TW: Glad you enjoyed it. You'll see on Tess. Spoilers.
DCMarvel heroes: Thank you. I'm sorry, but where that was even so much as implied? And what does Ra's al Ghul have to do with anything? He's not even a character in the story.
Metropolis
Present
"Any hits on facial recognition?" Natasha asked as she walked over to where Chloe was working at the computers.
"Not so far, but Barry, Matt, Clint and Sam are searching the city, hopefully they'll have better luck," Chloe said, her eyes never moving from the screen.
"Or the professor," Steve noted and Chloe nodded.
"Cerebro is back at the Mansion, but he might have something," Natasha said, not sure if she was trying to convince them or herself.
"Either way, standing around here isn't helping. Nat, Wanda, we're going to help with the search. Call us if you find anything," Steve ordered before he, Natasha and Wanda walked out of the room.
Once they were gone, Fury walked over to Chloe.
"You can use these to cover the whole city, right?" Fury asked.
"Yes, I can. And before you ask, I'm already using it to search for Bobbi Morse," Chloe interrupted and Fury paused.
"Helmet of Fate, should have figured," Fury mused. "You see anything about her in that helmet?"
"Not a whole lot, just that she'll play a big role in what we're doing now. But Fury…this secret you're keeping? The one that're making the Professor keep? I get why you feel like you have to keep it…but he has a right to know," Chloe said, looking Fury in the eye as he stared at her blankly. "Secrets like this have a way of coming out, one way or another. And trust me…you don't want it to come from anywhere but your lips."
At a hotel, Logan led Lois down the hall until he stopped at a door, knocking.
"It's me, open up," Logan called.
"Say something only you would say," Ororo said from the other side.
"Scott's a dick," Logan said immediately.
A beat passed before the door opened. Logan led Lois inside, Lois looking around, pausing briefly as she saw Kurt before she spotted her father.
"Lois," Lane said in surprise as he saw her. "What are you doing here?"
"Long story, but for now, can I just be glad you're alive?" Lois asked as she walked over, pulling her surprised father into a hug.
Lane still had questions but decided to shelve them for the moment, wrapping his arms around Lois.
"Logan, what's going on?" Ororo asked as Logan walked away with the other X-Men.
"Chuck, do you have anything like Cerebro on you?" Logan asked with a glance at Charles.
"I'm afraid not," Charles said, frowning at Logan. "What's happened?"
"Oliver vanished, right in front of us. One minute he was there, the next he was gone," Logan explained, to their shock. "We have no idea what happened or where he is."
When he next appeared, Oliver was surprised to find he was in City Hall. People were going around, performing tasks, like it was just an ordinary day at the office. Oliver looked around to ask Olivia what this was but stunned to see she was nowhere to be seen.
"Olivia? Olivia?" Oliver called out.
"Who's Olivia?"
Oliver whirled around to see Quentin standing in front of him, and he started. For it wasn't the Quentin Lance he knew. This Quentin had shaved his hair, and rather than being dressed in his usual attire, he was dressed in a suit.
"Oliver? You ok?" Quentin asked and Oliver was broken out of his thoughts.
"Fine, Captain Lance," Oliver said and Quentin looked at him as thought he'd done something extremely stupid.
"Oliver…I haven't been captain since that incident with the Bratva. You sure you're feeling okay?" Quentin asked, looking concerned.
"I'm fine," Oliver lied, wondering what was going on.
"Maybe you should spend a little less time in that hood," Quentin said, surprising Oliver before Quentin pulled out a newspaper. "Here's that newspaper you wanted me to show you. Not sure why you need me to remind you to look at the headline."
Warily, Oliver took the newspaper from Quentin and looked at the headline, stunned to see a picture of his face on the front page with the words 'Mayor Queen wins City Council vote'. And as he checked the date, he saw the year was 2022.
Olivia had dropped him seven years in the future.
"Oliver? Maybe you should go home, lay down," Quentin suggested gently, seeming truly worried about Oliver's behavior as he stared at the headline.
"I'm fine. Thank you Cap – Quentin," Oliver corrected, remembering how Quentin said he wasn't a captain anymore.
"Well, I know better than to argue with you by now. I should get back to work. Oh, and your wife is waiting for you in your office," Quentin said before walking off, not even noticing Oliver's stunned expression.
"My wife?" Oliver muttered.
Glancing back down at the headline, Oliver realized Quentin meant the mayor's office. He had been in the building enough times to know his way around, so he quickly headed there. As he entered the office, he saw a blond woman with her back to him, but still unmistakable to Oliver. The newspaper dropped from Oliver's hands as the woman turned to reveal her face.
