ANNABEL LEE
000. PROLOGUE
somewhere in the future
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ANNABEL LEE HAD ONE CERTAINTY IN LIFE: she was going to kill Oliver Queen.
She had her foot on a landmine -- a fucking landmine -- because he had thrown a hissy fit. And the worst part was that he was standing up in a tree, looking like an angry half-naked Tarzan.
"You know, if you could come down it would be great," she yelled, looking up at him. "In case you didn't know, I am not explosion-proof."
He had the audacity to look pissed, "Should've thought of that before coming here."
"Oh, I'm sorry if I interrupted your sulking," she replied. "Three weeks on this hell weren't enough?"
She saw the vein in his jaw tick. He was getting angrier. For a moment, Annabel was sure that he was considering whether or not to let her explode. Finally, he growled, "Don't move."
He shot an arrow up at a thick tree branch. As the arrow flew, a thick wire shot out, and Oliver grabbed it with ease. Annabel had seen him use this trick many times, but seeing him doing it in Lian Yu was different. Like somehow that man wasn't the Oliver that she knew.
He swung off the tree, gaining enough momentum to easily scoop Annabel into his arms. They landed at a safe-ish distance from the landmine. As it exploded, Oliver shielded her from the blast.
Annabel had many things to say, but for some reason, the only thing her brain seemed to summon was, "God, you're-- you're really sweaty."
At that moment, feeling his body against hers for the first time in months, she forgot all about their fight. But when he looked at her like she had grown a second head, it all came flooding back quite quickly.
He stood up easily, and said, "You shouldn't have come here."
"Would have emailed, but this isn't exactly a WiFi hotspot," she replied sarcastically.
"How did you know where I was?"
Now it was her turn to look at him like he said the stupidest thing in the world, "I know you, Ollie."
It was definitely the wrong thing to say. He gave a step back, glaring at her and saying, "I told you not to call me that."
"Right," she replied dryly. "How could I've forgotten? Monsters don't get to call you Ollie."
She was glad to see him flinch.
"Why are you here, Annabel?"
"Gee, why am I here? How about because your mother is in prison, Oliver?" Her tone was sharp enough to cut through steel. "Or maybe because Thea's out on her own? Or perhaps because, once again, you threw a hissy fit instead of acting like an adult!"
"A hissy fit?" Annabel couldn't remember ever seeing Oliver this mad at her. "Forgive me, how was I supposed to react after I failed my mission? After Malcolm destroyed the Glades? After what happened to Tommy? After I found out that you were--"
"Come on, say it," she replied.
"A vampire," he spat the word as if it had physically pained him to say it.
She transformed just enough to show him her fangs. Annabel was taunting him, and he knew it. Still, he fell for it just like a sitting duck. He gave a step back at the sight of her canines and she forced a smirk on her lips, "Good. Now we are getting some honesty!"
"Don't you dare talk to me about honesty," he said, regaining his courage and taking a menacing step toward her.
"Don't you dare call me a monster!" She replied, shoving his naked chest. "You spent five years in here, but I spent five years in a different type of hell. You don't get to judge the choices I made to survive."
He scoffed, "Survive?"
"In the five years you were in here I was hunted, almost burned alive, tortured, kidnapped, and murdered!" She yelled. "But you wouldn't know that, right, asshole? Because you are a coward. Instead of fighting for us, for me, you got into a plane and went into hiding. Tommy went through fucking hell and you still haven't bothered to ask me if he is ok!"
Oliver glared at her, "The Tommy Merlyn I knew is dead."
"So is the Oliver I knew," she spat. "But I am still here. I am still fighting for your family! I spent weeks trying to figure out where the fuck this island was, I've traveled halfway across the world and this morning I flew in a plane so old, I'm pretty sure I was safer once I jumped out of it. And all along you were out here, playing Tarzan!"
Annabel took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. "If you don't want anything to do with me, then fuck it, it's fine. I am done begging. I am here for Thea, not for me. Queen Consolidated is ripe for a hostile takeover by Stellmoor International and they've gutted every company they've taken over."
He didn't reply. Instead, he only asked, "What happened to you?"
"You did."