A little one shot that came to me after watching 3x10.
Thanks to my wonderful beta 'Zenamydog'; Without your input (and spell-check) this story would not have been possible!
Thea hadn't seen Roy since she'd talked to him about asking the Arrow-guy to find Oliver. That was 2 days ago. She had a sneaking suspicion that Roy was avoiding her, but she couldn't really figure out why. She'd been pondering about that so much; she had to recount her inventory 3 times, because she kept losing her focus. In the end, there was only one thing that made sense. Roy was avoiding her, because he knew something. Something about Oliver, he didn't want to share with her and that made her very pissed off. After all the things she said about everybody lying to her, they still didn't understand and she was getting seriously sick of it.
She'd taken it upon herself to find Roy, using the security feeds in the club. She noticed he often disappeared into the only hallway that didn't have a camera. The hallway where the locked door was. So, after a few times of watching him go there, she went after him, only to find the hallway empty when she got there. This frustrated her to no end, because it meant another lie. Dangerous to go down there, that's what Oliver had said, but not too dangerous for Roy, apparently.
So she waited and waited. Then she waited some more. Just when it crossed her mind that the secret room might have an alternate exit, and that Roy might not come up the same way as he went down, the lock clicked, and the door opened.
She saw Roy pale a little when he saw her standing in front of the door. To show she was not going to back down again, she crossed her arms over her chest and frowned at him. He at least had the decency to look a little ashamed.
"Thea… Um, what are you doing here?" he asked her, rubbing the back of his neck, a clear indication he was feeling uncomfortable.
"This is my club, Roy. I'm supposed to be here. The real question is, what were you doing down there?! And how did you even get the combination?" She was quite proud of the fact that she didn't raise her voice, but sounded menacing none the less. She took a step forward, getting into Roy's personal space. "After everything that has happened, after all the crap all of us have been through, I find out that you're still lying! And I've had it! You know something, I know you do. You and your little green friend know what happened to Oliver and you're going to tell me, NOW!" During her little speech, her voice grew in volume, until she shouted the last word in his face. Roy's face turned from uncomfortable and ashamed, to angry and self-righteous.
"I've been lying? If that's not the pot calling the kettle black. Tell me, Thea, what exactly have you been doing in Corto Maltese, with Merlyn?" That made Thea take a step backwards. How did Roy know she was with Merlyn? She'd only told Oliver about that, and only because he'd confronted her about it.
Roy took a step forward, mirroring her earlier move. "You don't get to behave like the spoiled little princess this time, Thea. We've all got our problems, and we've all got people we're worried about. You say you want the truth, but have you ever thought about what the truth really does to people? It only gets people into trouble. Don't throw a temper tantrum because you don't know the truth. Just be happy you're in the dark."
Roy moved to walk passed her, but was stopped by Thea's strong grip on his arm. "You don't get to decide what I need and needn't know, Roy. I'm a grown woman; I can damn-well make my own choices. This is my brother we're talking about. There isn't anything I wouldn't do to get him back home. I have the right to know!"
Roy turned towards her again, anger rolling off of him in waves. "Really? You really want to know what happened to Oliver? Fine, I'll tell you." He headed towards the door and keyed in a code, making the door unlock. Stepping aside, he motioned for Thea to go first.
Thea's jaw practically dropped to the floor when she saw the set-up under her club. Glass cases were positioned in neat rows along the sides, containing arrows and guns and knives. She spotted 2 advanced looking bows, and several high end computers, but what caught her attention the most; was the green hood that was hanging over a mannequin, opposite a red hood. She turned towards Roy. "What the hell is this? Your little hide-out is underneath my club?" Her anger flared again.
"Your club? Tell me, Thea; who was it exactly that started this little venture? Who picked the name 'Verdant'? Hell, who used to be here all the freaking time, even though he didn't work here anymore? C'mon Thea, you can't be that blind." He walked past her and headed towards the computers. He motioned her to come forward. "You wanted to know about Oliver?" He cued up the footage of her killing Sara, the footage they got from Malcolm.
"Oliver is dead. He's dead because he wanted to protect you from the biggest, baddest assassin the world has ever known. He did that, because Merlyn put you, and him, in that position. Thea, Malcolm doesn't care about you, or Oliver. The only thing he cares about is the bounty on his head, put there by Ra's Al Ghul. He forced Oliver's hand, knowing very well that Oliver would do what he could to protect you. And that cost him his life." He pulled out the sword that Merlyn had left in the lab. "So, turns out you lost both your brothers because of your father. The only question now is, what are you willing to do about it?"
"What are you willing to do about it." Thea heard Roy's words, but they just didn't seem to have any meaning. Her focus was torn between the computer and the bloody sword beside it. She reached out her hand, but didn't quite touch the blade that supposedly ended her brother's life.
