Past is Prologue

by Naitch03

We all have regrets. But one person now has the power to do something about it. 25 Years in the future Thea Queen, the Green Arrow, has gathered the most important people in her (and her brother's) lives from the past for one purpose- the change the Past. Join them as they watch the first two years of Oliver's journey to become the first Green Arrow.Rated T for language & Violence

2. Chapter 1: Pilot

Disclaimer: Arrow is owned by The CW, Berlanti Productions, and Warner Bros. Television. The character of the Green Arrow and the Justice League is owned by DC Comics. I own nothing; I'm just playing in their universe.

Chapter 1: Pilot

---

The Watchtower, 2039

Wearily, Mia made her way into the observation room down the hall. She entered and dropped into her chair in front of the monitors, then looked next to her at Roy, who was staring back in sympathy.

"Long day?" he asked.

Great! I grow up into a psychotic bitch!

Mia winced as the voice of her younger self came through the speakers. Roy smiled wanly. "You did just scare the shit out of them. 'I'll cut off your fucking head again'? Really?"

"The point had to be made."

"So send in Rose! Everyone expects her to be a psychotic bitch!" That earned Roy a light slap in the head from the third person in the room, Rose Wilson- also known in the League as Ravager.

"I wouldn't have warned him. I would have just cut off his fucking head." She said with a smirk, her one eye gleaming in amusement.

"And that's why Rose didn't go in the room." Mia said. She watched the screen for a moment, then smiled to herself. She clicked on her communicator. "Wally? Can I ask a favor of you?"

Sitting Room

---

There was silence for nearly a full minute after Mia had left, with everyone casting furtive glances at one another, and everybody staring at Slade. Finally, Thea broke the silence.

"Great! I grow up into a psychotic bitch!" she exclaimed.

"Well, at least," Tommy started, then cringed. "Man, I can't even use my cheesy lines on you to break the tension, because you're my sister!"

"At least you recognize the lines are cheesy." Laurel pointed out. "That's a start." There were a few laughs at that, though Thea still looked sickened and depressed. Making a decision, Tommy got up and moved next to Thea, taking her hand as he sat down.

"Look," he started, "Mia said she wants to change the future, which is her past. Don't you think that means she wants to change thing so that you don't become a psychotic bitch?"

"He's right, you know." Felicity said. When Thea looked up at her, she continued. "I mean, where we are right now is just one possible future. What we see are the outcomes of decisions made in the past. By being here, and seeing what we have seen already, we've ensured that when we go back, this future will probably cease to exist since we'll be making all new decisions based on what we have seen."

"And isn't that the point of this whole thing?" Dig added, and Felicity nodded.

"Exactly!"

"How can you be so sure?" Thea asked.

"Because I've watched a lot of Doctor Who." The tech genius replied, causing more laughter. "Now, why don't we get started? Though this would be a lot better if we all had some pop-" suddenly a red blur shot through the room, depositing several bowls of popcorn in its wake. "-corn. Huh." She looked at the bowl for a moment. "This would be a lot better if I had a million dollars." She asked hopefully, looking around, before her shoulders slumped in defeat.

"Worth a shot." Dig consoled her, grabbing a handful of popcorn in the process. Even Slade snorted in amusement.

"Well, like the lady said," Malcolm said, picking up the remote, "Let's get started."

He pressed play.

A figure runs through a dense forest, swinging from tree branches over fallen trees, jumping over other obstacles. As the forest thins out, the figure can clearly be made out as a man, wearing a familiar green hood. He scrambles up a sheer rock cliff face and, as he comes to the top, the face finally comes into view.

"Oliver…" Moira whispered. Thea leaned forward, staring intently at the screen. He's older, with long stringy hair and a scraggly beard, but he is clearly recognizable as her brother.

Oliver peers over the top of the cliff to the bay, and spots a small fishing vessel . Moving quickly, he runs 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 withdraws his bow, and an arrow whose tip was covered in tar. Using a flint, he lights the arrow head on fire. He nocked the arrow, 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 explodes into a ball of fire.

"Nice form." Malcolm remarked.

On the fishing boat, the two man crew notice the fireball and head towards shore to investigate. As they come onto the shore, they walk 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.

Slade snorted in amusement. "Very nice, kid." He said quietly, though more than a few people in the room looked at him curiously.

"The name of the island they found me on is Lian Yu. It's mandarin for purgatory. I've been stranded here for I've dreamt of my rescue every cold black night since then. For five years, I have had only one thought, one goal survive. Survive and one day return home."

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.

"Oh, my poor boy…" Moira said, tears in her eyes. Thea put an arm around her mother, even as she cried. Tommy held on to his sisters' hand trying to convey some comfort, even as he tried to process his friend being alive.

Now on the boat, Oliver was bundled in a blanket, and one of the fisherman brought him some hot tea to warm him up.

"The island held many dangers. To live, I had to make myself more than what I was, to forge myself into a weapon. I am returning not the boy who was shipwrecked but the man who will bring justice to those who have poisoned my city. My name is Oliver Queen."

"Jesus Ollie," Laurel said softly.

The footage shifted to a news report.

"Oliver Queen is alive." Marrett Green announced into the camera. "The Starling City resident was found by fishermen in the North China sea five days ago, five years after he was missing and was presumed dead following the accident at sea which claimed 'The Queen's Gambit.'" The screen changed from a picture of the yacht to file footage of Oliver staggering around drunkenly. "Queen was a regular tabloid presence and a fixture at the Starling City club scene. Shortly before his disappearance, he was acquitted of assault charges stemming from a highly publicized drunken altercation with paparazzi."

"Rightly acquitted, because that Paps was a douche." Tommy threw in. Thea elbowed him.

"Quiet!" she hissed.

"Queen is the son of Starling City billionaire Robert Queen, who was also on board but now officially confirmed as deceased."

Moira let out a sob, and Malcolm paused the video to give her a moment to grieve. Thea threw her arms around her mother and gave her a tight hug, crying with the woman. They had grieved once before, but to hear the finality of the announcement, that her dad was actually dead…

Malcolm may be her biological father, but Robert was always her dad. And she didn't doubt that he loved her. And it pained her that she would never again be able to tell him how much she meant to her.

The others in the room kept a respectful silence; even Slade was quiet. Two couches down, Laurel and Quentin were consoling each other; with no mention of Sara, they could only conclude that she was, in fact dead.

After a few minutes, the women calmed down and Moira motioned for him to continue, which he did. They found themselves watching Dr. Lamb giving Moira his assessment of Oliver at Starling General Hospital.

"20 percent of his body is covered in scar tissue. Second-degree burns on his back and arms. X-rays show at least 12 fractures that never properly healed." Dr. Lamb was saying.

"Has he said anything about what happened? " Moira asked, looking into Oliver's room and watching him as he looked out at the city. Oliver looked better now that he had had a shower and a shave, his hair was also neatly trimmed.

"No. He's barely said anything." Dr. Lamb Replied. "Moira, I'd like you to prepare yourself. The Oliver you lost might not be the one they found."

Moira didn't respond. Instead, she entered the room, letting the door close behind her. "Oliver." She said quietly. Oliver turned around, a myriad of emotions playing across his face.

"Mom." He finally said after a moment. Moira slowly walked towards him, and Oliver met her half way.

"Oh My beautiful boy." She said tearfully as they hugged.

The mood was lightened slightly when Felicity gave out a loud sniffled, prompting Dig to hand him his handkerchief. "Sorry," she said, blowing her nose, "reunions like this always make me a bit weepy."

Tommy looked like he was about to move over towards the tech genius, prompting Quentin to say, "Don't even think about it, Merlyn."

Tommy looked affronted. "What?" he asked innocently, "I was just going to comfort her!"

"Don't you have a pair of redheads to comfort when we get back?" the cop asked snidely.

Moira suddenly looked over at the Lances. "Oh my god, Quentin… "

Quentin held up a hand, knowing what she was thinking. "It's alright, Moira." He said, his tone softening. "I'm just happy that you got your child back, at least." He scoffed sadly. "I guess it was too much to ask for another miracle."

Back on the screen, the Queen's Bentley pulled up to the front of the stately old Queen mansion. The trunk opened to reveal a long wooden crate with Chinese writings and a padlock. As the driver reached for it, Oliver cut him off.

"I've got it." He said, grasping the case instead.

Moira opened the front doors and led her son inside. "Your room is exactly as you left it." She said, leading him into the house. "I never had the heart to change a thing."

"Oliver." A refined British voice called out.

"Uh-oh." Tommy said suddenly. Thea looked at him questioningly.

"It's damn good to see you." A tall black man came into view. Oliver looked at him in confusion. "It's Walter," the man said, "Walter Steele."

"Oh, mother!" Thea said in exasperation.

"What?" Moira asked in confusion.

"I think you may have forgot to mention to Oliver at the hospital that you remarried." Quentin remarked, a bit of amusement in his voice. Laurel slapped him lightly on the arm, her disapproval of his amusement evident.

On the screen, Moira tried to clarify. "You remember Walter, your father's friend from the company." She said, as if that would explain why he was at their house. Another figure entered the foyer, and Oliver walked past Walter, ignoring him completely.

"Ouch." Felicity mumbled quietly to herself. She had met Mr. Steele a couple of times; he was always very nice to her.

Oliver walked up to the older woman in the maid's outfit and took her hands in his. "It's good to see you, Raisa." He said warmly.

"Welcome home, Mr. Oliver." She replied in equal warmth. She looked over to Moira. "Mr. Merlyn phoned." She said. "He wants to join you for dinner."

