Thea watched as the shock registered on her brother's face and then Tommy's. To his credit, Oliver recovered quickly. "Thea," he said softly, his hand stretched out before him as he walked towards her.
"Don't use that tone with me, Ollie. I didn't misunderstand what you just said." She strode purposefully into the room, dashing away the angry tears that had fallen onto her cheeks.
"I can explain," he began.
Thea looked at him incredulously. "Explain? What exactly are you going to explain? The fact that you've been lying to me from the moment you came back from that island? Or the fact that you've been going around shooting people-"
"He doesn't actually shoot anyone-" Tommy interjected.
"Not now, Tommy!" Oliver and Thea said in unison.
Her eyes flashed furiously at her brother's friend as he held up his hands, taking a seat.
"You kill people! You kill people!" she repeated, aghast, her attention back on Oliver. "How is this even a thing? What happened to you on that island? Why are you going around dressed like a pea pod with a hoodie? OMG. Is this some kind of PTSD?" She kept firing questions at him.
"There are reasons you're not aware of."
Her mind was a mix of disjointed thoughts. She couldn't seem to focus on one thing. "Was everything a lie?" she asked, hating the fact that her voice cracked midway through the sentence.
Oliver approached her but she backed away. He noticed and stopped, his eyes pleading. "No, of course not. You're my sister and I love you. That's real. It's always been real."
"Do you think me naive? Unworthy of your trust?" Her voice rose as anger simmered beneath the surface. "Everything about your behaviour since you've been back has just become alarmingly clear to me."
"Of course not. Sit down, please. Let's talk about this." He gestured toward the chair beside Tommy.
Thea ignored him. "Does Mom and Walter know?" The thought that he'd told everyone but her nearly caused her to break down.
"Only Felicity, Dig and Tommy. No one else in our family," he said softly.
Thea glanced at the other man in the room. Tommy was looking at her with a pained expression on his face. "Always the boys club," she said, resentfully. "Tell me, was my entry denied by virtue of my sex or my perceived stupidity?"
"You're not stupid, Thea!" came Tommy's voice, filled with a surprising amount of heat.
"You!" She pointed at Tommy. "How could you allow this to happen? You do realise that Ollie could be killed, right? Or thrown into jail, disembowelled or-"
"Calm down, Thea," Oliver said firmly. "This is not Tommy's fault."
She couldn't stop talking. "I bet Felicity only knows because you married her."
She saw the guilty look on her brother's face and her stomach dropped. "You told her before that?" she asked hoarsely.
"She saved my life once and I didn't have a choice."
Thea looked him in the eye. "Were you ever going to tell me?"
Oliver shook his head. "No." When she turned her back on him he continued, "I was trying to protect you, Thea. I didn't want you to get caught in the crossfire if anything ever happened to me."
She scoffed. "I'd buy that excuse if I was twelve! I'm a grown woman. I have been for a few years. But I guess that's part of the problem, isn't it? Everyone still treats me like a child! No one tells me anything! No one believes me capable of deciding for myself what I want and do not want to be a part of! You and Mom, you're both so busy trying to control what I think and do that you never take a second to open your eyes and see me – actually see me!"
She was so angry she was shaking. "I deserve more consideration, Ollie!" A tear rolled down her cheek. "I thought you of all people would understand that."
She jerked her bag over her shoulder and ran out of the club.
Oliver started after her. "Thea!"
Tommy grabbed his arm. "I'll go."
He'd felt wretched as he'd listened to her pouring her heart out to them. Having spent time with her over the past few weeks, he was more convinced than ever that Oliver could trust her. He couldn't remember the last time he'd seen her that miserable and he'd worked hard to fight the strong urge to follow her when she'd run out. However, leaving Oliver behind without so much as an explanation would have given rise to questions he wasn't ready to answer.
Oliver pulled away. "I should be the one to talk to her, to explain."
"No!" Tommy replied forcefully. He'd been where Thea was and he knew that she'd resent it if Oliver tried to win her over with platitudes. She wasn't ready for that. "She needs some time, Ollie. If you go after her now, you'll only make it worse. Trust me, I know."
His friend looked at him, defeated. "That was not supposed to happen."
Tommy felt badly for Oliver, but he'd always thought that Thea was capable of handling the truth. "I hate saying it, but this could have been avoided if you'd just placed some faith in her."
Oliver stalked around the large room, clearly frustrated. "You know Thea. She's flighty and frivolous and not exactly discreet. She's completely freaking out. Telling her was never an option."
