I was a girl. I didn't know why I was a girl, but I was a girl. The other thing was that I appeared to be younger…much younger. I wasn't 27 like when I first made it off the island. I appeared to be a teenager. I had to figure out how to figure out how old I was supposed to be without making it seem weird that I didn't know how old I was supposed to be. I supposed that I could play having lost track of the concept of time on the island. I didn't even know if what happened on the island was the same.
It actually didn't take long to get that answer. As soon as we got to the hospital in Star City, the nurse asked my mom how old I was and she said 16. I even had the same birthday, just in 1996 instead of 1985. That meant I would have been even younger than Thea. I just hoped that it wouldn't be like my trip to Earth 2 and Thea would still be there.
Things went very similar to how they originally had. I looked out the window at Star City, which despite having a different name, still looked the same. I was wearing some clothes that I had gotten from lost and found. I supposed the nice thing about being missing since I was 11 was that it made the fact that I didn't know how to put on a bra believable. My mom was talking to the doctor before she walked into the room.
"Olivia?" She asked. I turned to look at her.
"Hi Mom." I replied. I didn't know how long I was going to be here, but if I got to ask that point, I had to make sure that she didn't die. She came over and tearfully hugged me. It was weird being shorter than her. I forgot to mention that I was only 5'3.
We headed back home. That was another place that I was glad to see. I was pretty sure that they had gotten it back in my world. The butler tried to carry my trunk, which I hadn't actually open, but I imagined had the same things in it. I once again stopped him.
"I can carry this." I stated. It was a little bit heavy. I would definitely need to start lifting weights.
"Your room is exactly as you left it. We couldn't change anything." Mom said. I imagined that I would want to redecorate because I didn't want to live in an 11-year-old girl's room.
That was when the first major change of the world walked in.
"Olivia. It's good to see you." Malcolm declared. I was a little nervous, but he could have been like the Malcolm from Earth 2 who was completely harmless. I didn't just want to accuse him of being behind the Undertaking like I did there. I decided to shake his hand because he wouldn't have been a near stranger like Walter was.
"Mr. Merlyn, I wasn't expecting to see you here." I remarked. I couldn't help but wonder if it meant that Tommy lived with us too.
"I guess I shouldn't just expect you to call me Malcolm." He joked. It was at that time that I heard a door open upstairs. I looked up.
"Olivia?" Mom asked. I kept looking upstairs and that was when I saw Thea. She looked mostly the same…except for one thing. Her hair was blonde. Did that mean that she wasn't Malcolm's daughter on this Earth? Of course, she also could just dyed it.
"Hey Big Sis." I remarked. That felt weird to say.
"Thank you, God." Thea replied before she ran down and tackled me. However since I wasn't 6'1" and 180 pounds anymore, it did not go the same. "Sorry. I just missed you so much."
"No, it's okay." I told her as I got up off the ground. "I wouldn't have been able to do it without you."
I took a shower when I got to my room. I would definitely need to redecorate and I would need a wardrobe. I probably could wear some of Thea's clothes, but that would be more awkward. It would be bad enough that I would need her to help me shop. I wasn't entirely sure how I was going to do this. You would think that after doing this twice, I would be more used to it, but I wasn't a teenage girl either of those times. It didn't help that the face I saw in the mirror was that of a stranger. It would take me some time to get used to my reflection, just like it would take some time to get used to washing my body. I shouldn't have stared at my nude body in the mirror. It still felt very wrong, even though it was mine. I had a lot of the same scars. I figured that I should put on the clothes that Thea left me.
One thing that I learned Sara had been on the ship with me. The thing was she was apparently my best friend or something. We were definitely too young to be dating. I wished that I knew what happened. I couldn't even confirm if she was still alive in this world. I didn't know how I would be able to find that out.
The clothes that Thea had left me wear a sky blue sleeveless dress and a pair of panties. I didn't want to wear a dress, but I didn't really had a choice, at least until I got my own clothes. I probably would have to wear dresses because of all the formal events that we went to, so getting used to them probably would be a good idea.