"Wonderful." Moira said, even as Oliver was distracted by the sound of a door slamming. He looked up towards the top of the stairs as his mother continued. "Oliver? Did you hear that?" he ignored her as he walked around the pillar to the bottom of the stairs.

"Hey, sis." Oliver said as Thea stood at the top of the stairs.

"Okay, this is weird." Tommy said.

"What about this isn't weird?" Diggle asked rhetorically. Malcolm paused the recording again.

"No, follow me on this." Tommy continued. "We were brought her by a much older Thea, so that a younger Thea could watch a slightly older Thea interact with her brother."

Thea snorted, then let out a long laugh as the absurdity of the situation was finally laid clear in one absurd statement. Both Moira and Malcolm looked at Tommy with silent gratitude in their eyes.

"I knew it." Thea was saying as she ran down the stairs, jumping into her brother's arms. "I knew you were alive! I missed you so much." She said, hugging him.

"You were with me the whole time." He replied, a genuine smile on his face.

In the monitoring room, Mia suddenly jumped to her feet and ran out the door. Roy stood to follow, but Rose held him back.

"Give her a few minutes, Roy." She said. Reluctantly, Roy sat back down.

Back on the screen, we are taken over the Glades into CNRI as Joanna was arguing with Laurel.

"Come on, Laurel," she was saying, "We're lawyers, not miracle workers. We can't win this."

"If we can't win a class-action suit against a man who swindled hundreds of people out of their homes and life savings," Laurel replied, "then we're not fit to call ourselves a legal aid office."

"And if we go bankrupt in the process, we won't be a legal aid office." Joanna shot back. "Hunt has an army of lawyers, and they're ready to bury us."

"Adam Hunt?" Malcolm questioned, looking over at Laurel. "That's ambitious."

"He's a scumbag." Laurel replied evenly. "It's good to know I start working on that case; I've just been doing some preliminary work recently."

"I wish you the best of luck." Malcolm replied honestly. Adam Hunt was a scumbag alright; he was on Malcolm's list. And while his connections were good for some of his plans, he wasn't necessary to the Undertaking. He made a split decision. "If you need any help with him, let me know. I'd happily give a sizeable donation to CNRI to see Adam Hunt rot behind bars."

Laurel smiled brightly. "Thank you, Mr. Merlyn. I might take you up on that.

"You and I against an army." Laurel said on screen. "I love those odds."

"Why do you hate me?" Joanna groused as Laurel sat down at her desk. She stared up at her board that laid out Adam Hunt and his 'alleged' criminal activities, searching for something concrete that she could sink her teeth into. As she was looking, a news report on one of the office TV's caught her attention.

"And in other news, details as to the castaway story you've all heard about the son of a very wealthy billionaire will soon become a legendary story. Jessica now has more details and the complete castaway story. Jessica?" Laurel got up and walked over to the TV that her colleagues were all gathered around.

"'The Queen's Gambit' was last heard from more than five years ago. Mr. Queen has reportedly confirmed he was the only survivor of the accident that took the lives of seven people, including local resident Sarah Lance. Survived by her sister, Laurel-"

Laurel shut the TV off, not wanting to hear anymore.

The scene shifted back to the Queen mansion. It was night, and Oliver emerged from his bathroom in only a towel.

"Oh, my…" Felicity said quietly, but loud enough that both Thea and Laurel heard it. Laurel rolled her eyes while Thea let out a snort of amusement. Quentin, though, squinted and leaned forward. "Merlyn, could you pause it?"

Malcolm raised an eyebrow but did so. Quentin got up and moved closer to the screen, scrutinizing the figure before him. "Why does that look familiar?" he mumbled to himself, staring at the tattoo on Oliver's chest.

"Something you want to tell us, Detective?" Tommy asked sarcastically, ignoring the look Laurel shot his way.

A look of dawning realization came over the Detective's face. "Oh, my god. Oh you son of a bitch!" he exclaimed.

"Excuse me?" Moira replied acidly. Quentin pointed to the tattoo on Oliver's chest.

"That right there? That's a Bratva tattoo!"

Malcolm's eyebrows shot up at that, and Diggle gasped lightly in surprise even as everyone else looked confused.

"What's the Bratva?" Thea asked.

"The Russian Mob."

Moira scoffed. "That's preposterous." She exclaimed. "He's been stranded on an island for five years! When would he have joined the Russian Mob?"

Quentin jabbed a finger at the screen. "That is a Bratva tattoo. The more intricate the tattoo, the higher the rank in the mob. From the looks of this one, I'd say he's a Captain! I knew that boy was no good…"

"Dad," Laurel started, but was cut off by Moira.

"You never liked my son, Quentin…"

"Gee, I wonder why?" he roared back.

"Let's address the elephant in the room, shall we?" Moira snarled. "Sara was a grown woman, and she chose to go with Oliver on the Gambit. No one forced her to go! And you blaming my son for her decision won't bring her back!"

There was dead silence in the room; Quentin was trembling with rage. Dig got up and put a hand on the cop's shoulder.

"Come on, Detective. Let's all just settle down, okay?" Quentin looked at the man, then back at Moira.

"Fine," he said finally, then jabbed his finger back at the screen, pointing once more to the tattoo. "But you don't get to be a Captain in the Bratva by buying everyone drinks or giving charming smiles. He's killed someone for them; probably more than one some ones. So you can tell me all you want that your son didn't murder my baby girl, but he's still a murderer." With that, he sat down.

"Yes, well…" Malcolm said after a moment, "Let's continue, shall we?"

' After five years, everything that was once familiar is now unrecognizable.' Oliver was saying, narrating his own story. On the screen, Oliver was looking himself over, cataloging his various scars. 'The face I see in the mirror is a stranger.' For a moment looking in the mirror, he saw himself in his familiar green hood. But as he turned away, his find flew back to where it all began.

Flashback

The Queen's Gambit made its way through stormy seas. Inside the boat, Robert Queen was looking at a weather map on the wall as one of the crewmen came in from the storm.

"Dad…" Thea said, leaning forward. Biological or not, this was the man that raised her.

"The storm's a category 2." The crewman said. "The captain's recommending we head back."

Robert sighed. "All right. Inform the crew. He said as a younger looking Oliver ducked out of a stateroom.

"Are we in trouble?" he asked.

"One of us is." Robert replied with a small smile. Oliver let out a small laugh, but before he could say anymore a blonde-haired girl came out of the room in nothing more than her lingerie an a short silk robe.

Laurel put a hand to her mouth, staring sadly at her younger sister. 'Oh, Sara,' she thought. 'Why….'

"Ollie?" she started, then noticed Robert. Grinning, she wrapped the robe around herself. "Where do you keep the bottle opener on this thing?"

"I'll be there in a minute, Sarah." Oliver said with a grin. Sara grinned and went back into the room, her hair swaying behind her.

Robert came up to his son and put a hand on his shoulder. "You know, son, that is not going to finish well for either of them or for you."

"Well, he was right about that…." Quentin muttered.

The flashback ended and Oliver was again standing in the foyer of the mansion, looking at a picture of his younger self and his dad. He was staring at it pensively, and then he heard the front door open. He put the picture down as a grin came to his face.

"What did I tell you? Yachts suck."

"Tommy Merlyn." Oliver replied hugging his best friend. Tommy hugged him back strongly, happy to have his brother back.

"Finally, things can lighten up." Tommy joked, trying to ease the tension.

"Yeah, the Wonder Twins are back together." Thea added, causing Laurel to snort with laughter. "Oh, my god, did you seriously just snort?"

"Shut up, Speedy." Laurel said with a sad smile. She looked to Tommy. "You're already a bad influence on her." she said. He winked at her in reply.

"I missed you, buddy." Tommy said.

The scene shifted, and the whole family (plus Tommy) was seated around the dining room table. Oliver sat at one end, with Thea and Tommy to his left and right respectively; Moira sat at the other end with Walter to her left.

"Ok." Tommy started. "What else did you miss? Super bowl winners Giants, Steelers, Saints, Packers, Giants again. A black president, that's new. Oh, and 'Lost,' they were all dead I think." He finished with some confusion. Honestly, no one really knew how Lost ended.

"Is that what happened?" Diggle asked, wondering aloud.

"Yeah." Felicity sighed. "It was about as unsatisfying as the end of The Sopranos." She took in everyone's stares. "What? Just because I work with computers and like Sci-Fi, I can't like a good Mob drama?"

"What was it like there?" Thea asked suddenly. There was silence as everyone turned to look at Oliver. He plastered a fake smile on his face. "Cold." He said after a moment, an air of finality in that one word.

"Tomorrow, you and me, we're doing the city." Tommy suddenly announced, sensing that it was time to move on. "You've got a lot to catch up on."

"That sounds like a great idea." Moira said.

"Good." Oliver replied. "Then I was hoping to swing by the office."

Walter and Moira exchanged glances. "Well, there's plenty of time for all that." Walter responded. "Queen Consolidated isn't going anywhere."

At that moment, Raisa came back into the room with a bowl of pears. She tripped on the rug and stumbled into Oliver, who deftly caught her and the bowl "Oh, I am so sorry, Mr. Oliver." She said. Oliver smiled at the older Russian.

"Ni dlya kogo ne volnuites." He replied. There was a beat in the room as everyone processed that.

"Dude, you speak Russian?" Tommy finally exclaimed.

"He speaks Russian…." Quentin said to Moira accusingly. She glared in return. "And a sudden interest in the family business? Maybe he's looking for ways for his Russian friends to make some 'legitimate' money."

"That is absurd." Moira said.

"Dad," Laurel started, placing a hand on his knee, "We apparently have a lot of these memories to watch, so why don't you tone it down a bit. Okay?" Quentin held up his hands in surrender.

