A/N: (ETA) I guess it hasn't yet been made evident (upon reading a recent comment, and realizing I've only ever explained this in the writing blog), but while I am aware that in DC canon Nyssa is older, I've decided to exercise artistic license to make her younger in this story because of two reasons: 1) she (and the rest of the League) is far likelier to respect and allow Talia, a previously-invisible League entity, leeway if Nyssa was younger, and 2) this story wouldn't even exist without Nerdgirlwalking's stories (which is a far better read than this, so go read them on AO3. go.), and so her canon took over mine, and takes precedence over DC.

Thank you for coming along and reading this method of post-Season 3 catharsis.

Talia al Ghul had been born into wealth, if not quite luxury, and had been taught from an early age that she was destined for greatness. Her mother had told her about her absent father, who had Very Important Things to do, but that he expected her to follow in his footsteps and be as great and important as he was. She had always been Talia, even as she went to boarding schools and went about her life as Lilian Tate, but she remembered her mother's voice, reminding her she was Talia al Ghul, daughter of Ra's al Ghul, his firstborn.

Talia didn't learn until she was nine exactly what that meant, but when she met the man, she learned she was Daughter of the Demon, that being Daughter was going to be a very important part of her life. She learned it even as she met a young girl who stood behind her father, a filthy, scrawny, mess of a thing, who the men around her father allowed to play with their swords and weapons, who wrestled with the young men and women her father called trainees – and won – and lifted her chin after every victory as if it had been an inevitability.

Talia noticed the way the young girl's gaze would cut to her father, earning a small nod, but was always followed with a critique of her fighting style: too many strikes, the fight took far too long, the other man had gotten an unnecessary punch in, her stance was defensive, the style sloppy. The thing, it turned out, was Ra's al Ghul's other daughter. Born of a concubine, a woman he had met in the desert.

That year they went on vacation, just them with their father… and with a few of their father's most trusted men and women, who… 'looked after' the two young girls.

Talia should have known the races, the obstacles, the training sessions of martial arts and weaponry, had all been tests. The chess games to pass the time at night? A test. The board games, the card games, the dare to jump off the boat in the middle of the lake at night? Tests.

Talia, having expected a quiet vacation, questioned the reasons for the training sessions, why they needed to endure such punishing tasks when there were books to be read and horses to ride. She hadn't taken to the weaponry so much, except for the swords, which required just a little getting used to and some minor adjustment, but it was just like fencing. The other girl, however, did everything they were told to, with a fierce determination to complete each task, and the seeming-natural ability with weapons shouldn't have been a surprise.

Then she heard it, what they started to call the young girl – Nyssa, her name was Nyssa – in hushed whispers. What they called Nyssa. Warith al Ghul. Heir to the Demon.

It had taken years for Talia to realize that Nyssa hadn't bested her in those tests because she'd been aware of their nature. Nyssa had succeeded in beating out anyone she faced in those games because she'd had no other choice.

Nyssa Raatko was the illegitimate child of Ra's al Ghul. Ra's had wanted a male child, but she'd been born instead. Since her mother died and as she was raised in Nanda Parbat, Nyssa had had no choice but to be the child Ra's wanted in an heir. She fought, and trained, and followed every word her father taught her, because there was no alternative. And at six years old, as if her position in life hadn't been precarious enough, she had met Ra's eldest child, a daughter borne out of a legal marital union, and their meeting, seemingly innocuous, had been fraught with meaning, at least to the younger girl.

This was the true heir to Ra's al Ghul. Talia may not have been a child of Nanda Parbat, may not yet be familiar with the rules of the Demon, but she would be.

Unless Nyssa proved herself. Nyssa had to be better. Worthy.

Nyssa had to stop being Nyssa Raatko and earn the name Nyssa al Ghul.

Sometimes Talia wondered if she'd gotten the better deal, not being named Heir but being considered the true child of their father. Talia had gone to school, had an actual upbringing, had been out in the world and earning her place in it. She had been given the responsibility of managing the Demon's legitimate assets, all while having a normal life.

But then Nyssa got their father's attention. Nyssa had been loved by her mother, and since their father allowed her to keep the name Raatko, Talia could only assume he had loved mother and child, too, if in his own way. Nyssa had the training, had learned at the foot of their father, stood by his side. The men and women of the League recognized her as Heir to the Demon, while nobody except those in Ra's inner circle had known of Talia's existence.

