A/N: Thank you people for letting me know that you were still reading! It is a pain to post on here (I also post on AO3) so feedback is much appreciated!
When Oliver opened his eyes again Felicity was sitting right there beside him, holding his hand, and looking all kinds of worried. "Here," she said as she put a straw up to his lips. Water had only tasted that good once before and that's when he got his first sip of freshwater on the island after being adrift for days in the life raft. He opened his mouth to ask what happened, but only a croak came out of his aching throat.
"Hey," Felicity said getting his attention. "You've been pretty sick, but the fever has finally broke and they were able to take the breathing tube out. That's why your throat is sore." Oliver could feel something tickling his nose and he weakly tried to reach for it. Felicity easily captured his hands. "You need to leave that alone. They just let you out of the restraints, so please don't do anything to make them put them back on." The pleading in her eyes told him that there had been some issues that had come up with him being restrained. Even the mere thought of it made him itchy. "Just close your eyes and get some more rest. You'll feel even better when you wake up again." She said gently caressed his face. Obeying her instructions, he closed his eyes and voluntary went back to sleep.
Oliver was awakened later by a nurse who was checking his IV. "Well, hey there handsome." She said, noticing that his eyes were open. "I'm glad to see those beautiful blue eyes of yours, but it's the middle of the night so you should probably get some more sleep." She smiled down at him while she exchanged the empty bag on the stand for a full one and then injected something into his IV. "There, that should help you get back to sleep, and when you wake up in the morning hopefully you will be down a few of these things." He took her advice and allowed his eyes to close, quickly slipping back into sleep.
"Hey Ollie, wake up or I'm going to eat all of your good food." Was the next thing that Oliver was aware of. That sounded like Tommy's voice talking to him. He dragged his eyes open and saw Tommy sitting up in the bed next to his, with a tray of food in front of him. "Felicity told me that you had woken up for a bit yesterday while I was off being tortured by the physical therapist. Who would have thought that getting skewered by rebar would require PT visits?"
Slipping off of his bed Tommy slowly walked the few steps over to Oliver's bed. Grabbing the bed controls he raised the head of the bed for Oliver and pushed the breakfast tray over his lap and opened the domed tray. Once Oliver had managed to take a few small bites of the rubber eggs Tommy returned to his bed.
"How are you feeling?" Tommy asked as he slowly ate his own food.
Grabbing the orange juice from the tray Oliver greedily sucked it down, the action helping to dispel the dryness of his throat. "Fine." He croaked, even though he felt absolutely horrible, but he didn't want Tommy to think any less of him.
Knowing exactly what was running though Oliver's Tommy snorted a laugh and said, "And I'm the Queen of England. Nice try buddy, I know that since the island you're not a big fan of the truth, but let's try it this time."
Oliver felt bad for all of the times that he had lied to his best friend since he had been back, so he took a deep breath and told Tommy exactly how he felt. "I feel drained and exhausted, almost like the Russian mob just got through working me over."
Tommy eyed him, "Why do I have a feeling like that has actually happened?"
Avoiding the question Oliver took another bite of his food and made a face. "What happened?"
"From the top, or after you got to the hospital?" Tommy questioned.
Frowning Oliver said, "I remember the night of the Undertaking. Rescuing you, dropping you off but that's about it. Why? What day is it?"
"So that all took place just a bit over a week ago. From what I've been told, in your fight with Malcolm, you stabbed through yourself and into him with an arrow. You need to work on your aim a bit when you stab yourself, my friend, because the arrow nicked your subclavian artery, which caused a slow bleed. That would have been fine except for all the running around that you did to save me just made it leak even more. Sara and Dig found you collapsed beside your bike behind the hospital and brought you inside. The ER staff got you topped back up and we even talked to you a few times before a massive infection took over." Tommy looked away, taking a moment to gather his composure. "There were a few times where we thought that we were gonna lose you. It came really close Ollie, and I felt so guilty that you were laying there getting worse, and I was getting better. But yesterday you finally turned a corner and here we are!"
