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

29. Chapter 28: City of Heroes

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 28: City of Heroes

---

The next day, Malcolm was laying on one of the uncomfortable beds when he slowly came back to wakefulness. Slowly he opened his eyes, and the first thing he saw was Mia.

"Mornin', Dad." She drawled laconically. "How're you feeling?"

"I suppose I made Miss Lance angry." He rasped.

Mia shook her head as she poured him a glass of water. "God, you really are an ass, aren't you?" she handed him the glass after he pulled himself to a sitting position.

He drank the water greedily. After he finished, he handed the glass back to her, then fixed her with a glare. "Why didn't you warn me?" he demanded, his voice weak but still commanding.

"Because I'm a bitch." Mia replied, placing he empty glass down on a table and then flooding her hands on her lap. "Also, because I didn't want you to spend days thinking about it. My father didn't have any warning that he was about to kill his son; why should you?"

"Would it have mattered? You already exposed all of my plans." He replied bitterly.

"And you've spent the days thinking of how to carry them out anyways." Mia shot back. "Tell me the truth, Malcolm. How many deaths were you planning when you went back? How were you going to control Thea and my mother? Or Tommy?" she sat forward and regarded him with a serious expression. "You have to let this go, Dad. This plan, this mad dream that you killed my other father, your best friend over. That you have killed so many over. I know it's hard, but you have to let it go. Because while I won't kill you, I will send you back with no memory of these events, and that will give everyone else a chance to shut you down. And if you think you should be worried about Detective Lance, I'd be more worried about my mother. She can be a vindictive bitch when she wants to be."

Malcolm sagged back onto his bed. "I let her die." He whispered brokenly.

Mia's expression softened, and she placed a gentle hand on top of his. "The people should have helped her. You should have answered your phone. And she should have called 911." She told him reasonably. "No one is blameless in that tragedy, not even Rebecca. And I'm not trying to be cruel, or blame the victim; I'm just stating the facts." She sighed. "You could do so much good in The Glades, in Starling, if you would just…. Look, Tempest is a flawed organization with an admirable goal. And it could be great if you would just stop trying to avenge Rebecca, and start trying to honor her."

"How? How should I do that? Because I already told you I tried it Oliver's way-"

"And I told you, you hadn't." Mia replied easily. "Look, we still got a week or so here to go through his second year. I want you to watch what he does. Pay attention, REAL attention this time. Learn not only from your mistakes, but from Oliver's. And learn from his triumphs." She squeezed his hand. "You can be a force for change in our city. You can be a great man, just like Rebecca knew you could be. All you have to do is try." Mia rose, then lifted a file from his tray and tossed it into his lap. "And speaking of learning from your mistakes, you'll want to read that."

"What is it?" Malcolm asked suspiciously.

"The complete police dossier on one Daniel Brickwell."

"And who's he?"

"The man who actually killed your wife." she replied. As she turned and left, she called out over her shoulder, "Makes you wonder- if the first mistake you made in this whole thing was killing the wrong man, what else were you wrong about?"

---

It was a further two days after the Black Canary's attack before Malcolm was released to his room to finish his recovery, and Mia had decided to give everyone one more day to recover as well. So it was on the third day that Thea found herself standing alone in the museum looking at her elder self's assassin costume. It was one thing to be told that you would one day become an assassin; seeing it happen, seeing what she went through to 'earn' that costume, though was something else. She stared at the costume, her face reflecting off of the glass just where the black hood was.

"Who are you?" she whispered to her reflection.

Then she heard giggling.

Thea spun around, looking for the source of the noise. "Hello?" she called out uncertainly. She heard the pitter-patter of small feet on the hard deck, and when the source of the noise finally came into view, she was stunned.

It was a small girl, perhaps four years old. She had long dark hair that had been braided into two pigtails, deep blue eyes, and a face that was eerily familiar. She wore a light summer dress with a sweater to combat the chill of the station and black princess shoes. The girls skidded to a stop in front of Thea and stared up at her, first in surprise, then awe.

"Are you my mommy?" she asked, and suddenly Thea knew why the face looked so familiar. It was almost identical to the face in a picture that sat atop one of the many tables adorning the hallways of Queen Manor- a picture of her parents, Oliver, and herself- when she was four.

"I….uhh…" Thea said haltingly, speechless.

"Lian Harper!"

Thea looked up in surprise as she heard Mia's voice echoing around the room. The little girl, Lian, gave a startled yelp and quickly ran behind Thea, hiding behind her legs. Thea looked back and down at the girl, who held a finger to her lips in a 'shushing' gestured, then looked back just as Mia came into view.

"Thea!" Mia said, surprised. She looked slightly past Thea to the familiar glass case, and then eyed her younger self shrewdly. Thea flushed slightly, but remained silent. Mia decided not to press the girl on that issue, but another. "Say, you haven't happened to see a small girl running around, have you?"

"Girl?" Thea replied. "What girl?"

"A small one." Mia said with a twinkle in her eye. "About yay-high," she held her hand up to her waist, "dark hair in pig tails; kind of looks like us?"

Thea felt small hands grip her pants leg and tug she glanced behind her to see Lian shaking her head 'no'. Thea looked back up to Mia, who was smirking in amusement. "Nope. Haven't seen one."

"Well, that's too bad. Because I just finished baking a bunch of Raisa's chocolate chip cookies-"

Lian bounded around Thea. "Cookies?!" she said excitedly.

Mia smirked at the girl "Busted." Lian's shoulders sagged. "What have I told you about running around this place alone?"

"But I'm not alone!" the little girl exclaimed happily, sensing an out. She pointed back to Thea. "She was here the whole time!"

Thea looked at her older self, amused. "Yeah, I was here the whole time." She parroted.

Mia pinched the bridge of her nose. "Dear god, did I really still act like a four year old when I was seventeen?"

"Is that really you?!" Lian asked. When Mia nodded, Lian looked up at Thea excitedly. "Wow! You used to be so young and pretty!"

"Used to be?!" Mia exclaimed as Thea tried her best not to laugh out loud. Mia put her hands on her hips. "You , young lady, are an inch from being grounded."

"Wow, I got so old and mean…." Thea said, smirking. "Lighten up, Mom…" she trailed off as the implications of that sentence hit her.

Mia smiled softly at her, then looked down at her daughter. "Lian, go find your father and bug him for a few minutes. When I get back , we'll make those cookies, okay?"

Lian's face brightened. "Okay, mom!" She started to run off, then turned back around and ran back to Thea. She wrapped her tiny arms around her legs in a hug. "It was very nice to meet you." She said seriously. Then she turned and ran back out of the museum. Thea looked at Mia, speechless.

"That was my daughter, Lian Harper-Queen." She told the thunderstruck girl. "I know I've shown you a lot of bad things, Thea," the older woman started. "and you'll be seeing even more. But I wanted you to know that not everything that has happened has been bad." Mia turned and started to walk out before Thea's voice drew her back.

"You know, if this works…" Thea said hesitantly. "Lian may not exist."

Mia looked back at her with a sad smile. "That is a possibility. But I chose to believe something else. It took too long for Roy and I to sort ourselves out. Maybe this time around, she'll come sooner."

---

Roy, meanwhile was in the gym working with Tommy. Tommy had his hands wrapped up properly and was hitting the bag while Roy gave him tips.

"Turn your hips." He advised the younger man. "That's where the power comes from."

"Turn my hips." Tommy muttered. "Am I learning to throw a punch or to dance?" nonetheless he did as he was instructed, and noted the intensity of the punch was in fact greater. "Huh."

"See?" Roy said. "Listen to Uncle Roy. He know s what he's talking about."

"I am not calling you 'Uncle'." Tommy said firmly.

Roy considered the other man. "How are you holding up?" He asked finally.

Tommy threw a few more punches before answering. "You know, seeing myself die- that was surreal. But the funny thing is, I can deal with that." He said. "It's seeing the kind of man my father truly is, seeing what he was capable of doing…" he sighed and stepped away from the bag. "How do you deal with that? Knowing your father happily murdered… hundreds? Thousands?"

"503." Roy told him.

"He murdered 503 people- including myself- and wanted to murder hundreds, if not thousands more. I mean, he had a device built to cause a natural disaster to do just that. How do I deal with that?"

"I can't tell you, unfortunately." Roy said. "I've always considered the man a monster. But Mia is convinced he can change."

"What, like Helena?" Tommy said scornfully.

"She did become a hero, and a member of the Justice League." Roy reminded him. "It can happen. But you have to remember- all those lives? He hasn't taken them yet. And maybe, after all of this, he never will."

"I certainly won't be helping him."

The two men turned to see Moira standing in the doorway. Tommy smiled at her. "Hey, Mrs. Queen."

Moira walked in and approached Tommy. "I feel like I owe you an apology-"

"Don't." he said firmly. "You don't owe me anything. You were living in fear, knowing he had already killed Mr. Queen and Oliver. And you heard him in that memory- he was all ready to kill you AND Thea for betraying him." He gently took her hands. "You've always been like a second mother to me- and knowing how Oliver behaved most of the time, and how similar I am, that couldn't have been easy." They both chuckled. "I just want you to know that nothing has changed."

Moira smiled tearfully at the boy. "Thank you, Tommy." She said, then gave him a hug.

"You're welcome." He replied.

