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 2: Honor Thy Father
Control Room
Mia skulked back into the control room and threw herself into her chair. Sighing in annoyance, she pulled up the next memory set so Lance could play it when they were ready. All the while Roy was looking at her. "What?" she asked shortly.
"So…. Are you planning on threatening to kill everyone in the room?" he asked.
"Roy?"
"Yes, dear?"
"Shut up."
"Yes, dear."
Sitting room
They all sat there in tense silence. Thea shifted away from her mother towards Tommy, who placed a protective arm around her. Finally it was Slade who broke the ice.
"This is the most fun I've had in years."
Diggle glared at him. "Really, man?"
Slade shrugged his shoulders. "I make it no secret that I have a personal issue with Mr. Queen. Anything that will ultimately bring him… discomfort, well, how can I not like it?"
"Your messed up in the head, man." Diggle said.
"Which apparently Miss Queen eventually takes off." Slade said with a smirk.
Before anyone else could say anything, Lance spoke up. "Look, it's like the lady said. We have a lot of these to get through. So let's all settle down and get through them. Alright?" he looked around, and one by one the people nodded. Lifting the remote, he pressed play.
The next memory set started with Oliver's voice. 'The day I went missing was the day I died.' Scenes of him finding the island are shown, and then we cut back to the Foundry, where Oliver is gearing up. 'Five years in hell forged me into a weapon, which I use to honor a vow I made to my father, who sacrificed his life for mine. In his final moments, he told me the truth: that our family's wealth had been built on the suffering of others. That he failed our city, and that it was up to me to save it and right his wrongs. But to do that without endangering the people closest to me, I have to be someone else. I have to be… something else.'
The scene cuts to a rooftop, where Oliver engages in combat with six armed guards. In under a minute he has taken them all out, beating them down one at a time with sharp, effective punches and kicks, broken up with swipes from his bow. The brass knuckle hand guard on the bow does its job admirably, knocking out the last of the men guarding his target.
"Whoa, whoa! Easy, wait, wait! No, please-" the man's pleas were cut off as The Hood grabbed the man by his collar and threw him off the helicopter platform, onto an air conditioning unit. The Hood jumped down to join him, smashing his boot into the grate covering the fane, then forced the man's face over the hole, mere inches away from the spinning fan blades.
"Marcus Redman," he growled, voice modulator disguising his voice, "you have failed this city."
"Please, don't! Please! Don't!" Redman cried out in terror as The Hood leaned in closer.
"Cell phone, inside pocket; call your partner." He growled. "Tell him to give those pensioners back their money. Do it now."
"Okay." The man said weakly, and The Hood jumped down and stalked away.
"He's taking the 'Robin Hood' deal a bit literally, isn't he?" Felicity asked, easing the tension some more. "Although, is it robbing from the rich to give to the poor if the money that's being given back belonged to the poor in the first place and was stolen by the rich…"
Diggle placed a hand on her knee. "Don't forget to breath, Felicity." He advised her warmly, finally breaking the tension as everyone chuckled.
Cut to the next morning in Queen Manor as Oliver walks into the sitting room, where Moira, Walter and Thea were watching a news report.
'Over the past 15 years, Mr. Redman has withdrawn more than $30 million from the plan's account. Mr. Redman claims refunding the Halcyon pension plan has always been his intent. But sources say Redman was coerced by the vigilante.' On the screen, the familiar sketch of the Hood came up. Oliver gestured at the screen.
"This guy gets more air-time than the Kardashians, right?" he said jovially.
"The Kardashians? Really?" Thea said. "That's his go-to reference?
Thea shot him a look. "Five years on an island and you still know who they are." She said. Oliver smiled.
"I've been catching up." He said. "It's nice to see how much our culture has improved while I was away."
"But the city used to be different." Moira interjected. "People used to feel safe."
"Aw, what's the matter, mom?" Thea said sarcastically, "Afraid we're gonna be next?"
"Actually," Lance started, "I wonder if he'd hit you just to throw suspicion off of himself."
Laurel gave her father a look. "Oliver wouldn't attack his own mother." She said.
"We don't know what this Oliver would do." Tommy said bluntly. Then he sighed. "But no, Detective, I don't think he'd do that."
"Do you have any questions about today, Oliver?" Walter asked. "It's a simple proof-of-life declaration. Just read out a brief, prepared statement to the judge, and then your death-in-absentia judgment will be voided."
Oliver gave him a tight smile. "It's fine, Walter. I've been in a courtroom before."
"Four times by my estimate." Tommy said as he walked in the room. "You know, there was the DUI, the assault on that paparazzi douchebag, stealing that taxi, which was just awesome, by the way, and who could forget peeing on the cop?" Oliver had the sense to look slightly embarrassed at his youthful transgressions.
Moira shot Tommy an annoyed look. "I wish everyone would." She said bluntly.
Present day Moira shot Tommy a look. Tommy, for his part, was still miffed about being kidnapped by goons she had hired. "It was still awesome." He told her snarkily.
"It was MY leg." Quentin growled. Laurel had the decency to disguise her laugh with a cough.
"I'd hang, but we're headed to court." Oliver said with a tight smile. Tommy grinned back, oblivious to the tension.
"I know, that's why I'm here." He said. "My best friend is getting legally resurrected; I wouldn't miss this for the world."
"Right." Oliver sighed. He looked at Thea. "What about you?" he asked.
"Oh, I think the first four times of you in court was enough for me." She said tersely as she walked out of the room.
"Fair enough." Oliver sighed.
"Mrs. Queen?" Diggle announced as he came into the room. "Car's ready."
Moira nodded and, shooting Tommy a look and ignoring the arm he held out for her, took her husband's arm as well and walked out to the car. Tommy held out his arm jokingly to Oliver, who just smirked and walked out. Shrugging his shoulders, Tommy followed.
The scene shifted to outside the courthouse, where Oliver was trying to make his way through a sea of reports. They pressed in close from all sides, screaming questions.
"Are you going to testify as to what happened when the yacht sank?"
"Are you going to talk about the boat crash?"
"Mr. Queen, did you see Sara Lance die?"
Laurel and Quentin winced at that.
As the storm of questions continued, his mind brought up images of another storm, feeling the room tilt, seeing Sara pulled away from him by the ocean…
Inside the courtroom, Oliver was giving his statement. "There was a storm. The boat went down. I was the only survivor." His mind flashed back to the raft, screaming for Sara as his father stopped him from lunging back into the ocean to search for her.
'She's not there!' Robert said, even as Oliver cried out. 'Sara!' he screamed…
Back in court, Oliver continued. "My father didn't make it." He thought of the moment that Robert had put the gun to his temple and fired. Moira was crying softly, and even Tommy looked saddened as he finally started to grasp the suffering his friend had gone though. "I almost died, I… I thought that I had, because I spent so many days on that life raft before I saw land." He thought of his first sighting of Lian Yu, then of staggering to shore. "When I reached it, I knew I knew that I was gonna have to live for both of us. And in those five years, it was that one thought that kept me going." He finished shakily. Even giving that brief, prepared statement had been exceptionally hard on the man.
Thea saw the tears streaming down her mother's face, and despite the tension between them, reached out and grasped her hand in support. Moira didn't look at her, but squeezed back in silent gratitude.
"Your honor," his lawyer started, "We move to vacate the death-in-absentia filed after Oliver's disappearance at sea aboard the Queen's Gambit five years ago. Unfortunately we will not be requesting that the declaration of death filed for the petitioner's father, Robert Queen, be rescinded. The Queen family is only entitled to one miracle, I'm afraid."
A short time later, the Queens, with Tommy, headed out of the courtroom and down the stairs to the main floor.
"Now, onto the offices." Moira said with forced levity. "Everyone is waiting to meet you there."
"Uh, mom," Oliver said wearily, stopping on the stairs. Moira and Walter turned to face him. "That was a little bit heavier than I was expecting it to be. Can we do that tomorrow? Please?"
Moira looked at Walter, who nodded slightly. She smiled at her son. "Of course."
"Thank you." Oliver said, and Moira and Walter headed away. Oliver took a moment, then started walking down the stairs, Tommy at his side.
"Last week, you couldn't wait to get to the company." His friend observed.
