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Someone Else, Something Else [RoleplayMaster and Sigr]

Sigr

Sigr

Magenta Goon
Joined
Dec 9, 2016
Location
Spain
Rain poured all over Starling City, and in that gray morning, it seemed that it did more for spreading the grime than cleaning the dirt that plagued that city. Robert Queen had tried to clean it, ending up dead on the sea. A small crowd was gathered as the bagpipes roared over the storm, as five years later, Moira Queen had joined her late husband in death.

Her son, the allegedly dead Oliver Queen had made his return from the grave a few weeks ago, surprising everyone and sending the media into a craze. The young playboy, was thought dead when the ship had taken them both under the dark waters. How did he survive and why didn't he return before were the questions that had the journalists crazy, but now her mother's death at the hands of the mysterious hooded figure was what crowded the covers of every newspaper.

Thea Queen cried on Tommy Merlin's arms, sharing her pain with the one close to her while her brother was gone. Laurel Lance was next to Tommy, friends from childhood, embraced by her father Quentin. The police captain didn't take his eyes away from Oliver, blaming him for her daughter's death, as Sara Lance went with him on that dreaded ship.

And there, Oliver was back home, estranged from family and friends with just a bodyguard by his side. He had been followed by the professional looking John Diggle since his mother died, a decision of the Queen industries board, that was making Oliver's life even harder. Everyone blamed the Arrow, as the press had called the mysterious vigilante responsible for several murders of some wealthy industrialists the past days, for Moira's death, but Oliver well knew that it hasn't been the same person, sine he was the Arrow.

The funeral went by, and it ended as the rain gave pause, skies clearing a bit, giving the chance for the light to shine. Most of the crowd had wandered away, but the closest friends and family stayed, unsure on how to approach a man that had seemingly come back from the grave.
 
Oliver stared at the gravestone of his mother, his face stone yet still hinting at sadness. For five years, he had been stranded on Lian Yu, an island no one seemed to know about, except the worst kinds of people. In his five years of absence, he had met many sorts of people, from the Russian Bratva to members of a secret government agency known as A.R.G.U.S.. And he had even been offered a way home early, to finally see his family that he had missed so much. But having been given a mission from his late father, Oliver decided to return to the island first, to finish his training on becoming a merciless killing machine.

Oh, how he wished he had taken the offer to return home, finding his mother dead mere weeks after coming back. It was horrible, even moreso by the fact that he was being blamed for it. Well... not Oliver Queen. But his alter-ego, known only as the 'hood'. This masked vigilante was killing prominent members of Starling City, people who seemed innocent but had very shady business dealings. This was the mission his father had given him, though Oliver had taken some liberties with the method, such as dressing up like Robin Hood. But having been using arrows as his primary weapon, and being the only person around who does such a thing, the Hood was quickly being blamed for this newest murder. The one of his own mother.

What hurt almost as much as Moira's death, was the large gap his past friends had given him since his return. Sure, the Lances were understandable. Especially thanks to the boat trip that had left him stranded, was also responsible for their sister's/daughter's death. It was a stupid mistake made by his past self. The young boy with the 'Playboy' Persona. But now he had changed, with no one believing it.

But even if the Lances avoided him, even Thea, his own sister, seemed to be giving him a large space, and in his mind he concluded she either thought he needed the space, or she wanted to be nowhere near him. At least Tommy had been okay with him, creating a party in his honour a few days after his return. That was nice...

After what felt like hours, Oliver's eyes finally left the gravestone set in the ground, trying to ignore the details of the piece. Silently, the troubled man began to walk to his car, wanting to sort out his issues alone. Sure, his bodyguard would likely follow, but he'd be able to lose him soon enough.
 
Quentin took Laurel home, disdain in her eyes as Oliver just walked away without a single word. It seemed that nothing was going to break the silence, as he could hear his sister's trembling voice behind him.

