Responding to Moira Queen's last sentence. "I think you and I need to have a little talk", Isabel nodded and tilted her head towards the new Lair's kitchen and began walking in that direction, away from the other people in the common room. Moira got the message and followed Isabel to the facility's kitchen. Oliver, who was now talking to Thea, looked on in evident concern about what Isabel and his mother were going to talk about but stayed in the common room.
Soon after the two women arrived in the middle of the kitchen, Isabel, thinking she knew what Moira wanted to talk about, turned around and confronted the older woman with an angry look on her face and an edge to her voice that was only slightly tempered by the low volume of her speech. "If this is about you telling me to stay away from your son, you're wasting your breath, Moira! Oliver told me you told him about me and Robert, and your son tried to end things between the two of us, but I'm not going to let…"
Moira, with a nonplussed look on her face, interrupted the brunette with a raised eyebrow. "That's not what I wanted to talk to you about, actually. We both know you wouldn't listen to me if I asked you to stay away from Oliver, anyway."
Isabel visibly calmed down and nodded. "No. I wouldn't. So what is it you wanted to talk to me about?"
Moira sighed. "A couple things, actually. One, I wanted to thank you for saving me and Oliver's lives tonight... And from what my son said earlier, that wasn't the first time you rescued him."
Isabel shook her head. "You don't have to thank me for any of those things. I didn't do them for you."
Moira smirked. "No. You did those things, and risked your life to turn against Slade Wilson, because you think you are in love with my son."
Isabel's eyes lit up like a flame in anger as she spoke louder than last time, but still soft enough that her voice didn't leave the room. "I am in love with Oliver! I know that fact makes you uncomfortable, and believe me, it freaked me out too when I started developing feelings for your son, but that's what happened!"
Moira shook her head. "I know that's what you believe, Isabel. But Oliver is not his fath…"
Isabel wouldn't even let Moira finish that sentence. "You think I don't know that!? I am well aware that Oliver Queen is not his father, Moira! He's very different than Robert. Oliver is a hero, for one thing! He's noble and selfless! Oliver is his own man and he is special!" 'And better. He didn't exploit my desire to be loved like your husband did.' Isabel mentally added, but decided not to say out loud, for obvious reasons.
Moira smiled. "Yes, my son is very special. Good. I just wanted to make sure you recognized that, and you weren't just projecting your feelings for Robert on my son. Or just falling for the infamous Queen charm again."
Isabel blinked, but there was still an anger on her face. "So, you were just testing me?!"
Moira shrugged. "Pretty much. A mother can never be too careful when she is looking out for her children, especially when one of them begins spending time with someone with your…unique history with our family." Isabel just nodded at that while the Queen matriarch kept speaking. "In any case, even though you didn't do it for me, I appreciate that you have been looking out for my son, and for saving my life tonight. Thanks to you, not only is my son alive, my children also still have a mother. Thank you."
Isabel sighed. She knew that it must have been difficult for Moira to say that to her of all people, and from the pointed look on the mother's face, the brunette knew that the older woman had only thanked her because she felt obligated to do so and was expecting some kind of response. So Isabel reluctantly responded. "You're welcome."
Seeing that Moira was about to turn away and, apparently, go back towards the common room, Isabel gulped and reluctantly started a conversation which she knew the Queen matriarch was too proud to start on her own. "So where does that leave the two of us? Are we supposed to just go back to hating and avoiding each other? Because given our present set of circumstances, I think that may be a little difficult. And awkward. Furthermore, if you think I'm going to stop going after Oliver…"
Moira Queen turned around and sighed, but the relieved look on the older woman's face gave away that she was glad that Isabel had started this conversation so that she wouldn't have to. "No. I don't think there will be any going back to the way things were after tonight. You saved the lives of both myself and my son. I don't think I can hate you after that, as much as I may want to. But that doesn't mean I like you now, either. In fact, I still intensely dislike you. And I won't ever forget the affair you had with Robert, either."
Isabel shrugged. "I wouldn't expect you to forget something like that." The brunette briefly thought about apologizing for her actions in the past, and how they had negatively impacted the Queen family and Moira's marriage, but she decided against it. 'There are some things that you just can't apologize for.'
