Just a Kid • Book 1

• Chapter 4 •

Tommy looked down at Rory and saw that she was sad, so he put an arm around her shoulders, trying to comfort the young girl. Rory glanced up at him and gave him a small grateful smile as she leaned into his side.

"And in those five years, it was that one thought that kept me going." Oliver finished his statement.

His lawyer stood up. "Your Honour, we move to vitiate the death-in-absentia filed after Oliver's disappearance at sea aboard the Queen's Gambit, five years ago."

Oliver glanced back at his family, who were all looking at him with saddened eyes. "Unfortunately, we will not be requesting that the declaration of death filed for the petitioner's father, Robert Queen, be rescinded." The lawyer continued and Oliver looked forward again.

"The Queen family is only entitled to one miracle, I'm afraid." The lawyer finished and soon the court session was over and Oliver was legally back from the dead, so they left the courtroom.

Moira and Walter were walking ahead of Oliver, Tommy, and Rory, with the three trailing right behind them. "Now, onto the offices. Everyone is waiting to meet you there." Moira told her son.

Oliver stopped walking, making everyone else stop walking too. "Uh, Mom, that was a. . . a little bit heavier than I was expecting it to be. Can we do that tomorrow? Please?"

Moira glanced at Walter who nodded. "Of course." She answered, looking back at her son. "Thank you." Oliver responded and Moira and Walter walked away.

The other three waited a few moments before starting to walk again. "Last week, you couldn't wait to get to the company." Tommy spoke.

"Tommy, I just spent five years away from civilization. I wasn't exactly thinking straight." Oliver responded right before they rounded a corner, almost bumping into Laurel.

"I... Hi." Oliver greeted awkwardly. "Hi." Tommy said, not looking Laurel in the eyes. "Hey, Mom." Rory greeted Laurel with a smile as two other women joined Laurel.

Laurel looked down at her daughter. "Hey, Ror." She smiled down at the young girl before looking back up at the two men. "So, are you legally back from the dead now?" Laurel asked Oliver, who nodded.

"What are you doing here?" Oliver asked Laurel. Rory gave him a "duh" glance as her mom said, "My job."

"Right." Oliver said. "More like the D.A's job." Joanna, Laurel's best friend and coworker, corrected. This evidently annoyed Laurel as she looked away, rolling her eyes.

"Hi, Oliver Queen." Oliver introduced himself to the young blonde woman standing next to Laurel and Joanna. "Uh, Emily Nocenti." The blonde woman responded.

There were many things that Laurel felt like saying. About how he was stranded on an island for five years, about how was cheating on her with her sister before that, and about how he told her to stay away from him last week. But she didn't any of that because of her daughter's presence. The only thing she knew out of that list was the first one, and Laurel didn't want her to know about the other ones.

"We have to go now." Laurel told them instead, before leaning down and kissing the top of Rory's head. "I'll see you later at home, Rory."

Then Laurel walked away. "Um, it was nice meeting you." Emily spoke before she and Joanna followed Laurel.

"Come on, buddy. Let's go." Tommy patted Oliver's chest before they started to head out of the building. When they got to the door to outside, the three stopped when they noticed a man named Mr. Somers being interviewed and surrounded by the press.

"I don't know what I've done to earn this witch-hunt from Miss Lance and her bosses at the CNRI. But I can tell you this, I am an honest businessman and I will fight this slander to my last dime and breath. That's all I have to say. Thank you." Mr. Somers finished talking to the press and then walked away.

Rory glared at the man. She hated people who talked badly about the ones she loved. The press started to follow him until one of them noticed the three in the doorway. "There's Mr. Queen." A man spoke and then all attention was on them.

Oliver, Tommy, and Rory started walking towards the car, Rory sandwiched between the men to keep her as safe away from the press as possible as the press surrounded them, asking many questions to Oliver all at once. But he ignored them all.

Mr. Diggle walked beside Oliver, speaking to the crowd. "Please, step back, everybody. Please."

Oliver got to the car and got in the back seat. "Everybody, step back. Hey, man, I'll make you swallow that Nikon. Back!" Mr. Diggle threatened the crowd.

That's when tires were heard screeching as Oliver drove the car away. He knew Tommy would do anything to protect Rory and that if he wasn't there, Mr. Diggle would protect his next of kin, so he wasn't worried about her safety with the press. Especially since he was the one the press wanted to talk to and he was now gone.

Tommy turned to Mr. Diggle. "This happens to you a lot, doesn't it?" Mr. Diggle looked very annoyed, but Rory couldn't help but smile at her uncle's statement. It did seem like her father had a tendency to disappear and the way Tommy said it was amusing to her.