Destiny Rewritten

Chapter 15

When John came to, he found himself lying on the couch in Oliver's penthouse. Placing a hand on his head as he felt the headache coming, he groaned as he looked up to see Oliver, dressed up as the Green Arrow.

"Hey Dig." Oliver said.

"Oliver, you're the Green Arrow?" John asked before moving to punch him, but Oliver dodged it immediately and stopped John from running into a table.

"Easy John, you were poisoned." Oliver said, trying to calm him down.

"Son of a bitch." John said as he tried to punch Oliver again, only for Oliver to dodge again.

"I could have taken you anywhere, could have taken you home." He gestured around. "I brought you here." Oliver said, referring to his apartment.

"You really did lose your mind on that island." Diggle observed.

"Found a couple things along the way." Oliver replied.

Diggle scoffed. "Like what, archery classes?"

"Clarity." He stated, taking a step closer to Digg. "Star City is dying. It is being poisoned, by a criminal elite who don't care who they hurt, as long as they maintain their wealth and power." He espoused.

"You can't be serious." John said.

"He's not wrong John. Most of the people I represent at CNRI are people who have been hurt by the exact kind of people Ollie just described. They need someone to fight for them in a way the police either can't or won't. That's what Oliver's doing." Laurel said.

"What are you gonna do, take 'em all down by your lonesome?" Diggle asked scathingly.

"Now I want you do join me to." Oliver said.

Diggle scoffed, but Oliver continued. "Special Forces out of Kandahar. It's perfect." He looked at Diggle. "You're a fellow soldier." He stated.

Digg shook his head. "Oliver, you're not a soldier." He said. "You're a criminal. And a murderer." He spat.

"You're wrong on both counts Johnny." a new and familiar, at least to Oliver and John, voice said and John lost his breath for a moment as Lyla Michaels entered the room.

"Lyla, what are you doing here?" John asked.

"I called her. I figured I'd need help to convincing you, so I figured that your ex wife of all people could help with that." Oliver said.

"How do you know?" John asked.

"Because Oliver is ex Argus." Lyla said, causing John to look at Oliver in a new light.

"You worked for Argus?" John asked.

"Unwillingly, I take it you're familiar with Amanda Waller?" Oliver asked.

"I've heard of her." John said.

"Oliver was recruited into Argus his third year away after he'd previously stopped two other madmen from committing unspeakable acts of horror. First he was in Hong Kong where he helped secure a bioweapon from the Triad and then prevented a rogue US general from releasing the weapon in China, then he helped Argus take down a shadowspire operation on Lian Yu and most recently, he stopped Konstantin Kovar from launching a military coup in Russia. He's a hero." Lyla said.

"And why does no one about this?" John asked, now thinking that maybe he'd been a bit too rash to judge Oliver.

"Because it was all off the books. I'd like to keep it that way, since if people found out, they'd figure out who I am and that would put my family in danger." Oliver said and John nodded.

"Does Laurel know?" John asked him.

"She found out the night I stopped those triad thugs from killing her. She's one of the few people who know my secret. And now you do to. And part of the reason I want to join me is to help me save not only my city, but also what's left of my humanity." Oliver said, since that was the reason John had signed on in the first place.

"I'm in." John said.

"Good, because you know the shooter from last night." Oliver asked.

"Yeah, why?" John asked.

"His bullets were laced with Curare." Oliver said simply.

"Andy's killer." John realized and Oliver nodded.

"His name was Floyd Lawton and as of last night, he's permanently paying for he did in hell." Oliver said.

"You got Andy's killer?" John asked and Oliver nodded.

"I did." Oliver said.

"Thank you." John said and Oliver smiled.

"You're welcome." Oliver said and John then turned to Lyla.

"Can I walk you out?" John asked and Lyla nodded, causing Oliver to smile, since he bet on Lyla getting pregnant by the time he'd stopped the Undertaking.