Hello everyone!
I've been meaning to put notes up here since I first started publishing this story, but then whenever I would actually be publishing it I would be in such a hurry that I forgot :(
Thank you so much for reading my story! This is my very first published story on any site (I'm cross-posting it on AO3) and I am overwhelmed by the response it's gotten. Thank you for everyone who reviewed, subscribed, and favorited this story, and a big thank you to everyone who subscribed/favorited me also. I think I responded to everyone who reviewed, and if I didn't I'm so sorry, and I really appreciate everyone who took the time to review. AO3 actually prompts you to write Author's Notes (if I was thinking strategically, I would have posted there first so I would have been reminded to post notes before posting on here), so there are more notes there if you're curious as to what's been going on all these months, but the jist of it is that I decided to A) start college (and not just college, but 24 credits at two separate colleges), B) start a part-time job, and C) start posting an insanely long, very time-consuming, (I can't think of the word I want here) story. Oh yeah, I also have had strings concerts, three separate Christmas celebrations, and various other adventures. . .so, yeah, each chapter is taking me longer to get up than I thought. On AO3, I keep saying that the next chapter will come faster and then it never does, so. . .I think I'm gonna stop doing that. I will get it up as soon as I am able, though.
I think that's all I wanted to say, so a big thank you to everyone again, and I hope you enjoy the next chapter!
Side note: if you want to go and subscribe to this story on AO3 too, that would be super amazing! I'm Ailujecarg there too :)
"Wow," Spencer said.
A man from the jury stood up. "My name is Larry Miller," he introduced himself. "I'm just going to admit right now that I am very much against you and everything you stand for. I don't care if that earns me a visit in the middle of the night and potentially an arrow. You're a killer and you should not be allowed to roam free. It's obvious that you've been through a lot, and I'm sorry about that, but that doesn't give you the right to do what you're doing."
"I'm not going to kill you for voicing an opinion. You have every right to feel that way," Oliver said quietly. "And you're absolutely right. I am a killer, and I don't know if everything I've done has helped or hurt this city."
"How can you even say that!" Felicity hissed. "Both of you," she added, whipping her head to Larry and then back to Oliver so fast that her ponytail hit her in the face.
She paid it no mind. "Oliver, you have sacrificed so much for this city," she started. "Without you, there would be no trial for you, because there would be no city. Merlyn's Undertaking, Slade's mirakuru soldiers, Ra's Al Ghul's Alpha-Omega virus, Damien Darhk and all his nuclear bombs, Adrian Chase and all his serial killing and his. . .smaller. . .bombs, you stopped all of them from destroying the city."
She turned to Larry. "Without Oliver, you and everyone else in Star City would be dead," she said firmly. "You can hate his methods, because honestly, I wasn't a huge fan of them in the beginning either, and yes, he had killed, but never without reason, and more often than not, he had no other choice. Remember that he knows a lot more about what goes on in this city than any of you do. He doesn't need you telling him that he's the reason of the problems in this city. He tells it to himself all the time. It's already Dig's and my part-time job to talk him out of thinking that way anytime something goes wrong."
She sat down with a "Humph" to absolute silence, everyone frozen and afraid they'd get yelled at if they made any sort of sound.
"All right," Constantine said after a few moments. "Well, I guess we'll continue then."
The screen opens to a bank door being kicked open by 3 men wearing masks with playing card patterns on them – Ace, King, and Jack. They fire guns into the air, shouting for everyone to get down on the ground. "You can't jackhammer into the safe," one man, the bank manager, says. "It's too thick."
Ace punches him and he falls to the ground. "Shut up," he growls.
"We're in!" Jack shouts.
"Three minutes," King says, and he and Jack hurry into the bank vault and start stuffing cash in their bags.
In the main room, a man slowly reaches to a small gun in an ankle holster. A woman notices what he's doing. "Are you trying to get us killed?" she hisses.
"Don't worry," the man answers quietly. "I'm a cop."
He shows her his badge, hidden inside his jacket. "Please, don't do it," she whispers. "Okay? I don't wanna die!"
She says the last part louder, and Ace looks over at them. "Please!" she says in a loud voice.
Ace walks over and shoots the cop in the back. The civilians scream and press themselves even further onto the ground.
"Oh no!" Several people in the room moan.
King comes back at that moment. "What the h***'s going on?" King demands.
He rolls the cop over and sees the badge. "He was a freakin' cop," he growls, slamming the badge into Ace's chest. "Enough throwing shots."
Outside the bank, the cops have arrived. "You hear that?" Ace shouts. "Someone triggered the alarm!"
Ace starts to lift his gun, but King stops him. "Don't!" he says. "That's it. Let's go."
"Starling City police department," Hilton says into a megaphone from outside. "Lay down your weapons and come out with your hands up. Repeat, lay down your weapons and come out with your hands up."
After a few moments, the door opens. "Hold your fire," Hilton says quickly.
All of the hostages, now wearing matching masks to the three robbers, run out of the bank. "These are the hostages," Hilton shouts. "Mills, contain the hostages. All other units, move in! Move in!"
They rush inside the bank, but it's empty save for the shot cop, lying on the ground. Inside the vault, there's a hole in the ground.
In an alley, the three robbers climb out of a manhole, lugging the money with them. The King, now with his mask pulled up, pulls Ace out of the manhole. "Come here," he growls. "You shot a cop. This is not how we do things."
Ace whips his mask off. "Me getting killed isn't how we do things either, is it?"
"Get in the van!" King shouts, shoving him towards the van.
"Is it?" Ace insists.
"Get in the van!" King shouts again, pushing him ahead of him.
They run through a hole in the chain link fence and climb in the back of a van, making good their escape.
At the foundry, Oliver and Diggle are sparring with metal eskrima sticks. Diggle swipes at Oliver's face, and he leans back, effortlessly dodging the strike. "Anchor the rear hand, Diggle," he advises him. "Come on."
"Okay," Diggle responds, and they trade blows again. Oliver gets him in the face in only a few moves, and Diggle groans as he turns away, putting a hand to his now bleeding lip.
"Variable acceleration," Oliver explains himself. "Fighters work in the same pace. You switch it up, throw your opponent off his game."
"Aah," Diggle groans. "That was nice. Where'd you learn that?"
"His name was Yao Fei," Oliver answers.
"He give you those scars?" Diggle asks, motioning towards Oliver's scarred torso.
"One of 'em," Oliver answers.
"And the others?" Diggle presses.
Oliver doesn't answer. They circle each other for a few moments. "You know, one of these days, you're gonna be straight with me about what really happened on that island."
"Absolutely," Oliver says cheerfully. He strikes at Diggle again, who manages to block a few strikes before Oliver catches him again. "But not today!" he says victoriously.
He walks away, putting his weapons on the desk. "Still, some pretty sweet moves," Diggle says from the floor.
"Yep," Oliver agrees. "Tonight, I'm gonna use some on him."
He pulls up a mugshot and a couple newspaper articles on the computer. "Scott Morgan runs water and power in the glades," he explains to Diggle, who makes his way over. "Jacks up the prices. When people can't pay, shuts them down even in the dead of winter."
"Jerk," Felicity muttered, and most of the room nodded in agreement with her.
Diggle nods. "Which is at least a month away," he argues. "Look at this."
He pulls up a news article about the bank robbery. "These guys started at Keystone three years ago, then began moving West, hitting banks along the way."
Oliver pulls on a zip-up hoodie, watching Diggle. "This morning, they hit Starling City Trust," Diggle continues. He straightens up and looks at Oliver. "Shot an off-duty cop. He's in a coma and the doctors say it's a coin toss whether he'll make it."
"If he's a cop, SCPD will be all over it," Oliver counters.
"Yes, that's right, let the cops do their job," Larry mutters.
