A/N: Please read note at end of chapter about future updates!

Chapter 3

The day after the party Oliver pulled himself out of his bed, stretching to work the kinks out before padding his way into his bathroom for a long, hot shower. Having cleaned, groomed and dressed himself for the day, Oliver made his way down to the den for breakfast. As he entered, the news on the TV caught his attention.

'In financial news, the revelation of the theft of over $40 million dollars from Hunt Multinational has rocked Wall Street as investors continue to sell off stock …'

"To a nicer person, it couldn't have happened." Sin chuckled, taking a sip of her coffee. "I talked to Laurel this morning; sounded like she was dancing on the ceiling."

"Well, her caseload just got a lot lighter. So I guess she had reason to dance." Thea pointed out. She smiled as her brother walked into the room. "Morning, Ollie. Fun party last night?"

"It had its moments." Oliver replied with a smile as he fixed himself a plate. "It was weird that the cops tried to bust it up and nobody had actually done anything."

"Yeah. I can see how that would be weird for you." Thea teased.

"Did the police ever find anything, sweetheart?" Moira asked casually.

"No." Oliver replied. "So you can rest easy, I DIDN'T manage to lose $2 million my first week back."

"Well, it's good to pace yourself." Moira said dryly. "By the way, I got a call from the lawyers this morning. You have an appointment at 9 A.M. Monday morning at the courthouse to overturn the death in absentia order."

"Yeah, Monday morning you'll be a real boy again." Thea quipped.

"Maybe the only time I've ever looked forward to going to court." Oliver noted wryly.

"Hey, you gonna be here tonight for movie night, right?" Thea asked hopefully.

Oliver paused in his reply. Really, he should be at the foundry planning his next move. But seeing the hopeful look on her face, he sighed internally and decided that one night wouldn't be too much to take off. "Of course I will."

Her smile was worth it.

Oliver ended up spending most of Saturday in his room, doing more research on the names on the list- a fact that John Diggle was thankful for. As eight o'clock rolled around he shut down his computer and headed down to the den.

"Have you been getting enough sleep?" he heard Sin ask as he approached the room.

"I've been getting enough." A grumpy Thea replied.

"No, you haven't." Oliver stopped in the entryway and watched as Sin playfully wagged her finger in front of Thea's face.

"Move the finger or I'll bite it off." Thea warned.

"Are you still biting people, Speedy?" Oliver teased as he entered the den. "I thought you grew out of that."

"I've been known to make exceptions."

Sin wagged her eyebrows. "You can bite me anytime."

"In your dreams." Thea teased with a smirk.

"Every night."

"TMI, Sin. TMI." Tommy said with a groan. He looked back at Oliver with pleading eyes. "Thank GOD you're here. I seriously need more male friends."

"You could have asked Dig to join us." Felicity said from the TV.

"He told me- and I quote- 'I don't get paid enough for that, man'."

"Glad to know I'm still your go-to guy then." Oliver said with a laugh as he dropped down onto the couch.

"Far cry from the last time we had a movie night with a group of ladies, right?" Tommy joked.

"Bleh!" Sin said.

"I don't want to know. EVER." Thea said adamantly.

Felicity came back over to the sofa and, after stopping to give Tommy a light slap on the back of the head (Hey!), sat down between Oliver and Sin. "There. I'll create a nice buffer between the two of you."

"He's not my type." Sin said dryly.

"Actually, I was more worried about you hitting him than him hitting on you."

"Well, she is a bit young for me anyways." Oliver said drolly. "So, Miss Smoak—"

"Felicity." She interjected.

Oliver smiled. "Felicity. What are we watching?"

"Well, we have a double feature. Tonight I introduce you all to the brilliance of Mel Brooks with 'Spaceballs' and 'Blazing Saddles'.

In hindsight, it shouldn't have surprised Oliver that Thea nodded off halfway through the second movie. She had been struggling to stay awake all night, and Oliver knew that Sin had been right- she wasn't getting enough sleep. A low groan drew his attention back to his sister, and he glanced worriedly as she moaned and thrashed lightly in the grips of a nightmare.

Sensing the coming nightmare, Sin shifted in her seat to bring Thea's head down to her lap, where she started lightly stroking her hair. Oliver watched stunned as Sin began softly singing to Thea, trying to draw her away from whatever demons were tormenting her.

"Over in Killarney

Many years ago,

Me Mither sang a song to me

In tones so sweet and low.

Just a simple little ditty,

In her good ould Irish way,

And l'd give the world if she could sing

That song to me this day."

To his astonishment, her singing was calming Thea down.

"Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, Too-ra-loo-ra-li,

Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, hush now, don't you cry!

Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, Too-ra-loo-ra-li,

Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, that's an Irish lullaby."

"Oft in dreams I wander

To that cot again,

I feel her arms a-huggin' me

As when she held me then.

And I hear her voice a -hummin'

To me as in days of yore,

When she used to rock me fast asleep

Outside the cabin door."

Thea finally settled down, a small smile on her face. Sin glanced over at Oliver. "She has pretty bad nightmares," she explained. "If I catch it early enough, I've found that singing to her, holding her, actually helps her rest."

Oliver gave Sin an honest smile. "She's lucky to have a friend like you." He told her.

Sin shrugged. "I was lucky first. I owe her a lot."

"You don't do that because you owe her; you do it because you care." Oliver said gently. "Trust me. As a guy with money that everyone wants to get their hands on, I learned a long time ago to tell genuine people from the fakers."

Sin shifted, uncomfortable at his praise. "Aw, stop. You're making me all misty." She gave him a smile in return- a sign of a cease-fire.

Oliver looked at his sister in concern. "Do you know what her nightmares are about?" he asked. "Has she said anything?"

Sin shook her head. "No. She refuses to talk about it."

From her seat on the floor where she had moved to, Felicity did her best to hide her grimace. She had a pretty good idea what those nightmares were about.

Soon the movie was over, and as Felicity rose to take out the blu-ray, Sin gently nudged Thea. "Rise and shine, princess." She said softly. Thea blinked, then blearily drew herself up to a sitting position.

"What happened to the movie?" she asked, rubbing her eyes.

"You slept through it." Sin said. "We're calling it a night. You okay to go up to your room?"

"Yeah." She said hoarsely, rising to her feet. She met her brother's concerned gaze and blushed. "And here we were supposed to be reconnecting. Sorry, Ollie…"

"Don't be sorry, Thea." Oliver said quickly, enveloping her in a hug. "Go get some sleep. We'll do lunch tomorrow, okay?"

Thea smiled. "Sounds good." She kissed him on the cheek, then did the same to Tommy. "Goodnight, brothers."

"Night, Speedy." Tommy said warmly.

Thea walked over and gave Felicity a hug, then turned back to a waiting Sin.

"Do I get a kiss?" Sin teased before throwing an arm around her shoulders. "Come on, Speedy. Let's get you to bed. In a totally platonic way, of course."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…." Thea muttered as the two headed out of the den.

"I'm gonna head home." Felicity announced, zipping up her movie binder. "I suppose I'll see you all next week. Maybe." She added quickly. "Because you are not beholden to be here… despite the fact that this is your house… and I'm gonna stop talking now."

Oliver gave her an amused look. "Are you okay to drive?"

"Pshh." Felicity said, waving her hand. "I've had longer nights working at QC and been fine to drive. I'll be okay."

"Then goodnight, Felicity." Oliver said. "It was nice to see you again."

"It was nice to see you, too. And you, Tommy." She added.

"You remembered." Tommy said with a smirk. Felicity merely rolled her eyes and headed for the door. The two men watched here leave, and as soon as the door closed behind her Tommy leaned in close to Oliver. "She's single, you know."

Oliver sighed and rolled his eyes. "Yes, I know. Thea already told me."

Tommy clapped him on the shoulder. "I'm going to head home. You going to be okay?"

Oliver gave him a smile. "Well, I don't know how I'll do out there without my wingman, but I'll try and manage."

It was an unusual situation that the next day before noon, Thea let herself into Roy's house with her new key.

