3LW: Ok, let's see how this goes, and how I hopefully don't fuck this up
Kaos in DC: Arrow – Lance Vs Queen
"The Police think they know who I am, that's I'm the vigilante, the man in the hood who's been attacking the rich and corrupt these past few months. They also think they have me trapped, that I have no way out. They're only half right"
SCPD interrogation
"This is a mistake" Oliver says calmly and a little dismissively, as would be expected of him before the island
"I'm just going to ask a few questions, standard stuff to fill up the report. Have you been arrested before?" Quinton asks, then continues writing after Oliver only has time to breath "Never mind I know this one, plenty of times"
"As I already said, this is a mistake" Oliver repeats, though it clearly has no effect on Lance
"The only mistake I see is not shooting you when I had the chance back at the docks"
"I am not who you think I am… scratch that I am a rich prick who didn't deserve either of your daughter's attention or even the time of day, but I'm not this Hood guy. You hate me, understandably so, but that doesn't make me the vigilante"
"No, but the security cam footage of you in the Unidac building with a green hood sure makes it look like it" Lance acuses
"As I said earlier. I ran into the stairwell when the shooting began, saw the duffle, thought it might be the shooter's, and found a hood inside, though if I'd found bullets or a firearm I'd probably be in here being accused of being the sniper guy instead"
"Really, and you what, decided to take it home with you? Because we can't find any trace of it besides in your hands. And then there's Adam Hunt who happened to get attacked across the street from your homecoming party"
Oliver chuckles "All you have are coincidences Detective"
"Yeah, well when coincidences start piling like this, when they're too many to remain circumstantial, then they become evidence"
The door opens and an officer peers inside "His parents are here"
"Tell them to wait" Quinton says waving him off, not that it does anything
"I want to see my son" Moira demands as she walks past the cop and into the room, Walter calmly following his clearly irate wife
"I'm in the middle of an interrogation…"
"Detective Lance, I know that you hate my family, my son most of all, but I never thought you would go THIS far. Arresting him on basically nothing, this is borderline harassment"
"I have solid grounds and evidence" Lance argues
"Which you can present to Mr. Queen's attorney when she gets here" Walter adds, "Until then, this 'interrogation' is over Detective" he says definitely.
Lance grumbles something incoherent and walks out, leaving Oliver, Moira and Walter alone in the room
"Detective Lance seems to have quite the personal vendetta against you" Walter hums, to which Oliver nods
"Very true. He blames me for Sara's death, and he's not entirely wrong to" Oliver says sombrely "He also thinks I run across rooftops in a green hood and shoot people, with arrows" he adds, a little more seriously, though the lunacy of the statement speaks for itself
"Well the important this is to not say anything important until your attorney gets here"
"Don't worry, we'll deal with this easily, the charges are ludicrous anyway, plus I think the entire department knows what Detective Lance thinks about you" Moira tries to assure her son (and herself) who smiles and nods
"Ok. I want Laurel" he says, Moira giving him that disappointment look again, and Walter sighs
"Oliver, maybe this isn't the a good time to involve your ex, she isn't exactly objective"
"She knows me best; she knows I'm not this Hood guy everyone's talking about. Walter, you saw Lance had a vendetta against me?"