"Tommy, I'd just spent five years away from civilization." Oliver explained. "I wasn't exactly thinking straight. I- Hi." Oliver said as he rounded the corner at the bottom of the stairs- and ran straight in to Laurel, who was walking with Joanna and another woman into the courthouse.
"What are you doing here?" she demanded.
"And I'm back to being a bitch. " Laurel said, shaking her head. "How do I not see though his bullshit?"
"Because you see him as he wants to be scene." Malcom said, speaking up for the first time. "As the immature boy he once was, not as the man he has become."
Oliver looked confused for a moment, the realized what she meant. "Oh, they were bringing me back from the dead. Legally speaking." He smiled. "What are you doing here?"
"My job." She replied bluntly.
"Right."
"More like the D.A.'S." Joanna put in helpfully. There was an awkward pause; Oliver then noticed the sad looking woman on Laurel's right and held out his hand.
"Hi, Oliver Queen." He said politely, shaking her hand.
"Emily Nocenti." She replied.
"Oliver just got back from five years on an uncharted island. Before that, he was cheating on me with my sister." Laurel said acidly. "He was with her when she died. And last week, he told me to stay away from him. It was really good advice." She pushed past him. "Excuse me."
The four stood around awkwardly for a moment, before Emily spoke up. "It was nice to meet you." She said as Joanna led her away.
Tommy clapped him on the shoulder. "Come on, buddy, shake it off. Let's go." The two headed outside. There on the steps the press was gathered, this time around another man. Martin Somers looked confident, smiling at the cameras as the reports clambered for a sound bite, and the two men watched with interest.
"Mr. Somers! Mr. Somers!" The all screamed. Martin pointed at one of the reporters. "What do you have to say about the accusations made by Laurel Lance?" she called out.
"I don't know what I've done to earn this witch-hunt from Miss Lance and her bosses at the CNRI." He started, still smiling. "But I can tell you this. I am an honest businessman, and I will fight this slander to my last dime and breath. That's all I have to say, thank you." Martin walked away, with some of the press still trailing after him.
"And if he's an honest businessman, than I'm Humanitarian of the Year." Malcolm said, ignoring the glares sent his way.
Others, however, had spotted Oliver at the top of the stairs. Oliver walked down the stairs towards the car as the reporters shouted their questions.
"Oh, there's Mr. Queen."
"Mr. Queen, do you want to follow up?"
"What happened in there, sir?"
"Tell us what happened inside, Mr. Queen!"
"Step back everybody, please." Diggle called out, ushering Oliver through the crowd.
"Can you give us a couple comments about the island, Mr. Queen? Before you go, sir, please."
"Couple of comments about the island, sir."
"What happened in there?"
Diggle opened the rear door and Oliver, still silent, climbed inside. Diggle shut the door and tried to push the reporters back. "Everybody, step back." One photographer got too close, and Diggle grasped the man's jacket and shoved him back hard. "Hey man, I'll make you swallow that Nikon. Back!"
Suddenly there was the sound of squealing tires, and the Bentley pulled away at a fast clip as Diggle and Tommy looked on.
Tommy looked over at Diggle, who had a cross look on his face. "That happens to you a lot, doesn't it?" he asked glibly.
Tommy looked back to the bodyguard. "This happens to you a lot, doesn't it?" he asked glibly.
Most everyone laughed at that.
Back in the courthouse, Laurel was giving her opening remarks.
"How much is a life worth?" she asked. "A life of a man, a good man, a stevedore on the docks of the city in which we live. A father." She stopped and looked back at Emily. "A man with a daughter." She paused for effect before continuing. "The plaintiff will prove by a preponderance of evidence that Victor Nocenti learned that his boss, that man sitting right there," she pointed at the defendant, "Martin Somers, was taking bribes from the Chinese triads to smuggle drugs into our city. And when Victor Nocenti threatened to tell the police, Martin Somers had him killed. Mr. Somers is very well-connected, and has friends in the district attorney's office. Which is why, if Emily Nocenti is to get justice for her father's death, if Martin Somers is to get justice for his crimes, then someone is going to have to do it for them."
Back at the Foundry, Oliver was deep into his workout, preparing himself for the night's activities.
'Martin Somers.' Oliver's voice intoned as he practiced with his escrima sticks. 'Laurel's targeted the worst of starling city, so it's no surprise his name is on my father's list. The city's police and the D.A. can't stop him- or won't. Laurel thinks she's the only one willing to bring him to justice. She's wrong.'
"Pause it." Tommy told Lance shortly. Surprised by the boy's tone, he did so. Tommy then stood and looked to his father. "What's this list? Because we already know it isn't Mr. Queens'."
Malcolm looked up at his son impassively for several moments. Finally, he spoke. "When Robert and I were both younger, more idealistic men, we decided to use our wealth and influence to make Starling City a better place. Even back then, when you and Oliver were very young children, the city had started to turn for the worse. And we, in our ignorance, thought we could change it." He scoffed. "Then Rebecca was killed…"
"Yes, my mother was murdered. A fact you like to bring up every other conversation." Timmy said sharply. "Stick to the list."
Malcolm's eyes narrowed. "Your Mother's death has everything to do with the list." He shot back. "After her death, I left. I traveled the world, trying to make sense of my grief, trying to find a reason to live on."
"There was a reason waiting for his dad to come home." Tommy said quietly. Malcolm ignored him.
"When I came back, I realized that trying to change things the way we had been was never going to work. In order for things to change, it had to be more than just Robert and I. So I started looking, recruiting other businessmen and women who held a similar interest in saving our city. Some were altruistic. Others, like myself and Robert, had suffered personally due to the crime in The Glades. We began to pool our resources, but still it wasn't enough. It was then that I realized that the elements that were poisoning our city needed to do their fair share as well. And so I began to compile the list." He gestured at the frozen screen, where Oliver held open the small notebook. "Politicians, landlords, judges, mob bosses. Everybody and anybody in Starling City that had bribed or taken a bribe, that had murdered or covered up a murder; everyone who had profited from the suffering of the good, honest people of Starling City, from Frank Bertinelli to Adam Hunt, from Judge Grell to Tony Zucco. They all went on the list."
"You had a list of crooked politicians and judges" Lance asked in disbelief. "And you never brought that up to anybody?"
"Who, the District Attorney?" Malcolm replied. "Ms. Spencer seems to be fair, but her predecessor accepted bribes from half the crooked businessmen in the city, The police?" he scoffed. "For every honest cop like you, Detective, there are corrupt cops like Nudocerdo."
"He's chief of police!" Lance exclaimed.
"He's accepted campaign contributions from Frank Bertinelli." Malcolm countered.
"Okay, so you have a list of corrupt people." Tommy interrupted. "So what? How does that help?"
"The list is merely a reference guide." Malcolm replied. "I had copies of the list printed, and gave a copy to each member of our organization. Each person thought up their own ideas, and looked up who would best be able to facilitate them. When we met every month or so, we would throw out our ideas, pick the best ones, and then I'd run with them. I'd use contacts I'd formed to get in touch with, say, Frank Bertinelli, and he'd lean on the appropriate people to enact the plan. If he didn't, I had accumulated information on him, and every person on that list, that I would go public with if they didn't comply. If they were lucky, the D.A. would be forced to prosecute." He smiled coldly. "OF course, there were some that if certain facts were brought to light, they would be praying for prosecution. Because if the D.A. didn't get them, the Triad or the Mob would."
Tommy stared at his father as if he was a stranger. "You've been blackmailing people, all in some weird plan to save the city?"
"That was the plan, yes." Malcolm replied simply.
"What do you mean, 'was' the plan?" Laurel demanded.
Malcolm smiled. It wasn't a pleasant site. "Clever girl, Miss Lance. I said was, because even after several years of doing this, it still didn't make a difference. And so a new plan was made."
"And what is that plan?" Tommy asked, dreading the answer.
"I have the distinct impression," Malcolm said after a moment, "that you will learn all about it soon." He gestured to Lance. "Why don't we continue, Detective?"
Lance looked up at Tommy, who sighed, then nodded. Tommy sat down as Lance started the memory again.
That night on the docks, Somers was railing at his lawyer in his office.