However, when Moira Queen's eyes widened, Isabel realized that she had, without intending to, spoken that last thought out loud, and the brunette briefly worried that she may have lost the ability to have an internal monologue, and wondered if that was a side effect of the Mirakuru.
Moira Queen's words interrupted Isabel's musings after the older woman spoke. "I'm not sure you are referring to what I think you are but…Damn. I certainly wish that my son had thought to store some alcohol here. This is the kind of conversation we really shouldn't have without lots of wine, but…That is exactly what I thought Miss Rochev, after Malcolm Merlyn's Undertaking, which I helped him set up, killed 503 people. That there are some things I just couldn't apologize for. But then I had nightmares about the disaster I helped create for weeks afterward while I was in prison. And the only way I was able to keep some modicum of sanity was by writing letters to the families of every single one of Malcolm's victims, apologizing for my part in the Undertaking."
Moira paced around the room for a few seconds, then added. "After I was released from prison, I sent money from my own bank account to all of those families so that they would not suffer financially from the loss of their loved ones. Most of my letters were returned unopened, and some of the families responded by sending me hate mail, or even death threats, and very few of them would accept money from me. And I understood why…I understood that all the money, all the apologies in the world would never bring those families' loved ones back, or take away the pain those families experienced because of those deaths. But… It was still important that I made the gesture. That I tried to, if not completely make amends for, at least take responsibility for what I had done and show I was sorry."
Moira looked meaningfully at Isabel. "So while I agree that there are times when apologizing for a wrong isn't enough…not nearly enough, I disagree with what you just said. Apologizing is never pointless if you are truly sorry for what you have done."
Isabel nodded silently and hesitated for several seconds, so long that Moira thought the conversation was over, and the older woman had started to leave the room, before the brunette finally added. "Then I'm sorry. I'm sorry for having plotted against your family with Slade before I turned against him. I'm sorry for trying to take over your family's company before and…"the hazel-eyed woman took a deep breath and added. "I'm sorry that I hurt you all those years ago, when I had that affair with Robert. That I almost cost you your marriage to the man. I still don't like you very much, but you didn't deserve that. And what Robert and I did back then was wrong. And I know that. And I'm sorry."
Moira just nodded. "Thank you." That was all. Not "I forgive you" or even "I accept your apology", for Isabel guessed that the Queen matriarch wouldn't be able to truly forgive her for her affair with Robert for a long time, if ever. But for the moment, "Thank you" was enough.
Moira frowned for several seconds, said something that sounded suspiciously like "I know I am going to regret this" under her breath, then said out loud. "Isabel, you've proven your devotion to my son on and off the battlefield and it's obvious Oliver has feelings for you too, so…" Moira's face puckered as if she were sucking on a lemon as she spat out. "If Oliver, knowing what he now knows about your history with our family, still decides that he wants to be…"the eldest Queen coughed awkwardly "close with you again, I won't get in the way this time. If that happens, I will respect my son's choice. But if things turn out that way, don't expect me to like it. And don't expect me to start liking you all of the sudden. That, and my trust, are things you would have to earn from me over time. Do you understand?"
Isabel just nodded silently with a serious look on her face, although the brunette was starting to become more hopeful about her romantic prospects with Oliver based upon the elder Queen's words. But that pleasant train of thought was almost derailed when Moira added. "By the way, your prior sins against me notwithstanding: If you break my son's heart, or betray him in any way, I will break you. Oliver has already suffered enough for several lifetimes, and I will not allow you to add to that. Do you understand that as well?"
Isabel was surprised when she felt an irrational surge of intense anger pass through her in reaction to Moira's words, but the brunette shrugged that off as a side effect of the Mirakuru and said "I understand. Thank you. I wouldn't expect any more than that from you, at least not yet. You're right. I can tell Oliver has been through a lot. Plus, he puts the weight of the world on his shoulders every night by trying to be the Arrow. The last thing I want to do is add to his suffering. I am in love with your son, Moira. And I want to help him carry the burden he puts on himself so that he doesn't have to face the world alone."
Moira just shrugged at that and walked out of the kitchen and toward the common room while adding. "Well then. I guess we better get used to seeing each other often, Miss Rochev. Because it doesn't appear either one of us is going anywhere anytime soon. That will certainly make things very interesting for both of us."
