Second Chances: Arrow

Chapter 7

This is the final flashback chapter of Arrow. Also, on a different note, is anyone else thrilled that the day we've all been waiting for since Crisis is nearly here. Oliver Queen returns for one last fight on Wednesday and I cannot wait for it. It's been too long since we've seen Stephen Amell wearing that hood for anything new. It'll probably be the highlight of season 9, since I know several people have mixed feelings about the final season, but please don't share those opinions here. I only added this note because of how excited I am for the final crossover. Now onto the chapter.

"Ollie?" Laurel asked in shock at seeing her supposed to be dead boyfriend Oliver Queen alive and well and wearing a weird green hood.

"Laurel, is that really you?" Oliver asked.

"Yeah, how, I thought you were dead? I mourned you?" Laurel asked, trying to make sense of all this.

"I know, but Laurel, you have to continue to act like I'm dead, since if anyone finds out I'm alive, they won't be." Oliver said.

"What?" Laurel asked as Oliver explained what had happened to him after the Gambit went down. How he'd been marooned on an island in the North China Sea and how he'd been forcibly conscripted into the service of a clandestine government organization called Argus that was forcing him to work for them and do their dirty work and he'd been told if anyone in the city found out he was still alive, they'd be killed.

"Ollie, let me help you." Laurel said.

"No, Laurel, I don't want to put you on Waller's radar. That woman has no morals or ethics of any kind. Hell, she was willing to hire a mercenary to shoot down a plane of innocent people just to kill one target that was on the plane. I can't risk her getting her hands on you." Oliver said.

"I can take care of myself, Ollie." Laurel said.

"I know, that's why I don't want you to get involved in this, since I don't want Waller to force you to work for her too. It's bad enough I have too." Oliver said.

"Ollie, I just got you back." Laurel said.

"I know and Laurel, I've thought about you every single day since the Gambit went down. My main motivation for coming home was to come back to you, but not like this. I can't expose you to Waller. Please, promise me you'll forget you ever saw me." Oliver begged her and Laurel could tell he wasn't kidding.

"One condition." Laurel said.

"And that would be?" Oliver asked as Laurel walked up to him.

"Promise me that once you finish whatever it is you're doing in the city and before you leave, since I doubt you'll be able to stay here too long, you'll come find me. I want to see you one more time before you leave and then you promise me you'll come back." Laurel said and Oliver smiled at her.

"I promise, but Laurel, I have to ask, where's Thea?" Oliver asked and Laurel sighed.

"I wish I knew. She kind of disappeared off the face of the earth. As far as I know she's still alive, but I have no idea where she is. We kind of lost touch while you were gone." Laurel said and Oliver sighed.

"I'll find her eventually." Oliver said and Laurel nodded and before they went their separate ways, though Laurel couldn't help but look back as she saw her lover jump off a rooftop and she couldn't help but think about what a good partner he'd be in her mission when he came home, since she did expect him to come home to her eventually.

However, before she could head back to her base, Laurel felt a dart enter her neck and she lost consciousness.

When Laurel regained consciousness, she found herself strapped to a chair and stripped down to her undershirt and shorts, since Bruce had taught her to be prepared for this eventuality. She saw her suit jacket and pants, along with her mask and weapons, put up on a shelf nearby and she could tell that her powers were being dampened.