Oliver could see the haunted look in Tommy's eyes and realized that his condition must have been pretty dire. "Sorry, buddy."
"Well, you didn't die, so I'll forgive you this time." Tommy grinned, finishing up the food on his tray. "I should be getting outta here in the next day or two." He looked over at Oliver. "I hope you don't mind, but Thea has offered to let me stay at the mansion."
"My house is your house." Oliver said as he swallowed the last of the orange juice. "So, what's going on with you?"
"You mean like with Malcolm?" At Tommy's question Oliver nodded. "Haven't heard from the bastard, but the city has decided that he's dead, so good riddance." He opened his mouth to say more but he was interrupted by a knock on the door and Felicity coming into the room already talking.
"So, I was thinking that if we..." Felicity stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Oliver sitting up and picking at his food. A huge grin broke across her face. "Glad to see you awake."
"Glad to be awake." Oliver commented dryly. "Tommy was just catching me up on everything."
Her eyes lit up and she sat down at the end of Tommy's bed so that she could see both men. "Has he told you about his plans?"
"Our plans." Tommy corrected.
Felicity rolled her eyes, and in that moment Oliver saw where Olivia got the habit from. "Our plans then."
"I think he was about to when you came in."
"Tommy here is genius!" She said grinning at them.
"You tell that to all of the hospitalized billionaires." Tommy joked.
"C'mon tell Oliver about what we're doing." Felicity demanded as she commandeered his hospital tray for her laptop.
"Since everyone thinks that Malcolm is now dead, ownership of Merlyn Global has fallen to me; and even though I have my MBA I don't want to run the business, Dad soured me on that long ago. So, I'm selling both the business and the manor. Since most of my inheritance is from my Mom I'm going to use the money from the sale of the Merlyn Global to help rebuild Mom's clinic in the Glades. Maybe by doing this bit, I can undo a tiny portion of the harm that Malcolm did. As for the manor I'm selling it and…"
"Here comes the best part!" Felicity interrupted excitedly, her grin stretched from ear to ear.
Tommy turned to Felicity, "Do you want to tell it?"
"So, he's using some of the money from the sale to buy up shares of QC." She scrunched up her face, "I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but QC isn't in a good spot with the company building the machine used in the Undertaking, and Moira being on trial soon, not to mention that Walter will be leaving as well."
"Wait! What? Walter's leaving?" Oliver questioned. He had really liked Walter; he had made his mother happy and was a wonderful step-father and grandfather.
Felicity's eyes softened. "He served your mom divorce papers right before the Undertaking. I'm sorry, Oliver."
"Me too," Oliver said feeling even worse now.
"But he's going to be staying on until you can take over." Tommy said.
"Me? But… I don't know anything about running a company!" Oliver exclaimed, looking at them in alarm. His heart monitor showing his distress.
"Don't worry, that's where the genius comes in." Felicity said, pointing to Tommy and smiling.
"So, someone is out there trying to buy up all of the available QC stocks, but I've managed to snag about 5% of them. So, with your 45% that gives the two of us controlling power of the board. I'm going to come in as COO, that's the Chief Operating Officer aka the guy who's running the place and you'll be the CEO, that is the..."
Oliver cut him off, "Even I know what CEO stands for. I did pay attention in a couple of classes. When is all of this supposed to happen?"
"Not for a while yet. It's not easy selling off a company," Tommy answered. "Plus, Felicity hasn't found out who is buying up the stocks, and the board has the last 10% that won't be released until after the first board meeting."
"Not to mention that we have to get the both of you well and moving around before either of you are fit to run a company," Felicity added.
"What are you talking about? I can run a marathon!" Tommy said with a grin.
Felicity snorted, "Lift your arms above your head."
"No thanks."
