Island of Lian Yu

Oliver Queen was running through the trees of Lian Yu, as he moved out of them, he a caught glimpse of what was there just above the sky, an airplane circling the island. Inside the airplane was John Diggle, former Army Special Forces, and Felicity Smoak, I.T. Expert in Queen Consolidated; both looking for him.

"Felicity, if you're so scared, why did you insist on sitting up front," Dig asked Felicity who looked positively terrified.

"This is the only seat with a seatbelt." She replied completely nervous over the unstable shaking of the aircraft.

"Which will come in handy when we hit the water at 180 miles an hour." The pilot responded.

"Which will not happen," Felicity said adamantly.

"I think that means we're here," Dig said, as the three saw the location of their destination.

"Lian Yu." The pilot responded.

Dig and Felicity then moved to the airplane's door, now open with the air moving quickly due to the speed and altitude of being several thousand feet in the air. John grabbed two parachutes, and Felicity quickly looked worried. "But you said the parachutes were just in case!" She reminded him.

"Yeah, just in case we made it here," Dig replied. "Come on."

"No!" She argued.

"Felicity, on three!"

"I can't, I'm scared!"

"Three!"

"I can't - ahhhhh!" Felicity screamed as Dig suddenly got out of the plane. Dig and Felicity popped the chute mid-air and arrived on the shores of the island, Felicity still in shock from her skydiving experience began vomiting.

"Thanks for waiting until we touch down," He said as Felicity did as she said she would.

"My pleasure." She replied wiping her mouth off with her sleeve.

"Let's move," He ordered and she followed. As they left the beach, Felicity caught glimpse of what looked to be a ski-mask; black on one half and orange on the other, propped up on the beach with an arrow on it, as if to be a warning.

Dig and Felicity walked through the forest eventually finding themselves in open terrain, suddenly Dig stopped once he heard a noise.

"What is it?" She asked stopping.

"Thought I heard something," He replied, afterward the pair continued to move until Felicity stepped on something that locked her dead in her tracks.

"Dig!" She said in a panic.

"Don't move," He ordered, he got to his to look at it and his suspicions were confirmed. "It's a landmine. I'm going to try to disarm it." He said as he pulled out a retractable knife.

"You can't!" A voice said out loud, it was Oliver he was on the branch of a tree, shirtless and wielding a bow as both Felicity and John looked at him. "Diggle! Walk away! Felicity, don't move!" He shouted to both of them, as Diggle got out the way. Oliver then fired an arrow with a rope attached to it into a tree, then swung down towards Felicity. He grabbed her during the swing taking her away from the landmine which then exploded but both Oliver and Felicity were okay.

"God, you're… you're really sweaty." Felicity said nervously, as Oliver was shirtless and on top of her.

"You're a hard man to find," Dig stated as he walked to them.

Walking with Oliver to an abandon fuser lodge, both Felicity and John looked at where they were as Oliver put a shirt on. "You shouldn't have come here." He said.

"Would have emailed, but this isn't exactly a Wi-Fi hotspot. Is this where you lived when you were here? I mean, the first time you were here?" Felicity awkwardly asked.

"For some of it," Oliver answered vaguely.

"Could you at least pretend like you're glad to see us. Dig and I spent weeks tracking you down. We've traveled halfway across the world and this morning we flew in a plane so old, I'm pretty sure I was safer once I jumped out of it. You could at least offer us a water or a coconut." Felicity humorously explained to which Oliver smiled as he went to the fridge container.

"Fresh out of coconuts." Oliver joked as he gave them each bottled water. "I am happy to see you. But I know why you're here. I'm not coming back to Starling City. I can't. My mission, my father's list, it was a fool's crusade and I failed. Malcolm Merlyn destroyed the Glades… Tommy died, and the Hood couldn't stop it, so don't ask me to put it on again, ever." He explained.

"This isn't about you being the Vigilante. This is about you being Oliver Queen. Your mother's in prison, Oliver, her trial's coming up. Thea's out on her own. Your family needs you. So does the family business." Dig explained, piquing Oliver's concern.

