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Disclaimer: Something I've been thinking about a long while now ever since the end of season 3 and its flashbacks. Though I've slightly modified it to not include Laurel and Tommy and naturally, this would be a lot different compared to what Oliver got up too in the season 4 flashbacks. This also kinda merges another idea of mine involving dancing (think 'You Got Served') and the kind of stuff folks like that tend to do in competitions and the like.
Summary: After Hong Kong and a little bit of travel in the US, Oliver unintentionally finds himself back in Starling City.
Oliver Queen hadn't even realized he had stepped foot inside the limits of Starling City, Washington until a car had honked its horn at him. Causing him to blink and realize he was standing in the middle of a road and having to ask where he was and getting a rude answer. Said answer being his home town and making him gulp some as he hadn't intended on coming back here anytime soon due to his actions back in Hong Kong. But since he was already in the city, the long haired man and somewhat in need of a shave man decided to head to a park that was a big favorite of his sister's to see if she might still love to go there. It was probably torture in a sense but it would do him good to see Thea again and hopefully not doing anything drug related while at that park. On foot, it had taken him an hour and some change to get to where he needed to be and was thankful his unkempt look left him able to move about unbothered by anyone who would likely recognize him courtesy of the media and cause a stir. As he wasn't looking to cause one anytime soon and go back to his little journey through America.
One he'd started shortly after arriving in the harbor of New York thanks to that ship he'd gotten on back in Hong Kong. He had met a few folks during his travel through the country that involved both walking and driving. Occasionally him being a passenger if he was lucky enough. Oliver had even had the interesting pleasure of working with Superman of all people on a missing person's case and thanks to his intensity when 'speaking' with certain folks, had made the Alien Hero a bit… Unnerved. As he'd been able to calmly interrogate those that may or may not know anything and do so in a cold, detached manner. And afterwards, seem mostly alright with all he'd done. But they had managed to find the mother before anything bad could happen to her and Superman was grateful for that at least but told him outright that he never wanted to see the kind of experiences Oliver had shown him ever again. Something the former castaway reasoned was understandable as the man was used to working in the light rather then in the shadows.
The sight of the park made Oliver's heart clench tightly as memories came to the fore front of his mind until he buried them. Not needing to deal with emotional stuff at that point. As he looked around as he got closer and closer, the man spotted Thea and several other boys and girls in a large group. Making sure not to be seen, he quietly made his way to a nearby tree with plenty of shade and watched as his baby sister and her group did some sort of dance routine and all of them in outfits suitable to such things. Oliver had known that one of his baby sister's interests had been dancing and to see her doing this, was nothing short of amazing as some of what she and the others was doing looked like it had taken a lot of work! And to him, it was a damn sight better then watching her buy drugs from scum bags who'd more then likely be just as quick to take advantage of her. The thought of which made him clench his hand tightly on the strap of his large bag. Without realizing he was even doing it, Oliver began to walk towards Thea as she danced. His eyes unable to move as he stared straight at her.
Young Thea Queen wasn't sure what it was exactly that made her stop and look around, but stop and look around she did. Her eyes going impossibly wide as she saw a sight coming towards her that even with his unshaven/unkempt look, the teen would know anywhere. "O-Ollie!?" Gasped out the girl and immediately causing her fellow dancers to fully stop what they were doing.
"Girl, what's wrong?" Asked a Hispanic male named David in concern.
Instead of saying anything, Thea ran towards the figure that several had begun to notice coming towards them that Thea had been staring at. "OLLIE!" Screamed out their friend and fellow dancer and several could only stare in shock as they started to realize what was going on.
As somehow, through some miracle, their friend's older brother was back and alive and well. They all watched as she ran at him and jumped into his arms just as he dropped his large bag and wrapped his arms around her. "Oh my God! You're alive!" Sobbed Thea as she held on tightly to her brother.
Who was beginning to realize that instead of feeling alarmed by what had happened due to his mishap, that he felt at peace with the fact he and his baby sister were sharing a hug for the first time in years. "Yeah, yeah… I am, Speedy." Oliver told her softly as he held on to her.
Not even noticing the fact there was a few onlookers recording the whole thing with their phones. Later on, when asked about where he'd been and why it took him so long to get back, he came up with a few stories that sounded believable thanks to the fact that he had mixed truth with lies. Such as getting off Lian Yu, he spent time in an area of China that had limited contact with the outside world. And fighting against a few injustices that he came across while back in America after getting lucky enough to hop aboard a ship that took him back to America. He kept the details light and away from certain areas that no one but him and those involved needed to know so as not to scare his mother or sister. Or cause his mother's ire to stir up and try and do something about it. At the end of the day, Oliver Queen was happy to finally be home. Nightmares and all during his first night back. Even if he hadn't been intending on coming back anytime soon.
Author's Notes: Hope folks enjoyed!