And despite her upbringing, isolated in Nanda Parbat and inculcated with the belief that those who served the Demon would never have happiness, Nyssa had found herself a little wisp of a thing, the League's very own Canary, who loved her despite all the flaws that Ra's would have preferred eradicated. Or maybe Ta'er al-Asfer loved Nyssa because of those flaws, Talia wasn't sure, she had never witnessed the relationship firsthand until Starling City, that particular night on the ship, when a blond thing with questionable outfit choices for a deadly attack followed Nyssa into the control deck and subdued the men who dared interrupt Nyssa's vengeance on the man who had dared to lay a hand on her sister.

Since then she had gotten to observe the relationship, the way Sara Lance could be the calming force in Nyssa's ever-simmering pot of emotions, the way their very movements were complementary and in synchrony with each other. There was a calm to Nyssa that Talia had never witnessed in her sister, definitely not since she had killed The Magician and called upon her sister to become Demon's Head with her.

And witnessing it made Talia understand, then, why their father had never quite been certain that Nyssa could be Demon's Head successfully. She had been born of overwhelming emotion and reckless behavior, and she personified those things against her better judgment. True, Nyssa could keep her emotions under control, and focus on the task at hand, but her feelings were always simmering under the surface, and when it boiled over, it was hard to predict how Nyssa would react. And Sara Lance made too many of Nyssa's emotions come to the fore. Emotions had no place in being Demon's Head, in even serving the Demon, but Nyssa was too taken by Sara Lance to acknowledge the truth in those tenets. When it came down to it, as Nyssa had told her those weeks ago before she had gone to attend to a member who had failed his mission, if it came down to a choice, Nyssa would still and always choose what was best for Sara Lance, what kept the Canary safe, even if it came in conflict with the laws of the League.

Over two years ago, Talia had gone to Nanda Parbat a week after Nyssa had released Ta'er al-Asfar from her oath, and had seen the bruises and wounds on her. Talia had marvelled at how Nyssa could choose punishment by the Demon's Head's hand over upholding the laws of the League of Assassins against one Canary, as well as wondering how Nyssa could even be able to manage to walk and move normally.

And remembered that Nyssa didn't have a choice.

Suffering is an option, their father had once taught them.

Talia could always leave, go home and ease her pain away from her father's scrutiny. Nyssa had never had that choice.

Talia remembered having a member of the League deliver her the message that their father was dead, and had been replaced by The Magician. She knew the politics involved, of course, knew that Nyssa would not stand to answer to the man who had killed her Canary, and had waited for word on what would happen next, wondering if Al Sa-Her knew of her existence. She got her answer just a few weeks later, a message from her sister telling her that matters were being dealt with, that the next messenger would inform her if she needed to return to Nanda Parbat. The next messenger never came; instead Nyssa had personally sought her out, telling her that The Magician was dead and she was Demon's Head, but that given the events of the past year, she doubted she could fulfill the role as she once believed she would. There were loose ends that needed tying, she'd said.

Talia had never really given her sister much credit as a tactician, still seeing in Nyssa the girl who'd had no patience for chess. Talia remembered, a few years after that forsaken vacation, and after Nyssa had yet again been on the receiving end of a lecture on controlling her emotions, they had been playing chess, and Talia beat Nyssa for six straight games before she berated the younger girl. She would have been happy over her apparent victory, except several times during the game, she had seen obvious moves that Nyssa could have done to win, all sacrificing the queen, but were not taken.

"If you refuse to pose a challenge, I can play this on my own." Talia had picked up Nyssa's queen and slammed it back onto the board. "All these pieces are played in service of the king; the queen must be sacrificed so the king will live, Nyssa. Your reticence to do what is necessary is why you always lose."

Talia would live to regret that exclamation, because Nyssa never gave her a chance to win ever again. Not that she was a better tactician, mind you, just that Nyssa was reckless and wild with her choice of movements that it was always hard to predict. And, as if merely to spite Talia, Nyssa made it a point to never sacrifice her queen if she could help it.

In retrospect Talia could acknowledge that Nyssa's knowledge of Oliver Queen, his knowledge and tactics, how he acted and how he reacted, had all served their purpose in Starling City. It had not just been meant as a staging ground for the inauguration of the League of Assassins under Nyssa's leadership, but a way to get under Oliver Queen's skin, their own kind of revenge for the heedlessness of his own actions against the League months prior. She couldn't say for certain if he had actually learned the lessons she and Nyssa had wanted to impart upon him, but at least he had known to walk away when Nyssa started killing the people who had held Talia hostage in that boat.

