#arrow fic

[swiftsuburbanlegends]

Hello. I'm looking for an Olicity drabble fic of yours. I was going through my old posts and I found a reblog of your fic but when I click Keep Reading it goes to a dead page. Which I guess means you deleted it. But I was hoping it was later reposted or maybe you have an AO3 account where I could read it? It's this post from Nov 30, 2017. It was a story about Felicity find out before the reception that she was pregnant and gives the news to Oliver. It's from season 6 if you need to jog your memory. :)

https://www.tumblr.com/firelily-mermaid-jedi/168077623874/hi-can-you-do-one-wcan-you-do-one-wherefelicity

Thank you!

Hello, thank you so much for your interest in the drabble, and thanks for your patience with my response. I couldn't do much from my phone, and had to wait until I got home.

I think it might have gotten jumbled when i switched my url (like five times) but here is the original link,

https://swiftsuburbanlegends.tumblr.com/post/168065569671/hi-can-you-do-one-wcan-you-do-one-wherefelicity

or i did also post it on ao3 for future reference

https://archiveofourown.org/works/53438920

Again thank you for your interest, I enjoy it when people like reading my work.

#arrow #arrow fic

[originalhybridloverfics-backup]

Healing & Scars - The Darkness on the Edge of Town

Summary: Team Arrow discover Malcolm's true plans for the Glades. Oliver reunites with Laurel and has a revelation, one that alters their relationship going forward.

“I’ve been watching your mother for days now, Oliver, and nothing.” John moved to Felicity’s computers as she went through surveillance of Moira Queen. “She goes to work, she comes home. Occasionally, she goes out for dinner. She seems to particularly like the salmon tartar at table salt.” 

“I’m linked into her home and office phone. Nothing out of the ordinary. No mention of Walter’s abduction or the Undertaking. Just a few innocuous calls to Malcolm Merlyn.” Felicity turned her chair around to face Oliver. 

“Why wouldn’t she call him?” asked Oliver, gripping his bow. “They’re old friends. We’re all old friends.” 

Felicity stood and approached him slowly, concern filling her. “Are you ok?” 

“My mom and my best friend’s dad are involved in a conspiracy that may have dire consequences for the city.” Oliver answered, looking at her with hard eyes. “And I’m pretty sure they murder my father. I’m not planning on using the word “ok” again any time soon.” 

Felicity didn’t know what to say. She wanted to help, to comfort him, but she didn’t know how. 

“Listen, all we know for sure is that Malcolm and your mother are planning something for the Glades.” John joined them. 

“And that Walter and I were getting too close to it. That’s why they had him kidnapped.” Felicity added. 

“We have to find out what this Undertaking is,” said John. 

“I got to ask her.” Oliver stood, walking over to his case to set his bow down. 

Felicity followed his steps. “Well, no. The last time the Vigilante paid your mom a visit, you got shot, and I got to play doctor with you.” Felicity ran a hand on top of her head and down her ponytail in embarrassment. “Ahh! My brain thinks of the worst way to say things.” 

Oliver turned back to them. “This time it’ll just be me asking. Friendly mother-son chat.” 

Felicity and John watched him leave. 

Felicity wrung her hands. She hoped he was right or else she was going to have to put her ability to use again on him and frankly, she didn’t need another scar so soon after the last one. 

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ 

Oliver entered the club from the bunker entrance, turning down the hall that led him to the bar. He spotted Laurel standing near the steps. ”Laurel? What are you doing here? It’s not even 7:00 a.m.” 

“That’s just after closing time, right?” asked Laurel, closing the distance between them as he came closer. 

Oliver chuckles. 

“How’s business?” asked Laurel. 

“Well, it’s busy. Busy. It was easier when Tommy was running things.” Oliver answered honestly. 

“Tommy’s a good guy,” replied Laurel. 

“Yeah.” Oliver agreed. 

“Are you?” asked Laurel. 

Oliver frowned. “What do you mean?” 

Laurel played with her hands nervously. “Last week, I told you that I wanted to get back with Tommy. That I needed you to go to him and explain to him that you didn’t still have feelings for me. But instead, you told me that you did. As I’m sure you can probably imagine, I haven’t been able to think of much since.” 

“I shouldn’t have said that,” Oliver admitted. 

“Then why did you?” asked Laurel. 

“I didn’t... have an agenda.” said Oliver. “I didn’t mean to make it more difficult for you to fix things with Tommy.” he squeezed her hand in apology and walked past her. 

“But what if you did?” Laurel turned, keeping her body angled toward him. Oliver stopped and turned back to her. “After you disappeared-- with Sara– I was sorry I ever knew you.” Oliver looked down at her words. “But now, things have happened that I never thought would. You coming home. My parents being in the same room. And you. What if I’m finally starting to see you for who you really are?” 

Oliver shook his head. “No, Laurel, it’s–” 

“And maybe Tommy was right.” Laurel cut him off. “Maybe he and I weren’t meant to be. Maybe I’m finally ready to admit that... that I still have feelings for you, too.” 

“Nothing’s changed.” Oliver gripped her wrist lightly. “My life hasn’t changed. I haven’t changed. I got to go. Walter’s coming home.” he let his hand fall to his side. 

Laurel inhaled sharply as he walked away and shakily exhaled. 

Oliver continued to walk away. When he was on the island, Laurel represented home. He was home now, and he needed her to be a light at the end of his dark tunnel because if there wasn’t one, he wasn’t sure he could handle that. 

~*~ ~*~ ~* ~

Moira walked into the foyer with Walter. “Everything’s exactly as you left it.” 

Oliver and Thea entered from another room. “How are you feeling, Walter?” asked Oliver. 

“I’m on the mend, thank you, Oliver.” Walter replied. 

Thea moved forward to hug him. “Oh, I’m so glad you’re home.” 

“That makes two of us.” Walter returned her embrace. 

“All of us.” Moira placed her hand on his arm with a smile. “We’ve prepared a delicious brunch for you. All your favorites.” 

“Oh, yum, English food.” Thea teased. 

“Actually, I’m more tired from the drive than I expected. So I think I’d like to lie down for a bit,” Walter said. 

“Yes, of course.” Moira leaned forward and Walter turned his head, her lips pressing against his cheek. 

Moira moved from the room as Walter started up the steps. 

Thea’s phone vibrated with a text from Roy, telling her to meet him tonight. 

Thea watched with Oliver as Walter ascended the steps. “Walter doesn’t really seem like himself.” 

“He’s gone through a lot. It’s just... going to take a little bit of time.” Oliver told her. 

Thea sighed, turning to look at him. “I’m really sick of us all having to go through a lot, you know?” 

Oliver tuned to look at her, and she walked away. 

Oliver had been through a lot and he was indeed sick of it. It was exhausting. 

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ 

“Six scientists and three security personnel are confirmed killed in the massacre. Among the dead, respected seismologist Brian Markov. A spokesperson for Unidac Industries says a comment would be forthcoming.” 

Moira was watching a news anchor segment on the tv, and it was shaking her natural decorum. 

Oliver entered the room. “Mom, we need to talk.” 

“Oh, uh, later, Oliver.” she brushed him out of the room, heading out. 

Oliver turned to the tv to see what had his mother’s attention.

“...co-workers, parents and families of all the victims to see how they’re coping with their loss,” the new segment continued.

Oliver’s eyes narrowed.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ 

“Hey, Mom.” Oliver greeted,entering the room. 

Moira turned from where she was looking out the window, exhaling. “Walter’s upstairs resting. I think he’s... doing well, don’t you?” 

Oliver closed the distance between them. “Who took him?” 

“Well, we don’t know yet. But I’m going to make sure all the resources of Queen Consolidated are behind it.” Moira answered. 

“That’s the answer that you gave to reporters yesterday.” Oliver pointed out. “Tell me the truth.” 

Moira scoffs. “I don’t know what you mean.” 

“I think you do.” Oliver insisted. “A couple months ago, when I showed you dad’s notebook, you seemed to know something. Something about our family being in danger.” 

Moira clasped her hands together. “Are you suggesting that I knew something about my husband’s kidnapping?” 

“I’m just suggesting that maybe you were scared. That maybe you didn’t mean for any of this to happen. But it was harder than you thought. And now you’re barely keeping your head above water. Please, Mom. Let me help you before you drown,” Oliver pleaded with her. 

Moira shook her head. “You need to stop asking these things. Do you understand? I need you to stop.” 

“I can’t,” said Oliver. He could hear his mother’s distress, and it only made him feel more urgent. “I need to know.” 

The lights in the room and house went out. 

“Is that a power outage?” Moira asked, looking up. 

“I don’t know.” Oliver answered, looking around. 

Glass breaking, a dart hits in the neck and he goes down. 

“Oliver!” Moira kneels at his side, worried. “Oliver!” 

More glass breaking, a dart caught in her neck. She gasps, pulling it out before crumping to the floor next to her son.

The hood walking in is the last thing she sees before losing consciousness. 

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ 

Moira came to slowly to find she was tied to a chair in a dark warehouse. Oliver was across from her, tied into a chair as well. There was one single light angling between them, shining in their eyes. 

“Mom!” Oliver called to her when he realized she was awake. 

“Oliver.” she looked across at him alarmed. 

“Are you ok?” Oliver asked. 

“Oliver? What--what-- we got to get out of here.” Moira started to pull at her bindings frantically, but it was pointless. 

The hood stepped forward, staying just out of the light, his head down, hood up. “Moira Queen… You have failed the city.” 

Moira breathed shakily in distress. 

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

“Please! Do not hurt my son,” Moira pleaded, cheeks wet with tears. 

“Tell me what the Undertaking is and I won’t have to.” The Hood growled out, stalking close to Oliver. 

When Moira didn’t say anything, he stalked toward Oliver. 

“No!” Moira exclaimed. 

“Tell me!” He ordered, striking Oliver across the face with his fist. 

“Please! Leave my son alone!” Moira begged. 

The hood struck Oliver again. “What is Malcolm Merlyn planning?!” 

“I can’t tell you!” Moira exclaimed. “He’ll kill me, he’ll kill my family.” 

“You should be more worried about what I’ll do.” The hood back handed Oliver so hard, it tipped the chair over. 

“No! Malcolm is planning to level the Glades!” Moira cried. “He said so he could rebuild it, but…” 

The Hood stood in front of her. “How?” 

“There’s a device.” Moira answered. 

“What device?!” The Hood demanded. 

“He says that it can cause an earthquake.” Moira answered. 

“How is this possible?” The Hood asked. 

“I don’t know. It was invented by Unidac Industries. Malcolm used my company’s Applied Sciences to turn it into a weapon.” Moira answered, despair shining in her eyes. 

“Why would you get involved in something like this?” The Hood asked, moving behind her. 

“My husband...He got involved without my knowing. He was just trying to do some good. He was lost.” Moira hung her head down in defeat. “He… His decisions left me vulnerable to Malcolm, and I had no choice. I had to protect my family and my children.” 

Oliver watched his mother from his upturned chair. 

“This device… Where is it?” The Hood questioned. 

“I don’t know.” Moira answered.

“If you don’t tell me, I can’t stop Merlyn!” The Hood was back in front of her. 

“Oh, you can’t stop him. It’s too late.” Moira cried. She watched as the hood pulled out a knife and moved toward her son. “No, no, no, I told you everything! Oliver! No!” 

She fell silent when the Hood cut Oliver’s binds, her mouth falling open as he did the same for her and then he was gone. 

She rushed out of her chair to Oliver, kneeling at his side as he tried to pull himself up. 

“Oh, sweet– Please, I know what you must be thinking, sweetheart, but I never intended any of this to happen.” Moira tried to explain. 

Oliver let out a harsh cough. 

“You know I would never willingly be a part of anything like this,” said Moira.

Oliver stood slowly, looking down on his mother with a look of betrayal. “I don’t know anything anymore.” 

He walked away, limping, leaving his mother kneeling in the wet, dank, empty warehouse. 

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ 

Felicity sat in a chair by the weapons table. John was at the gun table. He had changed out of the hood gear. She stood when Oliver walked in with a slight limp. 

“Oh, my God.” Felicity exclaimed. Oliver’s face was covered in bruises. “You said you were going to pull your punches!” she accused John. 

John turned around. “I did.”

Felicity moved to touch his face. “I can heal this for you.” 

“No.” Oliver caught her wrist in his grip. It wasn’t tight, but it was secure. “It can heal on its own. You shouldn’t use your gift on something so small and superficial.”

Gift?

The word repeated in Felicity’s head as she withdrew her hand back. No, not even she had considered what she could do a gift. 

It was just something she did. Something she had to keep a guarded secret, but she never thought of it as a gift. 

However, hearing Oliver call it that caused a warmth to spread through her chest. 

“Then at least let me get you an icepack for… Everything.” Felicity insisted. 

