My adventures with Oliver Queen (SEEKING MALE & FEMALE VA’s)

“Ah, hello, you must be Oliver Queen. The names’ Williams. Richard E. Williams, I’m the leading therapist of the group here at Starling national hospital. Come, join us. There are refreshments if you’re in need.” Oliver shook his head, “My… family… was kind enough to send me with something. Because… I um… those… there… wouldn’t happen to be any um… peanut laced snacks over there…? I… um… I’m rather allergic I ought to say.” “Are you, son? Goodness me, I promise the snacks are quite allergy friendly, we are in a hospital after all.” William nodded. “Sure… but even the vending machine out in the cafeteria has… peanut butter biscuits like… big ones. I was here for a few weeks… after… I came home and…. my family had to really insist that my food was safely prepared.” Oliver stammered, anxiously. “Of course, Mr. Queen, I assure you we’ve been safe.” Oliver nodded, “Ok… if it’s all the same to you… no offense meant… I’ll just… stick to my lunches.”

Doctor William sat in the center of the circle as the group session began at last; “Welcome to our support session, let’s begin by taking our respective turns where we’ll share for about 7 minutes whatever is weighing you down. Who would like to share something to start us off?” “I can. My name is Ariel Canes and… Today… I was brave enough to cook something for myself. It’s been so hard ever since I lost my partner… and I have to ask you… how do you come back from that? How do you… muster up the courage to simply… live… when the people who should be here… aren’t anymore?” Oliver bravely raised his hand, “I think you need to surrender yourself to the pain sometimes. And… and to realize that… some days it’s… it’s going to hurt something awful, that grief we hold… is a weight… heavier than bricks and concrete. Yet, other times you need to let yourself be reminded by the most important of people that you’re… not alone. I… I have two younger sisters… and I'm so grateful that they show me every single day after I was… rescued from the worst nightmare anyone can imagine… something I keep… having… nightmares about…. They show me life is worth living. There’s always the next day and the next… and in the end… when it seems most impossible you’ll pick yourself up again.” “That is very wise, Oliver, and immensely insightful. Thank you for sharing with Arial and all of us.” William gently added.

Nurse 1: “I can do this. I can…” Oliver breathed aloud, walking towards the doorway and finding himself in a lounge that smelled like hand sanitizer and other cleaning solutions, the strangely busy but quiet interior of the building engulfed all his senses from his ears which detected the sounds of children and doctors being called to noting his nasal passages itched and detected again the mixture of cleaning solutions. Overwhelmingly on top of all these things the mildly unpleasant visual overload of marble flooring mixed with colorful carpeting seemed to give him an intense mix of anxiety and heat. As he approached the reception desk’s employee, Oliver adjusted his messenger bag around his shoulder and swallowed hard, he felt as if he ought to lower his voice. “Um…. Pardon me, ma’am. Oliver Jonas Queen… here for a… a…. Group therapy session?” His throat felt dry, he cleared it and began tapping his thumb against the bag’s strap anxiously. “Ah. Yes, you’re here a few minutes early, Mr Queen. No matter, You’ll go to your left through to the waiting room ahead of you and they’ll come get you once the session starts.”

Nurse 2: “Oliver Queen?” A nurse called out. “That’s me.” Oliver gently raised his voice, signaling his presence to the nurse and following her lead through the bland medical corridor ahead, as the nurse spoke, Oliver could barely tune her voice into be heard as the overhead LED fluorescent lights blinking every two seconds bothered him mildly against the glare of the stark white marble flooring, it was less pleasant than the soft blue and Burgundy colors of the carpet in the other room, and there was a distinctive scent of cleaning supplies in the air as if someone had done a freshening job in the hall. He pinched his nose, a headache was forming behind his eyes and with his free hand he gripped the arrowhead necklace around his clavicle and began tapping it with his thumb. “Alright, the session is right through this door.” The Nurse kindly gestured.

Option 1: “Ever since you’ve been home I’ve seen how this damn world judges you. The little stares, the brushing off of your condition, the exhaustion in your eyes, the pain of watching my brother wake up screaming from bad dreamings and wondering, what the hell did he truly suffer? What is he suffering now? You were the starling city joyriding billionaire playboy with a woman on each arm and now you’re a husk! You’re not Oliver Queen, the guy who has it all. You’re falling. Fact is you’ve been falling ever since you woke up and You keep spiraling Ollie, at every turn you’re not well! You have meltdowns, you scream in your sleep, not to mention the fucking hospital visit you had! And the damn fact is… I don’t know how to make it stop!”