"Hi honey, I'm home!" She quipped. "And look, I didn't even damage your lock this time…" She paused as she saw him sitting pensively in front of his darkened TV. "Okay, brooding is officially my job." She came and sat down next to him on the couch. "What's wrong?"

"Your father paid me a visit yesterday." Roy said.

Thea stared at him in confusion for a moment. "My fat—" suddenly her face colored red with fury. "That son of a bitch!" she shouted. "Did he threaten you? Did he HURT you?" she started checking him for any obvious injuries.

"Whoa!" Roy said, gripping her shoulders lightly. "No, he didn't hurt me, OR threaten me. He offered me a job."

Thea blinked in confusion. "A what now?" Roy pulled out the list of cars and handed it wordlessly to Thea. She took a moment to look at the list. "I've seen this movie." She said finally. "You do great until you have to boost the Mustang, then the cops chase you and you're almost killed by the evil Doctor Who." She handed the list back to Roy.

Roy chuckled. "He doesn't want me to steal them- though that was what I thought at first," Roy said. "He wants me to fix them. Apparently he wants to auction them off to fund his wife's clinic in the Glades."

"That's… actually a nice thing." Thea said with a frown.

Roy sighed. "Also, he made some good points."

"Oh, no!" Thea exclaimed. "Malcolm Merlyn does not make 'good points', Roy. He lies and manipulates. So whatever he told you—"

"He basically said I wasn't good enough for you. And I'm not sure he's wrong."

Thea groaned. "I'm going to kill that bastard." She said through gritted teeth.

"Thea, whatever this thing," he wagged his finger between the two of them, "is between us, what do I bring to it, other than a few good nights' sleep? Hell, we met when I stole your purse!"

"And I stole your wallet. That's how we flirt." Thea replied.

"Well, I'd like to do more than just flirt!"

"So would I; but you won't let me." Thea said pointedly.

Roy blushed. "I wasn't talking about sex." He said. "I mean; I'd like to actually take you somewhere. You know, like a date. But to do that, I need money. And I'd kinda like to make that money, you know- legitimately. I just…" he looked up at Thea. "Do you think I could actually do this?"

Thea smiled at him. "Roy, the past- well, five years of my life have been shit, but the last year especially. And this," she wagged her finger between them, "is the only thing that feels normal; the only thing that feels REAL. It's kept me sane. You do that, on your own, as just YOU." She leaned forward and kissed him lightly on the lips. "If you want to take this job, then I'm all for it. If you want to tell Malcolm to shove it up his ass, I'll support you. But I want you to make the decision that is best for YOU, that would make YOU happy. And then well go from there. Together."

"Even if I want to keep stealing purses?" Roy asked teasingly.

"Thea chuckled. "We'll do it together. We'll be a modern day Bonnie and Clyde."

"Bonnie and Clyde were killed, you know." Roy pointed out.

"Yeah, but we're much smarter than they were." Thea snuggled in close to Roy. "I'm with you 'till the end of the line, Roy."

Roy sighed in contentment. "Then, I guess I'm giving you a lift Tuesday morning, because I'm going to say yes."

They sat in companionable silence for a few minutes. "Well, don't get TOO used to working for Malcolm, because I'm STILL going to kill him." Thea said as Roy laughed.

After a rather productive Sunday night, Oliver headed down to the lounge Monday to grab some breakfast before his resurrection. He entered just in time to watch the news coverage about his latest target.

'Over the past 15 years, Mr. Redman has withdrawn more than $30 million from the plan's account. Mr. Redman claims refunding the Halcyon pension plan has always been his intent. But sources say Redman was coerced by the vigilante.' On the screen, the familiar sketch of the Hood came up. Oliver gestured at the screen.

"This guy gets more air-time than the Kardashians, right?" he said jovially.

Thea shot him a look. "Five years on an island and you still know who they are." She said. "I blame that on Tommy."

Oliver smiled. "I've been catching up." He said. "It's nice to see how much our culture has improved while I was away."

"And now I'M blaming Tommy." Moira said drolly, earning a chuckle from Thea.

"Do you have any questions about today, Oliver?" Walter asked. "It's a simple proof-of-life declaration. Just read out a brief, prepared statement to the judge, and then your death-in-absentia judgment will be voided."

Oliver gave him a tight smile. "It's fine, Walter. I've been in a courtroom before."

"Four times by my estimate." Tommy said as he walked in the room. "You know, there was the DUI, the assault on that paparazzi douchebag, stealing that taxi, which was just awesome, by the way, and who could forget peeing on the cop?" Oliver had the sense to look slightly embarrassed at his youthful transgressions.

Moira shot Tommy an annoyed look. "I wish everyone would." She said bluntly.

"Careful, Tommy." Thea warned with a smile. "You're already on thin ice, and that was before you even got here."

"I'd hang, but we're headed to court." Oliver said with a tight smile. Tommy grinned back, oblivious to the tension.

"I know, that's why I'm here." He said. "My best friend is getting legally resurrected; I wouldn't miss this for the world."

"Right." Oliver sighed. He looked at Thea. "What about you?" he asked.

"Wouldn't miss it." Thea said warmly.

"Mrs. Queen?" Diggle announced as he came into the room. "Car's ready."

Moira nodded and, shooting Tommy a look and ignoring the arm he held out for her, took her husband's arm as well and walked out to the car. Tommy held out his arm jokingly to Oliver, who just smirked and walked out. He didn't even bother offering it to Thea, who smacked him on the back of the head as she passed.

"Ow."

"Pussy."

A short time later the group pulled up in front of the courthouse. Oliver took a breath to fortify himself, then stepped out of the car and into a sea of reporters. They pressed in close from all sides, screaming questions.

"Are you going to testify as to what happened when the yacht sank?"

"Are you going to talk about the boat crash?"

"Mr. Queen, did you see Sarah Lance die?"

As the storm of questions continued, his mind brought up images of another storm, feeling the room tilt, seeing Sara pulled away from him by the ocean…

Inside the courtroom a short time later, Oliver was giving his statement. "There was a storm. The boat went down. I was the only survivor." He said. "My father didn't make it." He thought of the moment that Robert had put the gun to his temple and fired. Moira was crying softly, and Thea sat their gripping Tommy's hand. She refused to cry, but her eyes were wet with unshed tears. "I almost died, I… I thought that I had, because I spent so many days on that life raft before I saw land." Oliver continued. "When I reached it, I knew I knew that I was gonna have to live for both of us. And in those five years, it was that one thought that kept me going." He finished shakily. Even giving that brief, prepared statement had been exceptionally hard on the man.

"Your honor," his lawyer started, "We move to vacate the death-in-absentia filed after Oliver's disappearance at sea aboard the Queen's Gambit five years ago. Unfortunately, we will not be requesting that the declaration of death filed for the petitioner's father, Robert Queen, be rescinded. The Queen family is only entitled to one miracle, I'm afraid."

A short time later, the Queens, with Tommy, headed out of the courtroom and down the stairs to the main floor.

"Oliver," his mother started, "I know you said you wanted to go to the offices, but given the circumstances…"

"Tomorrow would probably be better." Oliver finished, secretly relieved. That had been harder than he had expected it to be, and he didn't think he could take maintaining his act for much longer.

Moira looked at Walter, who nodded slightly. She smiled at her son. "Of course."

"Thank you." Oliver said, and Moira and Walter headed away. Oliver took a moment, then started walking down the stairs, Tommy and Thea at his side.

"Probably for the best." Thea said. "You can take some time to unwind. Use the gym to blow off some steam."

"That sounds like a really good idea." Oliver conceded.

"Plus, you aren't really missing anything at the office." Tommy added. "Blah-Blah, making money; blah-blah, this is your legacy, yadda-yadda, we got this nice office picked out for you…"

Oliver chuckled. "Speaking from experience?" he asked.

"Absolutely." Tommy said. "The crafty old bastard had an office sitting there waiting for me. AND an assistant."

The three hit the bottom of the stairs, but as they rounded the corner, they ran straight into Laurel, who was walking with Joanna and another woman into the courthouse.