“I’m fine.” Oliver touched her arm lightly. “I need you to dig up everything you can on Unidac Industries.” 

Felicity went to her computers, sitting in her chair and getting to work. “Well, we know Queen Consolidated acquired them seven months ago. That’s when we met.” 

“I need information about what I don’t know.” Oliver told her. 

“Unidac is a small research and development technology company that specializes in seismic infringement,” said Felicity. 

“Merlyn plans on leveling the Glades with a device that triggers a manmade earthquake.” Oliver said from just over her shoulder. 

“You’re kidding.” said Felicity. 

“What else does it say?” asked Oliver, moving to stand opposite her. 

“More information on the stock auction and, you know, the latest on what the media’s calling–” 

“The Unidac massacre.” Oliver finished for Felicity. 

“There’s no way this timing is a coincidence,” said John, moving to stand over Felicity’s shoulder. 

“Oliver, there’s a website claiming the police suspect a copycat archer.” Felicity informed him. 

“What?!” asked Oliver. 

“So the other archer works for Merlyn?” John asked, leaning over Felicity’s computer station. 

“He’s tying up loose ends. Erasing all evidence, this device exists so no one can trace the devastation back to him,” said Oliver. 

John pushed off the computer table. “All right, so you’re going to have a pointed conversation with Mr. Merlyn.” 

“Well, even if I take out Merlyn, the other archer is still out there. He can set off the device. We need to find it,” said Oliver. “Then Merlyn can get his.” 

“Well, maybe there’s another way to get Merlyn to tell us,” said Felicity, her full focus on her computer monitors. 

“What do you have in mind?” asked Oliver. 

“As I keep proving, people keep secrets. Computers don’t.” Felicity answered, her fingers moving over the keys of her keyboard at a rapid pace. 

Oliver moved to Felicity’s side. “Felicity, are you hacking into the Merlyn Global mainframe?” 

“”Hacking" is such an ugly word. No. I’m…” she trailed off. “Yeah, totally hacking into the Merlyn Global mainframe.” 

A sheepish smile played on her lips. She loved to hack. She enjoyed a challenge. 

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ 

The computer beeped as Felicity was denied access. 

While she enjoyed a challenge, right now it was quite annoying. 

John was next to her, his forehead pressed to the table. 

Felicity scoffed in irritation. 

“Anything?” Oliver asked, appearing at her side. 

It wasn’t the first time he had asked her, and being asked the same thing was an annoyance to her already frayed nerves. 

John lifted his head. 

Felicity looked up at Oliver in exasperation. “Just for the record, I will pump my fist in the air and scream, “yes!” If I get in.” 

“You know, you can just say this isn’t working.” John suggested. 

Felicity glared at him. “This isn’t working.” 

“All right, there has to be some other way we can find out where he’s keeping this device.” John stood and sat on the edge of the table. 

“Unless I can waltz up to Merlyn’s mainframe and plug in my tablet directly, there’s no way of getting that location.” Felicity answered, standing up from her chair, moving to stand behind it. 

“Then we waltz.” Said Oliver. 

“Excuse me?” Felicity responded. She didn’t seriously believe that was an option. 

“You need direct access to the mainframe, so we get you direct access to the mainframe, and we figure out where the device is being kept,” said Oliver. 

“Oliver...I did mention that the mainframe is located inside Merlyn Global Group’s main headquarters, on the 25th floor?” Felicity stressed. “It’s only accessible through a restricted access elevator.” 

John looked up at the ceiling, already knowing what Oliver was going to say. 

“I know. We’re going to have to break in.” Said Oliver. 

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Oliver walked through the doors of Merlyn Global, walking up to the security desk. “Hi. Oliver Queen. I have an 11:30 with Tommy Merlyn.” he handed over his id. 

The guard accepted his Id looking it over. 

Felicity appeared at the other end of the counter, dressed as a delivery girl with takeout from Big Belly Burger. “I have a super deluxe Big Belly Buster for a Mr. Andrews. I think he’s in security. He a good tipper?”

“You can go on up, Mr. Queen.” the guard handed him back his ID. The guard picked up the phone and looked at Felicity. “You can wait a second.” 

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

A guard in the security room had the phone pressed to his ear. “New guy, you order food?” 

John answered from behind him. “Yeah, I’m addicted to Big Belly Burger.” 

“Never had it,” the guard said, hanging up the phone as Felicity appeared in the doorway. 

“I’ll split it with you.” Moved around him, handing Felicity some money and taking the food. “Keep the change.” 

The security door shut after the exchange. 

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ 

Felicity pressed for the elevator, Oliver came to stand beside her, waiting for the elevator. 

The elevator dings and Oliver and Felicity waited for everyone to step off before entering the elevator. 

“Hold that.” A man called.  

Felicity pressed the closed button rapidly, unfortunately the man stepped inside be they started to shut. 

“Where you heading, sweetie?” the man asked, looking back at Felicity. 

“19th floor.” Felicity answered, disliking his tone and the way his eyes looked her over.  

“Too bad, I’m going to 13,” the man answered. 

Oliver reached forward, knocking the man’s folders out of his hands. They went flying out of the elevators. Papers scattering on the floor. 

Hearing the man flirt with Felicity and look her over made Oliver’s skin crawl. 

The man scrambled out of the elevator to pick up the fallen papers. “Damn it!”

The elevator doors shut behind him. 

“Mr. Andrews got his lunch?” Oliver asked, looking straight ahead. 

“One Belly Buster with benzodiazepine.” Felicity answered, holding a clipboard to her chest. “Hold the mayo.” 

Oliver stopped the elevator and then climbed out of the elevator shaft. 

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ 

John was watching the monitors. “Sleep tight.” the guard was on the ground behind him, unconscious after taking a bite from the burger. 

John stepped over him a removed one of the camera wires. 

“Mainframe’s on 25, guys.” he moved back to the surveillance camera. “That’s as close as I can get you.” 

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ 

Felicity passed Oliver’s briefcase up to him and then he reached down for her, pulling her up beside him. 

Oliver opened the briefcase, pulling out a grappling gun and stepped onto a pillar. He reached his hand back for Felicity. ”Come on.” 

Felicity put his hand in hers and let him help her up. 

“Don’t look down.” Oliver cautioned her. 

“Too late.” Felicity said, looking down. “I should mention, I’m afraid of heights, which I just learned.”

“Hey, Felicity.” Oliver wrapped his arm around her waist as he looked up, searching for the perfect angle. 

Her stomach flipped with the feel of his arm around her. 

“Hmm?” Felicity reflexively wrapped her arm around his shoulder. 

“Hold on to me tight.” Oliver said. 

Felicity looked at him. ”I imagined you saying that under different circumstances.” Oliver turned his eyes to her and her heart pounded against her ribcage. “Very platonic... circumstances.” 

Oliver fired the gun, and the grappler imbedded in his target. “Ready?” he asked her. 

“Uh-huh.” Felicity answered and Oliver swung them across, his arm tightening around her. 

Oliver straightened his jacket and crossed against the edge of the wall, helping Felicity across. 

Moments later Oliver was opening the floor door, and stepped out. When Felicity didn’t budge, he held his hand out to her. “Come on.” 

Felicity stepped out, grimacing. Her stomach revolting. 

“You all right?” asked Oliver, concerned. 

“I’m fine. Yeah, this is just my “about to hack” face.” She looked around the hallway at her surroundings. “I always… Oh, look like this right before I, you know, hack.” 

“Security patrol’s on a ten-minute cycle. I’ll have my meeting with Tommy and be back in nine, ok?” Oliver assured her. 

“Ok.” Felicity replied, hoping her stomach with settled as she continued to look around. 

“Ok.” Oliver walked around her, walking through a glass door, leaving her in the hallway. ”Dig, you got eyes on her?” 

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

John watched Felicity moved down the hall on the security cameras. “Five by five.” 

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ 

Felicity moved down the hall, stopping at a door at the end that had a scanner. She put in a code and was allowed admittance. She settled in front of the mainframe in the server room, setting up her tablet and link. ”Ok.” 

She wasted no time setting to work. 

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ 

Oliver walked into Tommy’s office. “Sure beats the back of a bar.” 

“I saw your name in my schedule. I thought it must be a typo.” Tommy turns away from the window, a file in his hand. ”Why so serious? Did someone decide that they didn’t want you putting an arrow in them today?” 

“I thought it was past time we talked.” Oliver stopped in front of his desk. 

“About what?” Tommy tossed the file onto his desk. “Me leaving the club? You being a serial killer? We’re not lacking for topics.” 

“Let’s start with Laurel, since you’re still in love with her.” suggested Oliver. 

“So are you.” Tommy shot back. 

“I can’t be with her, Tommy. You know why I can’t,” replied Oliver. 

“So what? I’m her consolation prize?” Tommy asked bitingly. “I’ll pass.” 

“She’s not anyone’s...property.” Oliver defended. “Laurel makes her own decisions. And she chose you. Until you couldn’t handle it. Lord knows I am guilty of a lot of things between us, but not you and her. That’s all I came to say.”

Tommy sat down as Oliver turned to leave. 

Oliver paused, turning back after reaching the doorway, looking around. “What exactly do you do here?” 

Tommy looked up, glaring. “I work closely with my father.”

Oliver nodded and left, his jaw clenching. 

He had a feeling his relationship with Tommy would only get worse from here. 

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ 

John was watching the cams when he was alerted to see an approaching guard. “Guys, you got trouble.” 

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

“What?!” Felicity reacted. It wasn’t time. 

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ 

“Felicity’s about to have some head of schedule company.” John warned. 

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ 

“I’m not there yet on the download.” Felicity protested. She needed more time to do her part.  

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ 

“Hold tight, I’m on my way.” Oliver moved down the hall, heading back for Felicity but when he turned. He was intercepted. 

“Oliver.” Malcolm greeted. 

“Mr. Merlyn.” Oliver returned. 

“I must say, I’m surprised to see you here,” Malcolm commented. 

“Tommy and I just had a little unfinished business.” Oliver answered. 

“Ahh. I know things have been challenging between you two, but I trust you’re working things out,” Malcolm replied. 

“Felicity!” Diggle said over the comms. 

“Just a few more seconds.” Felicity insisted over the comms. 

“Yes. I’m sorry, I have to go,” Oliver told Malcolm. “There are some investors waiting for me back at the club.” 

“I’m heading out to a meeting myself. I’ll walk you down to the lobby.” Malcolm motioned to the elevator. 

Oliver had no choice but to join Malcolm and his bodyguard in the elevator. 

“She’s going to get made, Oliver.” John’s voice was filled with urgency over the comms. “Oliver, did you hear me?!”

Oliver clenched his jaw, doing his best not to react as the elevator doors shut. 

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ 

“Felicity!” John said sharply.  

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ 

“What? Just a few more seconds!” Felicity insisted. “Come on, come on, come on.” 

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ 

“You don’t have a few more seconds.” John argued, watching as the guards got closer on the security footage. 

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ 

The computer beeped. 

“Yes!” Felicity pumped her fist in the air. “Wow, I really do do that.” Felicity quickly gathered her things and exit the room only to run into a guard. “Oh.”

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ 

“Damn it, Oliver, she’s in trouble. Where are you?” John spoke into the comms. 

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ 

“This is a restricted area,” said the guard. “Let’s see some I.D.” 

“I.D.?” Felicity moved her hand to her pockets. “Um…” 

What the hell was she supposed to do here?!

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ 

Malcolm and Oliver stepped out of the elevator.

“Tell your mother I said hello,” said Malcolm, shaking hands with Oliver. 

“I will,” said Oliver, keeping up the fake smile. When Malcolm was gone, he turned to head back upstairs, pressing his hand to his comm. “Got held up. Heading back upstairs.” 

“Ollie?” Thea called, spotting him in the lobby. 

“Thea?” Oliver turned back around. “What are you doing here?” 

“I, uh, just saw Tommy.” Thea answered. 

“Yeah, me, too.” said Oliver. “I’m going to run back up, I don’t want to be late.” he turned to head back up.

“Oh, I thought you just came down.” Thea called after him and he clenched his jaw, stopping. 

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ 

“There you are!” John walked in. “Thanks a lot, man. This one snuck past security.” He strode forward, grabbing Felicity by the arm. “One of Merlyn junior’s bimbos. She’s pissed he never called her back.” 

Felicity hoped the guard couldn’t see her relief at the sight of John. 

“Copy that,” the guard said. “I read the tabloids.” 

“Yeah. Thanks again.” said John. “Let’s go, Barbie.” he started pulling her out of the room. “Your new last name ain’t going to be Merlyn.” 

“But I love him!” Felicity protested as they continued down the hall. “He’s my man!” she started laughing once they were out of sight, Digg looking down at her in amusement. “You’re my knight in shining armor.” 

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ 

“Is that your friend, Roy?” asked Oliver, noticing a guy in a red hoodie with his back to him. 