Roy watched the exchange with a smile. Despite her duplicitous nature, he had always had a soft spot for Moira Queen. She had been surprisingly supportive of his relationship with Thea back in the day, and it couldn't have been easy for a society queen (no pun intended) to watch her daughter fall in love with a street rat from the Glades. He saw movement out in the hall, and his smile widened when he saw the little figure funning towards him.

"Daddy!" Lian shouted, running into the gym and jumping into Roy's arms to the stunned surprise of Tommy and Moira.

"Hey, munchkin!" he said, peppering her giggling face with kisses. "I thought you were going to bug Mom for a bit?"

"She told me to bug you!" Lian replied.

Roy nodded. "Of course she did."

"Dad?" Tommy said, staring at the little girl.

Roy swung Lian around to face the other two. "Tommy, Moira, this is Lian Harper-Queen. Our daughter." He said proudly.

"Your daughter?" Tommy repeated.

Roy rolled his eyes. "Yes, Mia and I have a daughter. I don't see why you're so surprised- you've already seen how much sex she got-"

"Roy harper!" Moira exclaimed sharply. "Little girls don't need to know about…that!"

"But she already knows about sex, don't you munchking?" Roy said with a grin.

Lian nodded gravely. "Yup."

"And what is sex?" Roy asked.

"Something I don't get to get until I'm fifty." She replied solemnly. Tommy burst out laughing, and even Moira had to smile at that. Lian looked at her father. "Who are they, Daddy?"

"Well, that is your Uncle Tommy," he pointed to the snickering man, "and that is your Grandmother." He set her back down onto the deck, and Lian immediately ran over and first gave Tommy, then Moira a hug.

"It's nice to finally meet you!" she said excitedly. "Mom and Dad tell me stories about you all the time!"

"Good ones, I hope." Tommy said.

Lian's face scrunched up. "Good ones about Grandma, but Mom calls your stories…um…caw-shun-airy tales."

This time it was Moira who burst out laughing.

---

The next morning, almost the entire group was in the viewing room, along with Roy and Sara. They made idle chit chat with one another until a few minutes after 8, when Mia led a pensive looking Malcolm back into the room. Silence descended as almost everyone glared at the older Merlyn.

"I'll just say this once." Mia said sternly, then shook her head. "No, actually I'll repeat myself YET AGAIN. There will be no fighting, no assaulting, no ANYHTING. Got it?" she glared at everyone in the room. "This last time is on me, and I'll own that. But no one else is going to start a fight here. Yeah," she looked back at her father, "Malcolm did a horrible thing. You all are going to see a lot more horrible things in the days to come. So to ensure everyone behaves themselves," he glanced at Tommy, who had the good grace to look abashed, "I'll be staying in here as well. Dad," she looked back to Malcolm, "take a seat. Let's get this show on the road."

Again both Malcolm and Slade took the lone chairs in the room. Tommy, Laurel, and Quentin occupied one couch; Thea, Moira and Felicity another. Roy, Sara and Mia joined Dig on the third couch. "I feel like I got upgraded to the adult table." He joked.

Sara poured some coffee into her mug. "I do like having something hot and black inside of me." She smiled at the embarrassed looking Dig and held up the pitcher. "Coffee?"

Laurel groaned; Quentin looked like he was about to have a stroke. "That was terrible." Thea said, rolling her eyes.

"But something I completely agree with." Mia quipped, holding out her mug for Sara to fill as Thea turned a lovely shade of red.

"You keep making her blush like that, she'll stay red." Roy noted.

"Then we'll match!" Mia said brightly to her husband. She grabbed the remote and hit play.

The memory set opened on a man running through dense foliage. The figure stopped and looked up as a plane flew over the island, revealing him to be Oliver.

"Wait, this isn't a flashback." Laurel realized. "His hair is short."

Slade leaned forward. "Don't tell me he actually went back there!"

25,000 feet up, Felicity sat with her eyes clenched shut and her fingers dug into the seat of an ancient Lockheed Electra that dated back to the time of Amelia Earhart- and she wasn't sure that this wasn't Earhart's missing plane.

"Oh, I got a bad feeling about this…" Felicity moaned.

The pilot, and aged Chinese man, said something in Mandarin that she couldn't understand as Dig came up behind her.

"Felicity, if you're so scared, why did you insist on sitting up front?" he asked the frightened hacker.

"This is the only seat with a seatbelt." She said in a tremulous voice.

"Which will come in handy when we hit the water at 180 miles an hour." He noted wryly.

Felicity glared at Diggle. "Oh, thanks!" she said scathingly.

"What?" she asked, whipping her head around to look at him.

"Which will not happen." He hastily added. The pilot said something else, and a sight outside the cockpit window caught Dig's attention. "I think that means we're here."

Felicity looked out as the island appeared through the mists. "Lian Yu." She said softly.

"Wow. He DID actually go back there." Tommy said. "I wonder why?"

"Because he was grieving." Mia said.

"Oh."

She looked back to Dig, and her eyes widened in alarm as she saw him putting on a parachute. "But you said the parachutes were just in case!" she exclaimed fearfully.

"Yeah, just in case we made it here." Dig replied. "Come on."

"No!"

A few minutes later, Dig opened the side door of the plane, and he and Felicity squeezed out of the narrow doorway. Felicity was attached to Diggle, with their gear strapped to her chest.

Felicity whimpered, and Thea reached over and grasped her hand.

"All right, Felicity, on 3!" Diggle shouted over the rush of air.

Felicity shook her head. "I can't, I'm scared! I can't—"

"One!" Dig shouted, and then jumped.

"You jerk!" she shouted at Diggle.

"Bet you're glad you're sitting with the big kids now." Roy remarked.

"He's glad, but his credit score sure as heck won't be!"

Dig chuckled nervously. "You're kidding, right?"

"Nope." Mia said in amusement. "You're screwed."

Felicity screamed the entire way down. They floated over the edge of the island, past a half-sunken ship until they landed on the beach. Felicity managed to hold onto her vomit until Diggle unhooked her. He set about gathering up the parachute as she lost her lunch into the ocean.

"Thanks for waiting until we touched down." He told her with a smile.

"My pleasure." She replied.

Felicity glared at Diggle, who shrugged in return. "Look at it this way," he tried. "The worst part is over."

Dig hoisted the pack onto his back. "Let's move." He said. They started walking up the beach with Dig taking point. Felicity looked around curiously, her eyes lingering on a post set into the beach. On it was a mask- half blue, half yellow, with an arrow sticking out of the left eye hole.

Slade harrumphed in amusement.

They moved into the forest, with Dig quickly identifying a path to follow. He walked quickly but cautiously, his gun drawn but pointed down as he took in his surroundings. Felicity half walked, half ran behind him, struggling to keep up. Suddenly Dig froze and held up a closed fist, signaling Felicity to stop.

"What is it?" she asked as he looked around.

Diggle frowned. "Thought I heard something." He said, lowering his gun. They started moving again, but had only moved a few feet before Felicity put her foot down and heard a distinctive 'Click'.

Felicity paled, then once again glared at Dig. "You HAD to say something!"

"Forgot about the landmines…." He said absently.

"'The worst part is over.' Jeeze, that's like saying 'I'll be right back' in a horror movie!"

"Yeah, but usually the black dude dies first." Tommy joked.

"Dig!" she said in alarm.

Diggle spun around, then set his pack on the ground before approaching her. "Don't move." He told her. He pulled out a knife and knelt down in front of her, then began gently digging away the earth around her foot. "It's a landmine." He confirmed after a minute. "I'm going to try to disarm it."

"You can't!" Diggle looked up and Felicity turned her head to look behind her. In a tree behind the pair, Oliver stood on a branch, his bow at the ready. "Diggle! Back away. Felicity, don't move." He ordered. He fired and arrow with a line attached into a tree farther down the path, then took the line in his hand, drew it taught, and jumped. The line caught and he arced in a perfect swing towards the blonde IT girl, who held up her arm instinctively. Oliver caught her around the waist and swung her free of the mine, allowing it to explode harmlessly behind them.

"He really liked doing that whole 'Me Tarzan, you Jane' routine with you." Mia noted.

"At least he wasn't channeling 'George of the Jungle'." Tommy said with a grin.

"Good thing it wasn't a bouncing Betty." Diggle said.

"Mia, would you kindly beat him about the head please?" Felicity seethed.

The blast knocked Diggle to the ground, where he landed with a grunt even as Oliver and Felicity landed a short ways away with Oliver on top of the blonde.

"God, you're- you're really sweaty." Felicity gasped.

"That's the first thing you say?" Thea asked in amusement.

"Well sorry; I guess I was still shaken up from nearly being blown up by a not-bouncing betty." Felicity grumbled.

"You're a hard man to find." Diggle said as he pulled himself up.

Oliver looked over at Dig, then down at Felicity. "You shouldn't have come here." He said resignedly.

A short time later, Oliver led them to the fuselage of the downed military transport plane.

"Would have emailed, but this isn't exactly a WiFi hotspot." Diggle told them as they entered. It was more overgrown with vegetation now, in rougher shape, but it was still a good shelter on the island.

"Is this where you lived when you were here?" Felicity asked. "I mean, the first time you were here."

"For some of it." He replied shortly.

Felicity sighed. "Could you at least pretend like you're glad to see us?" she asked. "Dig and I spent weeks tracking you down. We've traveled halfway across the world. And this morning we flew in a plane so old, I'm pretty sure I was safer once I jumped out of it. You could at least offer us a water. Or," she paused, considering. "A coconut."

Tommy snickered.

"It's Asia, not the Bahamas." Laurel said, amused.

