The Tracker

Disclaimer: I own nothing but what you see here. In this idea, Oliver never went home as the quiet small town life just seemed really idyllic to him, Rebecca Merlyn never died, Thea is Robert's child, and Slade, Shado, and Oliver pretty much adopted Akio after his parents were killed while working for Waller.

Summary: The Queens and Tommy Merlyn in search of Oliver Queen in a small town.

Saxtons River, Vermont 2013

Life in the small town of Saxtons River, Vermont was a pretty pleasant one. Albeit most would prefer it to be a little less rainy on this particular night due to weather interference with the satellite dishes and the fact a little kid was missing somewhere in the wooded mountainous areas. The only reason most of the town's residents weren't out there looking for the youngster is due to the raging storm aside from one person who seemed to thrive under any conditions like the one they were experiencing right now. And it'd be this particular person who a few Queens and one particular Merlyn were in search of after a little mail had been delivered to the Queen mansion several days ago. The three had decided to come inside a bar that was quite loud due to an argument in order to see if those running the place happened to know of anything about their person of interest.

That person being one Oliver Jonas Queen who had been believed to be dead for years after a business rival of Robert Queen's had sabotaged the Queen's Gambit in order to try a take over of Queen Consolidated. A take over that ultimately failed thanks in part to both Malcolm Merlyn and Walter Steele. Both who had been long time friends of the family and Walter now a days was especially a lot more closer now that he is married to Moira Queen. Due to the surprise information they'd gotten in the mail, Oliver's family learned that he'd been living here for some time now under the name of Jonas Dearden and the letter claimed they felt he was being foolish for keeping his being alive a secret from those close to him.

A sentiment Moira and Thea heavily agreed with. Laurel had refused to come since she was still very unhappy with Oliver for breaking things off prior to his and his father's leaving for China. He had manned up and told her he wasn't ready for what she wanted from him and effectively ended their relationship. Though she had admitted to Tommy after learning of the truth that she still had some hope for a potential re-igniter of their relationship. Tommy was just glad as Hell he had gotten past any feelings for the girl in that moment after she told him that. Hell even Sara had moved on for cryin' out loud! "Hmm… Seems rather unusually loud." Commented Moira as the three sat at the table where the bartender would be.

"That's what happens when the rain mucks up pretty much everything and a wee one is lost in the woods." Remarked a raspy voice and surprising Moira in the process.

The man smirked at her as he could tell how surprised she looked over that. "I've got some damn good hearing." Is all he said with that smirk still present. The Mirakuru coursing through his veins was a Hell of a thing really.

"There's some kid lost in the woods?" Asked Thea while having to raise her voice to be heard over the commotion.

"Aye, unfortunate timing too."

"But the police are handling it to the best of their ability right?" At least Tommy hoped they were since about the only competent cops he even really knew of were McKenna, Laurel and Sara's father, and his partner Hilton.

"Oh they certainly tried but the weather out there proved to be a bit much. But not to worry, someone is out there lookin' for the little fella. Actually seems to thrive in that sort of environment." Considering all the training he got, it was only natural of course.

Though the Kid seemed to get a sense of enjoyment out of it knowing he helped out in some way. And considering he was leaning towards the darkness there for a bit prior to coming here, that was a damned good thing in his book. Of course Slade still wanted to rip out Waller's ice cold heart for all the Hell she put him, the Kid, Anatoly, and Shado in after pretty much press ganging the four of them into service shortly after saving their asses from Anthony Ivo and his bunch. "Augh! Damn satellite!" Came the voice of one particularly unhappy bar patron.

"I can't believe you are more concerned with the damn satellite when there's a little boy missing!" Called out a woman in a shrill voice.

What was already a loud bar made for an even louder one as the man and the woman got into it and it drew in others as well. Especially those who had already been arguing when Moira, Thea, and Tommy came in. The parents of the boy who was missing also got into it with the unhappy tv watchers while the Sheriff tried to keep things from getting out of hand. Slade just sighed to himself as running Tiantang could be one big ass headache like it was now. "So what can I get ya to drink?" Asked Slade while raising his voice up higher then he would have liked.

"Oh we're not here for a drink Mr…?"

"Wilson, Slade Wilson. And I see, looking for a break from the rain then?" Which would make sense to him since it was coming down like crazy out there.

"Moira Queen, Mr. Wilson. And no, we're here actually to find someone rather important to us."

If it wasn't for the years of training Slade had, he would have reacted very openly to the fact of who the older woman was. Luckily for him however, he hadn't given anything away. The blonde haired teenager and the black haired young man had to be Thea Queen and Tommy Merlyn respectively. "This someone must be real important then if you came all the way to this little town of ours."

"Well when you think a guy dead for nearly seven years, you tend to be willing to go wherever you need to in order to bring him home..." Muttered Tommy as he watched the huge argument go on.

Thea nodded at her the words of a man she long considered to be like another brother to her. His opinion of Roy had been very important for her as well cause of that connection. The fact he liked Roy despite some of how his attitude could be at times when it came to the rich was a bonus for her too. How could they possibly know Oliver is even here? I highly doubt that bitch Waller would have said a damned thing. Not unless there was something in it she could benefit from. Thought the highly trained soldier to himself as he cleaned out a glass.