“No, um…” Thea trailed off. 

“No?” Oliver repeated doubtfully. 

“Yeah, he gave me a ride.” Thea answered. 

“Thea, what are you really doing here?” asked Oliver. “The truth, please.” 

“The truth?” Thea repeated. 

“Mm-hmm.” Oliver nodded. 

“Um...We’re trying to find the Vigilante.” Thea answered, realizing there was no point in lying. 

“What?” Oliver’s eyes were sharp. 

“Roy’s been kind of obsessed with him since he saved his life at the subway.” Thea explained. “And I overheard Detective Lance saying that the other archer was connected to Merlyn Global, so–” Oliver grabbed her by the arm and started pulling her toward Roy. “Hey!”

“Roy.” Oliver said sharply, causing the younger man to turn around. “We haven’t met. I’m Thea’s disapproving older brother.” 

“Yeah, I know. Good to meet you.” Roy extended his hand. 

Oliver gripped his hand tightly, making him jerk. 

However, to Roy’s credit, he didn’t react. 

“Don’t mess around with the Hood. He’s a psychopath, he’s dangerous, and anyone who gets near him winds up dead.” He dropped his hand. “That will not be my sister. Do you hear me?” 

Roy nodded, his eyes hard as Thea looked between them warily. 

Oliver looked past him to see Felicity walking out the door. She looked back at him and continued out. Oliver turned his focus back on Roy. “Ok. Take her home...now.”

He didn’t wait for a response and walked past them, fully expecting Roy to follow his order. 

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ 

“In addition to the download, I also took the liberty of uploading a trojan to Merlyn’s system. Figured it might come in handy.” Said Felicity, from her chair in the Bunker. 

“That’s smart.” John complimented. “If Merlyn thinks he’s been compromised, it’ll help if we know first.” 

“Can you locate the seismic device?” Asked Oliver. 

“I’m working on it. But there’s at least a terraflop of data to go through.” Felicity answered, her body turned toward him. 

Oliver walked over to his case from the island. 

“You all right?” asked John. 

“My father, he told me that he failed the city.” Oliver picked up his father’s case from the book. “Asked me to right his wrongs, but I never knew what he meant until now. It’s the Undertaking. I promised myself that when I crossed all these names off the list, I’d be done, but… Taking down these people, it doesn’t honor him. I was just treating the symptoms while the disease festered. I stop the Undertaking… I wipe out the disease.” 

“What are you saying, Oliver?” John questioned. “You would hang up the Hood?” 

Oliver turned around to him. “Merlyn’s plan is what I returned from the island to stop.” he turned to leave. 

“Where are you going?” John called after him. 

“Out.” Oliver answered, heading for the stairs. 

“Where do you think he’s going?” Felicity wondered when Oliver was gone. 

“Nowhere good.” John answered with a shake of his head. 

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ 

Oliver knocked on an apartment door. 

“Hi.” Oliver greeted, when Laurel opened her door. “Can we talk?” 

Laurel stepped back to let him inside. 

“Thank you.” Oliver said. 

Laurel closed the door behind him. 

“What did you want to talk about?” asked Laurel, crossing her arms over her chest. 

“Wow, I thought this was going to be easier to say,” said Oliver. “But now I’m standing here… Looking at you, and it’s–” 

“Just say what you have to say and go, ok?” Laurel said, her stance not very welcoming.

“Ever since I’ve been back, we’ve been doing this dance. We come together, and then I pull away.” said Oliver. “Something pulls me away. But I think... finally... that something might be over.”.

“What are you trying to say?” asked Laurel, her tone softening

“That...you know me better than anyone.” Oliver told her. “And that you... are more important to me than anyone. I just hope I didn’t wait too long to say it.” 

Laurel kissed him. “You didn’t.” She immediately started unbuttoning his shirt, and he helped her, removing his shirt. He picked her up, and she wrapped her legs around his waist. “You’re right on time.” she kissed him again. 

Oliver carried her through her apartment to her bedroom. He removed her jacket as they continued kissed and laid her on the bed, getting lost in each other. 

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ 

Oliver had expected being with Laurel to feel different from before because he was different, but he had been wrong. 

It wasn’t different. It was just sex. 

He didn’t understand it. She was his hope, she was what he held onto to make it home. He thought that when this was over, they would find their way back to each other, but maybe they were just too different. 

He wasn’t the same man he was once was. He didn’t want a relationship based on sex.

He wanted more than that. He wanted something real. 

Laying in bed with her, he felt regret.

He looked over at the bedside table when his phone started vibrating. He eased her off of him and climbed out of the bed, grabbing his phone. “What is it?” 

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ 

“Felicity found the Markov device.” John Infomed Oliver over the phone. Felicity was working away at her computers. “Merlyn’s keeping it at a warehouse his company owns in the Glades.” 

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

“Good. Coordinate an attack.” Oliver instructed. “You take the device, I’ll take Merlyn. Got a location?” 

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ 

“Yeah.” John answered. “According to Felicity’s trojan, Merlyn’s logged on to his computer from his office.” 

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ 

“I’m on my way.” Oliver said and ended the call, grabbing his discarded clothes, feeling relieved that he had to go.  

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ 

John moved through a warehouse, his gun and flashlight out. He opened a warehouse door, slipping inside. 

He moved through the warehouse until he found an open crate that read Unidac Industries. 

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ 

“Very well,” said Malcolm, standing in the office. “I’ll be in touch.” 

The Hood walked in. 

“Can I help you?” Malcolm asked his back to the Hood. “No… “ he spoke into the phone, turning to face the Hood. “I wasn’t talking to you.” he ended the call. 

“Malcolm Merlyn…” The Hood began. “You have failed this city.” 

“And how have I done that?” asked Malcolm. 

“The Undertaking. It ends now.” The Hood told him. 

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ 

“Oliver, the device…” John spoke into his comms. “It’s gone.”

The crate was empty. 

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ 

“Where’s the device?” asked the Hood. 

“Safe.” Malcolm answered. “I don’t know how you got that trojan onto my system, but it prompted me to take precautions. There is nothing you can do to stop what is about to happen. And you shouldn’t. This city needs what is about to happen in order to survive. The people who are destroying it from the inside need to be erased from the map.” 

“Fine. Let’s start with you.” The Hood fired an arrow. 

However, Malcolm caught it in his hand. “Ironic, isn’t it? Last Christmas, I almost killed you,” he said, revealing he was the dark archer. “A few months ago, you saved my life. And now you’re here trying to kill me. You should make up your mind.” 

“Done.” The Hood declared. 

Malcolm threw the arrow back at him, the Hood dodged it. 

The Hood and Malcolm exchanged a series of blows. Malcolm ultimately gaining the upper hand and knocking the Hood out, he knelt down yanking back the Hood. 

“Oh, no,” Malcolm said as the Hood was revealed to be none other than his son’s best friend, Oliver Queen.

#olicity #fanfic #felicity smoak #oliver queen #oliver x felicity #olicity fic #arrow fic #arrow #fanfic: healing and scars

[shoulda-been-a-redhead]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Arrow (TV 2012), Green Arrow (Comics), The Flash (TV 2014) Rating: Not Rated Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Oliver Queen/Felicity Smoak, Roy Harper/Thea Queen, Roy Harper & Oliver Queen Characters: Oliver Queen, Felicity Smoak, Thea Queen, Roy Harper, John Diggle (DCU), Barry Allen, Quentin Lance, Sara Lance, Sara Diggle, Lyla Michaels Additional Tags: Whump, Hurt/Comfort, Rescue, Rescue Missions, Blindfolded, Protective Thea Queen, BAMF Thea Queen, Fluff, Happy Ending Summary:

Ollie wakes up bandaged, blindfolded, and a little more than confused. With the threat of Thea being captured alongside him, he withstands the taunts and prods of an old nemesis... when suddenly a new bit of information makes him question whether Thea is really there at all. Could it all be a trick?

 Oneshot rescue mission fic! (Hope you enjoy!)

#fic #my writing #writing #writeblr #arrowverse #arrow tv cw #Oliver queen #olicity #fics #arrow fic #whump fic #fluff

[capriciouswrites]

on the ninth day of halloween my true boo gave to me...an arrow fic that'll never be finished

It had been three weeks and she still wasn’t used to it. She would never be used to it. There was an ache in her chest that followed her everywhere.

It had taken two weeks for her to realize that it might not change – that he might never be her Oliver again. Diggle and Roy had taken turns, unwillingly since she’d just thrown herself at them and sobbed, comforting her.

Tommy she hadn’t seen alone since Oliver woke up from his coma.

He looked happy. Both of them looked happy, actually, but she was thinking particularly about Tommy.

Why wouldn’t he be?

Even though he and Oliver had eventually made peace, after his near death during the Undertaking, about Oliver’s quest, he’d still missed his best friend, missed how things used to be.

How they were again.

Even Felicity had to admit it was nice to see an Oliver who was…less burdened. He wasn’t weighed down by guilt and stress and anger. He was lighter.

It almost made it okay. Maybe she’d come to see it as a good thing, eventually. Instead of feeling like a part of her had been hallowed out because he was missing.

She wasn’t sure if Diggle had it worse or not – some days she was extremely jealous that the other man got to follow Oliver around when she was only seeing him on the news or at a distance. Other days she was sure that being that close and not close at all would kill her.

Without him being the Arrow it was impressive how quickly she could be removed from his life.

Moira had stepped in as CEO while Oliver was in a coma. When he’d woken up with amnesia and it had been decided that Mrs. Queen would continue leading the company while he got settled, Felicity had been moved back to IT.

She was sure the older woman thought she’d slept her way to the top – it was the going theory after all. Still, it hurt. It hurt especially to know that the woman knew she was in love with her son, but it didn’t matter.

It didn’t.

Because she wasn’t in love with this Oliver, this wasn’t her Oliver – this was the reckless Oliver from before the island who always had a girl on his arm and a smile and a joke. He hadn’t peed on any cop cars yet, but Felicity was worried it was only a matter of time.

She was still cleaning up the tabloids for him.

Just now she was doing it from several floors lower in the building. At least she had a more managerial position in IT now – Moira Queen had either decided to be kind or had actually looked at Felicity’s resume and skill set.

She wasn’t sure which was less likely.

In any case, she was glad. She had never wanted to be an EA, and though she’d do that (she’d do that and so much more) for Oliver, it seemed pointless now.

It didn’t help that barely anyone would talk to her anymore. All of her friends in IT had only been work friends, and they’d obviously believed the rumors. She hadn’t realized how barren her life would be without Oliver.

On the upside, and she was all about finding the silver lining in this storm cloud, it made it easy to duck away at night to work on the mission at least. The only friends she did still have all knew about it – Diggle and Roy and Sara. (Sara had sent a note – in the mail, Felicity was horrified – telling them how to get in touch if they needed her to help them out. So far they hadn’t, but it meant a lot that she’d offered.)

Oliver may not have remembered that there was a mission at all, but she would still do it for him. They all would. They all were.

She was coding through her lunch break when Roy dropped unceremoniously into the chair across from her. She shot him a look, fingers still flying, and when he just covered his face with a hand she shook her head and went back to what she was doing. He’d talk when he was ready.

She finished what she was doing – putting the last touches on the newest cyber security for Queen Consolidated – and finally turned to her guest. He was slouched in the chair with his head tilted all the way back and his eyes fixed on the ceiling. “Okay, puppy, what’s up?”

He tried to growl at her, no doubt attempting to imitate the boss, and flipped her off before saying, “Don’t call me that.”

He never got to tell her what was up, because suddenly he straightened and she realized there was someone in the doorway.

Her heart gave a painful lurch at the sight of Oliver. She was sure her face wasn’t professional, so she was glad his attentions seemed to be focused entirely on a now alert Roy Harper.

By the time he shot her a smirk, she’d managed to get herself mostly under control. But still he addressed Roy instead of her. “What’s going on here?”

#cw arrow #arrow fic #felicity smoak #theoretically would eventually/end as olicity #but i'm not writing more #is this cheating for the twelve days of halloween? #maybe but since i made it up and am the only one doing it (that i know of) i say it's fine so #whatever #have this #shows i never actually watched

[joeey-dee]

I don't get people.

Why do you read a fic you obviously won't like because you don't like the main couple and then leave a rude comment. And just to be a complete asshole, block the author of said story so they can't reply to you.

People seriously suck sometimes. Why read something you don't like? Why comment if you have nothing nice to say? And why not even giving me a chance to reply to you? How miserable and cowardly does one have to be? Seriously!

What is so difficult about the concept don't like don't read and don't be an asshole for no reason.

Write your own damn story instead of bringing down the mood on my stories.

Seriously the one thing I can say is the Canarrow people are all really nice, positive and encouraging people. While my limited experience with Olicity people was rather negative, except for one who's a complete sweetheart and loves my Canarrow fic and doesn't mind my frequent rants and criticism about Olicity even though she disagrees with most of it. Which is how one should be. Or if you can't handle someone criticizing your OTP don't read stories that clearly state that they are not going to be the end goal.

