Olivia Queen

Chapter I: Back From The Dead

She shook her head gravely. "Yes, I do." She took a breath. "Nobody can know my secret."

She heard bones crack as she broke his neck, killing him. She dropped the body, thinking to herself, This just got a bit more complicated.

*

Olivia sat across from Detective Lance in her living room with Tommy beside her on the couch. Moira and Walter sat on the other couch on the other side of the detective. A sketch artist had come by to draw what she described as the man who saved them. The pencil-drawn picture lay on the polished table-top of their coffee table between the detective and her.

"So that's your story?" he asked, seemingly not convinced. "A man in a green hood flew in and single-handedly took down three armed kidnappers. I mean, who is he? Why would he do that?"

She felt all eyes on her but replied as nonchalantly as ever, "I don't know. Find him and you can ask."

"Yeah," Lance answered, trying not to sound huffy. He looked at Tommy. "What about you?"

Olivia looked back at Tommy as the rest of them did. Lance held up the not-so-good sketch of a hooded figure. "Did you see the good guy?" he asked Tommy.

"I saw. . ." Tommy sighed. "Just movement. Everything was blurry. I was kind of out of it."

"Yeah," replied Lance with  shrug, looking back at Olivia. "It's funny isn't it? One day back and already somebody's gunning for you. Aren't you popular?"

Her anger boiling but not showing, Moira sat up, looking at Lance. "Were you able to identify the men?"

"Scrubbed identities, untraceable weapons," put in Lance's partner behind them, talking for the first time in half an hour. He had been pacing and chatting with the maid instead, knowing Lance could handle it. He wasn't so sure now, seeing that his personal feelings about the Queens were showing during the interview. "These were pros."

"Yeah," agreed Lance, glancing at Moira and Walter. "Well, they probably figured you'd pay a king's ransom to get your boy back, or a Queen's ransom as it were." He sighed, looking at Olivia again. "After all, a parent would do anything to keep their daughter safe."

"I don't find your tone appropriate, detective," said Moira, glaring daggers.

Lance was going to reply but Walter stood, speaking for the first time. "If Olivia can think of anything else, she'll be in touch," he said. "Thank you, gentlemen, for coming."

Lance chuckled, shaking his head. Getting his things together, he and Olivia both stood. "Your luck never seems to run out, does it?" he asked Olivia, looking her straight in the eye, brown staring down into blue. She watched as Raisa walked the partners out of the room, towards the front door.

Tommy didn't say anything as he watched Olivia watch Lance and his partner leave. He realized then that Olivia coming back from the dead wasn't going to be as easy as he thought.

*

Olivia stared at her computer screen, a few Google chrome pages of research up and some fingerprint and police software on side windows. Starling City Businessman Adam Hunt targeted by D.A. probe was the title of an article she was reading. Olivia unfolded a newspaper clipping of another article on the same man, staring at it. Setting it down and shifting gears, she glanced back at Adam Hunt's name in a journal full of names.

"You are different," said an accented voice at the door. Olivia looked up to see Raisa with a platter of food. "It is not like you to read a book."

Olivia smiled as she closed the journal and miniaturized the windows on her computer. Raisa entered, carrying the food over to her with a joking smile that seemed both friendly and motherly.