"You, listen up." He growled. The calm, confident man who had spoken to the press earlier that day was gone. This was the true Martin Somers- jittery, scared. "The longer this goes on, the more likely the media is gonna crucify me. You shut this trial down, do you understand me?" Suddenly the lights flickered off, and the sounds of three arrows impacting their targets could be heard. When the lights came back up, his lawyer and his two bodyguards were down on the ground. "What the hell?" was all he said when suddenly he was grabbed from behind and his world went dark.
When he came to, the world seemed to be upside down. As the world came into focus and he saw The Hood standing across from him, though, he realized that it was himself who was upside down, hanging from a crane and swinging like a pendulum.
"Martin Somers! You've failed this city." The Hood intoned, drawing an arrow from his quiver and firing it as the man swung. It just passed by the right side of his head.
"No! No, no, no, no, no!" Somers screamed out. The Hood ignored him.
"You're gonna testify in that trial. You're gonna confess to having Victor Nocenti killed. There won't be a second warning." He warned, drawing another arrow and firing it. The one left a deep cut on his left cheek. Somers cried out in pain, pressing his hand to the cut. When he looked back at where The Hood had been, though, the vigilante was gone.
"He can't honestly believe that will work." Malcolm scoffed.
"The kid's a bit of an idealist." Slade said. "Plus, I don't think he has a clear understanding of how much more scary the Triad can be compared to him."
Later that night, back at the Queen manor, another interrogation was going on.
"I hired you to protect my son." Moira was saying as she paced in front of John Diggle. "Now, I'm not a professional bodyguard, but it seems to me that the first requirement would be managing to stay next to the man you're hired to protect." She pointed out.
"With all due respect, ma'am," Diggle tried, "I never had a client who didn't want my protection."
"I hired you." Moira pointed out, coming to stop in front of the bodyguard. "That makes me the client." She looked at the man sternly for a moment before resuming her pacing. "Now, where do you think my son is going on these chaperone-less excursions?"
"Ma'am, I truly do not know." Dig answered honestly.
"I just don't get it." Thea said suddenly, glaring at her mother. "Why are you so interested in where Oliver is going? I mean, it's not like you're worried about him getting kidnapped again, since- hello, that was you!"
"Someday," Moira said, gazing levelly at her daughter, "You'll have children. And you will understand doing anything and everything in your power to keep them safe. Yes," she said, cutting off Thea, "I had Oliver kidnapped. Or will have him kidnapped," she muttered to herself, "but that's only because, if I didn't do it, than someone else would have. And then it would have been very unlikely he would have come home alive." She finished, glaring at Malcolm, who smirked.
"Oh, I don't know, Moira." He said. "Oliver seems to have had things well in hand."
In the control room, Rose looked over at Mia. "And here I thought MY dad was an asshole." She remarked. Mia winced.
"Yeah…"
Back in the sitting room, Lance looked at Malcolm with disgust. "If I had my gun, I'd shoot you right now, Merlyn." He said, then lifted the remote and un-paused the memory.
"And he truly doesn't." a jovial voice called out as Oliver walked into the room. His mother cast him a baleful look.
"Then perhaps you'd like to share with me, you know, where it is you run off to." His mother said, exasperated.
"I've been alone for five years." Oliver pointed out.
"I know that, Oliver."
"Mom," he interrupted, shoot her a look. "Alone." He emphasized.
Moira put it together after a beat. "I see." She said.
"I promise to introduce her if it ever gets to the exchanging first names stage…" he started.
Laurel shook her head. "Leave it to Oliver to use his reputation for sleeping around as a cover story."
Tommy crossed his arms. "And Mia called me the slut." He groused.
"The difference being that while Oliver is lying about sleeping around, you actually ARE sleeping around." Laurel shot back.
"Oh, snap." Thea said, flashing a thumbs up to the older girl.
"No, I'd rather you promise to take Mr. Diggle with you on your next rendezvous." Moira interrupted, walking up to her son. "It's not safe; you've already been abducted once. There is a maniac out there, hunting the wealthy."
"That maniac saved my life." Oliver pointed out.
"And now he talks in the third person, and suddenly we're in 'Sybil'." Felicity quipped. Lance chortled.
"This isn't a game." Moira said. She paused and looked into his eyes. "I lost you once. And I am not going through that again." She stated plaintively. Oliver looked back with genuine remorse.
"Okay." He said finally. "Dig's my guy."
"Thank you." Moira said, and then walked out of the room. Oliver looked up at his body man.
"Sorry to give you so much grief." He said. He almost meant it.
Dig buttoned up his suite jacket and walked around the couch. "I served three tours in Afghanistan, Mr. Queen. You don't even come close to my definition of grief." He paused in front of Oliver. "But I tell you what- you ditch me one more time, no one will have to fire me." With that he left the room, just as Thea walked past. The girl gave the bodyguard a cursory look before continuing on her way.
"Where you going?" Oliver called out. Thea paused, surprised. She hadn't seen him there.
"Uh somewhere loud and smoky." She replied, crossing her arms. "And don't bother trying to pickpocket my stash this time, because I'm gonna go get drunk instead."
Thea's head dropped in embarrassment as Tommy chuckled. "Well, at least you're honest." He told her.
Oliver walked towards his sister, concern on his face. "Thea, do you think this is what dad would want for you?" he asked, trying to get through.
"Dead people don't want anything. It's one of the benefits of being dead." No dice.
"I was dead.' He pointed out. "And I wanted a lot."
"Except for your family." Thea shot back coldly. "You've been home a week and all you do is avoid mom, ignore Walter, and judge me." She cast one last look at him before turning around. "Don't wait up." She said as she walked out of the room.
"And apparently my trip to becoming a psychotic bitch started earlier that I expected." Thea muttered.
The next day at the docks, Detective Lance was speaking with Martin Somers about what had happened the night before- or, as Somers put it, didn't happen.
"Well, I owe you an apology, Mr. Somers." Lance was saying, pacing lightly in front of Somers desk. He noted a hole in the top of the desk and fingered it idly as Somers sat, watching him. "We come all the way down to your docks, and it turns out, you don't need the police after all."
"Which is exactly what I've been saying." Somers said. The calm facade was back in place.
"Yeah." Lance agreed. "So I guess that 9-1-1 call we got last night from your stevedore, saying that you were getting attacked by a guy in a green hood and a bow and arrow… I guess well, was that a practical joke?" he threw out.
Somers smiled tightly. "These guys like to fool around."
"Yeah." Lance said again, walking away from the desk and over towards one of the patrol officers who held an evidence bag. "Well, you know, I'd be very much inclined to believe an honest, upstanding businessman like yourself, except, well, one of my men found this at your docks." He pulled out a green arrow and turned around, showing it to Somers. Somers held his gaze impassively. "You see, there's this vigilante running around." Lance continued, coming back to the desk. He perched on the edge, waving the arrow around slightly. "He thinks he's some kind of Robin Hood. He's robbing the rich, he's trying to teach them a lesson I guess. I don't know," he said, then looked back at the other officers. "I don't know." He repeated, and then looked back at Somers. "But the point is, the man's a killer. And nothing, and no one, is going to stop me from bringing him down." He gently put the arrow in the hole in the desk; it fit perfectly, to no one's surprise. Lance looked up at Somers with a tight smile. "But like you said, clearly, nothing happened here last night." He finished sarcastically.
Somers looked back at the cop. "Isn't this a conflict of interest, Detective?" he asked. "After all, your daughter is suing me."
"I'm pretty good at keeping my emotions in check." Lance said evenly.
"I'm not." Somers said, rage simmering just beneath the surface. He stood and got into Lance's face. "You and your daughter don't want to find out what I'm capable of when I get emotional." He threatened. Lance gave him a disgusted look. Finally, though, he turned and left.
"He goes after my me or my daughter, and I'll put a bullet in him." Lance snarled.
"Dad!" Laurel exclaimed quietly.
"Just wait a day," Diggle suggested, "And Oliver would probably beat you to that."
"Only he'd use an arrow." Felicity added.
The scene changed as we flew over Starling City, right to the Queen Consolidated towers. There were three towers in total- the main tower, which held mostly executive offices, stood proudly in the front. Directly behind were two, slightly shorter towers, connected by a sky bridge, that held research labs, stock trading areas, and other departments that made up the Queen Consolidated business.