"So that's it? You just go? Are you going to disappear again?" Thea yelled. Oliver had left an awkward thirteen year old girl there when he left with his father, but now Thea was a young woman finishing high school, providing she could manage to stay out of trouble. It was as he couldn't almost recognize her, the black dress making her look even older, but seeing her vulnerable in her pain and sorrow made him see a hint of the girl she was.

"I'm sure he's sad too. And he's not going anywhere" Tommy got closer to her, seemingly being the brother Oliver hadn't been. His words almost seemed to ask something of him, a promise of his best friend that he wouldn't be a stranger. John stood behind Oliver, all his best efforts to be practically invisible.

Thea pushed Tommy away. "So you are on his side now? Throwing him a party and all that..." she seemed unsteady in the muddy ground. Was she drunk? "Fuck it, I'm going to throw my own pity party" she finished, ready to head back to the family mansion, looming in the distance.
 
Oliver stood still, facing his car as he heard the yell of his sister. She had given him space all this time, and now she wanted to speak to him? Her voice sounded as if she blamed him for what had happened. He blamed himself too, even though it was no one's fault about the ship crashing, and the deaths of his father and his girlfriend's sister... well, the sister's death was definitely his fault, as he should not have brought her with him.

Hearing the issues Thea was having, Oliver knew he had to speak to her. Off she went towards the mansion, and slowly, Oliver followed, bracing himself for the eventual slap, or punch, or kick, or whatever his sister would send his way. Sure, he had faced death many times in the face by now, but facing an angry sister would always be worse. Standing behind her as the girl fumbled for her keys, the brother made his presence known. "I'm sorry." Was his simple comment.
 
Tommy sighed, leaving the siblings time to be on their own. Maybe that way they could manage to be something similar to a family once more. Irked about his father's absence on the funeral, she grabbed his car and went away.

John Diggle kept being Oliver's shadow, but he kept a respectful distance, leaving space. He never suspected that he would end being the bodyguard of a dead man, but the work paid well and it wasn't hard to do. Well, or at least it wouldn't be if Oliver Queen wasn't so deft at leaving him behind, a surprising skill for the playboy to have, since John had plenty of experience dealing with worse.

In the meantime, Thea had managed to get her keys out of the purse, a little tremble on her hands preventing her from opening. Her brother's voice behind her startled Thea, making her drop the keys. "Holy fuck Oliver!" she turned too fast, and had to lean back against the door to not fall. She definitely looked a bit drunk, or at least under the influence of some substance. "When did you get so stel- stle- stealthy?" she mumbled, crouching for the keys and briefly leaning on Oliver under threat of falling forward.

"Sorry for what exactly?" she asked, turning her back to him, trying with the keys without success a second time. "Making us think you were dead for five years? Cheating on Laurel taking Sara to that dreaded trip? Not being with mom when she was killed at the party?" Thea piled her resentment on him. Moira was killed on a fundraising party for The Glades, a party the recently resurrected Oliver Queen was supposed to be in and yet didn't appear due to some kind of weak excuse. "Why does this has so many keys!" she shouted frustrated, banging at the door with a fistful of keys, unable to open it in her state.
 
Holding onto Thea, pulling her into a hug, he knew she needed comfort, as he did too. "For all of those things. I wish I was back sooner, to tell you and mum that I was okay. Well... not okay, but alive. I wish I made smarter decisions five years ago, and now I'll have to think about what I did to Sara and her family for the rest of my life..." He sighed. The reminder of the party stung a bit. He had been taking down one old business partner of his fathers, using his alter ego, when his mother was being shot down. While he had thought it was worth it, due to the child pornography the man filmed and gave out, he realised his mistake upon his return. "And I hate that I was not there for our mother in... in her final minutes. "I am sorry for all of those things. After being away for five years, I still abandoned this family when I returned... but that was wrong of me. I'm going to be here more now, for you. And Tommy. And Queen Consolidated." Sighing again, he reminded himself of the family's business. His father had wanted him to work there a few years back, but he had turned him down. Now as the eldest member of the Queens, he would have to take control, or else risk it being seized by the board members.

