To Life Being Full (Book Three of The Unmatched Records)

Arrow ~ Tribute ~ Part One

Surgery went well, guys! I am now short four wisdom teeth, and I have discovered it is extremely hard to write when you're high on drugs to make you feel better. So, no writing yesterday. However, there was today!

Oliver and Kara meet Agent Watson, Curtis and Felicity get to work on the image, and an old friend of Oliver's shows up.

Enjoy!

***

Oliver stepped in the front doors of city hall, raising an eyebrow when he saw a crowd of reporters waiting for him. "Anything interesting on the news last night?" he asked sarcastically.

Reporters instantly shouted questions, crowding in towards Oliver as he made his way to where Quentin, Rene, Thea, and Kara were waiting. "Ladies and gentlemen," Oliver held up his hands. "Ladies and gentlemen, please! If you want to know what I have to say, it would probably help if you could hear me," he looked around. When they quieted, he nodded. "Thank you. Gonna tell you two things, both of which you probably already know. First, this is important. I am not the Green Arrow."

"If you're not the Green Arrow, then who is?" a female reporter asked.

"Number two," Oliver continued, ignoring the question. "Photos can be doctored. They could have put Bruce Wayne's head on that body. Has Bruce Wayne left Gotham to hang out in Star City recently?" he pretended to ask Rene before scoffing. "No. Now, if I was running around the city during the day and managing it as mayor while running around at night frightening criminals as a vigilante, that really would make me a superhero, but I'm not. I'm just the mayor. Thank you very much."

Reporters clamored to ask more questions as Oliver turned away, but he just reached for Kara's hand. She took it and followed him up the stairs, the two of them followed by Quentin, Thea, and Rene. "You seem to be taking this in your stride," Quentin remarked.

"I've been here before with you," Oliver reminded him.

"Yeah, but I didn't have a photograph of you in flagrante de arrow."

"Where did Channel 52 get the photo?" Kara asked.

"Anonymous source," Rene answered. "Arrived in yesterday's mail, no return address."

"Let's get the envelope, let's get it to forensics, and let's figure out who leaked it," Oliver ordered.

"And why," Thea added.

***

"Can't let this distract us," Oliver said as the quintet walked out of the elevator. "Where are we with rebuilding the SCPD?"

"Well, I fast tracked the insurance claim, so we should have twenty million burning a hole in our account by the end of the day," Rene answered.

"Our?" Thea raised an eyebrow.

"I figure we peel off a few bucks and fly off to Vegas," Rene shrugged.

Oliver and Kara both raised an eyebrow at the same time. "That's cute," Quentin said sarcastically. "Think it might be a little suspicious if Oliver left town right about now."

"I need to be in town for the Markovian delegation," Oliver reminded him, heading towards his office.

Rene watched the others follow him, then asked, "So it's all right for me to go to Vegas, is what you're saying?"

Oliver rolled his eyes and opened the door to his office, only to pause when he saw a dark-skinned woman in a suit waiting for him. "Hello," he said cautiously. "I don't think you have an appointment."