"Ollie!" she said in surprise.

"Hey, babe." Tommy said, stepping forward and kissing Laurel on the cheek.

"Hey! What are you all doing here?" she asked.

Oliver looked confused for a moment, the realized what she meant. "Oh, they were bringing me back from the dead. Legally speaking." He smiled. "What are you doing here?"

"My job." She replied with a smile.

"Right."

"More like the D.A.'S." Joanna put in helpfully.

Oliver then noticed the sad looking woman on Laurel's right and held out his hand.

"Hi, Oliver Queen." He said politely, shaking her hand.

"Emily Nocenti." She replied.

Thea stepped past her brother and hugged the third woman briefly. "How are you holding up, Emily?"

"As well as can be expected, I guess." Emily replied. "I just want to get justice for my father."

"Laurel will make sure you will." Thea promised her.

"We have to go." Laurel said. "I'll see you at home tonight, Tommy."

"Knock 'em dead." Tommy said.

"Good luck." Oliver added. Laurel nodded and started heading for the courtroom. "It was nice to meet you." Emily said as Joanna led her away.

Tommy, Thea and Oliver headed outside to the car, but there on the steps the press was gathered; this time around another man. Martin Somers looked confident, smiling at the cameras as the reports clambered for a sound bite, and the two men watched with interest.

"Mr. Somers! Mr. Somers!" The all screamed. Martin pointed at one of the reporters. "What do you have to say about the accusations made by Laurel Lance?" she called out.

"I don't know what I've done to earn this witch-hunt from Miss Lance and her bosses at the CNRI." He started, still smiling. "But I can tell you this. I am an honest businessman, and I will fight this slander to my last dime and breath. That's all I have to say, thank you." Martin walked away, with some of the press still trailing after him.

"Honest businessman my ass." Thea seethed. AT Oliver's questioning look, Thea elaborated. "Victor Nocenti was a stevedore down at Somer's docks. Rumor was that he saw something illegal and was going to inform the police, so Somers had him killed."

"Why didn't the police arrest him?"

"No evidence to connect him, and he has friends in all the low places."

"Like the Triad." Tommy added with a frown. "I really wish Laurel had stayed away from this case…"

"Since when has Laurel ever backed away from a challenge?" Thea asked rhetorically. The three climbed into the waiting car, ignoring the press. Thea and Tommy also pretended to ignore the look of determination on Oliver's face.

Back in the courthouse, Laurel was giving her opening remarks.

"How much is a life worth?" she asked. "A life of a man, a good man, a stevedore on the docks of the city in which we live. A father." She stopped and looked back at Emily. "A man with a daughter." She paused for effect before continuing. "The plaintiff will prove by a preponderance of evidence that Victor Nocenti learned that his boss, that man sitting right there," she pointed at the defendant, "Martin Somers, was taking bribes from the Chinese triads to smuggle drugs into our city. And when Victor Nocenti threatened to tell the police, Martin Somers had him killed. Mr. Somers is very well-connected, and has friends in the district attorney's office. Which is why, if Emily Nocenti is to get justice for her father's death, if Martin Somers is to get justice for his crimes, then someone is going to have to do it for them."

Oliver did end up spending a few hours in the gym back at the manor. But soon enough he once again evaded Diggle and made his way to the foundry to prepare for the nights' mission- Martin Somers. After a bit of cursory investigation, he donned his leathers, grabbed his bow, and headed down to the docks to have a pointed conversation with the man.

At the docks, Somers was railing at his lawyer in his office.

"You, listen up." He growled. The calm, confident man who had spoken to the press earlier that day was gone. This was the true Martin Somers- jittery, scared. "The longer this goes on, the more likely the media is gonna crucify me. You shut this trial down, do you understand me?" Suddenly the lights flickered off, and the sounds of three arrows impacting their targets could be heard. When the lights came back up, his lawyer and his two bodyguards were down on the ground. "What the hell?" was all he said when suddenly he was grabbed from behind and his world went dark.

When he came to, the world seemed to be upside down. As the world came into focus and he saw The Hood standing across from him, though, he realized that it was himself who was upside down, hanging from a crane and swinging like a pendulum.

"Martin Somers! You've failed this city." The Hood intoned, drawing an arrow from his quiver and firing it as the man swung. It just passed by the right side of his head.

"No! No, no, no, no, no!" Somers screamed out. The Hood ignored him.

"You're gonna testify in that trial. You're gonna confess to having Victor Nocenti killed. There won't be a second warning." He warned, drawing another arrow and firing it. The one left a deep cut on his left cheek. Somers cried out in pain, pressing his hand to the cut. When he looked back at where The Hood had been, though, the vigilante was gone.

"How is it exactly, Mr. Diggle," Moira said at Queen Manor as she poured herself a drink, "That even knowing when and how he will ditch you, Oliver still manages to ditch you?"

"In my defense, he shook things up today." Diggle replied wryly. "Let me drive him home and everything." A beeping noise stopped him, and he pulled out his phone. Opening an app, he smiled at what he saw. "Of course, this time I put trackers on all the vehicles. Oliver just pulled onto the manor's grounds."

Moira chuckled. "Well, let's make this good." She waited until Diggle gave her the nod to continue. "I hired you to protect my son." Moira began, pacing in front of Diggle as he put his phone away. "Now, I'm not a professional bodyguard, but it seems to me that the first requirement would be managing to stay next to the man you're hired to protect." She pointed out.

"With all due respect, ma'am," Diggle tried, "I never had a client who didn't want my protection."

"I hired you." Moira pointed out, coming to stop in front of the bodyguard. "That makes me the client." She looked at the man sternly for a moment before resuming her pacing. "Now, where do you think my son is going on these chaperone-less excursions?"

"Ma'am, I truly do not know." Dig answered honestly.

"And he truly doesn't." a jovial voice called out as Oliver walked into the room. His mother cast him a baleful look.

"Then perhaps you'd like to share with me, you know, where it is you run off to." His mother said, exasperated.

"I've been alone for five years." Oliver pointed out.

"I know that, Oliver."

"Mom," he interrupted, shoot her a look. "Alone." He emphasized.

Moira pretended to put it together after a beat. "I see." She said.

"I promise to introduce her if it ever gets to the exchanging first names stage…" he started.

"No, I'd rather you promise to take Mr. Diggle with you on your next rendezvous." Moira interrupted, walking up to her son. "It's not safe; you've already been abducted once. There is a maniac out there, hunting the wealthy."

"That maniac saved my life." Oliver pointed out.

"This isn't a game." Moira said. She paused and looked into his eyes. "I lost you once. And I am not going through that again." She stated plaintively. Oliver looked back with genuine remorse.

"Okay." He said finally. "Dig's my guy."

"Thank you." Moira said, and then walked out of the room. Oliver looked up at his body man.

"Sorry to give you so much grief." He said. He almost meant it.

Dig buttoned up his suite jacket and walked around the couch. "I served three tours in Afghanistan, Mr. Queen. You don't even come close to my definition of grief." He paused in front of Oliver. "But I tell you what- you ditch me one more time, no one will have to fire me." With that he left the room, just as Thea walked past.

"Welcome home." She said drolly.

"Where are you off to?" Oliver asked.

Thea gave him a wry smile. "Study date." She said as she headed out of the house towards the garage.

"What kind of lessons, anatomy?" Oliver grumbled to himself as he headed up to his room.

"Why the hell did I agree to this?" Roy groused early the next morning as he drove Thea to Merlyn Manor. And he did mean EARLY- not even 5 am yet, and he was driving to work. "Now I remember why I liked boosting purses so much. I could do it on my time table."

"But that also meant a lot of running- not that I mind that, actually…" Thea said, her eyes running up and down Roy's body.

"February." Roy said firmly.

"All the laws you DON'T mind breaking…" Thea pouted.

"Yeah, well… I follow the ones that matter."

Roy pulled up to the front of the mansion, parking right besides Tommy's Aston Martin. As the pair got out, Tommy looked at his sister flabbergasted. "Dear god, don't tell me you roped him into this lunacy!"