"All the bad press after the Undertaking left Queen Consolidated ripe for a hostile takeover by Stellmoor International. They've gutted every company they've taken over. Once they gobble up Queen Consolidated, everyone will be out of a job. Including one very blond I.T. expert." Felicity explained.

Approaching Oliver, Dig knew he needed to reach his friend. "Listen, I get why you had to leave, Oliver, probably better than anybody else. I've been there and after what happened, nobody can blame you for leaving. But it's time to come home." He said sympathetically and Oliver knew that he still had responsibilities to his family and his family's employees.

Outside of Star City

Oliver, Dig, and Felicity were all in a limo; with Dig as the driver and Felicity and Oliver in the back. Oliver took a good long look at the destruction from the aftermath of the Undertaking, he also noticed a few new things for one thing Starling City was now renamed Star City and there was a graffiti tag with the words "Blood for Mayor" on it.

"You guys didn't tell they renamed the city," Oliver stated.

"Wanted to surprise you, it is a total marketing ploy though. The mayor believes it will generate attention for people to start coming back to the city instead of leaving it." Felicity explained.

"And who's Blood?" Oliver asked.

"An alderman from the Glades trying to save the city. It seems like he's trying to fill your shoes." Dig explained.

"Here's everything on Stellmoor International. The Vice President of Acquisitions is a woman named Isabel Rochev." Felicity said handing paper files to Oliver, including one of an attractive but very sour-looking brunette. "She looks angry in every photo." She noted.

"So where to? Office?" Dig asked.

"Home. I want to check on Thea." Oliver said.

"Uh, she's not at your house, Oliver," Felicity explained.

"Where is she?" Oliver asked.

Verdant Nightclub

Thea Queen and her boyfriend and employe, Roy Harper, were kissing each other heavily as he pressed her against the bar. Only for her to turn him around, taking the lead. "I only have a second," Thea said in between the kiss.

"That's ok, my boss had been all over my ass today." Roy said finally catching a word.

"You should hear what she sounds like when." "Ow!" Roy said while Thea was taking off his sweater but stopped once he winced in pain. She then pulled it up and saw the gigantic bruise he had on his side.

"You have got to be kidding me!" She angrily said as she pulled away from him.

"Come on, I don't want to fight." He replied.

"Clearly you do, since you keep on taking every street corner drug dealer that you can get your fists one." She replied.

"It's not like that. The Glades are worse than ever." He tried to explain.

"I know, but you already saved a busload of people and managed not to get buried alive." She reminded him of what he did the night of the Undertaking. "I mean, how much more of a hero do you need to be? It's like you have a death wish and guess what it's going to come true."

"Yeah, well, someone has to do something and stand up for what's right, like he did." He passionately stated.

"The Vigilante?" She said knowing who he was referring to. "Who hasn't been seen since the earthquake, which means he got buried alive and isn't coming back."

"I'm back," Oliver announced himself, and Thea and Roy noticed.

"Ollie!" Thea yelled and rushed to give her older brother a hug. "Ah, you remember my friend Roy."

"Still here?" Oliver said.

"Always," Roy replied, leaving the two siblings to catch up.

"So how was Europe? You never texted, no postcards. Almost like you're on the island all over again." Thea asked.

"Yeah, sorry, I was kind of distracted. With snow skiing, waterskiing. A lot of skiing." Oliver lied even though he hated doing it. "I hear rumors that my club is under new management." He asked.

"Ah, actually, it's my club now, and you're not getting it back." Thea witted back.

"You're not old enough to drink." He said stating the obvious.

"But I am old enough to run a bar." She reminded him.

"Have you made it to Iron Heights?" He asked wondering if he visited their mother these past couple of months.

"To visit the woman who dropped a city on 500 innocent people. No, thank you." She said flatly.

"Thea, that's not what mom did."

"Right. She had no choice. But guess what? She did. A choice not to be a mass murderer and I have a choice, too. So, I choose not to be her daughter." She said plainly but then hugged her brother again. "But I am so happy you are home. Honestly, I need to deal with our liquor distributor who shorted me on yesterday's delivery, and one of my bartenders called in sick, so… what?" She noticed him looking at her strangely.