"Yes"
"Then she can get him to drop it, to think clearly. He raised her to do the right thing, defend the innocent, plus given our biggest problem is most likely the genetic Lance stubbornness, she's the only person who might be able to talk some sense into him"
"You've given this a lot of thought" Moira notes
"Only since Quinton arrested me, though I'll admit any case I'm innocent I'd happily have Laurel defend me. Please mom"
CNRI
Laurel was putting together the files for her newest case, when she hears the click of heels stop at her desk she looks up "Miss Que…Moira" she corrects her greeting, now the focus of the disapproving eyebrow, however briefly "I saw what happened" she points to the TV on the other side of the room "That could, no should have been handled better"
Moira nods "On that we can agree, these charges are ludicrous and shouldn't have been thrown around so easily, though that's not why I'm here. Oliver would like you to represent him"
Laurel's eyes widen "I can't, there are several conflict of interest reasons, not least of all being my dad is the arresting officer"
"I know, I told him this was a bad idea, I'm just carrying out the request. Though I should point out the other plan he has is to represent himself" Moira could see how bad Laurel thought that idea was, as it mirrored her own thoughts
"I, but, I can't" she looked so conflicted, Moira felt bad for herself and Oliver putting her in this position
" I understand, that idealism seems to be why, despite his many faults, my son has always been fond of you, even smitten. Also Miss Lance, regardless of how things ended, you have always brought out the best in my son, he is his best self when you are around. I'm sorry to bother you like this" she says just before leaving
Courthouse, later
"Docket NE491, people Vs Oliver Queen. Murder assault, assault with intent, menacing and trespassing"
"Where's your attorney Mr. Queen?"
"I will be representing myself your honour" Oliver replies
"Do you think that wise Mr. Queen?" the judge asks
"Given the family lawyer seems to on standby behind me, my mother clearly doesn't" Oliver replies jokingly
"Your family aren't the only ones worried about you Oliver" Alura says, quiet enough it only reaches him rather than the entire courtroom "so are mine"
"Either way, I think it is, because I'm innocent"
"Then we'll take that as a plea of Not Guilty as well. Now Bail?"
"Your honour, the Queen family own a pair of private jets, getting him out of the country would be child's play" the prosecutor argues "And considering just how much they're worth, no bail amount will guarantee his appearance in court"
"Then it's a good thing the People's case is so circumstantial and flimsy Mr. Queen could probably defend himself, not that he will need to" Laurel says as she enters the courtroom, Oliver moving to the defendant's chair as she approaches his table "Dinah Laurel Lance, defence for Oliver Queen" she announces, anyone who looked at Detective Lance right now would think he'd been stabbed in the chest while sucking a lemon, while Oliver let Laurel do her thing as while he'd been serious about representing himself, he had no idea what he was doing
"… my client will wear an ankle monitor…"
"Um, no he will not" Oliver finally pipes in, until he looks at Laurel's face "Never mind, I agree" he says, ignoring the whip crack sound made most likely by Thea, directly behind him. "I knew you couldn't resist saving my ass" he jokes as she sits down
"I'm going to regret this aren't I?"
"What? No. It'll be just like old times, we'll be fine"
"Well, good thing for you I don't think you could be the Hood" Laurel responds
"Really?" Oliver asks
"Yes, he's actually trying to help this city, and we both know that's not really your thing" she says a little bitterly, Oliver surprised to hear her defend him after their last encounter
Queen Manor
"There you are Mr. Queen, just stay on the property and you're golden, any questions?" the officer fitting the ankle monitor asks
"Sort of. I'm having a sizable get together tomorrow night and it may spill out into the outdoor pool" Oliver says
"That should be fine, but step on the grass and the entire precinct will probably turn up to subdue you" Oliver chuckles and waves the man away, his job done.
"A sizable get together?" Moira asks, already feeling the grey hairs her son was causing
"I'm confided to this house, for who knows how long I'm going to try make the most of it" he answers, then talks partly to himself and also to Tommy "The party should be themed, I'm imagining: Burning Man meets Shawshank Redemption. The invitation says 'come, before Oliver Queen gets off' "
"I don't think a party, especially with that theme, is really in the best taste, given the circumstances" Tommy comments, actually surprising Oliver that he was against throwing a party
"But that's the point, the circumstances are why we're having the party. I want people to see I'm not worried about this, I'm innocent and with Laurel in my corner I can't lose. This city is still holding together well enough you can't just throw someone in jail with the duct taped together evidence they have"
"Well that makes one of us" Moira mutters, tense like a spring
Later
"Glad you could meet me" Oliver greets as Diggle closes the door behind him
"Well, you're a lot easier to find when you can't disappear on me. Should have known the police would catch you, didn't expect it to be this soon though" he comments, while Oliver smiles
"They didn't"
"Oliver, they arrested you this morning, there's video evidence you're the Hood"
Oliver smirks "I knew the camera was there, just like I knew they'd review the footage, and arrest me"
Diggle blinks "What? Why would you do that?"