"Actually, your father offered him a job." Thea said with a glare. Then she blinked. "Hang on, I've never told you about Roy. How—"

"If I could find out, don't you think Tommy could, too?" Malcolm asked, walking out of the manor towards the small group.

"Tommy's not that good."

"HEY!"

"Alright; I may have mentioned to Tommy that I was hiring your boyfriend for a job. I assume that's why you're here?" he asked, looking at Roy.

"That's right." Roy replied, looking Malcolm in the eye. The older man smirked at his bravado.

"Well then, while these two get warmed up, why don't I show you to the garage?"

Roy defiantly gave Thea a kiss on the lips before moving to follow Malcolm back into the house. Tommy smirked at his sister, who merely rolled her eyes. "Say something, I dare you." Thea hissed. "I'll kick your ass right after I kick the old man's."

"So never then?" Tommy joked, moving quickly away from his enraged sister and thanking god she had forgotten about his little slip.

After all, he wasn't supposed to know who Roy was yet.

When Malcolm turned the lights on, Roy thought he had died and gone to heaven.

The garage was a MASSIVE underground structure, complete with lifts, pneumatic tools, diagnostic equipment- Roy could set up his very own auto repair shop. And in a way, he WAS.

No garage would be complete without cars, and Roy practically salivated at the sight of the forty cars he would be working on.

"It's a bit of a tight fit," Malcolm explained as he led Roy deeper into the garage. "Truthfully this garage was only meant to hold 35 cars."

"Why would anyone need 35 cars?" Roy mused.

"My wife actually collected cars." Malcolm volunteered. At Roy's surprised look, he shrugged. "She always liked fixing things; be it human or machine. Anyways," he gestured around. "As I said initially, some are in better shape than others. Some need minor cosmetic work, others need their entire engine's rebuilt."

"I can do the engines." Roy said confidently, popping the hood of a 1972 Buick Skylark. He whistled in appreciation. "Body work- I know a guy. He'll give you a really good rate, as long as all the money goes back into the clinic."

"It will." Malcolm assured the younger man.

Roy nodded and rolled up his sleeves. "I'll do an initial survey, then give him a call. Let him know what we're dealing with. Damn," he ran his hand up the fins of a 1959 Cadillac Series 62/Deville. "You could kill someone with these fins!"

"What a novel idea." Malcolm noted wryly. "Well then, I'll leave you to your work. If you need anything, just use the intercom on the wall," he pointed to the device, "to call for Tess. That includes meals. Wouldn't want Thea to think I'm starving her boyfriend down here." With that, Malcolm turned and left Roy to his work.

Later that morning Detective's Lance and Hilton were down at the docks talking to Martin Somers. As it had happened the last time, Somers was denying anything happened at all to Lance's annoyance.

"Well, I owe you an apology, Mr. Somers." Lance was saying, pacing lightly in front of Somers desk. He noted a hole in the top of the desk and fingered it idly as Somers sat, watching him. "We come all the way down to your docks, and it turns out, you don't need the police after all."

"Which is exactly what I've been saying." Somers said. The calm facade was back in place.

"Yeah." Lance agreed. "So I guess that 9-1-1 call we got last night from your stevedore, saying that you were getting attacked by a guy in a green hood and a bow and arrow… I guess well, was that a practical joke?" he threw out.

Somers smiled tightly. "These guys like to fool around."

"Yeah." Lance said again, walking away from the desk and over towards one of the patrol officers who held an evidence bag. "Well, you know, I'd be very much inclined to believe an honest, upstanding businessman like yourself, except, well, one of my men found this at your docks." He pulled out a green arrow and turned around, showing it to Somers. Somers held his gaze impassively. "You see, there's this vigilante running around." Lance continued, coming back to the desk. He perched on the edge, waving the arrow around slightly. "He thinks he's some kind of Robin Hood. He's robbing the rich, he's trying to teach them a lesson I guess. I don't know," he said, then looked back at the other officers. "I don't know." He repeated, and then looked back at Somers. "But the point is, the man seems to be going after criminals. So that makes me wonder what a fine, upstanding man such as yourself would have done to attract his attention. He gently put the arrow in the hole in the desk; it fit perfectly, to no one's surprise. Lance looked up at Somers with a tight smile. "But like you said, clearly, nothing happened here last night." He finished sarcastically.

Somers looked back at the cop. "Isn't this a conflict of interest, Detective?" he asked. "After all, your daughter is suing me."

"I'm pretty good at keeping my emotions in check." Lance said evenly.

"I'm not." Somers said, rage simmering just beneath the surface. He stood and got into Lance's face. "You and your daughter don't want to find out what I'm capable of when I get emotional." He threatened.

Lance gave him a disgusted look. "And you don't want to know what I'm capable of if someone goes after my family." He snarled. "Maybe I come back and shove this arrow so far up you're a—"

"Alright, partner." Hilton interrupted, pulling Lance away. "I think we're done here."

Lance scoffed at Somers. "You better pray the vigilante comes for you. Because if I have to, I won't be anywhere near as forgiving as him." With that, Lance turned and strode out of the office.

Hilton rushed to catch up. "Are you drunk?" he asked point blank.

Lance shook his head. "Sober as the day I was born."

"Then what the hell was that?" Hilton hissed. "You just threatened that man!"

"He's a scumbag and a murderer." Lance said. "He's connected to the Triad."

"Allegedly." Hilton pointed out.

"Yeah, well if he allegedly sends any of his friends after my daughter, he's going to skip prison and head straight to the morgue." With that, Lance climbed into his cruiser and slammed the door. Hilton tiled his head back and sighed.

"I'm getting too old for this shit. He groused before heading to the passenger side and climbing in.

"As you can see, Oliver, we've modernized quite a bit." Walter was saying as the elevator opened on the executive level of Queen Consolidated. Walter led Oliver and Moira though the outer office into the office that Robert Queen had once occupied. He looked around, pretending to take everything in as if he hadn't seen it two years ago when he had broken in on Amanda Waller's orders. His mother squeezed his arm gently and smiled at her son

"Are you enjoying yourself?" she asked. Oliver smiled in return.

"Yes, I am."

"I remember when your father used to bring you here when you were a boy." Walter said jovially as they all walked into his office. Diggle took up position by the door. "You always were so excited."

"Dad let me drink soda in the office." Oliver revealed.

"Ah!" Moira exclaimed happily. "So that's why you enjoyed coming."

"Queen Consolidated's success of late is a result of its targeted diversification." Walter began as Oliver walked around the office. "We have been making impressive inroads in cutting-edge fields like bio-tech and clean energy."

"That's neat." Oliver interrupted, the called out to Walter's secretary, "Excuse me? Can I get a sparkling water, or something cold, please?"

"Sweetheart," Moira said, gesturing at her son. "Oliver, Walter and I have something to discuss with you. Come, please sit." She motioned towards a chair. Oliver looked at her warily.

"Mom, it makes me nervous when you ask me to sit down."

The three stood awkwardly for a moment, before Walter pressed on.

"The company's about to break ground on a new site for the applied sciences division, and we would like to honor your father by dedicating the building in his name." he said. Oliver nodded.

"That's nice." He agreed.

"We'll all be there," Moira began delicately, "And I would like for you to be there as well, but if it's too much—"

Oliver smiled to put him mother at ease. "I'll be fine, Mom. I promise."

Moira took a breath. "Oliver, I want you to know that if you ever decide you would like to work here, in your company- your families' company, you will always have a place. Let me finish," she said sharply, cutting him off. "I know that you are not ready for anything like that right now. I know that your… experiences over the last five years have changed you. And I know that you've been pretending to be the same boy we lost so long ago to spare us any pain."

Oliver shifted uncomfortably in his seat. This was NOT what he had been expecting. All he had wanted to do was put his ARGUS designed worm program on the QC mainframe to help with his mission; he had even thought he would have to fend off demands that he takes up a position here. He hadn't expected his mother of all people to call him out on his carefully constructed act.

