Disclaimer: WB/DC own these characters. I'm only borrowing them for a while. I own the original ideas found in this.
AN: Thank you for returning to this story. Wow! Thanks for the wonderful reviews, follows and favs so far! For those who signed in, I believe I've thanked all of you. For the guests, thanks a lot. I appreciate you greatly as well.
To guest Cathy: yeah, I kinda prefer this alternative reality as well. Ha. Actually, I prefer it so well, I've started a sequel of sorts in it. Ha! A little wiser Oliver, I'd like to think. More to come about the sequel later!
Previously:
Nyssa followed them with their prize holding her head high, highly satisfied with the entire night's events. Nothing quite as satisfying as spending a night delivering League justice. Her father will also be highly pleased.
They arrived mid-day in Nanda Parbat. Because she knew her father was busy eating lunch, and wouldn't like to be disturbed with petty issues such as prisoners arriving, she ordered Merlyn to be taken directly to the dungeons and chained in a cell. Either she or her father would deal with him later. She rushed to the dining room, hoping her father wouldn't mind only her interrupting his lunch.
Upon being announced, she walked into the dining room and quickly assessed her father to be in a relatively good mood by the smile he gave her. "Hello, Daughter. You made good time in getting back here. I trust your mission was successful?" He nodded at a servant, who brought a plate of veal, baby potatoes and peas for Nyssa and placed it in front of her.
"Yes, quite successful, Father. Merlyn is waiting in the south dungeons to receive his punishment from you." She picked up a fork and took a bite of potato.
"I trust he is relatively unharmed? I know you were quite upset about Taer Sa-fir."
Sensing some danger ahead, Nyssa weighed her words. "I thought you'd want to deal with Al Sa-her personally, so I only administered battle wounds upon him."
"I see." Taking a bite of a bread roll, Ra's continued to look at his daughter. After swallowing the bite, and taking a sip of his wine, he asked, "Anything else to tell me?"
For the first time since she had developed the idea of taking revenge out on Queen, Nyssa had some doubt regarding her father's reaction to her idea. Keeping her face passive, however, she stated, "In order to find Al Sa-her I was required to torture Queen and his assistant until they gave up his location."
"Did you leave them alive?"
"Yes, but only because I wanted to make sure we found Al Sa-her. I then was in a hurry to get him to you, so we left immediately upon finding him."
"All very good Daughter. I trust the torture you administered was severe enough to be considered enough of a deterrent to prevent such behavior from Queen in the future?"
"Yes, it should. Especially towards his assistant, of whom he is very protective."
"Well done, my daughter. Hopefully we can bring this chapter to a close." After swallowing a bite of veal, Ra's said, "I am sorry for the loss of your Beloved. I may have had my doubts about her love and loyalty for you, but I knew you loved her a great deal."
"Thank you, Father."
After a moment, Ra's asked, "Do you feel avenged for Taer Sa-fir's death, or are you also wanting to have a share in Al Sa-her's punishment?"
"With your permission, Father, I would like to participate in administering justice to Al Sa-her."
Sipping his wine, Ra's looked at his daughter and nodded. "Yes, I think I will allow that. We shall discuss that later."
Nyssa nodded, and they then both turned their attention to their lunch.
~~OQ~~FS~~OQ~~FS~~
Previously:
Oliver had been concentrating on what Diggle was saying, he didn't realize his visitor had approached the I.V. stand. Suddenly he felt himself get drowsy. "Did you do something?" he asked his friend.
"They have a pain I.V. in your back for narcotics. I know you wouldn't do it, so I punched the button for you to receive a dose. You need your rest."
"Diggle…you know…I…I don't like pain medicine," Oliver said softly as he dozed off.
Giving his friend a smile, Dig said to the sleeping Oliver, "Yes I know, but you need it, my friend. This time you need it, and you are safe."
The next time Oliver woke up, the morning sun was streaming through the window. As awareness returned, so did the memories of the night before. He first looked at his arm and observed the I.V. still running, this time only a fortified bag of saline with nutrients.