"Hey? You alright?" Bobbi asked while Oliver just stared at her, wondering if he was hallucinating.
Clark was wondering around the Daily Planet when he accidently bumped into someone.
"Hey, watch it!" they said before turning around and Clark was startled to realize it was Lois.
"Lois," Clark exclaimed in surprise.
Lois took one look at what he was wearing before dragging him into an office.
"I don't know what kind of secret story you're running that made you decide to play dress up today, but honey, I know you don't like them, but you're the one that decided to wear them. Lucky for you, I have a spare," Lois said, speaking so fast Clark barely had a moment to speak before she pulled out a pair of glasses and put them on his face.
"No," Clark said, moving to take them off but Lois slapped his hands away.
"I know they're not fashion forward, but if it aint broke honey, don't fix it. Now, we need to table this for later. We cannot have people thinking things," Lois said, giving him a look like he was supposed to know something before she walked out.
Confused, Clark followed after her as she pulled out her phone, calling someone as Clark noticed two people staring at him.
"See, I told you it wasn't him. It's just the guy from the 8th floor," a woman told a man before they walked off.
Bewildered, Clark walked over to his desk, sitting down but immediately noticed something was off. The chair was lower, now it barely came up to his chest.
"Kent? What you doin'?" a man asked as he walked up to Clark.
"This is my desk," Clark said, although he felt like he was missing something.
"Not for years, unless someone's been seriously demoted."
"Years?" Clark repeated before noticing a newspaper on the desk.
Seeing the date, Clark realized that Brainiac had dropped him 7 years in the future. He barely had time to process this when he heard Lois's voice.
"Clark? What are you doing?" she asked as she appeared over the man's shoulder.
"Lois, we need to talk," Clark said, taking her arm and leading her into an office.
As he walked through the doors, Clark paused, noticing 'Clark Kent, Lois Lane' on the door.
"Gloat all you want, those names are getting flipped the second the boys from ops do a fly-by," Lois said before noticing Clark take off the glasses and pinch the bridge of his nose. "Clark, what is going on with you today? It's like you've never been here before."
"I haven't, Lois," Clark said, pausing as she looked at him confused. "I'm from another time."
"No kidding. Clark, you're from another planet. That's not exactly a news flash," Lois pointed out and Clark took a deep breath.
"Lois-"
"I don't mean to come off so 'Lois'. I just mean I know that you've got the whole 'Last Son of Krypton' thing on your shoulders, but that's why you have me. To remind that if you had to crash your spaceship anywhere, you couldn't have chosen better people than the Kents to find you. Oh wait, I forget, didn't I? Our anniversary?" Lois said, picking up a newspaper as Clark looked at her sharply.
"Our anniversary?"
"Oh don't play dumb, you always hold it over me. The day you finally told me, the day you finally trusted me. It was the perfect day, and it was romantic, but I swear it's not until, see! I told you!" Lois said, showing him the date before putting down the calendar. "So what is it?"
Clark opened his mouth to speak, not sure how to explain before Lois jumped up, examining his face.
"Wait a minute! Oh no. Kryptonite again. Blue? Red? Not green. Please tell me it's not the black, because that was a disaster," Lois rambled.
"Look, I just…I need the Legion Ring," Clark finally said. "Do you know where it is?"
"Is that a joke? Touch it once, shame on you. Touch it twice, shame on me. And actually-" Lois grabbed his wrist, looking at his watch. "I could really use it, because we need to be on opposite sides of town in ten minutes. And unlike you, I have to drive. I can't keep the mayor waiting," Lois said, grabbing her coat and walking out the door.
In frustration, Clark followed after her, knowing she didn't understand.
Present
"How'd you end up involved in this?" Lane asked as he and Lois sat down across from each other, the X-Men having decided to give them some privacy.
"I don't you'd believe me if I told you," Lois said evasively and he gave her a look. "What?"
"The Blur, right? I know you're very…involved with him," Lane sad carefully.
"Sort of, but it's…not like that," Lois half lied. "I'm with Clark, Daddy."
"I see. And does he treat you right?" Lane asked with a frown.
"He treats me fine, Daddy. And please, don't try to give him that huge list of chores to try and scare him off, that won't work. I love him, Dad. Please accept that," Lois said and Lane stared at her for a long moment before, to her surprise, smiling.
"About time," Lane chuckled, to his daughter's confusion.
"What? I don't get it," Lois said in confusion.