And she had no doubt, after the episode with the temporary paralysis, that he would never underestimate Nyssa again. Even Talia had been impressed at how easily Nyssa had broken The Arrow's wrist.

(Yes, she had a computer expert at her disposal who had accessed the security feed from the building nearby when Nyssa had subdued Oliver Queen. If Talia were the kind of person who found humor in things, it would even have been funny. She only wished she had access to the secret location of The Arrow and his team, as she knew the after-effects of the paralytic was a sight to behold.)

But it had been months since her takeover of Queen Consolidated, and Lilian Tate's base of business had never been meant to be Starling City. She had put people she trusted in control of both the Merlyn Global Group and Queen Consolidated, and even some League members had been planted in different departments to keep their eyes and ears on the goings-on at all levels of either corporation.

The League's operations in Starling City would continue, Nyssa had placed one of her most trusted men to keep watch and ensure they did not run into conflict with the law, and especially with The Arrow and his friends, even if, as Nyssa and Talia agreed, it was immensely tempting to hit Oliver Queen's face.

And as interesting as it had been, spending the past few months in close quarters with Nyssa, conceiving their plan to subtly take over Starling and establishing their leadership of the League of Assassins, they both acknowledged that they had always been better as separate and independent individuals, even if they were both Demon's Head. Talia would continue to spearhead the corporate and industrial dealings of The Demon, and Nyssa would continue the work as Ra's al Ghul to the League.

By agreement, they had a predetermined date and time to get in touch with each other, to ensure the other still lived, and to agree on matters tied to the League.

Before she could leave Starling City, however, Lilian Tate had to make one last public appearance, opening a community center in the part of the city called the Glades, one last major contribution to help a city that had been abused and exploited for so long. Lilian Tate smiled and had her picture taken and held babies (there was a daycare), and the population of Starling City gave her their thanks and gratitude for all the help she and her company had given their city.

"I cannot believe the mayor gave you a key to the city." Nyssa noted when Talia entered her town car, apparently having been waiting for her sister, once the pomp and circumstance was done, safely hidden from anyone's view within the privacy of the car's tinted windows.

If Talia was surprised to see her sister in her heretofore locked car, she didn't show it as she tossed the velvet box at her in a careless gesture. "I don't imagine I'll be needing that."

Nyssa raised an eyebrow. "Did you not enjoy your stay in the city?"

Talia gave her a look of absolute loathing as a response. "I believe the League sent a burning flotilla of cargo ships telegram to that effect."

They did. They really did. They had taken the ledger that had listed the entire smuggling operation that had been on the boat Talia had been held in, and operatives had gone in to destroy each member of the fleet. Nyssa had sent a footnote to Talia's command to ensure that those held captive on those ships would be sent to safety first, but she was certain some of her more ruthless assassins were bound to make excuses.

Talia settled in her seat, and regarded the younger woman. "When are you leaving?"

"In a day. ARGUS is watching the airport, and INTERPOL the bridges. I had to adjust my means of departure." Nyssa told her.

"You know we have the resources to erase your files." Talia reminded her.

"Yes, but for now this silly game of cat and mouse they insist on pursuing is worth the amusement." Nyssa replied.

Talia shook her head, because honestly: this recklessness was going to get Nyssa killed one day. "And your little bird?"

"Is on record as being deceased." If Nyssa were someone who easily expressed amusement, she would be grinning mischievously. As it was, the humor only expressed itself in a wry smile. "Wouldn't that be exciting."

She was insane. Clearly. Talia rolled her eyes. "Is she fine, leaving her family and friends behind?"

No, but Sara had always had a sense of wanderlust within her, and since Talia had waived Sara from having to again swear her oath to the League, only her allegiance to the Heads of the Demon, it was suffice to expect that she would go where Nyssa traveled.

Talia glanced at Nyssa, who kept her gaze on her sister. A far cry from the scrawny thing that had struggled not to press her face to the car windows to look outside, when they had traveled as children. "Answers to her resurrection remain unanswered, Nyssa."

"I am aware."

"And if the reasons arise?"

"Will be dealt with."

Talia scoffed. Still so gullible. "And what if she is a pawn?"

"She is not." Nyssa's tone was sharp.

Clearly she had struck a nerve. Talia narrowed her eyes. "You know as well as I do those who wish to strike against us will not hesitate to use her against you."

"They will not be given the chance."