"Nothing. It's… it's nice to see you like this." He said admiring the young woman she was now.

"Like what?" She asked.

"Together." He stated.

City Hall

"The representative from Central City says construction on the Star Labs particle accelerator should be completed by Christmas. And in local news, billionaire Oliver Queen has returned once again to Starling City. With his mother's upcoming trial and his father's company in freefall, analysts are asking what the Queen family scion has planned next." The reporter said on the news.

"Wasn't our country founded on a brand of vigilantism, Mr. Donner? The revolutionaries in the Boston Tea Party were certainly choosing justice over law." The Mayor of Star City asked.

"I'd hardly compare our founding fathers to the Hood, Mr. Mayor, or these twisted copycats who have risen in his wake." Assistant District Attorney Adam Donner answered.

The mayor then noticed Laurel Lance, descended from the steps looking gorgeous in a lovely red dress. "Ms. Lance. What do you think about vigilantes?" He asked her.

"I'd be foolish to disagree with my new boss," Laurel answered.

"I knew I was smart to hire you," Donner replied.

"I'd heard you joined the district attorney's office." The Mayor stated.

"It was time for a change." She said rather sadly.

"Still, I'm sorry that you and your colleagues at CNRI won't be opening your doors again." The Mayor said.

"There were no doors left to be reopened." She said trying to contain the anger and pain that came from losing the building and job she dedicated the last few years too.

"They're playing my song." He said, knowing it was his time to make an announcement. "Good evening. It has been a very difficult year for Star City. Our losses have been incalculable, our grief unimaginable. But with the generous donations, you people are making tonight, we will come back from this tragedy." Suddenly the lights of the whole building turned off.

"You have failed this city, Mr. Mayor! The Glades descended into hell on your watch! You swore to protect all the citizens of Starling, not just the wealthy!" A voice said in the crowd.

"We're sorry about this, folks. We'll have this sorted out in just a minute." The mayor said, trying to calm everyone down."

"We are the Hoods and what was taken from us, we will take back." The leader of the Hoods said out loud. Suddenly, the room lit up with gunfire as men dressed like the Hood began shooting people. First starting with killing the mayor and then his security detail. The lights then came back on, but the Hoods were still killing people. One of them pointed his assault rifle at Donner, jumping in to save her boss, Laurel grabbed the gun and put out of her way then delivered several punches to his face causing him to fall down the staircase. Laurel then heard the safety of a gun being turned off; Laurel turned her head seeing one of the Hoods have a gun pointed to her head. Laurel briefly thought her life was over when one of the security guards tackled the guard saving Laurel's life, but the guard was then shot as the Hood escaped.

2 hours later, the SCPD and Paramedics arrived attending the wounded and questioning the bystanders who witnessed the whole event. Quentin Lance arrived and saw his daughter, Laurel, and rushed to her. "Laurel!" He said hugging his baby girl.

"Dad, I'm fine," Laurel replied while returning the hug and noticed her boss Donner approaching him.

"You've got one very brave daughter there, sir," Adam said to Quentin extending his hand.

"Yeah, one daughter's right, and I can't stand to lose another," Quentin said, referring to his other daughter the late, Sara Lance.

"Well, I still can't believe this happened," Laurel exclaimed.

"The Hoods attacks have strictly been limited to people in the financial sector trying to redistribute wealth in the Glades at gunpoint," Adam explained.

"Yeah, well, clearly that's not getting the result they're looking for, is it?" Quentin sarcastically replied. "Did you get a good look at any of them?" He questioned Laurel.

"It was hard to focus on anything other than the gun barrel pointed at my face," Laurel replied.

"No tattoos, distinguishing marks?" Quentin asked.

"What do you think you're doing? Interviewing the witness is the job of the Detective, Officer Lance." Quentin's boss, Lt. Frank Pike asked him, reminding his fellow cop of his recent demotion.

"This is my daughter. She was nearly killed tonight." Quentin reminding Pike the obvious.

"Well, as a parent, you're welcome to stay. But as a beat cop, you're more than free to go." Frank said as he left.