Diggle shrugs. "Overwhelmed, underfunded?" he lists. "Listen, these guys don't hit one time. They hit two or three banks per city, which means right now they're planning their next job."
"I think you have the wrong impression about what it is I do," Oliver says coldly.
"You take out bad guys with a bow and arrow," Diggle deadpans.
"I don't fight street crime," Oliver says. He walks away from Diggle and picks up his father's notebook. "That's a symptom of what's wrong with this city. I'm trying to cure the disease."
"CEOs and crooked entrepreneurs, I get it," Diggle says. "Listen, Oliver, I'm just saying, maybe you can make a difference if you think beyond the scope of those pages. I'm sure your father wouldn't mind."
He sits down and watches Oliver. "No, you don't get it," Oliver fires back. "My father died so that I could live. Live and make a difference by fixing the city that he and the people in this book ruined. Every name that I cross off this list honors that sacrifice."
"Oliver, there's more than one way to save this city," Diggle argues, standing up.
"Not for me," Oliver says. "Crime happens in this city every day. What do you want me to do, stop all of it?"
"It sounds like you have a narrow definition of being a hero," Diggle observes.
He locks gazes with Oliver, who stares him down. Diggle walks away. "I'm not a hero," Oliver says quietly.
"Yes you are, Oliver," Barry said suddenly. "I know we've had this argument a million times, and I know that no matter what I say you're always going to deny it, but you are a hero. Every single hero in this room is a hero because they watched you do it first."
Oliver opened his mouth to say something, but Felicity put a hand on his arm and he stopped and gave Barry a grateful nod instead. Barry shot a victorious look at Felicity, who winked at him when Oliver wasn't looking.
The room watched this interaction with fascination.
The screen flashes back to the island. Oliver is lying on the floor of the cave, keeping a small fire going by ripping out a page at a time from his father's notebook and burning it. He looks like he's in a significant amount of pain. Suddenly, a hand grabs his shoulder. He turns quickly and sees his father. He gasps. "Dad?" he says, and manages to get up and stumble to the other side of the cave.
"Wait, what? I thought your father was dead, I thought you buried him?" Spencer asked.
"I did," Oliver answered shortly.
Diggle looked at him and decided to answer the unspoken question. "That isn't Robert Queen," he explained to the room. "Oliver was injured, in shock, he had lost a lot of blood, he hadn't eaten or drank in days. Under those circumstances, all sorts of things can happen, including hallucinations."
Spencer nodded in understanding.
At CNRI, Laurel pulls a folder out of a filing cabinet. "Please tell me that this is a nightmare and I'm about to wake up," she says to Jo. They walk down a hallway together. "How can Stagg Industries pull out completely? They're our largest donor."
"It's like they say, 'It's the economy, stupid,'" Jo answers.
"No, it's the stupid economy," Laurel groans. "Okay, without Stagg, how long can CNRI keep their doors open?"
"Uh, it depends," Jo answers sarcastically. "What time you got?"
"I have fiesta time," Tommy says from behind them. They both turn around, looking at him incredulously. "Or, is it siesta time? Which one means a party and which one means a nap?"
Jo looks at Laurel and makes her exit. "Tommy," Laurel says, "as much as I would love to relive Intro to Spanish with you, today is not a good day."
She walks away from him, but he follows. "Well, of course not," he jokes. "Working in this tiny brick office, it's intolerable! Now, you know where is a spectacular place to spend the day? Coast City. Here's what I am thinking. Sunset flight on my private plane, dinner at Broome's, I'll have you home by midnight. Or maybe in the morning. Hmm?"
Laurel puts the folder in a different file cabinet and slams it shut. "What is this?" she asks him.
She walks away before waiting for an answer. "This is what we talked about," Tommy continues to follow her. "This is you getting to know the real me."
"Tommy," Laurel sighs, turning to face him, "so you don't understand, CNRI just lost its largest single donor. Which means that all of the hard work and sacrifices that I have made to help this legal clinic survive, it may have been for nothing."
She sighs again and sits down heavily at her desk. "Maybe another time," Tommy says after a moment.
Laurel looks up at him in surprise. "Yeah?" Tommy says, a caring, concerned look in his eyes as he leaves her alone to work. She watches him go.
At the Queen Mansion, Oliver and Thea are deep in conversation. "I mean, haven't you noticed she's been acting a little down lately?" Thea asks.
She scoffs. "What am I saying?" she asks herself. "Of course you haven't."
"Well, who are you to judge?" Oliver questions. They start walking down the stairs together. "Since when do you pay attention to how Mom's feeling?"
"Since our stepfather suddenly decided to take a business trip halfway around the world," Thea answers.
"I think when someone at Walter's paygrade takes a business trip it's always sudden, Thea," Oliver consoles her. "I wouldn't worry."
They have finally almost made it down to the foyer. Moira is putting a bouquet of flowers on the table in the entryway and sees them coming. "Ah," she greets them. "Guess who I just hung up with."
Oliver gives her a questioning look and holds out his arms in a "well?" gesture. "Janice Bowen," Moira answers her own question. "Carter's mother."
"Oh," Oliver and Thea both groan.
They finally make it to the ground floor. "Carter Bowen," Oliver chuckles. "The perfect son."
"Is he perfect?" Moira says teasingly.
"According to you," Oliver retorts.
He turns to Thea and pretends to imitate his mother's voice. "'Carter Bowen won the national chess championship.' 'Carter Bowen is anchoring the debate team.'"
"I'm sure I didn't make that big of a fuss," Moira says mock-sternly.
Thea turns to Oliver and joins the game with a smile. "'Oliver, Carter just got accepted into Harvard and Princeton!'" she says, also imitating her mother.
"'Well, that's because Carter got a perfect score on his SATs,'" Oliver returns.
"'Now, how did he manage to study and cure cancer?'" Thea says, raising a finger.
"'I don't know,'" Oliver says, widening his eyes and rolling them in exasperation.
"All right, all right, all right, I get it, I get it," Moira says, throwing up her arms. "Well, they're coming for brunch and I expect you to be there."
"I have plans," Oliver says immediately.
"That's fine, brunch is tomorrow," she tells him with a smile.
Oliver makes a face. "Ha," Thea teases. "Inches from a clean getaway."
"Well, you too, Thea," Moira says, widening her eyes playfully.
"Snap!" Oliver says quickly, snapping his fingers and pointing at her.
"Nobody says that anymore," Thea groans at him.
"What?" Oliver says in surprise.
Oliver turns around to face Thea, smiling. "Remember when our biggest problem was dealing with Mom drooling over Carter Bowen?" he asked.
"Oh, I don't know about that, Ollie, I think that Mom's desire to have Carter for her child instead of us is the biggest problem we've ever faced," Thea joked.
Oliver laughed. "Whatever happened to him, anyway?"
"I think he moved to Gotham," Thea said after a moment. "I'm not sure what he's doing now."
"Huh," Oliver hummed.
The young boy who had been so vocal in the beginning suddenly pulled away from his parents and ran to Oliver, despite their attempts to call him back. "Hey," Oliver said in surprise as he turned away from his sister to come face to face with him. "Hi," the boy said.
"What's your name?" Oliver asked.
"Dennis," the boy answered.
He wrapped his arms around Oliver's neck and after a few moments, Oliver hesitantly hugged him back. "What was that for?" Oliver asked once Dennis pulled away.
He shrugged. "You're my hero," he said, "but just watching you interact with your little sister like that, it reminded me of how I act with my little sister. It's cute, and I like it, and I'm sorry about everything that happened. Mom said that your mother died, and I'm sorry. I hope that you and your sister still act like a brother and sister, even though you're both, like, super cool superheroes now."