"Seriously?" Tommy asked, disbelievingly. "Are we talking about the same person here? The child you're describing is not the woman Thea is now. Sure, she wasn't the best secret keeper a couple of years ago, but she's not the same person anymore, Ollie. How have you failed to notice that? And freaking out? I think that's a normal part of the process, wouldn't you say?"
Oliver looked at him suspiciously and Tommy felt a little self-conscious. "When did you become an authority on my sister?" he asked darkly.
Tommy swallowed, feeling slightly awkward. Good question. "Look, my point is that you should stop judging her by old standards. Maybe she's right. Maybe you do fail to see her as an equal."
"She's my kid sister, Tommy!"
"She's your sister, yes, but she's not a kid anymore. You can trust her."
Oliver was back to looking at him questionably before glancing away and pinching the bridge of his nose. "Perhaps you're right."
Tommy let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. "I'll talk to her. Just give her some space and she'll seek you out when she'd ready."
When Oliver didn't say anything, Tommy clapped his friend on the back before collecting his keys and rushing after Thea.
Thea found herself on the doorstep of Queen Consolidated. She'd been driving around aimlessly, not sure what to do or where to go. Instinct had sent her to the one person she'd always felt completely comfortable with.
She walked past a myriad of cubicles and offices, faces passing her in a blur as she marched purposefully toward her destination. As Head of IT, Felicity had finally moved up from the bowels of the building and into a plush office on the 1st floor – not too far from the dungeons she so loved.
Thea stood at the entrance and watched her sister-in-law staring into her computer screen. She had a pencil stuck between her lips, her forehead furrowed in concentration. Not much about her had changed when she'd become a Queen. Dressed in a bright red pencil skirt and a white short sleeved blouse with ruffles down the front, she looked like the Felicity of old, completely comfortable in her own skin. That was part of the reason Thea had always liked her so much.
She stepped over the threshold.
Startled, Felicity looked up and smiled, then frowned when she saw Thea's red rimmed eyes. "Are you alright?" she asked, ushering her into a seat before closing the door.
"I know," she said without preamble. "I know Ollie is The Hood."
She watched as Felicity's eyes widened in surprise. "Thea, I-I…have you spoken to your brother about this?" Thea knew Felicity well enough to know that she was hedging.
"He knows I know. I confronted him."
Felicity's mouth made a surprised "O."
Thea leaned forward in her chair. "Why didn't he tell me? Why didn't anyone tell me?"
"Oliver wanted to protect you-"
Thea jumped up. "No more of this protecting crap! He kills people, Felicity! How are you okay with that?!"
Felicity walked around her desk and gently pushed Thea back into her chair. "Firstly, keep your voice down. Secondly, stop talking." At Thea's slack jawed expression Felicity pulled a face. "Okay, I know that coming from me that sounds absurd, but you need to breathe."
Thea sat back again, her emotions running ragged. Just when she'd thought she had her family figured out, life sent her a huge reality check. My brother is a murderer. The words seemed to reverberate inside her head. She kept trying to think back on past news reports and headlines that The Hood had dominated.
"You're thinking too much," came Felicity's concerned voice.
Thea shook her head. "How long have you known?"
Felicity sat down beside her. "Not long after I met Oliver he landed in a bit of trouble. He came to me for help and that's when our professional relationship slowly progressed to a personal one."
Thea couldn't stop fidgeting. "Why is he doing this? Aren't you afraid for his life? And he kills people, Felicity, like dead. I've seen the news, heard the stories," her voice was shaking.
Felicity put a calming hand on her arm. "There is a lot that you don't know. Oliver's reasons are altruistic-"
Thea couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Altruistic? Felicity, do you hear what you're saying? Since when has shooting sharp objects into another human being been considered philanthropic?" she interjected hysterically.
There was a knock at the door. Felicity glanced up in annoyance as a tall, thin man stuck his head inside. "We're ready for you, Mrs Queen."
Felicity rolled her eyes. "I've told you, Jack. My name is Felicity."
"Alright, Mrs Queen."
Thea watched as her sister-in-law's gaze swung from her to the tall guy. "Jack, would you mind running the meeting? I have something important that I need to do."
Sensing that Felicity was about to blow off her responsibilities because of her, Thea stood. "No. It's okay. I-I should go."
Felicity reached for her as she brushed past. "Thea, wait."
"Give Robbie a kiss from me," she said as she walked out, leaving a worried looking Felicity behind.
Tommy found Thea at Drama Queen after spending most of the morning searching high and low. He'd eventually contacted Felicity and asked her to track the GPS signal on Thea's phone to speed up the process. He didn't think he'd be telling her that though.
Walking into her design studio cum office space, he found her face buried in her laptop. "Hey," he said softly into the empty space.