Option 2: “No.” Emiko snarled. “You don’t get to do this to me. Sure… I get it, Ollie, you were lost for a long long time. Of course Where that was only Heaven might know… or should I say only Hell knows where you were. But that’s beside the point. No, the worst part of living again after all the shit, and most especially for you at that, is even though you’re alive, you’re still gone. And I feel for you. I love you as any sister ought to, but I can only do so much to bring you back from the edge of utter despair and numbness, before you stop running away from what frightens you! I can only do so much before at last you face what haunts you in the dreams witnessed and the nightmares which choke you in your slumber. The truth of all pain follows a universal rule, Ollie, even the greatest of minds had to face the music they feared. And you have to stop evading yours, the shit you keep numbing, you need to feel before it eats away at you and at us.”

Option 1: “We don’t have time to talk, son. Prepare yourself, the Kkangpae have found us.” “The Kkang who?” Oliver shuddered. “The Kkangpae, a mafia if you will, They’re called the Beomseobangpa Chilsung-pa, they’re active in Busan and run blackmail jobs, extortion… you name it. They’ve been around since 1979, and well… i’m afraid they’ve sent their best to collect me.”

option 2: Robert didn’t hesitate to slap the boy across his face, “My god what is wrong with you, Oliver!? I swear can you ever find it within you to speak NORMALLY! My own son… an absolute chicken wuss.”

Option 1: Thea pursed her lip in a pouting manner, “Don’t you remember? When I was little, you and I had a special oath!” Oliver wracked his brain and stroked his goatee in a thinking manner, “Um… you may need to remind me… speedy, I don’t think I recall this… oath?” “Cross the bow, thy arrow flies, strike a bullseye this i cry, if I miss the mark of a raven’s eye, I’ll keep this promise by and by to remind as a crow cries: by Nottingham’s ghost, I swear no lies!”

Option 2: Thea’s eyes welled with tears, “He’s my big brother too! I heard on the news, they said he was found and… and he was here… at the hospital. Is he….?” Emiko softened her glare and gestured for Thea to come forward, “He’s asleep.” Thea sniffled, she hardly remembered Oliver except in the little fragments of memory from when she was five and up until the age of ten, he had become a distant memory in her mind, a fleeting blur that occasionally she saw in her dreams where he lifted her up into the air and swung her around and around the backgardens of the Queen mansion. “You can fly, you can fly!” Oliver’s voice echoed in her memory. “Weeeee! I’m super speedy!” Thea cried out. “Super speedy to the stars! Woooosh!” They fell to the grass together, dizzy from spinning and Thea jumped on Ollie, touching his goateed face in her hands and giggling, “I Love you Ollie!” Oliver nuzzled his nose to hers and tickled her sides until she squealed with a fit of happy giggles, “I love you speedy. Who’s my giggly girl! My happy little sister!”

Option 3: Meanwhile, downstairs, Roy and Thea were sprawled out on the living room floor with snacks, water, pencils and school supplies strewn about the little coffee table and had set themselves to working on a boatload of homework from Starling city high, though they were mildly distracted by the sounds of Emiko and Oliver’s bickering from the upstairs hallway, Roy laughed quietly to himself, he was used to more quiet environments than this, “So… I see the Queen’s household has gotten quiet since your brother’s returned.” Thea blushed as she chewed at her pencil’s middle a bit, “Yeah… you could say that. Ollie’s usually the loudest one here… but he means well.” “Look, it's ok; you don’t have to apologize for the noise. My own house is usually more solemn… it's actually kind of nice to see a home so vibrant and alive.” Roy shyly. Thea nodded, feeling awkward, “Is that… oh I can never remember how you find X for these sorts of problems.” “Yeah… Solving for X may as well be more complicated than long division, honestly.” Roy agreed, huffing in frustration. “You want to take a break?” Thea asked. “Maths is about as fun as watching paint dry.” Roy laughed, “We’ve only just started! But… sure… you sounded like you needed to talk anyway, last we were at school.” “Can I?” Thea asked, folding her hands anxiously. “Hmm? Can you, what?” Roy prodded, tilting his head to the side curiously. “Talk to you? I.. I don’t want you to think I’m ungrateful, Roy, but… ever since Ollie’s been home… life’s gotten a bit more stressful.” Thea sighed sadly. “Thea, you can always talk to me. But lemme guess, you’re afraid if you express yourself in light of all the changes that you’ll appear ungrateful of what? That he’s alive and everything isn’t some slice of peach pie because, five years changes a person, and you’re not sure where you…. Fit in?” Thea buried her face in her hands, “mm hmm! I don’t… I just don’t do well with change. And…. to be honest, my brother doesn’t either. So… I’m trying to be his happy girl… i’m trying to be his speedy… the one… he remembers as that little girl who he used to playfully chase about the back lawn pretending we were Robin hood and his merry men, Roy. But… I changed… I'm grown up now! And… and when he came home… like i told you… he was still gone. Then, suddenly, two weeks later he wakes up and… I'm trying to be brave for him and my mum but… how can I be brave for someone I don’t know? I don’t think I really know ollie some days.”