Oliver threw a glance over his shoulder at Thea. "We've been through a lot," he told Dennis honestly, "but I think its safe to say that deep down, I'm still her bossy, overprotective older brother who once broke his nose in a fight with a kid two years older than him because the kid's younger brother had pushed my sister. And she's still the annoying brat who stole my entire collection of Casey Jones comics and hid them until I agreed to do all her chores for a week."
He turned to the room at large. "What you're seeing there, that's who we really are," he said. "What we do, the things we've experienced, we deal with it because we have to, but we're human beings, just like all of you. We had a childhood, and trust me, we were a normal brother and sister growing up."
He turned back to Dennis. "I think your parents probably want you to go back to them," he said.
"But I want to sit up here with you!" Dennis complained.
Oliver looked back at Dennis's parents. "Is it all right if he hangs up here with me for a little bit?" he asked. "I think he and William might hit it off."
After a moment, Dennis's parents nodded. He grinned happily and settled down between William and Raisa. Raisa patted him on the shoulder and he and William grinned at each other.
"Mom," Oliver says, turning to face his mother and speaking in a more serious tone, "I can't actually go."
Moira takes a step towards him. "I haven't seen the Bowens in years," she says forcefully. "So whatever it is that you have planned, I'm sure the two of you can make the sacrifice, just this once."
Oliver looks at her for a moment. "We'll be there," he promises.
Moira smiles at him and leaves. Oliver turns to Thea, who refuses to look at him. "I hate you," she mutters, and walks away.
"Mmhmm," he answers.
His phone rings. "Yeah?" he answers.
"You know your friend Scott Morgan from your father's list?" Diggle asks without preamble. "He tried to kill himself. Maybe he was afraid of getting a visit from you. How fast can you make it to Starling General?"
"On my way," Oliver answers.
He turns towards the door and almost rams into Tommy coming in. "Hey," Tommy greets him. "Just the man I wanted to see. I just picked up a new sports car and I'm thinking we can open her up, pick up a few speeding tickets. . ."
"That sounds great, but something's come up," Oliver interrupts with the playboy grin in full force on his face. He claps Tommy on the shoulders. "I gotta jet."
He walks out without another word. "Oh," Tommy says, obviously disappointed. "Uh, okay."
He watches Oliver leave. "Nice talk, thanks," Tommy mutters to himself.
Thea walks in from the other room. "He moves fast, doesn't he?" she comments.
"It's ironic, really, since you're the one we call Speedy," he teases, turning to her.
She groans. "'Called,' please, for the love of G**," she moans. "But if you need somebody to talk to, I'm here."
"You know, maybe you could help," Tommy says after a moment. "There's this girl that I'm. . .interested in, and I am really not sure how to pursue it."
Thea smirks at him. "Have you tried using your usual lines?" she teases. "'Hi, my name is Tommy Merlyn, and I'm a billionaire, but I don't look like Warren Buffet.'"
Tommy laughs. "Yeah, she is aware of that, and she doesn't care," he tells her. "You know, money really isn't a big deal to her."
"Why don't you just tell her how you feel?" Thea suggests.
"Well, I've. . .I've known her for a long time, and I'm not sure the direct approach is really the right way to go."
"Maybe you just have to figure out what's a big deal to her and make it a big deal to you," Thea offers.
Tommy smiles happily. "Thea, you are amazing," he gushes, and kisses her on the cheek like a brother would. "Love you," he shoots over his shoulder as he quickly leaves, closing the door behind him.
Thea smiles after him.
The Thea in the room groaned. "I remember this," she said. "Oh man, this is so much worse in hindsight."
Oliver looked over his shoulder at her, a confused frown on his face. "What?" he asked. "What happened?"
"I'm guessing you'll probably find out," Thea answered.
Oliver pulls up to Starling General on his motorcycle and joins Diggle next to an ambulance. "You sure?" he asks. "Scott Morgan doesn't seem like the type to try to kill himself."
"True, but it's the best lie I could come up with on short notice," Diggle answers.
Oliver shoots the full-force Arrow glare at him, but he is unaffected. A woman has been watching as the cop from the bank is taken off the ambulance and inside the hospital, and now walks up to Diggle and Oliver. "Mr. Diggle, I can't thank you enough for arranging to move my husband from county ward to Starling General," she says, shaking his hand. "Now I know he's getting the best care available."
"You really should be thanking this man, Oliver Queen," Diggle says. "He's paying the bill."
Oliver quickly schools his expression from annoyance at Diggle to kindness towards the woman. "Jana's husband Stan is a police officer and he happened to have been making a deposit at Starling Trust Bank."
"The bank that was robbed," Oliver catches on. He turns back to Jana. "I was so sorry to hear about your husband," he says kindly. "Is he gonna be okay?"
"The doctors say the next 24 hours are crucial," she answers, fighting back tears. "He should have just kept his head down, you know?"
"I've known a few police officers in my day," Diggle answers, laying it on thick for Oliver's benefit. "Always willing to help others even if that means putting themselves at risk."
Oliver turns to Diggle, the incredulous and annoyed look on his face almost comical paired with Diggle's words. Jana nods and turns back to Oliver. "Thank you," she says.
Oliver once again gives her a kind and sympathetic look. He takes a step towards her and looks down at her, the closer distance making the height difference more apparent. "You're welcome," he says firmly, giving her his full attention.
She smiles, then quickly moves to follow her husband. Oliver walks around and turns to face Diggle. "You lied to me," he comments, sounding more impressed than anything else.
"Hey, you asked me to work with you, not for you," Diggle defends himself. "And when you did, you said it was because you understand what kind of man I am. Well, Oliver, I'm the kind of man who doesn't walk away when there's a chance to make a difference. And neither does Stan Washington."
Oliver walks past him. "Oliver, I'm not finished talking," Diggle calls after him. "Where are you going?"
He turns around and follows Oliver, who's heading back to his bike. "To go make a difference," Oliver answers. "Let's catch some bank robbers."
Diggle smiles, pleased and happy that Oliver has decided to use his abilities for things besides revenge.
In the foundry, Diggle and Oliver are going over security footage from the robbery. "See that guy right there?" Diggle points out. "He's got a temper."
"And he shot Officer Washington," Oliver observes.
"That's right," Diggle muses.
Oliver types away at a keyboard for a few moments and zooms in on the man's hand right before he's about to punch the bank manager. "College ring," Oliver states.
"Or high school, more likely," Diggle counters.
"That ring will get us an ID," Oliver says.
"Yeah, but even with photo enhancement you're gonna have a problem getting a clear shot of that ring," Diggle says, zooming in on the ring to prove his point.
"No," Oliver agrees, "but it left an impression the police will have photographed. It'll be in evidence lockup."
He stands up and walks away, and Diggle mindlessly takes his seat and continues looking at the photo until Oliver's words compute. "Please tell me you're not going where I think you're going," he calls to him.
Behind him, Oliver picks up his hood. "Diggle, why do you even ask?" Oliver says.
At the precinct, a window into an empty interrogation room slides open and the Hood climbs in. He sneaks through the hallways. He crouches behind a filing cabinet as he hears Hilton arguing with someone: "Are you kidding me? I don't wanna hear this! Don't tell me about red tape! One of our own's been shot! Tell them to find themselves a pair of scissors."
He and the other man turn the corner where Oliver was a minute before, but he's gone. They walk down the hallway, oblivious to the green figure on the ceiling above them, braced against beams and holding onto an arrow embedded in the ceiling. Oliver sneaks over to an empty desk in the main room and downloads the evidence on the robbery onto a USB stick.
"You just waltzed right into the police precinct, with zero trouble," Spencer commented, shaking her head. "That's absolutely insane. You shouldn't have been able to do that. Civilians shouldn't be able to just sneak around a police station."