Oliver smiled his first genuine smile since Tommy's death at that. He pulled a canteen out of a storage crate, then walked back to Felicity and handed it to her. "Fresh out of coconuts." He said. "I am happy to see you." He added. "But I know why you're here. I'm not coming back to Starling City." He said. "I can't. My mission, my father's list, it was a fool's crusade. And I failed." He added. "Malcolm Merlyn destroyed the Glades. Tommy died. And the Hood couldn't stop it. So don't ask me to put it on again. Ever."

Tommy shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Thea glanced over at Malcolm, who stared resolutely ahead at the screen.

"This isn't about you being the Vigilante." Diggle said after a moment. "This is about you being Oliver Queen. Your mother's in prison, Oliver. Her trial's coming up. Thea's out on her own. Your family needs you."

"So does the family business." Felicity added. "All the bad press after the Undertaking left Queen Consolidated ripe for a hostile takeover by Stellmore International. They've gutted every company they've taken over." She explained. "Once they gobble up Queen Consolidated, 30,000 employee's are looking to be out of a job. Including one very blond I.T. expert." She added.

"Stellmore!" Moira exclaimed. "I'd rather be dead than see that bitch set foot in the building, much less take over Queen Consolidated!"

Thea looked at her mother with alarm. "Mom!"

"What bitch?" Laurel asked.

"I'm sure we'll see." Moira said darkly.

"Listen, I get why you had to leave, Oliver, probably better than anybody else." Dig said. "I've been there. And after what happened, nobody can blame you for leaving. But it's time to come home."

FIVE YEARS AGO

The scene flashed back to the fuselage four years prior. Slade and Oliver were sparring with escrima sticks, and it was apparent immediately that Oliver had improved by leaps and bounds since the death of Fyers and the rest of the mercenaries. They fought fast and furiously for several minutes before mutually coming to a stop. A noise drew Oliver's attention, and he looked to the door to see Shado, now wearing her father's hood, walk in with a freshly caught bird in a cage. Slade took advantage and raped him hard across the side of his head with one of the bamboo sticks, sending Oliver to his knees.

"Ha!" Slade laughed in amusement.

Slade laughed. "You're not the first man to learn the hard way- women are a distraction." He said as he moved off to get a drink of water. Shado came over, lowering her hood as she did so.

"You've come very far in a few months." She told him as he pulled himself up. "Don't beat yourself up."

"Ah, apparently that's his job." Oliver said with a smile.

"And I love my job." Slade replied. "Not that I wouldn't trade it for a way off this island."

"While you two were playing with each other, I was hunting." Shado said.

"Well, there's nothing more attractive than a woman who can hunt." Slade said, walking past the two towards the cage.

Oliver smiled at a memory. "When I was marooned here, my first meal was a pheasant." He told her. "Your father cooked it for me."

"He was an awful cook." Shado said.

"Yeah." Oliver agreed. "But a great father. I'm looking at the proof." He leaned down and kissed her lightly on the lips.

Slade's grin turned to a scowl. Mia watched the man out of the corner of her eye, wary of his mood swings.

Across the way, Slade snapped the neck of the bird. "Let's eat." He said. Before they could even start cooking, a beeping sound caught their attention.

"What's that?" Oliver asked.

"That's Fyers' proximity detector." Slade said as the three ran over to the crate it was sitting on. Shado reached it first and lifted it. "We salvaged it from the wreckage of the soldier's camp." Shado said. "Picks up anything moving outside our safe zone." On the screen there was a rough map of their section of the island, along with three dots that seemed to be moving. "It's been five months since we stopped Fyers. He and all of his men were dead." She said in confusion.

"So maybe it's an animal." Oliver suggested.

"There's an imaging interface." Shado pushed a button, and a thermal image came up on the screen- unmistakably of three men, probably holding weapons.

"Those are not animals." Oliver noted.

"I disagree with that statement." Slade growled.

"And we're not alone on this island." Slade added.

PRESENT

The scene flashed forward to Starling City. Oliver, having returned with Diggle and Felicity, rode in the back of the Bentley as Dig drove it through the devastation that was the Glades.

Everyone sat in silence, stunned at the devastation they had only glimpsed at earlier. Finally it was Quentin who broke the spell.

"Mary, mother of god…"

Tommy looked over at his father, a scathing remark on the tip of his tongue; but the look he saw on Malcolm's face stopped him cold. A look of- regret?

Oliver looked out in stunned silence at the destruction that now surrounded him. As they passed one fenced off disaster area, he noted a hand painted sign on the fencing that read 'Vote for Blood now!'

"Who's Blood?" he asked.

"An alderman from the Glades trying to save the city." Dig said. "Fill your shoes."

"Here's everything on Stellmore International." Felicity said, handing over a thin file folder. "The vice president of acquisitions is a woman named Isabel Rochev." Oliver opened the folder and saw picture of the woman in question. She was beautiful, but there was a coldness in her eyes that was off-setting. "She looks angry in every photo."

"That's because she's' a heartless cunt." Moira snapped.

Thea looked at her mother in stunned disbelief. Never had she heard her talk like that before.

"Ah." Malcolm said, remembering. He looked at Moira. "She was the one…"

"Yes, she most certainly was." She replied.

"The one WHAT?" Thea demanded.

"The one Dad was screwing on the side." Mia supplied. "He was serious about her, too- until we fell off that damn horse."

Thea sighed. "This is who you meant when you told Oliver…"

"She's one of them. But Isabel was his most serious mistress. And Mia is right." She smiled tiredly at Thea. "Your accident saved our marriage."

Thea nodded, then turned her attention back to the screen.

"So where to?" Dig asked. "Office?"

"Home." Oliver said. "I want to check in on Thea."

"Uh, she's not at your house, Oliver." Felicity said hesitantly.

"Where is she?" Oliver asked.

The scene changed to an office, where Thea and Roy were busy ripping off each other's clothes to have a quickie on the desk.

"Well, here's something to put you in a happier mood!" Roy said with a grin as Thea once again dropped her head into her hand."

"I only have a second." Thea said with a smile as they kissed hungrily.

"That's about half a second longer than you usually lasted back then." Mia said dryly.

"Ooh, BURN." Sara high-fived Mia.

Roy looked at the two women. "What are you, like, five?"

"That's ok, my boss has been all over my ass today." Roy replied as she undid her shirt. "You should hear what she sounds like when- Ow!" Roy hissed in pain, and Thea paused in her ministrations and frowned. She looked down at his side, now exposed as she was pulling up his shirt.

"You have got to be kidding me!" Thea said angrily, pushing Roy away roughly.

"Come on! I don't want to fight." Roy said, rushing after her as she stalked out of the office.

"Clearly you do, since you keep on taking every street corner drug dealer that you can get your fists on." Thea said. She exited the office and we see that we are in fact in Verdant.

"You know, when I remarked to Oliver about that office being for private meetings, I never even considered you would be using it as a place to have sex." Tommy said sourly, looking at Thea.

"We'd already christened the bar by that point; the office was next on the list." Mia said, causing Thea to flush scarlet. "And you're just jealous that you didn't get Laurel in there." she added with a smirk, causing both Tommy and Laurel to blush.

Thea stalked down the stairs to the main floor as Roy trailed behind.

"It's not like that." He said. "The Glades are worse than ever."

"I know, but you already saved a busload of people and managed not to get buried alive." She argued. "I mean, how much more of a hero do you need to be? It's like you have a death wish. And guess what- it's going to come true." She said.

"Yeah, well, someone has to do something." Roy countered. The two came to a stop on the main floor and Thea turned back to look at him. "And stand up for what's right, like he did."

"The Vigilante." She said dryly. "Who hasn't been seen since the earthquake, which means he did get buried alive and isn't coming back."

"I'm back."

"Impeccable timing, that one." Felicity remarked.

Thea turned around and smiled as Oliver walked into the club. "Ollie!" she exclaimed happily, throwing herself into a hug. They separate, and she saw him looking at Roy. "Ah, you remember my friend Roy."

"Still here?" Oliver said with a bit of an edge to his voice.

"Always." Roy replied evenly, shaking his hand.

"Don't let that gruff exterior fool you- he always loved me." Roy said.

"Don't even get me started on your very unhealthy obsession with my brother." Mia replied dryly.

"So how was Europe?" Thea asked, and Roy took the opportunity to get back to work. "You never texted, no postcards. Almost like you're on the island all over again."

"Yeah, sorry, I was kind of distracted. With snow skiing, water-skiing. A lot of skiing." He lied as they headed towards the bar. "I hear rumors that my club is under new management."

"Ah, actually, it's my club now, and you're not getting it back." Thea said firmly.

Tommy blinked. "Thea runs the club?" he asked in disbelief. Thea shot her brother a glare.

"You're not old enough to drink." Oliver pointed out.

"Not that that ever stopped you before." Tommy said archly.

"You're just jealous that I'll run the bar better than you ever did." Thea replied, a touch of sadness in her voice. There was a reason he'd never get a chance in these memories- one that kept getting hammered again and again.

"But I am old enough to run a bar." Thea countered.

"Have you made it to Iron Heights?" Oliver asked gently.

"To visit the woman who dropped a city on 500 innocent people? No, thank you." She said sarcastically.

Moira winced at the cruelty in her daughter's tone.

"Thea…" Oliver sighed. "That's not what mom did."

"Right. She had no choice." Thea said acidly. "But guess what? She did. A choice not to be a mass murderer. And I have a choice, too. So I choose not to be her daughter."

