Aug 23, 2025
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Photo: richardburnsphotography
-Like a lamb to the slaughter-
Batman and Robin: Year One #8 variant cover by Doc Shaner
My piece from the doc ock collab hosted by @floofkinsu !! We all chose different variants/designs and mine was Year One :3
Oliver Queen x Reader
Oliver’s been gone a year and he’s finally back in the public eye.
A/N: I recently read Green Arrow: Year Once since the compact came out and I kinda fell in love with Oliver as a character.
Oliver Queen left on that stupid boat for some stupid trip without telling you and he went missing.
But now he’s back, and apparently no longer the near-alcoholic nepo baby who threw his life away at auctions. He was taller, tanned, and muscular. He looked like an athlete.
None of it really mattered to you.
Why would you care if he came back better if he left you with no warning in the first place?
You grieved. You cried. You fell into depression. All over boy you knew didn’t deserve it.
Now that same boy was back and better than ever.
You didn’t care.
That was what you told yourself anyway.
The gala hall shimmered under crystal chandeliers, reflecting the light back on glittering gowns and silver dishes. The room was immaculate, but underwhelming. It looked the same every year.
The Queen charity gala was always hosted on Oliver’s parent’s anniversary, a tradition started when the couple first got married.
It was the first event he was attending since his return from the island.
You had yet to see him, which was by design. You had cornered yourself against the open bar to sip on soda-waters and hide. You knew it was cowardly, but you couldn’t face the man you once sort-of -loved. Not after he left you like he did. Not after he ignored you upon his return.
The only reason you, or anyone else for that matter, were invited was because the invites always get sent out a year in advance to ensure exclusivity.
The soda-waters were just catching up to your bladder when you bumped into Oliver on the way to the restroom. To say you bolted away would be an understatement.
After doing your business and spying around the hallway corner, you finally returned to the gala.
And of course you ran into Oliver again, bumping his shoulder this time on the way to your assigned table.
“Sorry, I’ve been really clumsy to- Baby?” He paused and looked you up and down.
“Don’t call me that.” You growled and dusted yourself off.
“I didn’t think you’d come.”
“I RSVP-ed. I’d be rude not to show up to a charity event.”
“Well, you look good.”
“Thanks?”
“We’re at the same table, if that’s where you were heading I could walk with you. I’d love to catch up.”
“I’m gonna get a drink, actually.”
His face dropped, so subtly only those closest to him would notice. “I’ll see you there then.” He said with a fake smile before turning away.
You ordered a double of your drink of choice and chugged it before finally facing your table. Oliver was away when you sat down, and you took the granted time to take a couple deep breaths.
You had just settled in when a warm hand brushed your shoulder as he sat beside you.
“Baby.” He said as his hand slid from your shoulder to your palm. Before he could lace his fingers with yours, you ripped your hand away. He sighed.
It continued like that for the rest of the evening. Oliver would reach out, and you’d push him away.
You scurried away after the meal only to be caught by the wrist and twirled into someone’s arms. You looked up in a daze to find Oliver guiding you in a simple waltz.
“Oh my god. Fuck off, Oliver.” You growled and tried to subtly pull away, the eyes of other dancers making you nervous.
“First of all, it’s Ollie to you, and second, not until you talk.” He retorted and twirled you again.
“About what?” You chuffed obstinately and fell into step with him.
He guided you closer to his chest and dropped his voice against your ear. “About us, because I’ve been missing you and I want to talk to you about what happened since I’ve been away.”
Heat crept up your cheeks despite yourself. “What’s there to say, Oliver? You ran away for a year and everyone thought you were dead.”
“That’s not what happened.”
“No? You didn’t stand me up on a date night for some yacht then vanish for a year with no warning? Huh, I must’ve had some crazy dream then.”
“Okay, the first part happened, but I didn’t choose to go away for a year. It was like Gilligan’s Island. I was only supposed to be gone for a couple days and I got stranded on an island.” He pulled back and guided you off the dance floor and into a quiet hall.
You pushed away from him the second he let go of you. “Even if that did happen, which I don’t believe at all, why didn’t you tell me? As a matter of fact, why didn’t you even leave in the first place?”
He bit his lip and blushed. “I- okay I don’t really have an answer for that.”
Your hands flew in the air as your voice raised. “Seriously!?”
“Baby, look.” He took your hands in his and stepped towards you. “I know how stupid I was. Trust me I paid for it. I’m not lying when I say I was stranded on an island. I almost died like a billion times because there was a literal drug empire there and I stopped it.”
“Are you on drugs right now?” You asked incredulously.
“No, baby. I swear I’m telling you the truth.” He rolled up a sleeve and put his hands in yours. “Look at the scars.”
He had around twenty-something scars on each hand, mostly around his fingers, and what looked like a healed scratch along his left forearm. “All I had was a bow and some arrows I made out of scraps.” He took your finger and traced the scar on his forearm. “I should’ve reached out as soon as I got back but I was rushed to a hospital and then rehab because I had developed an opium addiction.” He met your gaze. “You were the only thing that got me through it all.”
Heat crept back up your face. It was the most sincere you’d ever seen the man in your life.
He reach up and cupped your cheek in his hand. “I promise you that leaving is the biggest regret of my life. I’m so sorry, baby. So fucking sorry. I’ll do anything to fix what I did to you. Please let me fix it.”
You sighed heavily and leaned into his touch. “I hope you became a really good handyman while you were away then.”
His smile was blinding. “I picked up a few things.” He teased and kissed the tip of your nose.
You pushed him back by his face. “Slow your roll.”
“Sorry.” He chuckled and pulled your hand away.
“Gonna be saying that a lot now.”
“As you wish.”
"And so I found a new family. And a circus that never leaves town."
Robin (1993-2009): Annual #4. Year One.
