These Prison Walls (An Arrow: Season 7 Fanfiction)

Chapter 5: Lian Yu 2040

The young man trekked through the nighttime forest. 

'Where the hell are you hiding?' he mumbled to himself. Suddenly, he tripped on some rope and it instantly wrapped around his ankle, shooting him up into the air. He pulled out a knife to free himself, but just then an arrow shot towards his hand with perfect accuracy, knocking the knife out of his hand. 'I was just trying to get free!' he yelled. Just then, a familiar face with a red leather suit and hood walked into the clearing. 

'You should never have come here.' Then, a fist flew out and punched him across the face, knocking him unconscious.

Present day (Slabside Prison)... 

Felicity made her way into the visitation ward, looking at each empty seat frantically. She stalled at one particular one, meeting Oliver's eyes. She slid into the seat and picked up the phone. 

'You're okay,' he said with a soft smile. 'How's William?' 

'He's fine. Are you?' 

'I am now.' 

'I've missed you,' she replied tearfully, her voice cracking. 

'I love you so much. And I'm so sorry that I wasn't there. I should have been there.' 

'How could you have been?' she asked.

'The only reason that I'm here is to keep you and William safe.' 

'Yeah. I know.'

'I need you to tell John to set the two of you up with new identities,' Oliver said. 'I need... I need - I need you back in the witness protection program.'

'I have William set up at a boarding school in Cambridge,' Felicity replied. 'He leaves tomorrow.' 

'You're not going with him?' 

'No, I'm not.' 

'Felicity -' 

'I'm done hiding, Oliver,' she replied, her voice a little sharper. 'I'm done being a person who doesn't fight back. Diaz broke in, and all I could think about was protecting William. I tried, and I couldn't do it. If ARGUS hadn't gotten there when they did - do you know what it feels like not being able to protect your family?' 

'I have lived with that feeling every second since I stepped in here, Felicity,' he replied. 'Don't - don't tempt that. Please. I am begging you to go back to witness protection.' 

'No. I won't. You don't get to decide this time, Oliver. I love you.' She placed her hand on the glass, and he placed his hand over hers. 'And I will always, always wait for you. But I can't let what happened to William and I happen again. I can't. I have to fight back. You, of all people, understand that.' 

'Time's up, 4587,' the guard called. 

'I - I need a bit more time,' Oliver replied. 

'And I don't care,' the guard snapped. 

'I love you,' she said, her voice cracking again as tears started to fall. 

'Okay. Okay.' He put the phone down and stood. 

'I love you,' she replied tearfully again as the guard led him away. 

Lian Yu. 2040. 

The young man awoke with a start. 

'Who sent you?' the familiar face across from him, standing, asked. 

'No one,' he replied. 'But you knew my father.' 

'How am I supposed to know who your old man is?' the familiar face asked. The young man reached into his pocket, and the other man readied his weapon to fire, but he called out. 

'No!' He showed the small token to him. It was a small arrowhead, with Chinese etchings on it. 'My father is Oliver Queen.' The man removed his hood and looked at the younger man. 

'William?'