Thea hopped in her chair and automatically shut the lid of her computer. "You shouldn't sneak up on people," she snapped. "That's the work of criminals."
Tommy decided to let the comment slide. "Talk to me, Thea."
"What's there to say? My brother is the most wanted criminal in Starling City and everyone in his life seemed to know about it except me. I think that about sums it up?" she said tartly.
He watched as went to stand at the large window behind her desk. He could see part of the bustling street down below.
"There's more to it than that and you know it."
She swung around, her eyes flashing. "No, I don't know that. I don't know anything."
"Maybe that's because you won't allow anyone the opportunity to explain?" he countered, moving to her side.
"Is that why you're here? My brother's wing man sent to plead his case?"
Tommy was taken aback by her anger. "No. I was worried about you and I thought I'd see if you're okay. But it would seem that perhaps Oliver had a point when he accused you of being a brat." He turned and stalked toward the door.
"I'm sorry," she said faintly. "Tommy, I didn't mean that." She turned toward the window and buried her face in her hands.
He recognised her confusion and anger. He'd been there a few years back when he'd learnt about Oliver's other life. Once behind her he placed his hands gently on her shoulders and turned her towards him. She automatically circled her arms around his waist and buried her face in his chest. Great sobs racked her body as he held her tightly, his hands cradling her head against him. He wasn't sure how long they stood like that, but eventually her gut-wrenching tears subsided.
Still, he held her close, unwilling to let her go just yet. "You know, Oliver isn't what you think he is. Yes, there's a lot that you don't know, but trust me when I tell you that he's the same brother you've always known and loved."
He felt her hands dig into the back of his shirt, but he kept talking in a low, soothing voice. "I was you a few years back. I found about him when he saved my dad's life after he was shot. I was so angry at him and I lashed out, pushing him away. It took a very stern-talking Felicity to make me see that I owed him the opportunity to explain himself. So I understand how you feel, Thea, and I realise that right now you're wondering why he didn't trust you or how you could have not known. It sounds cliché, but he was trying to protect you, not hurt you."
He felt the tension drain out of her body as she melted against him, her soft curves fitting to his form perfectly. It felt good to hold her, to provide her with the comfort she'd recently given him. "So I urge you, before you jump to all kinds of far fetched conclusions, talk to him. Allow him the opportunity to tell you his side. After that, you can decide for yourself how you feel about it."
She slowly pulled away from him and his hands smoothed her hair away from her face. His breath caught in his throat, his hands gentling even more as he carefully wiped the tears from her rosy cheeks. She looked so vulnerable and deep inside of him he felt his protective instincts kick in. Even with mascara running down her cheeks, her face red and blotchy, Thea was more beautiful than any woman he'd ever seen.
"I have been a brat, haven't I?" she said, her eyes greener than a forest floor.
He gave her a crooked smile. "Ollie didn't actually say that. That was me trying to wiggle my way through your armour."
She laughed, raising her hands to lay them on his chest. Her touch burnt his skin through the fabric of his shirt. "You did a good job."
They stared at one another, neither of them saying a word while his stomach did somersaults. She lifted a hand and trailed her index finger down the cleft in his chin.
"I've always wondered what this felt like," she whispered.
He swallowed convulsively. "My facial abnormality?"
"It's not an abnormality," she replied vehemently. "It adds character."
They were silent for a moment.
"Would you have ever told me, Tommy?" she asked. He'd known that she'd eventually want to know.
He shook his head. "It wasn't my secret to tell, Thea. Oliver risks his life almost every day to keep the people in this city safe. He's my best friend and I owe him my loyalty."
"I understand," she said and he realised that she did.
His phone vibrated between them and they reluctantly drew apart. "Laurel?" Thea asked as she reached for a tissue on her desk.
It was Oliver. "No…err…Laurel and I broke up."
Thea couldn't keep the shock off her face. "I-I'm sorry."
He shrugged. "It was inevitable."
"I'm sure it will be all over E-Online within the next few days. A billionaire bachelor is breaking news, after all."
She couldn't believe that he was no longer tied to Laurel Lance. It had been years since Tommy had been single. No doubt there were many ladies already lining up to fill the vacancy. The thought was depressing.
He leaned closer to her, his grey eyes piercing her soul. "Perhaps I should give them an interview and tell them what I know they want to hear."
She held her breath. "That you've already got women lined up around the block?"
He gave her a slow, sexy smile. "That I've decided I like being a one-woman kinda guy." The look in his eyes made her mouth go dry, her heart beating like crazy. "This time round though, I'm playing for keeps."