"I didn't realize you took Russian at college, Oliver." Walter said, slightly confused.

"I didn't realize you wanted to sleep with my mother, Walter." Oliver replied bluntly.

"Ouch." Thea grimaced. "Definitely should have told him at the hospital, Mom."

"I obviously didn't want to upset him." Moira said, defending her decision. Thea shot her a look.

"Yeah. That's working out real well."

Conversation again died, and Walter and Moira glanced at each other. Moira looked back to her son, whose face showed only polite interest, no anger or disappointment. Moira looked over to Thea.

"I didn't say anything." She said.

"She didn't have to." Oliver added.

Moira's eyes narrowed slightly, then she nodded to herself, seemingly coming to a decision. "Oliver," she started, taking Walter's hand in her own, "Walter and I are married. And I don't want you to think that either one of us did anything to disrespect your father."

"We both believed that Robert, like you, was, uh, well, gone." Walter added.

"It's fine." Oliver said. He stared at his mother for a few moments, before he rose. "May I be excused?" he asked, rising from his chair. Moira nodded, and Oliver turned to leave.

"Hey, don't forget about tomorrow, buddy." Tommy called out as Oliver left, casting one last look at Thea. Round the table,, looks of sadness passed over Moira and Thea's face, as they began to realize that while Oliver may have been home, he still wasn't back yet.

Later that night, as a storm raged outside the mansion, in his room Oliver slept on the floor besides his open window, with rain pelting him as he slept fitfully. A voice could be heard counting "One, two, three, four…", and suddenly the screen flashed back to the stateroom on the Gambit. Oliver was busy opening a bottle of wine as Sara sat on the bed, counting the beats between the lightning flashes and thunder. "It's getting closer." Sara said, as the lights flashed on and off.

"That's not very scientific." Oliver said teasingly.

"She was always afraid of thunder." Laurel said sadly. "Oh, Sara…"

"God, I don't want to be seeing this." Quentin said, disgusted.

"What would you know about science, Mr. Ivy league dropout?" she asked as he brought two glasses of wine to the bed.

"I happen to know a lot about science." Oliver said, handing her a glass. "I know about fermentation. I know biology…" he trailed off as he kissed her. The broke apart and Sara leaned back smiling.

"Laurel's gonna kill me." She said, putting the glass down on the nightstand. "Oh, she's so gonna kill me."

"Your sister will never know." Oliver assured her, pressing her down into the mattress. "Come here."

"Damn you, Ollie." Laurel whispered angrily. Quentin's eyes narrowed, wondering why this memory was playing.

Sara laughed and they kissed some more, and suddenly there was a loud crack of thunder. Sara broke away, slightly panicked. "Ok, that one was really close." She said nervously.

"No…" Suddenly, Quentin understood. "Oh god, no… please…. I don't want to see this…."

"Dad?" Laurel looked at her stricken father, then back at the memory. At once, she knew as well.

"Sara," Oliver said, grinning at the girl, "we're gonna be fine." Suddenly, without warning, the room seems to flip and suddenly the far wall became the floor. Oliver and Sara were thrown out of the bed, slamming into the wall. Oliver staggered to his knees, pulling himself up on the edge of the bed.

"Sara?" he called out, looking around. There, across the room near the door lay Sara, a small cut on her head bleeding. She blinked in confusion, then look up and back at Oliver. She reached for him- but was suddenly swept from the room "Sara!" Oliver screamed as the water claimed him, too.

There was a heart-wrenching scream from Quentin as he watched his youngest daughter be claimed by the sea. He slid off the couch to the floor, sobbing, and was followed quickly by Laurel, who tired to comfort him despite her own tears.

Malcolm paused the memory, allowing the two Lances time to grieve. He felt the stirrings of remorse- after all, it had been his decision to sabotage the yacht, which led to her death. 'But if she hadn't been sneaking around with Oliver,' he thought to himself, 'then she wouldn't have been on the yacht in the first place. And it was Robert's fault for allowing his son to come with him.'

Moira looked at the fallen detective in sympathy, all traces of the anger she had felt at him moments ago gone. She knew the pain of losing a child- but to see it happen, to see it and be helpless- she could not fathom it. Thea sat next to her, crying; she too knew the pain of losing someone close, but unlike Laurel, she got her sibling back.

Tommy got up and moved over to Laurel, putting a comforting arm around her shoulder. She threw herself into his arms, burying her face into his shoulder. He rubbed comforting circles on her back. "I'm so sorry, Laurel," he murmured to her. "I'm so, so sorry."

Slade watched the display impassively. He could tell them that Sara had lived- but what good would it do? She still died a year later, in much the same circumstance. Besides, seeing her family suffer was almost good enough recompense for the kid having chosen her over Shado.

While Felicity cried with the others, Diggle got up. He walked over to Quentin and pulled him up gently. "On your feet, soldier." He said quietly. "Come on, you need to be strong for the daughter you still have." He urged, glancing down at Laurel and Tommy. Lance took a few deep breaths, then wiped the tears away from his still-damp eyes.

"I'm alright," he said brokenly.

"You sure?" Dig asked. Lance nodded, then quietly broke free and reached down to Laurel. "Come here, sweetie." He said. Laurel forced herself up and hugged her father fiercely. Dig looked down at the boy and gave him a nod; Tommy picked himself up and moved back to sit besides Thea, giving her some comfort.

Control Room

---

Mia walked back in the room and checked the monitor, mentally doing the math on the time.

"The Gambit?" she asked Roy. He nodded, and she took her seat next to him.

"Have you talked to her?" he asked. Mia nodded.

"Yeah. She says she might come up soon, but she's refusing to talk to them. Doesn't want to get their hopes up for nothing, she says."

Roy snorted. "Play her this then, see what she says." Roy said, indicating the surveillance video.

"You know how stubborn she can be. It runs in the family."

Roy considered. "How about having Dinah talk with them?" he asked.

Mia snorted. "Yeah, 'cause she's been such a fan of this plan." She shook her head. "Dinah's the last person I want talking with them. No, it's Sara, or no one."

Sitting Room

---

Everyone had retaken their seats. "Are we all ready to continue?" Malcolm asked. When no one objected, he un-paused the memory.

It seemed to take forever, but in reality it only took a few moments for Oliver to break the surface of the ocean. He gasped for breath and looked around frantically. "Sara!" he screamed.

"Oliver!" Robert called from the life raft. Oliver frantically swum for the raft, and Robert and a crewman pulled him onboard.

Despite herself, Thea leaned forward excitedly. "Dad!" she exclaimed.

Malcolm's eyes narrowed. "You survived…' he thought.

"Sara! Sara!" Oliver screamed. He lunged for the side, trying to get back in the water to find her. Robert grabbed him and held him in. "No! Dad, she's out there!"

"She's not there, Oliver. She's gone."

The flashback ended, and we see Moira leaning over Oliver, shaking him lightly. "Oliver, wake up." She said loudly, trying to be heard over the storm. She shook his shoulder again "Oliver…"

Suddenly Oliver awoke and, running on five years of survival instincts, grabbed his mother's arm and flipped her over him onto the floor. His hand came down to her neck just as Walter yelled "Oliver!"

Oliver blinked and looked down, seeing his mother there for the first time. Scarred at his own actions, he rapidly crawled away from his mother back towards the window. "I'm sorry," he said ashamedly. "I'm so… I'm so sorry."

Walter helped Moira up shakily. She knelt down in front of Oliver. "No, its ok, Oliver." She said in a soothing voice. "It's all right, sweetheart. "You're home. You're home." She emphasized.

The scene shifted to the next day. Oliver pulled his old munitions crate out from under his bed, and deftly undid the lock. Opening the lid, he pulled out a small, worn book, and an arrowhead-shaped stone. The scene then shifted to Thea's room, where her friend Margo was crushing a pill into powder with the edge of her credit card.

Both Moira and Malcolm turned to stare at Thea, who shrank back into the couch. "I am sooo grounded." She moaned.

"Oh, I think we're well beyond grounding young lady." Moira said sternly.

"Where did you get these?" Thea asked, smiling down at her friend as she leaned on her desk.

"Roxies. Thank you, daddy's ACL tear." Margo replied smugly. Suddenly there was a knock on her door, and Margo hurriedly hid the pill bottle in her jacket as Thea hurriedly threw a folder over the line just as Oliver entered the room.

"Ollie." Thea said with a smile. Oliver laughed lightly.

"No one's called me that in a while, Speedy." He replied. Thea closed her eyes, half in annoyance and half in embarrassment.

"Worst nickname ever."

"What, always chasing after me as a kid? I thought it fit pretty well." He replied. A beat. "Maybe it still does."

"He knows." Tommy said. "And if he doesn't, I'll tell him."

"Tommy…"

"No, Thea" he said, cutting her off. "Snorting Oxycodone? That can kill you. And I will NOT stand by and watch you kill yourself."

"Why not, you've been standing by for five years." She shot back.

Tommy took a calming breath. "Your right," he admitted. "I have been. But I lost him, too. And I just wasn't strong enough to be there for you when I should have been." He looked at his new-found sister. "But I'm here now, and I'm not going anywhere."

Malcolm looked at his on with pride. There was the man he knew he could be.

Margo took her cue and grabbed her bag. "See you at school, Speedy." She said. She threw a grin over her shoulder at Thea as she left. Thea laughed.

"Sorry about her." She said.

"I have something for you." Oliver held up the stone. Thea smiled in amazement.

"You did not come back from a deserted island with a souvenir."

"It's a Hozen." Oliver explained. "And in Buddhism, it symbolizes reconnecting. I kept it in hopes that one day, it would reconnect me with you." He finished, handing the Hozen to his sister. Thea took it and smiled warmly at her brother.

