❛ If it's no one's fault, then who committed the action? ❜

The moments following the point where Diggle knew he was standing in front of 'The Hood' and 'The Hoodess' were not very pleasant. Annabelle stood ashamed by Oliver's side, and she felt guilty that she had let herself befriend such an honorable man like Diggle and perhaps haunted his thoughts. His eyes begged for an understanding of what was going on, but they were also filled with disbelief that the girl who seemed so fragile and broken was really as ruthless as 'The Hood.'

Diggle took a deep breath as looked over the two and looked at the outfit Oliver was dressed in and the purple hood laying out on the table beside him. "You're those vigilantes," he said carefully, testing out the words while they slipped from his mouth. Before Oliver or Anna could respond, the man charged sloppily at Oliver and he simply stepped to the side while Anna pressed her back against the table to avoid being run into.

"Easy, Dig. You were poisoned," Oliver warned, facing the man once again while Anna stood to the side, watching the interaction. "Son of a bitch," Diggle growled, taking another swing. This time Oliver spun him around and gently pushed him to the side, an annoyed look resting on his face. 

While Diggle regained his balance, Oliver wandered over to where Anna was and paced back and forth, "We could have taken you anywhere, we could have taken you home. I brought you here."

"You really did lose your mind on that island," Diggle said with a shaky voice, his eyes staring into Oliver's. "Found a couple things along the way," Oliver argued.

"Like what, archery classes?"

Before Oliver could hesitate on his next words, Anna pursed her lips and folded her arms across her chest, "Clarity," she jumped in, gaining attention from both Oliver and Dig. "Starling City is dying. It is being poisoned by a criminal elite who don't care who they hurt as long as they maintain their wealth and power. My parents raised me to never become like those people, Dig. I promised them I wouldn't," Anna explained.

"What are you gonna' do?" Diggle scoffed. "Take em' all down by yourselves?"

"No," Oliver replied, a shake of his head gesturing his reply. "No, I want you to join us," he continued, gaining the attention of Anna who had no idea this is what Oliver was planning. She figured they would tell Diggle about their plans, maybe even explain themselves, but she never figured Oliver would be inviting him to their capade. "Special forces out of Kandahar. It's perfect, you're a fellow soldier," he added on, making Anna cringe a bit because she knew those weren't the words he should have said. 

"You're not soldiers, you're criminals," Diggle spat, leaning in to face Oliver closely. 

"And murderers," he finished, walking slowly away from the two in hopes of getting the hell out of the basement. Once the last two words left his mouth, Anna felt a sting in her heart. She was a murderer on the island, and everywhere else she traveled, but Starling City was a new start for her and she didn't want to take any more lives. She was haunted by the ones she did take and hated killing people even five years ago. But when she was called something so foul moments ago, she knew she would never escape her past.

She even took a step forward to go after Diggle and talk to him, but Oliver had grabbed her arm and prevented her from making a mistake, even larger than the one they had just made. So she let him go and watched someone who had shown her nothing but respect walk into the distance and perhaps never return.

•••

After a long shower to wash off the blood of fallen victims from the conference, Anna was sitting on the windowsill in her room while talking with her best friend on the phone. Tommy had heard about the shooting and called instantly to make sure she was alright, and the conversation had moved onto his progress with Laurel. The brunette was excited that Tommy was full of joy, but was slightly annoyed that she was having a ninth grade gossip session as an adult. 

But Tommy's voice alone made her smile and she pictured him nearly jumping on the bed in happiness. "I need help, like, what do girls appreciate, flowers? Chocolates? Diamonds?" he ranted, worry then filling the distance between Anna's ear and the phone. The girl chuckled and leaned her head against the window to watch the rain drip down the glass. With a small sigh, she carefully responded with "All girls are different, Thomas. But I think if you honestly believe that you can be a one-girl type of guy, and you can make her feel as such, then it should be fine. Also, having known Laurel for a long while, I don't think flowers or diamonds are the way to go. But chocolates are a must."

"What would I do without you, Bella?" he laughed. Anna shrugged and was about to stand to her feet when the door opened and Oliver stepped inside, offering a slight smile to his girlfriend. "You would probably live a horribly lonely life and would waste your trust fund on strip clubs and lap dances," she replied, earning a raised eyebrow of confusion from Oliver across the room. 

Another laugh came from the phone and Anna quickly told Tommy she would talk to him in the morning, seeing as the time was already half past midnight. "I'll give you a call tomorrow, Thomas," she told him. "Sounds like a phone date. Sweet dreams, Bella."