"How long is it going to take for you to understand that I'm not a normal person?" Oliver asked, not accusingly. "I was trained by people who treat locks as suggestions and consider 10 to 1 odds to be a fight in their favor. I've fought world-class assassins, metahumans, immortal Egyptian priests, aliens, parallel earth Nazis, and sorcerers, and come out on top. Any prison you put me in I would remain in because I chose to, not because I was trapped. My life is not normal, my circumstances are not normal, and the things that my team and I have been dealing with for all these years are things that no ordinary cop or martial artist or spy could ever have any hope of defeating. There are so many things that have gone on in this city that no one knows about, and even if I had gone to the authorities and told the truth about any and all of it, no one would have believed were possible. So, please, just accept that nothing that you are going to see here is normal. Civilians can't waltz into the police station. I'm not a civilian. I'm a uniquely trained and highly skilled reserve A.R.G.U.S. agent with a vested interest in keeping this city alive, and that's how it has always been, no matter how extreme my methods may or may not have been at one time or another."
The next morning, Laurel enters CNRI to find Joanna and Tommy hunched over a table together. She stops in her tracks. "So, where are you gonna take me today?" she asks Tommy after a moment. "Monte Carlo?"
"Actually, I was just telling Jo here that the Merlyn Global Group is looking to expand its local philanthropy and I thought that we could start by sponsoring a benefit for CNRI," Tommy answers smoothly.
"Thank you Tommy," Laurel says, not at all sincerely, "but I think we can manage without your family's finances."
Tommy's face drops in sadness. Jo quickly gets up. "Laurel, a word?" she 'requests.'
She drags her away from Tommy. "What are you doing?" she demands.
"He's not interested in throwing us a fundraiser," Laurel hisses. "What he wants to have is the first annual attempt to get back into my pants gala!"
"Who cares why he's doing it?" Jo argues. "We need the money."
They both turn in sync to look at Tommy, sitting and waiting patiently on Jo's desk. "Not like that we don't," Laurel argues.
"We really do," Jo counters. "So, you're gonna listen to your best friend's advice. You are gonna go over there and say, 'Thank you, Tommy, we'd be honored for you to throw us a fundraiser!'"
She raises her eyebrows and steers Laurel back towards Tommy. Laurel pastes on her fakest smile, and Tommy stands, looking at her hopefully. "Thank you, Tommy, we would be honored for you to throw us a fundraiser," Laurel recites in a monotonous voice.
Tommy breaks into a huge grin, even though it's obvious that Laurel doesn't want to do this at all.
At the foundry, Oliver and Diggle are going through the police evidence. "The bank manager Ace punched," Oliver says, pulling up the photos. "His ring left a mark."
He taps a few things on the keyboard and a result comes up. "Larchmont High," Oliver observes. "High school," he acknowledges Dig's guess. "I cross-referenced his height and relative age with a list of students and alumni."
"Still, that's a pretty long list," Diggle observes.
"It was," Oliver agrees. "I dug a little deeper and found Kyle Reston. Right before Kyle's senior year, not only did he drop out, he dropped off the grid, along with his family: father, mother, younger brother."
"There are two other guys involved in this robbery," Diggle states.
Oliver nods. "And a woman," he adds. "Aside from Stan Washington there were 22 customers and employees that came out of the bank: nine men, 13 women."
He pulls up a photo. "Inside the bank," he pulls up another photo, "Nine men, 14 women."
"They put a ringer in," Diggle realizes.
"The mother," Oliver agrees.
"Wait, did you count that out?" Clay asked incredulously.
"Yeah," Oliver shrugged.
"That's incredible," Clay said. "Most people wouldn't even think to do that, and I'm guessing you barely even realized you were doing it. That takes an incredible amount of training. How much training did you have, anyway? Who taught you all of this?"
"I'm sure you'll see," Oliver answered.
"The police are looking for a crew," Oliver continues. "We're gonna look for a family. Speaking of which, I'm incredibly late for mine."
He gets up quickly, his semi-dressy attire finally making sense.
At the mansion, Moira and Thea are hosting the Janice and Carter Bowen. "Well, I'm sorry Walter couldn't join us," Janice is saying as they stand around the dining room table.
"Oh, yes, well, the Australian trip came up suddenly," Moira says, always the perfect host. "He sends his apologies."
"And where's Oliver?" Carter asks. "He's not out of town too, is he?"
Moira looks at her watch. "Well, I'm sure he's just…"
"Stuck in traffic," Oliver finishes her sentence, walking in at that moment. "One of the things I didn't miss on the island, Sunday drivers."
He turns to his mother. "Sorry I'm late."
They embrace, and Oliver turns to Thea and hugs her too. "Thank God you're here," Thea whispers into his ear, her relief that she doesn't have to face Carter alone evident and genuine.
They pull away, and Janice embraces Oliver. "It's so good to see you," she says. "We all thought you were. . ."
"Oh, well, we are just happy he's home," Moira smoothly ends that discussion before it even begins.
"Hmm, and returning a celebrity, too," Carter says, stepping forward and shaking hands with Oliver.
Now that the greetings are out of the way, they all move as one to their places at the table. "How do you mean?" Oliver asks.
"Billionaire scion, castaway for five years," Carter lists. "You know, there is a bidding war for the rights to your life story. At least, that's what my agent says."
"Agent?" Oliver asks. "I thought you were a neurosurgeon, Carter."
"I know," Carter says, faking modesty. "It's crazy, right? One minute I'm publishing this book on how long-term potentiation initiates the creation of a slow-moving protein synthesis -"
Oliver and Thea glance at each other, exchanging a look of pure sibling non-verbal communication. "And the next there's an agent trying to make me the next Dr. Oz," Carter continues.
"Why would he want you to be a wizard?" Oliver asks cluelessly.
Everyone laughs.
Everyone in the room laughs as well.
"Oliver," Moira mutters.
"For all our sakes, start reading 'Us Weekly,'" Thea tells her brother.
"Well, the truth is, I just feel it's our duty as Starling City's more fortunate to help those most in need," Carter continues.
"Oh, of course," Moira agrees.
"Wouldn't you agree, Oliver?" Carter asks pointedly.
"Okay, yeah, I can see why you don't like him," Larry says grudgingly.
The rest of the room nods in agreement. Carter's a jerk pretending to be a hero.
Oliver looks at him for a moment. "You're the hero, Carter," he finally says, knowing that's what he wanted to hear.
Meanwhile, at the First Bank of Starling, the Royal Flush gang is gearing up for another heist. "Quick and clean, and try not to shoot anybody!" The father orders his sons.
They pull down their masks and exit their van. Toting guns, they break open a back door.
At the mansion, Oliver is probably wishing for someone to break in and attack him. "So now that you're back, what are your plans?" Janice asks. "Will you be taking a job with Queen Consolidated?"
"I'm opening a nightclub," Oliver answers.
Thea and Moira both choke, this being the first they've heard of it, but Moira covers her reaction better than Thea. Diggle enters at that moment. "Sir, your liquor distributor's on the line," he covers, bending down and whispering in Oliver's ear: "First Bank of Starling was hit two minutes ago."
He leaves, and Oliver puts his napkin on the table, getting up. "Sorry," he apologizes. "Business."
He leaves the room as quickly as possible, Moira looking after him in annoyance while Thea gives him a pleading look to not leave her there alone. Diggle is waiting for him in the foyer. "If the rest of their MO holds they'll make their escape underground," he tells him. "First Bank of Starling is located right above the water treatment tunnels. The entrance is located here."
Diggle hands Oliver a phone. Moira comes around the corner. "Oliver," she says angrily. "Where are you going?"
"Something's come up," Oliver answers. "I'm really sorry."
He makes his escape, Diggle following while Moira looks after them in fury.
"Why is it so important to her for you to catch up with these people that she knows you don't like?" Grant asked.