"A rock! That is sweet." A voice said from the door. Oliver smiled as Tommy entered the room. "You know," he started, "I want one of those t-shirts that says 'my friend was a castaway, and all I got was this crappy shirt'."

"And just when I thought you were growing up, the other you had to open his mouth." Laurel joked, wiping away her tears.

Thea smiled at his antics, then looked to her brother. "Don't let him get you into too much trouble." She advised. "You just got back. Take it slow." She embraced Oliver, who gave her a kiss on the cheek. Thea went back to her desk.

"Ahem. The city awaits." Tommy announced, and after shooting Thea a smile, the two left the room. As they walked down the hallway, Tommy looked to Oliver. "Have you noticed how hot your sister's gotten?" he asked, At Oliver's glare, "Because I have not."

Malcolm put his head in his hand, shaking it as Moira glared at the young man.

"And now I feel like I need a shower." Tommy said, uncomfortable. At Moira's glare, he added "In my defense, I didn't know I was related to her there, obliviously." If anything, her glared worsened.

Lance snorted. "Yeah, good defense." He said sarcastically.

Tommy looked over at Thea. "Feel free to help me out here." He begged.

Thea sat back with her arms crossed. "I'm already in enough trouble." She said. "I'm not saying anything."

The scene shifted again, and now Tommy an Oliver were driving through the Glades in Tommy's Mercedes with the radio blaring.

"Your funeral blew." Tommy announced. Oliver looked over at him with a grin.

"Did you get lucky?" he asked, and they both laughed.

"Fish in a barrel." Tommy said. "They were so sad."

Laurel snorted in disgust. "You are such a pig, Tommy."

Slade, of all people, gave him a thumbs up.

"No." Oliver said jokingly.

"And huggy." Tommy continued. "And I am counting on another target rich environment for your welcome home bash."

Oliver looked to his friend in confusion. "At my what?"

"You came back from the dead." Tommy stated. "This calls for a party. You tell me where and when. I'll take care of everything." They came to a stop at a corner. Across from them, a dilapidated building stood, with several homeless people out front standing close to a warming barrel. To the right stood an old, abandoned steel mill- The Queen steel mill. "And this city's gone to crap." Tommy continued. "Your dad sold his factory just in time. Why'd you want to drive through this neighborhood anyway?" he asked as Oliver looked at the factory.

"No reason" he finally said.

"So what'd you miss the most?" Tommy asked him, turning to him and grinning. "Steaks at the Palm, drinks at the station, meaningless sex?"

"You got a one track mind, Tommy." Laurel said.

"Laurel."

"And so does he." Thea added.

The smiled dropped off of his face. "Everyone is happy you're alive." He said, trying to reason with his friend. "You want to see the one person who isn't?"

Oliver just shrugged his shoulders.

The scene shifted again to CNRI, where Joana was talking with Laurel.

"Laurel, I just got this from Hunt's lawyers." She handed Laurel a folder. "They filed a change of venue. We are now in front of Judge Grell."

"Hunt funded Grell's reelection campaign." Laurel said, walking back towards her desk. Joanna joined her.

"Mm-hmm." She said.

"He's got Grell in his back pocket." Laurel stated.

"You know, its fun being your friend." Joanna replied. "I get to say 'I told you so' a lot."

Malcolm's eyes narrowed. He wondered if Grell needed to meet his 'enforcer'.

"No." Laurel shook her head. "Adam Hunt is not smarter than we are."

"No, he's just richer and willing to commit multiple felonies."

"We don't need to go outside the law," Laurel started.

"To find justice." Joanna finished. " Your dad's favorite jingle." Joanna smiled and walked away, and Laurel turned around-

To see Oliver Queen standing by her desk, looking at her board on Adam Hunt. Oliver looked over to Laurel and gave a slight smile

"Hello, Laurel."

The scene shifted, and the two were walking through an outdoor plaza. "You went to law school." Oliver was saying, "You said you would."

"Yeah." Laurel agreed sullenly. "Everyone's proud."

"Adam Hunt's a heavy hitter." Olive tried. "You sure you want to get in the ring with him?"

"Five years and you want to talk about Adam Hunt?" she asked. Oliver shook his head.

"No. Not really." Laurel sighed and they stopped walking, Oliver turning to face her.

"Why are you here, Ollie?" she asked tiredly.

"To apologize." Oliver replied. "It was my fault. I wanted to ask you not to blame her."

"For what?" she asked. "Falling under your spell? How could I possibly blame her for doing the same things that I did?"

"I never meant to-"

"She was my sister." Laurel cut him off. "I couldn't be angry because she was dead. I couldn't grieve because I was so angry. That's what happens when your sister dies while screwing your boyfriend." She paused to compose herself. "We buried an empty coffin," she finally said, "because her body was at the bottom of the ocean- where you left her. It should have been you."

Laurel dropped her head into her hands.

Oliver looked pained, the truth of her words stinging. "I know that it's too late to say this, but I'm sorry." He said at last.

"Yeah, I'm sorry, too." Laurel replied acidly. "I'd hoped that you'd rot in hell a whole lot longer than five years." She stalked past him back to CNRI. As she passed by Tommy, she asked' "How did you think that was gonna go, Tommy?"

"About like that." He replied.

"God, could I been an even bigger bitch?" she asked redundantly.

"I'm shocked you didn't deck him." Thea added.

"In your defense, you did have a legitimate reason to be angry." Felicity said.

Soon, Tommy and Oliver were walking back towards the alley where Tommy had parked his car.

"Ok, so we took care of that." Tommy was saying. "Good call. Now we can make up for lost time. If you're not too sick of fish, I suggest we find some leggy models and eat Sushi all day. What do you say?" he stopped suddenly as a van came from out of nowhere and pulled up right behind his car, slamming on the breaks before it hit the two friends. Two men in demon masks and blue hoodies came out of nowhere. "What're they doing?" Tommy asked, startled. Before either boy could react, the masked men shot the pair with tranquilizer darts. Tommy went down immediately, but Oliver took a few more moments, as he started fading, he saw an cook come out of the back of a restaurant, taking out the trash. He only had time to say "What the hell?" before a third demon-masked man with a submachine gun shot him. The Last thing Oliver saw before he passed out was one of the demon masks peering down at him.

Moira stared at the screen, her hands clenching Thea's, terrified by what she had just seen. Tommy, likewise, stared pale-faced. Malcolm looked at his son, then glanced at Moira, who steadfastly refused to look his direction. 'Something I had done, I wonder?" he thought to himself.

The scene flashed back to the life raft, where the three survivors sat, floating on the rough sea at night. Robert handed Oliver a bottle of water. "Here, son." He said, "Drink."

"What the hell are you doing?!" the crewman shouted. "That's all we've got!"

Robert glared at the man. "If anybody's making it out of here, it's gonna be him." He said as Oliver took a drink of water. Robert put an arm around his shoulders and pulled him closer to his chest.

"I'm so sorry." He said. "I thought I'd have more time. I'm not the man you think I am. I didn't build our city, I failed it. And I wasn't the only one."

Moira's face paled further, and she finally glanced over at Malcolm, whose jaw was clenched tightly.

The scene faded to black, and suddenly a voice could be heard.

"Mr. Queen? Mr. Queen!" the blackness was lifted, reveling one of the demon masked men as he pulled the bag up from over Oliver's head. The man held a Taser and hit the activation stud, causing a current of electricity to flow between the two prongs at the end. "Did your father survive that accident?" Oliver remained silent, looking around the room. He saw three men, one with a submachine gun, another, also with a gun, standing near Tommy, who was still passed out on a wooden pallet. "I ask the questions." The man said, "You give me the answers." Oliver was still silent, so the man stuck the Taser on his chest, shocking him. Oliver groaned loudly behind clenched teeth. "Did he make it to the island? Did he tell you anything?" the mask asked again, and again Oliver was silent, so he taserd him. Oliver let out another groan. Finally, he looked up at the mask.

"Yes, he did." He said.

Moira gasped.

"What did he tell you, Mr. Queen?"

Oliver looked right into the darkened eyeholes of the mask. "He told me I'm gonna kill you."

The mask and his friends all shared a laugh. "You're delusional." He said finally. "You're zip-cuffed to that chair."

Oliver lifted his now-freed hands. "Not anymore." He said. Then, before they could react, he went into motion. He ducked a punch from his interrogator, and then flipped the chair up to block a second. He reversed the chair, sending the hard edge of the seat into the chest of the second man, then ripped out of back seat posts and spun around, staking the interrogator in the heart. For good measure, he brought the taser up and shocked him under his jaw, sending him to the floor. He grabbed the second man and swung him around in front of his as a shield, just as the third man fired. The bullets hit the second guy in the chest killing him. Seeing that, the third bolted from the room. Oliver let the man drop and ran over to Tommy. Bending down he checked his pulse, making sure his friend was alive. Noting that he was, Oliver took off after the third man, just as Tommy started to come around.

As Oliver started gaining ground, the man fired wildly behind him. Oliver was able to duck and doge out of the way of the fire. They made it into another warehouse and the man fired wildly once more spraying bullets everywhere, once more Oliver was able to stay ahead of the fire, jumping off a platform and grabbing on to some chains, as the man frantically tried to reload. Oliver didn't give him a chance, swinging around and launching himself at the man. A punch to the face bent the man backwards, and Oliver spun around, wrapping his arm around the man's neck from behind in a reverse choke.

"You killed that man." Oliver said, holding the man in place.

"You don't have to do this." He gasped out.

"Yes, I do." Oliver replied, then with a jerk, broke the man's neck. "Nobody can know my secret."