Moira Queen: The doctor leaned forward in his seat and set his chin against his hands, “Well… as you’ll recall, Madam Queen, When we found your son well over this past week, his body temperature was over 103.3 Fahrenheit, he’d been sick by the looks of things and he had a wound to the chest region with signs of… a bad internal infection that wasn’t treated properly or promptly at that.” “Yes of course. We’re lucky he did not die from the fever.” Moira answered quietly. “Most certainly he is lucky, but there remains another matter that my team and I discovered. Myself, as well as Doctor Yao Fei, believe… and please prepare yourself accordingly because it is rather… volatile to explain.” “Dr. Ivo, I’ve already lost my husband. And I may yet lose my only biological son whom lies comatose in your well regarded establishment. As his mother, my heart aches, but do not think it weakens me. I’ve soothed that gentle boy’s every fever and bandaged every scraped knee since he popped out of my womb, Please do not insult me by believing I cannot handle your… discovery.” Moira snapped fiercely.

“nay! You have killed your son! By bringing him to this place. You broke your word, you stole my honor, and now you must suffer for your sins! But first… you get to watch your seed die!”

Jessica Cruz: Hal shook his head as he closed the fridge and nabbed the snacks, “So, how’s the dessert coming along, love?” “Just about ready to chill said dessert and then we can go ahead to get started on food. I hope you and Oliver aren’t filling up on snacks alone.” Jessica answered quietly. “Not at all.” Hal chuckled.

Oliver nodded, “I would do anything for Hal. After all, he's done way much more for me than I have any right to have been given by him. So… How is he? Do you know?” Jessica shook her head no, “He crashed. Bad they said but… Thank goodness they got him out and now…. he’s being treated in the emergency room.”

Upon recovery from his fall to the sidewalk, Oliver noted the kid was scrappy looking, he had messy dark hair with a ginger tint to it, and wore the baggiest clothes Oliver had ever seen including a massively oversized brown fighter pilot’s jacket and a pair of high top black converse shoes. “Ow! Hey! Watch where you’re…? Oh… say, what’s wrong with you?” The boy asked, realizing Oliver had scraped up his knee as he was wearing a rather fancy looking English style grey tweed playsuit and shorts. “I’m sorry…” Oliver whispered. “You’re ok. Here, I got a bandaid in my pocket and a clean wipe. I’ll fix you right up! …Say, I’m Hal… by the way, who are you? …Nevermind you’ll tell me on the way! Come on, kid, let’s get out of the street before we’re hit or something.” Hal spewed out, he was a bit of a fast talker for a boy no older than ten years of age. Oliver blinked as Hal took his hand and lifted him up, “um…I’m… I’m Oliver.” “Ah! Well, If you don’t mind me sayin’ You look kinda funny, Oliver. What's with the monkey suit you’re wearing?” “That’s mean… my daddy… daddy is a very important man! And… and I’m su’ppose to look sm… sm… smart.” Oliver stuttered. “Say, You… you talk funny! And dress funny too. Ah! S…see… s’ not nice!” Hal laughed as he took Oliver to a less crowded location and hopped up on a concrete ledge to walk it around and around with ease, “Su’ppose I do! And no, I’m not “nice”! What’s with the stupid accent you got? Are you… English or something? Nice isn’t a good thing here!” “Huh? I don’t understand.” Oliver stuttered. “And another Little tip, Oliver Twist; Don’t insult people’s clothes! Actually…this thing I got, the jacket was my dad’s… he’s a fighter pilot. …or well… he was.” Hal rambled.