"Because I was always going to be a suspect, given the Hood showed up around the same time I did"
"True, but how does giftwrapping yourself for the cops help you shake that"
"There's more to it, a lot more" Oliver assures him
"There better be" Dig responds angrily "Because just down the hall your mother and sister are breaking down and you don't even seem to care"
"Don't ever say I don't care about my family" Oliver says with steel in his voice "But rght now the mission comes first" he turns his laptop so Diggle can see what he's working on
"Who's that"
" Liam Muler, German arms dealer, currently suspected of stealing M249 automatic weapons. Guess where he is tonight? Starling, to sell his guns, most likely to one of the gangs in the Glades, maybe even the Triad or the Bertinelli's"
"Oliver, you're this close to going to jail, might want to give the Hood thing a rest"
"Except this is how I avoid going, as I'll be here at the party while the Hood is busting up an arms deal on the other side of town"
"Are you forgetting about the ank..." he stops and sighs, looking annoyed "I just said about not…"
"There's no need to volunteer yourself Mr Diggle, Oliver and I already discussed this scenario, and I'm ready to go, provided he can part with his bow for 1 night" James says with a smirk, widening as he watches Diggle nearly jump out of his skin.
"Knock yourself out, just don't break it" Oliver gives him a shallow smile which he returns
Laurel's apartment
"Now, don't get mad" Laurel attempts, probably futilely, to get her dad to calm down
"Mad, why would I be mad? I mean you're just defending the bastard that killed your sister" Quinton bellows
"Oliver didn't kill Sara" Laurel argues
"If it wasn't for him he wouldn't even have been on that boat"
Well he didn't force her on that's for sure; she was probably more than happy too. I mean come on this is Oliver Queen you're talking about, he sleeps around and spends money on really stupid shit, not playing Robin Hood and putting arrows in people"
"No, but he uses people, he used Sara, and he's using you to get to me"
"Get through to you. Even I could see that the minute Moira asked me to represent him, he wanted me to either knock some sense into you, or be so freaking stubborn I wouldn't back down to whatever insane bull you've come up with. Because we both know Sara and I got it from you, not mom" Laurel breathes deeply "You hate Oliver, and you hate the Hood, things would be so much easier if they were the same person, then you could justify it to yourself and everyone else. But Oliver isn't the reason Sara died, or Mom left…"
"I don't have to listen to this" Quinton grunts and tries storm out
"Hey, one more thing. You're not the only one who misses them, and there was always going to be a Lance on that boat" Laurel states firmly, stopping him in his tracks
"What?"
"I, I messed up, I was pushing us too hard, too fast. Sara wasn't just a random fling, it was as close to tactical as Oliver can be, you don't sleep with your girlfriend's sister unless it's to send a message; I'm not ready for this, We're not ready for this. If I'd taken things a little slower, maybe he wouldn't have asked Sara to go with him, maybe he'd have asked me and I think I'd have said yes" Laurel admits, voicing thoughts that had been whispering in the background since she found out Oliver had cheated on her with Sara.