"She's. . ." Oliver considered his words for a moment. "My mother was always a very proper person. I told you a little of what my childhood was like. She was a natural host, she thrived in the spotlight, and she was always trying to make Thea into a mini her and me into a mini version of my father. Neither of us ever wanted our parents' lives, but I had learned very young that it was no use fighting against my mother because she always found a way to have her way. So, I would go along with her and play the perfect son for her little exhibitions about how perfect our family was, and then I'd go out and do something stupid like pick up a speeding ticket or get arrested for a DUI or pee on a cop. Mom put up with my antics because I went along with hers, which didn't make for a happy household, but it did make for a peaceful one, at least on the outside. Tommy was having issues with his father around the same time, and so we became partners in crime with little Thea tagging along behind us whenever we would let her. Mom didn't really care what we did as long as we didn't kill ourselves or anyone else and we made it back home for her grand dinners.
"After I got back from the island, I was obviously a very different person, and for all I was keeping up the playboy persona on the outside, Mom knew that deep down I wasn't that person anymore," Oliver continued. "I wouldn't go so far as to say that she wanted me to still be the son that acted out, but it would have been familiar to her. I don't think she knew what to make of me, so I think that she tried to make everything go back to normal around me in the hopes that I would go back to normal too."
"That's sick," Benji commented.
"My mother was a complicated person living a complicated life," Oliver answered. "We all were. Thea and I still are. When you're in trouble, when you're barely keeping it together, you tend to do things that you regret later."
Constantine let the room muse over his words for a moment before continuing.
Outside the bank, the police have arrived.
Inside the bank, the family has escaped into the tunnels, money bags in hand. They run down the tunnel when they're intercepted by the cops. Kyle (Ace) shoots at the police, and soon they're embroiled in a full-on shootout. Oliver arrives, sliding under a pipe on his knees and firing a trick arrow at one of the bags, fastening it solidly to the ground. The cops and the family are still shooting at each other. Oliver pins one of the Gang's guns to the wall and leaps off a pipe with a flip, avoiding gunfire and chasing after him. He attaches the other bag to the ground. "Our cash!" Kyle shouts.
"Forget it!" his father orders. "Let's go! Go!"
Hilton sees that the Gang has stopped firing at them. "All right, let's move," he orders.
Oliver is about to chase after the Gang, but the cops enter and see him, and immediately their attention is driven away from the bank robbers and onto him. "It's the vigilante!" one shouts.
Oliver whirls around and fires an arrow, taking out the lights and escaping under cover of darkness. Unfortunately, the darkness covers the Gang's escape too.
The next day at Queen Consolidated, Oliver has once again recruited Felicity's help. "I should add 'personal internet researcher for Oliver Queen' to my job title," she jokes.
Oliver just looks at her. "Happily, I mean," she says hurriedly.
Diggle laughs from his seat on the desk off to the side.
"You think something's funny, Dig?" Felicity whirled around, glaring at him.
Diggle raised his hands in surrender. "Nope," he said quickly.
She raised an eyebrow at him and turned back just in time to catch Oliver's amused smile. "You watch it, mister," she threatened him with one eyebrow and one finger raised, and Oliver quickly assumed Diggle's position of surrender.
"His name is Derek Reston," Oliver tells her. "We were close before I. . .went away, and I wanna get back in touch."
"Guess you didn't have Facebook on that island," Felicity observes.
"Nope, not even a MySpace account," Diggle jokes. "It was a very dark time."
Oliver glares at him. "Well, there's not much here that's recent," Felicity says, drawing his attention back to her. "No credit activity. No utility bills. Well, I guess you guys must have met at the factory."
Oliver frowns. "Wait, what factory?"
"The Queen Steel Factory," Felicity answers, puzzled. "Derek Reston worked there for 15 years until it shut down in '07."
Oliver takes a moment. "Derek Reston worked for my father?" he asks in a very different tone.
"You weren't really close friends, huh?" Felicity observes.
Oliver just glares at anyone who'll look, but Felicity doesn't let it bother her. "It looks like Derek was the factory Foreman until your dad outsourced production to China," she continues. "About 1500 employees got laid off. Looks like the finance guys even found a loophole in the union contract, so they didn't have to pay severance packages and pensions to their employees. They all pretty much lost their homes, including your 'friend.'"
Oliver turns to Diggle but is quickly caught in the throws of a flashback. Still in the cave, Oliver stares incredulously at his father. "You died," he protests.
"I asked you, I begged you to survive!" his father says. "But if you don't think you can. . ."
He pulls out the gun he had on the raft. "There's still one bullet left," he tells him, holding it out to Oliver.
Oliver grabs the gun, trying to take it from his father, who keeps hold of it. "But Oliver," his father continues, "my death is made meaningless by yours."
His father lets go of the gun, leaving it in Oliver's hand. "I'm starving," Oliver says, pulling the gun to himself. "I'm gonna die anyway, and I just want it to be quick. I want it to be quick, like. . .like yours was."
"You can survive this," Robert insists.
"No I can't," Oliver denies. "I'm not as strong as you think I am."
He looks at his father for a moment, his lower lip trembling. "And I'm sorry," he gasps out, and puts the gun to his head.
The flashback ends, and Oliver quickly walks out of the office with Diggle following. "The Restons just got home after five years of being away," Oliver thinks out loud. "Those factory guys hung out at a bar after work. I'm going down there. Hopefully Derek Reston wants to take a stroll down memory lane."
"And if by some miracle, Reston's there?" Diggle asks.
"I'm gonna give him the chance to do the right thing," Oliver answers, waiting for the elevator.
"Oliver, he already has his chance to do the right thing, it's called not being a criminal," Diggle says, annoyed.
"This is happening because of my father," Oliver insists. "because of my family."
"No," Diggle argues. "You're worried about the wrong thing. It's not your fault. The Restons aren't the victims!"
"My family stole from this city," Oliver hisses. "They hurt the people in it. And I am hell-bent on making that right."
The elevator finally arrives and Oliver enters it. "For Derek Reston," he tells Diggle before the door closes, "that means giving him the chance to make it right."
At CNRI, Laurel and Tommy are still slogging through benefit preparations. Laurel yawns. "Hey, don't fade on me now," Tommy protests, "we have about 10,000 more decisions to make. Now, cake. Chocolate or mocha?"
"Hmm, carrot," Laurel picks.
"Are you sure about that?" Tommy asks. "Because Bugs Bunny hasn't RSVP'd yet."
Laurel gives him a real smile. "Tommy, why the full-court press?" she asks suddenly. "Asking me to Coast City, the fundraiser, why now?"
"You know, I was in a bar last week," Tommy answers after a moment, all joking gone and replaced with utter seriousness. "And I was talking to this girl, and things were progressing, if you know what I mean."
"No," Laurel jokes, "you're too subtle."
"Anyway," Tommy says slowly, "we finally go back to her place, and I realize all of a sudden that I'd been there before. Been with her before. Two years ago. Just didn't remember. So I left. You know. . .I remember some of the mornings when you and I were together, and I made you omelets, and I'd be in your kitchen, and I would think to myself, this isn't just fun, this is more than fun, this is different.' I've never felt that way with anybody else. And I miss it."
They look at each other for a moment, and then Tommy breaks the stare. "Not mocha," he mutters, writing something down. "Carrot."
"Carrot," Laurel confirms.
"Yeah," Tommy whispers.
In the Glades, Derek has just beaten some old friends at a card game. "Okay, fellas," he says as they all get up. "Thanks for playing."
He gathers up the cards and looks up to see Oliver sitting across from him. "Mind if I sit in?" Oliver asks.
"Oliver Queen," Derek acknowledges him after a moment. "The prodigal son returns. I didn't figure you for someone who would hang out in the Glades."
"My father used to bring me here after we visited the factory," Oliver explains. "There was a Pac-Man machine in the back. I had the high score for. . . two months."
"Seriously?" Barry laughed. "Oliver Queen, Pac-Man player extraordinaire?"
