Sapphire Ruby (Book Two, Arrow)

chapter 18 ⚔ Deathstroke

It was morning in the basement of Verdant.

Oliver, John and Jill were talking, watching Roy aim a bow and arrow.

"No time," John told them. "You letting the bad guys stay alive this year has filled the jails up to capacity."

Oliver sighed. "Yeah." He walked toward Roy. "Well, I've been working with Jill, but I'm not exactly a natural."

"Neither was I," Oliver told him.

Roy shot an arrow, trying to hit the target, though it hit wires on the wall, making them spark.

"Okay," Jill told the. "We have some work to do."

Roy shook his head. "Sorry. I'm just having a hard time keeping my head in the game today."

"Thea?" Oliver asked.

"I just can't stop thinking 'What's the worst that can happen if I just told her the truth?'" Roy told them. 

Felicity walked in. "Well, I told a guy and my friend the truth, and the guy got struck by lightning, and the girl nearly froze to death. To be fair, probably won't happen again, statistically."

Oliver looked at Roy. "Telling Thea the truth won't make her safer. Just the opposite. What we're doing, Roy, it's dangerous. And anyone that is even in our orbit can get hurt."

"Try again," Jill told him. "This time... aim." 

Oliver walked toward the others. 

Jill held up two slips of paper. 

"What are those?" Oliver asked.

"About a month's worth of phone messages from Queen Consolidated," Jill answered.

"Toss them," Oliver told her. 

"That's what I did with last month's phone messages," Jill told him.

"With Slade out there, I don't have time for the company," Oliver told her.

"Well, you have to make time, Oliver," Jill told him. "At least three hours. The annual board meeting." Oliver groaned in remembrance, sighing. "There's absolutely zero way that the CEO can avoid being there. And I know it's been a while, so in case you've forgotten, that's you. Do you remember where you put your business suit?" She pointed at the glass case that contained the Arrow and Sapphire suits. "Or do you keep it in a cool glass case, too?"

Oliver smirked in amusement, turning away.

⚔

Jill and Oliver walked into the office of Queen Consolidated.

Jill watched him walk into the conference room.

Isabel was sitting at the table.

"I know that I haven't been here in a while, but you don't look like the entire board of directors," Oliver told her. 

"The meeting doesn't start for another half hour," Isabel told him.

Oliver checked his watch. "Really?"

"I routinely bump all appointments 30 minutes in anticipation of you being late," Isabel told him, standing.

"It's good policy," Oliver told her.

"But, thank you for coming out of hibernation for this," Isabel told him. "Whether you recognize it or not, it's your name on the building, and no matter how many meetings you miss, you're still the public face of this company."