"Baby, Oliver didn't deserve you, don't blame yourself for his actions" Quinton tries to sooth her tears, paternal instincts overriding his anger at this moment "You need to find someone who will move at your pace, not someone you're dragging behind you like it sounds like Queen was"
Police Station, some time later
Laurel and Oliver enter the room, where Quinton and the judge were already seated "Thank you both for coming"
"Thank you, the house is so boring when you know you can't leave" Oliver says with a shrug
"I'm going to be direct about this, Detective Lance jumped the gun and arrested your client without consulting my office first, so I'm willing to consider a plea in this case"
"Absolutely not" Oliver answers almost the moment she stops taking
"Mr. Queen spent the last 5 years in seclusion, on a deserted island, cut of from the rest of civilization; it's quite possible he's suffering some kind of post traumatic stress. (Like with one of Diggle's comments last chapter, Yes, but not the point) Given that, we're willing to cut a deal for a plea of mental instability, conditional on a stay for an indeterminate stay in a psychiatric facility"
"No. I'm not crazy" Oliver answers immediately
"On that we can agree, he's not some loony, he's a killer" Quinton growls
"Those 2 things aren't mutually exclusive" Oliver retorts, before he could stop himself "Not that it matters as I'm neither"
"Nothing you say, will make me believe that. I know you're the man in the Hood, and soon so will everyone else"
Oliver looks like he was going to comment, but stops, looking thoughtful "I'll take a polygraph" he then suggests, seemingly out of the blue
"They're inadmissible in court" Laurel counters/ points out to Oliver, not seeing the point
"I know that, it's not for the jury, I'm taking it in front of him" he points out towards Quinton "He's the one I need to convince"
Laurel looks like she's seriously regretting this before turning to the other adults in the room and as calmy as she could says "I'm going to need a minute with my client" to which they give her the room, and the calm drops "You're looking at life in prison" she says, the statement ending with 'idiot' being implied in her tone "What Spenser just offered, was a gift, it's something any rational person would snatch up before it even touched the table"
"I'm not crazy, I'm innocent, I kind of want to take the Polygraph, and if I fail it doesn't mean anything from a court point of view, so I'll consider taking a deal"
Despite claiming to be used to Oliver's antics she'd clearly lost her tolerance for it during his 5 year absence as she pinches the bridge of her nose and sighs "Fine, I'll set up the poly, and I'll tell Spenser we're not pleading out… But Oliver, there are a lot of people who care about you, family, friends; you're not the only person with something to lose here. I'll be right back" she then leaves the room, Oliver left to his thoughts alone
Back to the Manor, some time later
"Hey Thea" the girl looks up to see Oliver in the doorway "Could you get those guys to move that keg a little closer to the bar, I'd do it myself, but I think we'd all prefer the SWAT not get called to the house" he smiles and her lips thin as she nods, rising slowly until a hand is placed on her shoulder "Thea, I'm getting better at this empathy thing again, so what's bugging you?"
"Ollie, you're out all the time, disappearing, you have all those scars and you've been acting weird since you got back. I don't know what to think"
"None of those things, make me this Robin hood cosplayer" Oliver tries to assure her "I'm just adjusting to being around people again, and it takes a little time"
"And then there's this" she waves the hozen in his face "It's even an arrowhead" she sighs deeply, sitting heavily back into her seat.
Oliver sighs lightly "Thea, I got that in the gift shop in the Hong Kong airport, after all this time I didn't want to come back home and see you empty handed" he chuckles "Really glad I didn't get you the shot glass with the panda on it, else you might think I was the Pandaman" she bites her lip to hold in a smile or a chuckle, as he ruffles her hair and stands up again "I'm not the vigilante psycho the police say I am, I don't even know how to hold a bow, never mind be able to shot someone with it" he finishes, heading inside
Thea rolls the hozen between her fingers, unconvinced "You've gotten better Ollie, but you're still a terrible liar" she groans, hoping Kaos can hook her up tonight, she needs some SMILE with all this crap going on
The Station
"Is your name Oliver Queen?"
"You don't remember my name Detective? Might want to consider early retirement, maybe test for Alzheimer's while you're at it" Oliver jokes
"It's to calibrate the device, we need you to answer questions we KNOW the answers to, so we can use your responses to gauge your reactions, to the actual questions" the technician explains, Oliver nods in understanding
"Yes" he answers
"Were you born in Starling City, May 16th 1985?"
"Yes" (Cool, Oliver Queen is just 10 years older than me)
"And we need a lie" the technician adds
"Is your hair blue?"