Just move on. Don't read, don't be rude in the comments and if you are incapable of doing that, at least have the guts and give the author a chance to reply. It's the least you can do. Especially when you are too deluded to admit that Oliver loved Sara and Sara loved Oliver and claim Sara is gay and that is why she and Oliver can't be endgame. WTF?! 

There would be no Green Arrow without Sara. Their affair is the reason the Arrowverse even exists. If Oliver and Sara hadn't been involved, Oliver and Felicity would've never met.

Sorry, for my rant but this person just pissed me off and I can't even let them know because they have the audacity to block me and then comment on my fic.

Joke's on them, I let AO3 know and made a harassment claim. Should've just let me reply. Also this is not the first time they left rude comments simply because they don't like Canarrow and some of my fics have both the Canarrow and Olicity tag, because those are accurate for those stories, the main couple is always obvious though. At the beginning I could reply and they ended up deleting their comments, now they blocked me and still leave rude comments.

It is very hurtful behavior, I always get excited when get the notification from AO3 that someone commented on my fic, only to then get a very rude, unnecessary comment from someone who seems to enjoy just being mean and tearing people down. It takes a very long time to write a fic, and then to get comments like those… I don’t mind criticism, it helps me grow as a writer, but I hate the comments people make just to ruin someone’s day for no apparent reason.

I’m sorry if the reason is that the Olicity writers in general aren’t that good, because most of them are teenage girls, no offense, they are still learning and need to do it somewhere, the stories I wrote as a teen were pretty bad too, but I kept at it and have grown as a writer. It can be frustrating if the only stories you get about a couple you love are badly written ones, but that still is no reason to attack the author of a not badly written story simply for not writing the couple you want. Write your own fic if you don’t find what you are looking for. It is one of the main reason why I write, there are almost no Canarrow fics out there, which blows my mind, they are by far the best and healthiest Arrowverse couple out there.

Okay, I think I’m done, lol.

#rant #i just needed to get this off my chest #some people suck #don't be an asshole #otp: i chose you / i'm gonna stay with you #don't block me and then comment negatively on one of my stories #such cowardly behavior #if you attack me at least give me the chance to reply #why can't we just respect each others opinion and get along #arrow fic #canarrow fic #anti bullying #anti toxic olicity people #don't like don't read it's no that difficult #and Sara Lance is not gay! seriously! #there would be no arrowverse without Oliver and Sara's love (affair)

[geneeste]

While I was doing grocery shopping today (you know how you go into autopilot with some tasks, grocery shopping is one of mine) I for some reason had the strongest urge to go back and read the Arrow fic Monsters in the Dark.

If you haven’t read it, you should! It’s so fresh and unexpected, incredibly creative while still keeping the characters voices spot on.

I’m gonna go read it. What a treat.

#also if anyone has a link to the original author’s books #I would love to read them #arrow fic #monsters in the dark

[queencestqueen]

Wilted Flowers: Chapter Eight, “Infiltration”

Title: Wilted Flowers Author: QueencestQueen Pairings: Oliver/Thea (aka Queencest and/or Tholiver) Rating: M (or E, depending on the rating system)

Summary: What is this place? The sign on the gate said "Foxworth Hall." Its Gothic style was intimidating and foreboding. He couldn't picture his mother and sister in that awful place. They belonged in somewhere light and happy, somewhere like their family home, not this house of dread. What the hell had happened during those five years?

Notes: - AU for the entire series. - Inspired by/Fusion with "Flowers in the Attic," by VC Andrews - This chapter was beta'd by the wonderful, London! Thank you for being such a trooper and putting up with me. - Bold-ed words in this chapter emphasis and italicized words are imaginings/flashbacks.

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of this author. This author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

AO3 or FF.net

#queencest #tholiver #oliver x thea #thea x oliver #arrow fic #fanfiction

[wonderingfandoms]

I have read a couple Thea Queen/Slade Wilson fanfics and there actually really good.

No I’ve read them all and want more.

#slade wilson #arrow #arrow fic #ship #thea queen #speedy #deathstroke #oliver queen #the green arrow #strange ship #weird ships #arrowverse #thea/slade #theaxslade #speedyxdeathstroke #thea queen x Slade Wilson #unusual pairs #lack of fanfiction #weird pairs #strange pairs #love and redemption #redemption

[ghostbsuter]

Danny got comfortable on the roof, leaning froward with anticipation.

A silent thump and a person slid next to him, Danny barely gave the red head a glance.

"Any reasons to be on the roof at night?"

He shushes the vigilante, eyes not leaving the spot. It has Roy crouching next to him, watching as well.

Out of nowhere, a vampire looking fella flew around wildly, not far behind a ginger woman on a hoverboard, flying after him.

The Lady is shooting lasers with deathly accuracy, the man (?) dodging barely. It had Arsenal hum at the show.

"That's my mom." Danny points at the lady. "The guy she's hunting keeps harassing me so she took matters into her own hands."

Cheshire Cat lands not far away from the two, head tilted with a silent question that had Roy nodding and she is leaping away to the next roof once more.

"Why not call the authorities?" He asks, appearing less tense and more friendly to the teen.

The kid whistles sharp with a grin before answering.

"Tried, unfortunately, he's super rich with influence and connection. So here we are." He shrugs.

While they watch the chaos a bit longer, Roy ignores the insisting buzzing from his comm, Cheshire Cat probably alarmed Oliver by now.

He looks up when Danny stands, stretching.

"What was your name again?" He quirks his brow with a smile.

"I don't remember telling you."

Roy rolls his eyes, joining the teen to his feet. "So?"

"Danny."

He steps off the roof before Roy can react, a shout building up, until he sees the kid sitting on the hoverboard of his mother, her hand ruffling his hair.

"See ya, Arsenal."

They're long gone when Arsenal huffs, laughing.

"Until next time, Danny."

#dcxdp #dpxdc #dp x dc crossover #fic prompt #writing prompt #dc x dp prompt #green arrow vame barelling in not even a second after #do whatever you want with this #i love roy #ofc hed allow some good old arson and maiming #cheshire cat watched and filmed from a different roof #yeah she got her dad freking out on 4k #is she gonna pester him about avting like a dad to the stranger? #absolutely #when she talks abt danny to other people she calls him her brother jokingly #danny appears more afterwards

[frownyalfred]

actually the League has an informal but secretly very strict rule that Batman and Superman can’t sleep together/date/anything because it would impact the stability of the entire League, from their strategy meetings down to communication in the field. There’s too much tension between them as it is — no one can afford for them to add to it.

Cue Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent sleeping together and desperately trying to keep it a secret from their fellow League members.

#what oh I’m not sleeping with superman #but if green arrow offers him baseball tickets again I will lodge a batarang in his eye #bruce wayne #batman #dc #fic ideas #clark kent #superbat #superman

[jooeeydee]

I just love those Olicity or Felicity stans that leave mean comments to my stories, attack my portrayal of the characters, claim I'm bashing them, which I never do. Also attack me for writing Felicity as the problematic character she was and Olicity the toxic mess it was. And claim Oliver never loved Sara and then when I reply and hit them with facts, cause I always bring recipes, they delete their comments... guess that means I won the argument?

But why write a comment you'll end up deleting, if you feel uncomfortable leaving it stand after I replied, why write it to begin with?

Why do people feel the need to just tear other people's hard work down? If you don't like, don't read but don't be mean.

Sorry, just needed to vent.

#arrow fic #mean people commenting to be mean #so much negativity #anti olicity stans #anti felicity stans #comments #guess I won the argument #why are people like that? #anti olicity

[originalhybridloverfics-backup]

Healing and Scars - Home Invasion

Summary: Oliver makes a decision that forces to John's hand to make his own.

A/N: I do not own Arrow just my own Felicity AU twist to the story.

Oliver and John were training with John hitting hand mitts that were on Oliver’s hands. 

“You feel better?” Oliver asked as the larger man punched at the mitts. 

“I’ll feel better once we end Deadshot.��� John grunted in anger, punching out with his fist. Jab after jab. “We have to end this guy before he makes any more widows out of wives.” 

Dig shook his wrist, feeling pain shoot through his hand. 

“We will. Diggle, we’ll stop him. I promised you I’d help take him down, and I keep my promises, but he’s on another continent.” Oliver said as John unwrapped his hands. Oliver’s voice was calm. Placating. 

“Not anymore.” Felicity cut in, gaining both their attention. She was seated at her computer station, working. “I thought it would be helpful to track A.R.G.U.S’ manhunt for Floyd Lawton aka Deadshot, so I decrypted their communication logs. Which means I just hacked a federal agency.” She continued as John slipped a shirt on and both he and Oliver came to stand on either side of her. “Which kind of makes me a cyber-terrorist, which is bad because I really don’t see myself fitting in well at Guantanamo Bay.” she ran a hand over her high ponytail. 

“Don’t worry, Felicity, they don’t send blondes there,” said Oliver, looking at her screens. 

“I dye it, actually.” Felicity confessed, then looked at him. “I keep your secret…”

Oliver smiled at her, and she smiled back. 

“Hey, what’d you find?” John asked, regaining Felicity’s focus. 

Oliver leaned over with an amused smile as Felicity regained her focus, to take a closer look at Felicity’s roots. 

“Deadshot is scheduled to meet with a potential new client here in Starling City.” Felicity had still images pulled up of the man in question. “Except the potential contract is bogus. Your friend Lyla is setting a trap for him. Lawton took the bait.”

John nodded. “Great, I’ll talk to Lyla, see if I can suss out any details.” 

“Good. I’ve got to have lunch with Laurel.” Oliver announced. 

“So when did you become, uh, lunch dates with Laurel?” asked John, sitting on the edge of Felicity’s desk with his arms crossed.

“Look, we’re just… We’re friends.” answered Oliver. 

“Friends are good.” Felicity said, sharing a look with John. From what she learned from John and what she gathered from social media, and tabloids, Oliver was incapable of being just friends with his on again off again high school sweetheart, now ex-girlfriend Laurel Lance. 

“But?” Oliver asked, not missing the exchange. 

Felicity swiveled her chair around. “Couldn’t you be friends with someone less complicated than your ex-girlfriend, who’s your ex-best friend’s current girlfriend?”

She looked at John, her source of first hand Oliver drama info. This all seemed to be a recipe for personal disaster. 

“I wear a hood and I put arrows into criminals, so when it comes to complexity…” Oliver turned, heading out. “I grade on a curve.” 

“Does he actually believe his own crap?” Felicity asked John as Oliver left the building.

“Yes.” John answered with absolute certainty. 

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ 

Oliver walked to Laurel’s desk at CNRI where she was working on her computer. “Hi.”.

“Did you get my voicemail?” asked Laurel, not looking away from what she was doing. 

“No.” Oliver answered. 

“Things got a little crazy around here. Back-to-back meetings, I am so sorry, rain check?” she still didn’t look at him, completely distracted by her work. 

“Sure. I could definitely catch up on some club paperwork.” Oliver answered. “We’re way behind since Tommy left.” 

Laurel finally looked up at him. “I’m still shocked that he went to go work for Malcolm. You know, you were really understanding to let him take this opportunity.” She stood, moving around her desk. “Tommy said you were cool with it.” 

“Why wouldn’t I be?” asked Oliver, following her toward the door. “He’s my friend. Like you.” 

He hated Tommy left. That his relationship with Tommy had deteriorated so badly, but he felt like there was nothing he could do to change that. 

A young couple with their son appeared in the doorway. “I’m sorry, are we early?” the man asked. 

“No, not at all.” Laurel answered. “Uh, Oliver, this is Eric Moore and his wife, Nancy. I’m prepping them for a deposition for tomorrow.” 

Oliver pointed to the little boy. “And this must be your bodyguard?” 

The little boy, no more than eight, smiled timidly. 

“This is our son, Taylor.” the woman introduced her arm around the shoulders of her son. 

“Well, you are in very capable hands. It was nice to meet you.” Oliver said before walking around them and out of CNRI. 

He was disappointed that his lunch with Laurel was canceled, but there was nothing he could do. 

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ 

Oliver stepped out of his bathroom, steam still in the air from his hot shower, a green towel hanging low on his hips. 

The news running on his tv catching his attention. 

“Starling City is expected to be host of this year’s Festival of Lights exhibition,” a male reporter on the screen was saying. “In other news, the bodies of Mr. and Mrs. Moore were found early this morning. The couple were being represented by attorney Laurel Lance of CNRI in a lawsuit against financier Edward Rasmus. Miraculously, their seven-year-old son Taylor survived the horrific attack.”

Oliver’s lips parted in surprise, and he turned on his heel with purpose.

No child should have had to go through such an ordeal, let alone at such a young age.  