Reaching down, Oliver gently pulled the keys from her grasp, finding the correct key after a moment and opening the doors. "Lets get you to bed." he said quietly, leading her inside to her room.
 
Thea loudly cried and screamed in his arms while Oliver talked, fighting the hug at first, surrendering after a while. He did many things wrong, but it was also true that Thea was using him to vent all her problems, her frustrations. John was gentle enough to disappear from sight, giving them the moment, but he was still around, making sure that the eldest Queen alive wasn't the target of the hood.

A bit after Oliver finished talking and took her keys, Thea was still sobbing quietly. "Yeah... bed..." she seemed to accept, meek. The entrance of the Queen mansion was luxurious, but for the siblings it was just home, even if Oliver had missed it for five years. Thea started to go upstairs, all with help from her brother, since there was no way she could climb that without tripping down.

Once upstairs, Thea kicked off her own shoes along the hallway, before getting into her room, in the same place as always, but looking nothing alike. Oliver remembered it full of stuffed animals and pink things, while now was a mess of clothes everywhere and music posters. While Oliver was picking up stuff, Thea had managed to get herself out of the black dress, revealing a grown but lean body covered in lacy black underwear.

"I'm so tired of fighting... of crying..." she mumbled, swaying around unstable. "I missed you so much" Thea said, about to fall if Oliver didn't catch her. Even then, Thea managed to drag him with her, ending up both in the bed with Oliver on top. "So much... so much..." she repeated, clumsily caressing his face, slowly closing her eyes before falling asleep.
 
Holding Thea tightly to his side, he ensured his drunk sister wouldn't fall. Sure, he wanted to tell her off for drinking so much, but she was eighteen now. She was free to drink if she desired. And it wasn't as if his advice meant much to her nowadays.

It was not long until Oliver had brought Thea to her room, and the changes in his family home never ceased to surprise him. Gone were all the cutesy toys and games, the general stuff a young girl like Thea would play with. Instead, it seemed like the room of an angsty teen. Was this Thea rebelling against her family? Was his disappearance a part of this? Sighing, Oliver began cleaning up, throwing worn clothes in the virtually unused laundry hamper.

As Thea began talking, Oliver turned to face her, not expecting the underwear. Feeling himself grow hard, he wished that he had been with a woman in the last five years. Someone, anyone, so he could have not had these thoughts about his own sister. Rushing forward to catch her, Oliver soon found himself on top of Thea, boner pressed against her pussy as she caressed his face. "I missed you so much too, Speedy." He said quietly, standing up and picking up his sister, getting her sleeping body into bed and ensuring she'd be comfortable.

--

Walking out of the room, Oliver needed to vent. Giving Diggle the slip once again, he soon donned his hood, bringing terror to the wealthy business men that preferred the shadows. The men that seemed charitable, yet were dark inside. He was cleaning up the streets, yet no one understood.
 
With disturbing thoughts about his sister and Diggle off his scent, Oliver was free to pursue anyone he wanted, but what did he want to do?

He could look at the murder of his mother, trying to get a look at the murder weapon, but the arrows used were in police custody. That would meant stealing them or using his ties to the Lance family, both things that could go horribly wrong.

If he was supposed to clean the city according to his father wishes, he could also get a look over a new drug that was hitting the streets hard, or check out why some low ranked mafia goons were being taken out one by one.

But maybe all of that were just distractions, as he had a list already panned out for him, a list with Walter Steele's name of it, the visible man of the board that was guiding Queen industries, the man that hired John Diggle to follow him.

Or maybe he had something else in his mind. As the sun was setting, the night was still young.
 
Entering the makeshift hideout Oliver had made, the man dressed up, looking over the list his father had given him. One name stood out to him, a name that had been associated with an up and coming drug, which hit lots of young people hard. When not bringing death, these drugs result in scenarios equally as bad. Grabbing his bow and donning the hood, the mysterious archer of Starling City was out once again.
 
