If He'd Never Left (Arrow/Olicity)

Prologue

All he wanted was to be with her. All she wanted was to be with him. In any other city with any other couple, it would be simple. But this wasn't any other city, this was Star City. And this was no ordinary couple.

How Oliver Queen found himself in that bar at three o'clock on a Tuesday morning completely off his face, he couldn't remember for the life of him. He had just been strolling home from work, thinking things over, when a fresh wave of upset and regret had hit him. He had bounded in to the first open doorway he had seen to avoid making a scene in public. That place turned out to be the most dingy pub in the Glades and it turned out a glass of beer had been exactly what Oliver needed.

Five pints later, two whiskeys and a few shots down the line, Oliver found himself leaning hopelessly on the very suspicious hooded character he had once been eyeing carefully, bearing his heart and soul.

"You see, if we were normal, it would be as simple as 'do you like me?' and if she said yes, that would be it. But life always has a way of screwing me over" Oliver slurred messily, tipping the rest of his drink down his throat. His companion let out a low hum, still hiding his eyes behind his cloak. He had barely spoke a word all night, other than to ask Oliver a few questions about Felicity and unlike the rest of the pubs cast, he hadn't had a single drop of liquor. If Oliver was in his right frame of mind, he would have stopped to question his partners motives, but he seemed to have reverted back to his millionaire playboy predecessor.

"What is it that prevents the two of you being normal?" The hooded figure questioned in a low voice, glancing at Oliver with a sense of disgust. If his boss hadn't instructed him to stalk Queen, he would've left hours ago. What could be so much a threat about this man that makes my boss this paranoid? He questioned internally.

"I don't know. At least, I don't know why the issue affects us so much. We've kissed before, but I can't let her closer" Oliver glared down at the drink in his hands, like that was the sole cause of his problems. The hooded figure perked his ears, finally having heard something he was interested in.

"Why not?" The cloaked figure pushed, settling another drink in front of Oliver to lower his inhibitions further. Oliver shook his head and pushed the drink aside.

"I have a dark past. I got trapped on an island, did some pretty disturbing things. Ever since then, there's been this darkness inside me that's so deep and intense, it even scares me sometimes" Oliver admitted darkly. The figure smirked, knowing he had exactly what he needed.

"So you think that without the darkness, you and this Felicity would have a chance?" He asked carefully, trying his best to act casual and not smirk when Oliver nodded quickly in response, completely hating the years he had spent on that island. "I bet you wished you'd never gone to this Lian Yu then?" The figure continued.

"Yeah, I do" Oliver mumbled, his head spinning. The figure chuckled.

"And do you wish that you could wake up tomorrow, having the past seven years completely erased?" The figure continued.

"More than anything" Oliver answered truthfully, the flashback of Lian Yu making him change his mind and grab the pint of beer he had recently declined, necking the glass effortlessly in a few seconds. His head was spinning, yet Oliver could tell there was something off about the conversation he had just had. He replayed the conversation over and over again, getting drowsier by the second. The figure had turned away and was chanting something under his breathe. Finally, it clicked.

"Wait, I never mentioned that the island was called Lian Yu-" Oliver started to protest, but the room around him turned dark, cutting off his words.

All Oliver could see was dark, dark waters, before everything went completely black