"Now do you believe me? I said yachts are terrible." Tommy interrupted.
"Tommy…" I said with a smile. Seeing him again was a plus. I had to make sure that he didn't die and also that he didn't turn evil. Hopefully he wasn't already evil. He came over and hugged me.
"It's actually Dr. Merlyn now." He replied.
"You're a Dr.?" I questioned in surprise. That was not something that I saw coming. This was definitely a different Tommy than the one I had known.
We then went to dinner. Mom and Malcolm were on one side and Thea, Tommy and I were on the other.
"So, let's see what did you miss?" Tommy asked. "Super Bowl winners: Giants, Steelers, Saints, Packers, Giants again. We have a black president now. Oh and Scrubs: The Janitor's name is Glenn Matthews."
I wasn't sure why he thought it would be a good idea to spoil a show like that. He was probably just trying to find things to talk to me about. I couldn't help but wonder how we even knew each other since he was no longer my best friend. I wasn't even born when his mom died.
"What was it like there?" Thea asked. Everyone else stared at her. It seemed like she was the only one willing to talk about it. I wondered if I should try to be less distant to her, but that might be hard considering that I still likely needed to be a vigilante.
"It was cold and lonely." I answered.
"Tomorrow I'm taking you on the town." Tommy stated. He seemed like he wanted to make an effort to connect with me. We were siblings now, so it made sense.
"I could do it." Thea offered.
"You have school." Mom declared. I didn't know if they wanted me to go to school. That would complicate things. I wouldn't be able to go right away. I would have to wait until I was brought back to life at least.
"Yeah, but can't I take a dance off to be with my sister who I haven't seen in five years?" Thea challenged.
"How about I go out with Tommy tomorrow and we can do something this weekend?" I offered. The last thing that I wanted was Tommy and Thea fighting over me. That was a weird thing to think about. "Do you think I could check out the office too?"
"We don't need to do that right away." Malcolm replied. I also couldn't help but wonder if his company had merged with ours or if they were still separate entities.
At that time, Raisa tripped and I caught her. I still spoke Russian to her. It was that time that I realized that I didn't have a logical reason for knowing Russian.
"I wasn't aware you spoke Russian." Malcolm commented.
"I wasn't aware you wanted to date my mother." I retorted. I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt, but I still didn't trust him. At that point, everyone stared at me. They couldn't have just expected me to be automatically okay with it, could they? "Sorry. That was rude."
"Olivia, Malcolm and I are married." Mom explained as she grabbed his hand. "But I don't want you to think that either of us did anything to respect your father."
"It's fine." I lied. "May I be excused? I'm not used to eating this much."
Part of me wondered if I should wait to try to become a vigilante. I couldn't even confirm if there were plans for the Undertaking.
"Just be sure to wake up early tomorrow." Tommy declared. You know, I was a bit surprised that he didn't live with us. Maybe he didn't feel the need to or something.
Another problem that this body caused me was I didn't know how to sleep in it. My breasts weren't that big but they were still big enough that laying on them caused me trouble. I also didn't think that I would have nightmares, but seeing them made me remembering watching my mom and Tommy die. I even saw Laurel die. This was going to be hard.
"Livvy." I heard someone say as I was shook. I still grabbed them before I opened my eyes to see that it was Thea instead of my mom and Malcolm and she was on the ground.
"I'm sorry." I apologized.
"No I'm sorry. I'm sorry you had to go through everything alone." She stated. "It's going to be alright now. You're home."
In the morning, I opened the trunk for the first time. The combination was still the same. Everything inside was the same: the bow, the hood and the list. I also found the hosen.
I went to Thea's room and found that she was not doing drugs in there, or at least she was very good at hiding it. She was still in her uniform though.
"Speedy?" I asked.
"Wow your sister's cute." Her friend remarked. It wasn't the same friend from before. This girl was Asian. Also, her hair was messy. Were they making out in here?