Thea looked apologetically at her mother. "Sorry." She said softly.

"It's alright, dear." Moira replied.

She smiled at her brother- a genuine smile- and placed a warm hand on his arm. "But I am so happy you are home." She let go and moved off further down the bar. "Honestly, I need to deal with our liquor distributor who shorted me on yesterday's delivery, and one of my bartenders called in sick, so…" she finally looked up at Oliver and noticed his expression. "What?" she asked.

"Nothing." He said. "It's- it's nice to see you like this."

"Like what?" she asked suspiciously.

"Together." Oliver smiled. Thea returned it, and then moved off to continue working. The sound of the TV caught his attention and he turned back to the bar.

'-The representative from Central City says construction on the Star Labs particle accelerator should be completed by Christmas. And in local news, billionaire Oliver Queen has returned once again to Starling City. With his mother's upcoming trial and his father's company in free fall, analysts are asking what the Queen family scion has planned next." He frowned at the screen, wondering the same thing.

The scene changed to City Hall, where a benefit was being thrown to raise money for the Glades. In the main hall, the Mayor was having a discussion with the District Attorney about the usefulness of vigilantes.

"Wasn't our country founded on a brand of vigilantism, Mr. Donner?" The Mayor asked. "The revolutionaries in the Boston Tea Party were certainly choosing justice over law."

"I'd hardly compare our founding fathers to the Hood, Mr. Mayor, or these twisted copycats who have risen in his wake." Donner argued. The Mayor looked past Donner and smiled at the figure walking down the steps . "Ms. Lance. What do you think about vigilantes?" he asked as she joined the pair.

"I'd be foolish to disagree with my new boss." Laurel replied with a smile.

Laurel was stunned. "I'm a prosecutor?!"

"Helloooo Counselor!" Tommy said appreciably.

"I knew I was smart to hire you." Donner said.

"I'd heard you joined the district attorney's office." The Mayor said.

"It was time for a change." Laurel said simply.

"Still, I'm sorry that you and your colleagues at CNRI won't be opening your doors again." He said. Despite him being a politician, she actually believed he meant it.

"There were no doors left to be reopened." Laurel replied with a twinge of sadness.

The joviality that Tommy had just brought vanished in an instant as everyone remembered why CNRI had no doors. Thea glanced over at Malcolm; the only reaction he displayed outwardly was a slight twitch of his eye.

A series of musical chimes sounded. "They're playing my song." The Mayor said, racing off towards the podium as he was introduced.

"Good evening." He said to polite applause. "It has been a very difficult year for Starling City. Our losses have been incalculable, our grief unimaginable. But with the generous donations you people are making tonight, we will come back from this tragedy."

"You have failed this city, Mr. Mayor!" a voice screamed out, causing the Mayor to stop short. "The Glades descended into hell on your watch! You swore to protect all the citizens of Starling, not just the wealthy!"

"We're sorry about this, folks." The Mayor said. "We'll have this sorted out in just a minute."

Before any action could be taken, though, the Mayor was cut down in a hail of bullets. People started screaming and ducking for cover as four men, armed with automatic weapons and wearing Kevlar and paintball masks came storming down the stairs. They continued firing at the meager police presence in the room, cutting them down even as they tried to return fire. By the time they reached the main floor, the cops were all dead.

"See, this is what I was worried about." Quentin said. "Oliver as a vigilante , at least he showed some restraint. But I knew eventually he'd influence copycats who wouldn't be as restrained…" he trailed off as the memory continued, and his aggravated expression turned to one of horror.

One of the men same up to Donner, letting his rifle hang on the sling and drawing his pistol. "Mr. District Attorney-" he started, but then Laurel was there; she swiftly grabbed his gun and sent three hard elbows into his face. The mask prevented any major damage, but the impact sent him to the ground. Laurel looked down at cold rage, the man's gun in her hand, but froze as she heard another gun cock behind her. She turned to see another masked man pointing his pistol right in her face. He gestured for her to get to her knees, and Laurel, her face full of rage and fear, complied.

"We are the Hoods." He said as she stared at him, unwavering. "And what was taken from us, we will take back." He pulled the trigger, but the gun only clicked- it was empty. She jumped slightly, but otherwise didn't react as the Hoods ran out of the building and into the night.

Quentin trembled in rage. "I'll kill those mother fuckers." He growled.

"Easy, Detective." Mia said soothingly. "Trust me, these guys aren't a threat to Laurel."

Later that night, Quentin rushed in, looking for-

"Laurel!" he exclaimed, running up to her and hugging her tightly.

"Dad, I'm fine." Laurel protested, but returned the hug anyway.

"You've got one very brave daughter there, sir." Donner told him, walking up to the family.

"Yeah, one daughter's right, and I can't stand to lose another." Quentin said.

"Well, I still can't believe this happened." Donner said. "The hoods attacks have strictly been limited to people in the financial sector trying to redistribute wealth in the Glades at gunpoint."

"Yeah, well, clearly that's not getting the result they're looking for, is it?" Quentin said, walking off with Laurel. "Did you get a good look at any of them?" he asked, the stress of the situation reverting him to type.

"It was hard to focus on anything other than the gun barrel pointed at my face." Laurel replied.

"No tattoos, distinguishing marks?"

"What do you think you're doing?" Lance looked up to see a cross Lieutenant Pike stalking towards him. "Interviewing the witness is the job of the Detective. Officer Lance." He said pointedly.

"Wait- 'Officer' Lance?" Laurel said in shock. She looked to her father. "You got demoted! You probably help save half the Glades, and they demoted you!"

Quentin sighed. "I was aiding and abetting a wanted criminal, sweetie." He pointed out.

"Call it like it is, Detective." Roy said. "The police utterly failed to do their job. You did manage to shut down one of the devices, but you were working with the vigilante. That made the police look bad, so they used you as a scapegoat."

"I was breaking the law." Quentin said, not willing to throw his entire department under the bus.

"You blew the whistle on Malcolm's plan." Sara said. "You saved half of the Glades. If the brass wasn't so damn corrupt; and if Nudocerdo hadn't been hip deep in Merlyn's money, you would have been hailed as a hero- helping the vigilante or not."

"This is my daughter." Lance said desperately. "She was nearly killed tonight."

"Well, as a parent, you're welcome to stay." Pike said. "But as a beat cop, you're more than free to go." With that, Pike turned and walked off.

"Well fuck you, too." Mia said sarcastically. "You know, that was one cop I was never sorry I put into the hospital…"

"You know, that's one of the downsides of being demoted- I don't get to witness his sunny disposition on a daily basis." Quentin joked. Laurel looked up and saw Oliver walking down the stairs.

"Dad, give me a sec." she said, moving off towards her ex.

"Yeah." Quentin said with a sigh.

"I didn't know you were back in town." Laurel said to Oliver as they met at the bottom of the stairs.

"I just got back a little while ago, and I was going to call, but then I saw you on TV, so I thought that I would come and make sure you were safe." He said.

"Just four hooded gunmen." Laurel said off-handedly. "Nothing a few self-defense classes couldn't handle."

Oliver sighed. "Take a walk?" he asked.

"Yeah." She said. They walked off towards the exit.

"Sorry I left." He told her.

"Believe me, I get it." She said. "After the funeral, I think we both needed time to figure things out. On our own."

"I didn't get very far on my own." He admitted. "Did you? Figure anything out?"

"That I made a mistake when I slept with you." She said, stopping and turning to face him. "I know it wasn't exactly cheating, because Tommy had broken up with me, but he only did that because he thought that you and I should be together. All I know is that I feel like I betrayed him." She took a breath. "And now he's gone. And there's nothing I can do to make it right."

"You wouldn't have to make it right." Tommy told Laurel. "We both acted rashly, but I acted rashly first. So please don't feel like you would owe me anything." Laurel smiled and gently squeezed his hand.

"I know how that feels." Oliver said. "When I brought your sister on 'The Queen's Gambit,' I betrayed you and your father. There's no forgiveness for what I led Sara into. I would give anything to…"

Laurel pulled him into a hug. "To go back." She finished.

"Yeah."

Laurel stepped back. "But we can't go back." She said, and then walked off, leaving him alone.

Oliver sighed, then turned and walked outside. He found his body man on the sidewalk.

"Diggle!" he called out. "I don't like being played."

"That's funny, because it sure happens to him a lot." Sara said dryly.

"I'm not sure what you mean." Dig replied as they walked towards the car.

"That's why you came to the island and brought me back to Starling City- these hood copycats." Oliver accused.

"Well, what if it was?" Dig asked. "They're just doing what you did last year, terrorizing one-percenters into cleaning up their act." He stopped and faced the younger man. "Except they don't have your restraint, Oliver. Or your honor."

"I'm done being the Vigilante."

"Maybe this town still needs a vigilante."

"Now there's four of them." Oliver said hotly. "How's that working?" he glared at Dig. "Please take me home." He said after a moment. "Got a big day at the office tomorrow trying to save my family's company."

"Absolutely." Dig said, opening the door for Oliver. "Mr. Queen."

Later that night, in an old abandoned church, the four hoods were watching the news to see how their actions were reported. Instead they saw-

'And in local news, billionaire Oliver Queen has returned once again to Starling City.'

"Unbelievable." One of the men said. "We off the mayor on live TV, and what's the local news keep showing? Oliver Queen. Why?"