"Now, I'm not going to push you to do anything right now. What I would ask of you is to find someone to talk to, to work through your time away, even if it's just Tommy. And when you feel you're ready to do… well, anything, then please let us know. And we'll support you one hundred percent."

He couldn't look at his mother; instead he glanced over at Walter who gave him a comforting nod. Oliver nodded back. "Ex-excuse me." Oliver said hoarsely as he rose from his seat and quickly walked out of the office. Moira sighed and looked to her husband.

"Too much?" she asked.

Walter smiled kindly. "Maybe a tad." He conceded. "But I dare say he needed to hear it.

Out in the elevator bay, Oliver was mashing the button and praying the lift would get there faster. Finally, the door opened and he all but leapt inside. Repeatedly hitting the 'door close' button, he breathed a sigh of relief when the doors closed, leaving him alone in the car. He laid his head against the cool metal of the doors as it made the long trek back down to the ground.

Meanwhile at CNRI, Laurel and Joanna were briefing Emily Nocenti on what to expect with the coming trial.

"Well, we anticipate that Somers' attorney will try and paint you as blinded by grief or looking to make a buck." Joanna was saying. Emily looked back at the two lawyers in angry disbelief.

"This isn't about the money." She argued. "I just want justice for my father."

"Emily," Laurel started gently, "there are a lot of people who don't want this trial to proceed. Dangerous people." She explained. Emily just shook her head.

"My mother died when I was a baby, and my father has been the only family I've ever known- and they slit his throat. They are going to have to kill me if they want me to give this up." She said determinedly. Laurel gave her a small smile.

"Well let's hope it doesn't come to that." She said.

"And it won't." the three turned to see Quentin Lance walk in with three patrol officers behind him.

"What's going on?" Laurel asked.

"What's going on is that the three of you are getting around-the-clock police protection. Okay? Get used to their faces, because they're going with you everywhere you go, no arguments." The last part was directed at his daughter, who looked back at him unimpressed.

"I'm a lawyer. I live to argue." She stated.

"I'm your father. I live to keep you safe." He replied bluntly.

Joanna, sensing the building argument between father and daughter, gently took Emily's arm. "Um, Emily, let's go grab a cup of coffee, okay?" she asked rhetorically.

"Yes, why not do that? Thank you." Quentin said, and then gestured to the three cops. "Please, go with them." he said to the first two, who followed the two ladies out of the office. He held back the third.

"Stay there." He ordered.

Laurel rolled her eyes. "Here we go again. Might I remind you of what happened the LAST time? Two cops lost their lives!" she whispered.

"Yeah, well… I gave them an extra-through briefing this time. These guys are going to be hyper-vigilant."

"Look, if the Triad comes after me, then let them come after me!" she hissed. "I'm a lot less defenseless this time around, and a lot more armed. And the shotgun has more than one round in it."

"Thank god for that," Lance muttered. "Look, I know it's a risk to the guys, but Somers made threats today, and I can't have them protecting Joanna and Emily Nocenti and not my daughter!" he fidgeted, and Laurel noticed.

"Dad, what did you do?" she demanded.

Lance sighed. "I MAY have threatened Somers." Laurel groaned. "So as you can imagine, I'm a bit more worried about you now than I was the first time, and THAT'S saying something.

Laurel shook her head at her father. "You just can't help yourself, can you?"

Lance shrugged and gave her a card. "This is the number for their car." He told her. "If something feels hinky, call them. They won't be far away."

"Joy." Laurel said sarcastically.

Later that evening on the docks, a stunning Asian woman in a red dress and stark white hair walked into Somer's office.

"Thank you for coming." He said. The woman walked up to the desk and gave a cold smile.

"Anything for a friend." China White said amicably.

"We're not friends." Somers countered. "You smuggle drugs, I let you use my port."

"For which you're paid a lot of money." She responded.

"I don't get paid enough to have arrows shot at me." He shot back. "You need to take this guy seriously. He is a bigger threat to your operation than Nocenti ever was."

"Except now it's Nocenti's daughter who's the problem." China White stated. "Unlike your friend with the hood, we know where to find her."

"Don't be an idiot." Somers snarled at the woman. "You take out Emily Nocenti, and Laurel Lance will never let this go. She won't stop until she burns you, me, and then the entire Triad to the ground."

China White smiled coldly. "Then we kill Miss Lance."

It was after eight in the evening when Thea made her way back to Merlyn Manor. She made her way down to the garage, where Roy was still working.

"No, listen Jason," Roy was saying as Thea entered the garage. She saw him pacing at the far end, talking on his cellphone. "Think of this as an advertising opportunity. Yes, I'm aware that you would be advertising to people who would never set foot in the Glades, but if you do a good job, word of mouth will spread… look, I'm not asking you to do it for free, just a steep discount!" He sighed in annoyance. "Because the less it costs up front, the more money that will go to the Merlyn Clinic. You know how much that clinic means to the Glades…. Look, do it for $2500 per car, and I'll throw in an additional $2500 per car from my own fee." Thea smiled in amazement at her boyfriend. "Yeah, you heard me right. Did I mention there was a Tucker in there? Great! Thank you! No, there are a couple that only need a little work, I'll have them delivered to you on Friday. No more than five, I promise. Thanks, Jay. I owe you one." With that, Roy hung up and let out a long sigh.

Thea took the opportunity to walk up to him, making sure to make a little noise as not to scare him. "So, how's it looking?" she asked.

"Pretty god, actually." Roy replied. "I got ten cars that I can send for bodywork after only a little work; the rest are going to take some real effort. Some of the parts I'm going to need are really hard to find."

"I'm sure Malcolm knows a supplier or two." Thea offered.

Roy shrugged. "I know a few guys. I'm sure I can find the parts, I'm just iffy on how long it will take."

"I heard you on the phone just now." Thea said. "You know; you don't have to pay anything yourself. Let Malcolm take care of it. He's a billionaire, he can handle it."

Roy shook his head. "The less money he spends fixing them, the more he can give to the clinic. He's already shelling out a lot as it is; best not make it any more."

Thea smiled fondly at Roy. "You are a special kind of something, Roy. Don't ever change."

"Uh… thanks?" Roy replied uncertainly.

"Now come on, you can give me a lift home."

"You actually came back here so I could give you a ride back to YOUR mansion?" Roy asked.

Thea shrugged. "I wanted to give you a kiss goodnight."

"Fine." Roy wiped his hands on a rag, then reached over to a bin and pulled something out. To her puzzlement, Roy handed Thea a very expensive looking watch.

"It's not even my birthday." She quipped.

"I found that in the bin earlier." Roy said. "I'm guessing that Malcolm must have taken it off and forgotten it."

Thea growled softly. Forgotten her ass… "Well, I'll make sure to give it to him tomorrow. And I'll tell him exactly where he can stick it."

The following evening Tommy and Laurel were trying to enjoy a quiet meal at home- well, as much as they could with the impending threat of a Triad hit hanging over Laurel.

"How did Sin take the news?" Tommy was asking his girlfriend.

"Not well. She enjoys these dinners." Laurel replied, taking a small sip of water. "And then, when I told her why, she wanted to come over and help protect me. I just had to tell her I wanted her as far away from the Triad as she could get, and short of sending her to Gotham, Queen Manor as good a place as any."

Tommy looked at her quizzically. "Who do you know in Gotham?"

"A friend from college." She replied, then sighed. "I just wish the bitch would attack already. And I'm not happy that dad put those cops out there."

Tommy shrugged. "Maybe they're on the take?" he suggested.

Laurel gave him a look. "No, they aren't. Well, at least he has them wearing body armor. It helps to make them hyper-vigilant."

"Well, at least we'll know if anybody tries to come up here-"

Knock-Knock

Laurel gave Tommy a look. "You just HAD to say something, didn't you?" Grabbing her tonfa, Laurel cautiously made her way to the front door and looked out the peephole. To her surprise, she saw Oliver standing out in the hall. She quickly unlocked the door and opened it. "Ollie! Hey!"

Oliver gave her a strained smile. "Hey, Laurel. Is everything okay? I saw a couple of cops down on the street..."