Isabel nodded and sighed. "Yes. I suppose it will."
Several minutes after Isabel and Moira had their conversation, which Oliver had asked his mom about, but Moira Queen had responded by simply saying, "Later", everyone started filling out of the common room one by one. Most of Oliver's teammates and family members got a sleeping bag and cot and went to bed soon after, but Oliver Queen decided to go to the new Lair's training room, one of the few rooms he had bothered to equip so far, for some target practice with his bow and arrows. And it was going horribly.
Oliver sighed as he looked at the results of his marksmanship a minute into his practice session. Of the ten arrows he had let loose in that time, five of them were now partially embedded into the wall around the target, and of the five that actually hit the target, only one of them hit the bull's-eye. Oliver sighed. "Damn. I'm worse than Roy right now."
Oliver shook his head to try to get out the psychological funk he was in, which was keeping him from focusing on hitting his targets but it wasn't helping at all. The truth was, Oliver Queen was currently worried about so many things that it was getting overwhelming. The vigilante was, of course, worried about Slade, and the continuing threat to Starling City and the Queen family the assassin represented. But he was also worried about Roy. Sure, Thea's presence seemed to be calming the young man down now, but Oliver didn't know how long that would last, or whether he was putting his little sister in danger by allowing her to spend time with the unstable, Mirakuru infected young man. Plus, from the look of things earlier in the common room, Thea and Roy were back together as a couple now, and the blonde man had no clue whether that would help or hinder Roy's ability to control his anger. As if that weren't bad enough, Oliver was almost certain now, based upon what Slade Wilson had said earlier tonight, and the feats of speed and strength he had seen the brunette perform recently, that Isabel Rochev was infected with Mirakuru as well.
Oliver mentally cursed himself. 'You seriously have a one track mind, don't you, Ollie!? Why does everything have to go back to Isabel for you!?'
The emerald archer sighed. He didn't really have a concrete answer to that question. All he knew was that he couldn't get the woman with the sad but inviting hazel-eyes off his mind…and he couldn't stop loving her. But, he knew, intellectually, that he shouldn't. For two reasons.
For one thing, Isabel had had an affair with his father several years ago, and if Oliver wanted to be a good son and honor his father, he knew he shouldn't be involved with the same woman now. The thing was, even though his mother had told Oliver what had happened between the brunette and Robert Queen years ago, the blonde billionaire wasn't quite as freaked out, or angry, about that fact as he guessed he should have been. It had taken awhile, but eventually Oliver had figured out that the primary reason for this came down to a failure of his imagination. He simply couldn't picture Isabel and his father having been together. It just seemed…off somehow. Like a sort of cosmic impossibility. And for this reason, even though, intellectually, Oliver knew the affair had happened anyway, he just couldn't bring himself to hold it against Isabel, or be freaked out by that fact, as much as he knew he should have. Of course, Oliver admitted to himself reluctantly, that probably also had something to do with the fact that he had fallen in love with the brunette, but the vigilante quickly pushed that thought aside. He really didn't want to think about that now.
The second reason Oliver knew he shouldn't love Isabel was because of his other family members. His mother had made it very clear that she did not want him to be in a relationship with Isabel. In the past, Oliver wouldn't have cared about that, but now that he was actually trying to be honest with his family and keep them together…he didn't want to jeopardize all of that over a woman, even one that he loved. And Thea was as big a problem. Sure, Robert Queen wasn't her biological father, but the man had raised her, and Oliver was worried he would lose his sister if he reconnected with Isabel and Thea found out about the hazel-eyed woman's prior relationship to the man she had called "father" for most of her life.
For both of these reasons, Oliver had convinced himself that, whatever he might feel for Isabel Rochev, breaking up with her was the right thing to do. So, Oliver had done so. The trouble was that he felt horrible about it now, especially when Isabel looked at him with those beautiful sad eyes of hers and silently asked him to come back to her. And that, feeling bad about undertaking a course of action he was convinced was the right one, was something that Oliver had never experienced before.