Oliver didn't have trouble managing and dispatching a bunch of street dealers, none of them knew anything substantial, and the few that were peddling the new drug, Vertigo, all got their supply from a middleman who knew a middleman... He managed to hurt the distribution line, but if it was profitable the one at the head was going to adapt and change, and all he had was a few doses of the drug and a nickname: The Count.

The city he knew was bad enough, but this one had turned into an even more twisted version of it, the evils his father knew that existed were being bolder than ever. If he was to keep chasing the drug he would need an expert to check the samples or setting some kind of trap for him, but it was the time to call it a night, as it was getting late and even him needed to sleep, needed to return home.

The next morning a properly dressed Thea met him in the mansion entrance, both of them going to open the door since someone was banging at it, Thea seemingly nursing one hell of a hangover for the looks of her face. Captain Quentin Lance barged through the door without ceremony. "I'm sorry" she directed at Thea, "but I've to question your brother about his whereabouts the night that it happened" added, turned towards Oliver. "To discard him from the list, at least for this one murder" he added, with clear resentment towards him.
 
Oliver groaned as he awoke the next morning, head banging from a particularly nasty hit to the back of his skull. Thankfully Oliver had moved in a way that did not create a lethal blow, but it still hurt. His hair hid the mark, but even the sunlight made his head hurt. Apparently, his head was not the only thing banging though, the downstairs door making a huge racket.

Pulling on some pants and a light shirt to hide the many scars and tattoos he had gathered from his home away from home, Oliver jogged down the stairs to find his sister at the door already. Thanks to the pain in his head, it replicated the pain and appearance of pain that you get from a hangover. As the door opened, he was greeted with the pleasant face of Quentin Lance.

"At least for this one murder?" Oliver repeated incrediously. "So not only do you think I've committed several murders apparently, but you think I killed my mother. How dare you come into our family home and accuse me of this." he said loudly, before both he and Thea winced from the noise. He mostly said this as a stalling tactic, to come up with a response.

Remembering the events of the previous night, and the small stash of Vertigo he held onto, Oliver decided to bite the bullet, and use that as an (admittedly terrible) excuse. "I... I didn't go because I was getting Vertigo. After what happened to me on that island, I needed something to dull my senses as every movement leads to pain. Alcohol worked for like a day, but then it wasn't strong enough... I never used it though, it's still in one of my drawers upstairs." Oliver clutched his head, another ripple of pain coursing through it. "I wanted to use it again last night, but I couldn't, so I just got drunk and hoped for the best."
 
"I can't get you for my sweet little Sara, but that doesn't mean I'm not going after you. Experts may have said it was an accident when they recovered the ship, but I smell negligence" Quentin said while Oliver stalled.

"Mister Lance, you are like family to me, but this-" Thea wanted to calm him down, and even if she thought of giving her brother an alibi, she couldn't, since she was at the party when Moira died. She was there watching it all.

Oliver admitting he was getting drugs the night his mother died left Thea baffled, speechless, she couldn't even shed a tear. Quentin on his part, almost smiled at the notion. "Once a player, always a player I guess" he said, spitting every word. "You are coming with me to the precinct" he grabbed him, putting some handcuffs and getting him in the car, leaving a frozen Thea on the door.

About an hour later, a familiar face stepped by the cell Oliver was in, a Lance, but not Quentin. "So it's back to drugs now" Laurel Lance said without bothering to hide the disappointment on her voice. "And you admit it in front of a cop. One that has a crusade against you" she added. Laurel was no longer the nervous college student she was five years ago, now she was a confident lawyer, looking like a decade had passed instead of the half of it. "So either you are stupid or you hide something even worse" she said. "Well, maybe you want to get punished, you have plenty of reasons to feel guilty" she considered, but there was no edge in her tone, no resentment.

"Anyways, I'm sick and tired of it. My father was doing fine, all things considered, until you got back and he started to revive it all" Laurel said. "So I'm going to defend you, maybe that way will stop chasing down this path, and finally move on" she added. "I don't why you lied, but the arrest was mostly irregular, the search of the home was done without your presence and they found nothing" Laurel enumerated. "So you are free to go as long as you don't do anything stupid. More stupid. Your bodyguard is at the entrance, waiting for you" she said.
 