"We're fine." She said quickly. "Just my dad over-reacting a bit. Come in, please!" She ushered Oliver into the apartment before closing and securing the door once more. Oliver noted this- along with the weapon in her hand- with a raised eyebrow, and Laurel sighed. "Okay, so I MAY have pissed off the Triads with the whole Nocenti case." She admitted. "Better to be safe than sorry."

Oliver looked to Tommy, who just shrugged. "Don't look at me; I think she's nuts."

A gentle hand on his arm brought his attention back to Laurel. "What's wrong, Ollie?"

Oliver stayed silent for a long moment, seemingly trying to put words to his feelings. Finally, he spoke. "I went to the office and had a conversation with my mother yesterday." He began.

"She already had the furniture picked out?" Tommy joked.

Oliver shook his head. "She told me she didn't want me to work there if I wasn't comfortable with it. Then she told me almost exactly the same thing that you did." He added, looking at Laurel. "She advised going to see a shrink or something; talk about my feelings." He let out a heavy sigh. "When I was found," he began, "and was brought back home, I made a conscious choice to act like the 'old' Ollie. I did that because I didn't want everyone to be worried about me all of the time. I didn't want to bother you- any of you- with my pain. So I came back, acted like my old self- but at every turn I have people telling me that I'm faking it, they KNOW I'm faking it, and that I don't have to fake it!"

"Maybe you should listen to them?" Tommy suggested.

"That's not the point!" Oliver exclaimed. "I never wanted anyone to see how...how...how DAMAGED I am!"

"Oliver." Laurel said softly, drawing his attention to her. "Whether you like it or not, we already knew you were damaged. I mean, how couldn't you be?" She asked rhetorically. "What you must have went through to survive for five years- no one goes through that and comes out unchanged. So instead of fighting us at every turn and trying to pretend that you're still the same spoiled brat that broke my heart, why don't you try accepting the fact that we love you; that we want to support you, and accept our help if we offer it?"

Oliver chuckled sadly. "You have no reason to want to help me, Laurel." He said. "Not after what I pulled."

"Well, I did hate you for a long time, Ollie." She admitted. "But quite frankly, nothing I could do to you would compare to what you've already been through; and I think you beat yourself up enough as it is."

"I just don't want to be a burden on anyone..."

"You're not a burden, Ollie." Tommy interrupted. "You're our friend. You're practically my brother, and have been since long before Thea was born." He walked over and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Look, my Mom's clinic offers counseling for Vets with PTSD. It's completely confidential- nothing you say there will ever be revealed ANYWHERE. If you want to try talking to someone, and it's too uncomfortable talking to us, then try there." Sensing that there had been enough serious talk, Tommy gave him a grin. "And if you want to try your hand at honest work in the meantime, you could always come work for me."

Oliver gave him a look. "Really." He deadpanned.

"Sure! You could be my Executive Assistant!"

Oliver chuckled. "I doubt I'm as leggy as you would prefer."

"His current EA is 65 and about 5 foot 1." Laurel said with a satisfied smirk. "One of the few things Malcolm and I agree on."

Oliver actually laughed at that. "I bet..." He trailed off, then frowned. "Did you hear that?" He asked the pair.

Tommy's head turned towards the windows. "Laur, you're sure Sin stayed at Thea's tonight?"

"Positive."

"Well, shit."

Suddenly, there was a tremendous crash as something impacted the front door. The door stubbornly held, though. Oliver looked at Laurel. "Triad?" He guessed.

"Probably." She growled. "Take cover!" She yelled at the two before diving over the back of the couch. Tommy and Oliver made a beeline for the bedroom, and entered just in time for a smallish Asian man to burst through the window with a pistol in his hand. Without even thinking, Tommy grabbed the man's outstretched arm and twisted it hard, dislocating both the wrist and the elbow along with yanking it out of its socket. The man yelled in pain and dropped the gun, which Tommy kicked back towards Oliver. "Get the gun!" He yelled at Oliver, even as he followed up his attack with a punch to the throat, then wrapped his arm around his neck and yanked him into the apartment, letting the momentum carry him around in a tight spin that ended when the man's back impacted the edge of Laurel's dresser. He hit with a terrific crack, and Tommy dropped the disabled man to the ground. He looked at Oliver, who had picked the gun up and was staring at him in surprise. Tommy shrugged. "What did you think I was learning from my dad with Thea? Knitting?" He stepped over the man and pulled open a drawer on the desk; inside was a 9mm Glock. He took it out just as he heard the front door crash open, and then a large blast of a shotgun. "Let's go."

After Laurel had dived over the couch, she immediately reached under it and pulled out her fully loaded shotgun. As she flicked the safety off she heard the fight in her bedroom and winced. Knowing Tommy (and Oliver) could take care of themselves is a lot different than them having to actually do it. All thoughts of the men were swept aside as the front door finally burst open, revealing a large Asian man with an Uzi. Before he could even bring it to bear, though, Laurel lifted the shotgun and fired, hitting the man in the upper chest with a beanbag round. "Wrong house, mother fucker!" She snarled, sending another blast at the doorway, driving the other Triad members back. Tommy and Oliver came into the living room just in time to see several men on the fire escape with weapons pointed right at Laurel. Without even thinking, both men lifted their own weapons and fired, shattering the glass and sending the gangsters to the ground in a bloody heap.

Laurel saw another figure approaching the door, and fired off three rounds in quick succession. She tried for a fourth, but by now the gun was empty. "Shit!" She cursed, and looked up in time to see a small hand toss something into her apartment. Almost immediately she recognized it as a police-issue flash-bang grenade. "Down!" She yelled again, diving on the other side of her couch just as the grenade exploded. Tommy and Oliver hadn't been as quick to get down, and were momentarily dazed. Before they could orient themselves again, a member of the Triad darted through the door and launched an attack at the two men. Laurel stood up to help, but on instinct turned back towards the door and lifted the butt of her shotgun to her face- just in time to intercept the knife that had been thrown by China White.

The white-haired assassin entered the apartment with a scowl on her face. "My employer wants you dead." She told Laurel.

The lawyer scoffed. She was terrified, but she wouldn't give the Asian woman the pleasure of seeing her fear. "So he sends his errand girl?" She scoffed. "If your employer really wanted me dead, he should have sent more men. Or at least, more competent men." Snarling in rage, China White darted in to attack, but drew back quickly when Laurel tossed the shotgun at her face. Laurel quickly picked up her tonfas and moved to attack, but was immediately put on the defensive.

Seeing Laurel facing down one of his most hated foes, Oliver decided to throw caution to the wind against his opponent. Figuring he could just tell Tommy he was copying the moves that his friend was making later, Oliver launched an all-out attack on his attacker. With Tommy's help they managed to make quick work of the man- just in time to hear Laurel cry out in pain as China White managed to slip past her defense and open a long gash on her stomach. Before she could follow up the attack, Oliver grabbed the first weapon he saw- a table knife- and threw it at the assassin, knocking the weapon out of her head. China White looked up in surprise, and their eyes met. At once, she recognized him from their previous encounter. Knowing how dangerous he was, she decided that discretion was the better part of valor and turned to escape out the door-

And was met by the butt of John Diggle's gun to her temple.

She collapsed to the ground in a daze as Diggle covered her. Before she could even try to get up, she heard Laurel say "Hey!" She groggily turned towards the lawyer-

And was knocked unconscious by a swing from Laurel's tonfa.

"That's for Victor Nocenti, you crazy ass bitch!" She snarled.

Tommy sank wearily into a nearby chair. He looked at Oliver with a tired smile. "And THAT'S why you should be glad that she isn't mad at you anymore."

Oliver looked at Diggle, who shrugged. "And that's another reason you should be glad you have a bodyguard." He said, and Oliver nodded in thanks.