"You know, that's one of the upsides of being demoted, I don't get to witness his sunny disposition on a daily basis." Quentin joked to Laurel, who then noticed Oliver was here.

"Dad give me a sec," Laurel asked.

"Yeah." He said noticing that Queen was here.

"I didn't know you were back in town," Laurel said as she approached Ollie.

"I just got back a little while ago, and I was going to call, but then I saw you on TV, so I thought that I would come and make sure you were safe," Oliver explained.

"Just four hooded gunmen. Nothing a few years of self-defense classes couldn't handle." She replied.

"Take a walk?" He asked.

"Yeah."

"Sorry I left."

"Believe me, I get it. After the funeral, I think we both needed time to figure things out. On our own."

"I didn't get very far on my own. Did you? Figure anything out?

"That I made a mistake when I slept with you. I know it wasn't exactly cheating because Tommy had broken up with me, but he only did that because he thought that you and I should be together. All I know is that I feel like I betrayed him … and now he's gone and there's nothing I can do to make it right." She said reluctantly, despite the feelings she still had for Oliver.

"I know how that feels. When I brought your sister on "the Queen's Gambit," I betrayed you and your father. There's no forgiveness for what I led Sara into. I would give anything to–"He said but was then interrupted by Laurel hugging him.

"To go back." She said finishing his sentence in earshot.

"Yeah." He said hugging her back.

"But we can't go back." She said then left to go back to her father while Oliver went outside to talk to Dig.

"Diggle! I don't like being played." He told his bodyguard.

"I'm not sure what you mean," Dig said trying to be oblivious.

"That's why you came to the island and brought me back to Starling … to Star City, these Hood copycats." Oliver guessed.

"Well, what if it was? They're just doing what you did last year, terrorizing one-percenters into cleaning up their act. Except they don't have your restraint Oliver or your honor." Dig explained.

"I'm done being the Vigilante." Oliver reminded him.

"Maybe this town still needs a vigilante," Dig told him.

"Now there's four of them."

"How's that working?"

"Please take me home. Got a big day at the office tomorrow trying to save my family's company." Oliver said now done with this conversation.

"Absolutely, Mr. Queen," Dig said as Oliver got into his limo.

Lair of the Hoods

"And in local news, billionaire Oliver Queen has returned once again to Starling City." The reporter said on the television as one of the Hoods then turn it off.

"Unbelievable. We off the mayor on live TV, and what's the local news keep showing? Oliver Queen. Why?" One of the Hood's said furiously.

"Guess he's taking over the family business." Another one answered.

"We've been going about this wrong." The leader said.

"What do you mean?" The third one asked.

"If we want real payback, we got to take the fight to the name that did this to us."

"Queen?

"Yeah."

"He's some useless brat."

"The applied sciences division of Queen Consolidated built the earthquake generator. If we want real justice, then that family has to pay for the suffering it's caused us. In full." The leader stated menacingly.

Queen Consolidated

The next day, Oliver had a board meeting to save his family's company with Dig and Felicity accompanying him. "They're in the conference room. Just FYI, no one is eating the bagels." Felicity joked.

Oliver then immediately took a seat on the table with the woman who was trying to buy out his family's company next to him. "Isabel Rochev." She introduced herself.

"Oliver Queen, sorry I'm late" Oliver apologized.

"For this meeting or a career in business?" Isabel said to insult him, accurately.

"I didn't realize hostile takeovers were filled with so much hostility." He said.

"Not at all. I'm actually in quite a good mood." She said going through several papers.

"Really? So destroying companies agrees with you?" He asked.

"Winning agrees with me." She said confidently.

"You haven't won yet." He retorted.

"Since you majored in dropping out of college, let me put this in terms that are easy for you to understand. You control 45% of Queen Consolidated stock. I control 45%, leaving 10% outstanding. But, in two days the board will release the final 10%." She explained.

"And I'll buy it before you do." He replied.

"With what money? I doubt your trust fund is that large, and no angel investor will go near the company that built the machine that destroyed half the city. Companies rise and fall, Mr. Queen. Your company has fallen." She explained and deep down, Oliver knew she was right.

