[center][img]https://fanart.tv/fanart/movies/46718/hdmovielogo/dc-showcase-green-arrow-5368c6c11ad80.png[/img][/center] [i][b]Star City The Quiver 1:28 AM[/b][/i] Q-Core was the perfect front. A division of Queen Industries, it had, over the years, developed many innovative gadgets under Oliver’s leadership, seeing considerable success with products such as the Q-Phone and Q-Pad. With a revenue of thirty-eight billion dollars, the subsidiary had been subject to a slow rise as a Fortune 500 company, coming to rival companies such as Apple, WayneTech and even LexCorp. It also provided Oliver with a near flawless cover: as head of the company, no-one would think twice on the amount of nights he spent working overtime, or of the amount of money that got spent on his… private affairs. Most of all, no-one would think of searching below the Q-Core building, where, through two reinforced steel doors locked by retina scans, they would find the headquarters of Oliver’s superhero persona. Green Arrow’s home; the Quiver. Oliver entered the base, his hood down and a content smile on his face. The night had been a rough one, but he’d gotten through it, and so had his son. Being so close to Connor had been a new experience. Whenever he had visited the boy before, it had been in the shadows; from his car, on the street, on the rooftops. He often questioned the morality of these actions. Didn’t they make him a stalker? Why didn’t he just knock on the boy’s mother’s door? Why couldn’t he just be a normal father? The rational part of his mind always answered first. [i][color=007236]Because you’d put him in danger,[/color][/i] it would say, [i][color=007236]You have too many enemies, enemies that would use him to get to you. The best father you can be is an absent one.[/color][/i] And so, things wouldn’t change. Oliver kept watching from afar, looking on as what could have been the best part of his life grew up without him. But tonight had been different. Tonight he had rescued Connor from the Russians, he had held his son in his arms, and he had said his first words to him. And though there were many lies in his life, what he had said to Connor as he carried him to his motorcycle was not one of them. Oliver was his guardian angel. And he was happy with that. “How’d it go?” asked Felicity Smoak, typing away on her computer, her face illuminated by the bright glow of the screen. Oliver wouldn’t deny it, the blond IT girl was a knockout. With blue eyes, fair skin, thin lips and a slim body, he often caught himself staring at her, an act he couldn’t blame himself for, but felt guilty about anyway. She turned to face him, frowning upon seeing his smile. “Why are you doing that? It looks weird. Stop it.” [b][color=007236]“Ha-ha. You’re funny,”[/color][/b] replied Oliver, his smile widening into a grin. [b][color=007236]“It went well. He’s safe now.”[/color][/b] “And who exactly [i]was[/i] he, Oliver?” John Diggle stepped out from behind the archer, as silent as a ghost, his well muscled arms crossed and a stern look on his face. If Oliver wasn't expecting him, he might have been startled. [b][color=007236]“You’ve been wanting to do that for a while now, haven’t you?”[/color][/b] Diggle broke out into a smile. “Just wanted to show you how it feels.” Oliver chuckled. [b][color=007236]“Right.”[/color][/b] “But seriously, Oliver… Who was that kid? I’ve never seen you so worked up since Brick kidnapped your sister.” “Yeah, and you never go out into the field without Digg or Roy anymore. What makes this kid so important?” added Felicity. Oliver looked at his team, calculating. After a long silence, he spoke. [b][color=007236]”He’s my son.”[/color][/b] He paused to see if either of them had anything to say. When it became apparent that they didn’t, he yawned, then continued. [b][color=007236]“Anyway, I should get going. Need to catch some sleep if I’m going to stir people up with my speech tomorrow.”[/color][/b] Beside Felicity’s computer station rested a duffel bag, within which a suit was contained. Oliver strode over to it and extracted its contents, removing his Green Arrow apparel and changing into the suit, paying no mind to a gaping Felicity, no doubt staring at his scarred, muscle-bound body as she tried to wrap her head around what he just said. [b][color=007236]“Catch you later,”[/color][/b] he said, adjusting the last of the blazer’s buttons. He picked up the bag, outfit tucked safely inside, and walked out of the Quiver, leaving Diggle and Felicity the most confused they’d ever been in their five years of knowing him. [hr] [i][b]Star City The Q-Core Building 10:29 AM[/b][/i] [b][color=007236]“Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you all for coming,”[/color][/b] began Oliver, addressing the crowd before him. The entire city had come to see him speak. Men, women and children, businessmen, police officers and politicians were all present, surrounded by the press, filming every second of the conference. Browsing the audience, Oliver clenched his hands tightly on the podium behind which he stood, taking a silent, deep breath before continuing. [b][color=007236]“My name is Oliver Queen, and this world has changed. Eight years ago, I was stranded on an island in the middle of the North China Sea, with no apparent way off. For three years I stayed there, survived there. Rarely did a chance to think present itself. But, on the occasion that it did, I never, not once, imagined just how much things had changed during my time away. When I was spending my second year on the island, Superman made his debut in Metropolis, Batman began operating in Gotham, and the world was trying desperately to adapt to the phenomena we now call ‘metahumans’. I, however, was not a part of this world. I was isolated. And when I came back to this home that I love, to Star City, I was in for a massive shock. Superheroes were at large. Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, the Flash– all of them were making a difference. The Green Arrow, our own resident protector of the innocent, set up shop in this city. And when I was finally getting used to these heroes, an alien going by the name of Darkseid decided to invade us. “But I’m not here to talk about that. No, as much as I could go on about the Justice League and their efforts to push back the Apokolips, I’m here to talk about their opposites. Or, to narrow it down a little, their [i]opposite[/i]. As you all know, we have a presidential election coming up. By the time November 8 rolls up, we will all have made up our minds on who to vote for, and President Obama will be sitting in his chair at the White House, hoping against all hope that he’ll be able to keep his position. With the way things are going, he won’t. “You’ve all heard of Lex Luthor. You all know who he is. The man that founded LexCorp, who made it into what it is today: a megacorporation with enough control over Metropolis to make it his own. Now, he wants to extend that control; but not to another city. To the [i]entire country[/i]. By the looks the first few rows are giving me, they think that I have no idea what I’m talking about. They’re thinking,[i] ‘Lex Luthor is a good man. He only wants what’s best for his country. Just look at what he’s done for his city, at what he plans on doing for us.’[/i] And that, my friends, is why I’m here today. I’m here to talk about the public’s perception of Lex Luthor, and why it is, on the most basic level, wrong. “Not only is he the shortest, baldest man I’ve ever seen, Luthor is a liar, plain and simple. What he’s promised in his campaign, the eradication of monetary and technological poverty… That [i]won’t happen[/i]. Luthor has displayed a gift for deceit and treachery, and while some of you believe that statement to be a wild accusation, no-one can deny the fact that he was, and still remains, an enemy of not only Superman, but the Justice League, and the state!”[/color][/b] A small number of the crowd cheered in agreement. Most stayed in an attentive silence. [b][color=007236]“Lex Luthor is a criminal, trying to take advantage of the system to clear his name. This man is not a saviour, he is not a hero, he is a villain! It was not on one, but numerous occasions that he’s attempted to kill Superman. It was not on one, but numerous occasions that he’s attempted to destroy the Justice League. He has bribed, lied and murdered his way to the position he now holds, and he won’t stop there. Voting for him goes against everything that we, the American people, believe in. [i]He will not[/i] give us freedom. [i]He will not[/i] give us equality. [i]He will not[/i] give us individuality. He says that he will do everything in his power to improve our lives, that he will do everything in his power to improve the status quo. He is lying. Lex Luthor is out for himself. The sooner we learn that, the better. My name is Oliver Queen. Thank you for listening.”[/color][/b] [hr] Sandra Hawke had never been a Luthor sympathizer. Even before his supervillain days, she had found the man repulsive. Maybe it was how short he was, or how bald, or his obvious greedy ambition, she didn’t know. Maybe it was just the notion of his existence. The acknowledgement of one’s achievements is, after all, enough to make people hate. But she didn’t care about him, not really. He may be an evil man, but for every bad person, there was a good one to stop them. She had to believe that. Especially if one such good man was standing before her. Especially after what he had told their son. She was mad. At him, for remaining selfish even after what had happened last night. At herself, for caring so much. She needed to vent. And that’s exactly what she was going to do. She found him not too far from the podium, talking with who she could only assume was his bodyguard. Oliver had changed since the last time she’d spoken to him. For one, he’d gotten rid of that terrible hairstyle he’d claimed to rock before the island. He was bigger, muscular. The way he held himself was different. Gone was the spineless boy that had run away from fatherhood. In his place was the strong, rigid man that continued to do so anyway. The bodyguard left him, walking into the Q-Core building. This was Sandra’s chance. After all these years of pity and self-loathing, she finally had a chance to tell Oliver just how much he meant to her. She stormed up to him, the words bursting from her mouth. “Guardian angel? That’s what you are now? Connor’s [i]righteous protector?[/i]” [b][color=007236]“Sandra?”[/color][/b] He looked confused. Good. She caught him off guard. “If that was true, Oliver, then you never would have hopped on that boat with Lance, knowing full well that I was pregnant with your baby. If that was true, then the first thing you would have done when you came back was contact me, help me raise him. But instead you chose to watch from afar and wonder what could have been.” His brow furrowed. “What, you really think I didn’t notice you watching over Connor? Being another shadow in his life? Oliver, are you [i]that[/i] selfish that you don’t even stop to think what it would be like to be an active part of it? Because I think you are. You’re too busy hiding under that green hood. You say that you’re his guardian angel… [i]But where are you now?[/i]” She didn’t give him a chance to speak. Turning her back to him, she strode away, walking out of his life for what could have been the last time.