"Oh, good, you're awake."
Oliver smiled as he noted Laurel was sitting in the chair beside his bed. He studied her and was slightly alarmed at the bags under her eyes and the drawn expression on her face.
"What's wrong, Laurel?"
She gave him a look of confusion and scoffed at him. "What do you mean? My best friend almost died last night and you wonder why I'm worried?"
"I've been hurt worse. Something else is troubling you, Laurel. What is it?"
Laurel broke eye contact and looked down at her hands, which were nervously tugging at each other. "Um, well…Like I told you when she took Thea, I told Nyssa to go after Merlyn and do whatever it takes to get him. I…I know I should've known how violent she could be, but I never expected her to torture you and Felicity."
"Hey, hey…" Oliver reached for her hand. With his other hand, he gently brought her face up to look at him. "It wasn't your fault. Don't you start trying to carry unnecessary guilt for things out of your control. That's my job."
Laurel smiled as she sniffed up tears. "I do feel responsible though. If I hadn't told her that…."
"She'd have done it anyway. You know that, Laurel. It is the code they live by. If they had any decency, she wouldn't have done something like that to us. But that is how the League of Assassins handle anger, grief and revenge. They act out, they use torture to bestow fear."
"But…."
"But nothing, Laurel. Her father must have said something to provoke her into taking her anger out on me and Felicity." A thought occurred to Oliver. "Wait a minute. Nyssa did tell me that her father does not believe Sara is worth a blood oath."
"What does that mean?"
Hesitant to expose Laurel to such violence, Oliver knew trying to protect her was impossible. She, like most women in his life, wouldn't stand for it. "A blood oath is taking vengeance for someone murdered by torturing and killing the one responsible."
"So…her father does not believe Sara is worth their justice?"
"Probably because he considers Sara never truly being a part of the League, thus not needing to be avenged."
Laurel leaned back into her chair. "Interesting. Sometimes I would be interested in meeting Nyssa's father."
A shiver of fear went through Oliver. "No, I hope none of us meet him. It would not deem well for any of us."
"So, you are saying Nyssa took her anger out on you for what Malcolm did to Sara?"
"Yes, she probably thought she was avenging Sara by making me suffer since Malcolm wouldn't be suffering for his sins against her. As well as making me watch as she harmed Felicity."
Laurel considered his statement then gave a shrug. "So, why take Malcolm back with her then?"
"Most likely because of his being behind the Undertaking. That would be against League law. That transgression, Ra's would consider worthy of League punishment."
Laurel scrunched up her perfectly trimmed eyebrows. "It seems hypocritical for them to object the Undertaking. Isn't killing still killing?"
Oliver shrugged. "I don't quite understand it either. But bottom line, it probably means we don't have to worry about Malcolm anymore."
Laurel shivered. "You won't hear any argument from me. No matter what, especially seeing what they can do," pointing to Oliver's injuries, "I'm glad he will be punished for taking Sara away from us."
Oliver nodded, but couldn't reply to such a statement. Suddenly he was trying to hide a yawn.
Laurel rose from her chair. "Thank you for making me feel better, even when I was supposed to help you. I better let you get some rest." Leaning over, she kissed him on the cheek. "Now, you better behave, and stay in bed. We need you completely healed so you can return to," and she pantomimed pulling back an arrow.
Oliver smiled. "Yes, Diggle has practically threatened me if I don't behave. See you tomorrow?"
"You can count on it."
~~OQ~~FS~~OQ~~FS~~
Malcolm found himself regaining consciousness in a place he never thought he'd be in again, one where he never wanted to return. Chained in a standing position by wrists and ankles to the stone wall of a dungeon cell, Malcolm knew it didn't bode well for him being here. In Nanda Parbat. In Ra's' own Fortress. As his prisoner.
The fact Nyssa had tempered her punches, and didn't 'punish' him before arriving here at Nanda Parbat also did not bode well for him. Malcolm knew of many of the types of punishments Ra's administered to his enemies, and wasn't looking forward to finding out which ones he would now experience first-hand.