"I was a kid once," Oliver teased back. "I did. . .kid things."
"I don't know, Oliver," Kara joined in. "I'm pretty sure you were brooding and silent as soon as you were born."
"Ha ha, very funny," Oliver said, only slightly annoyed. "I'm not the one who literally crashed to earth in a space ship, nor am I the one who got struck by lightning and spent nine months in a coma. I'm not the odd one out here, guys."
"And yet Barry's a nerdy, genius CSI by day and I'm a socially awkward reporter by day," Kara teased. "Those are our real selves. You're a quiet, broody man by day and a quiet, broody man by night. What's your real identity?"
"Felicity Smoak-Queen's husband," Oliver answered immediately.
"Darn right," Felicity said, kissing him square on the lips for good measure.
Barry snorted and Kara punched him in the arm. "Ow!" Barry exclaimed, rubbing his arm where she hit him. "Kara, I may be fast but I'm not invincible!"
"You can take a punch just as much as the rest of us," Oliver said.
"Not a Supergirl punch!" Barry retorted.
"I took an Overgirl punch, without speed healing, and I'm still here," Oliver reminded him. "I think you can handle it."
Barry just glared at him.
The room watched this exchange with just as much fascination as any other instance where the heroes interacted with each other. They were still having a hard time believing that the heroes they heard about in the news and thought of as untouchable were really just normal people who had feelings and joked around with each other, and that the people who they were taught to hate and distrust were regular people too.
Derek looks at him, amused, for a moment before shifting his expression back to barely concealed hate. "The last time I saw your dad, he was making a speech," he tells him. "Telling my crew not to believe all the gossip, that there was no way Queen Consolidated was moving production to China. A week later, they closed the doors. I didn't even get the two weeks vacation pay due me."
Oliver grits his teeth in annoyance, mostly towards his father. "My father made mistakes," he admits. "He hurt people. When people are hurt, people are in trouble, they tend to make the wrong choices. Right, Derek?"
Derek looks at him, afraid and defiant. "But those choices don't have to define you," Oliver continues. "They don't have to define who your family will be, because there's always one moment when you can turn it all around. If my father had another chance, I think he'd do things differently, but. . .time ran out for him."
"How poetic," Derek says dryly. "That doesn't help me get my house back, now, does it?"
"No, it doesn't," Oliver agrees. "No, all I can offer you is an apology and a job. Queen Consolidated has subsidiaries all over the country. I make one phone call, you start next week. So what do you say?"
Derek looks at him for a moment, considering, but then his face grows hard again. "How about I still have some pride left?" he rejects Oliver's offer. "I don't need charity from the son of the man who screwed me over."
"Okay," Oliver says quietly.
He gets up and puts his Queen Consolidated business card in front of Derek. "If you change your mind," he offers. "You and I have one thing in common. We're both dealing with the consequences of my father's actions. What he did then, that's on him. What we do now, that's on us."
As he walks away, he slips a bug into the pocket of Derek's jacket. Back in the lair, he's listening in to Derek's conversation with his wife. "I've been thinking, baby, maybe you were right," Derek is saying. "Maybe it's time to hang it up, retire."
"But Kyle says we do one more or he'll go out on his own," Mrs. Reston objects.
"Well, if that's what he wants to do, that's his right, but you and me and Teddy, we're out," Derek insists.
"I want to quit too, but I am not leaving without Kyle," Mrs. Reston says firmly.
Diggle walks in and frowns in confusion. "What's this?" he asks.
"I dropped a bug in Derek Reston's jacket," Oliver answers.
"I thought you were going to give the man a second chance," Diggle questions.
"That's what I believe in," Oliver answers. "I also believe in covering all my bases."
He turns the bug back on. "Derek, we can't abandon our son," Mrs. Reston insists. "After all this time, he wants to end up a winner. Set for life. Otherwise, what was the point?"
"All right," Derek says after a moment. "One more."
Oliver closes his eyes and then glares at the screen, his face hardening. "Now what?" Diggle asks.
"We take them down," Oliver answers.
That night, Oliver and Diggle have arrived outside the CNRI Benefit Gala. Oliver hands Diggle an earpiece. "Monitor the Restons with this," he says. "When you get a line on their plans, we move."
"And you're gonna do another abrupt exit?" Diggle asks dryly.
"I'm getting better at it with practice," Oliver jokes.
"No you're not," Felicity, Diggle, Thea, Roy, Barry, Kara, Sara, Ray, Rene, Dinah, Curtis, and Constantine all said at the same time.
"Thanks," Oliver said sarcastically.
Inside, it's immediately evident that the Gala is a huge success. People are everywhere. Tommy snags a glass of champagne from a waitress. "Honey, keep the alcohol flowing," he orders, and she smiles at him before leaving.
Tommy turns to see Laurel heading towards him. He stutters for a moment when she reaches him. "Wow," he finally says. "You look just. . .really lovely."
"Lovely?" Laurel asks.
"Yeah," Tommy breathes.
"Well, it's nice that you've extended your vocabulary from words like hot and mega hot," she teases.
"You could just say thank you, you know," Tommy jokes.
"Thank you," she says seriously. "You know?"
"You're welcome," he says happily.
They stare at each other for a moment, Laurel's hand on his jacket, before they're interrupted by Jo. "Tommy," she says excitedly. "This is wonderful. It means the world to us."
Tommy smiles at her, but his attention is caught by Thea's arrival. "Oh, uh, excuse me, just for a second," he says, and hurries off to greet her.
"Excuse me," Laurel rounds on Jo for interrupting them.
"So?" Jo insists.
"You were right," Laurel admits.
Tommy joins Thea near the entrance. "Thank you for coming," he says, embracing her and giving her a chaste kiss on the cheek, like Oliver does, proving that he sees her as his sister.
"Thank you for inviting me," Thea says with a smile.
Thea groaned. Roy glanced at her. "Should I be asking Sara to take me back in time so I can deck somebody?" he asked.
"Not unless you feel like decking me," Thea moaned. "Oh, man. Ollie? Please, just… you know what, Constantine, can we just skip this? Please?"
"Sorry, love," Constantine answered. "This interaction is important for later, and you know it."
Thea gave him her best Queen/Dearden/Merlyn glare, to no effect.
"Well, I figured the entire Queen family and their checkbooks should be present," Tommy jokes.
"Oh, right," Thea jokes back. "And, how is that going for you so far?"
"It is going amazing," Tommy answers. "And all thanks to you. Thea Queen, the unlikely voice of reason."
"Little old me?" Thea says in a strange (to say the least) tone. "What did I do?"
"Oh, Thea," Oliver groaned, catching on to what had her so uncomfortable.
"I know, I know," she groaned back. "Please, just. . ."
"Oh!" Felicity caught on too. "Oh, that's disgusting. Wow, that's…"
"Thank you, Felicity," Thea said, annoyed.
The rest of the room is still completely lost, but opt to not say anything in favor of seeing for themselves.
"You gave me that great advice," Tommy answers. "I thought about what the girl was interested in, and, uh. . ."
He steps aside so Thea can see Laurel, talking to a couple potential donors. "And you did this for Laurel," Thea finishes, suddenly not happy at all.
"And it's working," Tommy says, oblivious to Thea's changing emotion and quivering in excitement. "Thanks again, Speedy."
He heads back towards Laurel. "Yeah," Thea calls after him. "Anytime."
A waiter walks past with more glasses, and she takes one and downs it.
Tommy makes it back to Laurel, who is talking with none other than Carter Bowen. "Oh, Tommy, do you remember Carter Bowen from high school?" Laurel reintroduces them.
"Oh, yeah, sure I do," Tommy says, shaking hands and giving Carter a fake smile. "So glad you could make it."
Carter smiles at him briefly, but then turns his attention back to Laurel. "It's so great to see you," he says in an obviously playing tone. "You look amazing."
