Curtis Holt was currently in his lab at Queen Consolidated, working hard on perfecting his t-sphere technology, a project he'd been working on ever since his wife Paula and unborn child had died in a car crash a few years ago. Ever since then, Curtis had been spiraling, suffering with depression and a lack of reason to live. Though his work at QC had helped him move on. Especially since after Oliver Queen had taken over, he'd made monthly mental health check-ins mandatory for all his employees, since Curtis suspected that the five years Oliver had spent on that island had left him with his own mental health issues and he was getting help for that and it also caused him to insist on all his employees to do the same.
Between his therapist and his work, Curtis had slowly begun to heal from the pain of what he'd lost. Especially since using his background as a bronze medal winning Olympic Decathlete, he was also a volunteer coach for Star City High's track and field team.
But that didn't stop him from trying to develop his own technology to follow the Green Arrow's lead and become a vigilante to prevent other people from suffering the same way he had.
"Curtis, can I speak to you for a moment?" Oliver asked as he entered Curtis's lab, Tatsu right behind him.
"Oliver, what brings you here?" Curtis asked nervously, since the T-sphere wasn't exactly the kind of technology he was supposed to be developing.
"I'm here to talk to you about how you've been using my company's resources to work on a personal project." Oliver said.
"Oliver, I can explain." Curtis began, only to have Oliver stop him.
"You'll get your chance. But first, Tatsu, confiscate all research on these T-spheres. I don't want them on our servers when they were never authorized." Oliver said to his bodyguard, who nodded before moving over to Curtis's computers and plugging a flash drive into one of them, transferring all T-sphere data to the drive.
"No." Curtis said.
"Okay Curtis, explain yourself and then maybe you can keep your job and your little pet project." Oliver said as he and Tatsu exchanged looks and they were both having a hard time not cracking up at the look on Curtis's face.
"I know this isn't the kind of work you hired me for, but I have to do it. After my wife died, I was in a really bad place." Curtis said.
"I remember. You were gone longer than your bereavement allowed and when you came back, you were a different person. More driven." Oliver said.
"That's because while I was gone, I considered joining my wife and unborn child in the next world." Curtis said.
"I thought you were an atheist." Oliver said.
"You know what I mean." Curtis said.
"Fair enough, but what changed?" Oliver asked.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Curtis said.
"Try me." Oliver said.
"No, you'd just think I was crazy, a man trying to cope with loss hallucinating." Curtis said.
"Oliver, perhaps it's time we dropped the charade and show him the truth." Tatsu said.
"Agreed." Oliver said.
"What are you talking about?" Curtis asked as Oliver chuckled.
"I'm sorry Curtis, I couldn't resist messing with you a bit. You're not fired. In fact, some people might say you're getting a promotion, considering where I'm taking you." Oliver said.
"And where are we going?" Curtis asked.
"Just follow me." Oliver said as he and Tatsu led Curtis up to his own office.
"Why are we in your office?" Curtis asked.
"You'll see in a minute." Oliver said as he walked over to a bookcase that held pictures of his family, friends and now pictures from his wedding and he moved the picture of him, Kara, Bruce, Clark, Barry, Diana, J'onn and Alex that had been taken at the wedding and placed his hand on it, which caused it to be scanned before the wall shifted to reveal a zetatube.
"What is that thing?" Curtis asked.
"It's called a Zeta tube." Oliver said with a chuckle.
"Wait, Zeta tubes are real? I thought they were only theoretical." Curtis said.
"No, they're real, but it's best if the public doesn't know about that yet." Oliver said as he activated the tube.
"What's going on?" Curtis asked.
"Just follow us." Tatsu said as the tube opened up and Oliver walked through.
"Green Arrow, 05, confirmed, Katana, 18, confirmed, Curtis Holt, A10, confirmed." the AI said as Curtis walked through it, barely getting enough time to register what he'd just heard before he stepped through the tube.
"Welcome to the Barracks Curtis." Oliver said as he showed Curtis in.
"Is this what I think it is?" Curtis asked.
"That depends on if you think it's the Green Arrow's base of operations, since it is." Laurel said as she, John, Thea, Helena, Abby, Artemis and Yolanda walked in.
"Wait, you're the Green Arrow?" Curtis asked his boss.
"I think that the AI that came with the zeta tube confirmed that." Oliver confirmed.
"It makes so much sense. The Green Arrow appears around the same time you came back from the island." Curtis said.
"Yeah, I'm honestly surprised no one else made that connection." Oliver said.
"And your head of security is Katana." Curtis said.
"And my wife is the Black Canary." Oliver said, still loving being able to finally call Laurel his wife.
"Of course you are." Curtis said.
"Yep." Laurel said.
"And the rest of you?" Curtis asked.
"Spartan." John said.
"Red Arrow." Thea said.
"Huntress." Helena said.
"Eclipse." Abby said.
"Silver Arrow." Artemis said.
"Wildcat." Yolanda said.
"And now I want you to join us. Especially since our old tech guy moved to work with a different member of the Justice League and since you're already trying to become a hero yourself, now you can do it under my supervision and use Justice League resources to continue your research on developing your t-spheres and you can focus on your actual projects at work." Oliver said.
"I'd love to. Especially since I already have a name picked out. Mr. Terrific." Curtis said.
"Really, you'd be the second Mr. Terrific." Laurel said.
"What do you mean?" Oliver asked.
"In the JSA, they had their own member called Mr. Terrific." Laurel said.
"I know. Terry Sloane. I've been a big fan of his from his wrestling days. Not to mention, I was given some inspiration by a guy who called himself the Spectre." Curtis said.
YOU ARE READING
Lauriver Chronicles
FanfictionAfter 5 years in hell, Oliver Queen is finally returning home to his family, his friends, and the woman he loves, but he's no longer the man he used to be. Now that he's home, he has one mission, to save his city. As he learns to navigate his new do...
