we can't just leave you." Roy said.
"I need you to. Get as far as you can from this place. I need all of you to be safe." Oliver stated. Diggle and Roy went to move away but Felicity stayed put.
"There is NO WAY I'm just leaving." Felicity said boldly.
"Felicity, this thing could go off at any moment and if it does it'll kill all of us. I don't want to spend my final moments knowing I've gotten people unnecessarily killed, especially people I care for. Let there be only one casualty, Felicity. This is the revenge The Martyr truly wanted. Give it to him with as little bloodshed as possible." Oliver said.
"...Never."
"Felicity, you know your stubbornness is something I normally love about you, but right now I'm getting pretty ticked off." Oliver said.
"Oliver, you listen to me. You have put your life in danger to save him so many times; the landmine on Lian You, when the Count took me hostage, when Slade took me. Please let me do the same for you for once. You're an incredible man, Oliver, and I won't sit back and so nothing if I can help." Felicity said.
"And what could you do?" Oliver questioned.
"Get the bomb out and try to deactivate it. I'm clever...ish." Felicity said.
"I could help with that, too." Diggle said, stepping forward.
"And...well, I could stand and watch supportively." Roy said.
Oliver looked at his three determined friends and sighed.
"You're not gonna back down, are you?" Oliver asked. The three of them shook their heads.
"...It could go off at any moment. Even getting it out could activate it." Oliver said, growing white again.
"I'll get you a bucket." Roy said and rushed off as Oliver held his head in pain.
"We're aware of the risks, Oliver." Diggle said. Oliver took Felicity's hand.
"...Okay, let's do it. I think you just like seeing me in pain." Oliver said and Felicity smiled.
"I do, but not this much. Especially when this sorta pain made you throw up on my favourite shoes." Felicity smiled. Oliver smiled back at her then turned his attention to the bucket Roy brought him and threw up into it. He fell back onto the table.
"Do it. Now. Though I'm not happy about being cut open and stitched back up so much in one day." Oliver said.
"We'll put you under." Diggle said, reaching for something in a nearby cabinet filled with medicine.
"We'll see you soon." Felicity said and kissed the top of Oliver's head.
"You bet." Oliver smiled.
"But Oliver, if you die...I'll kill you." Felicity said.
The last thing Oliver remembered as he went under was laughing through the pain at Felicity's words.
...
Later that night, Oliver sat in his motel room he'd managed to find, staring at the file before him. He knew Sterven housing nuclear weapon experts was no coincidence, but what he was planning exactly was still unclear. He knew deep down he had to do something about it, but he still wasn't sure what.
There was a knock on the door and a maid came in.
"Do you need anything, sir?" She asked.
"No, thank you." Oliver smiled.
Just then, three men dressed all in black came in, shoving the maid to the floor and pointing guns at Oliver. Sterven came in behind them and Oliver stood up.
"Well, well, Oliver, you like to stay up late. These are my new employees. Hired help." Sterven said.
"You're insane!" Oliver shouted.
"No, you're insane for thinking you can take what is mine and I won't notice. Dear me, Oliver, very sloppy work." Sterven said, gesturing towards the stolen folder spread out on Oliver's bed.
"What are you planning?" Oliver demanded.
"All in good time." Sterven said. He turned and faced the maid, who was still lying on the floor.
"You'll say nothing?" Sterven asked. The maid nodded hysterically, tears forming in her eyes. Sterven pulled out a gun and shot her twice.
"NO!" Oliver screamed.
"She was right; she's not saying anything ever again." Sterven giggled.
"You're sick." Oliver said, staring at the poor, innocent woman lying dead in front of him.
"Sick is a strong word to throw around, Oliver. You're coming with us." Sterven stated, nodding at one of his men, who stepped forward and smacked Oliver across the face with his gun. Oliver fell to the floor, unconscious. Sterven smiled and walked out as one of his men dragged Oliver out of the room before picking him up and carrying him over their shoulder. They reached the motel's reception, where all the staff were scattered along the room, all dead. Sterven tutted as he looked around.