It was twenty minutes before Quentin Lance arrived at the apartment, and by that time, it was a full blown circus. No less than ten police cars were parked outside the buildings, their lights still flashing; patrol officers scoured the sidewalks and clambered up the fire escape collecting evidence. Three ambulances and the coroner's van were parked outside, and as each member of the Triad was brought down, they were put into one or the other. Six Triad members- plus China White herself- had stormed Laurel's apartment; three left in body bags, the other four on stretchers. China White had the dubious honor of being secured to her gurney by no less than eight pairs of handcuffs- two on each arm, two on each ankle.

On the ground it was no better. Two other Triad members had tried to take out Diggle, and he had made them pay.

That's what you get for fucking with an Army Ranger.

And sadly, the two cops had been killed as well. But their manner of deaths was puzzling the cops. "It's the damndest thing I've ever seen." Lance heard one detective say to his partner. "All these gooks with machine guns, but our boys look like they were taken out by a sniper!"

Lance winced at the language; if the Lieutenant heard that remark, Benson would find himself spending a weekend in racial sensitivity training.

The Detective ran up the stairs instead of waiting for the elevator, and when he finally entered his daughter's apartment, he saw Laurel being checked out by an EMT while Oliver, Tommy and Diggle all gave statements to Hilton.

"Your boyfriend did a good job, Miss Lance." The EMT was telling Laurel as Quentin joined them.

"Well, good first aid technique is a perquisite for this apartment." She joked, and then gave a tired smile to Quentin. "I'm alright, Daddy." She assured him.

"I'll be the judge of that." He said gruffly, giving her a quick once over. He turned to the EMT. "Is she really okay, or is she just saying that?"

"The cut was relatively shallow." The man said. "Her boyfriend did a good job of bandaging it. Other than that, there's some bruising from the fight that can be treated with ice and some Tylenol. Your daughter knows how to take care of herself in a fight." He opined.

"Not as much relief as you'd think." Lance grumbled. When the EMT stepped away, Quentin looked at his daughter in concern. "Okay, tell me what happened."

"The Triad launched an all-out attack on my home." Laurel said in an obvious tone of voice. "Tommy and Oliver fought the ones coming through the window, and I held them off at the door with my shotgun. When I ran out of ammo they breached, and Ollie and Tommy fought one of the guys while I held off China White. We fought, she tagged me, someone threw a knife that disarmed her, and she turned to run, only to be knocked out by Mr. Diggle."

"I put her on the ground, Detective, but she knocked her out." Dig said, nodding at Laurel with a smile.

"Bitch ruined my apartment. And don't say it!" she said quickly, cutting off both her father AND Tommy. "They would have come for me no matter where I lived."

"Did she say anything to point to who was behind this?" Quentin asked.

Laurel shook her head. "She only said her employer wanted me dead."

"That would be Martin Somers."

"She didn't name him." Laurel pointed out.

Quentin chuckled mirthlessly. "He doesn't know that. And he all but threatened you in my presence. Hilton and I will go down to the docks and pick his ass up in an hour or two." He turned to Diggle. "Did you see what happened to the officers I put out on the street?"

Dig shook his head. "No. Shortly after Mr. Queen went up, I walked over to ask them for a light- but they were already dead. Then I got jumped by two of those Triad punks. But I have to say, I don't think they killed them."

"Why's that?" Quentin asked.

"I didn't get to see much before I got jumped," he admitted, "but what I did see was two shots clean through the head, one in each officer. And no powder residue apparent on the windshield, which had two holes. In my opinion, it looked like a sniper took them out."

"So the Triad has snipers now?" Hilton said, coming over to them.

"Or they hired one." Diggle offered. "But if that was the case, why not use the sniper to take out Miss Lance?"

"Well, until we get this sorted out—"

"I'll move in with Tommy." Laurel offered to the surprise of her father.

Tommy gave a nervous chuckle. "Which means that WE are moving in with my dad, as I sold my apartment months ago." He admitted.

Laurel sighed. "On second thought—"

"You know, my father had a small set of apartments built on the top floor of Queen Consolidated." Oliver offered. "The building has private security, and a personal elevator. I'm sure it wouldn't be a problem for you to stay there.

"That's a… a good idea." Quentin said with a wince.

Tommy smirked. "Bet that hurt."

"You have no idea."

In the end, Oliver called his mother to have her open the apartments up for Tommy and Laurel. She readily agreed and offered to meet them personally to let them in. And while Quentin helped his daughter move to her new temporary home, Oliver slipped away from Diggle to don his hood.

A short time later at the docks, Martin Somers was hurriedly stuffing bundles of cash into a case.

"Triad bitch screwed up the hit on Lance." He growled to his bodyguard. "Now, the Triad is gonna erase every ounce of evidence of their smuggling operation, including me. Except that's not gonna happen." He closed up the case and looked back to his man. "Tell Wallace to get the boat ready." He ordered. "I'm leaving tonight."

"Wallace? Wallace, you copy?" the man asked into his radio. There was no response. "Wallace?"

Wallace isn't here. A familiar voice sounded on the radio, and Somer's face filed with dread as he recognized The Arrow. But I am.

"We need to move, now." He ordered. "Move!"

"Sir, we've got six men out there." The man argued, but Somers pulled him along.

"It's not enough. Move it!" he ordered as they ran out of the building.

Soon it was pandemonium as The Hood leapt from walk way to walkway, staying one step ahead of the guard's bullets and taking them out, one at a time. He spied Somers running into a building as he killed the last guard.

"Somers!" he shouted, jumping down to the ground and following him.

In the building, Somers was running as fast as he could, trying to get away. Unfortunately for him, he wasn't fast enough. An arrow pinned him to a crate at the far end of the room. "Oh, God, no, no, no…" he cried out as The Hood stalked up, nocking another arrow.

"He can't help you." The Hood growled. "I want the truth about Victor Nocenti." He let the arrow fly, pinning is right shoulder to the crate.

"I can't! The Triad will kill me."

"The Triad's not your concern right now!" The Hood snarled. At Somers reluctance, he let another arrow fly, right below the man's crotch.

"All right, all right, all right!" Somers cried out. "It wasn't me that killed him. It was the Triad." He sobbed.

"Acting on whose instructions? Whose?" he shouted, shooting another arrow right above the man's head.

"All right, all right! It was mine." He confessed. "It was mine, all right? Nocenti said he was gonna testify against me."

"What about tonight?" The Hood growled.

"We knew we couldn't kill Nocenti, not with that Lance bitch sniffing around. She'd keep coming after me, even if the kid was iced. So the Triad decided to kill her! I swear, it was their idea."

"Made possible by you." The Hood snarled. In the distance he heard sirens approaching. Deciding there was enough evidence now, she delivered a devastating punch to the man, knocking him out. Then sticking the recording arrow in the crate next to Somer's head, The Hood quickly slipped out of the warehouse and into the night.

The next morning when Oliver entered the den for Breakfast, he paused to listen to the latest news report with a great deal of satisfaction.

"…a violent assault on crusading lawyer Laurel Lance by the Triad was thankfully stopped last night by the attorney herself. According to sources in the SCPD, the leader of the Triad in Starling City Chien Na Wei, also known as China White, led a band of armed men in storming Miss Lance's apartment. But Miss Lance, her boyfriend Thomas Merlyn, and a third unnamed guest managed to turn the attack back on their attackers and subdue the criminals for the police to take in. The attack was later discovered to be connected to the Martin Somers trial. In related news, Martin Somers himself was arrested last night for the murder of Victor Nocenti, and collusion in the attempted murder of Laurel Lance. Unnamed sources say that Martin Somers was found pinned to a crate by several arrows, along with a recorded confession of his crimes. Mr. Somers will be in court later today…'

"Tommy's gonna be pissed that they called him 'Thomas'." Thea said with a smirk as she finished off the last of her juice. "And possibly that he was identified as the boyfriend, and not 'fellow bad-ass'."

"I'm just glad they are alright." Oliver said. 'And glad they left my name out of it.'

"How about you?" Thea asked. "Are you alright?"

Oliver shrugged. "Just some bumps and bruises. I can honestly say I've had worse." He tried to joke, but it fell flat even to his ears. "Still, my face is pretty enough for the cameras today."