"You think I'd need a list of chores to scare them off? I'm a general, Lois. I was never testing them," Lane said, with a significant look at Lois.
"You were testing me?" Lois asked stunned.
"I put those poor bastards through Hell, you never said a thing. That's how I knew you didn't love them," Lane explained and Lois was silent. "So, about The Blur…"
"Must feel weird, being saved by a superhero. You always said they were outside the law," Lois pointed out, changing the subject.
Lane shot her a look but nodded, allowing it.
"I'm not denying that they're outside the law. But…sometimes, the law isn't the answer. The Accords…I believe the idea behind them is honorable; vigilantes cannot be allowed to roam unchecked. But persecuting people like the X-Men and mutants…that's wrong. I willfully blinded myself to that because of my love for country. But because I love my country…I have to do the right thing, even if it might make me unpopular," Lane said as Lois was silent, merely listening to her father.
"So what are you gonna do?"
"Something that'll make me unpopular with people like Ross. But that's just how I know it's the right thing to do," Lane said confidently.
"Bobbi," Oliver said breathlessly, staring at her in shock.
"Yeah, it's me. You okay? You look like it's been months and not hours since we saw each other," Bobbi asked as she walked over, looking concerned.
"Yeah, you just…took me by surprise," Oliver said, recovering his bearings.
"Sorry. I just came to drop off your lunch, you forgot it this morning," Bobbi said, holding a bag and setting it on his desk as she looked at him concerned. "Are you sure you're alright?"
No, he wasn't alright, he wanted to say. He wasn't sure what was going on, much less how to explain it. But his musings were caught off when he noticed the ring on Bobbi's finger.
Quentin had called her his wife. He and Bobbi were married in the future. It was a fantasy he'd had for years, one in the back of his mind that, in his darkest moments, he'd indulge in for some sort of hope, even when he believed it wasn't possible. It was like a fantasy come true.
"I'm fine," Oliver muttered, hardly believing what had happened.
"Where's your ring?" Bobbi asked, having noticed his staring and realized he wasn't wearing his, figuring that was why he wasn't wearing it.
"I um, got my hands messy with ink earlier, took it off to wash them. I just haven't put it back on yet," Oliver lied.
Bobbi shot Oliver a look and Oliver knew she knew he was lying to her. Like Moira had told him all those months ago, he wasn't good at lying to the people he cared about. Partly because he hated it.
Oliver expected her to keep pushing, like Laurel, like Thea, like Diggle and Felicity. But instead, she walked over and pressed a kiss to his lips.
"When you feel like telling me why you're lying, I'll be here. But I have to get back to work. And remember, we're picking up William from school later," Bobbi reminded him.
Who was William, Oliver wanted to ask. But Oliver merely nodded as Bobbi pressed kiss to his lips again.
"I love you, I hope you know that," Bobbi told.
"I love you too," Oliver said and she smiled.
"As long as I know that, you can keep as many secrets as you feel you need too," Bobbi said before she walked out of his office.
Oliver wasn't sure how long he stood there, staring after her. But then, someone else he knew walked into his office.
"Hey. You all there?" Thea asked teasingly, breaking Oliver out of his musings.
"Yeah, Speedy. I'm here," Oliver assured her and she nodded.
"Well, Quentin wants to see you in his office. I'm on my way there, so come on," Thea said, gesturing for him to follow her.
Figuring he might as well go with the flow, Oliver followed after her. To his surprise, they stopped outside the Deputy Mayor's office. And Quentin's name was outside the door.
How did that happen?
"I might have lied to you about who wanted to see you," Thea said and Oliver looked at her oddly. "You'll thank me later. Good luck."
Thea walked off and Oliver glanced back at the door, wondering who was going to be on the other side of the door. Then, deciding to bite the bullet, Oliver walked through the door, seeing someone sitting at the desk, the chair turned away from him.
"Hello?" Oliver called out as he entered the office.
"Close the door."
Oliver froze at the sound of the familiar voice. But, still, he closed the door behind him, sealing them in this room. The chair then turned around and Oliver found himself staring face to face with himself, dressed in a suit.
"Hello, Oliver. How are you liking your experience here?" Future Oliver asked, grinning slightly at his past self's look of stunned disbelief.
"You knew I'd come?" Oliver asked shocked.
"Seven years ago, I was standing where you are now, having witnessed my past and present before being dropped in the future by Oliva. Time travel, it's a headache," Future Oliver told him.
"You can say that again," Oliver muttered and his future self smirked.
