New Earth: Arrow

Chapter 27

"So, it looks like once again, Star City has decided that mom is the one who needs to burn for the Undertaking, since Malcolm is dead." Thea said to her brother as they, plus Laurel, John, Felicity, Rene, Roy and Tommy all gathered in the bunker the day after Oliver returned from Freeland.

"I don't get it, the Undertaking didn't even happen. Oliver made sure of it when he killed my dad. You did kill him right?" Tommy asked.

"Yeah, even Malcolm, with all his lives and influence can't survive losing his head." Oliver said.

"Wait, you actually cut off his head this time around?" Felicity asked.

"Yeah. And my only regret is that I didn't aim for the head the last time he and I fought." Oliver said.

"Oliver, you spared Malcolm's life out of mercy and concern for Thea. Neither of which Malcolm deserved." John said.

"It wasn't just that John." Oliver said.

"What do you mean?" Laurel asked.

"While I will admit that those were part of my actions, it was also because I honestly thought that killing Malcolm would be too merciful. I thought it would be a far more fitting punishment for him to have to continue to live, serving under Nyssa. I thought that letting Malcolm live knowing that I had taken everything he'd ever wanted away from him, again, that would be punishment enough. I was wrong, since Nyssa disbanded the League and Malcolm retaliated by bringing William into this world by telling Darhk about him." Oliver said.

"Speaking of William, are you ever going to reach out to him?" Thea asked, wanting to see her nephew again.

"I will, but not quite yet." Oliver said.

"Why not?" Laurel asked.

"Because Malcolm may be gone, but I have another pain in my ass coming who would not hesitate to bring William into this if he found out about him." Oliver said.

"Slade." John said and Oliver nodded.

"William was the only person I care about who didn't get pulled into Slade's vendetta and I'd like to keep it that way and the only way that works is if Slade doesn't find out about him, which means that I can't reach out to him, no matter how much I want to. Nyssa has also assured me that if Darhk makes a move against William, she will end him before I have a chance to." Oliver said.

"What is our plan to deal with Slade, since I'm assuming we want to avoid him killing your mom, bankrupting your family, stealing your company and nearly destroying the city." Laurel asked.

"We use his own tactics against him." Oliver said.

"What do you mean?" Thea asked.

"Slade has one vulnerability that we never thought to exploit before. This time we will. His sons." Oliver said and John caught on.

"I'll talk to Lyla, see if she can get us a lead on either Joe or Grant." John said.

"Oliver, if memory serves me, both of them turned into creeps just like their father." Rene said.

"True, but Slade still cares about both of his sons. And who knows, maybe if he sees the path he inspired his sons to go down, it might snap enough sense into him that we can disable him long enough to get the cure into his system." Oliver said.

"Why cure him. Why not kill him?" Laurel asked.

"Because Laurel, Slade was not always my enemy. He was my friend. In fact, he actually helped me save the lives of almost everyone in this room." Oliver said.

"It's true. Though he did opt to leave us on Lian Yu." Felicity said.

"Slade only follows and listens to people he trusts. Where do you think I learned it from." Oliver said.

"So you're saying that the reason Slade left us behind is because he didn't have any reason to trust us?" John asked.

"Every time before then that you guys and Slade have met, you've been on opposite sides. It took half a year for me to gain Slade's trust. If you'd earned his respect, he wouldn't have left you behind. Besides, can you honestly say that any of you would've trusted him to get you to safety?" Oliver asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Fair point." John acknowledged and Felicity, Thea and Rene all nodded.

"Still trying to figure out why you didn't call me about that?" Roy asked.

"I had a feeling Chase would be prepared for that. Plus, I had a feeling that you and Malcolm being together would not be a combination and I was already working hard to keep him and Nyssa from killing each other." Oliver said and Roy nodded in agreement.

"Okay, so anyways, what do we do in the meantime?" Felicity asked.

"Well, Moira isn't the only feeling the heat from the Undertaking, even though it didn't work. Apparently being the son of a sociopath is not fun. Merlyn Global is starting to go under." Tommy said.

"Maybe Queen Consolidated could help?" Laurel asked, looking at Oliver, since he'd taken over the company a few days ago.

"I wish we could, QC is barely able to avoid a PR scandal due to mom's involvement in the Undertaking and I have to keep it from becoming victim to Isabel Rochev. I'm sorry Tommy. You know I would if I could." Oliver said.

"No I get it. I don't want you to risk your company either. I'll figure something out." Tommy said.

"Well, maybe Merlyn Global would benefit from a rebrand." Felicity said as she looked at her boyfriend.

"What are you talking about?" Tommy asked.

"Well, not only did I run my own company for a little while back on Earth One, but on this earth, in addition to my many PhDs, I also have a masters in business." Felicity said.

"You want to take over Merlyn Global?" Tommy asked.

"And change its name, since no offense honey, but right now, the name Merlyn is associated with a maniac who attempted to blow up half the city." Felicity said.

"It's not a bad idea. How about we compromise, we run the company together. We change the name, but we'll be partners." Tommy said.

"Deal. But on one condition, we don't let that partnership come between our relationship." Felicity said.

"Deal." Tommy said as he held out his hand, which Felicity shook with a grin.

"I guess this is the beginning of a new start for Merlyn Global." Oliver said.

"What happened to the company after the undertaking anyways?" Tommy asked.

"It went under since you and Malcolm were dead and your last name was associated with murder, so." Oliver said.

"Well, at least that won't happen now." Tommy said as he looked at his girlfriend with a grin, who grinned back at him as they continued talking.