“Whoa! I… I.. I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…” Oliver stammered. “It’s ok… I was listening to starship… in my earbuds… wasn’t paying attention… um…. Uh….” “We built this city or Nothing’s gonna stop us?” Oliver asked, blushing. “Um… nothing’s gonna stop us.” The woman smiled. “Do you know it?” “One of my favorites… yeah.” Oliver shyly answered, fiddling with his fingers. The young woman studied Oliver’s face, “Say… do I know you from somewhere?” Oliver couldn’t bear to lift his gaze, he hid his face against the collar of the green button up and shook his head no, “I… I was away for a long time. I don’t think we know each other.” The woman chewed her lip a touch nervously, “Wow… you have the greenest eyes I’ve ever seen.” “They’re blue… actually… but I guess… in this light they look greenish… blue….” Oliver replied. He stepped aside, “I’m so sorry… I’m bothering you… miss….?” “Dinah. Dinah laurel lance.” The woman answered, “and you’ve been no bother. Actually you look a little flustered and confused. Would you like to sit down in the record’s cafe area? I was headed there for a cup of Java myself and a little food.”

Option 1: The ticking of the clock upon the upper left wall could be heard against a backdrop of sheer quiet, a stillness not calming but instead anxiety inducing as Oliver promptly settled into the armchair behind him, whilst Miss Annie Green, his therapist, a red headed woman in her late thirties, dressed in a white buttoned blouse, a grey tweed pencil skirt, and black mary jane flats, took the other chair across from his own, a notebook in her hand with a distinctive banana yellow pen. “So tell me, Oliver, Where do we begin?” Miss Green asked, calmly, her gaze was steady and yet, Oliver couldn’t meet hers. “I don’t really know.” Oliver deflected. “Don’t you? After all, You’re the one here for a session with me; following, as you told me whence you entered, a psychological evaluation? What did that entail and how did it make you feel?” Oliver folded his hands together, “I suppose… it made me feel prodded and poked… like a caged animal at the zoo.” “Caged? in what regard are you caged, Mr Queen?” Oliver bit his lip hard enough to cause a tiny cut, “I feel as if they want to lock me away… because mentally… I’m frail… or so they tell me. I’m overwhelmed by chaos… I have… PTSD, and sometimes I’m caught up in waves of memories I don’t fully grasp. If they say I can’t participate in society as a productive member… I’m no better than a wild animal caught in the throes of a poachers trap.” Annie scribbled upon her notepad as Oliver spoke, and he grunted a little at the noise of the scratching pen to paper. “Are you bothered, Mr Queen?” Annie asked, clicking her pen and returning her gaze upon him. “By?” Oliver questioned in return. “You seem rather distracted. Why won’t you look at me?” Oliver twiddled with his fingers and intertwined them together before laying his chin upon his palms; “It makes me uncomfortable… to look at someone. I don’t know why… but it's been that way all my life. …I… I was different… as a child.” “In what manner? Can you explain?” “I had a stutter… wasn’t so good at talking to people or making friends…” Oliver replied quietly.

option 2: “There’s a feeling… here,” he points to his chest, “and here,” he gestures to his left side, his left ribcage, “And… When I think about… about wanting a future… there is pain elsewhere that tells me the choice for a future… as I would have wanted, silly… I know… it seems… but before everything, I was… looking back at an old journal and, I was thinking about… about down the road I wanted kids. I was only eighteen… youthful aspirations, you know?” “You’re still young, Mr Queen, for someone of your age, that future is entirely possible.” Annie replies cordially. Oliver disagreed, “I don’t feel young. I feel older… than I even look. I feel like some old soul in the wrong body… and those aspirations… they were another person’s in some time that I have memories of but that feel… like they happened to someone else. Honestly, Miss Green, my gut tells me… whatever happened to me… what was done… has taken any future I may have dreamed of… from me.” Annie knows of what he speaks, she too has faced her own fair share of lost choices beyond her current circumstances, “In the aftermath of our pain, of choices stripped from us, what we lose most of all is the ability to trust another person. In trauma, very much the kind you speak on, even physical Touch is difficult for some, but trust… most of all, in the aftermath of advantage, is gone. Someone hurt you, Oliver, in a manner you never should have been. And that pain is locked away in a dark corner of your mind, even if you know what occurred, it is inaccessible. That locked door, that is your mind’s protective mechanism against the trauma done to you.” Oliver covered his mouth, he was trying not to sob as the tears threatened to fall, they lay on the edges of his eyes, he felt sick and nauseated, he had his suspicions, he just didn’t think it would be true. It couldn’t be.