Malcolm once more paused the memory, and everyone stared at the screen in shock.

"Holy mother of god…" Lance said. Laurel looked stricken, having just seen the man she had once love kill.

"Hmm." Slade smirked. "Kid's gotten better."

Tommy stared at the man. "Better than what?!" he exclaimed. "He just killed three people!"

"How exactly do you know Oliver, Mr. Wilson?" Malcolm asked eyeing the man.

"I'm one of the people who taught him how to fight." He said. "I have a feeling we'll be seeing some of that in the coming days.

"You taught him how to be a murder?" Thea spat. Slade stared back coolly.

"I taught him how to survive." He shook his head. He could not believe he was about to defend Oliver. "In case you missed it, those men forcibly took Oliver and young Mr. Merlyn," he gestured at Tommy. "They showed they were willing to kill by taking out a witness. They had automatic weapons and his friend unconscious at their feet." Slade sat forward, staring at the group. "This is not a fantasy, this is not a game. This is real life. And in real life sometimes you realize that the only safe enemy is a DEAD enemy." He leaned back in his chair, steeping his fingers. "The kid assessed his situation and deemed the best course of action was termination of the enemy combatants, which he then carried out. If I were grading him for A.S.I.S., I'd say he passed with flying colors.

"Those first two, I could understand," Lance said. "That was justifiable homicide if I ever saw it. But he chased down that third guy like a dog, and then broke his neck. THAT is murder."

"No, it was self defense." Diggle said. Everyone turned to look at him. "Someone hired those men," he started to explain. "Someone wanted intel about Oliver- about what he knew, what his father told him, whatever. But if that guy escaped and made it back to his employer or employers, he could tell them exactly how Oliver responded to their threats, about how he fought- about how capable he is." He shrugged his shoulders. "That kind of intel could be equally dangerous for him, and could convince who ever hired the thugs to take him out." He looked at Moira and Thea. "They might also not care about collateral damage, so killing him and his entire family might not be out of the realm of possibility." Diggle finished.

'Good point.' Malcolm thought.

"Why don't we finish this before we all rush to judgment?" Felicity suggested. "After all, these memories are supposed to chronicle how he became a hero, not a serial killer." Thea snorted at that. Malcolm started the memory again.

The scene shifted to the sitting room at Queen Manor, where Oliver was being interviewed by Detective Lance and his partner, Detective Hilton. Moira and Walter were there as well, and on the coffee table before them lay the sketch of Oliver and Tommy's 'savior', a man in a hood.

"So that's your story." Lance was saying. "A guy in a green hood flew in and single-handedly took out 3 armed kidnappers." He shrugged. "I mean, who is he? Why would he do that?"

Oliver shrugged in return. "I don't know. Find him and you can ask."

"Yeah." Lance said doubtfully. He looked over at Tommy. "What about you? You see the hood guy?"

"I saw…" Tommy hesitated for a moment, his eyes flickering over to Oliver, who was looking back at him with an unreadable expression. "Just movement." He said finally. "Everything blurry. I was kind of out of it."

"Yeah." Lance replied, disbelieving. He looked back to Oliver. "It's funny, isn't it? One day back, and already somebody's gunning for you. Aren't you popular?"

Moira's eyes narrowed at Lance. "Were you able to identify the men?" she asked.

"Scrubbed identities, untraceable weapons." Hilton said. "These were pros."

"Yeah." Lance added. "Well, they probably figured you'd pay a king's ransom to get your boy back- or a Queen's ransom, as it were." His gaze turned to Oliver. "After all, a parent would do anything to keep their child safe."

"I don't find your tone appropriate, Detective." Moira interjected. Walter slowly stood.

"If Oliver can think of anything else, he'll be in touch." He said. "Thank you, gentlemen, for coming."

Lance gave a cold smile and rose, tucking the drawing back into his travel case. He stared at Oliver. "Your luck never seems to run out, does it?" he said, before he and his partner leave. Oliver walks over the window and takes a calming breath, before turning back and looking at Tommy, who stares back with an unreadable expression of his own.

"So," Tommy started. "What's the over/under on how long 'till Detective Lance arrests Oliver?" he asked. Thea glared at him and he shrugged. "He obviously suspects him."

"Do you?" Laurel asked. "I mean, do you think the other you does?"

Tommy considered. "I have no idea; it depends on how out of it I was at the time." He sat back. "I probably suspect something, but if I didn't just see it with my own eyes, I wouldn't believe Oliver could kill anybody.

"Neither would I." everyone looked at Lance in surprise. "Look, I still think the kids a no good son of a…" he trailed off at Moira's scowl, "well, you know. And I have no doubt that he could kill someone accidentally. But I don't think he could take out three trained pros by himself. I just wouldn't think he had it in him."

"That must have been incredibly hard for you to say, Quentin." Moira said acidly.

"You have no idea." He replied.

Next, we find ourselves in Oliver's room. He's studying news clipping son his computer about Adam Hunt. He looks at his father's book, and sure enough Adam Hunt is a name on The List.

Malcolm's eyes widened. 'He has the book!"

"You are different."

Oliver looks up and smiles at Raisa as she enters his room with a tray of food. As she approaches, he turns the book over and clears his monitor. "Not like you to read a book."

"I missed you, Raisa." He said warmly.

"No kitchen on the island?" she joked.

"No." Oliver says. "No friends either."

Slade snorted in disgust.

He stood and walked towards her, taking the tray. "Hey. Thank you." He took the tray and sat it down on his bed, then looked back at the maid. "Do I really seem different?"

"No." she said. "You're still a good boy."

"Oh, I think we both know I wasn't."

"But a good heart." She added warmly. Oliver smiled.

"I hope so." He said. "I want to be the person you always told me I could be."

The scene shifted, and Oliver now we see Oliver leaving the mansion.

"Oliver," Moira's voice called out, stopping him in his tracks, he turned to see his Mother, Walter, and a tall, well-built black man. "I want to introduce you to someone," she was saying. "John Diggle. He'll be accompanying you from now on."

"This is where I come in." Diggle noted.

Oliver smiled. "I don't need a babysitter." He argued.

"Darling, Oliver's a grown man." Walter added. "And if he doesn't feel he needs armed protection…"

"Yes, I understand," Moira interjected, "but this is something I need." Oliver smiled at his mother, then looked once more at the bodyguard.

Soon, Diggle was driving the Bentley downtown, with Oliver in the back.

"So…what do I call you?" he asked. Diggle glanced in the rear-view mirror at his principal as he drove.

"Diggle's good." He said. "Dig if you want."

"You're ex-military?"

"Yes, sir." He replied. "105th Airborne out of Kandahar, retired. Been in the private sector a little more than four years now." He glanced in the mirror again. "I don't want there to be any confusion, Mr. Queen. My ability to keep you from harm will outweigh your comfort. Do we have an agreement? Sir?" He heard the sound of the back door opening then closing in rapid succession. He glanced over his shoulder to see that Oliver was gone. "Sir!" he called out, slamming on the brakes. He got out of the car and hurried around to the back, throwing open the back door to see the car deserted. He looked around in vain- but Oliver was gone.

"Wow." Tommy said. "That has to be some kind of record. You had him for what, fifteen minutes?"

"Well, obviously he's learned how to evade." Diggle protested, upset with himself for how easily Oliver had slipped the leash.

The scene shifted, and we see Oliver walking down in the heart of the Glades. He had picked up new clothes and gear, and now he made his way back to the abandoned Queen steel mill. He tossed his bags over the high fence, and then jumped the fence himself. Picking up the bags, he calmly walked into the mill. Long abandoned, the mill was an empty husk. Trash littered the floor, and Oliver stopped when something caught his eye. Bending down, he found an old Queen Consolidated annual report, his father's face on the cover. He picked it up and stared at it.

'The abduction was unexpected.' His voice sounded. 'It forced me to move up my plans, but what I told the police was true. The man in the green hood was there in that warehouse, and he's just beginning.'

"What plans?" Lance wondered. "What the hell is this kid doing?"

"You know," Felicity started, "I talk with a friend I met in grad school- she lives in Gotham, now- and she told me not to long ago about rumors of some nutjob dressing up like a bat, jumping off rooftops and beating up street thugs."

Lance looked at her. "You think that's Oliver?" he asked incredulously.

Felicity shook her head. "No, but we already saw he can fight, and now he's ditched his security so he could go set up a secret…lair…" she trailed off as the memory continued.

What followed were a series of images as Oliver began building his lair- knocking down walls, breaking through the floor to the basement below, maneuvering a generator and other equipment he had had delivered via unconventional sources. Soon, he had several tables set up, lights over each of the tables flickered on when he powered up the generator. He set up his computer system at the forefront and started uploading and sorting files. While the computes worked, he worked two- first on creating new arrows with the machine tools, then on working out his body- doing several reps on the salmon ladder, inverted crunches, and other exercises.

Felicity and Laurel stared at Oliver's buff form in slack-jawed admiration; even Thea was amazed.

"I've never seen him work so hard." She muttered.

Tommy looked down at his slightly flabby chest. "Wow," he sighed. "Don't I feel inferior right about now?"

"I still think you're hot." Thea said absently, then blanched. Laurel tried to hold in her laughter as Thea glared at her mother. "You couldn't have told me we were related any sooner?" she groused.

Finally, he pulled his munitions box out and set it on a table, opening it up. He pulled out his custom recurve bow, strapped his quiver to his back, and loaded up a bucket with tennis balls. Steadying himself, he knocked over the bucket and let the balls bounce out onto the floor. At once, he started drawing, nocking, and firing arrows, one after the other, until all of the tennis balls were pinned to the wall, each with an arrow dead center.