Tommy clenches his teeth and attempts to maintain a social expression. "I gotta say," Carter continues, "I'm so impressed with the work that you and CNRI are doing here."
"Thanks, Carter," Laurel says.
"Yeah," Carter says softly. "You know, I've actually been thinking about starting a free clinic down here in the Glades."
"Really?" Tommy says with fake interest.
"Can we grab a couple drinks and I'll tell you what I'm thinking?" Carter says to Laurel, ignoring Tommy altogether.
"That sounds great," Laurel says, and leaves with Carter, flashing a smile back to Tommy, who watches in irritation.
At the bar, Moira is making small talk when Oliver comes up behind her, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Hi," he whispers in her ear, and Moira turns around, making her apologies and gracefully exiting her conversation.
"Well," she says in a surprised tone, "I'm surprised you made it tonight given your hectic schedule."
"Mom, I messed up with the Bowens yesterday," Oliver apologizes. "I made you a promise, I couldn't keep it."
"Well, it's nothing new for you, Oliver," Moira lashes out. "I know you and I have had our difficulties, but despite all my many mistakes, I always thought that you and I had a connection. So can you imagine, just imagine, after being granted the miracle of having my child returned to me, that you seem to have little or no interest in being with me, or telling me the truth!"
She is interrupted by Diggle coming up behind Oliver. "Ma'am," he acknowledges her before turning to Oliver. "Redwood United Bank," he whispers in Oliver's ear. "They're gonna try a nighttime hit."
Oliver sighs before turning back to Moira. "I have to go," he says. "I'm sorry -"
"No, don't bother apologizing," Moira interrupts him. "Honestly, Oliver, there are times when I wonder why you bother coming home at all."
"Wow," Larry muttered.
"I can't believe she said that," Beth breathed.
"She sounds like my mother when she catches me coming home after curfew," Edward commented.
The entire room turned to look at him. He shrugged.
Moira walks away from him without another word, and Oliver stares after her a moment, tears in his eyes, before turning away.
At Redwood United Bank, the guard is making his rounds. Derek sneaks up behind him and gets his attention, and then Kyle leaps on him and knocks him out. They break into the safe and start swiping the cash. Suddenly, there's a bang. "You here that?" Kyle asks his dad.
Derek looks at him. "I'll check it out," Kyle says after a moment.
Kyle goes back out into the main area. He turns a corner and sees the Hood. "Kyle Reston," Oliver growls.
He shoots an arrow at his shoulder, but Kyle deflects it with a police shield. "I came prepared," he says, and fires at Oliver, who dodges, leading Kyle on a chase throughout the bank. Oliver takes cover behind the desk as the shots get Derek's attention. He leaves the money and comes out, heading toward the sound, gun at the ready. Oliver gets the drop on Kyle and shoots him in the shoulder before he can get the shield up, but Kyle breaks the shaft and rushes Oliver, who gets off another shot, deflected by the shield, before Kyle slams into him. He smashes him through several panels of glass and they slam into the wall.
Outside, Teddy and Mrs. Reston are waiting in the van, watching the bank nervously at hearing all the noise. "It's okay," Mrs. Reston says, not sounding sure at all. "It's gonna be okay."
Inside, the guard wakes up and takes in the scene before him. Oliver and Kyle are fighting hand-to-hand, their fight taking them throughout the bank. The guard grabs a shotgun and steps out, cocking it, just as Oliver downs Kyle. "No!" Oliver shouts. "Hey, I got this."
Derek rushes out at that moment, his gun at the ready. Oliver spins and shoots an arrow, knocking the gun out of Derek's hand. With Oliver distracted, Kyle gets up and aims his gun at the guard. "Drop your weapon!" The guard shouts at him. "Now!"
Kyle doesn't do it, and the guard aims. "No!" Derek shouts, and dives in front of his son just in time to catch the bullet. Oliver knocks Kyle out. He and the guard stare at each other for the moment in the sudden silence before it is broken by Derek's groans. "He's bleeding out," Oliver says. "Call an ambulance."
The guard just stares at him. "Now!" Oliver shouts, and the guard rushes out of the bank. Oliver kneels down beside Derek. He takes off Derek's mask. "Kyle," Derek gasps out. "Kyle. Kyle."
Oliver slowly pulls of his hood, revealing his identity to Derek. "He's okay," he assures him. "He's just knocked out."
"It was. . . It wasn't his fault," Derek says. "I turned my son into this."
Oliver looks up, flashing back to the island. He puts the gun to his head and pulls the trigger, but it doesn't fire. He throws it away in anger. "Of course it doesn't work," he groans. "I'm hallucinating. Or I'm dreaming."
"But if you weren't," Robert insists. "You betrayed me, Oliver. I died so that you could live and you threw that gift away. You made that sacrifice empty."
"I'm not you," Oliver whispers. "I'm not strong like you. I never was."
"I told you, I'm not the man you think I am," Robert answers. "The things I've done. What I was about to do."
"Dad, Dad, what does that mean?" Oliver asks, almost crying. "Please? I don't know what that means."
"I told you," Robert hisses, pointing a finger at him. "I begged you. Right my wrongs!"
Oliver looks at the ground, almost crying. "This is your responsibility now," Robert tells him in a more controlled tone.
"How?" Oliver begs. "How do I do this? I can't even get off this island."
Robert grips his shoulders. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you the truth about me, but I hope. . .I hope that you know that I love you."
Oliver nods, and he pulls himself back to the present just in time to watch Derek breathe his last. He looks at his body miserably for a moment, tears threatening to fall, before he hears the police and ambulance arrive and makes his escape just before they enter the bank.
Meanwhile, at the CNRI Gala, neither Tommy nor Thea are having a very good time. Tommy is sitting alone at the bar. "Did you know that as a doctor I was able to diagnose myself as a giant tool?" He mutters, taking a swig of his drink and watching Laurel and Carter dance.
Thea comes up to him, a playful grin on her face, obviously drunk. She leans on his shoulder suggestively. "How about a dance, handsome?" she slurs.
"Hey," Tommy says uncomfortably. "Uh, I thought that we agreed that you were going to call me before you did something stupid."
He stands up and looks at her in brotherly concern. "See, you're no fun," she whines.
Thea hid her face behind Roy's back and groaned loudly, much to the amusement of pretty much the entire room, who now understand what Thea, Oliver, and Felicity were so upset about (or at least they think they do).
She puts her arms around his neck. "I'm gonna show you how to have some fun," she continues.
She tries to pull him in for a kiss but he pulls her hands away hurriedly, gripping them tightly. "Whoa, whoa, what are you doing?" he says quickly.
"You said I was amazing," Thea tells him.
"Yeah, you are amazing," Tommy agrees, "but you're also like my sister. My baby sister."
"Well, I'm not a baby anymore," she says, annoyed. "Thank you for noticing."
She looks beyond him at Carter and Laurel. "Laurel doesn't even like you!" she says, a bit too loudly. "She doesn't understand you. I do. Why can't you just see that?"
"Thea," Tommy says patiently, "it was a mistake to talk to you about girls and stuff. It was inappropriate, and I think it may have confused you."
He starts steering her out of the room. Thea throws back her head and chuckles. "Yeah, the rejection?" she fires back. "It is pretty clear. Even if it wasn't, between my mom, and Oliver, and everybody in my entire life, I'm pretty much used to it by now, so. . ."
She pulls away from him and collides with a waiter, almost knocking him over and dumping his platter of drinks all over the floor. The noise attracts everyone's attention and the music stops. "Whoa, whoa, whoa," Tommy says, gripping her around the waist. "Okay, let's go. It's all right, let's go."
This time, he successfully gets her out of the room.
In the alley, Laurel comes to find Tommy standing close by as Thea retches. "Tommy?" she calls.