Sure, the archer admitted to himself, there had been plenty of times in the past where doing the right thing had been painful, or had taken a lot from him, such as deciding to remain "just friends" with Laurel after Tommy died and his childhood friend and ex-girlfriend said she wanted her space. But in the past, even when it hurt, Oliver had felt good about his course of action when he was doing what he believed was the right thing. Right now, however, that wasn't the case, because he could see that staying away from Isabel wasn't just hurting him, it was hurting her too. And hurting Isabel, who had obviously suffered a great deal of loss already, made Oliver Queen feel like an asshole. Especially after Isabel had almost died for him tonight. Because now he felt like he was just another person in a long line of individuals whom Isabel had loved that had left her, in one way or another. And that did not sit well with Oliver Queen at all. The blonde man simply didn't know what, if anything, he should do about it.
"A million dollars for your thoughts."
Oliver Queen looked over his shoulder at his mother, whom he had heard enter the room behind him seconds ago, and smirked. "Only a million? Are you getting cheap on me now, mom?"
Moira shrugged and smiled. "Well, our trust funds aren't what they used to be before the Undertaking, are they?" The Queen matriarch looked at all of the arrows her son had accidentally embedded in the wall ahead of her, and the lone arrow in the bull's-eye, and turned towards her son with a worried expression on her face. "I'm guessing you are usually a better shot than this, aren't you Oliver?"
Oliver chuckled. "Yeah. Just a little."
The middle aged woman shook her head. "You obviously have a lot on your mind then." Moira Queen sighed. "You've been thinking about Isabel, haven't you? And it seems that whatever your unresolved issues with her are…they are impacting your ability of focus on your combat skills. Considering the battle that's coming soon between you and Slade, that concerns me."
Oliver glared at his mother for just a second, but quickly slid his face into a stoic mask. He knew it was irrational, but part of him was still angry with his mother for, essentially, having forced him to choose between Isabel and his family. Which, Oliver knew, was silly, since Isabel had been the one who had chosen to have an affair with his father years ago. But still…it had been his mother who had chosen to tell him about that only after he had already fallen for the brunette, and who had basically told Oliver to stay away from the hazel eyed woman he had fallen in love with. Even so, deciding he really didn't want to go over any of that terrain with his mom right now, the vigilante just shrugged. "I'm fine. And I don't want to talk about Isabel. Especially not with you." Oliver cursed himself for not quite succeeding in keeping an angry edge out of his voice.
Moira nodded. "I understand why you wouldn't want to talk about her with me…after I told you to stay away from her. But…" Moira put one of her hands on Oliver's shoulder in a gesture of understanding. "I think tonight's events have made it pretty clear that you still have feelings for Miss Rochev, and that she has fallen for you as well..."
Oliver gently shrugged his mother's hand off his shoulder and interrupted Moira's words with an angry tone he didn't even try to cover up this time. "Well, it doesn't really matter how I feel about Isabel, does it!? You made it clear that she is off limits…" Moira opened her mouth to interrupt Oliver, but her son steamrolled right over her and continued. "And I understand why, okay? I know what Isabel did with my father six years ago, and I don't want to dishonor my father's memory or hurt you by starting anything between Isabel and me again. I get it. But that doesn't mean that I have to like it, or that my feelings for Isabel just magically went away. That I don't still care about her. So yes, she has been on my mind a lot lately. Yes, that bothers me. But since there's not a damn thing that I can do about it, can we just not talk about her, please?!"
There was a long moment of deafening silence before Oliver spoke again. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said all of that…"
Moira shook her head. "No. We said we were going to be more honest with each other, and sometimes that means talking about things that make us uncomfortable. So I appreciate your honesty right now, Oliver, even if I don't always like the truth when It's told to me."
Oliver shook his head. "Like I said, I understand why you hate Isabel…
Moira shook her head back. "I don't hate her."
When Oliver stared at his mother with an incredulous expression, the Queen matriarch smiled and admitted. "I used to. But that changed tonight. It's hard to hate someone that has saved your life. And I wouldn't be very good mother if I hated the person who saved my son's life, would I? And it sounds like Miss Rochev has done so on more than one occasion."