"He's good." Malcolm said in admiration.

Later, Oliver is sitting at his new computer station watching a news report about Hunt. "The suit alleges that Hunt committed multiple acts of fraud and theft against the city's underprivileged. Laurel Lance, an attorney for the city necessary…" the news report tuned out as Oliver began speaking his thoughts once more.

'Adam Hunt his crimes go deeper than fraud and theft, but he's been able to bully, bribe, or kill anyone who's gotten into his way.' Oliver moved from his weapons table to the crate and pulled out a familiar green hood. 'He hasn't met me yet.'

The scene shifted to a parking garage where Adam Hunt, Laurel's boss Eric Gitter, and two of Hunt's bodyguards were swiftly walking.

"You remind Grell I put him on the bench, I can take him off." Hunt said viciously. "I will turn him into a cautionary tale."

"Yes, Mr. Hunt." Gitter replied.

"THAT SON OF A BITCH!" Laurel shouted.

"And this attorney, Laurel Lance? You said she wasn't gonna be a problem anymore." Hunt continued. "I told you to fix that situation." He stopped and looked at Gitter. "Why are you still here?" Gitter nodded subserviently and left.

"I am going to kick his ASS when I get back." She seethed. "No wonder I got blindsided by the change in venue! Eric was probably sandbagging us all along!

"That's how men like Hunt work, Ms. Lance." Malcolm said. "I've had the unfortunate pleasure of having to deal with them on occasion. They are part of the disease that's killing our city."

The other three men continued the walk to his car, when suddenly a light exploded behind them. The first guard turned to look, his hand going for his gun in his waistband- until an arrow pierced his hand and gut, pinning it there. The guard fell with a cry, while the second guard pushed Hunt into the back of the limo. "Get in the car!" he commanded, and then turned around, drawing his weapon and firing several times into the darkened garage. He paused, searching for a target.

"Hey." A voice called out, "You missed."

Hunt listened inside the car as his second man was taken down, and suddenly a window shattered. He looked up to see an arrow lodged in the seatback. He reached for it in puzzlement-

And then suddenly he was yanked through the shattered window and tossed to the ground. He scrambled onto his back, to see Oliver, in his green uniform, hood, and grease paint over his eyes. The brim of the hood was pulled low to distort his face.

And he had an arrow nocked and aimed right at Hunt's chest.

"Holy shit." Thea said.

"I did not see this coming." Tommy paused. "Probably should have, given future-Thea, but still…"

"Aah!" the man screamed. "What? What? Just… just tell me what you want!"

The Hood jumped off the room of the car and hauled Hunt to his feet. "You're gonna transfer $40 million into Starling city bank account 1141 by 10 P.M. tomorrow night." He demanded.

"Or what?" Hunt shot back, a scowl on his face.

"Or I'm gonna take it, and you won't like how." The Hood replied, then turned and walked away.

Gaining courage at the Arrows retreating back, Hunt shouted, "If I see you again, you're dead!" In response, The Hood in one fluid motion turned and fired an arrow into the back window of the limo. Hunt looked at the hole in shock, then turned back to the Hood-

But he was already gone.

"Well, it could be worse." Felicity said after a moment.

"How could this possibly be worse?" Lance demanded.

"At least he's not dressed like a bat."

The laughter from the control room could be heard down the hall.

The scene shifted to the next day, at Adam Hunt's penthouse apartment, where Hunt was giving his stated to Lance and Hilton.

"He was wearing a hood, a green hood," he was saying, "And he had a bow and arrow." The two cops glance at one another, and Hunt misinterpreted their looks. "What, you don't believe me?" he picked up and arrow that was lying on his desk and handed it to Lance. "That maniac put two of my men in the hospital."

Lance took the arrow and looked it over. "Well, thanks for your statement. We'll put out an APB on," he looked back up at Hunt and said, slightly mockingly, "Robin Hood."

Tommy snorted.

Hunt scowled and to into Lances face. "Hey, pal. I'm not some grocer who got taken for his register. I go to the front of the line." He stepped back and looked at both cops. "Now he said he would be back here by 10 P.M. Make sure you're here first. You can coordinate with Mr. Drakon, my new head of security." He gestured to a tall, thin man in black.

"Great." Lance groused. "Now I'm wishing Queen had put an arrow in the guy."

"There's still time." Slade remarked.

"All right." Lance said finally. "Well, uh, thanks for your time." The two partners turned and left. As they walked to the elevator, Hilton said, "It looks like Queen was telling the truth."

"Yeah." Lance said grudgingly, "Well, there's a first time for everything. This hooded guy comes looking for trouble," he finishes as the doors to the elevator start to close, "he'll find it."

The scene shifts back to Queen Manor, where Oliver is exiting. He opens the back door of the Bentley-

To see John Diggle sitting in the back already.

"Put on your seat belt, sir." Dig says with a smile. "Wouldn't want you to miss your party." Oliver smiles in amusement in return as he gets in.

"Nice to see you learn from your mistakes, Mr. Diggle." Moira said.

"I've run security for several rich guys over the past few years." Dig remarked. "But I have a feeling he'll be the most difficult- if not the most interesting."

We cut to the Iron Works Building, where Oliver's 'Welcome Home' party was already in full swing with music blaring and plenty of hot girls writhing on the dance floor. Oliver walked down the main staircase, pausing only for a moment to check his new iPhone to see if Hunt had deposited the money yet.

He hadn't.

"You know, for someone who supposedly is a hero, he sure seems interested in that money." Lance observed, earning a glare from Moira.

Frowning momentarily, Oliver put the phone back into his jacket and once again slipped on his 'Oliver Queen- party boy' face just as Tommy saw him.

"Everybody, hey!" he called out, signaling for the DJ to cut the music. "Man of the hour! Whoo! And, ladies, please give this man a proper homecoming!"

'We are the champions' started playing as Oliver made his way up to the main stage in the middle of the floor. "Thank you very much, everybody!" he called out as Tommy handed him a shot. He downed it fast and yelled, "I missed Tequila!" The crowd cheered as the music started up again.

Thea shook her head. "I can't believe how easily he can turn it on and off." She remarked.

"He was always a gifted liar," Laurel said, earning a sharp look from the girl that almost immediately softened. "Still," Laurel continued, "this is a whole new level for him."

Across the street in Adam Hunt's penthouse, his security contingent was busy prepping clips and checking their automatic weapons, preparing for the coming fight. Hunt, drink in hand, frowned as he looked out his window.

"What the hell's going on out there?" he demanded.

"It's across the street." Constantine Drakon replied. "Party for the guy that got rescued off that island Oliver Queen." Hunt nodded sourly and moved back to his desk.

Malcolm snorted in amusement. 'Oh, you clever boy.' He thought.

Back at the party, Oliver smiled across the room at Diggle who stood in a corner, though his eyes never left his principal.

"Hey." Tommy said, coming up next to his friend, "Does he wipe for you, too?" Oliver chuckled as Tommy threw an arm around his shoulders.

Tommy chuckled, but sobered quickly at Diggle's cold look, causing Thea to snicker.

"Now by my rough estimate, you have not had sex in 1,839 days. As your wingman, I highly recommend Carmen Golden." He indicated three girls dancing on the stage.

"Which one is she?" Oliver asked.

"The one who looks like the chick from 'Twilight'."

"What's 'Twilight'?"

"You're so better off not knowing." Tommy responded, taking a sip of his drink.

"Amen." Felicity and Thea said together. Thea's smile quickly faded though as the party continued.

Oliver looked out at the crowd and spotted something he didn't like- Thea, with some of her friends, talking with a guy on the floor. He saw her pass him some cash and palm a packet of pills in return. Oliver frowned. "Back in a minute." He told Tommy as he headed over to his sister. Diggle noticed his movement and moved to follow.

Thea shrank back in her seat as Moira, Malcolm, and Tommy glared at her. "Can a person be grounded for stuff they haven't actually done yet?" she asked generally.

"Sadly, I get the feeling these are all things you have done already." Moira noted.

Thea smiled as he approached. "Ollie, hey!" she said as she grasped her arm, lightly pulling her away from her friends. "This party is sick!"

"Who let you in here?" Oliver demanded quietly.

"I believe it was somebody who said, 'Right this way, Miss Queen'." She replied sarcastically.

"Well, you shouldn't be here."

Thea narrowed her eyes at him as she pulled her arm free. "I'm not 12 anymore." She said.

"No." Oliver agreed. "You're 17."

Thea scoffed. "Ollie, I love you, but you can't come back here and judge me, especially for being just like you." She noted pointedly.

Oliver sighed. "I know that it couldn't have been easy for you when I was… away," he started, but Thea cut him off with a small, incredulous laugh. "Away?" she started, "No. You died. My brother and my father died. I went to your funerals."

"I know," Oliver started, but Thea cut him off.

"No, you don't." For the first time Oliver caught a glimpse of the pain Thea had been hiding ever since his return. "Mom had Walter, and I had no one. You guys all act like its cool; let's forget about the last 5 years. Well, I can't. For me, it's kind of permanently in there! So I'm sorry if I turned out some major disappointment, but this… me is the best I could do with what I had to work with." She finished, Oliver closed his eyes, unable to meet her gaze. Thea turned back to her friends. "Let's bounce." She said, and the quartet of girls walked away.

Thea sat back, drawing her knees to her chest, ignoring the looks of everyone around her. Tommy got up and moved back next to his half-sister.

"Thea, I know I haven't been there for you as much as I should have…"

"It's not your fault." She interrupted. "It's not like you knew you were my brother or anything."