Byron waves his finger in the air, “Ahem. While I’m Loving the whole “let’s talk feelings” discussion that we’re on about, I need not remind you three of the time? Burger time of course! We can talk meanings and emotional dissonance much better over mint shakes and big belly burgers with lots and lots of honey mustard sauce!”

Lord Byron: Byron, the band’s drummer jumps off his kit and pumps up a fist in the air, “Hell yeah burgers are on me by the way! I’m buying! There’s a big belly burger around the corner, let’s eat there!”

Pamola chimes in next, one of my backup vocalists, “Byron’s buyin’ and I’m starving! I say Hella to the yes; let’s hit Starling’s greatest burger chain! I’m game, As long as you throw in a mint shake and chips, I’ll pitch in for the whole meal deal. Oh, and another thing, D, my darling, It wasn’t shit, you know.” “Hmm?” “Ah, the song, babes? You’ve grown in your lyrical style since we started five years ago.” “Pam, I admit you're a doll, but we all know it was shit. Still, we all might think a little more clearly with some fries and a burger shoved into our pie holes. Anyone for a little tea? I think I hit the nail too hard on that last note…”

Ditto: Um…. I thought you were amazing, dinah. You always know just what to say and I felt the whole of the song’s meaning in my bones.”

“Oliver Queen, *pause* You cannot escape destiny. You cannot escape the truth… the truth of your purpose!" *dark and intimidating laughter* That’s it boy! you are destined for so much more, Oliver Jones Queen. Have you seen it? All that the talisman granted to me, the visions of glory? Oh by the gods it has shown such strength; such fortitude! You were meant to stumble upon this island, it remains a place to fulfill your potential! But the first act of embracing destiny is pain. You must learn to accept it. Succumb to the numbness of nothingness and let it fuel you towards the destruction of fate’s hand!”

Robert scrambled to his feet and pulled Oliver into his arms, holding his nineteen year old child close to his chest as he wept heavily, “It’s my fault… I shouldn’t have let you carry the weight of my sins… I should’ve been a better man….” His vision blurred by tears, the sky clouded over grey with the onset of another severe storm, and as Robert cradled Oliver only momentarily when something quite perplexing and strange happened to catch his gaze, a cave lay beyond where he and Oliver had fallen. Drawn to the scene; he adjusted the backpack over his shoulder and approached it, perhaps there would at least be shelter in here. “What the hell is this place?” Robert breathed, finding more than just an empty wet cave, but instead seeing a slim and barely clothed individual except in a rather revealing garb akin to that of the romani peoples in the old world, they were a stranger covered in a series of odd golden and dark red symbols; ancient looking tattoos over their arms and legs, seated as a guardian against the backdrop of what appeared to be two pools glowing with an ethereal and strangely unnerving teal colored glow. “I come in peace, do not harm me! Please! Please, you must help me! My son and I were attacked and he is gravely wounded! He’s dying!” Robert called out. The stranger opened their eyes, for they had a strange glow to them, white, as if they were blind, “He has not let go. His breath holds on but barely.” “Who are you? Foe or friend?” Robert asked. The stranger approached and touched Robert’s forehead with their index and pointer fingers, “This is not the end for you. Nor he. Not yet.” “Do you own this island? What are you? And where are we?” Robert asked, he was running out of patience. “Infernum est nobis. You are in Hell, Robert Queen, and if we do not act, your son’s destiny shall never come to pass. But know this, your role in his ascension… in his fate, will be your undoing.” “This is insane. You must be a figment of my dehydration… a rush of adrenaline! You cannot be real… what do you mean my son has a destiny? Can’t you see he’s dying?” Robert demanded, he was beginning to think he too had been hit harder than he thought by Shado’s men. “You cannot escape destiny the same as he. But you must do as I say if we are to save your boy from certain death.” the mysterious stranger warned. Robert looked at Oliver, he was still breathing but just barely, and with every ounce of courage he could muster, he braced himself for the inevitable, “What must I do? Tell me quickly.” “A sacrifice, but first, Give me the boy, I must prepare him swiftly for the pools.” “What are they?” Robert asked, handing Oliver over to the stranger, he felt insane for doing so but what else could he do but trust that this was the miracle he’d asked for? “They are older than you, I, or time itself. And they will save your boy… but be wary, there is a price to pay for such a miracle. Your son, as you know him, may not emerge from this pool the same as he once was. His mind shall be blank for the time spent in this place, he will not suffer any loss of the years before, but of this event he will never remember, not fully, his course of life changed forever. And you must give up one thing in exchange for his gift of a second chance.” “I’ll do anything! I’ll pay any price! Just save my boy… my Oliver… he’s innocent. And I am guilty of what has happened to him.” The stranger pulled from their neck an arrowhead and held it out to Robert, “Heed me, Robert Queen. To save the boy, You will never again be the same once you take this totem. It will drive you mad with its need for power… you’ll lose your sense of sanity, you shall be its victim, and the victim of the master whom commands you under this insatiable hunger for power, but if you do… if you take this, your boy shall live. …The pool's healing powers demand a sacrifice, they demand that life must be paid with a greater loss, but there can be one who gives up theirs instead of the one the pool repairs. If you take this exchange, the water shall not reap your boy’s soul as payment. Instead… it will destroy yours in the process.”