"Sleep well," she said before pressing her finger against the red button in the middle of her phone and placing it on the nightstand next to the bed where Oliver was already sitting. "You as exahusted as I am?" Oliver said with a yawn following, then climbing under the covers and scooting to the right side so Anna could have left. "I could sleep for five years," she replied, climbing under the sheet and leaning over to turn the lamp off. 

Oliver chuckled and pulled her close to him while wrapping his arms around her waist, "That was patronizing," he said. Anna rolled her eyes and snuggled close to him while letting her eyes drift shut and her mind blank completely. 

•••

Sara was finally sleeping, her breathing soft and in a steady pattern. Anna sat on the cold floor, her back against the rusty frame of the bed that Sara was laying in with a single blanket covering her frame. Annabelle felt guilty that she couldn't help Sara any more than singing her a soft lullaby to fall asleep to. She wished she could live up to the girl Sara saw her as: fearless, independent, and strong. She continued to tr to find a reason why Sara had even gotten pulled into this mess. If only Oliver had told her that she couldn't go on the yacht. Sure, it would have made Sara feel inferior, but it could've saved her life. Anna had no way of knowing that Sara went on the yacht to be close to her, in that case, Anna was oblivious. She thought Sara joined them just to have fun. 

So as these thoughts roamed her mind, Anna stared longingly at a picture of Oliver that was taken for his twenty-first birthday party. He was wearing a suit and his hair was short, but not too short and not too long. He was smiling because Anna was taking the picture and it was months after they had finally started dating. It was a memorable evening, one that Anna would remember to avoid the hard times on the freighter.

The girl traced her thumb over his face and a tear fell from her eye, and she didn't bother to wipe it. Oliver Queen was dead, he had died on the yacht and that's what she believed. Someone who was like a second father to her had also died. Robert Queen had talked to her about making future wedding plans, he was looking forward to her joining the family. But along with the love of her life, he had perished into the vast sea, and was never to be found. 

It was as if Anna's dreams of ever seeing Oliver again had vanished, she wasn't allowed to think about him. All she had was a picture to remind her of the good times. She had to focus on doing whatever it took to save Sara, she didn't have a choice this time.

Sara was her priority now. And the image of Oliver was going to help her through it.

Annabelle's eyes snapped open and she lay staring up at the ceiling that seemed to be moving in circular motions. Her breaths were shallow and her fingers were tangled in the sheets that she was gripping while her hands turned to white. 

After the dream - no, nightmare - Anna had just experienced, she was wide awake. It wasn't something her mind concocted to make her deal with her fears and troubles instead of shoving them deep inside her, it was her memories resurfacing since she didn't need to experience them any longer as she wasn't on the island. It was as if her mind was replaying a song that perfectly fit in with a situation, only this time, it wasn't a song. 

This dream wasn't horrifying, nor was it worrisome, yet it brought a certain uneasiness to the girl's soul and she couldn't stand to lay in her bed any longer with the chance of it returning. 

Instead, she stood to her feet and tossed on a sweater and slid into her slippers before waddling silently out of the room so she wouldn't disturb her sleeping boyfriend that lay unfazed by the trauma she had recalled minutes prior. 

She walked downstairs with the plan of taking a stroll around the hallways when she heard soft speaking and lights flashing from the next room. With curiosity, she approached the living room and noticed Thea munching on chips while snuggled on the couch to watch some news program. The teenager lifted her head when she noticed her friend walking and she offered her a light smile, then motioning for her to sit with her. Anna had forgiven Thea for her drunken behavior that caused her to lash out and being on good terms she sat next to the girl and looked at the broadcast streaming on the television. 

"Couldn't sleep, either?" Thea wondered, not drawing her eyes away from the screen. "Not at the moment," Anna responded, extending her hand for a chip. Thea gave her the food and she stuffed it in her mouth before asking, "What are we watching?"

"Peter Declan," she simply replied, making Anna raise an eyebrow, "Hm?" 

"A guy who killed his wife?" she asked, trying to see if Anna remembered. The woman shook her head and Thea sighed, "Right, well, this guy killed his wife in their baby's room. Psycho."

"Did he really do it?" Anna questioned. Thea looked at her in confusion before shrugging it off, "That's what they ruled, I guess."

"Camille was everything to me. I couldn't kill her anymore than I could kill myself," the man - Peter Declan - reported from the program. The program played on and the older girl watched it carefully, paying attention to the small details and investing herself in the murder. But before she could become fully concentrated enough to think it through, Thea muted the television and turned to face her, "Why can't you sleep?"

Anna responded simply and glanced at Thea, then back at the television that was now talking about gas prices. After a moment of silence, she responded with "Bad dreams," and shook her head to shake away the guilt forming in her mind about the blonde she had let down. "About?" Thea pushed on, noticing Anna staring blankly at the carpeted floor and with a monotone voice reply, "Sara."

