Green Arrow - Emerald Archer

Chapter One

Two Days Later

"Ollie?" Thea Queen knocked on the door to Oliver's bedroom. "Ollie?"

Thea opened the door and stepped inside. Oliver stood with his back to Thea, facing his mirror. His hair had been cut and face shaved.

"Ollie, you've been in here ever since you got back! You need to get out and show yourself!"

Oliver didn't say anything.

"Look, Mom's preparing a welcome home party for later this afternoon. You'll get to see Tommy and Dinah again!"

Oliver sighed, turning to look at Thea.

"I appreciate all you and Mom have done for me since I got back, Thea. I really do. But I don't know if I'm ready for that. I mean, it's been five years since I saw them. Or anyone, for that matter."

"You're worried that everyone you knew has changed," Thea caught on. "Only thing that's changed since 2012 is that Donald Trump is president now."

"The billionaire? Really?" Oliver laughs. "I should have run for president!"

"Sure, people are different. Everyone changes at some point. You just have to get to know them again."

"Alright, I'll go to the party," Oliver said finally, convinced.

Thea smiled, "Great."

She walked out of Oliver's room, leaving him to think on what she'd said. Five years was a long time. Would he even recognize anyone? He barely recognized his own sister when she greeted him two days ago. She had been twelve when he'd last seen her. Now she was seventeen, almost an adult. Five years.

--

Oliver sat at the desk in his room, listening to the songs in Scorpion by Drake. His old laptop kept giving him notifications for a Windows 10 update. When Oliver and his dad were shipwrecked, Windows 8 was a few months away from it's global release. The Queen family and staff of Queen Consolidated had gotten it early, courtesy to the late Robert Queen. Oliver had never been big on computers or technology, though.

Oliver glanced at the clock on his wall and saw that it was 6:33. The party had already begun. Oliver stood up and made his way down the long and winding stairs of the mansion. He looked over the rail to see more people than he had expected chattering down on the first floor. Oliver took a deep breath and walked the rest of the way down the stairs, ready to re-introduce himself to the world.

"There he is!"

Everyone turned to look at Oliver. Every eye was on him. He even spotted a camera maned by a local news group in the corner, meaning everyone in Star City would be seeing him. He should probably find something intelligent to say instead of just standing by the stairs, gawping right back at everyone.

"Hi..."

That's what he was able to come up with before everything went crazy. People started to rush up to him, eager for a handshake and asking tons of questions, which he never got to answer because someone else had pushed through.

This went on for about thirty minutes. Once everyone had dispersed and were finally talking among themselves, Oliver was able to find some of his old friends. Tommy, Oliver's best friend since they were little. Dinah, another one of Oliver's long-time friends. And Leena, a woman who Oliver was dating when he was ship-wrecked.

"Didn't want to shake my hand or give me a hug?" Oliver asked.

"Oh, so I have to wait in line now to spend time with my best friend?" Tommy replied, stepping forward.

"Tommy..." Leena warned.

He stared at Oliver. Oliver stared right back. Dinah and Leena shuffled their feet uncomfortably, watching. Then, they started to crack up. Tommy wrapped Oliver in a hug, slapping his back. Oliver saw Dinah roll her eyes and Leena mouth, "guys..."

Oliver hugged Dinah and Leena as well. He hadn't realized how much he'd missed them. They stood there for awhile, looking at each other.

"So," Oliver said. "Did I miss anything?"

Tommy launched into a speech about every major event since 2012. Just as soon as he had reached the presidential election, something caught Oliver's eye.

"Excuse me, would you?"

Tommy looked taken aback.

"Uh, yeah. Sure."

Oliver walked up the stairs to the second floor and pressed his back against a pillar. A few second earlier, Oliver had seen some guy hand Thea a plastic bag. Oliver was now within earshot of them, hidden.

"Welp, that should do it. I'd probably better be going." the man said.

"Yeah..." Thea replied. "I'll let you out back. It'll draw out less attention."

Oliver headed back down the stairs and towards the front doors. He didn't know who this guy was, but he wasn't anyone good, that was certain. If the guy didn't want to get noticed, he was hiding something. And Oliver was going to find out what. That guy was around his sister, and Oliver didn't like it. Not one bit.

"Hey, where are you going?" Moira asked, grabbing his arm.

"I just need-- some fresh air."

Oliver walked around the mansion, towards the back. He heard a door close, and pressed his back to the building, ready to round the corner. The guy walked right by, not even noticing Oliver. Oliver stepped forward, grabbed the guy by the collar and spun him around, shoving him against the side of the building.

"Who are you?" Oliver growled.

"I, uh, I'm Joe..." the man's eyes were wide open in fear.

"What did you give my sister?"

"Look, man, I've got a ton more deliveries to make tonight, so do you think I could just--"

Oliver pressed harder, causing Joe to cough a little.

"Fine," he coughed again. "Fine. It's called Vertigo."

"Who sells it?"

"Dude, chill out. I'm just the delivery man."

"A delivery man who just handed drugs to a kid," Oliver snarled back. "Tell me who sells it now!"

"You think I'm more afraid of you than I am of the boss?" Joe managed a smile. "You're just an overly aggressive dude that's still stuck in 2012."

Oliver stepped back, realizing what he was doing. He was choking that scrawny kid. Joe couldn't tell him anything, anyway. He was just someone that got stuck with the wrong crowd.

Joe took that opportunity to run.

"You stay away from my sister!" Oliver called after him.

He took a deep breath, composed himself, and returned to the party. Tommy, Dinah, and Leena were waiting for him.

"So," Oliver said, joining them. "What happened next?"