The End Of All Things (An Arrow: Season 8 Fanfiction)

Chapter 2: The Bunker

A bunker (not the Arrow one)

Oliver and Laurel stared up at Adrian doing the salmon ladder. 

'Showoff,' Oliver scoffed. 

'Jealous?' Laurel asked. 

'Nostalgic,' Oliver replied. The two walked away. 'It seems Adrian and I have the same design sense.' 

'If by that you mean Felicity, yeah. But this is my bunker,' Laurel said, and the two went up to the main platform.

'And Chase?' 

'He's one of the good guys... literally.' 

'And you're helping him in Star City.' 

'Starling City. And he's helping me. We make a pretty good team.' Oliver frowned in slight disgust, and she walked away from him, catching the unspoken insinuation. 'Not that kind of team. He's already involved with someone else.' The two walked down the steps again. 'So, how much small talk do I have to endure before you tell me what exactly is it you're doing on my earth?' He sighed. 

'It's a long story.' 

'Why don't you start by telling me what you were doing on Lian Yu? You know, if you wanted to pretend to be back from the dead, you could have just shown up in town.' 

'I wasn't given a choice. I was sent here to your earth, and I arrived on Lian Yu.' 

'Sent? Sent by who?' Just then there was a laugh. A woman who had a familiar figure was over near the salmon ladder, giving Adrian a kiss. She turned as he pulled on a shirt and the two walked up. 

'You get him to tell you the truth yet, pretty bird?' Adrian asked. 

'And nothing but,' Laurel replied. Oliver looked over to the railing and fixed eyes with the woman who had been kissing Adrian. 

'Evelyn?' 

The girl laughed. 

'Are you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost,' Evelyn replied. 

'But, Mom and Malcolm, they - they told me you were dead.' Her eyebrows raised. 

'That's a very sad story, but not quite the truth. You see, Adrian here... he rescued me from the mafia.' He looked at her and the two intertwined their fingers, looking at each other with adoring eyes. She turned back to Oliver. 'I got to know him, and not only am I his girlfriend... I'm also a vigilante.' 

'Athena,' Adrian said. 'And you're damn good at it.' She laughed again and the two kissed once more. 

'It seems Mr Queen survived the Gambit and has spent the last twelve years on an island called Lian Yu,' Laurel said, bringing the attention back to the situation at hand. 

'It means "purgatory" if I'm not mistaken,' Adrian chimed in. 'Still doesn't explain what you're doing running around in my hood.' 

'I needed an identity to work under, and yours seemed convenient,' Oliver shot back. 'Sorry.'

'What were you doing at Queen-Merlyn?' Adrian asked. 

'Not killing those scientists, if that's what you're implying,' Oliver replied, his tone full of ice. 

'Well, I'm using Laurel's equipment to compare the metallurgy of your arrows to the ones that we found in those men and women, so, we'll see.' Just then, a computer nearby let out a chime, indicating that there was something to be found. 'Speak of the devil,' Adrian added, walking away with Evelyn to the computers. 'Literally.' 

'The Dark Archer,' Laurel said. 'The name's a bit on the nose, but it's descriptive.' 

'Dark costume, jade pendant. It's Malcolm Merlyn,' Oliver announced. 

'Yeah, we thought so, too,' Evelyn replied. 

'Ruled him out months ago,' Adrian said. 

'It's Malcolm Merlyn,' Oliver bit back. 'And he killed those scientists for a reason.' He began to walk away. 

'Where are you going?' Laurel called out. 

'I'm going to have a conversation with my stepdad.'

Queen-Merlyn Enterprises building. Starling City. 

Oliver walked into the main office to meet with Malcolm Merlyn but instead was met with a familiar figure who had his back turned to him. 

'It never ceases to amaze me - humanity's capacity for invention.' Mar Novu turned to face Oliver. 'Infinite number of worlds, and not a single one where man fails to emerge from caves and hold dominion over the earth.' 

'What are you doing here?' Oliver snapped. 

'Reminding you what you are doing here, which does not include interfering in the events of this earth.' 

'I have no intention of interfering.' 

'Well, you're not here to confront Malcolm Merlyn with your suspicion that he is the Dark Archer.' 

'Well, I went to Applied Sciences last night to retrieve the dwarf star particles, just like you asked me to.' 

'You make it sound like a trifle,' Mar Novu. 'Those specific particles can only be found on this earth out of a multitude.' 

'My point is that when I arrived, Malcolm had already stolen them. Do you know what might help? If I actually knew why I was after them.' 

'That I have tasked you should be reason enough.' Oliver sighed. 'Or have you come to doubt your commitment to this mission?' 

'No. I have not.'

Later that evening... 

Malcolm Merlyn sat at his desk, looking at the Dwarf Star Project files when suddenly, an arrow with green fletching flew into the wall near him. He was horribly startled, but what came next startled him even more. Oliver flew into the room, landing easily on the desk and pointed a bow and arrow at his chest. 

'Malcolm Merlyn, you have failed this city,' he growled. 

'I don't know what you think I did, but I - I -' Just then another arrow flew near Oliver, knocking him off the desk. Malcolm yelled as the Dark Archer jumped over the desk and attacked Oliver. The two matched blow for blow, but the Dark Archer was gaining the upper hand. Oliver finally overpowered his enemy, and pulled off the hood, revealing a shocking sight. 

The Dark Archer was Tommy Merlyn. 

Just then, Tommy's eyes flashed open, and he kicked Oliver away, raising his bow to the window and shooting an arrow into it, flying out the window on a zipline. Oliver could only stand in shock as the realisation that his best friend was the Dark Archer sank in.