"Yep," he answers.
"Is Thea okay?" she asks in concern as Thea continues throwing up.
"Oh yeah, she just ate some bad crab cakes," he tries to cover for her.
"Are you sure it wasn't something she drank?" Laurel asks knowingly.
Tommy looks over at Thea for a moment. "Don't worry," he tells Laurel. "I got this. You can go back inside. Keep having fun. Looked like you were having a nice little do-si-do with the good doctor."
Laurel takes a deep breath. "Tommy, I'm going to let you in on a little-known secret about Dr. Carter Bowen," she says. "The man is a gigantic a**, and the only reason why I danced with him was because he wrote a massive check to CNRI. Why would you think anything else?"
Tommy looks at her, a hopeful smile slowly growing on his face. "I guess when it comes to you, I tend not to think straight," he answers.
She smiles softly and he smiles back, but the moment is interrupted by a miserable Thea who just finished throwing up. "Can you call me a cab?" she asks, her voice breaking as she wraps Tommy's jacket tightly around herself.
"Absolutely not," Tommy says firmly. "I am taking you home. Get in."
He opens the door of his car for her. She starts to get in. "I apologize for making such a scene," she says miserably, looking between Tommy and Laurel.
"Just feel better, okay?" Laurel says kindly.
Tommy closes the door after her. "Hey Tommy," Laurel says. "I owe you a dance."
"Yeah?" he asks.
"You earned it," she tells him, and gives him a peck on the cheek. "Goodnight."
She leaves, leaving him standing in the alley staring after her. She turns around, giving him a happy, playful smile before going back inside. Tommy gets into the car with Thea. "Please don't hate me," she says after a moment.
"Never," Tommy vows. "Never."
He revs the engine and they pull out.
In the lair, Oliver is sitting, in the dark, hunched over in the desk chair, still in his Arrow uniform, looking miserable. Diggle walks in and finds him. He watches him for a moment, and Oliver's only acknowledgement of his presence is a slight tug on one side of his mouth, not in a smile, but a silent tell of how upset he is. "What went down wasn't your fault," Diggle tells him.
"I didn't say it was," Oliver says quietly.
"Oliver, it wasn't your fault, man," Diggle repeats. "You gave Reston a chance. That was more than he deserved."
"I'm not so sure about that," Oliver answers.
"Well listen, I'll tell you this much," Diggle says. "You say going after the guys on that list is the way you honored your dad? Well, if your dad could have seen you this week, the way you cared about the people he had hurt, the way you stepped up to try to help them, I'd say he'd be pretty d*** honored."
Oliver just bows his head. "So maybe there is more than one way to save this city?" Diggle prods.
"Maybe," Oliver says simply.
Diggle nods. "By the way, Stan Washington woke up," he tells Oliver, who finally looks at him for the first time. "He's gonna be fine."
Diggle then leaves him to his thoughts, and Oliver has a flashback to the island.
He wakes up in the cave, panting, hunched over the fire. Neither his father nor the gun are anywhere in sight. He takes a moment to calm his breathing and notices the fire is about to go out. He rips another paper out of the book but doesn't have the energy to ball it up before putting it in the fire. He holds it over the fire, about to let go, but suddenly letters, then words, then names appear on the page. Oliver cocks his head, looking at it. He puts the paper down and opens the book, holding it over the fire. Slowly, page after page of names is revealed as Oliver watches in amazement. "My responsibility," he whispers. "I promise, Dad. I promise."
"So wait," Spencer said slowly. "That book that you found in your father's pocket, the blank one, that's the book you've been using in the city all this time?"
Oliver nodded.
"But there's pages missing!" Spencer exclaimed. "How could you possibly know what to do with it? What it was even actually about? For all you knew, those names could have been your father's allies, not his enemies!"
"And what have you seen so far that makes you think that these people were allies, that any of them were good people?" Oliver said sharply.
Felicity put a hand on his arm and he took a breath, calming himself down. "I knew what I was doing," Oliver said more quietly. "That wasn't the last time I got a message from my father, nor was it the last time I learned something about the book. And as for the missing pages, yes, I've always wondered what was on the pages I burned. Originally, every person involved with the Undertaking had a copy of the book. I don't know where the others are. My mother had one, but I didn't get a chance to look at the whole thing before it was destroyed. I've always wondered, thought that maybe the details of Merlyn's plan were on those pages, that everything I would have needed to know to stop his Undertaking before it even started was in that book and I destroyed it before even knowing what it was. Unless someone finds another book, there's no way to know. And a part of me wishes that I had never burned those pages, but then the ruthless side of me that fuels my survival instincts reminds me that if I hadn't, I would have frozen to death on Lian Yu and I never would have made it back to do anything about the Undertaking at all. At one point I might have wished for that, but now. . ."
He looks at all of his family and friends. "I can't say that I do," he said softly. "I'm glad I survived. I can't be sorry for that."
Spencer looked at him for a moment, then nodded, accepting his explanation.
In the mansion, Moira is pouring herself a drink in the sitting room. Oliver walks in and slowly leans against the doorway, his right leg wrapped around his left and his shoulder against the frame, watching his mother silently. "Nightcap?" he says after she takes a sip.
Moira turns to him, startled, then shrugs. "Well, I thought it might help me," she answers. "I don't sleep well alone."
She takes another sip and turns to him. "I'm sorry about what I said tonight," she apologizes.
Oliver slowly shakes his head and walks further into the room. "No, you were being honest," he answers.
"No, not entirely," Moira admits. "The truth is, with Walter being gone, I'm. . .I'm lonely. You know, you and I used to talk. I used to know what you were thinking."
Oliver smiles softly. "But now, even when you're home you're somewhere else," Moira continues. "I. . ."
She stops suddenly and looks at Oliver, who slowly looks up to meet her gaze. "I guess I just miss my son," she says.
"I miss you too," Oliver admits. "And I wish that. . ."
He stops abruptly and reconsiders his words as Moira looks at him, confused and concerned. Suddenly, his entire countenance shifts. "Are you hungry?" he asks her.
Moira just stares at him.
Oliver takes her to Big Belly Burger, and they get burgers, fries, and shakes. When the food is brought to them, Moira looks at Oliver, a bit out of her element, and chuckles. She puts her napkin in her lap and starts cutting up her burger as Oliver takes a sip of his shake. He laughs, almost spitting out his mouthful in his amusement. "Mom," he chokes out, swallowing. "It's okay to get your hands dirty every once in awhile. For me, please."
Moira looks at him for a moment. "All right," she says, as if accepting a challenge, then puts her knife and fork down, picks up her burger, and takes a big bite.
Oliver eats a fry, watching her as pure delight washes over her face. "Mmm," she moans.
"Mm hmm," Oliver agrees.
"Mm," she says again.
"Yeah," Oliver says knowingly.
"That is a great burger."
Moira looks at Oliver for a moment. Both of them look lighter than they've looked since Oliver came back. "Thank you for this," she says.
"Anytime," Oliver answers with a smile.
"You know, I'll bet Carter Bowen doesn't know where to find the best burger joint in Starling City," Moira says teasingly.
"Oh, so I have one thing on him," Oliver says, amused.
"No," Moira says seriously, putting her hand on his arm. "You have everything on him, Oliver."
A smile breaks out over Oliver's face, and he looks into his lap as Moira watches him happily, and the two of them enjoy their late-night Big Belly Burger, bonding like they haven't done in years.
The screen goes black.
Hello again, everyone! So, who picked up the two references in this chapter? I may have been having a bit too much fun. . .Anyway, Thea stole Oliver's Casey Jones comics (wink wink) and the conversation about the missing pages in Oliver's list is a nod to the entry about the list in the book Arrow: Heroes and Villains. If you didn't pick it up, don't worry :) There's a little inside joke in last chapter too: sinceriously ;)