Destiny Rewritten

Chapter 9

Over the next few weeks, Oliver began crossing more names off the list in a more aggressive fashion, not going as far as killing any of them, but doing enough to get Malcolm's attention that someone was crossing names off his list.

Anyways, now he was sitting in his apartment, trying to decide if he should go after Martin Somers or Justin Claybourne next when suddenly, he got a page from the doorman telling him he had a female visitor coming up in his elevator.

Oliver was about to ask who it was when the doors opened and he saw Laurel enter his apartment.

"Nice place." Laurel said.

"I don't remember giving you my new address." Oliver said, though Laurel could tell that he was just playing.

"Thea told me. She is adamant about getting us getting back together." Laurel said and Oliver rolled his eyes.

"Of course she did. Not that you're not welcome here, but next time, give me a little notice. I already sent Dig home for the night and I'm still trying to adjust back to being back in society." Oliver said.

"Why do you need a bodyguard anyways?" Laurel asked.

"Part of it is provide my mother with some piece of mind since I'm no longer living at that mansion and the other part is more so that John can protect people from me if I ever suffer from PTSD." Oliver said and Laurel nodded, accepting that.

"I can't even begin to imagine what you went through on that island. No matter how much I hated you before, I can tell that you've more than suffered for what you did. Can I ask you something personal?" Laurel asked.

"Depends on the question." Oliver said.

"How did you survive all that time away?" Laurel asked.

"There were times I almost didn't. But, every time I was close to just letting myself die, I found something to help me keep on going." Oliver said.

"What?" Laurel asked.

"This." Oliver said as he showed her the picture he'd always made sure he held close to him the entire 5 years he was gone.

"You kept this with you, all those years." Laurel asked as she looked at the picture of herself that she'd actually given him before he left.

"All I could think about those 5 years away were coming back and trying to make things right with you. To get you to give another chance I honestly don't deserve." Oliver said.

Before Laurel could respond to that however, suddenly, bullets rang through the windows, causing Oliver to shove Laurel to the ground.

"Are you by any chance going up against Martin Somers in court right now?" Oliver asked her.

"Yeah, why?" Laurel asked.

"I'm pretty sure this is his way to get you off the case." Oliver said as he began contemplating whether or not he should reveal his identity to Laurel. He was planning on doing it eventually, but not this soon.

Then he heard Laurel scream in pain and he saw a bullet had hit her shoulder and his choice was made as thugs burst into his apartment.

"Laurel take cover." Oliver said.

"What about you?" Laurel asked as she held her shoulder tightly, trying not to feel the pain.

"I'm gonna take care of these guys." Oliver said.

"How?" Laurel asked.

"With this." Oliver said as he pulled out the remote Cisco had given him and pressed the button on it, causing the wall next to the minibar to slide back, revealing his Green Arrow suit.

"You're him. The Green Arrow." Laurel said in shock.

"I'll explain later." Oliver said as he managed to slide over to his gear and simply grabbed his bow and quiver.

"Alright boys, let's dance." Oliver said as he began fighting off these triad thugs, who were clearly out of their league, since Oliver already had 12 years of experience behind him and he was pissed off that Laurel was hurt and he let his arrows fly, each of them laced with a compound he'd had Cisco make for exactly this purpose as he took them out.

"You killed them all." Laurel said, shocked.

"They're not dead, just tranqed with a compound designed to wipe their short term memories. Keeping my identity safe from the outside world." Oliver said as he quickly re hid his gear and then moved to where he kept his emergency herbs.

"Eat this, it'll help." Oliver said.

"What is it?" Laurel asked skeptically.

"It's an herb from Lian Yu, it has healing properties. This stuff helped save me from a lot worse than a bullet in the shoulder." Oliver told her and Laurel nodded as she reluctantly ate the herb while Oliver retrieved a pair of tweezers.

"This is gonna hurt." Oliver said.

"What is?" Laurel asked.

"We need to get the bullet out." Oliver said as he just finished calling 911.

"Can you do that?" Laurel asked with uncertainty.

"I've done it to myself before. Long story. I already called the cops and the hospital, they can patch you up better, but for now I can keep you from bleeding out." Oliver told her as he handed her something to bite down on before using the tweezers to pull the bullet out of her shoulder, causing her to scream in pain before he began clotting the wound.

"So, you're the Green Arrow huh?" Laurel asked.

"Yeah. Now you know why he came to you with Declan." Oliver said and Laurel nodded.

"I have to ask, are you gonna turn me in?" Oliver asked.

"No." Laurel said immediately.

"Really?" Oliver asked.

"I'm actually a Green Arrow supporter. You've done more good for the city in a few weeks then the cops have in a long time. This city needs you, just like Gotham needs the Batman." Laurel said and Oliver smiled.

"Glad to hear it. Now come on, let's get you on the couch." Oliver said as he took Laurel's uninjured arm and helped her up.