"Livvy, this is my friend Linda." Thea introduced. "Can you not call me that anymore?"
"You were always so much faster than me though." I replied.
"See you at school, Speedy." Linda remarked before she winked and walked away. Okay…Thea likes girls in this world. It was probably something that I should let her tell me on her own though.
"Sorry about her." Thea apologized.
"I have something for you as I took the hosen out from behind my back. I would have to get stuff with pockets.
"There's no way that you came back from a deserted island with a souvenir." She remarked.
"It's a hosen and in Buddhism it symbolizes reconnecting. I kept it because I hoped it would help me reconnect with you someday."
"Ooh I want a t-shirt that says 'My Stepsister was Stranded on a Desert Island and All is This Crappy Shirt'." Tommy quipped.
"Don't let him you into trouble. He may be a doctor, but that doesn't mean you should trust him." Thea replied before she walked off, probably to go to school.
"The city awaits." Tommy replied. He then took me out to his sports car. I couldn't help but wonder if he had purchased it himself. I also thought he would be working long days in the hospital.
"So why aren't you at the hospital right now?" I asked.
"Well I actually already finished my residency. I get to take a normal shift and I also used some PTO. That stands for paid time off." He explained. "But let's not talk about that. Let's talk about your funeral. It sucked. Everyone was so sad."
"Did you hook up with someone at my funeral?" I questioned.
"Not yours. I did at your dad's though." He answered. "Oh and by the way, I'm throwing you a party. You missed your Sweet 16, so we'll combine it with a Homecoming of sorts."
"Tommy, you don't need to do that." I replied.
"What kind of brother would I be if I didn't?" He challenged. I actually wasn't sure how to answer that.
We were currently driving through the Glades and it was still as bad as it looked when I was there. I supposed some things were always constant in whatever universe you were in.
"This city has gone to crap. It's a good thing that your dad sold his factory when he did." He commented. "Why did you want to take this way anyway?"
"No reason." I replied as I looked at the factory.
"So what do you want to see first?" He asked. The answer was still the same. I wanted to see what she would be like. "Thea's got dibs on shopping, but I can take you anywhere else."
"Laurel." I answered.
"Everyone in town is glad that you're alive. Why do you want to see the one person who isn't?" He asked. That wasn't true. Quentin might also hate me. I wasn't sure if he could bring the same level of animosity towards me since I wasn't the same.
However, we didn't go to CNRI, because it didn't exist. Instead, we found ourselves outside of a restaurant. Tommy apparently had a key to it. I couldn't help but wonder if his situation with Laurel was more serious. I overheard her talking on the phone before she seemed to notice me.
"We're not open yet." The woman said before I turned to look at her. I also couldn't help but wonder if I was just going to be shorter than everyone.
"Hello, Laurel." I greeted her.
The two of us sat down a table. She had someone make a quick order of wings.
"I never expected you to be a chef." I admitted.
"Well I got really into cooking. Everyone's proud." She remarked.
"So, what's this about Adam Hunt you were talking about?" I asked.
"You've been gone for five years and you want to talk about Adam Hunt?" She asked in disbelief. Well, I did want to know what her involvement was since she wasn't suing him…or was she?
"No." I declared because I realized that she probably wasn't going to tell me.
"Why are you here, Olivia?" She asked me. She still hated me. I kind of wondered why because it wasn't like I was dating her before the accident.
"I wanted to apologize." I stated. "What happened to Sara was my fault."
"I know it was your fault." She replied. "She was my sister. You said that you would bring her back. I couldn't be angry because you were dead, but I can be angry now. We buried an empty coffin because she drowned. It should have been you instead. Now this is going to be the last free meal you get. I'll get you a to-go box so you can leave."
I forgot how harsh those words were. Was it possible that she hated me more than before? Tommy took me to the car.
"So, that went well." He commented. I then remembered what happened here? Was it still going to happen? At that point, the van showed up behind us. It was still happening. You know I had figured out who was responsible for that. They shot us with tranquilizers but the man they killed was a homeless person instead.