Oliver frowned. He couldn't quite see what his mom was getting at, or read her expression, so he had no idea where this conversation about Isabel was going. And that made him nervous. Nevertheless, with as neutral a tone as he could manage, which as it turned out, wasn't all that neutral, the man replied to his mom. "Yes. She saved me from Slade tonight, obviously. And last night, she recued me from my own stupidity when I tried to go after the same man on my own. She had help from the rest of my team, then, but still….yes, she saved my life."
Oliver Queen shook his head out of his revelry when he realized that for a moment there, when he had been talking about Isabel, he had been daydreaming about the night he and the brunette had shared together in Russia again. And not just the sex, although that had been great…but also the conversation that led up to it, when the brunette had intentionally revealed the beautiful, but wounded soul that she hid from the world behind a mask of ice to him for the first time. That had been when he had started falling in love with her in earnest. And even though thinking about that evening made him sad now, his thoughts had been drifting back to that night in Moscow a lot recently. Still Oliver knew he really shouldn't be thinking about that now, and he was so busy worrying about where his thoughts had been a few seconds ago and chasing them away, that he didn't even notice the hint of wistfulness that had entered his voice when he had talked about Isabel saving his life.
Moira, however, noticed Oliver's tone of voice and the sadness in his eyes as he spoke about the brunette, and several seconds later, the eldest Queen sighed. "You really do love her, don't you?" Oliver opened his mouth, but this time it was the mother who wouldn't let the son interrupt. "I'm not asking if you think you should, or for you to tell me whatever it is you think I want to hear. I'm asking you, as a concerned mother, are you actually in love with Isabel Rochev?"
Oliver hesitated for several seconds, then nodded. "Yes." But the man quickly added. "But I understand why nothing can come of what I feel for her. Acting on how I feel would dishonor my father's memory, and hurt you, and who knows what would happen if Thea found out about what Isabel and my father had been up to years ago…"
Moira cut her son off, and with a sour look on her face that made it clear that she wasn't enjoying this one bit, the mother demolished one of her son's arguments. "I know you love your sister, Oliver, and even if she is ticked off at you right now, she knows it too. But Thea has nothing to do with this. She is not your father's biological child, for one thing, and neither you, nor your sister were at fault for what happened between Miss Rochev and your father. And even when all of that was happening, your father never stopped loving either of you…"
Oliver nodded at his mother's words. He knew better than most that they were true, since his father had committed suicide on the lifeboat right after the wreckage of the Queen's Gambit just so that he would have enough supplies to survive until he reached the island. He decided his mother didn't need to know about that, however, as she continued speaking. "This isn't like the secret of Thea's parentage, Oliver. Your father's affair has nothing to do with your sister, so she doesn't need to know about it. You let me worry about Thea."
Oliver just nodded at his mother without speaking. He didn't understand why, exactly his mother was saying all of these things, when she had every reason to dislike Isabel and try to talk him out of his feelings for the brunette, so he decided to let his mom keep speaking so he could find out why she seemed to be doing the opposite of that right now. And pretty soon, Moira resumed talking and placed both her hands on her son's shoulders as she looked at Oliver meaningfully. "And Oliver, your father would be so proud of you…"
The Queen matriarch saw her son shake his head, but she wouldn't hear a word of objection on this front. "And don't even try to argue with me. That's the truth. You have helped so many people since you came back from the Island. You may not have stopped the Undertaking entirely, but that wasn't your fault, and you managed to save most of the people in the Glades, which I am personally very grateful for. You're the reason I don't have even more blood on my hands than I already do. Plus, from what I understand, you have helped many other people in this city as well, and even inspired some of them to be heroes like yourself. You make people, people like Sara, or Roy, or Isabel, and even me, better. I never would have had the courage to reveal my stake in the Undertaking and start the evacuation of the Glades if you hadn't urged me to do that. And even though I ended up going to prison as a result, it was worth it if it even saved one person's life that day."
Oliver just nodded at his mother's words, unable to come up with a rebuttal to them as Moira continued. "You are a good man, Oliver. And I can tell you have given up so much to try to become a hero to this city and a man your father would be proud of. And to that end you gave up on a relationship with Laurel, or a hope for any kind of regular life. You should know that your father would be just as proud of the man you've become as I am. And you honor him every night that you go out there and risks yourself to save others. That being said, I think it's past time that this family stopped living in Robert Queen's shadow and making decisions based upon his memory. That isn't what he would want for you, and that's certainly not what I want. Furthermore, I want you to know that, whether or not you end up being…" Moira coughed "connected with Isabel again, I will still be proud of the man you have become."