Unfortunately for these three however, there was a reason the Kid never went home after getting to America. Shame for a lot of what he'd done during his time under Waller's thumb, the fact that being in the spotlight again wasn't all that appealing to him, and the small town life being something he wound up liking a lot. Now Slade was well aware of the fact that Oliver had fully intended to reach out to his family but never could quite do it as he never quite felt ready for it. Thankfully he always had Shado's love and support to help him through it all. "Well… Here's to a successful find." Said the man while raising the empty glass he'd been cleaning previously as a toast of sorts.

Thea smiled at him in appreciation and then winced as the argument got louder if it was possible. The whole thing made Slade honestly consider pulling out his shot gun and shooting the ceiling. But the nagging he'd no doubt get from Lucy just wouldn't be worth it. Why that woman seemed so interested in him was beyond his comprehension and he'd yet to give into any of her advances, which only seemed to encourage her for some strange reason. But it seemed he wouldn't have to do anything as the door came open and slammed against the wall as lightning and thunder flashed and boomed. There looked to be a smaller figure with the taller one and when the words 'mom!' 'dad!' came out of its mouth, Slade quickly realized it was the missing kid as he ran to his parents who were happy as Hell to see him again. Soaked to the bone and all.

Moira, Thea, Tommy, and Slade all smiled at the sight of the reunion between son and parents. Slade then looked back at the heavily clothed man while the patrons cheered and the like over the good turn of events and some even swarmed the man too as they congrulated him. The man just nodded at it all as he just wanted to sit down and get patched up. Lucy, worked with Shado at the doctor's office the Asian girl had taken over was quick to notice how the man seemed to be limping. "Hey Slade! You might wanna call Shado cutie pie!"

Slade had to refrain from rolling his eyes at the woman's nickname for him and he could see why she suggested it since the Kid looked a little roughed up. His sitting down heavily at a stool at the bar table further told him as much. "Good job Kid, but it looks like you went through Hell." Sure, the heavy rain and the winds was one thing but to look somewhat destroyed in the process was another entirely.

"Ran into that damn Mountain Lion that's been hangin' around lately." And it'd been fortunate when he had too since the critter was looking to make that kid his next meal.

"Yeesh, no wonder you look like crap." Offered up Tommy while Thea nodded along to his words and surprising the man greatly as he hadn't really been paying much attention due to how tired he was.

How? Why are they here!? Seeing them here of all places was the last thing he wanted to deal with for God's sake.

"Yeah. Feel it too." He responded while Slade called up Shado and Oliver couldn't help but wince at that as he knew his wife wasn't going to be too happy with him when she saw how banged up he was!

Akio no doubt was going to have a field day with the whole thing too since he always got amusement out of the whole thing whenever Shado got to nagging at him for getting hurt. And it wasn't even ten minutes later before Shado and Akio showed up with a med kit in hand. Now one might find it odd that someone would get patched up in a bar of all places but the residents of the town had gotten used to it since Slade was never bothered by it. Heck Shado herself was always willing to make house calls if needed as well. The newcomer could be heard speaking in what the three Starling residents thought was angry Chinese to the man who found the boy and he was arguing back with her in Chinese as well while the kid just looked on in amusement.

A sigh escaped the man a few moments later and he pulled off his tore up poncho which had been the easy part. "Um… Pardon me but isn't it a little unsanitary to be doing something like this in a bar?"

"Nah, as life has taught us, getting first aid no matter where you are is highly important. Sanitary needs come later when the worry is less." Slade informed Moira and it made the woman wonder what all life had possibly thrown their way if they had that sort of thinking.

Once the heavy coat was taken off, bloody gashes could be seen, making for more than one person to gasp or whistle at the sight of it. "That's definitely gonna scar." Commented Thea with a wince as she looked at the hairy man.

"Kid's used to it."

That calmly delivered line made the three somewhat horrified as it gave them an image of the man sitting next to them having a lot of scars. And they wouldn't be too far off the reservation with that line of thinking either. A hiss escaped from the so called 'Kid' as the Asian woman tended to his wounds after helping take off his shirt. "I know this is not the right time, but you should come clean regardless Baobei." She told him softly.

Oliver sighed as he knew his wife was right but he wasn't wanting to deal with that headache as he knew his family was going to want for him to return back to Starling. But they deserved to know the truth. Looking at them, he instantly saw what looked to be realization in all three of their eyes. "Hey mom… Thea… Tommy..." And he'd be proven right too when the three exploded into a flurry of words and attempted hugs as they momentarily forgot about the fact he was getting patched up. And making for those in the bar curious as Hell in the process.

Author's Notes: Good? Bad? Outright horrible? It seemed a lot better in my head but oh wells I suppose. I will be doing a follow up to this at some point. The name of the bar also translates to Heaven. Which I thought would be fitting considering Lian Yu was pretty much Hell for them. R and R!