"Because giving air time to terrorists is like feeding pigeons." Felicity said. "The more you feed them, the more they'll expect."

Thea looked askance at the hacker. "Pigeons? Really?"

"She could have said kangaroos." Slade noted dryly.

Mia looked at the mercenary. "Did you just make a joke?" she asked incredulously.

Slade shrugged. "What can I say? I'm naturally a funny guy."

Sara and Roy looked at one another. "Bullshit." They both said in unison.

"Guess he's taking over the family business." Another one said.

"We've been going about this wrong." The first one said.

"What do you mean?"

"If we want real payback, we got to take the fight to the name that did this to us."

"Queen?"

"Yeah."

"Oh, PLEASE go after Oliver." Thea said. "That would end them really quick."

"He's some useless brat."

"The applied sciences division of Queen Consolidated built the earthquake generator." The first one said. "If we want real justice… then that family has to pay for the suffering it's caused us." He snarled. "In full."

Thea looked at the screen in anger. "We haven't paid?" she said indignantly. "My dad is dead, my brother spent five years in hell, my mother spent years being terrorized by a nutjob," she glared at Malcolm, "and the guy who had the machines built was named 'Merlyn', not 'Queen'. How much more are we supposed to pay?!"

"Thea!" Moira said, cutting her daughter off. "They have every right to be angry-"

"And what, since we're the only family left alive, we have to suffer?" Thea shot back, then instantly regretted it. She sagged back into her seat. "Sorry." She mumbled. Felicity reached over and grasped her hand, giving the younger girl what comfort she could.

"Before you get to gung-ho about them going after a Queen- remember, you're one, too." Mia reminded her younger self.

The scene changed to Verdant, where Thea was preparing the club for another night. Or would be, if her mind wasn't elsewhere.

"Hello, earth to Queen." Roy said, getting his girlfriend's attention. "What, did you drop a Vertigo when I wasn't looking?" he joked.

Thea gave him a tired smile. "I was just distracted." She said as she headed for the DJ booth.

"About what your brother said, about your mom?" Roy guessed.

"Eavesdrop much?"

"Ah, what I lack in height, I make up for in wicked good hearing." Roy joked.

"He doesn't look that short to me." Felicity noted, looking over at Roy.

"He wears lifts." Mia said offhandedly. Causing Sara to snort in amusement and Roy to look at her, offended.

"I do NOT wear lifts!" he said indignantly.

Mia patted his knee. "Of course, dear." She said, then looked back to Felicity and nodded. "Totally does." She mouthed.

"Well, don't keep me in suspense, Harper. What's your take on the matter?" Thea asked. "Though, keep in mind, I do control your paycheck and your sex life." She pointed out.

"The less reminders of THAT, the better." Tommy muttered.

"Well, both my parents weren't worth a damn, either of them." Roy admitted.

"You never talk about them." She noted.

"You got nothing nice to say, right?" Roy chuckled. "Still, I- I'd be glad to see them and talk to them if I could. But look, you already lost your dad. Your mom, she's still here, and I'm sure she'd love to see you."

"I'm sure she's dying to." Thea said angrily. "Just like a lot of mothers in the Glades who won't ever get to see their kids again. Because my mother helped kill them." She glared at Roy. "I'm not going to that prison. It's the only way I know how to hurt her." She said, moving off.

"You might want to consider how much it's hurting you." Roy called out after her.

Thea reached over and took her mother's hand. Moira grasped it thankfully.

The scene changed to QC the next day. Oliver and Diggle stepped off of the elevator and headed towards the offices, where they were met with Felicity.

"They're in the conference room." She told them. "Just fyi, no one is eating the bagels."

Oliver ignored her and walked into the conference room. Isabel, dressed impeccably in a tasteful red dress, stood and extended her hand.

"Isabel Rochev."

"Oliver Queen." They shook. "Sorry I'm late."

"For this meeting or a career in business?" Isabel jabbed.

"God I hate that bitch." Moira snarled.

Oliver gave her a tight smile. "I didn't realize hostile takeovers were filled with so much hostility." He noted as he took his seat at the end of the table.

"Not at all." She replied, returning to her seat. "I'm actually in quite a good mood."

"Really?" Oliver aid. "So destroying companies agrees with you?"

"Winning agrees with me."

"You haven't won yet."

Isabel gave him a cold smile. "Since you majored in dropping out of college, let me put this in terms that are easy for you to understand." She stated, ignoring his offended look. "You control 45% of Queen Consolidated stock. I control 45%, leaving 10% outstanding. But, in two days the board will release the final 10%."

"And I'll buy it before you do." Oliver said confidently. His confidence evaporated with her next words.

"With what money?" she asked. "I doubt your trust fund is that large, and no angel investor will go near the company that built the machine that destroyed half the city. Companies rise and fall, Mr. Queen." Isabel said. "Your company has fallen."

Moira looked to Malcolm. "If you could do me one small favor- before my son stabs you in the chest, that is- would you mind terribly hunting down and killing that cunt?"

"MOM!" Thea exclaimed, shocked. Malcolm raised an amused eyebrow- the first sign of emotion on his face since he had walked into the room.

"Jeeze, Moira!" Quentin said, startled by her outburst. "Take it down a notch."

"If it makes you feel better, mom- she dies at the end of this year." Mia said, an amused grin on her face.

"How?"

Sara took over. "Well, she starts to go into that wonderful 'Villain Monologue', but Nyssa got bored and snapped her neck."

Moira sat back on the sofa, a satisfied smile on her face.

Mia looked to Thea and grinned. "And you thought I got it all from Dad?" she asked sarcastically.

Out in the hall an executive arrives at the bank of elevators. He reaches for the button just as the door opens- revealing the four hoods. The first one belts him across the face, dropping the businessman. The four armed men rush into the boardroom, their weapons drawn.

"Oliver Queen!" the first one calls out as Oliver rises in alarm. "You failed this city." Oliver glances over at Felicity, then back at the men. How can he take them on without reveal his secret to the others in the room?

"Get Down!" Diggle shots as he ran into the room, his gun drawn and firing at the three terrorists. Everyone drops to the floor, and Oliver and Isabel look at each other in alarm from under the table

"Pull back!" Diggle called out, returning fire while taking cover under the table. "Oliver, go!"

Oliver grasped Isabel's arm and pulled her up, then pushed her to the door. "Go, go, go, go!" he urged her. He turned around, looking for Felicity-

And came face-to-mask with a Hood.

Who was promptly knocked over the head by a debris-wielding Felicity.

"You go girl!" Thea exclaimed.

"Nice shot!" Dig agreed, then frowned. "I, however, seem to be taking a page out of the 'How to shoot like a Stormtrooper' book."

Oliver grabbed his friend and dragged her with him out of the conference room

"Quick! They're getting away." The Hood yelled, chasing after them He opened fire with his rifle, but Oliver grabbed onto Felicity tight and took a running leap at the window.

"Oh, nononononononono!" Felicity said, panicked.

Just as he hit and the glass shattered, he grabbed the chain that controlled the blinds. Once again Felicity found herself swinging through the air in Oliver's arms as they dropped a few floors before the chain pulled taught. Oliver brought up his feet and the two smashed through the window of an empty office, tumbling over a desk to the hard floor. Felicity looked up, stunned to see that she was still alive, even as Oliver checked her over for injuries.

"Dude, that would have been so cool, if not for the, you know, imminent death." Tommy remarked.

"Again with the Tarzan!" Felicity exclaimed. "Does he not remember I hate heights!"

"I think you'd hate being shot more." Diggle noted.

"Wait for it." Sara said with a teasing grin.

Later that day after the Hoods had escaped, Oliver walked up to Isabel in the destroyed boardroom.

"Ms. Rochev, I'm sorry about this." He said earnestly.

"'Cause they were after you?" she asked.

"Because what happens in this building is my responsibility." Oliver replied.

"Only for the next 48 hours." Isabel said with as mug grin as she walked off.

Moira crossed her arms. "They couldn't have shot her?" she muttered to herself.

"I still can't get used to you in that uniform, Detective Lance." She said, looking from the broken window to the former detective.

"It's 'Officer' now." He told her with a smile. "And I'm just glad it still fits. They hurt you?" he asked her in concern.

"I'm ok." She assured him.

"You, uh, heard anything from our mutual friend lately?" Quentin asked hopefully.

"Nope. In fact I keep waiting for him to show up." She said, looking over to Oliver, who was talking with Diggle.

"You could have stopped those guys." She accused him later, after the cops had gone.

"Not without giving Isabel Rochev and the Hoods a pretty good idea of what I'm capable of." Oliver pointed out.

"I think what Felicity's wondering is whether you avoided taking those Hoods on." Dig said. "And Oliver, she's not the only one wondering."

"I told you, I did not come back to Starling City to be the Vigilante." He said hotly.

"But they came after you, Oliver. You could have taken them out." Dig pointed out.

"No, I couldn't, Diggle." Oliver sighed. "Look, there's a part of being the Hood that neither one of you are considering." He told them. "The body count."

"And excuse me for saying this, but so what?" Felicity shot back. "Since when do you care?"

Thea looked at Felicity in surprise. "And since when do you NOT care?" she asked.

"Since Tommy." Diggle realized.

Once again the room sobered.

"After he found out my secret, you know what Tommy called me?" Oliver asked. "A murderer. He was right. My best friend died thinking that I was a murderer, and anyone that I kill dishonors his memory."

Tommy sighed. "Jesus, Ollie…" he said in a pained voice.