"I rest my case." She said before turning her attention to Oliver who was fading fast and looking like he was about to fall asleep, "Why don't you take a nap, you look tired."
He blinked drowsily, trying to stay awake, "I shouldn't be this tired, I just ate breakfast and I've hardly been awake."
Sliding off of the edge of Tommy's bed Felicity went over to Oliver's side and picked up his hand. "You've been through a lot the past week even if you don't remember it. Rest." Taking her advice, he closed his eyes and went back to sleep.
He woke back up when his lunch was brought in, Felicity was still there, sitting on the chair between the two beds and working on her laptop. When she saw that he was awake she showed Oliver and Tommy the get-well videos that Olivia had made for them while they ate. Oliver missed his daughter, and he wanted to get out of the hospital so that he could spend time with her.
"So, I have a question," Tommy started to say as he looked at Oliver with worry in his face. "Since you've been back you never talk about the island, but at one point you told Felicity and I that you felt worse than when you got bit by a shark and were whipped?"
Oliver's mind flew back to the incident that Tommy was talking about. He remembered laying on the beach trying to catch his breath grateful that the shark hadn't decided to do more than nibble on him, when Conklin had appeared on the beach, and then the long draining march back to camp that he wasn't sure he would survive followed by the horrible pain as he had been whipped. There were times where he wished that he had pulled the trigger and killed himself instead of using the gun as a way to get leverage, but his desire to see his daughter had always won out over everything else. He had endured everything, just so he could come back and meet her. He hated to let Felicity and Tommy in on some of the darkness that was inside of him, but apparently, he had already said something and from the looks on their faces their imagination was running wild.
"I wasn't alone on the island." He said looking down at his hands and fidgeting with them before looking up at two of the people closest to him. Taking a deep breath he decided to tell them the whole truth. "The fourth year I was away I was back on the island, and one of the guards, Conklin, had it out for me because of something he thought that I did, but the guy who was in charge, Reiter had believed me over him. When I went to retrieve some maps that were underwater, a shark decided to take a nibble." He pulled his hospital gown aside so they both could see the bite scar. "When the Conklin found me after the shark bit me, I was with a woman who they had asked me to kill, but I hadn't." He sighed as the memories came back to him. "Reiter, told, Conklin, that he could do what he wanted with me. So, Conklin decided to whip me. Reiter ended up changing his mind and intervened before Conklin could killed me, so I was allowed to live." So much more had happened with Tiana, but he didn't want to bring all of those memories up.
"Thank you for sharing that, I know it wasn't easy." Felicity said, and gently touched his arm, and drawing his attention back to the room.
They were saved from having any more discussions about what had happened when her cell phone started to ring. She pulled it out and smiled at the screen, and, accepting the video call, she turned it so that Oliver could see also. It was Olivia calling, Felicity had left her with Thea and Roy, who was becoming a regular at the mansion.
The next two months were hard ones for Oliver. Recovering from the infection was not as easy as he had hoped. It had taken him another week in the hospital before he was strong enough to get out of bed by himself. Once he was released and at home, he tried to work out, but after Tommy and then later Felicity, both found him sprawled on the floor unable to get up after he had overdone it they made Olivia babysit her dad.
While he was recovering and unable to protect Starling City, they heard of a new vigilante patrolling and protecting the people; a woman with white hair and wearing black leather. Since Oliver was in no shape to fight her or anyone else, he concentrated on Felicity's CEO lessons, as she was trying to shape him into the perfect Chief Executive Officer.
Time flew by and it was soon August was there and school was scheduled to start back. Starling Academy was having a school preview day where the parents and students were able to come meet their new teachers. They had decided to use that as Oliver's first public appearance since his release from the hospital. Olivia had grown to love school, like Felicity had, and was excited to see her friends again and show her parents around. They both liked Olivia's teacher but were surprised when the headmistress asked to speak to them in her office. "Your Olivia is a very bright young lady." Headmistress Long started off. "Have you given any thought about placing her in the second grade?"