"What about her?" 

"Just her," Anna answered. 

In response, Thea placed a hand on her shoulder and offered a light smile of comfort, "Anna, she's not gone from this city. She is being survived by her family and friends," the girl assured her, unaware of the true sadness playing constantly in Anna's head like a reminder to get up in the morning. 

"She is long dead, I suppose. Maybe I should move on and get over it."

"I may be speaking out of term here, Bella, but you can't get over something like that. It takes time and support. Like talking to someone that isn't Ollie. But you stay behind closed doors, you shake at the sound of a glass breaking, and you --"

"Sara isn't a ghost, Thea. I am not a ghost. It's different," she interrupted to halt Thea's ramble about telling her everything. She was trying to help Thea understand that the loss she felt with Sara wasn't as friends, it was as sisters. Her voice fluctuation dropped when she spoke and Thea instantly felt bad for bringing it up. "That person that left on the yacht and me..." she trailed off before choosing better words to utter. "Look, I know that it might not seem like it sometimes, but I am not the same person I used to be. Too much has changed."

"Laurel and Tommy?" Thea asked. Anna slowly nodded, "You," she then blurt out, looking towards the girl. "You certainly are not twelve anymore. And to my dismay, my parents have changed. So much that I haven't said a single word to them."

"That's not your fault."

"That's the truth, Speedy. If it's no one's fault, then who committed the action?"

With that being the breaking point of the conversation, Thea laid her head back against the cushion and stared at her friend who was looking at her fingers. Both had not a clue that Oliver was awake and was listening carefully from behind the wall to each word that came from Thea and Annabelle's mouths. 

•••

With her headphones in her ears and her laptop sitting on her desk, Annabelle watched the WEBG STARLING CITY NEWS 7 broadcast the case she had heard last night. She was primarily focused on this issue now that she had already become acquainted with the new bodyguard that would accompany her and Oliver now since Diggle quit, so her afternoon plans diminished so she could find as much possible information as she could while Oliver left to retrieve information. And thank heavens, too, because Anna's stomach pains were increasing by the hour and with her resilience to tell Oliver she was satisfied he was the one leaving to do what was needed for this man they believed was framed by someone. The reporter's voice rang in her ears and Anna's hand was scribbling down notes as fast as the woman was speaking, and when her phone rang, she pulled out her earbuds and pressed it against her ear while simultaneously reading the subtitles of the news report so she could continue her notes. 

She heard Oliver's voice mumble something about needing to clean up the warehouse and progress on the project of the nightclub before asking for an update on the case. The girl sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose when she realized she had no new information for him. "Ollie, they are saying Peter Delcan murdered his wife in cold blood. He had no alibi."

"Right, and all the evidence pointed toward it. He was tried, convicted, and sentenced to death, which means it was an open-and-shut case," he replied from across Starling City. 

Anna rolled her eyes and paused the video playing in a loop on her laptop, "I went to university for business and technology. You must specify what you are leading to."

"Declan's wife, Camille, worked for Jason Brodeur, and Jason Brodeur is on the list."

"So you're saying that Jason Brodeur is more than likely involved in her murder, which means an innocent man is facing execution in close time of forty-eight hours," Anna summarized with a growing headache from this line of thinking. 

"What do you suggest we do? Hood up and get answers?"

"We can't go outside the law for this, Oliver."

"I'll handle it."

With those three departing words, Anna knew this wasn't going to be easy. They had forty-eight hours to not only convince Laurel Lance to accept this case but to also convince a jury that this man was innocent and that he deserved to unite with his daughter once more. 

•••

Oliver had gone as his alter ego to converse with Laurel about their suspicions in the Peter Declan case. Anna was having her doubts if he really was innocent, but she wasn't going to let him - if he was - suffer in prison, he didn't deserve that. Besides, even if he had committed the crime, Jason Brodeur still needs to be crossed off the list, and one way or another that has to happen.

It was counting down to sixteen hours before Peter Declan was set for execution and instead of pursuing the case, Oliver and Anna were meeting with someone with the prime focus of persuasion. With Rob Scott - the new bodyguard - walking before them both, Anna and Oliver approached Big Belly Burger and Anna let out a sigh, "I don't understand the undying appreciation for this food business," she told her boyfriend who chuckled and wrapped his hand in hers. "It's greasy, Anna. People like greasy."