"Yes"
"Okay, that's all the test works, you can begin your questions Detective"
"Were you ever in Iron Heights Prison?"
"No" Laurel's eyebrows hop but otherwise there is no reaction
Lance hums, then puts a sketch on the table, of the Hood "Are you the man in this picture?"
Oliver is silent for a moment, 2 things flash into his mind: An older Chinese man wearing the hood, and a Middle Eastern woman
'Shēngcún'
'It's only when the monster becomes someone else, something else, you're free to be Oliver Queen'
"No"
"Did you steal 40million dollars from Adam Hunt?"
"No"
"Were you marooned on an island called Lian Yu for 5 years?"
"How is that relevant?" Laurel asks over Oliver's "Yes"
"The relevance is whatever happened on that island turned some rich punk into a cold blooded killer" Quinton answers "The medical report says 20% of your body is covered in scar tissue"
"That's not a question" Laurel points out, once she was done processing that information "You need to ask a question for the polygraph to have something to read"
"Did that happen to you there?"
"Yes" Oliver answers after a momentary pause
"When you came back, you claimed to be on the island alone. Are you going to tell me they were or weren't self inflicted?"
"No, they weren't self inflicted and I wasn't alone, I said I was because I didn't want to talk about what happened on the island" Oliver answers, surprising the Lances
"What?"
"The other people on the island, they tortured me" he explains, the gold and blue mask of Wintergreen flashing through his mind.
"Have you ever killed someone?" Quinton asks, trying not to let the previous statement get to him
"Yes…" Quinton almost smiles, he had him "…your youngest daughter, when I asked her to come on the Gambit with her. I killed Sara" Oliver says, the pain and guilt palatable. At this point he disconnects himself from the device, and slowly leaves the room, so now it was just both Lances and the technician
"I'll need to check the data, but eyeballing it, looks like he's telling the truth" Quinton just grunts in his direction
"Can I assume you'll be telling Judge Spenser to drop all charges on my client?" Laurel asks as she stands up
"No, I know a guilty man when I see you, and Oliver Queen is guilty" Lance claims (I mean he's not wrong)
That evening
"If this is what you think prison looks like, you're in for a rude awakening" Diggle comments as he looks around the backyard, Oliver stopping beside him and walking to where James was waiting
"Muler's car is in a warehouse in the Glades, probably would have run into it by accident if I'd been out tonight" the man jokes before passing the device to Oliver who nods
"Well you will be going 'out' tonight, it'll just be as me" he reminds the other vigilante, who simply gives a very shark like grin before downing his glass
"I know it's a cover, but Oliver you're at a party, try to enjoy yourself. I'll call when I'm done" he pats Oliver and Diggle on the shoulders and limps out, waving to both Lances as he passes them, as well as Thea and he thought maybe Tommy.
As he watches his ticket to freedom leave Oliver also spots Laurel enter the mansion "Um, do we have a legal meeting I've forgotten?" he asks with a light tone
"Think I can tear you away from one of the most inappropriate raves in history for a few minutes?" Laurel asks, clearly annoyed
"It could be more inappropriate, hang European swastikas, have someone in a clan getup follow my black driver around, shit like that. But sure I can do that" Oliver replies, leading Laurel up the stairs and into his room
"Wow, I can't remember the last time I was in this room" Laurel think aloud as she steps inside
"Halloween 2005, we were getting ready for Tommy's party"
Laurel nods and grimaces "Ah yes, the year I wore those horrible fishnets"
"I thought you looked good in them" Oliver comments, smiling as he remembers her outfit
"Listen, I just wanted to come over and apologise for my father's behaviour today, that was uncalled for"
"You don't need to apologise for him, your dad can feel whatever way he wants about me" Oliver argues/deflects
"It wasn't just Sara he lost Ollie" Laurel begins, continuing at Oliver's confused but curious facial expression "When Sara was lost Dad threw himself into his work, it might be why I'm an attorney. He ran to the Law, where things made sense and I ran with him… but mom didn't, couldn't. So she left him, left us" she steps closer trying to keep things calm "Now, I'm not defending how he's treating you, and I'm not trying to make you feel worse than you clearly already do, I just want you to understand, that as angry as he is about you, there's just as much directed inwards onto himself… I guess that's another thing you share. He blames himself for Sara's death, thinks if he'd been closer she might have said something, and he could have stopped her"
"Why don't you hate me?" Oliver asks, so many good reasons for her to buzzing in his head, there were times even he hated himself, so why didn't she?
