CHAPTER 1: ESCAPE ROUTE

"Not quite a victory to run from your problems
But it's the only plan that I got" -Paramore

Thea ran her fingers back and forth over Roy's letter. She brushed them over the bent corners and rubbed them against the thick crease. She looked down at the letter and read it again for the fifth time in the past two minutes. Two hours earlier, Felicity had explained everything to her. It was all planned. The security guard. The stab wound. His death. And it was all fake. She still couldn't really gather what it meant for her. For them.

She could be with him, and they could escape the lives that had been made for them in Starling. She had a few qualms about leaving her brother and Team Arrow, but there was no life left for her in Starling City. Thea Queen was dead. Everyone in Starling must have known it by now. The nuisances that lived on the floor below her had heard the commotion and called the cops. By the time the police arrived, she was already dead. From what she'd been told, Oliver arrived shortly after. It pained her to think about what he must've been thinking and feeling when he arrived home to find that she was dead. She didn't need to imagine it, either. Oliver and the rest of Team Arrow later stole her body from the morgue, and then they were jetting off to Nanda Parbat.

She could only imagine what was being said back home. What the news was reporting. What theories people were speculating. Her relationship with Roy was no secret, and anyone that knew her would find it odd that they were both killed in the same day. Perhaps Thea's murderer also orchestrated Roy's attack? There wouldn't be much information on who killed either of them, so it made the most sense. But if that was the case, why? Was it someone seeking revenge on the Arrow? If so, why was Thea killed after Roy? Where they involved in some illegal affairs? Needless to say, she would be avoiding the news like the plague for the time being.

She had to admit that she was excited. If she was being honest, she missed Corto Maltese. She missed being no one special. She missed being no more than the sweet barista from the coffee shop. She missed not being Thea Queen, and she took some comfort in knowing that she would never have to be that person again. She was free of the constraints of her family and past.

She leaned back knowing that even with Ray's high-speed jet, she still had over 8 hours on the plane, and she should probably get some rest. She couldn't, though, because every time she closed her eyes, she started to think. She started to worry. What must Roy be thinking? Would he have seen the news reports? Everything moved so quickly after she died, and Felicity didn't have a chance to call him before they boarded the jet. Once they landed in Nanda Parbat, she had to face a harsh truth and the reason that Oliver hadn't been able to contact them after being stabbed – high in the mountains of Tibet, there is very sucky phone service.

She just had to hope that he wasn't watching the news, and that the first he'd hear of her death would be from her own living, breathing lips.

Thea accepted the fact that she would not be able to fall asleep in the foreseeable future and stopped trying to. "What are you going to do?" she asked Felicity. The war to get her brother back was one that she was desperate to fight, but she knew that she couldn't. She would have to leave it in the hands of Felicity, Diggle, Nyssa, Laurel, and, unfortunately, Malcolm. She hated having to leave them, – well, not Malcolm – but she knew that they had capable hands, and, somehow, they would get Oliver back.

Felicity shrugged. "Whatever we have to."

"You'll get him back, I know you will."

"And as soon as we do I'll give you a call. Better yet, I'll have him give you a call," Felicity smiled.

"And after that, you're going to be happy, okay? Promise me you'll sort out your lives and be happy. Make him happy. You both deserve it."

Felicity turned and looked out the window. "We'll try."

"Why don't I believe you?"

Felicity sighed. "Thea, it's complicated."

"You're talking to the girl who used to crush on her half-brother and whose boyfriend faked his death in prison the same day that she got murdered. I am quite familiar with complicated."

"I want to be with him. I really, really do. We… Well, let's just say our relationship reached a whole new level, but I'm still afraid that he's just going to run again."

"Don't let him."

They landed on a strip just outside of Starling. Being so close to the city was risky enough, and this was where Thea would have to part from the others. She didn't even know what to call them. Friends? Family? The worst part was that it was her friends whom she wished to call family, and her family, namely her biological father, whom she was reluctant to call a friend. Sighing, she knew she must begin the goodbyes. She turned to Felicity and gave her a big hug.

"Everything with Ollie is going to be fine," Thea insisted. "I know you and the others will figure out the perfect plan before you know it."

Felicity nodded with tears in her eyes as she withdrew from the hug but held onto Thea's hands. "Yeah, I know. Thea, I'm really sorry all of this happened. Say hi to Roy for me, okay?"

Thea smiled. "Of course. And we'll call you soon to let you know everything worked out fine."

Felicity nodded again, and Thea leaned in close. She whispered in her ear, "I know you had sex."

Felicity nearly jumped and her eyes widened. "How-"

Thea shrugged. "It's a sixth sense. And, despite your evident worry, you seemed happy and calm for all ten hours of that plane ride. It's quite a significant feat."

Felicity was dumbfounded. Thea grinned, gave her a knowing look, and joked, "Stay safe, kids." She pulled Felicity in for a quick, final farewell hug.

Felicity, still speechless, could only stutter, "Y- You, too."

Thea laughed and turned to Diggle. She paused for a moment and said slowly, "I'm not really sure what to say."

She swallowed. "I owe you more gratitude than I could ever express. You've probably saved Oliver's ass more times than any of us could count. And because of that, you're the reason I got him back for so long."

"Sorry that had to end."

Thea shrugged. "I think we got more time together than either of us deserved."

They both smiled and shared a hug.

Pulling out, she added, "One more thing. Keep yourself safe, alright?

He grinned and nodded. "Will do."

She then turned to Ray who was standing a few paces behind Dig. She walked over to him and extended her hand for a handshake. "Thanks for letting us use the jet. I mean, you must have some pretty strong faith in Felicity if you aided her and Oliver in stealing a dead body and flying it halfway across the world to be resurrected in a remote fortress of assassins."

Ray laughed. "No problem. I do this all the time."

The only person left was Malcolm. She turned to him with a straight face. "Thank you. Thanks for not being an awful person this past week or so. Seriously, you've been very helpful. I hope you weren't looking to redeem yourself, though, because your help has done little in that respect. Enjoy the rest of your life, Malcolm. Try not to kill any more people in cold blood."

"Thea-" he tried to respond, but she cut him off.

"No. There's nothing left to say."

"Stay safe."

She turned around and looked at Felicity. "Say bye to Laurel for me?" Felicity nodded and Thea gave her final goodbye. She climbed into the rental that Ray had ordered for her and took a deep breath. Next stop: Roy Harper.

A/N: This chapter was kinda shit. I just had to finish it and post it because I've been poking at it for weeks. Hopefully you'll stick around for the next chapter :)