My name is Charley Quinzel.

Or Charlene, to be technically accurate.

Yes. One extra letter notwithstanding, my mother named me after herself. And by all accounts she was still perfectly sane at the time.

Of course, that name was pretty much all that psychopath ever gave me. Shortly after I was born, she moved to work in Gotham – a story the end of which is painfully familiar to all. Meanwhile, I was left to live with my grandparents.

Doctor Victor Quinzel is first and foremost a world-renowned neurosurgeon. Although he is now obviously much more renowned as the father of the infamous Harley Quinn. And he's also my strict and stoic grandfather. I'm pretty sure I've never even once seen him laugh or cry in my life, but he is as fair and kind as I suppose any semi-emotionless old man can be.

I remember my grandmom, Dana, as being so much warmer and nice. She was really the one who raised me when I was little, and I always felt loved when she was around. But around the time I was eight years old, shortly after my mother was arrested for the first time and her identity was revealed publicly, my grandmom died unexpectedly.

I was heartbroken. Nothing ever felt the same after that. My grandfather isn't one for showing affection, nor has he ever had much time to take care of me, so he had to entrust me to hired nannies until I was old enough to care for myself.

Oh, the poor rich not-even-technically-orphan… And yes, obviously I should count my blessings and check my privileges, but I think I'm also allowed to be sad. Sometimes.

"Oliver Queen is alive!" the newscaster said, keeping his excitement at the breaking news contained. Dr Quinzel and his granddaughter Charlene were sitting in the living room, watching the channel 7 news, "The Starling City resident was found by fishermen in the North China sea five days ago, five years after he was missing and presumed dead following the accident at sea which claimed the Queen's Gambit."

Charley was twelve at the time the Queen's Gambit was lost, and she remembered it very well. She went to school with Oliver's younger sister Thea, after all. Although she would probably remember it even if that wasn't the case. It wasn't every day that one of the city's most influential figures disappeared at sea with his son.

"Queen was a regular tabloid presence and a fixture at the Starling City club scene," the report continued, "Shortly before his disappearance, he was acquitted of assault charges stemming from a highly publicized drunken altercation with paparazzi. Queen is the son of Starling City billionaire Robert Queen, who was also on board but now officially confirmed as deceased."

Dr Quinzel glanced at his granddaughter, who would now officially never get to meet her father. Which he had no doubt was a good thing. As far as Charlene would ever need to know, Robert Queen was an absolute stranger.

"Didn't expect to see her at school today," Charley followed her friend Lilith's gaze to see Thea Queen. She was talking with her friends Margo and Roxy, and seemed so genuinely happy to have her brother back that it warmed Charley's heart.

Without even thinking, the much less popular girl walked up to her and said, "Hey, Thea. I so glad for you, you know… about Oliver. And… I'm sorry about your dad."

Thea tilted her head and looked at the other girl. Some of their classmates always seemed to resent having someone like Charley, who had a criminally insane mother and no father, in their elite private school. But Thea never minded her, even if they weren't really friends.

"Thanks," she told her, smiling, "Uhmm, you should come to Ollie's homecoming party tomorrow night!"

"Are you sure?' Charley asked warily, "I mean, I don't even know him at all…"

"So what? The more the merrier. Bring Lilith too, if you want."

This was definitely not like any party Charley or Lilith have ever been to.

Dark nightclub, loud music, alcohol, and… dancers with an allergy to pants.

At least with so much crowd, they had no reason to feel weird about not knowing Mr. Queen.

"I don't think we should stay here long," Lilith said, raising her voice so her friend could hear her over the music.

Charley nodded. The two seventeen-year-olds were not in their element here.

"Everybody, heyyy!" a voice raised over the loud music drew everyone's attention. They saw a man with black hair standing next to Oliver Queen on the club's stairs. If Charley wasn't mistaken, that was wealthy businessman Malcolm Merlyn's son. He seemed to be around Oliver's age.

"Man of the hour!" Something Merlyn shouted, eliciting a roar of excitement from the partygoers, "Hey, ladies, please. Give this man a proper homecoming."

