That night, Derek Reston, his wife and his two sons were on the side of the road. "Who was that guy" Teddy Reston asked.
"The local vigilante. Goes after rich guys" Derek answered.
"Clearly, he's branching out" Kyle Reston said.
"Things have gone sideways lately. This hood guy. Kyle shooting a cop" Mrs. Reston said.
"You warned me he was a cop" Kyle said.
"So you would take his gun" Mrs. Reston said.
"Your mother has a point. Maybe this is a sign we need to hang it up. Head for Mexico. Retire" Derek said.
"We don't have enough. We said we wouldn't quit until we had enough to set ourselves up" Teddy said.
"We need to hit another" Kyle said.
"We can make do" Mrs. Reston said.
"We'll be okay" Derek said.
"I didn't spend five years risking my life and my freedom to just be okay" Kyle said walking up to his father.
"No, set for life. That was our deal" Kyle said.
Derek slowly nodded his head. "Okay" he said. Mrs. Reston looked away and sighed. "One more" Derek said. Mrs. Reston looked over at her son. "Then we're out" Derek said. Kyle smiled at his father. He was going to make this one count. It would be the best robbery they had ever done.
The next morning, Oliver, Diggle and Felicity sat in his mother's office with Felicity on a laptop. "Hey thank you for doing this" Oliver said to Felicity.
She looked up at him and smiled. "Of course. I'm always here if you need help" she said.
"His name is Derek Reston. We knew each other before I went away and I want to get back in touch" Oliver said.
Felicity looked at him suspiciously. "Derek Reston? I never heard of him" she said.
Oliver nodded his head. "He's an old friend of my families" he said.
Felicity started typing on the laptop. "Too bad you didn't have Facebook on the island" Felicity said.
"It really is a shame He didn't even have a myspace account. It was a really dark time" Diggle said. Oliver turned to Diggle.
"Well there's not much here that's recent. No credit activity. No utility bills" Felicity said. Derek Reston's Queen industries employees badge popped up on the screen. "I guess you guys must have met at the factory" Felicity said.
"Wait what factory" Oliver asked leaning in closer to her.
"The queen steel factory. Derek Reston worked there for 15 years until it shut down in '07" Felicity explained.
"Derek Reston worked for my father" Oliver asked.
"You weren't really close friends, huh" Felicity asked. Oliver just looked at her seriously. "Looks like Derek was the factory foreman until your dad outsourced production to China. About 1500 employees got laid off" Felicity said. Oliver looked over at Diggle. "The finance guys found a loophole in the union contracts so they didn't have to pay severance packages and pensions to their employees" Felicity said. Oliver looked at Felicity upset about what his father did to all those employees. "They all pretty much lost their homes. Including your friend" Felicity said to Oliver. Oliver looked over at Diggle. He was right. This was something Oliver had to be involved in. He had to help Derek Reston and his family after what his father did to them.
Lian Yu
Robert walked closer to Oliver. "You died" Oliver said disbelievingly.
"I asked you, I begged you to survive but if you don't think you can…" Robert said pulling out a gun. He closed the gap between him and Oliver. "There's still one bullet left" Robert said. He held out the gun and Oliver took it. "Oliver, my death is made meaningless by yours" Robert said. Robert let go of the gun.
"I'm starving. I'm gonna die anyway and I just want it to be quick. I want it to be quick like yours was" Oliver said.
Robert shook his head. "What about Felicity" he asked. Oliver looked at his father shocked. "You can survive this and get back to her" Robert said.
Oliver shook his head. "No, I can't. I'm not as strong as you or her think I am. She deserves better then me and now she has the opportunity to find it. I'm sorry" Oliver said bringing the gun up to his head.
Felicity left the office because she had to get back to work. About five minutes later Oliver and Diggle left the office. "The Reston's just got home after five years of being away. Those factory guys hung out at a bar after work. Hopefully, Derek Reston wants to take a stroll down memory lane" Oliver said as him and Diggle reached the elevator. He pressed the down button.
"If by some miracle Reston's there" Diggle asked.
"Gonna give him the chance to do the right thing" Oliver said.
"He had his chance to do the right thing. It's called not being a criminal" Diggle said.
"This is happening because of my father, because of my family" Oliver said.
Diggle shook his head. "No. You're worried about the wrong thing. It's not your fault. The Restons aren't the victims" Diggle said.
"My family stole from this city. They hurt the people in it and I am hell-bent on making that right" Oliver said. Oliver walked into the elevator. "For Derek Reston that means giving him the chance to make it right" Oliver said as the elevator doors closed.