I woke up in the warehouse again. I didn't want to be a ruthless killer again, but I probably would still have to kill these guys. It probably wouldn't even matter asking who they were working for.
"Ms. Queen?" They asked. I supposed the nice thing was they didn't seem to be interested in me sexually. That was something that I would have to account for that I hadn't had to before. I would have to keep that in mind.
It basically went the same way. I broke free of the zip ties and then I chased them down and killed them. It didn't feel good but I couldn't let them say what had been done. It looked like I would have to learn how to handle this body faster. One thing that I learned was I seemed to be more flexible. I could do flips to get out of the way of gunfire. I had to adjust my angle to break the neck, but I was still able to do it.
We were taken back to my house. I wondered if I would ever to get see Tommy's place.
"So you're saying that a girl in a green hood suddenly arrived and took out three armed men?" Quentin asked. "Why would this person do that for you?"
"Maybe because it was right thing to do?" I challenged. "I didn't get a chance to ask."
"Did you see the hood girl?" He asked Tommy.
"I was barely conscious. I couldn't see anything." Tommy answered.
"Well it's funny that you're back for one day and already someone is after you." Quentin remarked. "Who knows what you're be like in school?"
We hadn't actually discussed school yet. I would have to talk to them about that.
"Did you manage to identify the kidnappers?" Mom asked.
"They had scrubbed identities and untraceable weapons. They were pros." Hilton replied.
"They probably figured that you would pay a hefty amount to get your kids back." Quentin opined.
"Detective, don't talk about my kids that way." Malcolm replied. "If they remember anything, they can tell you but otherwise you can get out of my house."
You know I was definitely not used to Malcolm defending me like that. Maybe this version wasn't a psychopathic killer like the one I knew and just wanted to be a good dad or something.
"I guess you're just a lucky girl." Quentin declared before they walked out. Why did they hate me when Sara had permission to go?
I went to my room and I had to look up the stuff between Adam Hunt myself. Apparently, he was trying to force a lot of business owners out because he was looking to build something in its place and he had still defrauded a bunch of people as well and also he was still on the list.
"You are just like your sister. Very studious." Raisa interrupted. She had some food for me.
"I missed you, Raisa." I remarked.
"No kitchen on the island?" She asked.
"No friends either." I corrected.
The following day, I headed downstairs. I was about to meet John. Only to my surprise it was not John who my mom had hired.
"Olivia, I want to introduce you to someone. This is Iris West." She declared. Why was Iris in Star City? "She will be accompanying you from now on."
"Mom, I'm too old for a babysitter." I said.
"She's not your babysitter, she's your bodyguard." Mom explained. "Besides you're still a minor and it's not safe for you to go out on your own."
So, apparently, she didn't think Tommy was capable of keeping me safe. Well maybe I could at least figure out why she was here. Was everyone going to be here?
"So, is it okay that I call you Iris?" I asked.
"I would prefer you call me Ms. West." She replied. It seemed like she didn't want to be my babysitter either. Hopefully, she would still become friends with me the way that John had. "Now you don't need to be alarmed by my age. My father was a police officer and I am very capable of protecting you."
I still bolted from the car. I felt kind of bad for doing it to her. Hopefully I wouldn't have to for very much longer. I headed to the factory. I would also need to figure out what kind of cover I was going to have because as a 16-year-old, I wouldn't legally be allowed to own a nightclub. I would at least have some time to figure that out.
The factory was just as messy and I wished that I didn't have to do everything by myself. The thing was I couldn't just ask people to do it with me. The only person who might agree was Thea, but she was not ready for this type of thing. Fortunately, it only took me a few minutes to adjust to a new center of gravity when shooting. I also did a little bit of working out. I had to start smaller with weightlifting since I didn't have the muscle mass I had before. One change I made to my costume involved wearing a face mask because it prevented any saliva from being used as evidence against me. It seemed a little ninjitsu inspired to me. I had just had the inkling to do so for some reason.