"I did, for so long I did, but after today I realise I've been looking at what happened to my family so much, I never thought about what happened to you" she breathes, letting a moment of silence pass "I didn't know about the torture, or your scars…"
"You weren't meant to, the torture I mean, a lot of people have seen my scars, including Thea because she still doesn't know how to knock" Oliver tries to end his comment on a lighter note, hoping to redirect the focus
"Ollie what happened to you over there, was far more than you deserve" Laurel continues, undeterred "And I was wrong not to ask you before, but I'm asking you now, I need to know, I need to see"
"Are you sure?" Oliver asks, getting a nod from Laurel and a quiet 'yes' before unbuttoning his shirt, Laurel peeling back the fabric to see his muscular, scarred and tattooed chest, clearly at a loss for words, for a minute
"H-how did you survive this?" she finally asks, not able to comprehend what she was seeing
"There were times, when I wanted to die" Oliver admits heavily "But, there was something I wanted more"
Laurel didn't ask what that was, instead, like those 5 years never happened she slowly pulled him into a kiss, passion flared as they each felt complete after so long apart, until they parted ways once more, several emotions flicker across Laurel's face and walks away
"Laurel, you don't have to…" bang "…go" he finishes uselessly, then sighs deeply, that went fucking terribly
Across town
Raptor watched from above as Muler pulled out one of the guns, showing it off to the gang members, mildly impressed by the sales pitch, he might jut steal one in the commotion, you never know when firearms could be useful
Slipping behind on of the gang members, he removes an arrow from his borrowed quiver and stabbing him in the back, making sure to pierce his heart in the process. His next target was one of the security team, taking an arrow to the brain via the eye socket. Now they were panicked Raptor revealed himself, remembering to dodge gunfire as he beat his way through the groups, Oliver's bow a more effective melee weapon than he'd expected. With them running scared he decided to seal the deal in the best way, notching an arrow he picks his target and a moment later it was sticking out of the man's leg
'I think that'll do' he thinks, grinning widely
Back to Oliver
A few minutes after Laurel leaves Oliver's phone rings "Yes?"
"Vigilantes 1, Arms Dealers 0" Raptor says, smirking at a job well done
"And it's a definite Hood sighting?" Oliver asks, it being no use to him if they correctly believed it to be Raptor who attacked
"2 bodies and 1 gangbanger have arrows in them, and the last guy got a smack to the face from your bow"
"Thanks for this, I owe you one"
"I'll collect, eventually" Oliver chuckles as he ends the call, hearing a knock on his door
"Mr Queen, are you entertaining? We can send some things up to you"
"Its fine, I'm alone" Oliver calls back "I'm actually about to head back down" he says as he opens the door. "Oh" escapes his lips before slamming the door in the hitman's face. He throws it open and tries to shoot Oliver but he grabs the man's arm and manages to disarm him. When the hitman tries go for his gun Oliver flips him, throwing them both into a table where they separate. Scrambling for his gun the man aims for Oliver, just before being doubletapped in the back, by Detective Lance in the doorway.
A little later
Oliver, Tommy and Thea sat in the living room, Quinton pacing lightly, the vigilante allowing his sister to fuss and put ice on his bruised hand, he did nearly get killed after all
"Not that I'm ungrateful, thanks for saving my ass by the way, but why were you here, and how did you know I was in trouble?"