"No, I didn't" he said. "But I owed it to Oliver to watch out for you; and I owed it to you to be there to lean on." He replied, putting an arm around her shoulders and pulling her in close. "You don't have to be alone anymore."

Thea snuggled into him gratefully.

"You have the fun dip?" Margo asked. Thea, a little shaken, fumbles for her purse. "Yeah. It's right…" she felt around her purse, but couldn't find the packet of pills. "No." she said in confused embarrassment, "I…I must have dropped it."

Oliver stalked away. He paused at a trashcan to throw away the packet he had palmed from her purse; looking up he caught Diggle's' satisfied look at his actions.

"And he palmed my stash." Thea groused.

"Not sure if I approve of putting arrows into people, but I whole-heartedly agree with that." Lance said. Moira rolled her eyes.

Oliver turned and started to walk away-

Only to run into Laurel.

"Oh!" he exclaimed. "Oh. You're here."

"Tommy." Laurel finally said. "He made the point that we have too many years between us to leave things the way we left them." She looked at Oliver, and then glanced around. "Is there someplace quieter that we could go?"

"Yeah."

They headed outside the main room onto the balcony that overlooked the entry hall. They walked together quietly for a few moments before Laurel spoke. "I'm sorry about saying that you should have been the one who died." She said as they walked. "That was wrong."

"If I could trade places with her, I would." Oliver replied sincerely.

"About Sara." Laurel finally said, stopping and turning to face Oliver. "There's something that I've been afraid to ask, but I need to know."

"Ok." Oliver said warily.

"When she died… did she suffer?"

Oliver thought back to that moment on the Gambit when Sara was sucked out the door and into the dark ocean beyond. "No." he lied.

Laurel closed her eyes, holding in her tears. "Oh, Ollie…."

"I think about her every day." Laurel said after a breath.

"Me, too." Oliver agreed.

"I guess we still have one thing in common then." Laurel commented. "I can't believe I'm gonna say this," she started, "but if you need someone to talk to about what happened to you, I'm here." For a moment, the mask he wore slipped off, and the real Oliver Queen gazed back at Laurel, wanting to take her up on that offer, but knowing he couldn't. The moment was ruined by a buzzing from Oliver's pocket. He took out his phone and glanced at the face- 10 P.M. He checked the account app- nothing. Oliver shook his head.

"Something wrong?" Laurel asked. Oliver looked back up at his former love.

"I asked somebody to do something. They didn't do it." The mask slid back into place. "Laurel," he started, "You always saw the best in me. Right now, that's what you're doing, looking at me, and you're wondering if that island changed me somehow, if it made me a better person. It didn't." he smiled slightly. "Stay away from me. Otherwise I'm just gonna hurt you again, but this time, it will be worse." The playboy façade firmly in place, Oliver baked away from Laurel. "Got to roll." He said loudly. "I've got 5 years of debauchery to catch up on!"

Laurel looked at him in pity and disgust. "You know what, Oliver? You're wrong." She stalked up to him. "That island did change you. At least now you're honest." With that parting shot, Laurel walked away.

"Oh, Ollie." Laurel repeated, this time in annoyance. "Why do you have to do that?"

"Push you away, or be a dick?" Tommy asked, earning n elbow in the ribs from Thea. "Ow."

Moments later, Oliver was walking though the service corridor when he was stopped by a now familiar voice. "Something I can help you with, sir?" John Diggle called out.

"I just wanted a second to myself." Oliver tried. Dig smiled lightly.

"I would believe you, Mr. Queen, if you weren't so full of crap." He gestured to the doors. "Party's this way."

Oliver sighed in annoyance. He moved to the door and tired the handle. "It's locked." He lied. Dig looked at him for a few moments, and then moved to open the door. As he moved past Oliver, the younger man's arm shot out and caught Diggle in a chokehold, rendering him unconscious in moments.

Laurel looked at Diggle. "You actually fell for that?"

Diggle squirmed uncomfortably. "I'm supposed to be babysitting a spoiled rich kid, not James freakin' Bond." He said, defending himself.

Across the street, Drakon positioned his men, then locked the doors to the penthouses' office. On the street, Lance and Hilton supervised the police and S.W.A.T., barricading the building. "It's past 10:00." He told Hunt. "He's never getting in here." Hunt nodded in agreement; outside the window, unnoticed by him, and arrow with a cable struck the wall and anchored itself.

"Son of a bitch." Lance said. "He's using his own party as cover to rob Hunt!"

"What's he going to do, shimmy over on the cable?" Thea asked.

"No," Malcolm said, "I don't think so."

Hunt and Drakon stood calmly in the office with several other men, when suddenly the lights went out. Then, in the hallway, the elevator dinged.

As soon as the doors opened and arrow shot out, killing one guard. Another arrow dropped another guard, and then The Hood was out, using his bow like an escrima stick, beating down the two guards closest to the elevator. He tossed the bow at a third, knocking him down even as he moved towards a fourth, jumping out of the way towards a pillar as the guard fired, then propelling himself off the same pillar and coming down hard on the guard, breaking his neck. He rolled, retrieved and moved behind another pillar as the last guard opened fire.

Inside the office, Hunt paced nervously as he heard the sounds of gunfire- and then suddenly all was silent. For a moment nothing happened, and then suddenly a figure burst through the glass doors. A guard in the room opened fire, spraying the figure with bullets, only stopping, too late, when he realized it was one of the guards from outside he had just killed. The Hood then killed him with an arrow to the heart, and then unleashed his furry on the last guard, breaking his nose and crushing his throat with the bow. He pulled an arrow and shot at Hunt; the arrow impacted the wall behind the desk.

Laurel shuddered. "I can't get over how easily he can kill those people." She said. Tommy nodded in agreement.

"You missed." Hunt sneered at the Emerald Archer, even as The Hood nocked another arrow and held it on Hunt.

"Really?" he said. Suddenly Drakon was on him, flinging his bow away and attacking him with furious punches and kicks. Oliver held his own as Hunt scurried out the room, rapidly he pulled out his phone and called own to Lance. "He's here!" he screamed into the phone. On the ground, Lance got on his walkie-talkie.

"All units, converge! All units, converge! "He cried out to the men on the ground as they stormed the building. As they all ran up the stairs, The Hood and Drakon continued to fight. Oliver was more than a match for the senior guard, but Drakon was crafty. He pulled out his knife and lunged; Oliver parried and quickly disarmed him. They crashed to the ground, with Drakon falling just in range of one of his men's Uzi's. He grabbed the gun and Arrow ran for Hunt's desk. Drakon opened fire just as The Hood, in one fluid motion, leapt over the desk, pulled a flechette from his arm and threw it back at Drakon, striking and killing the man. The Hood landed hard, stunned into momentary unconsciousness. A moment later, the sounds of Police out in the hall startled the young man back to wakefulness. He gasped, and then staggered to his feet, pulling a round out of his bulletproof vest that had been concealed under his green jacket.

"Lay down your weapons, or we will open fire!" the cops screamed, coming to the door. "I repeat, lay down your weapons…"

"I got him!" Lance realized. "There's no way out of there!"

"Oh, I wouldn't bet on that, Detective." Slade said.

Without hesitation, The Hood leapt to his feet and shot an arrow that disarmed both cops simultaneously. But Lance was right behind them and opened fire, tracing a line of bullets just behind The Hood-

As he leapt through a window.

Lance and Hilton ran to the window, only to see the hooded man using his bow to cross the zip-line he had set up earlier, back to the Iron Works. Hilton and Lance exchanged disbelieving glances.

Tommy exploded into astonished laughter as Lance's face fell.

"Are you kidding me?!" Thea exclaimed. Moira and Laurel just stared in shock.

"Tell me you saw that." Hilton said. Lance took a breath.

"Ok." He said, then to the rest of the cops, "Let's go. Move."

Minutes later, the cops stormed the party. A man in S.W.A.T. gear rushed up to the DJ booth and shut it down, just as Lance entered, giving orders to his men.

"Search the building roof to basement. Find him!" He raised his voice to the crowd. "Starling City police! The party's over, kids." He looked around and saw a familiar face. "Oh, Mr. Merlyn." He said acidly, even as Tommy grinned at the cop in amusement. "Imagine my shock at finding you here. Did you roofie anyone special tonight, huh?"

Tommy glared at Lance. "I have NEVER had to use drugs to get any, Detective." He snarled.

"Detective!" a voice called out. Lance turned to see Oliver walking towards him. "It's a private party."

"Yeah?" Lance shot back. "Well, there was an incident at Adam Hunt's building tonight. You know anything about that?" he asked.

"Who's Adam Hunt?" Olive asked, bored.

"He's a millionaire bottom feeder, and I'm kind of surprised you aren't friends."

"I've been out of town for a… while." Oliver said mildly. Tommy let out a soft laugh.

"Yeah." Lance agreed. "Well, he just got attacked by the guy with the hood, the guy that saved your ass the other day."

"The hood guy." Oliver said.

"Yeah." Lance replied.

"You didn't find him?" Oliver asked, then smiled. "I'm gonna offer a reward. Hey, everybody!" Oliver turned around and shouted to his fellow partiers. He held up two fingers. "$2 million to anybody that can find a nut bar in a green hood."

Tommy and Thea snickered. Lance snorted in annoyance. "what a grand-stander.."

"Theatricality and deception can be powerful tools, Detective." Malcolm said.

The crowd cheered in response, and Oliver turned back to Lance. The older cop walked right up to Oliver.

"Did you even try to save her?" he demanded; any feelings of satisfaction Oliver had felt a moment ago vanished in an instant. Hilton saw what was happening and interceded, putting a calming hand on Lance and pushing him away lightly. "Ok, he said quietly, "Let's go, partner." Lance, though, wouldn't be deterred.

