Second Chances: Red Arrow

Chapter 2

Emiko had to admit, she was a little nervous, since the last time she'd been in Star City, she'd tried to destroy it. Sure, that had been in a reality that didn't exist anymore, but still. She was also nervous about how her stepmother would react to seeing her again, since from what Oliver had told her, Thea had vanished not long after she'd joined the ninth circle, though from what Oliver had told her Thea was back in the country and was doing very well with her own operation out in San Francisco, which Emiko was very happy to hear, though she did kind of wish that she and Thea would've been able to work together in Hub City.

"I called mom, she's very happy that you're coming home. It's still on you if you want to tell her that your mom caught up with you." Oliver said.

"Yeah no. She's better off not knowing about what I've been doing." Emiko said.

"On that we agree. She's safer not knowing, which reminds me, the moment Slade shows up, I'm sending mom to stay with either you or Thea to keep her safe until I deal with him." Oliver said and Emiko nodded.

"Send her to Thea though. She'll like San Francisco better than Hub City, plus, the crime problem isn't as bad there. Honestly, maybe we should consider trying to get her to move there now." Emiko said and Oliver chuckled.

"Not likely. Mom is too attached to Star City. And I agree with you not telling her about you running into your mom." Oliver said.

"Except Moira is my mom. Not Kazumi. Moira was more of a mother to me in this reality than Kazumi ever was." Emiko said.

"Yeah, I still wish that she'd been that way in the old reality. I feel like a lot of things would've been different if she had been." Oliver said and Emiko nodded.

"Are you sure that you didn't make some changes to her personality when you rebooted the universe?" Emiko asked him.

"Not intentionally. All I did was light the spark. Everything that happened after that was beyond my control." Oliver said with a smile.

"Still, at least I got two loving parents growing up instead of just one and even so, Moira's an even better mother than Kazumi was in the old reality." Emiko said.

"She's a better mother in this reality too, though she still had an affair that resulted in Thea, but I can't be too angry about that now. Also, what are the odds Kazumi had something to do with the Gambit going down?" Oliver asked.

"I'm almost positive she did and if it wasn't her, it was Dante." Emiko said.

"Just another reason to take them down. And I know that they're your mission, but remember, if you ever need any help." Oliver said and Emiko smiled.

"You'll be the first one I call. So, how are things going between you and Laurel, since from what I hear, Felicity moved on." Emiko asked and Oliver smiled.

"We're back together and I don't plan on screwing things up this time, since she makes me happier than I've ever been." Oliver said.

"I remember when I was researching you, I saw that you didn't kill Darhk when he crippled Felicity, but the moment Laurel was dead, Darhk signed his death warrant." Emiko remembered.

"And that will happen to anyone who threatens Laurel. I lost her to death once. I'm not losing her again and I know Thea feels the same way about Roy and before you say anything, I've already threatened Roy with my bow and arrows about what I'll do to him if he hurts her." Oliver said.

"I still want to threaten him. But I am happy that both you and Thea have found your happy afters with other people. I just wish I could find that with someone." Emiko said.

"Well you could've if you'd made some moves back in high school." Oliver said and Emiko blushed.

"You knew about that?" Emiko asked, embarrassed.

"About your not so subtle crush on Tommy? Yeah, I knew. And I'm curious about why you never made a move on him." Oliver asked.

"I was waiting for him to mature, since I didn't want to be with someone who would cheat on me like you did on Laurel." Emiko said.

"Yeah, I didn't cheat on her in this reality, but I see your point. I knew I should've brought him into the army with me." Oliver said and Emiko chuckled.

"The difference is that you wanted to change and be better for Laurel. Tommy never showed any signs of wanting that." Emiko said.

"I know. Malcolm may be a bastard, but one thing he did right was cutting Tommy off in the old reality. Once he couldn't rely on his father's money to bail him out anymore, he finally started to get some maturity. And I can't deny that being cut off from our family funds helped both me and Thea mature in this reality." Oliver said.

"Well, it helped you mature in the old reality, since you were already pretty mature before the Gambit went down in this one." Emiko said.

"Let's not go overboard. But I do think that Tommy has changed while I was gone. Though he is working for his father now, so I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing." Oliver said as he remembered Tommy's earth 2 and Earth X counterparts.

"Maybe I can convince him to come back to Hub City with me. Get him away from his father and also make sure that he won't risk getting caught up in the Undertaking, if you somehow fail to stop Malcolm from executing it." Emiko said and Oliver nodded in agreement as the limo they were in pulled up to the Queen mansion.

"So you ready?" Oliver asked.

"If I say no, can I have the driver take me back to the airport for Coast City before mom realizes I'm back?" Emiko asked and Oliver chuckled, but he did smile at Emiko calling Moira mom.

"Sorry, but mom has been planning this party since I told her I was bringing you home, though she did promise to keep it small and lowkey, though I couldn't get ahold of Thea, but Roy said that she's currently off the grid on some mission." Oliver said and Emiko nodded.

"I see that leading a team runs in the family. First you, then Thea and now I'm trying it out. Any suggestions?" Emiko asked.

"Well, if you find out a member has an evil sibling, lock that sibling up immediately." Oliver said and Emiko smacked him.

"That would be funny since I'm not sure if you're kidding about that." Emiko said.

"Trusting an evil sibling is how I lost Laurel. Luckily you proved that you could be redeemed." Oliver said.

"But I'm guessing that if you run into Diggle's brother?" Emiko asked.

"He gets an arrow straight into the heart and that's only if I beat John to it, since he hates Andy even more than I do." Oliver said.

"Anyways, let's get this over with so I can see if I can convince Malcolm to let me take Tommy back to Hub City with me before you kill him, since sadly, since Malcolm is Tommy's boss, he has to approve Tommy moving out to Hub City with me." Emiko said and Oliver nodded.