"She could be used to strike against you." Talia stated, a harsh reminder in the guise of a gentle warning. The Magician, after all, had been able to use his own daughter to enact his plans. Who was to say Sara Lance couldn't be used similarly?

Nyssa finally glanced away, both of them knowing what Talia was implying but refused to state out loud: Sara was a chess piece against Nyssa.

And Nyssa had never been willing to sacrifice her queen.

But let Nyssa deal with that issue, as Talia had no doubt Nyssa would do whatever she damn well pleased anyway. "I noticed Thea Queen and Felicity Smoak were present today, alongside Thea's personal attorney and her sister, and Ms. Smoak's bodyguard, all sans your husband. Is Oliver Queen still pouting?"

Nyssa was grateful that Talia had let the subject matter of Sara drop, but would never say it outright; and the remark about Oliver made some of her goodwill disappear. "The community center is sponsored by Queen Consolidated and Merlyn Global. You all but forced their hand in attending."

Talia waved her hand dismissively, as if Nyssa's rebuttal was irrelevant, but Nyssa could recognize the minute smile on Talia's lips. "I do like how Miss Smoak never knows how to act around me."

"She means well."

"The road to hell, Nyssa." Talia reminded her of the aphorism about good intentions. After all, hadn't it been Oliver Queen's good intentions that led to this point? She glanced out the car window, as the car rolled into the indoor parking area of Queen Consolidated. "This endeavor has not alienated you from Starling's Green Arrow and his friends?"

"Thea Queen and Laurel Lance retain their allegiance and friendship. Oliver Queen and his friends will think twice before crossing The Demon again."

Talia glanced at her as the car came to a stop. "Next time, do not wait so long before you come to me. I will not be as intolerable as father in regards to you asking for help."

Nyssa scoffed. "There will be no next time."

Talia's gaze turned into a glare. "Nyssa."

Nyssa met her glare, and exhaled her reluctant acquiescence. "You have my word."

Talia kept her gaze on the younger woman for another long moment before she leaned back. "Perhaps next time I shall be the one to call on you."

"I shall look forward to it."

Talia smiled, a rare occasion especially when directed at her sister, and gathered her briefcase as she moved to leave. "Good hunting, Nyssa."

"Good hunting, Talia." Nyssa returned, also leaving the vehicle to take another car from the fleet of cars under the company. It never hurt to be cautious of possible surveillance, especially given the heat Oliver Queen insisted on bringing to his beloved city.

The doors to the owner's private elevator opened, and given how Talia was supposed to be the only one authorized to use it, expecting the car to be empty, instinct took over when Nyssa, Talia, and Talia's bodyguards all realized that was not the case.

Nyssa's knife was blocked, but Talia's leather briefcase proved to be an efficient weapon regardless, catching Oliver Queen off-guard and giving her enough of an opportunity to send him sprawling against the far wall of the elevator shaft.

The two sisters stood over the dazed man's body, Nyssa motioning for the guards to remain by her car as she joined her sister and Oliver in the elevator shaft and ascended to the rooftop where Talia's helicopter waited.

"Honestly, Mister Queen. Is this necessary? And it's like you enjoy having violence performed against you." Talia studied her briefcase, and frowned at the newly-formed crease that could easily be noticed. "You owe me a new briefcase."

Oliver hauled himself off the floor, picking up Nyssa's knife from the floor. He glared at her as he offered it back. "You're lucky I saw that coming."

"You're lucky I recognized your loathsome visage." Nyssa returned. The question of whether she had thrown her knife before or after she recognized him went unasked.

"To what do we owe this visit from the Arrow's alter ego?" Talia queried.

"I'm making sure you leave town and don't come back."

"You can speak normally, you're not dressed as Robin Hood with a leather fetish." Nyssa reminded.

Oliver gave her a petulant look.

"Was this necessary?" Talia asked dryly. "We have concluded our business here. If you've been paying attention, I have a helo waiting to leave, and your friends in ARGUS are the ones delaying my sister's departure." She feigned concern. "Did your time on Lian Yu do more damage than just psychological?"

Oliver scowled at her. Them. Since Nyssa stood to his side and Lilian Tate in front by the doors, he couldn't scowl in just one direction. He hated them so much.

"Be careful, Mr. Queen. I am not as merciful as my sister." Talia warned him. "Nor as forgiving. I will not hesitate to burn your city to the ground the next time your careless behavior crosses the Demon."

"I am protecting my—"

"I do not care." Talia cut him off. "People have died for less grievous offenses against the Demon's Head; you live purely by Nyssa's discretion. But do not mistake her discretion for benevolence on either of our parts."