"No," she said with conviction, "No! Malcolm is the only one who's never lied to me about who he is. He's always admitted to being the wolf, never the sheep. This though, he wouldn't do this!" her voice caught on the last word. "Not again," she added quietly. She stood from the chair and moved towards Roy, pressing her finger in his chest. "You're lying. This has to be a trick. I didn't kill Sara. I think I would remember if I did. Besides, I had no motive. Malcolm had no motive."
"Actually," a voice from behind her said softly, "he has a perfectly good motive. Or, a perfectly bad one, considering what we're talking about." Thea turned to see Oliver's blonde ex-assistant turned whatever, standing behind her. Her eyes were puffy and red, clearly indicating the woman had been crying, a lot.
She watched the blonde moving towards the computer. "When Oliver first got the tape, we looked at it from every angle. It isn't doctored, and the meta-date clearly shows it happening when and where Sara was murdered. That, and Merlyn giving us the play-by-play when Oliver confronted him, makes this video the real deal." Thea opened her mouth, to contest what Felicity was saying, but Felicity just kept talking. "You don't have to take my word for it, or Roy's. Can't argue with proof though…" Felicity dropped into her chair and hit a button. Another video appeared, clearly shot upstairs in the club. Oliver was sitting at the bar, when Malcolm stepped into the frame.
"It's the strangest thing," Malcolm said, walking up to Oliver, "Thea just called and said she was attacked by the Arrow. You wouldn't know anything about that, now would you Oliver?" Oliver turned towards the voice, and the loathing was clear on his face. "This was you," he said through clenched teeth, "You know, I figured when I spared the man who murdered my mother, I would never kill again." Oliver jumped off the barstool he was sitting on and lunged towards Malcolm. "I was wrong."
Malcolm sidestepped Oliver's attack, and turned towards him again. "You might want to reconsider." He said, a smug smile splaying on his lips. "Why?" Oliver said tensely. "For Thea." He swiped something on his phone, and at the same time Oliver's phone beeped. "Check your phone. I can wait," Merlyn said, and he moved to sit on the barstool Oliver had just vacated.
Oliver watched something on his phone, his face falling and he groaned. "I don't think you want the League to see that. And if you kill me, they will." Oliver shook his head. "This isn't her," he said, but it sounded more like he was trying to convince himself.
"Have you ever heard of a plant called Votura? Grows in South-America. In fact, it thrives in Corto Maltese, making the subject extremely susceptible to suggestion, retaining no memory of their actions." Malcolm had gotten off the chair and moved back towards Oliver. "I will tell Ra's this was you, that Thea was under your control!" Oliver's barely contained rage was clearly displayed on his face, but Malcolm remained unflappable. "And he will still kill her. She fired the arrows," he said it in a clinical tone, completely devoid of feeling.
Oliver's face turned pale. "You've given her a death sentence." Malcolm shook his head. "No, what I've done is given you incentive."
"To do what?" Oliver asked, defeat clear in his tone.
"To tell Ra's that you killed Sara Lance. By right, you will be given a trial by combat, with Ra's. His death will erase any blood debt from his reign. Including Thea's." was Malcolm's reply.
Oliver shook his head. "And yours." Malcolm didn't reply to that, he just turned around and walked away. The door to the club clicked closed, and Oliver fell to his knees, tears streaming down his face.
The amount of feelings that crossed Thea's face after she watched the video was startling. Shock, disbelief, anger, resentment, and then shock again, until it finally held firm on something you can only describe as undiluted hatred.
"When?" she asked, but her question wasn't directed towards anybody specific. It didn't need clarification either, so Felicity took it upon herself to answer. "This footage was shot the day Oliver left. He went to Ra's Al Ghul and challenged him. Merlyn showed up with the bloody sword 3 days later. I tested the blood, it's definitely Oliver's." Felicity grew quiet, and a tear made its way down her cheek. Given the soft way she talked about Oliver, Thea could tell that the blonde woman cared about her brother very much.
"Why did you let him leave?" she asked, not accusatory.
This earned her a humorless chuckle from Felicity. "Have you met Oliver? That man gives new meaning to the word 'pigheaded'." She fell silent when she realized what she had said. 'Gives', not 'gave'. It looked like her subconscious still hadn't accepted that Oliver was really gone.
Thea only nodded. The stubborn trait wasn't exclusive to Oliver, and Thea had made plenty of bad decisions because of it.
She heard Roy's words again, "What are you willing to do about it." She raised her head, brushed away the traitorous tears that had snuck from her eyes and faced Roy. "I'm going to kill him."
Felicity glanced at Roy and then smiled. "Would you like a hand with that?"
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