"But there are more important things going on, I'm going to give a speech in an hour. Someone is going to try and assassinate me," Future Oliver explained, startling his past self. "The Green Arrow is going to save my life."
"Green Arrow? Never mind, why wouldn't you stop this guy if you knew it was going to happen?" Oliver wondered out loud and future Oliver smiled tightly.
"Time Travel. This whole thing would never happen-"
"If you changed the past," Oliver finished and his future self nodded.
"You needed to go through this, the same way I did," Future Oliver explained. "After the attack, head to the Queen Consolidated Building, get to the roof. Here."
Future Oliver tossed something to his past self, who caught it easily. Looking down, he saw it was a small case, with what looked like a miniature suit, nearly identical to the one he used, plus bow and quiver.
"Press the button and it'll return to regular size. A gift from Scott Lang. You'll meet him some day," Future Oliver said as Oliver looked at him bewildered. "We're wasting time. He'll come at me from the west side. Go."
"Lois," Clark stopped Lois at the elevator. "I'm not supposed to be here."
"I know, we're late," Lois said, still not getting it and Clark almost screamed in frustration.
"I need to get back. The Legion Ring is the only way to do it," Clark insisted, hoping he could convince her to understand.
"Back?" Lois repeated and Clark nodded. "Okay. Why don't you try your trunk of tchotckkes back at the farm? Isn't that where you keep your go-to Phantom Catchers and Fortress disks and stuff? Why don't you go there? And if you need me, I'm there. No deadline is more important than you, okay?" Clark and Lois exchanged a loving look before Lois shoved Clark through the open elevator. "I'm going up, you're going down."
She gestured for him to put on his glasses before the doors closed. Clark chuckled, reaching for his glasses when-
"She's a handful, isn't she?"
At the sound of his own voice, Clark whirled, staring in shock at himself, wearing a tan coat, a suit and tie underneath, glasses and a combed back haircut. His future self smiled at Clark as he merely stared before future Clark stopped the elevator.
"You're right on time."
"You knew I'd be here?" Clark asked in surprise.
"Time travel, think it through," Future Clark told him.
"Because you were me when you went through this and I'm-"
"Well done, my man."
"How'd I become so uptight? And nerdy?" Clark asked, not sure why he ever decided to start dressing like that.
"There's no time to chat about how, when and where. I need you on the roof," Future Clark ordered.
"Since when did I start taking orders?" Clark almost laughed.
"There's a nuclear reactor about to blow on the outside of town. I can't be in two places at once," future Clark explained.
"If you knew what was gonna happen, why didn't you stop it?" Clark demanded.
"You never would have experienced all this, and you never would have become me," future Clark explained.
"Well, that's too bad," Clark muttered as future Clark undid the emergency stop and the doors opened.
"Roof. Now," Future Clark ordered before speeding out.
Clark stepped out of the elevator, staring after him as the realization set in.
"That's what I become."
Hearing an explosion, Clark walked with everyone else to the window. True to his future self's warning, an explosion had gone off. And he could see a red blur that was no doubt his future self handling things. And he was flying, Clark realized.
But Clark then heard a voice come over the radio behind them, and realized with horror that it was Lois's voice.
"Mayday, Mayday. We've lost control. We're going down."
Remembering his future self's orders, Clark immediately sped up to the roof. Seeing the helicopter going over the roof, Clark sped over, and grabbed it by the leg, stopping its descent. Pulling it back up over the edge, Clark set it down on the roof safely, but not before he noticed Lois elbow the pilot in the face, knocking him out.
"What are you doing?" Lois asked, again gesturing for him to put on his glasses.
Clark smiled as he opened the door, letting Lois out.
"I don't know what's gotten into you, but there's a pilot with a raging migraine when he wakes up that wishes you could have at least put on the cape," Lois said as they walked away from the helicopter.
"Lois," Clark said as he stopped Lois by grabbing her arm. "You protected my secret."
Lois quickly pulled Clark into a kiss. Although surprised, Clark quickly returned the kiss. After a few moments, Lois pulled back.
"What else was I gonna do? I'd do anything for you. Hardly a news flash," Lois pointed out and they exchanged a smile.
"Thank you," Clark said and they kissed again.
"You drive me crazy."
"I guess I should get going," Clark said softly.
"Right. Obviously. Busy day for a superhero," Lois said she stepped back, still smiling at him. "Don't be late. Dinner Reservation's at seven."
Lois then turned and walked through the roof door. Clark was still smiling, staring after her when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning around, he found Brainiac standing in front of him.
"Not every man is lucky enough to find a woman like Lois," Brainiac noted.