"As you can see, Oliver, we've modernized quite a bit." Walter was saying as the elevator opened on the executive level of the main tower. While the elevator banks were set into a rich, green marble, the rest of the floor was all glass and steel. Oliver whistled as Walter led him, Moira and Diggle towards his office.
Oliver smiled at a cute blonde as he walked past. "Hi." He said. His mother squeezed his arm gently and smiled at her son
"Are you enjoying yourself?" she asked. Oliver smiled in return.
"Yes, I am."
"I remember when your father used to bring you here when you were a boy." Walter said jovially as they all walked into his office. Diggle took up position by the door. "You always were so excited."
"Dad let me drink soda in the office." Oliver revealed.
"Ah!" Moira exclaimed happily. "So that's why you enjoyed coming."
"Queen Consolidated's success of late is a result of its targeted diversification." Walter began as Oliver walked around the office. "We have been making impressive inroads in cutting-edge fields like bio-tech and clean energy."
"That's neat." Oliver interrupted, the called out to Walter's secretary, "Excuse me? Can I get a sparkling water, or something cold, please?"
"Sweetheart," Moira said, gesturing at her son. "Oliver, Walter and I have something to discuss with you. Come, please sit." She motioned towards a chair. Oliver looked at her warily.
"This won't end well." Thea predicted.
"Mom, it makes me nervous when you ask me to sit down."
The three stood awkwardly for a moment, before Walter pressed on.
"The company's about to break ground on a new site for the applied sciences division, and we would like to honor your father by dedicating the building in his name." he said. Oliver nodded.
"That's nice." He agreed.
"And we'd like to make an announcement at the dedication," Moira added, "that you will be taking a leadership position in the company."
"No." Oliver said at once.
"Your company." She emphasized.
"No, I don't want to lead anything." He shot back firmly, then looked at Walter. "Besides, Walter is doing a very good job here." It was the first…nice….thing Oliver had said to or about Walter since he got back, and the elder businessman was momentarily stunned.
"You said that you wanted to be a different person." Moira pressed on. "And you are Robert Queen's son."
"I don't need to be reminded of that." He replied coldly.
"Well, obviously you do."
Walter walked up next to Moira and put a reassuring hand on her back. "Everyone here understands that this transition is really difficult for you." He tried.
"Thank you, Walter." Oliver aid, the civility he had tried to build crumbling. "Which part, though? Everyone fantasizing that I got my MBA while I was on the island? Or the fact that my father's CFO now sleeps down the hall from me?" he finished angrily.
Everyone winced, even Slade.
"Ouch." Tommy remarked.
"He's really not taking my marriage to Walter well." Moira said sadly.
His mother looked crestfallen, and turned away from him. Oliver, for his part, looked ashamed at his outburst. Moira walked towards the door, then stopped and turned.
"You know, five years ago, your irresponsibility was somewhat charming." She said. "It is a lot less so now." She then turned around and walked out of the room. Walter followed after a moment. Dig looked on, no judgment whatsoever on his face. As a soldier, he knew what it was like to come home to a world you didn't recognize.
The two made their way outside and fought through a sea of reporters to the Bentley. Dig got Oliver in, then walked around and got in on the other side.
"The driver will be here in a minute." He said as they settled into their seats, the reports still shouting questions outside the car.
"Okay." Oliver replied tersely. They were silent for a few moments before Dig spoke.
"You know, I spent the first 27 years of my life in Starling City, and the next five in Afghanistan." He started. "You want to know what I learned?"
"To duck?" Tommy quipped, earning a glare from Diggle.
"There's no place like home?" Oliver replied dryly. Dig smiled and shook his head.
"No, just the opposite. Home is a battlefield." He explained. "Back home, they're all trying to get you. Get you to open up, be somebody you're not sure you are anymore." He paused and looked at the young man. "Or I could be wrong. Maybe after five years alone, you're not as messed up in the head as you have every right to be." He observed.
"You're very observant, Mr. Diggle." Moira said. Dig nodded in acceptance.
The scene shifted, and we were back on the Island. Oliver had made a makeshift shelter on the beach and was sleeping, but the loud cries of sea gulls woke him. He looked up to see the birds gathered around the raft, and his father's body. "Hey!" he called out, staggering to his feet and running towards the raft. "Hey, get away! Hey!" he shooed the birds away and collapsed onto the side of the raft. His father's body laid there, a life jacket covering the face- and the bullet wound.
Thea closed her eyes and turned away, leaning into Tommy's chest.
The smell of decomposition got to Oliver and he staggered back, vomiting onto the rocky beach. Once done, he slowly moved back towards the raft and knelt beside it once more. "Dad." He said softly. Then, determined, he pulled the body up over his shoulder and stood, then started walking inland to bury his father.
Back in the present, Laurel and Joanna were briefing Emily Nocenti on what to expect with the coming trial.
"Well, we anticipate that Somers' attorney will try and paint you as blinded by grief or looking to make a buck." Joanna was saying. Emily looked back at the two lawyers in angry disbelief.
"This isn't about the money." She argued. "I just want justice for my father."
"Emily," Laurel started gently, "there are a lot of people who don't want this trial to proceed. Dangerous people." She explained. Emily just shook her head.
"My mother died when I was a baby, and my father has been the only family I've ever known and they slit his throat. They are going to have to kill me if they want me to give this up." She said determinedly. Laurel gave her a small smile.
"Well let's hope it doesn't come to that." She said.
"And it won't." the three turned to see Quentin Lance walk in with three patrol officers behind him.
Laurel sighed in annoyance. "Of course you post guards." She groused.
"If he threatened you? Your damn right I'll post guards." Quentin shot back.
"What's going on?" Laurel asked.
"What's going on is that the three of you are getting around-the-clock police protection. Okay? Get used to their faces, because they're going with you everywhere you go, no arguments." The last part was directed at his daughter, who looked back at him unimpressed.
"I'm a lawyer. I live to argue." She stated.
Tommy snorted. "Ain't that the truth."
Lance glared at him. "Just because we were all distracted before, don't think I didn't hear about you and my daughter hooking up." He growled. "You and I are gonna have words later."
Tommy looked intimidated, and even Malcolm had to hide his grin. Laurel sighed again. "Yes, dad. Tommy and I have had sex. Get over it."
"Laurel!" he exclaimed, distressed.
"Also, me and Oliver had sex." She glared at her father. "I'm an adult. Who I sleep with is nobody's business but mine. Get it?"
"I'm kinda wishing you'd keep it your business," Thea grumbled, "because I have no desire to hear about my brother's sex life. Either of them."
"I'm your father. I live to keep you safe." He replied bluntly.
Joanna, sensing the building argument between father and daughter, gently took Emily's arm. "Um, Emily, let's go grab a cup of coffee, okay?" she asked rhetorically.
"Yes, why not do that? Thank you." Quentin said, and then gestured to the three cops. "Please, go with them." he said to the first two, who followed the two ladies out of the office. He held back the third.
"Stay there." He ordered.
"Protective custody?" Laurel began, crossing her arms. "I seem to recall you trying that once I discovered boys. It didn't work then, either."
Laurel grinned evilly at her father, who glowered back in return.
"This isn't a joke, Laurel." Quentin said, ignoring his daughters' argument. "Martin Somers got attacked last night."
Laurel's dropped as she looked at her father, stunned. "What? By who?"
"It doesn't matter." He said, somewhat relieved to see the seriousness of the situation was finally getting through to her. "Point is, you have whipped up a storm with these guys, and until the dust settles you'll be protected, okay? End of discussion." Quentin turned to leave.
"That might have worked when I was eight," Laurel argued, some of her defiance finding its' way back, Quentin turned back to his daughter. "But it's not gonna work anymore."
"End of discussion, Laurel!" he insisted sternly. "You're insistent on doing your job, that's great. But this is me doing mine, okay? And not just as a father, but as a cop. These people, they are more dangerous than you are willing to admit. And you've made them angry." He finished, turning and walking out.
Later that evening on the docks, a stunning Asian woman in a red dress and stark white hair walked into Somer's office.
Malcolm inhaled sharply. Lance looked to him. "What?"