"Are you sure you want to come?" Moira asked as she and Walter walked in. "You don't have to…"

"Yes, I do." Oliver replied. "And I want to say something as well." He didn't see Thea wince behind him.

"You're sure?" Moira asked.

Oliver gave her a tight smile. "Don't worry. I promise I won't embarrass the family."

"Here's to hoping." Thea muttered to herself.

A short time later at the sight of the future Robert Queen Applied Sciences building, press and invited guests milled about as the Queen family made their way onto the stage. In the crowd stood Laurel, Tommy and Sin- who tried to snag a glass of champagne from a passing waiter, only to have it taken away by Tommy.

"Nice try, slick." He said with a wink before taking a sip. Laurel raised an eyebrow at him, but he just shrugged. "It's five o'clock somewhere."

"I deserved that drink." Sin complained. "Especially after that stunt you two pulled last night?"

"What stunt? Having you stay at the Queen's so you wouldn't be caught in the crossfire?"

"I could have helped you take down those Yakuza punks!" Sin stated hotly.

"First, they were Triad, not Yakuza. Yakuza is the Japanese mob." Laurel clarified. "And second, I don't want you anywhere near a fight like that! I don't care how much training time you're putting in with Thea."

Sin made to reply, but was shushed by Tommy. "Quiet, the speech is starting."

"I hope Oliver doesn't do anything…" Laurel worried as Walter began to speak.

"Good afternoon, and thank you all for coming." He began. "Welcome to the future site of the Robert Queen Memorial Applied Sciences Center." There was polite applause. "Now, this is a building that will stand as a monument to the man whose company, and vision, are his greatest legacies. And here to give further voice to Robert's vision is a very important legacy of his, his son, Oliver." There were slightly louder applause and many more camera flashes as Oliver walked up to the podium.

Oliver smiled thinly as he looked out into the crowd, allowing the photographers a few moments to take their shots before he started speaking. "Good morning. As you all know, my name is Oliver Queen, and Robert Queen was my father." He paused, trying to gather his words. The pause carried on long enough that some in the crowd began whispering amongst themselves, wondering what the Queen heir was up to. "My father…" he took a steading breath. "My father wasn't always a good man." He started, and Moira and Thea exchanged a worried, if subtle, look. "He wasn't always an honest man. And he didn't always do what was best for this city, if he felt it wasn't best for business. But my father loved this city." He continued, his voice growing stronger. "He loved his family. And he was willing to sacrifice everything to see us safe. The last thing we talked about, before the Gambit went down, was that he felt he hadn't done enough for this city." He revealed to startled gasps. "He wanted to do so much more, but he will never get the opportunity now. So now it is up to us, the surviving Queens, to carry on his legacy. The Robert Queen Memorial Applied Sciences Center will be overseeing the development of cutting edge technology that will be used in ever field, from defense to medical. And I make this promise to you- when it comes time to manufacture the devices this center comes up with for the mass market, those manufacturing jobs will be right here in Starling City. Thank you." He finished, walking back to his seat at the crowd applauded loudly. He passed Walter, who gave him an encouraging smile as he walked back to the podium, and sat down between his mother and sister. Moira leaned in close and told him, "Your father would be so proud of you." Oliver smiled and looked to his sister. "So, how did I do?" he asked.

Thea gave him an appraising look. "I've heard better speeches." She said after a moment, and then grinned. "But not many."

Oliver nudged her shoulder warmly, then turned back to listen to Walter as he continued to speak.

Later that night Diggle made his way back to Queen Consolidated after receiving a call from Felicity. Heading up to the 39th floor, Diggle found her in her office, still working.

"You know," he said as he entered, "I was surprised not to see you at the dedication today. As the new head of Applied Sciences, I figured that you would have to make a speech."

Felicity chuckled. "Well, they did want me to, but then I told Mrs. Queen that if I had to walk up to that podium and speak, there was a better than average chance that I'd vomit over the first two rows."

Diggle winced. "Well, THAT would have been something for the cameras."

"I know, right?" she shook her head. "Anyways, that got me out of THIS press conference. But Mrs. Queen made it a point to tell me that she would schedule some public speaking lessons for me."

"Almost made a clean getaway." Diggle joked.

Felicity sighed. "Yeah, I suppose. But that's not why I called you." She handed him a thumb drive. "Everything you want or need to know about Floyd Lawton, AKA—"

"Deadshot." Diggle finished

"If I can suggest something?" Felicity started. "If you give this information to Lyla, be honest with her. Especially if you want to get back together with her."

"Yeah, I think you're right." Diggle said. He smiled at her. "Thank you for this."

"Go get 'em, John." She said cheekily as Diggle took his leave.

Several days later, China White was led through a veritable maze of concrete corridors until, finally, she reached a heavy metal door. A buzz sounded and one of the guards pulled open the door, after which the other led her into a darkened room. She was pushed down onto a cold metal chair none to gently and secured at the wrists and ankles before the guard stepped back behind her. After a few moments of silence, Chien hissed in annoyance. "Well?" she called out. "Let's get this started."

A voice chuckled in the dark. "Welcome, Chien Na Wei. It's been a long time… and, finally, here we are." The lights turned on, and it took a few moments for China White to blink the spots clear before she recognized the woman sitting across from her.

Amanda Waller smiled coldly. "What took you so long?"

TBC

IMPORTANT NOTE: As most of you reading my work may have noticed, I'm not the most sensitive bloke around. My language is coarse, and normally I make no apologies for that.

This may be my one exception.

I physically winced when I typed out the word 'gook'. This is a horribly offensive racial epithet that has no place in a modern society. But I felt that in this case, where an older cop is working a crime scene where two of his colleagues were murdered, he wouldn't really care about being sensitive to another culture. This ONE time, I deeply apologize for using such an offensive word.

A/N: On a whim, I watched the finale of Star Trek: Voyager. I didn't realize it at the time, but it's story structure is very similar to Past Is Prologue.

The song sung by Sin was 'An Irish Lullaby (Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ra) by J.R. Shannon

And this is why I didn't want to start posting before I had the whole thing written. I'll be honest, I've been struggling with this one. I have the whole thing outlined, but a lot of the connective story for the big set pieces still needs to be created, and I've hit a wall. I've decided that, instead of struggling, I'll switch over to one of my many other ideas, bang a chapter of that out, then come back to this one. But I want to make it clear- I will post no more of this story until it is almost completely done, and once it is I will post one chapter a week again. I'm only posting this chapter today because I've seen Wonder Woman in theaters twice and it is fucking AWESOME.

Meanwhile, here are the three other stories I will be working on. And to be clear, one of them I had somewhat planned out before even Batman v Superman came to theaters.

A Game of Shadows: Harry Potter's fourth year at Hogwarts looked like it would be fun- until he was entered into the Tri-Wizard Tournament against his will. Now the Fourth Champion, Harry will have to match wits against fellow Hogwarts Champion Cedric Diggory, Beauxbatons champion Fleur Delacour, and the Shadow Academy's champion Thea Queen. Who are the Shadow Academy, what is their connection to the ancient organization the League of Shadows, and what does their headmaster, the enigmatic Ra's al Ghul, want with Harry? A Harry Potter/Berlantiverse crossover where everyone is a member of the League of Assassins.

Gods and Monsters: Five years ago the Queen's Gambit was lost at sea with all hands, including it's owner Robert Queen and his 12 year old daughter, Thea. So it's a bit of a shock to everyone when Thea Queen walks into the Starling City Police Department and informs them that she is alive. But while the city and her family celebrate the fact that Starling's princess was back from the dead, Thea must carry out her secret and sacred mission of defending the weak and stopping Malcolm's undertaking- a mission given to her by her true father, Zeus. A Berlantiverse story where Thea is one of three children of Zeus, and who has spent most of her time away being trained by the Amazons.

A Schism in Time: Sara Lance died for the third time on October 8th, 2014. Only this time, she didn't; saved instead by a mysterious speedster in yellow. Who is Sa'd Al Ghul? Why did she save Sara? Why does she want to kill Malcolm Merlyn? And most importantly where- or WHEN- did she come from?