They think it’s just a ring.They look at this glowing piece of alien metal on my finger and they think it’s a magic wand. They think it does all the work. But the ring is just a tool. It doesn’t have a mind, and it definitely doesn't have a spine. Without the person wearing it, it’s just an expensive paperweight.

Option 2: Hal gently grasped his friend’s shoulders again and looked him straight in the eyes, though Oliver’s gaze faltered slightly, he would look at anything but Hal. “Listen to me, Ol, everything you’ve been through… I can’t tell you why the cards were in your favor or why you’re here… just that you are and it’s a good thing. On the other hand, I also can’t tell you why your dad didn’t make it… why you alone remain living…because life is a mystery we can’t always know the answer to.” He sighed softly, “To be fair and truthful to you… I tell you that I always liked Robert, though I think he found me a bad influence on you. Still… to the subject of living again… it’s no easy feat. After my own dad died… he… he was killed in that crash… in the sky… they were doing a demonstration and his plane just… gone… like that. After I lost him when I was young… you’d think being a military brat and watching your dad’s death in real time… I wouldn’t want to follow in his footsteps.” “But you are.” Oliver swallowed. “I am. And I understand what it’s like to think… why am I here without them? Why didn’t they get to live? Dad died when I was eight… it haunted my every dream, Ol, I used to wake up screaming, wondering what his last thought was. Was he scared? Did he think about me… about my mom…? She’s… gone too, you remember that…?

CONTEXT: Hal has been in a bad fighter jet crash and was badly injured. He is lying in the hospital when Oliver comes to visit him. Please read Hal's lines only. Hal’s eyes swiftly watered with tears, “Ol… can I… I tell you something?” “Anything, bud.” Oliver replied. “I thought about my dad…., he sniffled, I thought… right. This is it…and i… I thought about how my mom was right… and i… I could’ve died up there. But you know what’s so… so… weird…?” “It’s ok, Hal. You don’t have to be ashamed. What was weird?” Oliver asked gently. Hal sniffled, “I… I wasn’t afraid. I don’t know… adrenaline must’ve… must’ve kicked in… but I wasn’t afraid. Up there, falling down as I crashed… I wasn’t scared. Even as I thought about you… and Jess… and my… my brothers and my nieces… I have nieces and nephews did I tell you? I… I… thought of everything I ever loved… and I wasn’t afraid.”