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ 

Taylor sat in a chair, Laurel stood nearby with Tommy, biting her nails. 

“This isn’t your fault, Laurel. You shouldn’t feel guilty,” Tommy said, running a hand down her arm. 

“I don’t feel guilty. I’m angry.” Laurel said, her arm falling to her side. “This wasn’t some random break-in. Edward Rasmus is involved, I know it.” 

“Ok, listen, our guys are looking into this.” Lance appeared at their side. “But you need to stay out of it, ok? Because if Rasmus is behind this, he’s clearly not messing around.”

“Uh…” a social worker walked up with Taylor behind them. “If you’d like to say goodbye to Taylor, I will be taking him over to child services.” 

“Doesn’t he have any other family?” asked Laurel, into the boy’s said face. 

“Grandparents are in Melbourne.” the woman answered. “We’re tracking them down, but until then, he’s going to be a temporary ward of the state.” 

Laurel took Taylor by the shoulders, pulling him to her. “He can stay with me.” Tommy looked at her, surprised. “As his attorney, I am assigning myself temporary guardianship.” 

“You’d still need a judge’s order.” The woman reminded.

“I’ll have it to you in an hour.” Laurel assured her. 

“Well, have it your way.” The woman said and walked past them. 

Lance moved to stand in front of them. “Ok, look, I’m going to park a patrol car outside your place.”

“Fine.” Laurel agreed.

“And you…” Lance looked at Tommy. “You look after them, all right?” 

“I spend most nights at your daughter’s anyways.” Tommy answered, earning himself a look from Lance. “There was probably a better time to tell you that.”

“Probably not.” Lance walked away. 

Laurel crouched down to be at level with Taylor. “Hey, come stay in my house, ok?” 

Tommy looked past them to Oliver, walking through the door, he moved to intercept him. “What are you doing here?” 

“I heard what happened. I just wanted to make sure Laurel was ok.” Oliver looked past him to Laurel, seeing the little boy he met just yesterday. 

“You could have just called.” Tommy told him, blocking his path. 

“I met Laurel’s clients and their son yesterday and I felt badly.” Oliver informed him. . 

“You met them?” asked Tommy, wondering when Oliver could’ve met them when he never got the chance to. 

“Yeah, when I was picking up Laurel for lunch…” Oliver paused by the look on Tommy’s face. “Which she didn’t tell you about.”

But why? Why didn’t Laurel tell him? Was there a reason she was keeping their deepening and closening friendship a secret?  

“Tell you what?” asked Laurel, approaching with Taylor. 

“Nothing.” Tommy answered, moving to her side. 

“It’s settled.Taylor’s coming home with us tonight.” Laurel told him. 

“Well, if you need anything–”

Tommy cut Oliver off. “We’re fine.”

“Ok.” Oliver pressed his lips together in a thin smile. He didn’t know what was worse, seeing Laurel and him together or having his best friend, his brother, cutting him out. 

“We should really get going,” said Laurel, wanting to get Taylor home, hoping to make the boy more comfortable.  

“Here.” Tommy helped Laurel into her jacket and ushered her and Taylor out. 

Oliver watched them leave, feeling pushed out and dismissed. He couldn’t help thinking he could do more to help and he needed to, especially if they were still in danger. 

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Oliver walked into the foundry to see Felicity working away on her computers. “What’s this?” 

“Lyla’s mission profile on the trap they’ve set for Deadshot.” Felicity answered, her fingers flying across the keyboard. 

“Lawton is set to meet his new employer and get his assignment tomorrow at 8 pm. Only, his new employer… Will be an A.R.G.U.S. agent. Lyla will then swoop in with her team and arrest him.” Dig answered, balancing an open laptop on his forearm. 

The two had been working well together in Oliver’s absence. 

“Do you want Lawton arrested?” Oliver asked, looking across Felicity’s desk at him. 

“No.” John answered. He hated to admit it, but it was the truth. Every fiber of his being called for Lawton’s death. His brother’s killer didn’t deserve to see his next sunrise.  

“Then tomorrow night, we cross Floyd Lawton’s name off your list,” Oliver said, then added. “There is something else we need to look into. Two of Laurel’s clients were murdered last night. Their seven-year-old son barely escaped.” 

John shut the laptop. “That’s terrible.”

“Edward Rasmus, the financial advisor Laurel was taking to court, may not have pulled the trigger, but he probably called in the hit.” Said Oliver and Felicity were already looking the man up on her screens. “I want you to get into his corporate accounts, phone records, anything that may link him to the kill, ok?” he told Felicity, and she nodded silently. 

If she could help get justice for that little boy, she will. It was just awful what happened to him. She couldn’t imagine what he must be going through. 

Oliver moved toward the table, grabbed his hood. 

“Where are you going?” John asked. 

“Laurel’s,” Oliver answered, knowing and dreading the shit John would give him later. 

“Another friendly meal?” John half asked, half taunted 

Oliver didn’t give him a response and headed out. John could rib him later. 

John looked at Felicity, sharing another look with her. Another round on the Laurel and Oliver merry-go-round they go. 

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ 

Taylor sat on the end of the couch, looking down. He looked heartbroken. 

Laurel sat on the back of the couch. “Taylor?” she rubbed her hand over his shoulder. “Sweetheart? Are you hungry? You know, I make the world’s best macaroni and cheese.” 

“It’s the only thing she knows how to make,” said Tommy as he rounded the couch. 

“I miss my mom and dad,” Taylor said, quietly. He didn’t want to eat. He just wanted his mom and dad. 

Tommy crushed in front of Taylor, gripping the crouch. “When I was your age, my mom tucked me into bed that night before going out. Then the next thing I knew, there was a police officer at my door. He said that she was gone and that I would never see her again. But you know what? He was wrong.”

Some days Tommy could still feel her loss like it had just happened yesterday. Some days were easier than others. 

“You saw her?” Taylor asked. 

“Mh-mmm.” Tommy nodded. “Every time I close my eyes, I can see her. Every time I go to bed, I see her in my dreams.”  

“Really?” asked Taylor, wanting it to be true. 

“Yeah. Now try it. Close your eyes,” Tommy encouraged. 

Taylor closed his eyes and bowed his head. “I see them,” he said and opened his eyes to look at Tommy. 

“Whenever you are sad or scared, just remember that they will always be there.” Tears shined in Tommy’s eyes. He had never been thankful for his own loss, but he was glad that he could help Taylor in some way, no matter how small it was. 

Laurel smiled, eyes shining. “You constantly surprise me, Merlyn.” 

A knock sounded on the door. 

Tommy stood to answer it. “I’ll get it.” 

“Ms. Lance? Lieutenant Kessel, SCPD.” a man's voice sounded from the side of the door. “Your dad asked me to check in.” 

Laurel moved toward the door. “Lieutenant, can you hold your badge up to the door, please?” she looked through the threshold and once she saw his back, she immediately back away, her breathing shaky. “Ok, great. Just one sec.” 

“What?” Tommy asked, seeing something was wrong. She was shaking. In fear. 

“His badge number begins with a zero, Lieutenant’s badge numbers begin with a one–” her voice was just as shaky.  

A gun shot blasted through the door, cutting her off. 

Laurel ran into another room while Tommy immediately went for Taylor, pulling the boy to the floor and covering him with his body. 

Mr. Blank kicked the door in. He moved through Laurel’s apartment. “It was the badge that gave me away, right?” 

He was full of confidence. 

He fired at the couch, shooting it up. 

Tommy, from his position on the floor, could see the man coming closer. He placed his hand over Taylor’s mouth to keep him from making a sound. 

“You know, my father’s a cop,” Laurel called out.  

Mr. Blank whirled, firing, clipping the wall. 

Laurel moved out from her cover, holding a shotgun. “And that’s not all he taught me.” and fired a shot at the man, but he dodged it. 

She tried to fire at him again, but the gun jammed. 

Mr. Blank raised his gun to shoot at her, but the hood crashed through the window and shot the gun out of his hand. The hood fired a second arrow, but Mr. Blank ran. The hood pursued, and Mr. Blank gave him a slip and went through the window The Hood came in through. 

Tommy lifted his head to see Oliver, relief in his eyes. 

The hood nodded at Laurel and then went out the same window he came through. 

If he hadn’t lingered, he may have caught up to Mr. Blank, but instead, the hit man got away. 

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Lance looked at the broken window that had crime scene tape. “I’m feeling like it might be time for you to move.” 

Laurel’s apartment, being a crime scene, seemed to be becoming a regular occurrence and as her father, it was worrying. 

Cops and forensics moved through the apartment, taking pictures for evidence. 

“Dad, whoever Rasmus hired is going to keep coming until he finishes the job, otherwise Rasmus will just hire someone else who will,” Laurel said, stepping around broken glass. 

Lance sighed. “Ok, listen, I want the three of you in protective custody immediately, and don’t even think about it.” he pointed at Laurel, knowing she would argue with him in protest. “He killed two of my men.” 

“The Hood just saved our lives. We can trust him.” Laurel defended. “He won’t let anything happen to me.” 

Tommy looked down. She had no idea how right she was. He hated it, but she wasn’t wrong and it would be the safest option for her and Taylor. 

“Even if I was comfortable with the idea of him watching over you 24/7, which I’m not, something tells me he’s got better things to do.” Lance replied. 

“What about Oliver?” Tommy asked when Lance started turning away. 

“Sorry, you got another friend named Oliver?” Lance asked, because he couldn’t be talking about Queen. 

“The Queens have more security than the President. They’ve got cameras everywhere, bodyguards in every wing, and no one goes in or out without being accounted for.” Tommy insisted, knowing Lance hated the idea, but it was the best option. “We both only want what is best for Laurel. And right now, that is to stay close to Oliver. Trust me.” 

Lance exhaled and gave a sharp nod. He hated it, but if it kept Laurel safe, that was all that mattered.  

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ 

The Queen mansion door was opened to reveal Tommy, Laurel and Taylor on the threshold.

They walked inside, John letting them in and closing the door shut behind them. 

“This is Mr. Robbins.” John introduced another bodyguard. “Where you go, he goes. You’ll be very well protected, Ms. Lance.” 

“Thank you.” Laurel told hi. 

“I hand-selected these men myself. The house and the grounds are completely secure.” John went on to explain. 

“Please make yourself at home,” said Moira, and leaned forward toward Taylor. “You must be Taylor. How about I show you where I hide the good cookies? Ok?”

Taylor gave a small smile and took her hand, allowing her to lead him out. 

“Mr. Queen, whenever you’re ready, I can take you to your next appointment, sir.” John approached Oliver and looked at him meaningfully. “The Lawton meeting?” 

“Yes.I just need to swing by the club and pick up my good suit. So I’ll meet you there,” Oliver assured him.

“Of course, sir,” John replied, and headed out the door. 

“You’re leaving?” Tommy asked, surprised. 

“There’s something else I need to take care of,” Oliver told him. “It’s important.” 

“More important than what’s going on here?” Tommy looked pointedly toward Laurel at his side. 

Laurel looked between the two men, confused. “No offense to Oliver, but I think we need Mr. Robbins and his men more than him.”

She walked past them, following in the direction Moira and Taylor went. 

Oliver moved to walk past Tommy out the door, but Tommy stopped him. 

Tommy cleared his throat. “You are the reason why we’re here, and trust me, that wasn’t easy to admit.” 

“You’ll be fine. I promise,” Oliver told him and walked out the door. 

Tommy exhaled deeply. His anger and resentment for Oliver growing. 

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Felicity was working away on her computers. “I’m uploading a satellite overview of the Plaza to your phone…”

“Thanks, but I know the place–” 

“Dig was pretty specific about where you should perch–” Felicity cut Oliver off. “you know, what position gives you the best shot at Lawton. I think. He used a lot of military jargon.” Felicity gave her head a shake. “So you’re sniping a sniper. Kind of ironic, don’t you think?” When Oliver didn’t respond, she tact on. “Me neither.”

Felicity's computer beeped, an alert flashing across the screen. 

“What’s that?” Oliver came to stand next to her, dressed in his leathers. 

“I had a remote access trojan scouring the Internet for Edward Rasmus. His name just popped up on a flight manifest, 8:15 to Shanghai… He’s running. That’s good, right? If he’s leaving town, he won’t be after Laurel and the child anymore. But if you did want to stop him, looks like it’s now or never.” She chanced a look up at him, her look serious. “Deadshot or Rasmus… Your choice.” 

Oliver left without saying a word. 

She hoped he was choosing to help John. After all, Laurel was practically being guarded in a fortress. However, if she learned anything from John about Oliver and Laurel, the likely hood of Oliver choosing John over Laurel was low on the bar. 

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ 

John was seated as Felicity stood next to him, carefully cleaning the blood from the wound above his eye. She wanted a good look before healing him; she needed to know just what it would look like for her once she did. Hopefully, it will take just a little makeup to cover up.