Sighing as Oliver stared at the wall, he was far from bored. That's what happened when living on an island in solitude for five years. What surprised him, was how he was greeted by the younger Lance, his former girlfriend. "Whether what I said was wrong or not, I can't believe I was accused for the death of my mother." Oliver said, still clearly upset at that. "And I don't know what your father said, but I bought drugs. Never actually used them though." He cleared up, somewhat unsure why he was trying to prove himself to Laurel. That ship had clearly sailed, there was no hope for the two of them any more.

Reading the tone of voice, it was a surprise to find no resentment or hate. "Laurel... While I had no part in what happened to that ship, I promise you that I will feel guilty every single day of my life for what happened." Standing up, Oliver left the cell when she told him that he was free to go. "Thank you Laurel. My hope is that eventually, the three of us, Tommy included, can be as close as we used to be. Back before that incident..." Oliver suggested. Not waiting to hear a scoff or the eye roll of his former lover, Oliver left the precinct, signalling to Diggle that he was going. It was still daylight outside, so he didn't need to run from the bodyguard yet. He couldn't do his Arrow business for quite a few more hours.
 
Oliver was so upset by the accusation, so surprised by Laurel's defense, that a detail slipped past him. Something irked Oliver, something Laurel had said, but he was so lost trying to grasp the old times, trying to bring them back, that he had trouble putting his finger on it. Greeting Diggle, who was looking at him with suspicion since last night had slipped his guard again, Oliver knew that Laurel had said something that he had to think about.

"Mister Steele wants to see you" Diggle said when he got close, interrupting his train of thought. Did Oliver manage to remember what seemed off in Laurel's words? Or was the headache still disturbing him?
 
Rubbing the back of his head as he approached Diggle, he felt like the day couldn't get any worse. "Fuck me." He mumbled. "Where and when?" He replied, knowing Diggle wasn't his personal secretary. But Diggle was the one telling him of this meeting, so Oliver expected he would know. He only was half paying attention to Diggle, thinking back on his interaction with Laurel. Something was off with her. What was it that sounded wrong? Groaning as he gripped his head, the pain was getting worse. He needed some pain pills of some sort, now that they were available to him. Sure, on the island there was no such thing as pain pills, but there were still other options available to him.
 
"Now" Diggle answered, clearly unhappy with the task at hand. Was he angry because Oliver kept dodging him or was it something else? "Queen Consolidated" he added the where afterwards, opening the car door and waiting. "He seems to be tired of you dodging him" he added, since Walter Steele had tried to reach him since he got back, and they hadn't meet yet. "I can relate" Diggle added. "Are you going to get in the car or do I have to tell him to forget about you and try reaching your sister?" he added, seeing Oliver hesitate.

His sister... what the hell was that about his sister? What did Thea had to do with it? Wait. Laurel said that her father didn't find anything, but the drugs were there, he even knew where to find them. So did Thea.

"So, what's going to be?" Diggle asked, impatient.
 
Pausing as he remembered Laurel's words, Oliver knew that either he, or his family, would likely be in trouble. It was strange that somehow the drugs were never found, despite him even saying the approximate location of where they were. Coming back into the real world, Diggle seemed annoyed at his lack of response. "Let's go see Steele." Oliver said, getting into the back of the car and waiting to be driven to his new location.
 
"I still don't know how you do it, but I'm getting tired of your disappearing acts" is the only thing Diggle says during the short car trip into Queen Consolidated. Bypassing a cute bespectacled woman, they got into a huge office, Walter Steele waiting there. "I didn't want to bring you like this, and even less after what happened to your family. I'm very sorry for your loss" he said, gesturing to a chair for him to seat. Walter was sitting on his desk, clad in a expensive looking suit. "But it's my sad obligation to keep Queen Consolidated afloat, a burden that it's supposedly yours to take" he added.