"Ah, Al Sa-her, you are awake."
Turning his head, Malcolm heard the hinges creak as the cell door opened. He watched Ra's al Ghul enter his cell, a guard on either side of him, and approach him, only stopping when he was right in front of Malcolm.
Waiting for Ra's to speak again, Malcolm attempted to hide his fear. He wasn't ashamed of his actions regarding the Undertaking. He felt he had indeed avenged Rebecca for the failure of the people of the Glades to protect her. However, even though he had often administered such punishments as a League member, Malcolm wasn't ready to undergo such torture himself.
And though he hated himself for it, Malcolm did have one last bargaining chip to offer which might save him yet. At the time he implemented this entire plan, he'd believed he really had no choice. Now, however, being possibly on Death's door, he could see the cowardice in such a plan. However, it was too late for regrets; he had to see it through, no matter what.
"Al Sa-her, did you murder Ta-er Sa-fir?"
Malcolm shouldn't have been surprised with Ra's being straight to the point, but somehow he was. "No, I did not. And I have video proof to show I didn't. It is on my phone, which is inside my inner pocket of my vest."
Ra's nodded at one of the soldiers on his right, who approached Merlyn and searched for the phone. Finding it, he quickly got through all security measures and was able to pull the video in question up. He handed it to Ra's, who watched the video in silence.
"Who is this young woman?"
"My biological daughter Thea Queen, to whom I only found out last year I am related."
"Queen? As in Oliver Queen?"
"Yes. I…I had come up with the idea to involve him in a scheme which would result in him fighting you in a duel, in place of his sister, thus wiping away my own blood debt. I…I drugged her with Votura to make her susceptible to suggestions in order to set her up. Thus causing her brother to sacrifice himself for her."
Malcolm watched fearfully as several reactions crossed Ra's face. Anger finally settled across the cold features, and the look Ra's shot Malcolm made him doubt his own survival past the next few minutes.
"I didn't think you could sink any lower than the reprehensible actions of what they call the Undertaking, but I was wrong. You willingly set up your own daughter to kill a family friend to get you out of a just punishment? And instead set up someone else to fight your battles for you?"
Despite being chained up, Malcolm shrugged. "I am sorry, Liege. It isn't one of my brighter, wiser ideas." Struggling to come up with a feasible excuse, Malcolm added, "I was so afraid of you, I didn't know what else I could have done. I needed a worthy opponent to beat you."
"Good try, Magician. If all else fail, try flattery? Such an attempt seems beneath you, however."
"I am truly sorry, Liege. I realize I brought disgrace to the League, both through the Undertaking, and through Ta-er Sa-fir's murder." He swallowed, trying to muster all the sincerity he could. "All I want is to return to your good graces, to become your horseman once again."
"Good try, Al Sa-her, good try. I wish I could accommodate you, but, you see, Al Sa-her," Ra's said, approaching Malcolm, "I do not believe you." He followed his statement with three swift punches to his abdomen, then to his kidneys. "Such transgressions, Magician," several more punches to his jaw and face, "cannot be forgiven." A final punch to Merlyn's nose caused a major nose bleed.
Face bloody, talking through a split lip, Merlyn mumbled, "I would do anything for you, Liege."
"Nice offer, but a little too late," Ra's said, using Merlyn's abdomen as a punching bag. "Like you have heard me warn others, Al Sa-her, you should have been careful not to make me angry."
As punches continued to rain upon his battered body, Malcolm struggled to retain consciousness, but eventually he lost the battle.
AN: Well, there you have it. Malcolm Merlyn finally gets his punishment. I almost felt avenged when he _ _ _ in Season 4 of the series, but not quite. Ha. (hope you know what I mean…decided not to spoil something for anyone who has NOT seen that episode of season 4, thus the blanks). Guess that's partly where this story comes from, wishing for more revenge upon Merlyn for what he all did in season 4. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and tune in for the next one.