"Did you even try to save my daughter?" he demanded.

Lance closed his eyes in shame as Laurel placed a comforting hand on his knee.

"Sara wouldn't want this." Hilton said, leading Lance away. "Partner, let's go." Oliver's face was set in stone, as the cops left, but after a moment he made his way onto the stage. "It's way too quiet in here!" he yelled with a smile, throwing out his arms. "This is a party!" The crowd cheered as Oliver made his way off the stage. Tommy came up to him, giving him a strange look.

"Some coincidence," he said, "I mean, you asking to have your party here, and Hunt getting robbed right next door… and by the same guy who rescued us at the warehouse." His tone inferred he was suspicious. Oliver gave him a tight smile.

"If I were you, Tommy, I'd just be glad you're alive." He advised calmly.

Tommy stared back at his friend; for the first time since they had met, he truly felt like he didn't know the person standing in front of him. "What happened to you on that island?" he asked haltingly.

"That's a real good question." Tommy muttered.

"A lot." Oliver replied before walking away.

The next day, Adam Hunt was pacing his office, screaming into his phone at his accountant. "What the hell are you talking about? $40 million doesn't just up and vanish!" the accountant said something, and he scoffed. "Untraceable?! It is $40 million! Find it!" he ended the call and slammed the phone own onto the desk. He sank into his chair and put his head in his hands, defeated. "How did he do it?" he asked himself while ignoring the arrow embedded in his wall. He paid no attention to it, or to the electronic device that was attached to it; its indicator light blinking green.

Malcolm smirked. 'Well played.' He thought.

Meanwhile back at the foundry. Oliver watched as the $40 million transferred from Hunt International's account into a trust account he had set up. He then glanced over at a second screen, where another program was transferring that money back to the people which Hunt had stolen it from. He picked up the notebook, and calmly crossed Adam Hunt's name off The List. Oliver looked at the picture of his father on the shareholders report.

"A real Robin hood." Laurel remarked. Lance shook his head. He was about to say something, but the memory playing caught his attention.

The scene shifted back to the raft. It looks to have been several days. The crewman dozed across from Robert and Oliver, perched on the side of the raft with a knife held loosely in his hand. Robert glanced at the man, and then pulled Oliver in close.

"There's not enough for all of us." He whispered to his son.

"Save your strength." Oliver said, weakly.

"You can survive this," Robert insisted. "Make it home, make it better. Right my wrongs. But you got to live through this first." Oliver appeared to doze off, so Robert shook him lightly. "You hear me, Ollie?" he demanded. "You hear me, son?"

Moira lifted her hands to her mouth. "Oh, Robert…" she said with tears in her eyes. Thea sniffled, moving away from Tommy and into her mother's side.

"Just rest, dad." Oliver said tiredly, dozing off once more. Robert seemed to come to a decision.

"No." he said quietly, kissing his son on the forehead. He gently moved Oliver away from him, propping him up against the edge of the raft. Then, eyeing the crewman, he reached into his jacket-

And pulled out a gun. The crewman only had a moment to look surprised before Robert pulled the trigger, shooting the man in the head and knocking him off the raft. That woke Oliver up suddenly, and he scrambled back from his dad in shock.

Everyone else stared in shock as well, with Moira and Thea especially rattled. Malcolm leaned forward.

"Dad?!"he exclaimed in stunned horror.

Robert looked sadly back at his son. "Survive." He said, and then he put the gun to his temple and pulled the trigger.

This time it was Moira who let out a heart-wrenching scream. Thea burrowed into her side, wracked with sobs. Moira glared at Malcolm as he paused the memory.

"Are you happy, you bastard." She seethed.

"Control yourself, Moira." Malcolm warned.

Moira let out a mirthless laugh. "Oh, why the hell should I?" she asked as the others looked on in confusion. "What are you going to do? Do you think all of your plans are going to stay hidden? He has your list, Malcolm!"

"Dad?" Tommy said, looking at his father in confusion. "What does she mean 'your list'? You mean that book?" he looked to Moira, who nodded shortly. He looked back to Malcolm. "What is that book, dad?"

Malcolm stared hard at Moira. "I'm sure it will be revealed." He said finally, turning the memory back on.

"No!" Oliver screamed in horror. Then suddenly we were back in the Foundry as Oliver watched the money transfers end.

The next day at CNRI, Laurel spent most of the afternoon and evening fielding calls from happy, if puzzled clients.

"If, hypothetically, $50,000 magically appeared in your bank account, it might be best for you not to speak about it." She was saying into her phone as Joanna approached her desk. "To anyone. Ever." She smiled. "God bless you, too." She said as she hung up the phone.

"I just got a very grateful phone call from one of our clients against Adam Hunt." Joanna said.

"Me, too." Laurel replied, and the two laughed.

"So, I guess we know where the money went, now." A shaken Felicity said, the tension in the room nearly overwhelming her.

"Yeah." Lance agreed absently, wishing he had his gun.

"It looks like Starling City has a guardian angel." She remarked. Joanna glanced back then said. "By the way, your cute friend's here."

Laurel's face fell as she figured she was talking about Oliver, but when Laurel turned around she saw Tommy standing there, smiling.

"You left the party pretty quick last night," he was saying later as they walked down an ally towards his car. "Even after I made sure the bar was stocked with Pinot Noir."

"It wasn't really my scene." Laurel replied lightly.

"I thought maybe you and Oliver went mano-a-mano again." He threw out, "I saw you two head out."

"There's nothing between Oliver and I," Laurel said with finality. "Not anymore."

"Here I thought the only thing between you and Oliver was us."

"I wouldn't exactly characterize us as an 'us', Tommy." Laurel said teasingly. Tommy stopped and turned to face her.

"Then what would you call it?" he asked.

"A lapse." She decided.

"That's quite a few lapses" Tommy said with a grin. "Your place, my place, my place again…" they both laughed.

"Oh, come on, Merlyn." Laurel said with a smile. "We both know that you're not a one-girl type of guy."

"Depends on the girl." He announced. Laurel smiled.

"I have to go back to work." She said finally, turning to walk away.

"Dinah Laurel Lance," Tommy called out, "Always trying to save the world." Laurel tuned around and smiled.

"Hey." She said, "If I don't try and save it, who will?" she gave him a small wave, then turned and walked away. Tommy smiled and got in his car, and unnoticed by either of them, The Arrow sat perched on a fire escape high above, watching it all.

'She says the island changed me.' Oliver's voice said. She has no idea how much.' Once more we are back on the raft. Oliver pulls himself up, looking over the edge of the raft into the distance- where Lian Yu lay waiting. 'There are many more names on the list, those who rule my city through intimidation and fear. Every last one of them will wish I had died on that island.'

Back at Queen Manor, a darkly-dressed man was walking down the rear steps towards the garden where another figure was waiting for him.

"The police failed to identify the men I hired to kidnap Oliver," he said, "and they never will. Should we arrange another abduction?"

"No." Moira Queen said. "There are other ways of finding out what my son knows."

Thea pulled away from her mother sharply, staring at her with wide eyes. "You hired those guys?" she said accusingly.

Moira looked to her daughter, wiping away the rest of her tears. "Yes," she admitted. "I suppose I would have hired them."

"Why?" Thea demanded. Moira turned and glared at Malcolm.

"To prove to HIM that Robert didn't tell him anything."

"Moira…." Malcolm said threateningly.

"Tell him anything about what? That book?" Tommy demanded.

"The book- or his 'Undertaking—"

"ENOUGH!" Malcolm roared, leaping to his feet. Moira drew back fearfully-

An arrow thudded into the table in front of Malcolm. She spun to the door to see Mia, another arrow nocked and aimed at his chest.

"Sit. DOWN." She ordered. Reluctantly he did so. "I told you that your secrets and lies would be exposed. And so they have- at least some of them. Others will follow." She glared at him. "You need to understand something, dad. All of your plans were ruined the moment I brought you here. So getting angry with mom over spilling those secrets is pointless. Now," she looked around the room, "You just saw his first week back. And you have many more weeks to go before you are through. And in watching those memories, you are going to learn things you don't understand when you see them, but will be revealed in time. So my advice is to sit back, observe, and process silently. Because if we have to stop every time someone here wants to kill someone else for something they see them do, you will all be here for YEARS. Okay?" At their nods, Mia walked over to Malcolm and grabbed the remote. "You know what I did to you the first time I saw you, after I learned that you were my father?" Mia asked.

"What?" Malcolm asked in reply.

"I shot you." Mia stated. "And if you even think about hurting anyone here, I'll shoot you again- only this time it will be in the head. Got it?"

Malcolm gave her a vicious grin. "That's my girl."

Mia's eyes widened fractionally, then narrowed. Without looking, she tossed the remote to Lance, then turned and walked out, leaving a stunned crowd behind.

TBC...

A/N: Did anybody else get the feeling that, in the Pilot, they set up Walter to be one of the villains?

A/N 2: Wow, so the ending of this chapter kind of ran away from me. I didn't have Malcolm being revealed as a big bad until he was introduced on the show, but my muse took one look at the scene with Robert killing himself and said 'No, I think Moira will start spilling the beans here.' This is the first time I've written a story where the story started writing itself despite my wishes.

A/N 3: a reply to Britany's review of last chapter- there will be no real pairings in this story; they will be saved for the sequel- which will be Olicity. Pairings will be Oliver/Felicity, Tommy/Laurel, Thea/Roy with a little Sara/Nyssa thrown in for fun.

Finally, to clarify- I will be posting this story on a bi-weekly schedule. I hope that will give me time to actually have this story completed while I continue to update. So expect a new chapter every other Monday for now.