Natural Disasters, Hidden Pain, and What Oliver Queen Does When No One Is Watching

[Art by MissMert] Natural disasters are exciting. Whether hurricane, blizzard, or early tornado watch, when the Weather Channel calls it out we all embrace the terror, Instagramming pictures of our survival kits – books, games, drinks – and organizing our Netflix queues. Deep down we all hope it’s record-breaking because we love talking about it and we’re secretly disappointed when it falls short of expectations. But how does Team Arrow handle being trapped inside? Oliver Queen The stubborn, serious hero, trapped in his apartment room, peeks out the door to see if Thea’s home as he slowly shuts it closed. He turns off the lights, which makes him notice the glow from the city still sneaking in through the window. Ollie walks to the blinds in his sister’s apartment and peers into the record-breaking storm covering the city – his city – before twisting the lever to close them. It’s dark now, and he’s alone, and Thea won’t be home for hours. He lifts his mattress – he couldn’t keep it on his computer, Felicity’s too good – and Oliver Queen pulls the VHS box set of Batman. He takes of his shirt and runs to the closet. He’s free now, oh so free! Batman paraphernalia pours out when he opens the door. Ollie grabs his favorite mask – a long-eared one he made on Lian Lu with tar and airplane wreckage while Slade and Shado slept – and lowers it onto his face. He watches all of them, even Batman and Robin – especially Batman and Robin! “Roy!” he says to the silence. “Get your motorcycle,…