"Having a Queen at the helm does wonders for the stock price, the publicity, the fundraisers..." Walter explained briefly. "Then again, your sister is eighteen now, and she suits our purpose just fine" he added. He wanted Thea to take the reigns? Did he want the best to the company or just to manipulate it? Oliver's head was killing him and mentioning Thea didn't do it any favors.
 
Sitting across from Walter, Oliver was silent, even after he gave his condolences for his family. It was merely a necessity, he doubted Walter meant it. And he still did not trust the dark skinned man, having no information about him. After listening about the suggestion of Thea taking the reigns of the family business, Oliver merely raised an eyebrow.

"Mr. Steele..." Oliver began, refusing to call him by his first name, as that would convey familiarity and friendship. No, this was business. "I have only been back a short while. Upon my return, the only sides of my sister that I have seen are angry, depressed, drunk, and hungover. I am sure that you have had more experience with my family lately than I have, so surely you would know the state she's in? Is Thea taking control of the company something in the company's best interests, or yours?" Oliver asked, staring into his eyes with his piercing gaze. Five years on the island, Oliver was faced with a lot of horrors. So him staring at you was somewhat reminiscent of a escaped 1prison convict staring into your soul.
 
Walter Steel flinched slightly, either accustomed to the pressure or having information Oliver didn't. There had to be a good reason for him to be on his father's list, right? "My interests and the company's are the same. Your sister may be... suffering" he said, an euphemism like any other that didn't even begin to cover Thea's troubles. "But she knows to behave, at least for a while. That way I can parade her in front of the press, show how she's making the effort to keep the Queen legacy alive, and see the stocks rise" Walter smiled. "She has that fragile beauty, almost tragic, people will devour whatever story I spin to them" he briefly paused. "But I prefer the story of the prodigal son, the boy made man, returning to take care of his own" he added, his eyes looking at Oliver's.

"Now, what story do you want me to tell?" he asked. In the meantime Diggle was out of the office, seemingly chatting with the woman outside.
 
Staring at him, hard, Oliver processed the information. "So you don't care about my family at all? Solely looking for stocks to rise. I had heard you were close to the Queens, so hearing you say how you'd be happy to 'parade' Thea around the press, a girl that is clearly struggling, just shows me how much you care." He said, sounding fairly disgusted.

"I fully intend to take control of my father's company. You better work well to prove that you should be a part of the business too, looking for the business' growth without it costing my family." Oliver said, standing up and pushing his chair in. "Now.. is there anything else, or are we done here?" He asked.
 
"I told you I'm a company man, Oliver, if you manage to get Queen Consolidated to new heights is fine by me... and the board" Walter said. "It's nothing personal. And no, there is nothing else" he said, watching him leave. Just outside John was still chatting with the woman, Ms. Smoak said the nameplate on the table, but both stopped as he got out.

"Where now?" John asked, looking at Oliver, wondering how things went with his boss.
 
Leaving the office, Oliver found Diggle speaking to a very beautiful young blonde. Despite his old playboy ways, the man found himself somewhat speechless, wanting to figure a line to say to her, but nothing came to mind. As Diggle had been facing away from him, he would not have noticed the slight pause in his motions, but Felicity may have if she had been looking close enough, and managed to recognise the signs. Settling for a small smile and a nod, his eyes soon went to Diggle. "I'll head back home, see how Thea is doing and let her know that I'm fine from that whole incident with Lance." Oliver said.
 
The blonde woman outside Steele's office fidgeted when Oliver's step came to a brief halt before her, a split second for some, but he seemed to move in slow motion to her. She giggled nervously at his nod, but soon the spell was broken by Diggle's question.

Diggle kept his mouth shut most of the trip, something seemed to irk him beyond the usual, but soon they reached the Queen manor, seeing a few things scattered on the ground as they entered, a vase smashed against a wall. "What the-" Diggle said, pulling a pistol out of his jacket. "Stay here Mr. Queen, I'll go check things out" he said, acting professional.
 
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