"Poor souls." Sterven said and turned to another of his men, who took of his mask.
"Stay here. You're a witness. When the authorities get here, tell them this was an armed robbery and they took cash from the till. Sterven said as he emptied the till, stuffing the money into his pockets.
"Now then, let's get back. Oliver and I are going to have some fun." Sterven said with a sly smile as the room soon emptied of life, with Sterven, Oliver and two of his men heading back to Amanecer.
...
Oliver woke with a start, immediately regretting sitting up and he clutched his chest, overcome by the immense pain. He turned to his side and saw Felicity smiling at him.
"Hey, how are you feeling?" Felicity asked.
"About as good as I look." Oliver said.
"Yeah, you're gonna be all kinds of sore for weeks. But, you're not a walking bomb any more. No more throwing up on shoes." Felicity said and Oliver smiled.
"Sorry." Oliver said.
"No worries, I have plenty of money. I'll just buy another pair." Felicity said sarcastically but smiled nonetheless.
"What about the bomb? Did you disarm it?" Oliver asked, concerned.
"We tried but to no avail. All the wires were too close together to see anything. Diggle and Roy are taking drastic action as we speak." Felicity explained.
"What?"
"They went to the docks and threw it in the sea. They're on their way back now." Felicity said. Oliver sighed with relief.
"And that will be enough?" Oliver questioned.
"Yeah; it's a small device so the explosion won't be massive. The water will contain it. At worst the only casualties will be some really unlucky fish." Felicity said and Oliver laughed. Felicity laughed with him.
"How can you always make me laugh so easily?" Oliver asked.
"Well, it's all I'm good for." Felicity laughed. Oliver took her hand and faced her.
"Hey, you're good for so much more than that." Oliver said, filled with meaning. Felicity smiled. Oliver winced in pain again.
"Don't worry, the extra morphine will kick in soon." Felicity said.
"Okay, so, tell me about the bomb. Where did The Martyr get it?" Oliver asked.
"Well, I briefly studied it but couldn't trace a supplier, so we have to assume The Martyr made it himself. Clever guy. What's really interesting is that there was some kind of toxin inside that was released into your bloodstream every few minutes. That explains why you were throwing up so much." Felicity explained.
"How did he manage to do that?" Oliver wondered.
"Very cleverly."
"And I'll be okay?"
"Yeah, it'll pass through your system soon. If we'd left it for much longer it would've poisoned you. You might've died before the bomb even went off. The Martyr really wanted to make sure you were a goner." Felicity said.
"Yeah, I guess so." Oliver said, pondering The Martyr's actions.
"You gotta hand it to him; he put in a valiant effort at killing you. He put a bomb inside you that forced your own body to turn against you. A weapon that makes the victim betray themselves is pretty powerful stuff. Wow, that's getting kinda deep." Felicity said. Oliver looked up at her with a start.
"Betrayed myself?" Oliver asked and Felicity nodded.
"Oh, of course." Oliver added.
"What?"
"He told me there's a traitor in my team. He was talking about the bomb. I'M part of the team, after all. The traitor in my team was the bomb inside of me." Oliver realised.
"Are you sure that's what he meant?" Felicity asked.
"Definitely. That's how his mind works. He's...he's not very well." Oliver said.
"I got to that conclusion by myself, actually. Are you gonna go after him?" Felicity said.
"Of course. He made this personal; he put you and the others in danger. There's something more going on here...something...deeper." Oliver said.
"Well, at least rest for a bit first." Felicity suggested. Oliver stared at her with a smile.
"...What?" She asked.
"Thank you. For standing by me even when you were in danger." Oliver said.
"It's the least I could do. That's all you ever do for so many people every day. It's about time someone gave something back." Felicity said.
"Well, it means a lot to me." Oliver said and rested back down onto the table.
"Good. Now, rest." Felicity ordered. Oliver saluted Felicity, who laughed as she walked out. Oliver watched her go with a smile. He could never express in words how much his friends and family meant to him, which is why no matter how far The Martyr would run now, or even how fast he ran, he should be afraid.
Because The Arrow was coming for him.