A relatively short addition to the Arrow AU. With two flashbacks to island!Ryan!
One At A Time
There were three properties in Starling City that had been in Ryan's name, and that his will had left to Kaitlin along with everything else he had. Two of them now held businesses now, a gym in one and Brooke's company in the other, but the third was in a rougher neighborhood and still sat empty, and that's the one Ryan headed for, climbing to the top of the fence swiftly and flipping up over it to land on his feet.
Once inside, he dropped the duffel bag he'd brought and looked around, deciding that the old warehouse would work just fine for what he had planned.
~~~
"I've done some bad things, Ryan," Jimmy said, looking across the lifeboat at his son. "A lot of Starling City has."
"Dad..."
"Let me finish," Jimmy said. "The elite... we've been choking Starling City for years, and it's only going to get worse. I need... I need you to promise me you'll be better than me, that you'll do good things, and you won't let other do bad things... that you'll set things right for the city."
"Dad, you can fix things when we get home," Ryan said firmly, shifting to sit beside his father. "Someone will come..."
"Not in time," Jimmy said. "I need you to promise me that what I'm about to do won't be for nothing."
"Dad?"
"Promise me."
"I promise," Ryan said. "I'll fix things."
Jimmy nodded, pressing a notebook into Ryan's hands, then pulling a gun from his life vest. "I love you, son," Jimmy said before shooting himself in the head.
~~~
Ryan let an arrow fly, watching in satisfaction as it hit the tennis ball he'd thrown a moment before and pinned it to the wall. Maybe this wasn't how his dad had planned on him fixing Starling City, but it was how he was going to do it. One scumbag at a time. He glanced over as his new phone, a 'gift' from his mother, began to ring, and walked over, glancing at the display then taking several deep, calming, breaths before answering. "Hi, mom," he said.
"It's getting late," Kirsten replied. "Where are you?"
"Just enjoying civilization," Ryan said as he began to put his bow away one handed. "I'll be home soon."
Kirsten sighed. "I'm sorry, I know you're a grown man, you don't need your mother keeping tabs on you, but... I lost you for so long..."
"I know, mom," Ryan replied. "I promise, though. I'm not going to get lost in a club downtown for five years. I'm sure I could at least find a payphone if I did get lost."
Kirsten laughed. "I forgot that you're the one who taught Kaitlin the art of mocking."
"Ah, but she perfected," Ryan replied. "I'll be home soon," he repeated. "I just... I needed a little time to myself. It's... strange suddenly being surrounded by people."
"And you don't like Bart."
"I've never particularly liked Bart," Ryan replied. "Even... before," he added.
~~~
Ryan read through the notebook, trying to understand what he was seeing. People he had known his entire life were listed in the front, a long list of names, and further back there were pages detailing their crimes. Some were slum lords, some were involved in drugs or weapons trafficking, and some were involved in human trafficking.
He was only mildly surprised to see Bart Bass' name on the list. But when he found Bart in the back of the notebook, he wasn't expecting to see notes about the man raping a woman and forcing her to give up her son to him and his wife. He didn't expect to see a list of hospital visits Chuck had made when he was small, and how Bart had made 'generous donations' to the hospital after nearly every one of them, right up until Chuck and Ryan became friends an Chuck started spending more time at the Cooper mansion than at his own home.
~~~
"I'm never going to like Bart, mom," Ryan continued, shaking away the memory. "But I have to accept his presence."
"All I ask is that you be civil," Kirsten said.
"I will," Ryan promised, adding to himself that he would up until he moment he destroyed the man completely.
The End
Yes... Bart Bass is on the list... Bart Bass is truly evil... and Ryan is biding his time until he can destroy Bart with a minimum of collateral damage... meaning he wants to protect Chuck, Kirsten, and Kaitlion. But eventually, Bart will go down.