"So don't." Felicity said after a moment. "It's not like you've killed every guy you've faced."

"I could have." He said. "Because when I put on the hood, it's kill or be killed. That is what kept me alive. That's why I should have stayed on the island." He grabbed his jacket and headed for the door.

"Is that where you're going now?" she asked.

"The two of you won't help me save my family's company; I'm going to talk to somebody who will." Oliver said, leaving them alone in the office.

FIVE YEARS AGO

The scene flashed back to the island. Slade, Oliver and Shado were walking through the woods, with Slade carrying the motion tracker.

"Well, someone's definitely out there." Slade said. "They're moving closer." He looked up and noted Shado moving off. "Where do you think you're going?" he demanded.

"Flanking position." She explained. "They get the drop on you; you'll want some back-up." She smiled at Oliver and said something in Mandarin. He replied with a smile, and then watched her move off.

"She's teaching you Chinese. How sweet." Slade said sarcastically.

"I'm sure she'd be happy to teach you, too—" suddenly there was the sound of a gunshot, not very far from them. "Shado!" Oliver shouted in alarm, running off towards where she had walked off. Not far away they found her hood lying on the ground. The two looked at each other in concern, then moved off again to search.

PRESENT

Slade growled at the memory. It was a good thing Oliver had killed those men- because if he hadn't, Slade would have. And it would have been much slower for them…

Back in the present, Oliver was waiting in Iron Height's visitor's area as Moira was led in. It was a shock to see his mother in gray prison jumpsuit and no makeup. She smiled at him as she sat down at the table.

"Oh, mom…." Thea whispered.

Moira squeezed her hand. "It's alright, Thea. Prison is the least of what I deserve."

"Hey." She said.

"Hey." He replied. "I'm sorry I didn't make it here sooner."

"Oh, no, no, no." Moira said, shaking her head. "Please, Oliver. There are going to be enough apologies with me apologizing to you for the rest of my life."

"You don't have to." Oliver said. "You saved hundreds of lives."

"And killed hundreds more." She looked down. "Including Tommy."

"That was Malcolm." Oliver argued.

Malcolm's cheek twitched.

Moira gave him a pained smile. "Your sister doesn't see it that way." She said. "And, you know, my attorney is thrilled. If my own daughter can't forgive me, she's not too optimistic about twelve strangers in a jury box." She sighed. "All right, enough of that. How has it been going at Queen Consolidated?" she asked, then smiled at his surprised expression. "Yes, we do get the news in here, Oliver." She said.

"Right."

"You know, if I'd known the key to you taking your rightful place at the company was its demise, I would have declared bankruptcy a year ago." She said wryly.

"I don't know if I'll get to run it for long." Oliver admitted. "Stellmoor. Their VP is coming after us hard."

"Isabel Rochev." Moira said with a sigh.

"Yes."

"Do not trust that woman, Oliver. She is dangerous." Moira warned.

"Well, mom, everywhere I look, there are no good options. I don't know what to do." He admitted.

"You don't have to do it yourself. This is a family business." She pointed out.

Oliver chuckled. "I love Thea, but I don't think that she wants anything to do with it."

"I wasn't talking about Thea." Moira said significantly.

Moira smiled. "Of course. Walter."

Thea sighed in relief. "Oh thank god." She said.

Tommy looked at her, amused. "Not up to being a 'Master of the Universe'?"

"I'll run a club." Thea replied. "NOT Queen Consolidated. I'm only 18 there, you know."

The scene changed to Verdant. The club was hopping, and Thea was on the floor serving drinks to keep up with demand. She headed back to the bar and placed her empty tray down. "Table seven needs bottle service, and I need a round of Martinis on the three top." She told the bartender.

"You go see your mom yet?"

Thea looked over at Roy, who came to stand next to her at the bar.

"I thought about what you said." She said.

"And?"

"And…I'll go see her when you stop going out at night looking to clean up the streets."

Roy looked at her in confusion. "What does one thing have to do with the other?" he asked.

"I guess they're both things that are never going to happen." She said, moving back onto the floor and leaving a frustrated Roy behind.

"Ouch." Tommy said.

Thea sighed again. "I guess its time for another round of 'Kick Thea'."

"Oh, no." Mia said. "We actually get off this time around. For this year, someone else becomes the whipping girl."

Out in the club, no one noticed as three men dressed in black body armor, hoodies, and carrying assault weapons moved through the club.

"Oh, look. These assholes are back." Quentin said sourly.

The first Hood stopped near the DJ booth, cocked his shotgun, and fired a shot into the air, causing all of the people to drop to the ground in fear. His second shot blew away the DJ booth, turning off the music.

"We're looking for Oliver Queen!" he shouted as his friends circled around. "He's back in town. He owns this dump. Where can we find him?" On the ground near the bar, Roy and Thea exchanged looks. " Ok, then plan 'B'," the first hood grabbed a girl from the stairs and threw he off onto the ground. "I'm going to start shooting people until Mr. Queen Grows a pair." He pointed the shotgun in the girls face.

Tommy shook his head. "Wow, that's the dumbest plan EVER."

"How do they know if he's there or not" Laurel put in. "What if he decided to stay at home, or go out of town?"

"Or work at that building they assaulted earlier." Felicity added.

"And when was the last time he was seen at the club, anyways?" Thea added. "Besides- those people they are threatening? Not all of them are from rich families."

"I don't think they care anymore." Tommy said darkly.

Having seen enough, Roy leapt into action, even as Thea shouted for him to stop. Roy charged the first Hood, taking him down with a devastating tackle. He then turned and sprang up towards the second, forcing the Hood's M-16 up and away. He pushed him back against the stair, then used the rifle to flip the man over his shoulder and onto the ground. The man hit hard, and a prosthetic piece that had been attached to his hand fell off. Roy looked down in surprise at the man, whose gun hand was missing all of his fingers except the thumb. Shaking it off, Roy brought the rifle to his shoulder and aimed it at the third Hood-

Just as the first Hood recovered, grabbing Thea and pulling her up. He hid his body behind hers as Roy swung the rifle around to him and held his gun to her head as she whimpered in terror.

"Oh, come on!" Thea exclaimed.

Mia sighed. "I actually forgot about this."

"Was this the year we coined the phrase 'Thea's been kidnapped? Must be Wednesday'?" Roy asked nonchalantly.

"Yeah." Mia admitted tiredly.

"Roy!" she screamed.

"Drop it, hero." The first Hood growled, holding tight to Thea as she thrashed around. "I'm just as happy to kill this Queen as her brother. Let's go!" the three backed out of the club, taking Thea with them as Roy watched, helpless.

"You know, if this had been a year later I could have taken them all down without killing them." Roy noted.

"Or you'd get knocked out rather quickly." Mia teased. "It was a bit of a coin toss back then."

Later that night, Oliver walked into the club as Roy was giving his statement to Officer Lance.

"And surprise, surprise, Oliver wasn't even in the club." Laurel shook her head. "Assholes."

"Amen, sister." Thea agreed.

"One of the guys was missing a hand." He was saying. "Mostly, anyway. He still had sutures."

"Excuse me. What's going on here?" he demanded.

Quentin sighed. "It was the hoods, again." He told Oliver. "They came here looking for you; they took Thea instead."

"Where?" Oliver demanded.

"I'm sorry." Roy said. "I really tried to stop them, but I—" he didn't get to finish as Oliver stalked off.

"Queen." Quentin said. "Oliver!" he said louder, causing the younger man to turn and face him. "We'll get your sister back." He promised.

Oliver nodded to the man. "I was going to check something downstairs." He said, moving off towards the basement door. Felicity and Diggle, who had arrived with him, saw and moved to follow.

"I've made a few improvements down here." Felicity was saying as they headed down the long stairs into the basement of the club. She moved swiftly to the junction box and flipped the power switch on. "Just in case, you know… you decided to come back."

The basement lit up. What had been an ad-hoc collection of tables, computers, and work-out equipment was now an organized, professional set-up. There were several glass cases set up under a new central lighting grid. Several held equipment, one held an assortment of pre-made arrows. One case was dedicated to his uniform, displayed on a dummy for all to see. There were several tables holding scientific equipment and tools that Oliver could use to build more arrows. And set up in front of the salmon ladder was Felicity's workstation. Felicity had a brand new computer with triple screens hooked up for maximum efficiency set before an absurdly comfortable chair. Oliver looked around in stunned amazement.

"Cool." Thea said.

"I do good work." Felicity said, impressed despite herself.

"We need to find these guys." He said finally.

"I've been trying, ever since you got back." She replied, heading towards her station as Oliver looked over his uniform. "I figured you'd come around eventually." His eyes turned to the salmon ladder, now upgraded with lights. "I kept that. I liked watching you do that." She admitted.

"Agreed." Laurel and Sara both said. Thea snickered as Felicity blushed.

Any other time he would enjoy that remark. Instead he pressed on. "Thea's boyfriend said one of them was missing part of his hand." Oliver said. "Maybe a veteran? Check hospital records, any males that have had surgical amputations on their extremities." He ordered.

Felicity sat down and started typing. "Cross-checking by race and age." In seconds, she got a hit. "Got one-Jeff Deveau. Caucasian, late thirties."

"What else can you get on him?" Oliver asked.

"Ex-Marine."

"Would explain how he can handle himself." Dig noted. "Did he lose his hand overseas?"

Felicity looked deeper, then stopped. "No. In the earthquake." She replied. "Says here he and his wife were trying to make it across the 52nd Street Bridge when it collapsed. She didn't make it."