“What happened?” Oliver asked, returning to the foundry.

“You didn’t show. Things didn’t go well.” John answered, glaring. 

Felicity put down the wet cloth she was using. “Hold still.” She placed her hand over his wound, her hand glowing like sunlight. 

John could feel the warmth and tingling sensation where his wound was and then nothing. It was a weird feeling. 

John squeezed her hand in thanks. 

Felicity turned away, already feeling the wound above her eye. It was a minor nuisance compared to when she healed Oliver. 

Discreetly, she turned and rearranged her hair to cover her left eye, concealing the aftereffects of her healing ability. Thankfully, John and Oliver were focused on each other and not on her. 

“Rasmus was skipping town… And I had to re-prioritize,” Oliver explained. 

John stood. “Thanks to your new priorities, four agents are dead, Oliver. You could have stopped this guy, ended this maniac once and for all.” 

“Lawton got away?” Oliver asked. 

John took a step toward him. “You seriously think a man who goes by the name “Deadshot” was going down without a fight? I needed you there, man.” 

“Taylor Moore was relying on me, Diggle.” replied Oliver. .

“But this was never about that kid. He is safe under armed security at your house. This is about Laurel.” said John, refusing to let Oliver use the little boy as an excuse. 

Oliver looked him in the eye. “Diggle, I made a choice.” 

“I know. You chose Laurel.” John said and Oliver looked away, unable to deny it. “Always her. Everybody else be damned.” 

John shoulder checked him on his way out. 

Felicity watched him go and then looked at Oliver. 

“Something to say, Felicity?” Oliver asked, eyes hard. 

“Nothing you want to hear,” Felicity answered, picking up the bowl with bloody bandages and her first-aid supplies, walking away. She stopped by her desk to grab her purse. She needed to use some coverup and conceal the light bruising already forming above her eye.

Oliver stood there, tense, angry. Resolute. 

He made the right decision and refused to apologize for it. He was not in the wrong here. Sometimes he had to make the hard choices, and this was one of those times. 

John would come around. He just needed time to understand where he was coming from and that he hadn’t made the wrong choice here tonight. 

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Felicity stared at herself in the reflection, relieved to see the light wound was healing. It shouldn’t last more than a few days.

She would just have to cover it with foundation until it was gone, and she was in the clear. 

She didn’t want Oliver and John knowing the cost of her healing or they might not ever accept her help with their wounds again. 

In their line of work, it wasn’t advisable. 

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ 

Laurel was seated on the edge of the couch looking at a photo album on the table with an old picture of her and Oliver when they were teenagers.

“You looked so beautiful that night,” said Moira, joining her on the couch. “I remember Oliver telling me once that he wished your father would let him come over to your house more often.” Laurel looked at her surprised, as she continued to speak. “That being there made him feel less like Robert Queen’s son and more like himself. I liked who my son was when he was around you.” 

“Thank you,” said Laurel, appreciating her words. 

“Hey.” Oliver entered the room. “The police just called. Edward Rasmus was arrested.” 

Laurel stood. “Really? What happened?” 

“Apparently he confessed to everything,” Oliver answered, walking further into the room. “He’s going to go to prison for a long time and won’t be able to hurt anyone ever again.” 

“Why would he confess?” asked Laurel, confused. 

“The vigilante was involved.” Oliver answered. 

Laurel looked to the side with a pleased smile. 

Tommy walked into the room behind him. “Good for him.

“So, I guess it’s over,” said Laurel.

“Yes...Yeah.” said Oliver. 

“Great,” said Tommy, relieved. “I’ll go wake up Taylor–” 

“No, Tommy, please.” Moira stood. “He’s sleeping. He’s been through a lot. Now you all are welcome to stay. We certainly have enough room.” 

“It’s your call,” Tommy said, his eyes on Laurel.

Laurel looked at Moira. “Thank you, Mrs. Queen.” she looked at Oliver. “I guess we’ll stay, then.” 

“Good.” said Moira. 

Tommy said nothing, but this was killing him on the inside. He wanted to get away from here, away from Oliver, the man he used to call his best friend, his brother. 

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ 

Oliver leaned against the doorjamb watching as Laurel stood over Taylor watching him sleep. 

When she noticed his presence, she walked out of the room and he closed the door behind them. 

“He’s safe now, Laurel.” Oliver told her as she leaned against the wall, biting her fingernails with a worried look 

“With a hard road ahead of him.” Laurel replied, her hand falling to her side. 

“Well, he’s lucky to have you in his life.” Oliver smiled softly. ”I know the feeling.” 

Laurel turned her body toward him, looking up at him with a light in her eyes. “When you first got home, I didn’t think that you changed much. But you have, and… It’s nice to see.”

Oliver smiled, touched. “Thank you.” 

Laurel leaned into him, and Oliver opened his arms to her, hugging her to his chest. 

Down the corridor, Tommy watched from the shadows unseen as thunder filled the air. He felt his stomach twist and turn, unsettling him.  

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

The doorbell rings and the bodyguard walked down the flight of stairs. 

“I have a delivery van coming in for Ms. Lance, his I.D. checks out.” A man’s voice came over the video line. 

“Thanks for the heads up,” the man said into his comms and answered the door to reveal a young delivery boy. 

The bodyguard took him in. 

“For...Ms. Lance.”

The bodyguard drew his gun when he noticed his shaking hands, but it was too late. A shot entered the boy through him, followed by another shot taking him down. 

“What a beautiful home.” Mr. Blank stepped in between the dead bodies. “Hmm… Such pain here. A sense of loss and regret, you can feel it, down to the wood paneling…” he lifted his watched, checking his beeping watch. 

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ 

The power went out and Laurel and Oliver pulled apart. Tommy immediately moved toward them. 

“Tommy…” Oliver said as he approached. “Can you two stay here with Taylor?” 

“Where are you going?” Laurel asked him.

“It’s an old house, fuses blow all the time, it’s probably nothing, just please… Come on.” Oliver ushered Laurel and Tommy into the room. 

“Ok.” said Laurel, going inside. 

Oliver closed the door behind them and kicked the handle off so it couldn’t be easily opened before heading down the hall. 

~*~ ~*~ ~* ~

Laurel jolted at the sound of gunfire, holding Taylor to her. “He’s here.” 

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ 

Oliver moved down the corridor, needing no light. He knew every inch of this house. He paused around a corner, lightning flashing, darting away just as a bullet clipped where he was just standing. 

Mr. blank charged forward around the corner, gun raised. 

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ 

Laurel moved toward the door.  

Tommy stopped her, grabbing her arm. “Laurel… Laurel, don’t–” 

Laurel face forward, protesting. “No, Ollie is still out there.” 

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ 

Mr. Blank opened a door, and Oliver kicked him in the chest, forcing him back. He followed it up with a right, which the man dodged. He grabbed him by the arm, flipping him over, but the man quickly recovered. Even so, Oliver continued to push him back down the hall. 

Oliver kicked off the wall, slamming his fist into Mr. Blank’s face. 

The man swung. Oliver dodged and kicked him down the stairs. Oliver then jumped down the flight of stairs, kicking Blank down the second flight of stairs. Oliver used his environment to dodge and engage in a series of blows.

“What happened to you on that island?” Mr. Blank asked as they anticipated each other’s moves. 

“You’re about to find out.” Oliver tossed him over the railing, sending them both crashing through the table. 

The two men garbled, Oliver being shoved in the fireplace. He reached for a poker as Blank aimed his gun; he whirled, slashing at the man three times before stabbing him through the chest. 

The man slumped forward, gasping. 

Oliver released him, and he fell backward, dead. 

Oliver fell back, catching his breath. 

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ 

Mr. Blank’s body was placed into a black bag, the coroners wheeling him out as police and forensics moved through the Queen mansion. 

“Death by poker.” Lance said to Oliver. “That’s a new one.” 

“He was going to shoot me. And then, uh, mister… Robbins, he grabbed the poker and... saved my life,” said Oliver, trying his best to give a believable explanation. The last thing he wanted was Lance back on his trail. 

“Mr. Robbins was a real hero,” Tommy said, leaning against the wall. “If it weren’t for him, we’d all be dead.”

Oliver breathed out slowly, not expecting Tommy to speak up on his behalf. 

“I’ve got enough details for my report. I’ll clear my boys out of here.” Lance turned. “Let’s go.”

Everyone filed out. 

Oliver walked further into the foyer with a slight limp. Tommy followed him. Both men paused to watch as Laurel walked up the stairs, her arm around Taylor’s shoulders. 

“You still love her. Don’t you?” Tommy asked once she was gone, turning his eyes to Oliver. 

“It doesn’t matter how I feel. Because of what I do… I could never be with her.” Oliver answered a weight on his chest. “You see, you don’t have anything to be afraid of. She is never... ever going to know my secret.” 

“It doesn’t matter if she knows. I know,” said Tommy, his stomach churning, his heart falling. “And I don’t know how to be with Laurel knowing the entire time... that if she ever found out who you really are... she would choose you.” 

Oliver avoided Tommy’s eyes, not knowing what to say. Tommy moved past him and he blew out a breath. 

There was nothing else that could be said. 

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ 

John sat in the foundry, the muscles in his body tense.

“Was hoping you’d be here.” Oliver said from behind him. “I want us to get back on the same page.” 

John didn’t even bother looking at him. “Oliver, we’re not even in the same book, you and me, not anymore.” 

“I just did what I thought I had to.” Oliver said sincerely. 

“Just like I’m doing what I have to.” John exhales deeply. “We’re done.” 

John stood up, walking past him. 

“Don’t do this,” said Oliver, not turning around. 

John paused. “The only thing you have to stop me from going out that door is an arrow.” 

Oliver didn’t move, didn’t speak. John walked away. 

“Hey.” Felicity greeted as she came in, but he continued on, not stopping or speaking. “Where’s he going?” she asked Oliver, walking closer. 

Oliver said nothing. Not moving. 

Felicity stared at Oliver for a moment. His silence wasn’t a good sign. 

She wondered if she should just give him time to himself.

Until finally he spoke. 

“He left the team.” 

Felicity couldn’t imagine it. John and Oliver were a package deal. How were they supposed to do what they do with a vital member of their team gone? 

She didn’t know, but she was certain she was going to find out.

#fanfic #olicity #felicity smoak #oliver queen #oliver x felicity #arrow fic #arrow #olicity fic #fanfic: healing and scars

[kingcael]

artifact of wisdom

#cael does art #sheik #sheikah #the legend of zelda #light arrows #goddess harp #did u know I HC the light arrows and the goddess harp both represent what I consider the wisdom equivalent of the master sword or Ghirahim #and that sheik is an entity like fi or Ghirahim #I even wrote the start of a fic about it #my thoughts and theories on Zelda are vast and unspoken

[such-expensive-mistakes]

When Oliver Queen was dead, he ended up in the Infinite Realms, where he inadvertently became the mentor to teen ghost hero Phantom. After Ollie came back to life, he made a point of reaching out to Phantom, just in case the kid needed anything.

DCxDP Week prompt: found family

Author's Notes: I've tried to make this accessible as possible to those of you who aren't familiar with the Arrowfam, but here are links to character primers on Oliver Queen, Connor Hawke and Mia Dearden if you want them. If you are familiar with GA comics, then just know that this is set loosely during the 2001 run. And finally, the idea of a hero in the Infinite Realms helping mentor Danny was largely inspired by Blueseabird2's fic Grave Promises. (It's excellent! If you haven't read it, go do that!)

-

"Do you remember it?" Ollie asks, looking at Superman out of the corner of his eye.  They're standing in front of Oliver's grave.  Always made the right enemies. It's a hell of an epitaph; Ollie wonders who came up with it.  Roy or Dinah, probably.

"Remember..." Superman says.

"Being dead."  

Supes gives him that same look everyone seems to be giving Ollie these days, like he's not quite sure if Ollie is all there in the head.  

"Never mind."  Oliver waves a hand.  "Just thinking."

-

He does remember it, is the thing.  He remembers the endless Infinite Realms, as green as any of Hal's constructs.  He remembers the ghosts-- the ones who had originally been alive like him, and the ones that had never lived at all.  Humans and aliens and otherdimensional beings, all together in one place.  He remembers being in the same costume he'd died in, only color-flipped to red.  (That was just wrong.  Red was Roy's color, not Ollie's.)

And he remembers Phantom.

He'd met Phantom pretty early on.  Time in the Infinite Realms was tricky; it didn't move like time did on Earth.  Sometimes it went slower, sometimes faster, sometimes it even seemed to go backwards.   So he didn't remember exactly how long he'd been in the Realms before coming across Phantom, but it didn't feel like long.

Phantom had been chasing down some magical artifact when he'd come across Oliver-- or rather, Red Arrow-- who had picked a fight with an asshole ghost way more powerful than him.

