The Storm After

Chapter 6: Who I Am

It took no time for Kara to fly back with Oliver to his apartment. They landed on the balcony, with Kara helping Oliver up on her shoulder. Thea, who had been on the couch tending to her own business saw the two arrived and was surprised by what she saw. She got up quickly and went to open the door for them.

"Oh my god, what happened?" Thea asked, her face full of worry. Oliver gave her a gruntled chuckle as Kara walked him in through the door. As they got through she closed the door behind them and caught up to them. Kara slowly laid Oliver on the couch, careful to avoid hurting him. Oliver waved his hand, signaling that he was alright. He had gone through a lot worse during the 5 years he was away, but to the two women staring at him they had no idea. Thea had adjusted to Oliver's lifestyle but still seeing a family member like that still made her worry regardless of how tough he was. She came down to sit aside her brother and asked him again.

"Can you tell me what happened now?" Thea asked. Oliver looked down and let out a sigh before returning to look at his sister.

"We ran into Cayden James and his friends," Oliver responded. Thea had a confused look on her face.

"The hacker guy? How on earth did they beat you?" Thea asked.

"It was his ally, Ricardo Diaz. Well, I guess he calls himself Richard Dragon now. I underestimated him and he used that against me." Oliver said.

"Dragon...Dragon... Hmm, I don't think I've ever heard of a Richard Dragon before." Thea said, she had thought over if she recalled the name but to no avail.

"Me neither. But whoever he is, he's definitely dangerous. I won't make the same mistake twice." Oliver said firmly. Kara and Thea saw that he had a determined face. Thea turned to face Kara.

"I'm guessing you had to come in and save him?" Thea asked Kara, her tone had shifted to a lighter tone. Kara sensed she was easing the mood and complied.

"Yep, I got there just in time. But then another woman showed up and they escaped together." Kara said. Thea turned to face Oliver, her eyebrows raised with suspicion.

"Laurel," Oliver said promptly.

"Oh," Thea said, nodding her head to suggest she understood. A slight moment had passed before Thea remembered the situation. She turned her attention from his face and continued to look at his body. "Well, let's see if there are any injuries, Ollie." Oliver shook his head in an attempt to waive off her suggestion but she dismissed it and turned to Kara. "Can you help me with this?" Kara's eyes widened at Thea's suggestion.

"Huh?" Kara let out in response. She was caught off-guard by her proposal.

"Well, the upper part of this suit is pretty hard to take off, I could use your help. I need to see if there's anything wrong with him." Thea explained calmly.

She saw Kara's expression changed and nodded that she was going to comply. Kara came in closer and assisted Thea in opening up the top piece of Oliver's suit. She let Thea undo the last one as she steps back. Thea finished opening up Oliver's suit and revealed his bare torso. Kara let out a light scream as she saw it fully unveiled. It was her first time seeing Oliver like this and she didn't know what to expect but she was not ready for what her eyes had seen. His body was covered in scars that ran through huge portions of his upper torso. She had never seen a person with so many scars before and to be suddenly exposed to that was a shock to her. Her eyes ran over his body, shifting from one to another. Thea let out a light-hearted chuckle which drew Kara's attention.

"I had the same reaction when I first saw them too," Thea said, she gave her a look to assure her that what she was looking at was real. Kara saw that Thea was not as shocked as her. In fact, it appeared to Kara that she was the odd one out. To the other two, this was already the norm. It led Kara to believe that Oliver had received those scars from before today. She turned to look at Oliver, his expression was no different from Thea. She pondered in her thoughts and wondered what on Earth did he go through. Thea had returned to assess Oliver's body. She went at it for a while before reaching her conclusion.