. How'm I supposed to die? .
How'm I supposed to die,
When there's only one way to live?
and the treasure in your eyes
you were never meant to give
and you were made to turn your back
what am I to say to that?
.
Thea Queen made her way through the overgrowth of the island, making sure to stay close to her brother. Every so often she'd reach out and grab her brother's hand as if to reassure herself that he was still there and that he was real.
It was what she used to do when she was little after she'd had a bad dream, judging by the way Oliver kept shooting her soft smiles and squeezing her hand when she grabbed him - he remembered that she used to do it too.
Yao Fei kept looking at her with a furrowed brow, his mouth contorting into a frown as he stared at her. Whenever he looked at her with his searching gaze, that briefly made her wonder if he could somehow read minds, she could feel the cylinder in her pocket burn.
She knew it was there and she didn't want him to know, she didn't know how he'd react.
Fyers had said he was a monster, a violent man that had killed dozens and couldn't control his impulses if he was really like that then he wouldn't hesitate to kill her. But it also raised the question of why would he keep her brother alive if he was that kind of monster.
Monsters didn't need friends and they certainly didn't rescue girls from traps.
So what was Yao Fei?
.
By the time they made it back to the cave, practically on the other side of the island - his mentor had insisted on them taking a longer route to avoid being stuck in yet another trap, it was dark. That was the one thing he'd noticed about the island, the one thing he'd found almost beautiful, when it was dark it was dark. There wasn't any light pollution and you could make out the night sky, you could see the stars.
He liked looking up at them, especially before he'd reunited with Thea, he used to take her into the garden of the Queen Mansion and show her the stars.
It had comforted him to know that no matter where she had been on the island she'd be looking at them too.
Oliver Queen led his sister towards the cave, allowing his bearded mentor to take the lead, giving her a reassuring smile as they entered it. The way her face scrunched up as she eyed up his current living conditions earned a chuckle from him, though he'd have thought this would be an upgrade for her compared to sleeping on the ground.
Even a small wooden pallet or leaves intertwined over some branches were better than the ground, though either way, it was a major step down from home.
He'd give anything to go home again.
Thea was still eyeing his friend up uncertainly, with what looked like suspicion in her eyes, maybe being on the island had changed her. She'd been through a traumatic experience, it wouldn't surprise him if it did.
"Welcome to my humble abode," He joked hoping it would relieve some of the tension.
Thea let out a small, albeit forced, laugh whilst his friend simply headed over towards their makeshift campfire and tried to get some food going.
She froze for a second before hurrying over to where he'd dubbed 'his area,' it was unofficially his part of the cave and it was where he slept. Frowning, his curiosity piqued, he followed after her and smiled to himself at the fact she was still living up to her nickname.
He looked over and saw that she was holding their Father's notebook, she was running one hand over the cover as her other hand clutched her locket.
At least they both had a reminder of home, something to remind them that there were people waiting for them and somewhere for them to return to. He thought about the battered photograph of Laurel in his pocket, that had somehow survived the storm and his time on the island, it felt wrong to hang onto it - like he was still hanging onto her despite the fact she probably hated him.
He was the reason her sister was dead and every time he looked into her bright eyes, wide smile that always seemed far too bright and optimistic compared to the world around them, she had given him it in case he'd miss her and instead of cherishing it and waiting to see her again he'd brought her little sister along and killed her.
It was his fault.
He hated the selfish person he'd been, it hadn't even been that long since the Gambit but he felt like it was years ago - how could he have been so stupid?
He'd nearly lost Thea, had been able to feel exactly what Laurel must have been feeling and now he felt nothing but guilt and remorse.
If the situation had been reversed and someone had hurt his sister he wouldn't want them to breathe, he'd want them to suffer and pay for it.
Just like he was paying for his sins now, he just wished Sara and Thea hadn't been dragged down with him.
He shook his head to shake away the thoughts, "Come on Speedy...we should probably get some rest...he has first watch." His mentor nodded as if to confirm what Oliver had said and refocused on the fire, Oliver tried to ignore the guilt he felt at the fact he was meant to be on watch.
As the other man probably hadn't been able to sleep properly in years, not without having one eye open.
But he needed to focus on Thea, needed to look out for her.
She was his only chance at redemption and she was his little sister, it was his job to protect her.
No matter what.
He lay down on the pallet opposite Thea, giving her enough space to not feel crowded but close enough so that his presence would - hopefully - reassure her.
It had been a long day and as he watched the soft rise and falls of his sister's chest, grateful that she seemed to fall asleep easily, he allowed the darkness to claim him.
.
Thea waited until she was sure her brother was asleep before moving away from him and back over towards the fire, letting her mind wander as she stared into the flames. She liked fire better than water, she hadn't been burned before but she'd nearly drowned.
Sometimes she could still feel the cold of the water and feel the salt burning her throat.
She didn't like it when that happened, she'd fall asleep and everything would be there and she couldn't escape it. At least whilst she was awake she could think about other things, focus on survival and her brother and Fyers.
Instead of what happened on the Gambit and the sound of her Father's death.
Yao Fei had left the cave after Oliver had fallen asleep, she assumed the man was on some kind of patrol and she hoped that he wouldn't be back anytime soon.
She thought about the tracker in her pocket, about what she was meant to do now she was at Yao Fei's base and relatively alone.
A part of her knew that if she did do it then she'd have just followed the plan, but it felt wrong. Yao Fei wasn't what she had expected. He didn't seem crazy, his appearance was ragged and sometimes his gaze unnerved her but he didn't seem evil.
Then again her Father hadn't seemed like a murderer.
Maybe she just wasn't the best judge of character.
On one hand, she had Edward Fyers telling her that the man who had shot her brother was a psychopath and a murderer but she had her brother earnestly talking about how the man had saved him.
However someone could save someone by shooting them.
Fyers had forced her to watch as Wintergreen blew someone's brains out.
She looked back towards her brother, he was alive and he hadn't left her.
He'd kept his promise.
She just hoped that he would forgive her, that he wouldn't be mad at her for what she was about to do.
She just wanted to protect him, stop anyone else from taking her brother away from her.
She didn't want to be alone again.
And if she was really wrong, and if Yao Fei was as skilled a fighter as Fyers had made him seem, then maybe Yao Fei could save them both.
Guest Reviews -
1 - Don't know if that's you saying you read this and think it's Oliver/Thea or whether it's you asking for it, you are free to interpret this as Oliver/Thea although there will be zero romance between them but I suppose certain moments could be viewed that way if you tilt your head and squint but I won't be writing this as Oliver/Thea. It's a personal thing where I'm not comfortable reading or writing incest, if you're into that then fair enough but it won't be happening here.
2 - Thank you! I'm sorry that this one wasn't super quick. GTWK takes longer to update as you have to type up the episode whilst watching it and then change it so it isn't a copy. They're taking longer as unlike this they haven't been pre-written beyond rough drafts and plans, plus I want to change them so it's less like canon but it should be updated sometime soon-ish as Damaged is one of my favorite episodes and I watch it a lot anyways.