"That woman is Chien Na Wei." He told the cop. "She is THE top assassin for the Chinese Triad."
"Thank you for coming." He said. The woman walked up to the desk and gave a cold smile.
"Anything for a friend." China White said amicably.
"We're not friends." Somers countered. "You smuggle drugs, I let you use my port."
"For which you're paid a lot of money." She responded.
"I don't get paid enough to have arrows shot at me." He shot back. "You need to take this guy seriously. He is a bigger threat to your operation than Nocenti ever was."
"Except now it's Nocenti's daughter who's the problem." China White stated. "Unlike your friend with the hood, we know where to find her."
"Don't be an idiot." Somers snarled at the woman. "You take out Emily Nocenti, and Laurel Lance will never let this go. She won't stop until she burns you, me, and then the entire Triad to the ground."
China White smiled coldly. "Then we kill Miss Lance."
Lance's hands were clenched, his knuckles white. "You were having a problem with police protection?" He ground out to Laurel, who stared at the screen in shock.
"It's one thing to hear a threat in passing, it's another to hear it directly." She muttered.
"A word of advice, Miss Lance," Malcolm said. "If you want to go after heavy hitters like Martin Somers, you need to expect blowback like this. He makes a living doing business with the Triad; he'll have no qualms about having you killed."
"How do you deal with these people then?" she asked with a glare.
"I have an enforcer who deals with those who don't toe the line." Malcolm smirked. "Everyone else usually falls in line after that."
"What kind of enforcer?" Quentin demanded.
Malcolm stared at the man coolly. "Let's just say, that Oliver isn't the only person in Starling City putting arrows into people." Malcolm returned his attention to the screen, ignoring the looks he was getting. He had no doubt now that at some point the identity of his enforcer would become known. 'Let them wonder.' He thought to himself.
The next morning, Oliver was getting dressed in his room as he watched the news.
'Attorney for shipping magnate, Martin Somers, has confirmed his client has no intention of testifying, maintaining his innocence in the wrongful death of Victor Nocenti. Nocenti's body was found four weeks ago. We'll keep you updated as more information becomes available.' He glowered at the screen; obviously Somers hadn't quite got his message. He started to put his shirt on when a voice from his open door startled him.
Thea had come to talk to her brother, not bothering to knock as the door had been open. Before she could speak, she saw the scars the marred his back. "Wait, how did you get those?" she asked, coming into the room.
Oliver grimaced in angered annoyance as he tried to cover up. "Don't you knock?" he growled.
"No." Thea declared, stalking into the room and forcing her brother to turn around. "Wait, Mom said that there were scars, but…" she gently pried the edges of his shirt from his hands and pulled it open to reveal even more scars on his chest. She stared in horror, a dawning realization of what he must have gone through finally coming upon her. "I'm-" she started, took a breath, and then started over. "Oliver, what happened to you out there?"
Oliver took a few moments to compose himself, pulling his shirt free from his sister and buttoning it. "I don't want to talk about it." He said.
Thea scoffed. "Of course you don't." she said angrily. "You never want to talk to me about anything. Except for my social life." She started to leave.
"Why am I so pushy?" Thea wondered softly. "Why do I keep pushing him…."
"Seeing everything that's happening is giving you a broader perspective." Felicity said. "As opposed to only seeing him a few times a day. Plus, I'm betting you two were close once?" Thea nodded. "You expected him to be the same, to have the same closeness with you. But he's been through a major trauma, and I'm guessing he learned to shut everyone out to protect himself. It will take time for him to open up again."
"How do you know?" Thea asked, curious.
Felicity smiled sadly. "I lost someone close once, too. And it took me a long time to become as open and outgoing as I am."
"Wait!" he called out, stopping her in her tracks. "Where are you going?" he asked.
Thea crossed her arms in defiance. "Why should I tell you?" she demanded.
Oliver took a breath, trying to find the words. "I'm sorry, Thea." He finally said. "I need to get better at talking about what happened to me there. But I'm not ready yet." He looked Thea in the eye, imploring her silently to understand. "Okay?"
Thea stared at her brother for a long moment. "Do you have a second?" she asked finally.
"Yeah."
"Good. I wanna show you something out back." She turned and walked out of the room; Oliver grabbed his jacket and followed.
Soon they were walking out onto the back yard of the manor. Thea led him to a clearing where two headstones had been erected. One read:
Robert Queen
1958-2007
A leader, a husband
The second read:
Oliver Queen
1985-2007
A loving son and brother, whose light was diminished far too soon
"Sometimes, when I felt… whatever, I'd come here." She said, coming to a stop in front of the headstones. She knelt down in front of Roberts's stone and brushed away some stray leaves. "About a month after the funerals, mom stopped going out. Pretty soon, she stopped talking altogether. The house got so quiet, so I'd come here." She stood and walked over to Oliver's stone. She pointed at it. "To talk to you." She was trying her best not to cry, but it was hard. "I mean, stupid stuff. Like what I was doing that day, what boy I had a crush on. And then sometimes, I'd ask you, beg you, to find your way home to me." She looked back to her brother. "Now, here you are. And the truth is, I felt closer to you when you were dead. Look, I know it was hell where you were. But it was hell here too. You gotta let me in, Ollie." She implored. "You gotta let someone in." she turned and walked away, leaving Oliver standing there at the markers. He stared down at his own, taking in everything she had said.
"I'm sorry I wasn't there for you." Tommy said again.
"Stop apologizing." Thea replied, wiping her eyes.
The scene shifted to later that night in Laurel's apartment. She was looking over her notes for the Nocenti case on her laptop as she finished off a TV dinner when a knock at her door startled her. She paused, thinking she had miss heard, and then heard the knocking again. Cautiously, her father's warning still fresh in her mind, she approached the door and looked out the peephole. She opened the door a moment later to see Oliver standing there, brown paper bag in hand.
"Hi." He said awkwardly. "Are you okay? There are two cop cars outside."
"How am I supposed to stay away from you if you won't stay away from me?" she asked sarcastically. "What are you doing here, Ollie?" she demanded.
"My sister took," he paused, rethinking his words. "She pointed out to me that I have been distant since I got back and that It would probably be a good idea if I let somebody in."
"So, you thought you'd start with the first person you pushed away." Laurel pointed out.
"I did that to protect you." Oliver reasoned, and then pushed on. "And then I saw you yesterday, and I realized that I hurt you." Laurel glowered at him, but finally stood aside and allowed him to enter. "Thank you." He said sincerely. He looked around the apartment. "Wow. This place hasn't changed in five years."
"I haven't really had time to redecorate." Laurel snarked as she walked past him.
"I'm a jerk." He announced, bringing her up short. "Before the island, I was a jerk, and now I'm just a… I'm a damaged jerk." He finished lamely. Laurel turned around and looked at him, then decided to take pity on her ex-boyfriend.
"What's in the bag?" she asked.
Oliver smiled, reaching into the bag. "I thought about many things on the island, but there was one thing that I thought about every day." His smile grew, and he laughed slightly at the memory. "I actually dreamed about it, and I promised myself that if I ever got a chance to do it again, I'd do it with you." He pulled out a tub of mint chocolate chip ice cream.
"Eat ice cream." He stated, and Laurel smiled.
Tommy shook his head. "What a dweeb." He remarked.
Laurel looked at him, amusement in her eyes. "Jealous?" she asked.
"Dear god in heaven, help me through this." Lance muttered.
A short time later, Laurel was eating her ice cream out of a bowl, while Oliver just dug into the carton with his spoon. "This is as good as I remember." He said, smiling. After a moment, he spoke again. "My mother wants me to join the company." At her look, "Yeah. Take my rightful place."
"I can't exactly picture you as master of the universe." Laurel remarked, not meanly, but honestly.
Oliver smiled tightly. "You know, after five years, I have plans." He announced. "I have things that I have to do. I can't do that if I'm, I don't know… attending board meetings and stockholder briefings."
"Yeah, when would he find time to shoot people with arrows?" Lance muttered.
"I don't know," Moira started. "I've been in some of those board meetings, and there are more than a few I wouldn't mind shooting with an arrow."
"Oliver?" Laurel said. At his look, "You're an adult. You can say no."