Some things never changed.  But hey, ghost arrows were pretty nifty.

Phantom had helped him out, and in return Ollie had offered to help Phantom with tracking down the artifact he was looking for.  As they talked, it quickly became obvious that Phantom was doing the whole teen hero thing-- and not just in the Realms, but on Earth.  He clammed up when Ollie asked too many questions, but it was pretty clear that he didn't have a mentor or anything.

"Do you have the Teen Titans in your world?" Oliver asked, having learned by that point that the Infinite Realms connected every dimension out there.

"Yeah," Phantom had said, looking wary.

"You should talk to them," Oliver said.  "It helps to have someone out there on your side, who knows what you're dealing with."  The Titans had been good for Roy.  Not just friends, although they were that, too, but an extra support system.  

But Phantom shook his head.  "I can't."  And then he'd gone on to describe the Anti-Ecto Acts and the GIW.  

Ollie had never exactly been a fan of the government-- too much corruption, too many rich assholes using the system to protect themselves-- but this still managed to surprise him.  And while he was pretty sure his own world's Teen Titans wouldn't stand for this kind of thing-- or even the JLA, no matter how badly they sometimes overreached-- he had no way of knowing whether Phantom's Teen Titans were the same ones he knew.  

"Tell you what," Ollie said.  "Next time you get a chance, track me down and I'll show you a few things.  I don't know how much help I'll be with superpowers, but--" 

"Really?" Phantom had asked, then surprised Ollie by hugging him.

That was the start of it.  They'd tracked down the artifact, Phantom had left the Realms to go back and do his hero thing on Earth, and Oliver was left to second-guess himself until the next time Phantom came around.  

Oliver wasn't exactly a perfect mentor.  He'd done his best for Roy, but there were so many things he would do differently if he had the chance.  But he was better than nothing, which was what Phantom had been working with before.

Phantom didn't need to learn archery; he had superpowers.  But Ollie managed to teach him a thing or two about picking your shot and waiting for the right moment.  About trusting your instincts and dodging bullets (or ectoblasts).  

Phantom was cagey about anything that wasn't hero work, but Oliver managed to glean a few details.  He had a couple of living friends who helped him out, he was frequently chased down by ghost hunters, and most of the town he was based in didn't think particularly highly of him.  And that was on top of his whole rogue's gallery of villainous ghosts, not to mention the GIW.

"You can't make people like you," Ollie advised him.  "Even if you do all the right things.  You just have to trust yourself and ignore the public opinion."  God knew plenty of people had hated the Green Arrow over the years.  

It had been rewarding, in a way Ollie had almost forgotten, watching Phantom grow as a hero.  Watching him grow more confident and more skilled-- and Ollie wasn't giving himself credit for all of that, but he'd helped bring those qualities out.

And then, Oliver came back to life.

-

"Where to next?" Roy asks, as they drive out of Central City. Ollie appreciates that Roy is willing to follow his lead on this, even though it's clear Roy thinks he's being ridiculous.  Sure, Wally would probably have let Ollie have that old ring of Barry's if he'd asked, just like the JLA would probably have let him have the diamond-tipped arrow.  But those things weren't theirs to keep or give in the first place.

"Amity Park, Illinois."

Roy gives him a skeptical look over the top of his sunglasses. "The hell is in Amity Park?"  He's bracing himself to hear about some other memorabilia Ollie left behind upon his death, something else that wasn't disposed of the way Ollie had requested.  Something else that other people-- even Roy-- think insignificant.

That would be easier to explain than this.

"Maybe nothing," Oliver says. "But I need to be sure."

-

Finding Amity Park in the first place is a task and a half.  It's not on the map Roy keeps in his glovebox, and they have to ask directions at multiple gas stations across Illinois before they arrive.  

It's immediately clear that they're in the right place.  Amity Park is a small city-- barely even a city, really.  But the property damage evident on the streets and the buildings is on par with the aftermath of an alien invasion.

Roy slides off his shades.  "What on earth..."  He glances at Oliver.  "Ollie, what is this?"

A green streak shoots across the sky, followed by a white one.  

Phantom.

"Follow them!"  Ollie points at the ghosts.  

By the time they arrive, it's a stand-off.  The other ghost has disappeared, but Phantom is hovering twenty feet off the ground, dodging blasts from a couple in brightly colored hazmat suits.  

The Fentons.  Ollie had heard a few stories about them while he was in the Infinite Realms, though Phantom had been reluctant to talk about them.

"Ollie," Roy says.  In his voice, Ollie can hear all the suppressed rage he himself is feeling, watching a child-- a superpowered child, but a child nonetheless-- getting shot at.

"Not yet."  Ollie wants to help, but he doesn't want to make things worse by jumping in without thinking.  Their help isn't needed in the end; Phantom manages to disappear from sight while the ghost hunters are distracted.

Oliver tells the whole story to Roy over dinner at the local fast food joint.

"Jesus Christ," Roy says.  

"So you see why I want to talk to Phantom," Ollie says.  

"Aren't you already training two kids already?  You gonna add all of this on top?"  

"Connor doesn't need training.  He could probably teach me a thing or two.  And no one is training Mia in anything."  Okay, that last part isn't quite true; Oliver knows for a fact that Connor has been giving Mia lessons in archery and hand-to-hand.  But as long as she's not trying to put on a costume and fight crime, he'll pretend he doesn't know.  Hell, it makes him feel better, knowing that she has a trick or two up her sleeve.

"Phantom can't be much older than she is," Roy says, a hint of judgment in his tone.

"Phantom is already dead," he says.  Roy flinches a little.  "And he doesn't have a Hal Jordan to bring him back."

They go back to their burgers.  It's not until Oliver is crumpling up his wrapper that he speaks again.  

"Look," Ollie says.  "This is a lot bigger than Phantom.  And based on what I know of him, he's not going to want to leave Amity Park.  But I want to let him know that someone's got his back."

Roy claps him on the shoulder.  "More than just one person."

-

Tracking down Phantom for a conversation is harder than it sounds.  Oliver doesn't know how much time he even spends out here, rather than in the Infinite Realms.  Not to mention the handy ghost power of invisibility.  

He suits up and stakes out a rooftop downtown, with Roy doing the same on the other side of town.  He's just getting ready to pack it in for the night and try it again tomorrow when a familiar form materializes next to him.

"Arrow?" Phantom asks.

Oliver smiles.  "Hey, kid."  

"What-- how-- you're alive?" Phantom sputters a little.

"Am now," Ollie says.  "A friend of mine brought me back."  He gives a quick overview-- Green Lantern, godlike power, decided what the world was missing was one Oliver Queen.  

"I'm going to do what I can about the Anti-Ecto Acts and the GIW," Oliver says.  "But if you ever need anything, give me a call.  Or just track me down in Star."  He hands a slip of paper with his phone number and email on it to Phantom.  

"Danny," Phantom says.

"Sorry?"

"My name.  It's Danny."

"Oliver."  Ollie holds out his hand and Danny shakes it.  "Good to meet you, Danny."

-

For a while, he only hears from Danny through irregular emails and the very occasional phone call.  Ollie leans on his Justice League acquaintances to help repeal the Anti-Ecto Acts and get rid of the GIW.  It's slow going-- much slower than Ollie would like.  Too many JL members are advising caution, wanting to find out more about ghosts and how dangerous they might be before they take a stand.  Luckily, neither Superman and Wonder Woman were happy about Oliver's news, and hold a lot of sway with the American public.  And rather conveniently, a number of reporters have suddenly begun looking into the Anti-Ecto Acts, stirring up public sentiment against them even more than before.

Things are looking good.  And then, Danny shows up at the front door of Oliver's brownstone.  

Oliver is making himself a sandwich when he hears the knock at the door.  Mia (who had finally gotten Ollie to agree to let her be Speedy a few weeks back) is with the Teen Titans for the weekend, and Connor is working at the youth center for most of the day, so there's no one else here to answer the door.  Ollie wipes his hands on a kitchen towel, and opens the door.

Ollie doesn't know it's Danny at first.  The Danny he met was a ghost, complete with jumpsuit and white hair and superpowers.  The kid that shows up at Ollie's front door is a living, breathing kid.  He's got pale skin and dark hair and he can't be any older than sixteen.  He's a little on the thin side, though given his age, he could just be going through a growth spurt, and the backpack slung over his shoulder is decorated with a NASA patch.  

"Ollie?" the kid asks. 

"That's me," Ollie says.  "What can I do for you?"

"It's Danny.  Phantom," he clarifies in a low voice.  "From Amity Park."

He can see it, now that he knows to look.  The face and build are the same, just color-swapped.

“I need your help,” Danny continues.

The kid looks like he’s about to fall over from exhaustion or stress or both. 

Ollie opens the door a little wider.  "Come on in.  I was just making myself some lunch.  You can tell me what's going on."

Danny follows him into the kitchen and takes a seat at the counter.   Ollie finishes the sandwiches and slides one over to Danny.  

Danny doesn't pick it up at first, busy fidgeting with the sleeves of his hoodie.  “I don’t know where to start."

"Well, I gotta say," Oliver says.  "You're looking pretty alive for a dead guy.  I mean, same could be said for myself, but I told you how that happened."

Danny grimaces.  "About that.  It's kind of complicated."

Oliver leans against the opposite counter.  "Hit me with it."  

He already knows it's bad.  He was worried about Phantom in the first place; that's why he gave Danny a way to contact him if necessary.  Whatever made Danny travel halfway across the country to see him?  It can't be good.

"My parents are the Fentons," Danny starts.

Immediately Oliver knows the story is going to be worse than he anticipated. "The ghost hunters.  The ones who built the portal."  Ollie had heard all about that portal during his sojourn in the Infinite Realms-- some from Phantom, some from other ghosts.

"Yeah.  Well, the portal didn't exactly work at first.  My friends wanted to see it, and..."  Danny shrugs.  "It worked better than anyone gave them credit for, it's just that they accidentally put the switch on the inside."  

He can see where this story is going.  "And you accidentally turned it on."  

"Yeah.  It killed me, but all the ectoplasm coming through the portal brought me back to life.  So I'm only half-dead."  Danny finishes up his sandwich but Oliver, who is familiar with the eating habits of superhero teenagers, hands him another one.

"I'm guessing your folks don't know."  

"My sister does.  My parents don't."  Danny fidgets with the sleeves of his hoodie.  "That's not important."

It seems a little bit important.  

“It don’t know if there’s anything you can do,” Danny adds. “I just… I didn’t know where else to go.”

“You can stay here as long as you need to," Ollie says.  There's an extra bedroom that Stanley used as an office, back when this place belonged to him.  He'll need to get the junk cleaned out, but it should work for Danny.  "But it might help if I had a few more details.  Is someone gonna come looking for you-- or for Phantom?"

"I don't think so," Danny says.  "Well, the GIW might, but they're not super active outside of Amity Park."

"We'll handle them if they show up."  Oliver would love the chance to put a few arrows in them, and he's sure Connor and Mia would feel the same.  

There's obviously more to this story than Danny is currently telling him, but Ollie isn't gonna press.  Not yet.  Long and difficult experience has taught him how badly that usually goes when dealing with teenagers.  

Danny finishes up his lunch, and Ollie shows him around, eventually leaving him to hang out in the living room and watch TV.  Ollie himself starts packing up the junk in the spare room.  Danny might have to sleep on the couch for a day or two, until they get a bed for him to use, but it's an alright couch.  Ollie has certainly slept in less comfortable places.

He doesn't realize how much time has passed until he hears Connor call him from downstairs.

"Dad?"  

His tone of voice is carefully measured, but it's enough to remind Oliver that Danny is downstairs-- and that he didn't let Connor know about their new guest.

He dashes down the stairs and, sure enough, Connor and Danny are watching each other warily from other sides of the living room.  Danny in particular looks like he wants to bolt.  

"This is Danny," Oliver says.  "He's gonna be staying with us for a while.  And Danny, this is my son, Connor.  He's the other Green Arrow."  

"Nice to meet you," Connor says to Danny.  Then, "Dad, can I talk to you for a minute?"

Ollie follows Connor downstairs to the training room in their basement.  He has no idea how far Danny's enhanced senses extend outside the Infinite Realms-- or even if they work at all when he's not a ghost-- but Ollie suspects this conversation might not be as private as Connor is hoping.

"Are you sure about this?"  Connor asks.  

"He doesn't have anywhere else," Ollie says.  "What do you want me to do?"

Connor runs his hand over his face.  "I don't know.  But have you even talked to Mia about this?  When did you even meet this kid?"

"It was a sudden development," Ollie says.  "So no, I didn't.  But I don't think Mia's gonna tell me to send him packing."  He knows that's not what Connor is worried about; for all her bravado, Mia is still insecure about many things.  "As for how I met him... that's a bit of a story."