Suddenly, The Hoods appeared busting through the window and began shooting the place up. "Oliver Queen! You failed this city." One of the Hoods said. Everyone began ducking for cover, with Oliver going near to protect Felicity.

"Pull back!" Dig said, returning fire to the Hoods. "Oliver, go! Go, go, go, go!" He yelled.

"Careful. Go, go." Oliver told Felicity as they moved across the room avoiding the gunfire.

"Quick! They're getting away." One of the Hoods said, but with Dig's covering fire and security finally showing up, the Hoods knew they had to fall back. "Go! Move!"

An hour or so later, the police had arrived checking everyone for injuries and questioning the witnesses. As Oliver finished he saw Isabel and went to talk to her. "Ms. Rochev, I'm sorry about this." He apologized.

"'Cause they were after you?" Isabel asked.

"Because what happens in this building is my responsibility." He stated.

"Only for the next two days." She reminded him her mind still set on taking his family's company.

Felicity saw Quentin Lance and decided to approach him. "I still can't get used to you in that uniform, Detective Lance."

"It's "Officer" now and I'm just glad it still fits. They hurt you?" Quentin asked.

"I'm ok." She said.

"You, uh, heard anything from our mutual friend lately?" The officer asked referring to the Hood.

"Nope. In fact, keep waiting for him to show up." She said looking at Oliver, then left to talk to both him and Dig in private. "You could have stopped those guys." She said flatly.

"Not without giving Isabel Rochev and the hoods a pretty good idea of what I'm capable of." Oliver reminded her.

"I think what Felicity's wondering is whether you avoided taking those hoods on and, Oliver, she's not the only one wondering," Dig asked.

"I told you, I did not come back to Starling City to be the Vigilante." Oliver frustrated that he had reminded them again.

"But they came after you, Oliver. You could have taken them out." Dig replied.

"No, I couldn't, Diggle. Look, there's a part of being the Hood that neither one of you are considering, the body count." Oliver decided to fully explain himself, knowing it was the only way they would finally get it.

"And excuse me for saying this, but so what? Since when do you care?" Felicity asked.

"Since Tommy." Dig quickly realized.

"After he found out my secret, you know what Tommy called me? A murderer. He was right. My best friend died thinking that I was a murderer, and anyone that I kill dishonors his memory." Oliver said shamefully.

"So don't. It's not like you've killed every guy you've faced." Felicity reminded him.

"I could have. Because when I put on the hood, it's kill or be killed. That is what kept me alive. That's why I should have stayed on the island." Oliver acknowledged the facts, then grabbed his jacket to leave.

"Is that where you're going now?" Felicity asked.

"The two of you won't help me save my family's company, I'm going to talk to somebody who will," Oliver said planning to finally visit his mother.

Iron Heights Female Penitentiary

Sitting in the visitation chair, Oliver saw his mother, Moira, in a jumpsuit and she smiled at him as he finally sat down. "Hey." He said."

"Hey." Moira greeted her son.

"I'm sorry I didn't make it here sooner." He apologized.

"Oh, no, no, no. Please, Oliver. There are going to be enough apologies with me apologizing to you for the rest of my life." She said full of shame.

"You don't have to. You saved hundreds of lives." He reminded her.

"And killed hundreds more. Including Tommy." She retorted.

"That was Malcolm." He said.

"Your sister doesn't see it that way. And, you know, my attorney is thrilled. If my own daughter can't forgive me, she's not too optimistic about in a jury box. All right, enough of that. How has it been going at Queen Consolidated?" She asked surprising him on how she would know about that. "Yes, we do get the news here, Oliver."

"Right." He said.

"You know, if I'd known the key to you taking your rightful place at the company was its demise, I would have declared bankruptcy a year ago." She joked but might have been serious.

"I don't know if I'll get to run it for long." He explained.

"Stellmoor."

"Their VP is coming after us hard."

"Isabel Rochev."

"Yes."

"Do not trust that woman, Oliver. She is dangerous."

"Well, mom, everywhere I look, there are no good options. I don't know what to do."

"You don't have to do it yourself. This is a family business."