I supposed it was fitting that I was starting with Adam Hunt again. I didn't know if the rest of the rest would go the same way if I would even stick to the list. I needed to figure out if the Undertaking was planned and how to stop it, but I didn't have any clues about that.
I decided to go after Hunt when he had as few people around him as possible. I would only kill when necessary it was not necessary to kill his lackeys, so I shot tranquilizers. I then pulled Hunt out of the car and had a real arrow aimed at him.
"Just tell me what you want." He replied.
"You're going to transfer 40 million into this bank account and you're going to back off your latest project." I stated. "You have until 10:00 tomorrow night or I will take it from you and you won't like how."
"I'll kill you, little girl." He replied. That was going to become a major pet peeve of mine. I had to resist the urge to kill him right because it wouldn't solve anything.
The next night was the party and I had to wear the outfit that Thea had given me. It was a strapless seafoam party dress that really didn't cover that much. I couldn't help but feel a little bit exposed. Luckily, it would be easy to get out of. Thea had also shown me how to do makeup and that was yet another thing that would take some getting used to. Of course, it probably wasn't going to be the worst part about being a girl. I didn't know how I was going to work around that and the worst part was that I couldn't even plan for it. We were preparing to go when I saw Iris in the back of the car. I was glad that she was still around. I would have preferred John, but it seemed like the universe had other ideas.
"Put on your seatbelt, Miss Queen. It would be rude to miss your own party." Iris remarked.
I was a little bit surprised that I was able to have the party in the same location, but the money must have been enough to persuade them otherwise. I supposed as long as none of their employees served me alcohol, they couldn't get in trouble.
"This is going to be so much fun." Thea declared when we arrived.
"Maybe we shouldn't have let Tommy decide the guest list." I stated. Even though I wasn't a teenager, I still felt like maybe there should have been more there. I also wondered if I should try to make friends who were teens. I didn't know how to do that, it probably would be a good idea.
"Attention, everyone!" Tommy interrupted as he grabbed me as brought me to the center of the room. "The woman of the hour is here! Everyone please give a proper homecoming and wish her a happy late birthday."
I actually had to stand on a table this time. I had done it before, but this time it was required in order to see everyone. Being short was going to suck. Someone handed me a drink that I wasn't sure what was in it.
"Hey everyone!" I greeted them. It was kind of awkward since I didn't know any of them. "This tastes great!"
Part of me did wish that I could probably enjoy the party, but I didn't know how much alcohol this body could even have and I wouldn't be able to deal with Hunt if I was wasted. It was already harder to shoot and I didn't need to be inebriated as well.
"So by my rough estimate, you have never kissed anyone and now would be a good time for that to happen." Tommy stated. At least he wasn't try to whore me out to someone…I did not need that image. Also, I might have kissed Sara. I really couldn't say. "I highly recommend Carmen Golden. She looks like the chick from Twilight."
"Tommy, I think these people are too old for me." I declared. I then remembered something. "And what's Twilight?"
"You're better off not knowing." He answered.
It was at that time that I noticed Thea and Linda…and they were in fact making out.
"Are you drunk?" I asked her.
"Yeah? What of it?" She challenged. "I'm 17 now."
"Yeah the drinking age is 21." I pointed out.
"Are you just going to be like this?" She replied. "I thought we could hang out and have fun, but apparently you don't want to do anything with me."
"Seems like you found someone else to have fun with." I remarked.
"Linda is just my girlfriend. You're my sister. I haven't had one for five years and now it feels like I still don't have one." She responded. "I'm sorry that I can't be someone you look up to."
She walked away with Linda. I sighed. This was going to be difficult. There had to be a different way to do this. I couldn't let this happen again. I couldn't let her get arrested for drug possession. I was walking when I ran into someone and to my surprise, it was once again Laurel. That hadn't changed either.
"What are you doing here?" I asked.
