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The officer at your doorstep is lying.
He has to be lying.
“I’m sorry, Miss (Y/L/N), but I regret to inform you that your fiancé, Thomas Merlyn, has been killed in the Glades Earthquake.”
Tommy…
“No… you can’t be serious? I don’t believe you,” you say in shock, “No! He’s fine! I just saw him-”
“I’m sorry, Miss,” the man repeats. You choke back a sob as you close the door, not remotely caring about something like rudeness right now. Your fiancé, the love of your life is dead. Your heart is crumbling like the buildings in the frighteningly recent Starling City earthquake. How can I go on without him? How can I breathe?
Yes, you wallow in your pain (because how can you not?), but there’s only so much wallowing can do. There comes the point where you feel the wires connect inside you again, but just barely. You need to do something. Something proactive. Someone needs to pay for what happened to Tommy. You need answers.
And you think you know just the man with the answers: Oliver Queen.
Tommy’s best friend, almost Best Man and your friend as well. And when he, your fiancé, and yourself are such close friends, not many secrets are kept hidden for very long…
You’re well aware Ollie masquerades as the Hood, and his secret is more safe with you. He’s the one person who can help you. But you’ll need to do a whole heck of a lot of convincing because there was no way he was going to let you join Team Arrow. You can hear him now: I just lost my best friend (Y/N). I can’t lose another.
Speak of the green-hooded devil - a text pops up on your phone’s display.
Come to Verdant ASAP.
Frankly, you’re surprised Oliver hasn’t even offered his condolences of any kind, but he’s probably in mourning just as much as you are. If your friend needs someone to commiserate with, you’re more than willing to drown your sorrows.
When you finally arrive at the hideout parading as a hip nightclub above, you descend to the lower levels, ready to pour your heart out because this has all been so incredibly hard to deal with alone. Everyone seemed to be M.I.A. for days, weeks even.
The disaster had visibly damaged the Bunker, that much is apparent. You look around and spot the group huddled in the centre of the room. Oliver, Diggle, Felicity, and…
No.
Please, yes.
“Tommy!”
“(Y/N).”
You know this has to be a reality at the way he says your name. It simultaneously lifts you up and keeps you grounded. It’s him. It’s really Tommy. You rush over to hug him but stop short at noticing the heavy-duty bandages around his middle. Tommy’s face is horribly scraped, and you’re sure he’s never looked this brutal, even when he and Ollie have had their scraps over the years.
“They told me you were dead,” you say through your tears. “How are you here, baby?”
“It was all Ollie and miracles, honey.” Tommy brushes your wet cheeks with his thumbs. “I thought I’d never see you again.”
“I did, too.” You bury your face into the crook of his neck. You breathe him in. “Can I take him home?” you ask Oliver and the Team.
“By all means,” he says. Relief doesn’t even begin to explain how you feel. You walk up to Oliver, remembering what you had initially wanted to discuss with him.
“Hey, Ollie? We’re going to need to talk later,” you say in a hushed tone.
“Yeah? What about?” your vigilante friend wonders.
“A spot on your Team.”
“That is not-”
“Don’t even start with me, Queen. You’re going to find me something fulfilling to do on this Team because I know there’s more to this than just an ‘earthquake’ and this city needs protecting.” You look back to Tommy. “The people we love need protecting.”
Oliver waits for a beat. “Take our boy home. We’ll talk later.”
Damn right we’ll talk later.
“Thank you.” You help Tommy to lean on you as you both start to leave the Bunker. He’s about to ask you what you were talking about with your mutual friend, but you stop him short. “Come on, Tommy, let’s get you home.”