"I love Thea. I don't think that she wants anything to do with it."

"I wasn't talking about Thea."

Verdant, Night

"One of the guys was missing a hand. Mostly, anyway. He still had sutures." Roy explained to Quentin as Oliver arrived at Verdant with cops crowding the place. "What's going on here?' He asked.

"It was the hoods, again. They came here looking for you, they took Thea instead." Quentin sighed explaining to Oliver.

"Where!" Oliver demanded to know.

"I'm sorry. I really tried to stop them, but I—" Roy tried to say but Oliver just passed him.

"Queen. Queen!" Quentin shouted as Oliver finally turned around. "We'll get your sister back." He assured him.

"I was going to check something downstairs," Oliver said noticeable tensed as he walked away to the basement.

Just as Oliver pressed the keypad to open the bunker, Dig and Felicity arrived. "I've made a few improvements down here," Felicity said as they walked down the stairs. "Just in case, you know you decided to come back." She said as the flipped the light switch, as Oliver was left stunned by the upgrades Felicity had made including a glass window case that held his suit.

"We need to find these guys," Oliver stated as he began looking around.

"I've been trying, ever since you got back. I figured you'd come around eventually." Felicity said as Oliver caught a glimpse of his salmon ladder. "I kept that. I really liked watching you do that." She said, Oliver, looking at her knowing she was attracted to him.

"Thea's boyfriend said one of them was missing part of his hand. Maybe a veteran? Check hospital records, any males that have had surgical amputations on their extremities." Oliver asked her to do as she began typing.

"Cross-checking by race and age. Got one, Jeff Deveau. Caucasian, late thirties." Felicity said bringing up his records.

"What else can you get on him?" Oliver said as he began looking at his arrows.

"Ex-Marine," Felicity replied.

"Would explain how he can handle himself." John summarized. "Did he lose his hand overseas?"

"No. In the earthquake. Says here he and his wife were trying to make it across the 52nd Street bridge when it collapsed. She didn't make it." Felicity said sadly, feeling a little sympathy for the man.

"Phone records, please. I want to know who he's in contact with." Oliver asked.

"He's made a lot of calls to a church in the Glades. Something called Standing Strong. It's a support group for those who lost loved ones in the quake." Felicity explained.

"Great place to meet three other guys as angry as you, looking for a little payback."Dig pointed out.

"Get me an address, please," Oliver asked.

"You're going to need this," Felicity said as she walked over to a table and showed Oliver a compound bow. "I had it custom made. How'd I do?" She asked.

"It's perfect," Oliver said gripping it tightly.

"You were right. Once I signed on, I stopped thinking about all the bodies you dropped. Because I knew that being the Hood meant occasionally being a killer. Maybe there's another way." She said acknowledging what she and Diggle were asking of him.

"They have my sister. What other way is there?" He said solemnly.

Standing Strong Church

Thea was bound to a chair and surrounded by the Hoods, scared and starting to cry; thinking about Ollie and her mother. The Hoods were arguing what do with her.

"So, what do you want to do with her?" One with them asked. "We could knock her out, drop her off somewhere."

"Come on." One of them argued. "Why don't you just buy her a new pair of Prada's while you're at it? She's seen our faces."

"Look, offing Oliver Queen's one thing, but his sister? She's not much older than my sister was when she was killed in the earthquake." The slightly more compassionate one said.

"Your sister wasn't killed, she was murdered. By her mother. What we're doing here is justice, which makes us the heroes." The leader yelled.

"She didn't kill anybody. My mother didn't kill anyone. Malcolm Merlyn destroyed the Glades." Thea said finally speaking up for her mother.

"With mommy's help." He argued.

"Merlyn killed my father. She thought he'd kill my brother too. She was afraid of him. She must have been so afraid." She said finally starting to realize where her mother was coming from making the decisions that she made.

"Just like my wife, when our house collapsed on top of her." He said then put his gun to Thea's head about to pull the trigger until an arrow shot through the air and knocked the gun from his hand. Everyone turned and saw the original Hood standing on the second floor.

"Get away from her!" Oliver said, his voice modulator turned on.