Oliver let Felicity take the lead on this. "I had thought about it. But having skipped two grades myself I found that I just didn't have the same connection to my peer group that I want her to have."
"Would her keeping her in the same grade be holding her back?" Oliver asked.
Mrs. Long listened to their reasoning and concerns, thought for a moment and then said, "While I think that Olivia would be challenged academically in a higher grade, I believe that you may be correct about her socially." She steepled her fingers, "With your permission, I'm going to ask our special education teacher, Mr. Smith, to work with her to give her a bit of a challenge. We can give it a month or two to see if it is working and then we can check in before the holiday break and reassess. Would that be acceptable?"
"That sounds good to me." Felicity said smiling, she then looked over at Oliver and asked. "What do you think?"
"The special ed teacher? Isn't that for the kids that need more help?" he asked bluntly.
Mrs. Long smiled, "Special education covers both ends of the spectrum, but it is a program that is better known for assisting the students on the lower end of the spectrum." She looked at the two of them. "Do you have any further questions?" When they both shook their heads Mrs. Long smiled, "Thank you for visiting us today, we are looking forward to having Miss. Olivia back with us. And I'm so glad to see that you are doing better Mr. Queen."
"Thank you," he said, giving her a smile. His first hurdle in returning to society after his recovery was cleared, now all he had to do was to wow the board of QC. He hoped that it would go as smoothly, but he figured that with his experience it wouldn't.
The first meeting with the Board of QC led to them meeting the person who had been buying up all the other shares, Isabel Rochev of Stellmore International. "Since you majored in dropping out of college, I'll put this in in terms that are easy to understand." Oliver opened his mouth to protest, but Isabel didn't give him a chance. "You control forty five percent of Queen Consolidated stock, I control forty percent, leaving fifteen percent , in two days, the board will release the last ten percent."
Oliver had had enough of her attitude, "And I'll buy it before you do." He said matter-of-factly.
"With what money?" Rochev scoffed. "I doubt that your trust fund is that large, and no angel investor will go near the company that built the machine that destroyed half the city."
That's when Tommy, looking smart in a three-piece suit strolled into the room. "He doesn't need an angel investor; he already has me. I control the missing five percent, so even if you do manage to get all of that last ten percent, which you won't. We will still have control of QC." He sat down in the chair across from Rochev. His news wiped the smirk off of her pretty face.
"We'll see about that," she sneered as she stood up to storm out of the room. Her exit was interrupted as three masked men carrying guns burst in.
The lead one held his gun up and yelled, "Oliver Queen! You have failed this city." Then the three opened fire on the occupants of the conference room. One of the gunmen yelled, "Grab Queen!"
Diggle distracted the gunmen by returning fire while Tommy and Isabel escaped out the side door of the office. Oliver covered their escape and didn't see the gun man coming up behind him until almost too late, but Felicity sprang from behind the gunman hitting him on the heat with a heavy glass bowl. Seeing that the other exits were now blocked, Oliver made the split second choice to grab Felicity, pray the cain hanging from the ceiling would hold them, and jumping out of the window. They crashed through another window on a lower floor. He instantly regretted jumping it as it took a lot out of him physically when he landed hard on the desk in front of the window then fell onto the floor losing his grip on Felicity. Breathing hard through the pain he made sure Felicity was alright before laying back and trying not to black out.
Gathered back in his office after giving their statements to the police, Tommy said "So those were the Hood gang that killed the Mayor at the gala the other day. Laurel was telling about it. They want my head on a pike!" Tommy helped himself to Oliver's whisky decanter and slumped in a seat in front of Oliver's desk with his glass.
Felicity and Diggle turned to question Oliver about not fighting back. "You could have easily taken them, why didn't you? Is it because you're not completely recovered?" Felicity asked, worry clear in her voice.