“Hello? Thea?” A young male’s voice cried out from the porch. Oliver slapped his knees and smiled, “Right! That’s my cue to get out of your hair.” Thea took his arm in her hands, “Oh! Wait! Come meet him, won’t you please?” Oliver nodded, “Sure. Of course Speedy, I’ll meet your friend.” “Hellooo! I’m coming!” Thea smiled, dragging Oliver along to the front door and opening it to greet Roy. “Hey, Thea. I brought the algebra textbooks Mrs. Cain wanted us to study.” Roy spoke up shyly. “Oh. Who’s this?” “Hi, I’m Oliver Queen, Thea’s older brother. Pleasure to meet you.” Oliver smiled, shaking the boy’s hand firmly. “Mr Queen? I’m glad to meet you. Thea mentioned you… mentions you a lot.” Roy stuttered. “Call me Oliver, please. Mr. Queen was my father… and I’m rather to be certain… far from being him. Come in, make yourself comfortable. I’m headed upstairs, Thea, but please do get me if you need me. Raisa can provide snacks! Um… and that’s my cue to go.” “Nice meeting you… Oliver.” Roy replied.

Barry Allan: “Ol! C’mere and meet Barry! He’s my friend from Central city. Ah wait… what’s this?” Barry smiled, “Tulips for Jess of course. They’re her favorite flowers.” “What is it with you dolts bringing flowers for my girl?” Hal teased, giving Barry a quick noogie. “It’s a gentlemanly gesture to compliment the female host, Hal. Besides, I’m dating someone too. Her name’s Iris, and she helped me pick these out.”

Option 1: “YOU BASTARD! I won’t indulge this madness! No! You lied to mum…. You told her this was a business trip…. A fishing trip… but you were running away… just like you always run away! You’re running From Thea… from me… and Emiko… you left us! No… I’m no killer and if that makes me a coward so be it; but an even bigger coward is you, father. you’re the coward here between the two of us! And If I am one too it is because you’re the person taught me how to be frightened all my life!” Oliver cried, taking the gun and tossing it away, he ran in the opposite direction of his father’s location and prayed he’d find somewhere isolated to hide from the firefight that was brewing above deck. “OLIVER!” Robert shouted. “OLIVER GET BACK HERE!”

Option 2: “You’re one hell of an idiot, son!” Oliver didn’t flinch, except to get away from his father, “Fuck you. We’re in this mess because of you!” “Yes, we are, and you’ll pay for my sins… that I know. But not without a fight.” Robert replied, wading through the deep recesses of the water in front of him with his son beside him. Oliver shook his head, “A fight? No, we need to get to the upper deck if we can and get the hell out. The life boats, we have to get to the life boats, I have a flare in my pack and if there’s any land nearby we can get to safety to call for help.” “A coward who wants to survive?” Robert scoffed. “I was a fucking boy scout, dad, I might not know much about killing to survive, and i won’t do it either, but if we get to the rafts we’ll be fine, i have rations for two in my pack and enough for us to make it to wherever the next driest spit of land is.” “Provided I take out the korean mafia, you mean?” Robert spat. “Shove it up your ass, father, you can grill me for my pacifism once we’re off this hellhole.” Oliver fired back. “Watch your mouth and don’t get smart with me, son, I will do a hell of a lot more than just grill your hide when we get off this disaster.” “Is that a threat? God… do you hear yourself?! You deserve so much worse than what I'm saying right now. Truly you do, but until such a time, dad, I swear on Billy joel’s piano man, you and I need to get it together.” Oliver argued, continuing his trek towards the nearest exit that hopefully wasn’t blocked. Robert gave his son a questioning glare, “You could've sworn on anyone and you choose Billy Joel!?" “Not the time, dad, not the fucking time! AH! SHIT! We’ve got three assholes in the hall!” Oliver cried out.

Option 3: At last… I can breathe… my own personal Crisis averted, I turn my gaze towards the stained glass windows of the old Starling city church and watch as the colors dance about, the sun shines through it refracting the beauty as one does to a kaleidoscope. Shining like a star I see… Hello, by way of its befitting name, my Starling city, I’ve only been home a week and yet you managed to make me feel panic and pain… I’m out of place in your glittering gritty upper world and don’t wish to explore the underbelly of bullshit. Your proverbial heart beats with the corruption that flows through the center of the darkest street corners where not even angels wish to tread, and I’m not about to play Robin Hood to your own self centered narcissistic cult of money grubbing bastards who prey on the innocent and steal the hearts of those less fortunate than you. To be as liberal as they come, I went to university for more than that. …Not that I lasted long at said university.