Three

Chapter 3 - Empty

Chapter 3 - Empty 

DISCLAIMER: Still no legal rights to CW's Arrow! 

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It was a solemn procession that made their way to the Arrow Cave. Felicity continued to hold Oliver's clothes close to her body as she went directly to her computers. Carefully placing the clothes on her desk, she entered the coordinates and pulled up a satellite view. 

Roy stood close to Thea as he knew Diggle would remain next to Felicity. Thea stopped and looked around in shock. When her eyes met his, he just returned her look without offering any explanation. He wasn't sure what Felicity's plan was so he simply waited. 

Reviewing the image on the screen, Diggle immediately pulled out his phone to contact Lyla. They would need transportation and assistance from ARGUS to reach the area and bring Oliver back. He placed a hand on Felicity's shoulder as he heard her sharp inhale. However, when she met his eyes, hers were dry and remained focused, determined. 

Felicity watched Diggle walk away to speak to Lyla. She didn't want to hear him tell her about Oliver so she focused instead on Thea who had remained silent. Sharing this part of Oliver made her feel proud but also lost as she couldn't imagine carrying on his legacy without him. 

"Ollie was the Vigilante?" Thea finally spoke to ask the obvious as her mind couldn't seem to comprehend the evidence before her. 

"Oliver is...Oliver was the Green Arrow. He was the hero of Starling City but he was more than that. He was a friend." Felicity replied with quiet authority. 

"A teacher." Roy added as he moved away from Thea to stand beside Felicity. 

"A partner." Diggle confirmed as he hung up the phone and moved to stand on Felicity's other side. 

Thea stared at the three people before her - three people who did know her brother so much better than she had. When her world had been turned upside down, she had run away from the pain and even from Oliver. Oliver had been shipwrecked and endured hell for five years before returning to save their city...and he had also created this new family of people who knew and loved him. 

Straightening her spine, she remembered Felicity's words that she needed to understand Oliver as they did and she found that she wanted to try. 

"And he was a brother, my brother." Thea added proudly.  

Felicity stared at the girl who Oliver had died to protect and she knew Roy would continue to protect her as well. She nodded and turned to Diggle as she needed to focus on something other than Oliver's legacy. 

"Did Lyla arrange for transportation for us?" 

"Yes, she's going to stay with the baby though. We should head out now." 

Thea wanted to ask questions but found the words wouldn't come. Instead she just watched and followed these three people who were so important to her brother. They were the ones who he had trusted, the ones who had helped him. Memories of everything she knew of the Vigilante played in her head during their trip - Oliver being accused by Lance, her mom shooting him, him shooting Roy, the people he supposedly killed and those he had saved. She was also kept picturing the playful, cocky big brother of her childhood as well as the cold, distant man who had returned after five years away. She couldn't help but remember more recent memories as well - Oliver coming to Corto Maltese, Oliver trying to make amends and be more honest with her.  

However, looking at Oliver's other family, Thea knew that there was still a lot he hadn't shared with her. Anger, pain, love all battled inside her and Thea felt nearly overwhelmed by the strong emotions as she tried to find the control her father had taught her so that she could feel nothing once more. 

Keeping a watchful eye on both Thea and Felicity, Roy tried to ignore his own pain and doubt. It seemed unreal that they were all together and that they were making plans to get Oliver's body. 'Oliver Queen is dead.' Sarab's words kept repeating in his head as did Thea's scream and Felicity's blank look. Neither woman spoke and their silence concerned him as he owed it to Oliver to care for them both. Oliver, his larger than life mentor and friend, was gone. Roy shook his head as if trying to clear it but the pain and doubt remained deeply imbedded inside him.  

Diggle exchanged a look with Roy as everyone remained silent. He was glad to have a job to do as otherwise he needed to face the loss of his friend. A friend who made him better, a friend who had his back. He had lost people before - his brother, fellow soldiers, even Sara but this was Oliver. A man who had endured hell and still retained his humanity with a respect for life and love...even if that respect was buried deep and hidden from most people and sometimes even Oliver himself. It was the thought of love that brought his eyes to Felicity.  

Feeling Diggle's eyes on her, Felicity met them calmly. She knew that he and Roy were both concerned for her but she couldn't reassure them that she was okay as she was pretty sure she would never be okay again. Oliver had told her that he loved her but she hadn't told him the same and she did love him. She had been hurt and angry and she had toyed with the idea of moving on but she couldn't leave Oliver, not completely. Her heart wouldn't let her walk away. Somewhere between the lines of women fighting for him and the villains fighting to kill him, she had fallen for the man. It had started as a crush - he was Oliver Queen, playboy CEO, Starling City hero, and watching him on the salmon ladder hadn't hurt. They had become friends then partners though and her feelings changed and just kept growing until he was part of her life, a part of her. Now though all she felt was empty.  

Again it was a solemn procession that walked silently through the forest to the sacred land held by the League of Assassins the next day. Their ARGUS contact escorted them most of the way to the burial grounds but then Team Arrow and Thea had needed to make the last part of the trip alone. It would also be up to them to bring Oliver's body back with them. The bitterly cold winds whistled softly through the sparse trees as their shoes crunched loudly on the icy snow covering the ground. Grey mist and clouds blended the snowcapped mountains into the sky. No one spoke but they continued to move, they continued to fight to get to Oliver. 

Cresting a small hill, Diggle paused as he saw the lines of simple markers engraved with kanji in the well concealed valley. Turning he helped Felicity move to his side as Thea then Roy joined them. The group was silent as they stared at the many memorials of the League's bloody past. 

"There's no fresh grave." Roy spoke quietly and looked to Diggle to confirm. They had moved quickly and there was no fresh snow. A new grave should have been obvious. 

Afraid to hope but suddenly unwilling to give up, Felicity whispered her question. "Could he have survived?" 

Diggle couldn't explain the lack of a grave but he couldn't give his partner false hope either. "Felicity, if the sword didn't kill him the fall would have." He pointed up to where the top of the mountain wasn't even visible as it was shrouded in a foggy mist. 

"You're right...but this is Oliver. He survived hell before when everyone thought he was dead." Felicity whispered as she just couldn't stop the hope flooding her body and replacing the empty feeling. If there was even a small chance that Oliver was alive then they needed to search for him. "We have to get to the top of the mountain." 

Thea watched as Diggle and Roy exchanged troubled looks while Felicity continued to stare up at the clouds. She couldn't decide if she wanted to hope with Felicity or just accept the pain of the loss as the men appeared to have done. 

"I'm sorry but there's no way Felicity. The League chose it because the only way is straight up the mountain. No normal human could make the trip-" 

"It's a good thing we know a not so normal human then, isn't it?" Felicity smiled for the first time since Oliver had left. The bright hope in her gaze was difficult to look at but even more difficult to ignore. 

"Speed isn't the only thing. He would need--." 

"I know and I can get him more. Come on, I've got to call a guy about a suit." 

As the group turned back, no one noticed the still figures who watched them before then blending back into the white of the mountain as they had their way back to their cave.