Oliver sighed, "I didn't do anything because it would have given away my abilities. That's the line I have to walk when I am the Hood, but I don't even know if I want to be the Hood anymore..." He looked over at Tommy, who was slowly sipping his drink. "If I'm the Hood, people die."
"Since when do you care about the bad guys dying?" Felicity exclaimed. She paused, "Wait, that didn't come out the way I meant it." She bit her lip, "Since when has collateral damage bothered you?"
Diggle and Oliver looked at each other and then Oliver looked over at Tommy and said, "When he found out who I was, he called me a murderer. He wasn't wrong."
"I just want to say I wasn't in the best headspace when I said that. But you can still do good as the vigilante, just don't kill them." Tommy interjected.
"And it's not like you've killed every person that you've faced," Felicity added.
Oliver sighed deep in thought, "When I put on the hood my mindset has always been kill or be killed. That's what's kept me alive." He shook his head and started to head out the door.
"Where are you going?" Felicity asked.
"To find an angel." Oliver tossed over his shoulder as he left the room.
After his meeting, Oliver decided that he should go and visit his mother in prison where she was awaiting trial, since he hadn't seen her since before everything happened with the Undertaking. Moira was extremely happy to see him doing better and she didn't stop smiling throughout his entire visit. She told him that Felicity and Tommy visited her regularly, and that Olivia was always drawing her beautiful cards. They talked about the status of the company, the upcoming trial and about Thea. The time went by quickly and visiting hours were soon over and he had to leave. He felt much better leaving the prison after seeing his mother than he had when he had arrived.
But his good mood was ruined when he got the call that Thea had been abducted from Verdant when the Hood gang couldn't find him or Tommy at the Club. Feeling as if he had no choice, Oliver once again donned the hood and set out to save his sister. As he took down the gang he made sure that he held back and didn't kill anyone, and he even saved one of the gang from plunging to his death.
The next day was the board meeting. Isabel Rochev, who was sitting smugly in a chair directly across from where Oliver was standing, gloated. "I now have forty-five percent of the stock, and by this time tomorrow I will have the outstanding five percent, leading me to be the majority shareholder, so the company will be in my control."
"Au contraire, Ms. Rochev." Tommy piped up from across the table. "You keep forgetting that I own five percent of the shares and that I play well with others that aren't you. So even if you were able to get your grubby paws on the remaining five percent, that would make you and Ollie equals." If looks could kill, the look that Isabel gave Tommy would have nuked him.
"What if I found someone to invest new equity capital?" Oliver added.
Isabel switched her focus back to Oliver who had remained standing. "An angel investor? A white knight?" She scoffed. "With all due respect, your last name is now associated with mass murder. Not even you has that good of a friend."
"You're right," Oliver said evenly. His mother's warning stayed with him and he knew that if he showed even the tiniest bit of irritation that Isabel would pounce on it and use it to attack him. "I don't have another friend willing to do that. I do however have something better. I have family."
Walter Steele entered the board room from the rear entrance. Isabel looked shocked and stood to face him, "Mr. Steele it was my understanding that you had stepped down as CEO."
"I did," he said curtly, as he passed her to stand with Oliver. "I'm now the chief financial officer of Starling National Bank. And my institution is committed to providing rescue financing for Mr. Queen. We've bought up the remaining shares of Queen Consolidated, when they were released this morning."
It was now Oliver's turn to look smug. "I know that I majored in dropping out, but I'm pretty sure that makes me in charge going forward."
"And as someone who did get their MBA, I can certify that forty-five plus five plus five equals fifty-five verses your measly forty five." Tommy said, grinning at the sour look that Isabel gave him.
"You aren't at all what people say about you," she groused as she stomped past him.
"You, like most people, fail to see the real me," Oliver returned, not stepping back to allow her space to pass. Isabel glared at him and then left the board room in a huff.
Oliver sighed, his shoulders sagging in relief, and Tommy stood patting him on the back, "Good job buddy."