"She's one of a kind," Clark agreed. "I know why you sent me here now. You wanted me to see how things would be with Lois and…flying."
"I wanted you to see that your darkness lies not only in dwelling on the past, but fearing the future."
'I've always hoped that my life could be like this. With Lois, with all of it. Just lately, I've stopped believing that it can actually happen," Clark confessed.
"Well that's up to you, isn't it? You don't need to worry about the future, Kal-El. You can see that it's just fine, as long as you shed the weight of the past," Brainiac assured him.
"I guess you're right. I've been so buried by the mistakes of my past, and so worried about the responsibilities of the future…I lost sight of the present," Clark realized.
"A hero is made in the moment. Not from questioning the past or fearing what's to come. Just remember that, Kal-El," Brainiac told him.
Outside City Hall, Oliver stepped up to a podium, about to give a speech, Quentin, Thea and Roy all by his side. However, before Oliver could even open his mouth, a shot rang out. Roy and a few other members of security tackled Oliver, Thea and Quentin to the ground as people in the crowd took cover.
And then, an arrow flew out and there was a cry of pain. The Green Arrow burst onto the scene, exchanging a few blows with the would be assassin before tossing the gun away and sending two blows to the man's abdomen, which sent him falling on his side. Security quickly rushed over, apprehending the man.
The Green Arrow looked over at Oliver, Thea, Quentin and Rory. While the latter two stared at him in shock, Oliver and the Green Arrow locked eyes. The Green Arrow nodded before shooting off an arrow with a line, using it to glide away.
Sometime later, Oliver walked onto the roof of Queen Consolidated, after dropping the suit back at the lair, figuring his future self would know where to look. Oliver looked around, wondering why his future self had told him to meet here when he heard a voice behind him.
"Did you see what you needed too?" Oliver turned around to see Olivia standing a few feet away.
"Yeah, I think I did," Oliver said with a slight laugh. "You dropped me here to show that I could have a life, that I could…live. When I put on the hood, when I first came back to Starling City…I thought my crusade would end with my death. But seeing all this, seeing Bobbi…I realize that's what's been stopping me from truly living a life."
"It's difficult, finding the right balance between the mission and a life with friends and family. But as long as you surround yourself with people you love and who love you, it is not impossible," Olivia told him.
"For so long…I've been stuck on that lifeboat, watching my father die. It's time to get off. Chase, Prometheus….they can blame me for whatever crime they think I've committed against them for the rest of their lives. I am done blaming myself for everything that's happened the last eight years," Oliver declared, feeling a weight lifted as Olivia smiled at him.
"Good. I'm glad, Oliver. As long as you remember that, remember that there is a light at the end of the tunnel…you can conquer whatever darkness is inside you. Now, let's get you home," Olivia said with a smile.
Watchtower
Present
"So nothing then?" Sara asked as she, Logan, Chloe, Barry, Matt, Fury and the former Avengers stood at Watchtower.
"Chuck said that short of returning to the Mansion, best he could do was can the minds of the city for Oliver," Logan explained.
"So we've got nothing then," Clint said in frustration.
As one, Matt and Logan turned to the doorway; everyone followed their gazes, stunned to see Oliver and Clark standing in the doorway.
"How…what?" Barry gapped.
"You know what, it doesn't matter, where have you two been?" Chloe asked and Oliver and Clark exchanged a glance, seeming to have an entire conversation.
"Honestly…I doubt you'd believe us if we told you," Oliver said with a shrug.
"The short version is an old friend took us for a trip down memory lane," Clark said. "But we're back now. And ready to deal with whatever Darkseid and Prometheus throw at us."
Unseen to anyone else, Olivia and Brainiac watched this.
"You did well, Brainiac 5," Olivia said.
"Thank you. It's a bit strange though, coming back in time to help your great grandfather of a thousand generations passed conquer the darkness of his past," Brainiac said and Olivia shrugged.
"I did what I had to do. History says that he was pivotal in the defeat of Darkseid. Who he is doesn't matter. Now, we've lingered here long enough."
Brainiac shrugged, not disagreeing. In a flash of light, Olivia Queen and Brainiac 5 vanished, returning to the future, trusting that the heroes of the 21st century could handle the threats to come.
And that's the end of Homecoming; hope you all enjoyed my take on it.
As some of you suspected, Olivia Jones is actually Oliva Queen, Oliver's great granddaughter a thousand generations down the line. Thought it would be a fun little thing to put in to show that Oliver's heroic legacy is still carried on, even a thousand years later.