"Ugh, gross," Lilith muttered, which was exactly what Charley thought too.

"Let's just go?" she asked her friend, who nodded in reply.

They heard "We Are the Champions" by Queen being played as Mr. Queen climbed a small stage at the center of the club, but their focus was now on finding the exit.

"I missed tequila!" were the inspiring words with which Thea's brother greeted everyone.

A couple of minutes passed, and Charley and Lilith still couldn't find the way out. They did find Thea and Margo, however.

Lilith was about to go say 'hi' and thanking the other girl for inviting them, but Charley stopped her, discreetly pointing out the guy they were with. Or rather, the fact that he just sold Thea what looked like some kind of drugs.

"I think we better not interrupt that," she told her friend.

However, as Oliver Queen walked right past the two girls and straight towards his sister, it was clear that he very much wanted to interrupt it.

"Ollie, hey!" the startled teenager greeted her brother with a smile, "This party is sick!"

"Who let you in here?" the former castaway asked his sister with concern.

"I knew it!" Lilith told her, "Told ya we're not supposed to be here."

"I believe it was somebody who said, 'right this way, Miss Queen'," Thea answered her brother, amused by his concern for her.

"Well, you shouldn't be here," Oliver told her.

Thea laughed for a second, but when she saw her brother was serious, she stopped smiling and told him, "Ol, I'm not twelve anymore."

"No, you're seventeen."

"Ollie, I love you. But you can't come back here and judge me, especially for being just like you."

"I know that it couldn't have been easy for you, when I was away…"

"Away?" she echoed the word he chose, laughing with disbelief, "No, you died. My brother and my father died. I went to your funerals."

"I know."

"No, you don't. Mom had Walter, and… I had no one," Thea told him, "And you guys all act like 'it's cool, let's… forget about the last five years'? Well, I can't. For me it's kinda permanently in there. So, I'm sorry if I turned out some major disappointment, but this? Me? It's the best I could do with what I had to work with.

"Let's go," Thea told Margo as she turned her back on Oliver. Stopping when she noticed Charley and Lilith, who had clearly witnessed her argument with Oliver, she said, "You guys coming?"

Charley had no idea where they were going, but she figured anything would be better than staying at this party, so she nodded and followed her with Lilith.

"You have the fun deep?" Margo asked quietly, but she was close enough for Charley to overhear.

"Yeah," Thea answered, looking for it in her purse, "It's right he-…

"No," she realized when she couldn't find the small bag, "I must have dropped it."

As the four girls left the club, Charley breathed in the fresh night air and savored the relative quiet. Now that she wasn't in the middle of that party, the girl could think a little more clearly about things. She felt guilty for witnessing that argument, and hearing all the private things that Thea told her brother, but it also made her glad that she and Lilith decided to come. It was clear that Thea needed the support of friends, and perhaps even more so new friends who could be a positive influence on her.

And for some unknown reason, Charley felt determined to be there for the other girl.

"Where are we going?" Lilith asked when their car pulled up and they climbed in.

"To Queen Mansion, of course," Thea said with a smile.

"You're not planning to...?" Lilith asked warily, "You know..." The girl touched her nose lightly.

Margo rolled her eyes, but Thea said, "No, don't worry. Just a chill hangout."

That eased the girls' minds, and they couldn't deny being fascinated about visiting Queen Mansion.

The night actually turned out to be a lot more fun than Charley expected. Thea and Margo were a lot nicer than she realized, at least when they were sober, and by the time the girls were ready to call it a night even Lilith seemed to be enjoying herself.

"Umm, thanks for helping make tonight… a lot less lousy than it was about to become," Thea told Charley as she walked her to the door. One of the Queens' drivers was going to give her a ride home. Lilith had left a short while earlier, while Margo was staying over and already asleep.

"I'm here for you, you know?" Charley said earnestly, "I won't pretend to know what you're going through. What you've been through. But… I do know what it's like to feel like you've been left to face the world alone. And… if anytime you wanna talk, or need anything…"

"Thanks," Thea said. For a second, she considered hugging this unexpected new ally, but instead just waved goodbye as the other girl got in the car.