Second Chances: Arrow - Rough Draft

Chapter 17

This chapter will pick up where chapter 16 of Artemis left off.

"How many more traps are left?" Thea asked as she, Oliver and Constantine disarmed yet another one of the defenses Malcolm had put in Tommy's mind, this one being about a dozen Thanatos Guild warriors. They were defeated within 2 minutes.

"Hard to say. But considering the fact that more traps are being triggered, it means we're on the right track." Constantine said.

"Still, this is getting annoying and we all have other places to be." Oliver said, since he was getting tired of these traps getting in the way of him saving his best friend.

"So, on a different topic, how's Jasmine doing?" Thea asked her brother as they walked through Tommy's subconscious.

"Are you really asking me about that now?" Oliver asked her.

"Need to pass the time somehow until the next trap." Thea said and Oliver rolled his eyes.

"She's good. Misses her Aunt Thea though. You could visit more often." Oliver said.

"I'll try, but honestly, I've been more focused on keeping the League from your doorstep. Not that it matters much now." Thea said.

"True. But do me a favor and don't tell her about you being a god. Otherwise she'll want one and I'm not sure how I feel about you having the power of a deity, I do not want my four year old daughter to have that. Speaking of, you are coming to Jasmine's fifth birthday party. Non negotiable." Oliver said and Thea smiled.

"Wouldn't miss it. Especially since I have years of presents to make up for." Thea said.

"Yes well, while this is all very interesting, perhaps we should stay focused. Do either of you have any ideas on where Mr. Merlyn might be locked away?" Constantine asked.

"My best guess would be his old room." Oliver said, right as they heard someone approach them from behind.

"I'd say that's correct." Thea said as they turned to see Prometheus standing there.

"Go find Tommy. I'll deal with this guy." Oliver said.

"No, I beat him in the real world, I can beat him here. Besides, you're even closer with Tommy than I am. If anyone can get through to him, it's you." Thea said and before Oliver could argue with her, Thea's mask covered her face.

"Besides, something tells me I can use my new powers without holding back here." Thea said.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that lass. Remember, we are in Mr. Merlyn's mindscape. That means that if you do too much damage letting that goddess of yours out of her cage, you could end up killing us all." Constantine warned her.

"Good to know. Good thing I don't need that power to whoop his ass. Go, find Tommy." Artemis said as she pulled a large, crescent moon shaped blade out of the scabbard on her back and as she rushed towards Prometheus, who pulled out his own sword and clashed with her.

"I've been waiting for my shot at a rematch. I was hoping you'd beat all the other traps daddy dearest put in place so that I would get my shot to get even with you for beating me. But remember, this time, you're in my house. And my number one duty is to make sure you never get to him." Prometheus said.

"Really, let me guess, it's a survival thing. He wakes up, you die?" Artemis asked.

"You won't live long enough to find out." Prometheus said as their blades clashed.

"Come on, Oliver, she can handle it, besides, the power in her means that she'll have a better chance at holding him off than you can." Constantine said.

"What do you mean?" Oliver asked, still reluctant to leave her alone.

"She can fight and wound him, but he's only a figment of Mr. Merlyn's subconscious. The only one who can kill him is Mr. Merlyn himself. The only way he can truly free himself from this prison, but before he can do that, we have to make him realize that he is in a prison." Constantine said and Oliver nodded, since while that made next to no sense, he'd honestly given up trying to make sense of anything that Constantine was involved in, but what he did know was that his oldest friend needed his help. And he wouldn't let him down, so instead of worrying about his sister, who he knew could take care of herself, he turned his attention to his friend who needed his help.

"So, is this it?" Constantine asked as they arrived at a door that resembled Tommy's childhood bedroom door.

"Yeah. A time when things were different. When Tommy felt like his family actually cared about him." Oliver said as he took a deep breath before opening the door to find Tommy sitting on his bed, talking to his mother.

"Tommy, look who came to visit today." Rebecca Merlyn said as Tommy turned to face Oliver.

"Oliver, what are you wearing?" Tommy asked.

"Not important, but Tommy, we need to go now." Oliver said.

"Why, you just got here?" Tommy asked.

"Tommy, this isn't real. This isn't really your house and that's not your mom. It's just your memory of her." Oliver said, since he couldn't really be gentle about it.

"What are you talking about?" Tommy asked.

"Tommy, your father trapped you in your own mind, turned you into something like him. And the only way to undo that is for you to come with me." Oliver said.

"Tommy, if you leave, you'll never see me again." Rebecca said.

"Oliver." Tommy said.

"Tommy, believe me, I get it. I've lost track of how many people I'd do anything to spend one last minute with, but that's not your mom." Oliver said.

"I know." Tommy said as suddenly Rebecca disappeared.

"Wait, you know?" Oliver asked as he actually sat down on the bed next to Tommy.

"Yeah, despite what everyone thinks, I'm not an idiot. I know that none of this is real, but honestly, it's better than the real world, because here I have a family that cares about me. I have a mother who's alive and a father who's not a dick." Tommy said.

"Tommy, you really think that you don't have any other family out there?" Oliver asked him.

"How could I?" Tommy asked, only to have Oliver smack him.

"Tommy, you still have family and I'm not just talking about Malcolm, since he's not your family. But you have me, you have Laurel and you have Thea. Hell you even have my mom, who became a mother to you after your mom died. We're your family and I know that we weren't there for you for a long time, but we're here now. Hell, Thea is literally your actual sister." Oliver said.

"Wait what?" Tommy asked.

"Yeah, turns out my parents' marriage wasn't as perfect as the tabloids made everyone think. They both had affairs and my mom's affair was with your dad, nine months before Thea was born." Oliver said.

"I'm not even surprised by that. I always did think of her as a little sister to me, now it's just official." Tommy said.

"Yeah, and right now she is risking her life to buy me time to get you out of here. So wake up and take back your life. Don't let innocent people die because you can't face your past. You're not your father Tommy. You're stronger than he is, since you dealt with your mother's death and learned to live again. Tell me, what would she want you to do?" Oliver asked.

"She'd want me to live my life the way I want to live it. Not the way dad wants me too." Tommy said as Oliver stood up.

"So, are you coming?" Oliver asked as he held out his hand to Tommy.

"Let's get out of here." Tommy said as he took Oliver's hand and they walked out the door, at which point, they all saw a white light that pretty much blinded them to everything.