Burned, torn and frayed

Chapter 5 - Oliver

To say that Oliver had honestly thought that sergeant Lance would never be the one to call him first would be an understatement but as he heard the burner linked to the phone he had given the man, he had a moment of doubts.

He took it but as much as he was surprised to hear the voice on the other end of the line, he also knew that he hadn't misjudged her father.

"Hello?" said Laurel, sounding a little nervous, probably from the fact that her father most likely didn't know of the phone being in her procession. "I need your help."

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He couldn't believe he was actually here. Not only was he back in his suit while he still didn't felt ready to face the Dark Archer again, but he was answering a call from Laurel.

After what she had called him, he was pretty sure he would never talk to her again, at least as the vigilante. But here he was, shutting her apartment's lights down with a device he had planted on her electric panel.

She didn't seem to know where it was until he was had entered the living room and turned around. She only then stood up, her feet touching the floor just loudly enough for him to hear it.

"I didn't trust that you'd come." She said as he activated his voice modulator "No has seen you for a while, where have you been"

Healing, he thought and for some reason wished he could answer. He had to focus a little to bring back his other personality to pass unaffected. "You said it was important"

"My best friend's brother. He died two days ago fighting the fire. The police and fire department say that he died in the line of duty. But my friend, she got a copy of the coroner report. She thought it was a good idea to share some of its information on a blog. She, among many others, think her brother was murdered"

Oliver had to fight himself not to snap right back at her. After what she had said to her father about him, just had the guts to ask this of him? "So you're asking one killer to find another?"

He didn't have to see her face to know she was surprised that he knew about that and he couldn't keep himself from adding another layer "I heard what you said to your father about me: that I'm killer. That I have no remorse"

She seemed hesitant at first but she got closer. "Do you?" she asked after two steps. When he didn't answer, she went back to business "Take a look at the file. If Danny Delavega was murdered, then we have to bring his killer to justice"

He didn't need to think about it twice. It would be a good opportunity for him to get back in the game without risking to encounter the vailed archer immediately. He turned toward her as he switched his bow from one hand to another and got near her. He took the file she was presenting and simply said: "I'll look into it". He then exited her apartment from where he had entered, without forgetting to turn the power on again.