"Oh, I tried." He pointed out. "Didn't take."
"Well, then don't tell her. Show her." She reasoned. "Be the person that you want her to see you as."
"Oh, that won't end well." Tommy said.
"Trust me. I have plenty of experience with disapproving parents."
Laurel glanced at her father with a raised eyebrow.
"I have been on the receiving end of your father's disapproval." He agreed.
"He blames himself more than he blames you." She said suddenly, leaning back into the couch. "He thinks that, you know, maybe if he and Sara were closer, she would have told him about the boat trip. And he could have stopped her from going with you."
Lance glared at Laurel, but his attention was caught by the screen almost immediately.
Oliver looked at her sadly. "I am sorry." He said again.
"You apologized already." Laurel replied.
"And it'll never be enough."
They sat in silence, but then Oliver heard a noise. "Did you hear that?"
"What?" Laurel asked, confused. Oliver grabbed the knife he had used to open the ice cream carton; it was dull, but it would work in a pinch. "There's someone on the fire escape." Slowly he climbed to his feet, listening. He heard more noises, so he grabbed Laurel's hand, pulling her up.
"Hey, come on."
"What?" she asked in confusion, even as he pulled her towards the door. They were halfway there when it crashed open, a large Asian man with an Uzi stumbling in after. Oliver turned and pulled Laurel deeper into the apartment, ducking a spray of bullets as he made their way towards her bedroom. He pulled her back when another figure came crashing in through her window from the fire escape. They kept low as they searched for a way out, even as Oliver looked for an opening to attack without revealing too much. He came up short as China White stalked into the room, twin knives held at the ready.
Quentin watched the unfolding scene in horror, grabbing on to his frightened daughters hand.
Suddenly more gunfire erupted, this time from Diggle as he stormed into the room. The first gunman went down quickly, as did the second. But China White proved too fast; she disarmed Dig in seconds. He in turn relieved her of one of her knives, and parried several thrusts with his hands, his special forces training evident. But China White was again too fast; she took him down and prepared to stab him. As she brought her knife up for a killing blow, Oliver flipped the dinner knife in his hand and threw it hard, knocking the blade out of the Asian woman's hand. She looked up in surprise, and then decided discretion was the better part of valor and scrambled out the ruined door.
"ALL RIGHT OLLIE!" Tommy whooped. The he looked to Diggle. "You were good, too." He assured the man.
"Thanks." Dig said dryly.
Laurel ran into Oliver's arms, crying in terror even as Dig clambered to his feet, grabbing his gun on the way up. He looked to his client.
"Are you hurt? Are you hurt, Mr. Queen?!" he yelled.
"No! No." Oliver replied, stunned himself by what had transpired.
"This is why it's a good idea to have a bodyguard!" Dig remarked as he moved to check the rest of the apartment, even as Oliver checked over Laurel.
Lance looked to Diggle. "I know you haven't done it yet, but thank you for saving my daughter." He told the man.
A short time later, cops were removing the dead men from Laurel's apartment as Quentin Lance ran in. He looked around for a moment, out of breath, before he spotted his daughter. He ran to her and pulled her into a hug.
"Daddy!" she said, still frightened.
"Oh, thank God." Quentin said, relieved. "Thank God. Are you all right?"
"I'm okay." She assured him, then asked the question she really didn't want the answer to. "Those cops that you put on me…" she trailed off.
"They…" he started, hesitantly, and was saved when Diggle answered for him.
"I went outside to ask for a light, and they were both dead in the squad car."
Quentin looked at the bodyguard in gratitude. "Mr. Diggle, thank you." He said. "Feel free to run as many red lights in the city as you want."
"I was just doing my job, sir." Dig assured him. Quentin shook his head.
"No, your job is protecting him." He looked at Oliver. He stalked up close to the man. "It seems like whenever you're with one of my daughters, people die." He snarled. "You stay away from Laurel, or I swear the next time you disappear, it will be permanent."
"Dad!" Laurel exclaimed, aghast.
"Dad!" Laurel exclaimed.
"No, Laurel..." the Detective started, but was cut off by Oliver.
"It's okay." Oliver said. "I understand."
"Yeah." Quentin said, moving back to his daughter.
Later that evening back at the Manor, Dig was sitting on the sofa nursing his injured hand. Oliver walked in, tossing the man an ice pack.
"Here!" he said "I'd say thank you, but I don't think that would cover it."
"Well, like I told your cop friend, I was just doing my job." Dig replied, standing. "Besides, I think it should be you that I'm thanking."
Oliver looked at him in confusion. "What for?" he asked.
"The knife." Dig said simply. Oliver nodded in understanding.
"The knife." He said. "I got lucky."
"That was a kitchen knife." Dig argued. "It wasn't even weighted properly, yet you threw it with accuracy across a 10-foot room."
"Exactly." Oliver said. "I got lucky."
Diggle stepped up to the man, though kept far enough away to be respectful. "I'm not the kind of man you want to take for a fool, Mr. Queen, you understand me?" he stated.
"Yes." Oliver agreed.
"And I think I'm just beginning to understand the kind of man you are." Dig said observantly.
"Shouldn't take you very long. I'm shallow." Oliver quipped. "And very tired, so good night." With that, Oliver headed to his room.
"Good night, sir." Diggle called out, still nursing the hand.
Malcolm eyed Diggle speculatively. "I wonder…" he started, but trailed off.
"Wonder what?" Dig prodded.
"I wonder if Oliver is starting to realize he can't do this alone." Malcolm said.
The scene shifted to the Foundry, where Oliver was busy getting his gear on.
'I wanted to give Martin Somers the chance to confess and face a court's justice, but he chose to go after someone I care about instead.' His voice intoned as he got out his bow. 'He's still going to face justice. It'll just be a different kind.'
"Can't believe I'm rooting for Queen." Lance muttered.
The scene shifted again to the docks, where Martin Somers was hurriedly stuffing bundles of cash into a case.
"Triad bitch screwed up the hit on Lance." He growled to his bodyguard. "Now, the Triad is gonna erase every ounce of evidence of their smuggling operation, including me. Except that's not gonna happen." He closed up the case and looked back to his man. "Tell Wallace to get the boat ready." He ordered. "I'm leaving tonight."
"Wallace? Wallace, you copy?" the man asked into his radio. There was no response. "Wallace?"
Wallace isn't here. A familiar voice sounded on the radio, and Somer's face filed with dread as he recognized The Arrow. But I am.
Tommy frowned. "He needs to do something about his voice." He said suddenly.
"What do you mean?" Moira asked.
"Well, he needs to disguise it. Talk all raspy, or like he has laryngitis or something." Tommy explained. "Otherwise, if some goon he intimidates happens to see a news report where Oliver says something, he'll recognize the voice and know who the hood guy is." His hands mimed an explosion. "Cover blown."
Malcolm smiled at his son proudly. Every so often he'd see the man he wished his son would be. He started thinking that, when they got back, he'd move up his plans to make Tommy grow up, if only to see that man realized more quickly.
"We need to move, now." He ordered. "Move!"
"Sir, we've got six men out there." The man argued, but Somers pulled him along.
"It's not enough. Move it!" he ordered as they ran out of the building.
Back at Laurel's apartment, Quentin was busy laying down the law, so to speak, to his daughter.
"You're gonna go back into that courtroom tomorrow and you're gonna recuse yourself from this case, all right?" he demanded. "Or drop it. Either way, you're done."
"The funny thing is, you actually think I'll listen to you." Laurel said, glancing at her father, who scowled in return.
"If you think I'm gonna abandon Emily Nocenti, then you don't know me all that well." Laurel shot back.
"You don't know me well, young lady." Quentin countered. "I will lock you in a cell if that's what it takes."
Laurel rose from the couch and shrugged her shoulders. "Well, I guess that's what it's gonna take then." She said walking away.
"Damn it, Laurel!" Quentin shouted, his voice cracking from fear. "I thought after what happened with Sara, you'd stop being just so reckless!"
"It's not about being reckless!" she shouted back heatedly. "It's just the opposite. I'm trying to make this city safer, just like you."
"Sweetie." He tried, coming up to her. "You're my only daughter, Laurel. You're all I have left to live for."