Moira dropped her head into her hands, both saddened and angered by the pain she had help cause.

Oliver sighed. "Phone records, please." Oliver said. "I want to know he's in contact with."

"He's made a lot of calls to a church in the Glades." She said after a moment of checking. "Something called Standing Strong. It's a support group for those who lost loved ones in the quake." She explained as Oliver looked over the arrows in their case.

"Great place to meet three other guys as angry as you, looking for a little payback." Dig noted.

"Get me an address, please." Oliver said tiredly.

Felicity looked to Diggle, who nodded. "You're going to need this." She said as she rose from her station. She walked over to a table and opened the case that was sitting on it. "I had it custom made." Oliver looked down at the brand new compound bow. "How'd I do?" she asked.

He picked it up and felt its weight. He moved it slightly to feel it's' balance. He sighed wearily. "It's perfect." He admitted.

"You were right." Felicity said after a moment. "Once I signed on, I stopped thinking about all the bodies you dropped. Because I knew that being the Hood meant occasionally being a killer." She watched as Oliver moved to the main case and stared at his uniform. "Maybe there's another way." She offered.

"They have my sister." Oliver said quietly. "What other way is there?"

FIVE YEARS AGO

The scene flashed back to the island. Night had fallen, but Slade and Oliver had finally managed to track Shadow. She sat on a log, her hands bound in front of her, surrounded by thee rough looking men. Oliver made to rush them, but Slade held him back.

"What are you doing?" he whispered.

"We need to save her." Oliver whispered back angrily.

"Listen, kid. You are not the only one who cares for her." He admitted. "But there's a lot of them. Wait for my signal." He ordered. Oliver nodded in agreement.

"Where are the graves?" one of the men demanded, holding a knife to her face. "Where are the graves?" he demanded again.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Shado said. The man slapped her hard across the face, causing her to grunt in pain. Oliver's eye's flared in rage.

"Tell me." The man demanded, yanking her up by her hair and pulling her head back, exposing her long neck.

Enraged, Oliver sprinted out of the bushes and tackled the man. Slade growled in anger, but followed, taking down the other two pirates as Oliver straddled the first man and rained punches down on his face. Not satisfied, he reached over and picked up a large rock.

"Oliver, no!" Shado cried.

He hoisted it over his head and brought it down once, twice, smashing the man's head.

"Oliver!" Slade shouted, breaking through the young man's haze of rage. Oliver moved off the man and sat back on the ground, spent.

The group looked shaken at Oliver's display of rage. Tommy looked at Slade. "Was that- I mean, I know he killed Fyers, but…"

"We all have a little monster in us, kid." Slade replied. "That, I believe, was the first time he let his out. It won't be the last." He warned.

PRESENT

The scene moved back to Starling City. Thea was bound to a chair in the church, trying her best to remain calm as the four Hoods moved around in agitation.

"So… what do you want to do with her?" one of them asked.

"Oh, good thing they planned ahead." Tommy said sarcastically. "Please tell me my ghost comes back and kicks their asses."

"We could knock her out, drop her off somewhere." Another suggested.

"Come on." The fourth Hood snarled. "Why don't you just buy her a new pair of Prada's while you're at it?"

"She's seen our faces." The first hood pointed out.

"Look, offing Oliver Queen's one thing, but his sister?" the third man said. "She's not much older than my sister was when she was killed in the earthquake."

"Your sister wasn't killed, she was murdered." The first hood interjected. "By her mother. What we're doing here is justice, which makes us the heroes."

"No, that makes you psychopaths." Thea muttered, then grew silent as her older self started speaking on the screen.

"She didn't kill anybody." Thea said angrily. They all looked at her in surprise, but her focus was on the first Hood. "My mother didn't kill anyone." She repeated. "Malcolm Merlyn destroyed the Glades."

"With mommy's help." He shot back.

"Merlyn killed my father." She pointed out. "She thought he'd kill my brother, too. She was afraid of him. She must have been so afraid." She said, finally realizing what her mother must have been going though.

Thea snuggled into her mother's side, and Moira wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

The first hood wasn't impressed. "Just like my wife when our house collapsed on top of her." He said, pulling his sidearm and cocking it. She stared in fear, then closed her eyes as he brought the gun up to her head-

But then the gun was gone, struck away by an arrow.

Moira let out a shaky breath. "Oh, thank god..."

"Get away from her!" The Hood roared. Jeff opened fire, and the Hood ducked away, dropping to the floor behind a pillar. The hoods started spreading out, looking for the vigilante. The second hood rounded a corner- but THE Hood was there. He grabbed the terrorists arm and twisted it back, bending the man over. Then four quick hits with his bow to the temple put the man down for the night. He moved off, quickly disarming number four with an arrow even as Jeff opened fire. The gun clicked empty, and enraged the former marine charged at the Hood, swinging his rifle like a club. The Hood ducked it, trapped his arm and flipped them over, sending them to the ground. A quick hit to the head put him out, and The Hood stood and spun, swinging his bow and catching number four across the face, sending him down to the floor. The Hood looked around, and spotted the first man pushing Thea in front of him on the second level .

"Run, bitch." Thea snarled.

Oliver ran to the stairs and made it up to the second level, coming out onto the balcony in front of the terrorist, who once again shielded himself behind Thea.

"Yeah, big bad solider hiding behind a little girl." Tommy glanced over at his father, and on his face was a look of cold fury, and his hands were gripping the arms of the chair so hard the cloth was splitting.

"Let. Her. Go." He demanded.

"You want to save her?" the man spat. "There was no justice for people like the Queens till you showed us how to get it. You showed us."

Oliver frowned, and then fired. The arrow struck the man's shoulder and sent him spinning away from Thea, over the railing towards the ground two stories below-

But then the Hood was there, grabbing his hand and arresting his fall. "Go!" he shouted to Thea over his shoulder. She scrambled to her feet, her hands still bound behind her, and ran off.

Oliver looked back to the man, who now had his gun pointed at his head. "You shoot me, we both die." He told the man, pointing out the flaw in his logic.

"You'll drop me anyway." He replied. "I know you. You're a killer." Oliver snarled, then grabbed the man's hand with his other hand and yanked him up.

Mia smiled as she watched her brother take the first real step to become the hero he would be.

Several minutes and not too far away, Lance was giving a speeding ticket to a motorist like a good beat cop should.

"Still can't get used to seeing you in that uniform, dad." Laurel said a bit sadly.

Quentin shrugged. "As long as I'm still police, I'll be fine.

"Keep it under 40 next time." He said, handing the man the ticket and putting away his book. "Have a good evening." He watched as the car drove off, then turned and headed back to his squad car- and was stunned to see the four hoods handcuffed to the chain link fence. He drew his gun in surprise as the real Hood stepped out from behind the fence.

Felicity giggled at the display.

"Do you know who they are?" The vigilante asked.

"I think the hoods gives me a pretty good idea." Lance replied, keeping the archer in his sights.

"Bring them in." he told the cop.

"Where you been?" Lance asked, lowering his weapon. "Typically when I bring in guys that you've gone after, they're a little more dead."

"I'm trying another way." The Hood replied softly, turning away.

Tommy smiled fondly. "Well done, Ollie." He said softly.

Then he drew and arrow and fired it, then rode the line up and away from the police officer to hi stunned surprise.

"Okay, that was pretty cool." Diggle said. Everyone nodded in agreement.

The scene changed to the next day. Oliver was kneeling in front of Tommy's grave, paying his respects. He looked back and stood suddenly when Laurel came up behind him.

"I didn't mean to disturb you." She said as he rose. "I didn't know that you were here. I was just… I come here a lot." She sighed, then turned to leave. "I can go."

"And even now, it's still awkward between the three of us." Tommy joked, trying to lighten the mood.

"No, it's…" Oliver sighed. "You don't have to. It's, uh Laurel, I understand." He said. "After everything that's happened, I… understand why we can't be together. But I still need you in my life."

She smiled sadly and walked up to him, taking his hand as they turned and looked down at the grave. "We've been through too much for it to be any other way."

"I feel like I betrayed him, too." Oliver admitted.

"Before the Hood, we didn't have things like earthquake machines or copycat vigilantes—" she spat.

"Uh-oh..." Laurel said worriedly.

"Laurel." Oliver interrupted. "Malcolm killed Tommy."

"He was killed in the crossfire between two archers." Laurel said. "And now that Malcolm's dead, there's only one archer left. And I'm going to help my boss catch him." Oliver looked at her sadly, and wondered just how complicated his life had just become.

Laurel sighed in resignation. "I suppose I'm the designated 'whipping girl' this year?" she asked Mia. The elder archer grinned at her would-be nemesis.

"Oh, we're just getting started." She said gleefully.

Roy put a hand on her knee. "Behave yourself, dear."

The scene changed to Iron Heights. Moira sat in the waiting area, watching a mother hold her baby sadly, and sighed.

"That outfit, with your coloring- isn't that cruel and unusual punishment or something?"

Moira turned and couldn't avoid the look of surprise that crossed her face as Thea walked up to the table. "I've done my best to avoid mirrors in here." She said as her daughter sat down.

"So, I—"

"How have you been?" they both started to say, and then both laughed lightly. "Don't worry about me." Moira said. "I want to hear about you. How are you doing? Are you still seeing, uh- Roy was his name, wasn't it?" she asked. "Sweetheart, I'm fine, really." She assured her.