Across town at the law office, Tommy and Laurel were sitting at a table planning the fundraiser. Laurel yawned. "Hey, don't fade on me now. We have about 10,000 more decisions to make. Now, cake. Ahem, chocolate or mocha" Tommy asked.
"Mm, Carrot" Laurel answered.
"Are you sure about that because Bugs Bunny hasn't RSVP'd yet" Tommy asked.
Laurel let out a little laugh. "Tommy, why are you doing this? Planning this fundraiser. This is for my job. It has nothing to do with us" Laurel said.
"It's important to you and I just wanted to help you out a little bit. You've been so stressed ever since we came back from Africa. I just thought I'd take some of that stress off you" Tommy said.
Laurel smiled at him and kissed him. "Thank you" she said.
Tommy took her hand. "I just want to make sure you know that I'm here for you in every aspect of your life" he said.
Laurel nodded. "I know you are" she said.
"No Mocha. Carrot" Tommy said.
Laurel nodded again. "Carrot" she repeated.
At the bar Derek Reston hung out at, Oliver walked up to the table he was sitting at and sat down across from him. Oliver cleared his throat. "Mind if I sit in" Oliver asked.
Derek Reston looked up and was surprised by who he saw sitting across from him. "Oliver Queen. The prodigal son returns" Derek Reston said. Derek nodded his head. "Didn't figure you for someone who'd hang out in the glades" Derek said.
"My father used to bring me here after we visited the factory. There's a pac-man machine in the back. I had the high score for two months" Oliver said. Derek finished counting his money and looked up at Oliver.
"The last time I saw your dad he was making a speech, 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" Derek said leaning in. "I didn't get the two week's vacation pay due me" Derek said.
"My father made mistakes. He hurt people. When people are hurt, when people are in trouble they tend to make the wrong choices" Oliver said. Derek looked at him curiously. "Right Derek" Oliver said. Derek just continued looking at Oliver not knowing where he was going with this. "Those choices don't have to define you. 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" Oliver said.
"How poetic. That doesn't help me get my house back" Derek said.
Oliver shook his head. "No, it doesn't. 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" Oliver asked.
Derek thought for a moment. "How about, I still have some pride left" Derek said. Oliver just stared at him. "Now. I don't need charity from the son of the man who screwed me over" Derek said.
"Okay" Oliver said nodding his head. He pulled a business card out of his jacket pocket. He held it up showing it to Derek. "You change your mind" Oliver said getting up from his seat. "You and I have one thing in common" Oliver said walking over to Derek. "We're both dealing with the consequences of my father's actions. What he did then, that's on him but what we do now…" Oliver said putting the card on the table in front of Derek. "That's on us" Oliver finished. Oliver leaned over and secretly put a bug in Derek's jacket. Oliver walked out of the bar while Derek picked up the card and thought about what Oliver said.
Oliver sat in the lair listening to Derek talk to his wife. "I've been thinking. Maybe you were right. Maybe it's time to hang it up, retire" Derek said.
"Kyle said we do one more or he'll go out on his own" Derek's wife said.
"If that's what he wants, that's his right. You and me and Teddy, we're out" Derek said. Diggle and Tommy walked into the liar and saw Oliver sitting by the computer.
"I wanna quit too but I am not leaving without Kyle" Derek's wife said.
"What's this" Diggle asked as him and Tommy walked up to Oliver.
"I dropped a bug in Derek Reston's jacket" Oliver explained.
"Oh great. Now we can hear where they're going to hit next" Tommy said.
Oliver looked at him and shook his head. "That's not what it's for" he said.
"What do you mean" Tommy asked.
"Oliver's trying to give him a second chance" Diggle said to Tommy.
"I believe people deserve a second chance. I also believe in covering all my bases" Oliver said.
"Derek, we can't abandon our son. After all this time, he wants to end up a winner. Set for life. Otherwise, what was the point" Derek's wife asked. Diggle and Tommy listened intently. Oliver sat there hoping Derek would make the right choice.
"All right. One more" Derek said. Oliver looked at the computer disappointed.
Diggle and Tommy both looked at Oliver. "Now what" Diggle asked.
"We take them down" Oliver said.
Tommy nodded. "Good idea. They need to be off the streets" he said. Tommy watched as Oliver got up from his seat. Tommy let out a little smile. This is why he joined Oliver and Diggle. To try to make this city a safer place for Laurel and Becca. Maybe after they stopped the Reston's maybe they could go after his father and take him down once and for all.