"But what you want from me isn't living." She countered again, near tears. "Having cops around, not being able to do my job…"
"Your job is not going after people like the Triad! Or Somers…"
"My job is to use the law to fight for what is right. Just like you taught me."
"Well, that's dirty." Quentin said brokenly. "Using me against me. You can't do that." He argued.
"Well maybe I picked that up along the way, too." Laurel joked softly. Lance let out a soft laugh. Suddenly his phone went off.
"Lance." He said answering it. He listened for a moment. "I'll be right there." He said, hanging up. He looked at his daughter. "I gotta go." He said. "Something's going on at the docks."
At the docks, it was pandemonium as The Hood leapt from walk way to walkway, staying one step ahead of the guards bullets and taking them out, one at a time. He spied Somers running into a building as he killed the last guard.
"Somers!" he shouted, jumping down to the ground and following him.
In the building, Somers was running as fast as he could, trying to get away. Unfortunately for him, he wasn't fast enough. An arrow pinned him to a crate at the far end of the room. "Oh, God, no, no, no…" he cried out as The Hood stalked up, nocking another arrow.
"He can't help you." The Hood growled. "I want the truth about Victor Nocenti." He let the arrow fly, pinning is right shoulder to the crate.
"I can't! The Triad will kill me."
"The Triad's not your concern right now!" The Hood snarled. At Somers reluctance, he let another arrow fly, right below the man's crotch.
"All right, all right, all right!" Somers cried out. "It wasn't me that killed him. It was the Triad." He sobbed.
"Acting on whose instructions? Whose?" he shouted, shooting another arrow right above the man's head.
"All right, all right! It was mine." He confessed. "It was mine, all right? Nocenti said he was gonna testify against me."
"That rat bastard!" Laurel snarled. "Get him, Ollie!"
Control Room
Rose looked over to Mia. "So," she said casually. "Dinah was always a ruthless bitch." Mia snorted.
"Oh, yeah." She replied.
Sitting Room
Suddenly he saw something over the vigilante's shoulder and paled even further. The Hood spun, and arrow nocked as he came face to face with China White.
"Cóng tā shēnshang yí kāi" She demanded in Mandarin.
"Ràng wǒ." He replied in flawless Mandarin.
She came at him hard, knives flashing. He parried each blow with his bow. A kick sent him to the ground, but he was quickly up and blocking her again. In a battle of skills, The Hood was good- but China White was just a bit better. Another kick sent him sprawling to the ground, when suddenly a voice blared over a loud speaker.
'This is the Police! Put down your weapons or we will open fire. I repeat, lay down your weapons!'
The two warriors spared one another a glance, and then both took off to opposite exits. The Hood made his way outside, tossing his bow on top of a shipping container and clambering up after it. Gabbing the bow, he leapt off. He started to run to where he had hidden his motorcycle when-
"Freeze!" Lance yelled, coming out from between two containers with his gun drawn. The Hood froze, his head down so that his hood hid his face. "You twitch and you're dead." He promised, moving a bit closer. "Bow down, hands up."
"No way it's this easy." Lance admitted reluctantly.
They stood there for a few moments, a silent battle of wills playing out. Then suddenly, The Hood pulled a flechette out of his thigh quiver and threw it side-handed. It knocked the gun from Lance's hand and pinned it to the shipping crate a few feet behind the Detective. Lance gasped, looking at his hand in disbelief, and then looking at his gun hanging from the crate. When he turned back to the vigilante, The Hood was gone.
"How the hell does he do that?" Lance asked.
"No idea. But I'd love it if he taught me." Tommy remarked.
"It would make it so much easier to sneak out of their bedrooms, wouldn't it?" Laurel asked dryly. Tommy just grinned cockily in reply.
Lance looked back at his gun, then noticed the flechette had some kind of device attached to the shaft. It looked to be a recording device, its indicator light blinking green. Lance cautiously hit the play button
'All right, all right! It was mine!" Martin Somers voice cried out. 'It was mine, all right? Nocenti said he was gonna testify against me…'
Lance shook his head. "Son of a bitch."
Lance looked at the recording device in disbelief- The Arrow had managed to tape Somer's confession. 'You son of a bitch.' He said as his fellow officer finally made it to the scene.
Back at the Foundry, Oliver was putting his gear away.
'Laurel was right.' His voice said. 'I can't be the Oliver my mother wants me to be and still keep the promise I made to my father. I have to be the person I need them to see me as.'
"This definitely won't end well." Thea predicted.
The scene changed to the next day, at the site for the new Applied Sciences Center groundbreaking. A crowd milled around as Moira and Thea stood on the stage.
"Oh! Excuse me, ladies." Tommy said, weaving through the crowd until he found his target. "Okay, this is a surprise." He said to Laurel, who shot him an amused look. "Did you show up here by mistake?"
"By invitation." She clarified. "Oliver invited me last night."
"Last night?"
Laurel smiled. "Is that surprise or jealousy I'm hearing?" she asked playfully.
"Look, I just don't want him to find out anything, okay?" Tommy said. "Oliver has been through a lot."
"You're just afraid Ollie would kick your ass." Thea teased.
"Yes, I am." Tommy admitted. "And now, knowing what he could do? Doubly so."
"Hell, I'll tell him then." Lance said, earning disbelieving looks from his daughter and Tommy. Thea just laughed.
"Tommy, we've all been through a lot." She pointed out. Their conversation was cut short by Walter, who took the stage.
"Good afternoon, and thank you all for coming." He began. "Welcome to the future site of the Robert Queen Memorial Applied Sciences Center." There was polite applause. "Now, this is a building that will stand as a monument to the man whose company, and vision, are his greatest legacies."
"Whoa! Whoa!" a voice called out. Everyone turned to see Oliver, dressed in suit with no tie and obviously drunk. He paused by a waitress to take another drink and quickly downed it, give her the glass back. "What about me? Right? I'm a legacy." he said, managing to pull himself up on the stage, much to Thea's disgust and embarrassment. "Hey! Thanks for warming them up, Walt." He took the gold shovel from Walter and gently pushed him aside to stand in front of the podium as the crowd started whispering amongst themselves.
Moira shook her head in disappointment. "Oh, Oliver. Of course you would do something like this…"
"You do know he's faking it, right?" Thea asked sarcastically. Moira gave her a look.
"I know, here and now." She replied. "But there?" she gestured at the memory. "I would just think he's acting up, like another child of mine." She sighed. "I just have to be sure not to push him so far, so soon."
"All right. I got it, I got it." He smiled for the cameras. "Some of you may not know me. My name is Oliver Queen. Watch some television, read a newspaper, I'm kind of famous right now. Mostly, though, I'm famous because I'm Robert Queen's son." Moira's face fell as Thea looked on, unbelieving. "Uh, but as Walter, who's my new dad Huh? Who is… sorry. As Walter was saying, I'm not much of a legacy, per se."
"Oliver, you don't have to do this." Walter said quietly, trying to guide the drunk man away from the podium. Oliver waved him off.
"No, sit. Sit! Gosh."' Walter reluctantly sat down, and Oliver turned back to the microphone. "See, I was supposed to come here today, and I'm supposed to take my rightful place at the company. Prodigal son returns home and becomes the heir apparent." He almost seemed to instantly sober up, the resentments he usually kept buried coming to the surface. "But I'm not my father. I'm not the man he was. I'm not half the man he was. I never will be. So, please, stop asking me to be." His point made, he planted the shovel in the mound of dirt besides the stage, then walked past his stunned family, Thea still shooting him a look, though it was more sad than anything else. He jumped off the stage and walked off, not saying another word.
The scene shifted, and now a news report was playing as footage of police cars at the docks played.
'Martin Somers, the CEO of starling port, was arrested last night for the murder of Victor Nocenti. He is also being accused of accepting cash, including over $10 million in bribes.' Joanna turned off the news and looked back to Emily Nocenti as they, with Laurel stood in the CNRI offices.
"Well, we can pursue the civil suit if you want, but the D.A. now has no choice, with Mr. Somers' confession, to prosecute him." Joanna explained to the smiling girl.
"He's going to jail, Emily." Laurel added. "For the rest of his life."
"Thank you so much for fighting for us." Emily said, shaking their hands. Laurel smiled back at her.