"Well, not me," she responded. "I did not grow up on crispy french fries and slippery burgers. You think they would have a salad or such on the menu," she said before thanking Rob for holding the door open for her. He nodded and waited for Oliver to step through before looking around the small place for who the two were meeting. When Oliver had suggested going to see Diggle, Anna was overjoyed but also nervous. She hated herself for playing Diggle like she did, and she was feeling nothing but guilt for doing so. But this meeting was hopefully their chance to explain. 

"Area is secure," Rob nodded to them, allowing both to pass to the table they would be sitting. "Hello, Diggle's sister-in-law Carly. I'm Oliver Queen," Oliver introduced while shaking Carly's hand as she stood next to the booth Diggle was seated in. "I'm uh, I'm Annabelle Carter," Anna stepped up, shaking her hand as well. 

"I know who you are," she returned, folding her arms across her chest while looking between the couple with stern eyes. "No, you really don't," Diggle shortly said with his eyes full of hurt and distrust.

Anna slid into the booth first with Oliver sliding into the end, a simply 'hello' leaving his lips and a warm smile on Anna's face. "We couldn't help but notice a distinct lack of police cars when we got home. We knew you wouldn't drop a dime on us," he began. 

"So, have you considered my offer?" He asked, earning an elbow to the ribs from Anna in which he grunted in surprise and turned to glare at her. "Offer? That's one hell of a way to put it," Diggle scoffed with a shake of his head. "It is an offer," Oliver argued. "It's a chance to do the kind of good that compelled you to join the military."

"Please, you were born with platinum spoons in your mouths. What, you spent five years on an island with no room service and suddenly you found religion?" he spat in disbelief. Anna cringed at the instant reminder of the horrid land and bit her bottom lip, "That's not what this is about, Diggle," she argued. "You may not agree with how we do this, or maybe even why, but you weren't where we were. It didn't matter how we were raised, or what we had loved doing, it changed the moment the ship crashed. That's when we became different people, when we started to realize just what we needed to do to survive. I've always looked after others more than myself, but until five years ago, I never knew what it meant to truly put others first, no matter how many homeless my family has helped. It was different," she admitted. Diggle sighed and looked around the room to make sure no one was listening to their conversation and Oliver glanced at the table before digging for something in his pocket. 

He pulled the book his father had given him from inside his jacket and placed it on the table for the man. "This was my father's. I found it when I buried him."

"I thought you said your father died when the boat went down."

"We both made it to a life raft but there wasn't enough food and water for both of us, so he shot himself in the head. And as much as he was doing it to give me a chance to survive, I believe that he was also atoning for his sins."

"Did you know this at the time, too?" he asked, looking at Anna. She shook her head, "I didn't find Oliver till six months after the crash," she told him, making him lean in to ask a question because he was deeply confused. Anna beat him to it and continued to speak, "It's all very complicated, but there was this boat - this freighter - and I made it to them, but the people aboard were crooked and dark-hearted. I was able to escape their rules and commands only six months after the Gambit crashed. It was then I made it to the island and found Oliver," she told him, knowing that so much information would take a moment to sink in. 

"I need to right the wrongs down by my family. And I'm offering you the chance to right the wrongs done to yours."

"Oliver, what are you talking about?"

"The police never caught your brother's shooter."

"Hey, you leave Andy out of this."

"The bullets were laced with curare. That's Floyd Lawton's MO. He is the sniper that I stopped."

"Are you trying to tell me you took down Andy's killer?" Diggle interjected. "Diggle, we're giving you the chance to help other people's families. Don't you remember when the people in this city helped each other? They can't do that anymore - Anna's parents can't do that anymore - because a group of people, people like my father, they see nothing wrong with raising themselves up by stepping on other people's throats."

"It needs to stop, and if it's not going to be the courts and it's not going to be the cops, then it's going be us," Anna continued for her boyfriend who was looking between her and Diggle. "And we hope you," Oliver finished while sliding out of the booth with a simple nod to Anna who smiled in response. 

When he stood, Rob approached and stepped up to his client, "I'm gonna' go to the washroom, Rob."

As he stepped away, Diggle pushed his basket of fries to Anna and motioned for her to try at least one. With a sigh, she picked up the fried potato and hesitantly put in in her mouth while tilting her head to the side to see if she liked it or not. Diggle smirked at her before looking to her right where Rob stood patiently and he chuckled, "Oh, that boy's long gone, man. Phew," he told him while blowing air out of his mouth to exaggerate his point. 

Rob turned to Anna and she held up the basket of fries, "They're not as bad as they seem," she admitted while innocently offering him one to imply she had no idea that had escaped through a window. With only a raised eyebrow, Rob stepped away from the table to go see if Oliver Queen really had departed and left Anna to talk more with Diggle about this 'fast food.' 

But John was right, Oliver was long gone.