The Hoods then opened fire on Oliver, but he managed to gain cover by using a large pillar. As they stopped their gunfire, Oliver rapidly fired two arrows at his enemies taking them down without taking their lives. The one that was about to shoot Thea took another shot at him, but he was out of ammo, so he engaged Oliver in combat which allowed Oliver to quickly take advantage, sidestepping then knocking him out with his new bow. Oliver then heard Thea's voice screaming, he got up to the second floor and one of the Hood's was using Thea as a human shield.

"Let Her Go," Oliver growled at him.

"You want to save her? There was no justice for people like the Queens until you showed us how to get it. You showed us! Go! You shoot me, we both die." He yelled at him.

"I said let her go," Oliver said again.

"You'll drop me anyway. I know you. You're a killer." He said, then Oliver shot an arrow. It saved Thea but it didn't kill her captor.

"Get out of here!" Oliver ordered his sister, who immediately listened. Later, Oliver tied the Hoods up and delivered them to Officer Lance; who was surprised that they weren't dead, and Oliver told him he was trying to do things differently this time.

Star City Cemetery

Oliver was kneeling at Tommy's grave swearing that he wouldn't kill anyone ever again, he felt someone watching him and turned around to see that it was Laurel in a lovely pink dress.

"I didn't mean to disturb you. I didn't know that you were here. I was just I come here a lot. I can go." Laurel said understanding if Oliver wanted some time with Tommy to himself.

"No, it's … you don't have to. It's, uh, Laurel, I understand. After everything that's happened … I understand why we can't be together. But I still need you in my life." He said knowing that whether they were lovers or not, Laurel was one of the only women he couldn't live without and didn't want to.

"We've been through too much for it to be any other way." She said as she approached him, taking his hand.

"I feel like I betrayed him, too," Oliver admitted.

"Before the Hood, we didn't have things like earthquake machines or copycat vigilantes," Laurel stated.

"Laurel. Malcolm killed Tommy." He told her.

"He was killed in the crossfire between two archers and now that Malcolm's dead, there's only one archer left and I'm gonna catch him." She said with conviction.

Iron Heights Female Penitentiary

"That outfit, with your coloring … isn't that cruel and unusual punishment or something? Thea quipped.

"I've done my best to avoid mirrors in here. So, I … how have you been?" Moira asked. "Don't worry about me. I want to hear about you. How are you doing? Are you still seeing, uh … Roy was his name, wasn't it? Sweetheart, I'm fine, really." She said noticing that Thea was beginning to cry.

"It's not that, I almost died last night," Thea admitted.

"What? Thea, what happened?" Moira concerned with what she said.

"It doesn't matter. But when I thought it was over, I kept thinking that if … If I died, you would spend the rest of your life thinking that I hated you and I want to hate you. I really tried to. But I can't. I can't, Mom." Thea cried out as tightly gripped her mother's hands.

"However long I am in this place, you have freed me," Moira said genuinely touched by her daughter.

"If I hug you, are they going to shoot us?" Thea asked.

"I'm willing to risk it if you are," Moira said as she hugged her, shushing her as she cried into her shoulder.

Queen Consolidated

"You can't win this. I now own 50% of the stock. By tomorrow, I'll have the outstanding five percent and I will control your company. Any attempt to fight me will lead to litigation and leave you penniless. And trust me, poverty isn't as glamorous as Charles Dickens made it look." Isabel snarked.

"What if I found someone to invest new equity capital?" Oliver asked her.

"A white knight? With all due respect, your last name is now associated with mass murder. Even you don't have that good a friend." She said arrogantly.

"You're right. I have family." Oliver corrected as his former stepfather, Walter Steele came in.

"Mr. Steele. It was my understanding that you had resigned as CEO." Isabel was quite surprised he was here.

"I did. I'm now Chief Financial Officer of the Star City National Bank and my institution has committed rescue financing to Mr. Queen." Walter stated. "We bought up the remaining shares of Queen Consolidated when they were released this morning."

"Now I know I majored in dropping out, but I'm pretty sure that makes us partners going forward. So, I guess we will be seeing a lot of each other." Oliver said.