"Thank you, Walter." Oliver said with a smile as he held out his hand to Walter,
"Thank you for reaching out to me." Walter returned with a smile and a firm handshake and pulled Oliver into a hug. "Whatever's happened between your mother and I, I'm just grateful that you know that you can still count on me. Your father would have been very proud of you Oliver." Walter then looked over to Tommy, "Robert would have been proud of you as well." Both Oliver and Tommy smiled at the praise.
Once Walter had said his good-byes and left, Felicity turned and smiled at the two of them. "We did it!"
"Well, it was just like a good friend once told me, I just had to find another way." Oliver replied with a soft smile.
Diggle stepped into the conference room. "From the look on Rochev's face, I'd say that it went well?"
"It went perfectly according to the plan." Tommy beamed.
"Since we're all here, let's get everything squared away." Oliver said, gesturing to the chairs for everyone to take their seats.
"Does this mean we are back in the archery business?" Felicity asked.
"No," Oliver said definitively. "I've spent the last year trying to avenge my father and right his wrongs. If we're going to," he waved his hands, "do this, it has to be about saving the city." He sighed heavily and looked over at Tommy, who smiled encouragingly at his best friend. "I need to become the man that you all wanted me to be. You all have helped me to take the first steps."
"So, what's the next steps?" Felicity asked. "I'm down for pretty much anything, as long as we have a babysitter." She grinned at Oliver, who smiled back.
"The city still needs saving, but not by the Hood or some vigilante who's just crossing names off a list. It needs something more."
Dig piped up, "It needs a hero, Oliver."
"It's too bad the Hoods ruined your nickname." Felicity said.
"No, it's good, I never…" His voice trailed off. "I don't want to be called the Hood anymore."
"Okay," Dig said with a quizzical look. "So, what do you want to be called?"
"I agree the Hood was lame." Tommy added. "What about the Arrow? It is your signature weapon." Oliver smiled, and the other two nodded their agreement.
"I like the sound of that." Felicity said. "The Arrow." She grinned and added, "Now for the next step. With Thea managing the club she's there most nights and with Moira in jail, we are out two babysitters. If I'm going to be running coms at the lair, then what are we going to do with Livy?"
"I'm not comfortable with bringing her down there." Oliver said firmly.
"Darn! And here I was going to get her a matching costume for her birthday," Tommy quipped with a twinkle in his eyes.
Felicity rolled her eyes at him, "I wasn't suggesting that we should bring her there. She's definitely not old enough to be able to keep it secret. She tells her teacher all sorts of crazy stuff, including that Mommy doesn't always wear a bra. Why would she be telling her teacher that?" She looked around the room and realized what she had said and then pantomimed zipping her lips, "Sorry."
Tommy raised his hand, "I might have a solution for that. Since I'm currently living at the Mansion I can always keep an eye on her. I'm assuming that you both are going to put her to bed before you go out?" They nodded, "I can be your babysitter and deal with her if she wakes up. If it's something I can't handle I can always call you."
Oliver and Felicity looked at each other and held a silent conversation and then turned to Tommy and Oliver said, "You know, that would work."
"Does this mean I'm part of the team?" Tommy asked.
"Yes, Tommy. You're part of the team." Felicity smiled.
"Should we get shirts made?" Tommy said with a grin. Everybody rolled their eyes and stood up. "Oh, come on! They can be green, with an arrowhead in the middle and say Team Arrow across the top!" Everyone just shook their heads and ignored his bantering, Dig and Felicity left the room first, but Oliver held back wanting a word with Tommy.
"Are you sure that you're okay with this?" Oliver asked concern evident in his voice.
Tommy hesitated and thought for a moment before he said, "Yes. I shouldn't have come down on you so hard. But I appreciate the changes that you are making with your methods, and I think that it will all be for the better. I can't argue with the positive effect you have had on this city. So yes Ollie, I'm good with this. Now, what's for lunch, I'm starving." The two men smiled as they left the conference room.