Dinah would be pissed that he’d gone out on his own, but the city had quickly become claustrophobic after the latest influx of refugees. Too many people, too many heroes, all crammed together in Gotham City, pretending everything would return to normal one day.
Oliver could’ve requested a Hub transfer to Wakanda or Genosha for some R&R, but Dinah wouldn’t have wanted to go and he wasn’t really someone who could properly relax on his own, so he’d opted for the next best option... Leaving the urban space and heading into the green.
The State Forest was located a little less than 50 miles north of Gotham, although much of it had been razed in a wild fire some time ago. Thankfully there were still enough wild spaces left for Oliver to lose himself in, and that was exactly what he tried to do as soon as he arrived.
Crouching on the bough of a tree, a bow cradled in his arms, the shades of Oliver’s outfit blended in with the mottled foliage around him. It was blissfully quiet here, just a breeze rustling the leaves and the occasional sound of animals making their way through the undergrowth disturbed the silence, and Ollie could almost convince himself that it was years ago and everything was back how it had been before Darkseid’s arrival. Â
However, one thing he’d learned from surviving alone on a seemingly deserted island for five years was that you don’t give into dreams of the past or what could’ve been, you have to stay focused on the now. Accept the present you find yourself in, deal with what’s in front of you, then move onto the next challenge.
As if on cue, a commotion broke the stillness as a group of people burst through a thicket, their clothes torn and bloodied, looks of desperate panic mirrored on each other’s faces as they stumble forward, casting glances back in the direction they’d just come. Unnoticed for the moment, Oliver got to his feet, balanced on the tree limb as an intense sound of buzzing filled the air and some of the group started to scream. It was a noise which many had become familiar with over the past year and justifiably brought with it a sense of abject fear at what would follow. Their insect-like wings beating the air, a pair of parademons hovered into view, emitting a high-pitched screeching at the sight of their quarry and raising energy weapons ready to fire.
Without a second thought, Oliver somersaulted from the branch, drawing and nocking two arrows from his quiver as he did so. Before the parademons could react, the emerald archer loosed both arrows towards their targets. The first shattered a lens of the creature’s goggles as it buried itself deep inside its cranium, prompting screams of a different tone as the parademon started clawing at the arrow’s protruding shaft. The second arrow has heavier than the first, with a blunted capsule instead of a sharpened arrowhead, but found its mark inside the monster’s gaping maw and quickly put an end to the screeching when it suddenly exploded, taking the parademon’s head with it.
Raising an arm to shield his face from the splattering of brain matter, Ollie quickly advanced on the remaining parademon, quickly drawing and loosing multiple arrows as he did so. The creature stumbled backwards under the onslaught, still trying to clear its vision as each arrow thudded home, unerringly finding the gaps in its armour and drawing whatever viscous ichor served the thing instead of blood.
Finally falling against a tree, the remaining parademon started to emit a new noise, a kind of mournful keening that quickly grew in volume.
“ALL OF YOU... RUN!,” Oliver yelled, as he started to sprint himself. Herding the group through the trees, Ollie desperately tried to put as much distance between them and the injured parademon as he could, before...
BOOM!!
 The ground shook as a wave of force and heat erupted from behind them. A sound like a crack of thunder echoed in the wood as smoke billowed between the trees.
“Y’all okay?,” Ollie asked casually, raising an eyebrow. “I’m guessing you’ve never seen a parademon self-destruct before, hmm?”
Several members of the group shook their heads dumbly, to which Oliver just shrugged.  “I wasn’t expecting to meet anyone out here, otherwise I might’ve packed more explosive arrows... What’re you doin’ out here anyway?”
“T-trying to get to Gotham,” one person stammered.  “Paid a guide, but he abandoned us outside Phili!,” said another, and the rest murmured in agreement.
“Well then, it’s just as well that we found each other,” Oliver grinned, pushing the green hood back from his face. “Come on, we’ve got a fair hike but I’ll make sure you get there safely.”
Every one of the refugees seemed to visibly relax that someone else was taking the lead and fell into line behind him. Ollie dropped his smile as soon as he turned away. So, not only had he snuck out alone, but he was returning with more mouths to feed, all of whom would be telling the story of how The Green Arrow single-handedly killed two parademons to save them... Hell, by the time they got back the story would probably have grown to even more than that.
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