"You aren't at all what people say about you," Isabel said.

"Most people fail to see the real me." He replied as she then left.

"Thank you, Walter," Oliver said.

"Thank you, for reaching out to me. Whatever's happened between your mother and me, I'm gratified that you know you can still count on me. Your father would have been very proud of you, Oliver." Walter said as he then shook hands with Oliver before he bid a small greeting to Felicity. "Ms. Smoak."

"Mr. Steele." Felicity greeted him. "You did it. Not bad for someone who got a "D" in tenth-grade Algebra." She said and Oliver was surprised that she knew that. "If it's online, I can find it."

"Yeah. Well, it was just like a good friend once told me I had to find another way." Oliver said with a smile.

Streets of the Glades

Roy was out of the streets preparing to get some Big Belly Burger for him and Thea, who finally reconcile with her mother. Roy then noticed three thugs picking on some girl, it was clear to him that woman was not reciprocating their advances.

"We just want to be friendly." One thug said. "What, we scare you or something?" The other would-be rapist asked.

"Yeah, I think you do," Roy shouted turning the criminals' attention to him. "Me, though, not so much. Run!" He yelled, the woman ran away and the thugs went after Roy. Roy fought them off and landing few blows, but because of his previous injuries and being outnumbered the tables quickly turned against him.

Suddenly a high-pitched shrieking noise came from nowhere and the deafening sound caused everyone involved to cover their ears in pain. A figure dressed in black leather then appeared, kicking one thug in the face. One of them got to his feet and began swinging but still disorientated from the sonic attack, the mysterious figure easily blocked his strikes and knocked him out with what looked like police issued nightstick with a handle on it. Roy finally getting a look at the figure, it was a woman with bleached blonde hair wearing a black domino mask.

"What the hell are you supposed to be?" The thug asked louder than normal because of his ruptured eardrums.

"I'm the justice you can't run from!" Laurel Lance said then hit him in the face with her tonfa while holding the handle. Seeing these punks taken down, Laurel then ran away from where she came from.

"Where the hell did you come from?" Roy asked as Laurel gave him a quick look before disappearing.

Arrowcave Bunker

"Well, it looks like the city is back down to only one man in a hood." Dig quipped.

"And the three of us are back in the archery business?" Felicity said brightly.

"No. I spent the past year trying to avenge my father. If we're going to do this, it has to be about honoring Tommy. I need to become the man he hoped I could be. You two have helped me take the first step." Oliver said causing the two to smile.

"So what's step two? I'm game for anything as long as it doesn't involve skydiving. And I'm pretty down on landmines now, too." Felicity joked.

"The city still needs saving. But not by the Hood. And not by some vigilante who's just crossing names off a list. It needs something more." Oliver realized.

"It needs a hero, Oliver," Dig told him.

"It's too bad the Hoods kind of ruined your nickname," Felicity spoke.

"No, it's good. I never… I don't want to be called the Hood anymore." Oliver tried to correct her before realizing he needs to be known as something else, something better.

"Ok. So, what do you want to be called?" Dig asked and Oliver just looked intently at an arrow of his and coming up with a name.

Author's Note: Yep, Laurel's the Black Canary right from the start in this series. There is a good portion of the Arrow Fanbase that believe that Season 2 should have been Laurel's starting point as a vigilante with Tommy's death serving as her catalyst. While Season 2 of Arrow was a great season, I have a hard time watching it because of a few things; one of them being Laurel's treatment in Season 2. While I acknowledge that her character's story arc in that season gave Katie Cassidy a well-deserved award, it put her eventual transformation into her comic-book character on hold and when they finally decided to do it; it wasn't handled very well due to the writer's focus on Olicity in Season 3 (To me personally I liked Laurel's arc in Season 3 but I acknowledge it could have been better as well.)

Other things for you to know, first, Sara Lance will not appear in this story but she may appear later in this series; I wouldn't raise one Lance sister up by throwing the other away like a certain group of writers. Secondly, I will not do flashbacks in this series unless I am editing something in them; unless I mention it differently the Flashbacks happened as they did in the show.