"Okay," Connor finally says.  "As long as you're sure."

Ollie clasps his shoulder.  "I appreciate it."  

-

They don't explain anything further to Connor that night, which is probably unfair to him.  But Ollie doesn't really want to make Danny explain more than once, and Mia won't be back until the next day.

Danny sleeps on the couch, and in the morning, he helps Ollie and Connor clean out the spare room.  Mia shows up a little after noon, having gotten a ride back from one of her powered friends, and finds the three of them eating pizza in the living room.

"You better have saved me some," she says, as she tosses her overnight bag on the floor.

"Didn't your friends feed you?" Ollie asks, but he passes her the box of pepperoni.  

Mia takes a slice and perches on the back of the couch, right next to Danny.  "Hi!  I'm Mia."  She gives Danny a look that is probably intended to be flirtatious.  

Danny looks a little like a deer in the headlights.  "Uh, hi?"

Connor raises an eyebrow at Oliver, and yeah, maybe having a teenage boy staying in the same house as Mia is a bad idea.  Then again, he's closer to her age than the guys she usually hits on.  

"This is Danny," Oliver says.  "Danny, Mia is my other kid.  She's also Speedy."  

They give Connor and Mia the cliff's notes version on ghosts and the Infinite Realms.  Danny knows a lot more than Ollie does about all of it, but he's much worse at explaining.  He either gets lost on tangents about inconsequential details, or he assumes they have more baseline knowledge than they do.

"I'm sorry," Mia says.  "Can we go back to the part where ghosts exist?"

"We've fought actual demons," Connor says.  "How are ghosts harder to believe?"

"Ollie was never a demon," Mia says with a shrug.  Then she narrows her eyes at Oliver.  "Were you?"

Ollie laughs.  "Definitely not."  

-

The next week or so is pretty quiet, by their standards.  The Green Arrows and Speedy go out and handle low-level crime in the city every night, though Phantom stays in at Ollie's suggestion; if the GIW is looking for him, it's better if he lies low.  It's a little worrying how easily he agrees.  It had never been that easy to convince him to do anything when they were training in the Infinite Realms.

Mia, who is better with technology than Ollie is, helps Danny send a message to his friends, letting them know he's safe.  

"It's better if I don't give them too many details," Danny says.  "Anyone who's looking for me will be watching them.  All of our devices are encrypted, thanks to Tucker, but I don't want to take any chances."

Danny comes with them to help out at the youth center, even while Ollie tells him that he's welcome to stay home and play video games or whatever.  Danny hasn't said anything about it, and so Ollie hasn't either, but Danny doesn't seem to want to be left alone for long.

Oliver wonders if that's because he's worried about himself or about them.

"So, where do your folks think you are?" Ollie asks at one point. 

Danny shrugs.  "Does it really matter?"

"Well, I'd like to know if I'm likely to be charged with kidnapping."  Connor and Mia both shoot him judgmental looks, but it's not like either of them were under any illusions about Ollie's ability to be delicate.  "I mean, I can handle it if I am, but I'd like to be prepared."

"I don't think you have to worry about that," Danny says, and that's the subject closed for the moment.

Mia corners Ollie one afternoon at the youth center, while Danny is playing basketball with some of the kids.  Danny is losing, badly.  Turns out he's incredibly clumsy when he's not using his powers.  The kids don't seem to mind, though, and Danny is a pretty good sport about it.

"We're keeping him, right?" Mia asks.

Oliver gives Mia a level look.  He hasn't noticed anything beyond some flirting on Mia's side, but that doesn't mean much.  

"Not like that," Mia says, rolling her eyes.  "I mean, he's cute, but he's kind of dense."

"Funny, I'm pretty sure the same has been said about me," Ollie jokes.

"Whatever he's not telling us... it's got to be pretty bad, right?" Mia says.  "But he seems happy here.  And we won't let anything happen to him."

There's a lot Oliver could say here: Danny has parents, he has friends, he has a home he obviously misses.  By almost every measure, he's far more powerful than Ollie or his kids, and whatever has him scared is quite possibly out of their league.  But the truth is, he feels the way Mia does.  

"It's up to him," Oliver finally says.  "But he's welcome to stay as long as he wants to."

-

Green Arrow and Speedy are crouched on a rooftop, taking aim at a couple of drug dealers, when Connor's voice crackles across the comms.

"I've got eyes on some guys in white suits," he says.  "At Fifty-first and Green."  

That's halfway across town, though nowhere near the brownstone.  If something goes down in the next few minutes, Connor is going to be on his own.  

"Don't engage," Ollie says.  "We're on our way."

They break up the drug deal and make their way toward Connor, who has been updating them on the GIW's movements the whole while.  

"I think they're looking for something," Connor says.  "They keep stopping and checking some kind of device-- I think it's a tracker of some kind."

"They're looking for Danny," Mia says.  

"How did they even know he's here?" Ollie wonders, but neither Mia nor Connor have any idea.  He makes a split-second decision.  "Mia, head back home and keep an eye on Danny.  Tell him Connor and I are handling it."

Mia is obviously put out by being sent away from the action, but she complies.  Oliver catches up with Connor, perching next to him on the edge of a roof.  Down on the street, a couple of men dressed all in white exit a white van and wave around a couple of handheld electronic devices.  They don't look up, which seems like a mistake from people who ostensibly deal with ghosts.  Convenient for the Green Arrows, though.

Trailing the GIW agents is a piece of cake.  Their all-white getup makes them clearly visible from a distance, and they seem to rely on their equipment rather than their eyes or ears.  

Their apparent incompetence makes Oliver get a little cocky, and that's where things go wrong.  He lands on the building closest to the agents, sure that they won't look up and see him-- and he's right.

Unfortunately, their device starts beeping just at that moment, and the two men are suddenly on high alert.  Ollie gets the bad feeling that something about him is what set it off.  They pull out their guns and look around wildly, until one of the geniuses gets the bright idea to look up.  That's when they start shooting wildly at Oliver and Connor.  

Their aim isn't great, and whatever kind of energy weapons they're using are only powerful enough to do some superficial damage to the building facade, but Ollie isn't eager to find out how it would feel to get hit by one of those.  Fortunately, he and Connor are both much better shots than these guys.

They shoot the weapons out of the agents' hands first, then Ollie puts an arrow through one guy's hand while Connor puts one through the other guy's foot.  

For a minute, it seems like it's going to be that easy.  Then, three more white vans come peeling down the street and a dozen more agents pour out.  Now, it's Oliver and Connor who are pinned down, ducking behind the roof's edge to avoid getting hit by those energy weapons.  

Ollie puts an arrow through another guy's shoulder, and is just a smidge too slow getting back out of the way.  The energy blast is going to hit him right in the shoulder.  He braces to take the hit--

A green shield appears in front of him.  The energy blast hits it and dissipates.

For a moment, Ollie thinks it's the work of a Lantern.  And then he sees Phantom, a bright white and glowing target hovering above the street.  

The GIW agents have completely disregarded Ollie and Connor, and are frantically shooting at Phantom.  Phantom is dodging the blasts easily; there's no sign of the clumsiness that he's beset with when he's a normal human.  One of the agents gets an arrow through his shoulder, and Ollie spots Mia perched on a roof across the street.  

In hindsight, he really should have expected this.  Neither of those kids are the type to sit at home when they could be helping instead.  Even so, he doesn't like it.

With Danny distracting the agents, it's much easier for Ollie, Connor and Mia to hit them.  They may be outnumbered, but the GIW agents are terrible shots.  At some point, the agents seem to realize this, too, and flee back into their vans, limping and bleeding, and drive away.  

"Follow them?" Connor asks.  

"No," Ollie says.  "I don't think they're going to try anything else tonight."  

The four of them make their way back to the brownstone.  

"I told you to stay here with Danny," Ollie tells Mia, once they're inside and putting away their gear.  

"Did you really think I was going to listen?" Mia asks. 

Ollie runs his hands over his face.  "A man can dream."

"Besides," Mia adds, "from where I was standing it seemed like we bailed you two out.  Right, Danny?"

With a flash of light, Danny transforms back to his human form.  "I'm sorry," he says.  "I don't know how they knew I was here."

"I'm not sure they did," Connor says.  "They were looking pretty hard for something before they went after the two of us."

"But they were looking for me specifically," Danny says.  

Ollie gives Danny a closer look.  He's clearly nervous.  More than just nervous, he looks like he's on the verge of taking off and running.

"What makes you so sure they're here for you?" Oliver asks.  It's not that he doesn't trust Danny's instincts, but he doesn't feel like he's got the whole picture.  

Danny leans against the workbench, almost knocking a set of half-finished arrows to the floor.  "They've been trying to catch Phantom since the beginning," he says.  "I kind of made their lives difficult."

"Good," Connor says, crossing his arms.  

"Plus, a lot of Amity Parkers kind of... don't like Phantom?  So the GIW heard about what a menace I was, and that didn't help.  But then you got Superman and Wonder Woman and all of them to talk about how bad the GIW and Anti-Ecto Acts are, and that helped, and-- I had it handled. "

"So what happened?" Mia asks.  

"My parents found out.  And I kind of freaked out?  And I flew off, and the GIW caught up to me."  Danny looks around, takes in their stricken expressions, and hurries to add, "Not for long!  But then I headed back home and my parents were telling everyone I was dead.  I didn't know what to do, so I came here."  

Oliver's head hurts just thinking about this mess.  He walks across the room and wraps an arm around Danny.  "We'll get this figured out," he promises, though he's not entirely sure how.  "First things first.  What do you want to do about your parents?"  

Mia scowls at him-- she's clearly already formed her opinion on Danny's parents.  Ollie can't say he disagrees, but he's made his own share of mistakes in the parenting department.  He hopes that the Fentons might be able to come around, if only because Danny clearly loves them.

"The GIW..." Danny begins. 

"I've got a few ideas about them."  Ollie is a little torn between hunting them down himself, pointing Supes or someone in their direction, or letting it leak to the public that these government lackeys chased a kid halfway across the country.  "Do you want to go back to your parents?"

"I don't know," he says. "I miss them, but... I don't know if they'll believe I'm really me. They think all ghosts are evil. But even if they believed me..."  He trails off.  

"You can stay here," Mia insists.  "Right, Ollie?"

"Of course he can."  He didn't actually need Mia's prompting for that.  "You're welcome to stick around as long as you want, but you should at least stay until we get the GIW shut down."  

Danny looks around the room at the three of them.  Whatever he sees must reassure him because after a long minute, he nods.  "Okay.  At least until then."

#dc x dp fic #dcxdp #dpxdc #green arrow #arrowfam #dpxdc week 2023

[punchdrunkdoc]

Hi! I just read your fic "Present Tense" and I /loved/ it! I really like fics dealing with Oliver's PTSD/trauma, but it's hard to find salt-free ones. I really liked how it was canon-compliant too! I loved Martin, especially in the epilogue! And going to the archery range was a nice touch. I know the CW has problems, but I still love Arrow and have watched it all. So knowing how it ends, the little references to Oliver's future made me sad! But it was an amazing story; you're so talented! 🏹💚💚

Thank you so much for getting in touch and leaving this lovely comment.

The fic was in response to a throwaway line from the showrunners at the time of season 4 premiering about how Oliver's PTSD was basically cured now, and it annoyed me so much! I wanted to see that journey...so I wrote it myself!

I fell out of love with Arrow by season 5 (because of the way they treated Olicity) but I loved being part of the fandom and it inspired me to actually start writing fanfic after years of just reading it, so I'll always be grateful for that.

Thanks again for letting me know how much you enjoyed it.

(and to anyone who's read both Present Tense and the latest chapter of my new fic Just Breathe you may have spotted some borrowed lines - they just fit so well with Bruce and Beth that I couldn't resist using them. Probably because the Bruce/Beth dynamic is similar in some ways to the Oliver/Felicity dynamic - both involve the 'grumpy/sunshine' trope which I love so much!)

#Olicity #olicity fic #arrow fic #readers who send lovely comments are the best!

[reineydraws]

kori (bugs bunny communist meme): our boytoy malewife

#dc #dc fanart #red hood and the outlaws #jason todd #roy harper #jayroy #joyfire #this is not necessarily romantic but it isnt not either so 🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️ #comic #dc comic #incorrect dc quotes #red arrow #red hood #this is my first time drawing roy and this is my favourite version of him like. aesthetically. #the longer red hair and cap is just yum. that being said i knkw literally nothing abt him aside from when he shows up in fics so! #hope this isnt too far off oof #rhato #rhato fanart #pls lmk if im tagging this wrong cuz i know there are two diff rhato series and only one of them is joyfire #i instinctively made roy about the same height and size as i drew dick when i draw him beside jason #but i am only now just realizing that mayhaps roy is actually about the same height as jason??? rip i have no idea #im hoping im more correct than not lol #arsenal #dc arsenal