"You're normally a much better liar." Thea said. Moira chuckled.

"It's not that." Thea said. "I… I almost died last night." She started.

"What? Thea, what happened?" Moira asked in alarm.

"It doesn't matter." Thea said tearfully. "But when I thought it was over, I kept thinking that if… if I died, you would spend the rest of your life thinking that I hated you. And I want to hate you." She admitted. "I really tried to. But I can't. I can't, Mom."

"However long I am in this place, you have freed me." Moira said smiling despite tears of her own.

"If I hug you, are they going to shoot us?" Thea asked suddenly.

Moira chuckled. "I'm willing to risk it if you are." She said. The two women rose and embraced. "Oh, shh, shh." She whispered as her daughter cried in her arms.

Moira placed a kiss on the top of Thea's head.

The scene changed to Queen Consolidated. A very smug Isabel Rochev sat in the boardroom, speaking to Oliver who stood with his back to her. "You can't win this. I now own 50% of the stock. By tomorrow, I'll have the outstanding five percent and I will control your company." She explained. "Any attempt to fight me will lead to litigation and leave you penniless. And trust me, poverty isn't as glamorous as Charles Dickens made it look." She added with a smirk.

"What if I found someone to invest new equity capital?" Oliver said suddenly, turning to face her.

Isabel scoffed. "A White Night? With all due respect, your last name is now associated with mass murder. Even you don't have that good a friend."

"You're right." He admitted. "I have family."

The door at other end of the room opened, and a confused Isabel turned to face the newcomer. Confusion turned to alarm when she saw who it was.

"Mr. Steel." Isabel said, rising from her chair as Walter Steel was escorted in by Felicity. "It was my understanding that you had resigned as CEO."

"I did." He said in his cultured voice. "I'm now Chief Financial Officer of Starling National Bank. And my institution has committed rescue financing to Mr. Queen." He explained, walking past the woman to stand next to Oliver. "We bought up the remaining shares of Queen Consolidated when they were released this morning."

Oliver smiled. "Now I know I majored in dropping out," he said, walking up to his new partner, "but I'm pretty sure that makes us partners going forward. So I guess… we will be seeing a lot of each other."

Moira's pride for Oliver's actions were suddenly overcome by a feeling of dread. "Not TOO often, I hope."

Thea blanched. "Oh dear god, please tell me he doesn't-" she looked to Mia. "He doesn't-" Mia's smirk gave it away. "He does. Oh, gross!"

"How do you think HE felt?" she asked.

Isabel scoffed in surprise. "You aren't at all what people say about you." She stated.

"Most people fail to see the real me." He replied. She gave him a cool look as she walked past him to exit the room. Olive looked over to Felicity, who was smiling at him.

"Thank you, Walter." Oliver said, turning to his ex-stepfather and taking his hand. They shook firmly, but warmly.

"Thank you, for reaching out to me." Walter replied. "Whatever's happened between your mother and me, I'm gratified that you know you can still count on me." He smiled at Oliver. "Your father would have been very proud of you, Oliver." Walter made his way to the door, nodding in respect at Felicity as he passed. "Ms. Smoak."

"Mr. Steel." She replied warmly. She watched as he exited, then turned back to Olive, who had dropped into his chair at the table. "You did it. Not bad for someone who got a "D" in tenth grade Algebra." He looked up at her in surprise. "If it's online, I can find it." She said conspiratorially.

Thea snorted in amusement. Moira looked down at her crossly. "I don't know why you're laughing. A 'D+' is hardly better."

"And yet I still managed to run a successful nightclub." she tried. At her mother's glare, she sighed. "I guess math will be one of the many things I have to work on when I get back." Thea said in resignation.

Oliver laughed lightly. "Yeah. Well, it was just like a good friend once told me I had to find another way." He smiled at Felicity, who smiled back.

FIVE YEARS AGO

The scene flashed back to the island. Oliver pulled himself to his feet, staring down at the man he had just brutally killed. Suddenly a radio went off, and Slade bent down to pick it up. He and Shado listened for several moments.

"We're not alone." He said. "The question is, where did they come from?" he wondered. Out in the bay, a ship hugged the coast, its search light playing over the shore.

Sara shuddered slightly at the sight of the Amazo as memories long buried came back to haunt her.

PRESENT

Back in the present, Roy answered his phone as he walked through the Glades. "Hey, what's up?"

"Just came back from visiting my mom." Thea said from the club.

"Really? Good for you."

"So what do you say? You ready to start spending your nights safe with me?" Thea asked teasingly.

Roy stopped walking, alerted by the sounds of a woman screaming. He looked up to see a waitress being pushed around between three street thugs. "Absolutely." He lied. "Hey, I'm going to pick us up some Big Belly Burger right now. I'll see you later."

"Ok." Thea said, then hung up.

Mia looked at her husband in annoyance. Roy laughed nervously. "I never told you about this?" he asked innocently. I thought I did…"

"Dumbass." Mia said, slapping the back of his head.

"Relax." Sara said with a smile. "This is where I come in."

Roy put his phone in his pocket and moved quickly towards the punks.

"We just want to be friendly." One of them said.

"What, we scare you or something?" another added.

"Yeah." They all looked up to see Roy standing there. "I think you do." He continued. "Me, though, not so much." The three thugs backed off from the girl to turn their attention to him. He glanced at the girl. "Run." He told her, and she did just that. The three punks moved to attack, and Roy fended them off. He ducked the first to hit the second, then lashed out at the third before turning back to the leader. He was too slow though, and got belted on the chin. He staggered back, wiping the blood from his lip. The leader pulled a wicked looking knife from his jacket and sneered at Roy.

"That all you got, man?"

Then suddenly SHE was there- all black leather and blond hair, wielding a metal bo-staff that separated into a pair of escrima sticks. She beat the punks down brutally in less than thirty seconds, much to Roy's astonishment.

Sara smiled fondly. "Damn, I looked good."

"Holy shit!" Laurel said, stunned by her sister's look- and moves.

"I'll second that." Thea said.

"Third." Felicity added.

Quentin sighed. "I guess I should have expected it."

Sara smiled at her father. "Don't worry, dad. I'm very good."

"One question, though." Laurel said. "How the hell to you move in that corset?"

"Very well." Mia said with a smirk.

"Where the hell did you come from?" he asked. She jumped up onto a ledge, looked back at him briefly, and then jumped down, disappearing into the darkness.

In the distance, Roy could swear he heard a canary cry.

The scene changed to the lair. Diggle was reading a news article about the Hood gang being arrested on the large monitor table as Oliver and Felicity walked in.

"Well, it looks like Starling is back down to only one man in a hood." Diggle said.

"And the three of us are back in the archery business?" Felicity said, though it came out more as a question than a statement.

"No." Oliver said to their surprise. He moved to lean against a table. "I spent the past year trying to avenge my father. If we're going to do…this," he gestured around the foundry, "it has to be about honoring Tommy. I need to become the man he hoped I could be. You two have helped me take the first step." He said, looking at his friends.

Tommy looked at Felicity, then Diggle, nodding in appreciation.

"So what's step two?" Felicity asked. "I'm game for anything as long as it doesn't involve skydiving. And I'm pretty down on landmines now, too."

He smiled at her. "The city still needs saving." He said, pushing himself off of the table and moving to the case that now held his bow, along with his arrows. He picked one up and held it in his hands. "But not by the Hood. And not by some vigilante who's just crossing names off a list. It needs," he thought for a moment. "Something more."

"It needs a hero, Oliver." Diggle said.

"It's too bad the hoods kind of ruined your nickname." Felicity added.

"No, it's good." Oliver said. "I never… I don't want to be called the Hood anymore." He decided.

"Ok. So what do you want to be called?" Diggle asked.

Arrow looked at his friends, then back down at the arrow, considering.

The memory stream ended. "Welcome to year two." Mia said glibly. "Buckle your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy ride."

TBC...

A/N: I sounded really sarcastic about cops when Lance gave out his ticket, didn't I? No offense to any law enforcement people who are reading this, especially with all that's going on right now.

Okay, it made me sad to write the Canary's first scene, considering what the show did to her in the third season opener. I miss Sara. And not just the cleavage, though that was nice.*Sighs* But a funny thing that I only picked up on as I transcribed this episode- as Sara vanishes under the bridge, there is a canary chirping in the soundtrack.

UPDATE- wrote this shortly after Season 3 premiered. We've learned since then that Caity Lotz will be back, on the new spin-off- though they are keepingher character under wraps. But recent set photos do look like Sara in her Canary costume...

A/N 2- yeah, so that shoot-out in the boardroom- why did all of the hoods survive? Diggle is a trained soldier and marksman, who is standing mere feet away from the hostiles. Even with civilians in the way, and the chaos of the fire fight, he still should have taken out two, maybe three of them.

CG: If I'm understanding your question right, are you asking why didn't Felicity tell MIA (rather, the Thea that became Mia) about Oliver sacrificing himself, or are you asking why didn't Felicity tell Thea (just plain Thea)? Because if it's the latter, it hasn't even happened yet and even Felicity didn't know. And if it's the former, than Mia didn't give her much time to explain anything before Felicity ousted her to the cops.

Let me say this- I LIKE answering reviews. I have long conversations with people about the show all the time now, and I enjoy that. But I can't provide timely (Timeless;) answers if you DON'T SIGN IN. Guest reviews get replied to with the chapters. Signed in reviews get replied to within a day or so.