Oliver scoffed, but wisely opted not to speak further. Instead, he crossed his arms across his chest and sulked.

Talia rolled her eyes at him, and turned to face the elevator doors, turning her back to him and trusting Nyssa to deal with the nuisance that was Star City's vigilante hero. When the doors opened, Talia spoke sharply to the League guard who stood waiting, poised to attack the assailant in the car with the Demon's Head. The guard stepped back, and Talia simply nodded at Nyssa before she turned to exit the elevator car. She paused just past the doors, and turned back to them. "Play nice, you two. I left your wedding present in the other car; you can thank me later."

Nyssa cursed an upbringing that made her thrive for her sister's approval, which prevented her from the impulse of throwing her dagger in her sister's direction, while Oliver was ever-helpful with his annoying sounds of protest.

Once Talia was on the helicopter and was safely on her way out of Starling, Oliver turned to Nyssa. "I hate your sister."

Nyssa concurred, pressing the elevator button for the parking floor once more. "Yes. I sometimes feel that way as well."

Oliver paused, then: "Her name isn't really Lilian Tate, is it?"

Nyssa looked away from the closing doors, and turned to regard Oliver. "But it is."

"I don't get it."

"You never do, Mister Queen." Nyssa said in fond exasperation. Because loathe as she was to admit it, the man had grown on her. Like a fungus. She watched the display that indicated the floor the elevator was on.

Once the doors opened, Oliver followed Nyssa out. "You can't take Sara."

Nyssa paused, and gave him a sidelong glance. "And you get to dictate my actions, or Sara's?"

"You know it isn't safe."

Nyssa gave him a baleful glare. "Might I remind you that her life had been made difficult due to her dalliance with you? She is safer with me and the League than under your protection, and we are both aware you are but one man and you cannot protect all those you love."

"She is a target because of you!" Oliver reminded.

Nyssa stopped, and turned to face him. "I am not merely Heir, Mr. Queen. You will be wise to watch your tone when you speak with me." She indicated their surroundings, and Oliver glanced away from Nyssa to notice Talia's bodyguards aiming guns and arrows at him. Nyssa stepped closer to Oliver, challenging him. "Furthermore, she will be protected because of me. Your city, your friends, the people Sara calls her own, they are protected because of me, because I care for her."

"This, what you're doing? You do the dirty work in the cover of darkness and have your sister playing the role of the role model and leader in the day? You're not making Starling a better place, you're giving it a mask to cover up the bad parts." Oliver argued.

"And you would know all about masks." Nyssa said dryly.

"Protecting Starling and keeping it safe is a crusade, Nyssa, for the rest of us. What you're doing isn't." Oliver gave her a pointed look. "Yours isn't heroic work, Nyssa."

Nyssa rolled her eyes. "I am Head of the Demon, Mr. Queen. The time for heroism is long past. I do what is necessary. You are still yet to learn the difference." She stepped away from him. "Lucky for you, I have grown weary of your presence and have other places to be."

She walked towards the spare car, and opened the door to the back seat to find a plain manila envelope. She picked it up, opened it, and studied the contents. Under her breath, she muttered, "I do only hate her sometimes."

She marched back towards Oliver, and shoved the envelope in his hands. "I believe this should be helpful."

Oliver frowned. "What's this?"

"My sister's gift. She tends towards irony." Nyssa said flatly.

"What is it?" Oliver asked warily, looking at the envelope flap, feeling trepidation at the mere idea of opening it.

"Learn to read, Mister Queen." Nyssa admonished. "Give it to Laurel. And I do not want to hear of this again."

She went back to the car, the driver obediently following her, and moments later the car left the garage, leaving Oliver behind.

Oliver looked down at the envelope, and finally opened it as instructed.

A wedding present, Lilian Tate – whatever her name is – had called it.

Inside were documents declaring his marriage to Nyssa null and void.

Something useful, Nyssa had said.

For once, since this whole thing started, they agreed.

End.

A/N: Thank you for reading this story, for favoring, for following, and especially for leaving comments. I often wanted to answer your questions, but to do so was to tell more about the story than I was ready to.

Yes, I know questions on Sara's resurrection need to be worked on and answered; however this story was about the Demon's Heads in Starling so their departure is the story's natural end.

[ETA 31/07/2017] I am working on a sequel, but it's slow going and I'm currently working on other things. I highly recommend following this story and NOT my user profile if you want to be alerted to any additions to this story.