"Your scuffle broke the ankle tracker, so I got the alert" Quinton explains
"Are you alright?" Moira calls as she rushes into the room
"Mom I'm fine, Thea's making sure I don't go anywhere until you're sure" Oliver assures his mother, as well as try lighten the mood and tease his sister, who punches him in the shoulder as his arm wasn't an injured area, just his hand
With her boy safe she turned his attention to Detective Lance "This is your fault, you accused my son of being the vigilante publicly, and now he's a target"
"Do you know who attacked Oliver?" Walter asks
"Not yet, but clearly it was someone with a grudge against the Hood"
"Or given the one thing all the Hood's victims have in common, hired by someone with a grudge" Thea comments
"Something to look into" Quinton nods, before hunkering down and detaching the monitor "The other thing, is I got a call from my superior, the Hood broke up an arms deal across town, so the changes are being dropped"
"They never should have been filed, my son isn't this vigilante. He nearly died tonight because you went off like a raging bull the first chance you got and made sure everyone knew you caught the Vigilante" Moira hisses, the anger forming around her like a haze "I'd like you out of my house now Detective"
The next day
Oliver was away with his thoughts, flickering through moments back on the island, when he heard his door open and Laurel slip in "Rough party" he jokes, almost certain either her father, Tommy or Thea had told her what happened last night
"My father told me, are you ok?"
"I'm fine" he answers, trying to give a carefree smile, which he was pretty sure he failed at
"I have your Polygraph results" Laurel announces, waving the pages in his direction "you passed" she says, Oliver sensing a 'but…' on the way though "There was one thing though. In the interrogation you were asked if you were ever in Iron heights, it's where the Hood saved me from a riot the other night, nearly killed a man" she explains at Oliver's blank expression, of which he could see she was still processing what happened "it was also where we went on a class field trip in 8th grade"
"Oh" Oliver says quietly "I totally forgot about that" he admits, as he could have just said yes if he'd remembered
"See that's what I thought, until I checked the record when you answered that question, there was a flutter, not enough to distinctly call it a lie, but it's something, if you could lie on that, you could have lied on the others"
"What about me being too selfish to be The Hood, that helping people wasn't my style?" Oliver asks, just a hint of bitterness and anger in his tone
"Oliver, I saw your scars"
"Do you want to ask the real question now?"
"Ollie, are you the Hood, this vigilante targeting the rich, powerful and most of all corrupt?"
Oliver doesn't answer the question, yet, instead he starts by asking her "Do you know why I don't talk about the island?" Laurel shakes her head "Because if people knew, if you knew, you'd see me differently. And not as some Vigilante guy, but as damaged. Laurel, I'm not the same man I was when I left" Oliver sighs then raises his hand to stop Laurel from responding "When I said I returned a damaged jerk it was more accurate than I really wanted to admit. I don't sleep, I barely eat and I can just about write my name, never mind aim a bow and arrow like this Hood guy. I'm sorry, I really wish I could make that kind of a difference, but I'm just a broken man"
Laurel swallows "After last night, clearly we're still attracted to one another. Oliver, nothing can ever happen between us, not again"
"I know" Oliver agrees monotonously, as Laurel passes him his poly results and walks out the door
"The easiest lies are those that are mostly true aren't they Oliver?" Oliver pivots, not exactly surprised by James' arrival on his balcony, though he hadn't thought he'd apparently show up while he'd been talking about Laurel
"And what exactly do you mean by that?" he asks curiously
"What you said to Miss Lance, it was true except the part about the archery. That island did a number on you, leaving scars on your body, heart, mind and soul. Personally I think the mission is the reason you can still hit a target despite everything wrong with you"
"I don't need anyone to save me"
"And I don't want anyone to try save me either, thank you very much. I'm just saying you didn't exactly lie to Miss Lance, and maybe you should do that more often, it might make things easier when you finally reach the end of that List" with that he opens the window and steps out, Oliver closing it behind him.
That evening
"Leo Muler. You have failed this City!"
TBC
LW: And that's a wrap, for now