"Well, thank you for being brave enough to let me."
Emily turned and walked out, just as Quentin Lance came in.
"Hey." He said, smiling at his daughter. Laurel rolled her eyes and moved back to her desk.
"I thought I didn't need police protection anymore."
"I thought I didn't need a reason to see my own daughter." He countered.
Laurel sat down and smiled. "You don't." she looked him over. "You look tired."
"Yeah, I was filling out reports on the shootout at the port last night." Quentin explained. "And getting grilled about how I let that archer get away."
"I have to admit, I'm kind of glad he did." Laurel said quietly. "He brought down Martin Somers."
"He hurt a bunch of people doing it, okay?" Quentin pointed pout. "He is no hero. He is an anarchist."
"Yeah, well, whoever he is, it seems like he's trying to help." Laurel noted.
"The city doesn't need that kind of help, okay?" Quentin said, somewhat heatedly. "It's like I always told you, you don't need to go outside the law to find justice. Now I believe that. All right?" Laurel looked up at her father as he continued. "And I promise you, when I catch this guy, he's gonna believe it, too."
"Aye-aye, Captain Ahab." Tommy quipped. At Lance's look, he grinned. "Yes, I've read a book. Try not to faint."
The scene changed to Oliver's room, where he pulled out his father's book and crossed Martin Somers off the List. Oliver stared at the far wall, remembering.
We flash back to the Island, where a struggling Oliver carried his father's body to the top of a ridge overlooking the bay. He gently laid the body down and collapsed next to it. He began to arrange the body so he could bury it, when he noticed something in pocket of his dad's jacket. Reaching in, he pulled out a small, tan notebook. He flipped through it, noticing that all of the pages appeared to be blank. However, he noticed some kind of strange marking on the inside cover, and he stared at it in puzzlement.
Back in the present, a long black limo pulled up next to a silver sedan on an abandoned stretch of road. Moira got out of the sedan and entered the limo. She closed the door and looked to the other occupant.
"Well, you saw for yourself. My son knows nothing." She stated plainly, taking off her sunglasses. "Robert didn't tell him anything that could hurt us. And he has no idea that the yacht was sabotaged."
Thea looked over at her mother in shock. Moira, for her part, was staring daggers at Malcolm.
The second figure said nothing, even as he held up a small notebook to examine it. On the inside cover was the same symbol that was in Robert's book.
Back at the Manor, when stood a respectful distance away as Oliver approached the two tombstones. Ignoring his own, he knelt down in front of his fathers. I his hands he held the notebook.
"All that time on the island, plotting my return, I didn't realize how hard it would be." He began hesitantly. "To reconnect with Mom, Thea… Laurel….okay, I didn't," he paused for a breath, fighting to hold back his tears. "I didn't know how painful it would be to keep my secrets."
"You asked me to save the city." He continued. "To right your wrongs. I will. I swear. But to do that, I can't be the Oliver that everyone wants me to be," he explained sadly, "which means that sometimes to honor your wishes I need to dishonor your memory. I'm sorry." He finished with a whisper. Oliver took a few moments to compose himself, then stood.
"Take it down." He told the workmen, jabbing a thumb towards his own tombstone. The two men went to work as Oliver approached the car, and Diggle, who had stood silent watch.
"Will you be going out tonight, sir?" he asked as Oliver got in the car.
"Definitely." Oliver replied as the door closed.
Back on the island, Oliver was placing the last stone on the cairn he had entombed his father's body in. He stood to inspect his work-
There was a sudden whooshing sound-
And Oliver screamed in pain. Looking down at his right shoulder, he stared disbelievingly at the arrow that had pierced him from behind. He screamed in pain once more, collapsing next to the grave. He looked around, and in the distance behind him saw a figure. All he could make out through the haze of pain was a green hood as the figure readied another arrow.
"No, no…" he said weakly. Then he said no more as he passed out from the pain.
They stared in stunned silence as the scene faded to black. But as horrible as seeing his best friend shot with an arrow was, something that had been said earlier had kept nagging at him.
'Robert didn't tell him anything that could hurt us. And he has no idea that the yacht was sabotaged.' Moira had said to the mystery man. A man, who rode in a limo, with a book identical to the one Oliver had. 'Dad made the list,' Tommy thought, 'he had them printed out and given to other members of his cabal. And probably many of those men would ride in Limos. But who else would Moira Queen of all people show deference to, if not his father?'
Tommy glared at Malcolm. "What did you do, Dad?" Tommy said in a low, angry voice.
"What was necessary." He replied.
"You sabotaged the kid's yacht." Slade said with a smile on his face.
Tommy turned to stare at the man. "What, you're impressed by that?!" he exclaimed.
"More annoyed, actually." Slade admitted. "If your old man had done a better job, I never would have met the kid in the first place." At his shocked look, Slade continued. "I've made no bones I've got issues with the kid. So don't be surprised when I say I wish he had died."
Thea shot up and ran to the corner of the room, where there was a wastebasket. She promptly threw up into it. Moira came over and put a hand on her back, but Thea immediately broke free.
"Get the hell away from me!" she exclaimed.
"Thea, please-"
"NO!" she shouted. "First I see you hire men to kidnap your own son, now I find out that my dad was murdered, and YOU KNEW!"
"I didn't know beforehand…."
"You sick son of a bitch." Tommy said softly, staring at his father again. "How could you? He was your best friend!"
"Do you honestly believe that Oliver wouldn't have killed you if you had admitted to seeing him dispatch those kidnappers?" Malcolm asked reasonably. "When you work hard to accomplish something, you learn to do what it takes to see it come to pass. Even if certain things you are forced to do are… unpleasant."
"Unpleasant?" Lance snarled, his anger near the point of boiling over. "You had that boat sunk with my little girl on board, and you call that that unpleasant?"
"You can blame Oliver for that, Detective." Malcolm replied coldly. "Or your own poor parenting skills."
Lance leapt out of his chair towards Malcolm. Laurel screamed for him to stop-
Then suddenly, another scream took over the room. A scream so high pitched, so loud, that it brought Lance, Thea and Moira down to their knees, while everyone else covered their ears and winced in pain. Mercifully it was shut off only moments later. And as the ringing in his ears lessened, Quentin lance heard a voice he never expected to hear again.
"I know I've been away for a while," Sara Lance said, lowering her Canary Cry device, "but I'm pretty sure there's still a 'No Fighting' rule on this station."
TBC November 3rd.
A/N: I received an anonymous review the other day that brought up a point that I wanted to address here. The reviewer said that it was unrealistic that Thea could best Slade, and that she was written as a Mary Sue character. 2 things: This Thea is older and far more skilled than the Thea we see on the show. She had additional training that I will touch upon around the completion of Season 1. Also, Slade was older, slower, and didn't have Mirakuru in his system anymore. Second- I am not writing Mia as a Mary Sue. I guess this is a personal feeling amongst the readers, but the Mia I am writing is an older Thea scared by events in her life that we haven't seen yet.
Timeless: Touché. I do have a bad record, don't I? Well, good news- I waited until I had 17 chapters fully in the can before I started posting, and now I have only four more to finish for season one before I begin transcribing season two. And I'll tell you what- before I start that, I'll finish writing the epilogue for One Day More.
EDIT: It's DONE! My Star Wars Saga is finally complete! Go check it out, if you like!
A/N 2: one thing always took me out of this episode. The place where Oliver got Somer's confession and fought China White was the same place they used for The Temple of the Five, I believe it was called, in the third season of Battlestar Galactica. Not surprising, as both shows were/are filmed in Canada. Also, a lot of BSG actors guest starred in the first season.
A/N 3: Sara, what are you doing here? You weren't supposed to show up for a long time yet! You know, this I kind of fun- I tried outlining this story, but I couldn't do it. So this is all very much stream of consciousness going on here. The only thing I know for sure is what's going to happen in the sequel. How I get there? That'll be the more interesting journey, from the writer's perspective.
A/N 4: And speaking of Sara… how 'bout that season premier? The sad thing is, I KNEW she had to die eventually, but I wasn't expecting the first episode of Season 3!
Mandarin Translations a'la Google Translate:
Cóng tā shēnshang yí kāi- Move away from him.
Ràng wǒ- Make me