"Tommy told that I was a little bit mean before." She declared. "Can we talk somewhere quieter?"
We headed out to the lobby.
"I'm sorry for saying that I wished you were dead." She stated. "That's not something that you should say to someone you used to babysit…or anyone really."
I wanted to say something about how since they never found her body, she could still be alive, but I didn't know that she was still alive and I didn't want to get her hopes up. I didn't want to get my own hopes up because Sara had really died on Earth 2.
"One of my biggest regrets is bringing her with me." I declared.
"Did she suffer at all?" She asked.
It was another thing that I couldn't answer because I didn't know if she was dead or not.
"No." I lied. "She was unconscious."
"I thought that by hating you, I could have some closure, but it's not helping." She admitted.
"Laurel…" I started.
"Dinah…" She interrupted. Why didn't Tommy tell me that before? "Everyone calls me Dinah now. If you ever need someone to talk to about what happened…"
Before she could finish my alarm went off. It was 10:00.
"Is something wrong?" She asked.
"I asked someone to do something and they didn't do it." I explained. "Thank you…Dinah…but I need to go."
I decided to try to sneak out through the kitchen. I shouldn't have been surprised when Iris was there too.
"Where are you going, Miss Queen?" She asked.
"I just need some air." I declared.
"I would believe you if you weren't such an escape artist." She replied. You know I couldn't help but wonder what had happened to Barry. It was possible that he wouldn't get his powers, but I hoped that I would still get a chance to know him. Aside from John, who it already looked like I wouldn't get to know, he was my best friend.
I decided that I didn't want to do the same thing and found that there was one good about being so small. I was hard to get a hold of. I ran off and I once again headed in through the window. I shot the arrow at the vault.
"You missed." Hunt declared.
However, I then had to fight the head of security. Fighting was another thing that I was not prepared for. Even with all of my training, I was a little overmatched. Fortunately, I managed to perform a maneuver that I wasn't sure if I could do while he was on top of me. I kicked him off of me, launching him the window. I would have felt bad about it, but the guy was a wanted murderer from Europe and an American prison probably wouldn't hold him. I then quickly made my way back to the party and put my dress back on. Hopefully I would never need to do it too quickly. I showed up just as the police did.
"Alright, party's over." Quentin told the crowd.
"Detective, this is a private party." I remarked.
"And it looks like an illegal one too." He quipped.
"I have not been served a drop of alcohol." I argued.
"Well there was an incident at Adam Hunt's building tonight." He told me.
"Who's Adam Hunt?" I asked.
"I'm surprised that you don't know him." He replied.
"Because I'm totally the type to hang out with old businessman. No wait. I'm a freaking teenager." I retorted. You know I never realized that I could probably play up the dumb teen card in order to make myself look innocent. I would probably still need to do something else because I knew people would still suspect me but it could possibly delay it.
"Well he just got attacked by your hood friend." Quentin pointed out.
"The Hood Girl? How about I help you find her?" I questioned before I got on the table once again. "Hey everyone! I'm offering a million dollars to anyone who find a crazy girl in a green hood!"
Of course, no one in the crowd probably even cared about that. They just wanted to party.
"Did you even try to save her?" He asked. "Did you even try to save my daughter?"
"Quentin, she's a kid." Hilton replied as he took his partner away. I had kind of forgotten about him, but I couldn't help but wonder if I should try to prevent his death too.
"I didn't say this party could stop!" I declared. I could get drunk now, but I didn't want to do anything stupid.
In the morning, I got to work on transferring the money to the victims. I thought about giving some to Laurel…Dinah as well, but those people needed it more. I crossed Hunt's name off the list. I just hoped that I would be able to do a better job of saving the city this time.
So it looks like the universe is both very similar and at the same time, very different. Tommy is a doctor, Dinah is a chef, Olivia's bodyguard is Iris instead of Diggle. But what's going to happen with the Undertaking? Is Malcolm going to do it, or will it be someone else? Please don't forget to review.