Oliver's face took on a confused expression. "I…I don't understand. You were the one who told me to stay away from Isabel in the first place! And it's clear that you at least, intensely dislike her, for completely understandable reasons. So I don't get why you are saying all of this now. Besides, I don't want to do something that would make you so uncomfortable…"
Moira cut her son off with a scoff. "Please. Living in fear for your family's life and being forced to take part in mass murder by a psychopath who happens to be your daughter's biological father was an uncomfortable situation. Prison was uncomfortable. Having to spend more time around Isabel Rochev would be awkward. Sure. But that would be a small price to pay for my son to have some joy in his life again. I understand that now. Better than I did when I pretty much commanded you to stay away from Isabel, anyway. After years of trying to cover for myself, and look after my own interests first by lying and keeping secrets, even while trying to convince myself I was doing so to protect you and Thea, I am trying to put my children first again. And that includes you."
After hesitating for several seconds, the Queen matriarch added while her son continued standing in stunned silence. "You have already given up so much for this city, and for your family, Oliver. I am not going to ask you to sacrifice your heart too. And since it seems pretty clear that Isabel's feelings for you are genuine as well, and she has clearly proven she is loyal to you… All I am saying is that, even though I wouldn't necessarily be happy about it, if you choose to get back together with Isabel…" Moira took a deep breath and spoke in a strained voice that made it very clear to Oliver that it was taking everything his mother had to speak the next sentence. "I won't stand in your way. Just don't expect me to instantly start liking the woman if that happens, okay?"
Oliver just nodded for several seconds. He didn't really know how to process everything his mother had just told him. All he knew was that he was grateful for Moira's words, and that he now felt somehow…lighter than he had for the last 24 hours or so, now that he knew he wouldn't have to choose between his love for Isabel and his love for his family. And Oliver, who didn't really know how to express his gratitude for that, settled on giving his mother an awkward hug before he quickly pulled away and said. "I understand. And thank you."
Moira shook her head. "Don't thank me yet, Oliver. There are still two…fairly big secrets I have been keeping from you for a long time that you need to know about. I'm afraid the first one will have to wait until after you stop Slade though. I don't want it to distract you from doing whatever you need to protect Starling City, or your friends and family. Do you understand?"
Oliver nodded. He didn't really understand why his mom was still keeping secrets from him, in truth. But the blonde man figured that, since his mother had just given him her permission, if not her blessing, to date Isabel again, he owed Moira Queen a little leeway as well.
Moira sighed. "Good. I promise you that I will tell you that secret as soon as you and your friends deal with that one-eyed bastard. But there is something you should know right now. The thing I was going to tell you and Thea in the car tonight and that I will tell your sister at the very first opportunity. Malcolm Merlyn is alive, he found out Thea was his daughter, and he threatened to claim your sister as his own and take her away from us."
Oliver just shook his head and said nothing for several seconds while Moira anxiously awaited her son's reaction. The truth was, he was currently experiencing emotional overload due to this conversation with his mother, and he was feeling a mixture of thankfulness, anger, joy, and fear due to all Moira Queen's words tonight . So even though he normally would have been a lot more upset about hearing Malcolm was alive, that did not happen, because the archer did what he normally did when he couldn't handle everything being thrown at him, he choose an item to shelve for him to deal with later. The emerald archer sighed as his face took on serious expression. "Okay then. Thank you for telling me that. I don't know how Malcolm could still be alive after I shoved an arrow through his chest, but if you say the man is back and trying to go after my sister, then I believe you. But as much as that concerns me, and believe me, that bothers me a lot, I have to focus my team's energies on beating Slade now, do you understand? I can only deal with one problem, one nemesis, at a time. We will find Malcolm and deal with him after I deal with Slade." The blonde man's tone made it clear that his words were a promise.
Moira nodded. "I understand. Just be on your guard in the meantime. I will tell Thea the same thing."
A clearly exhausted Oliver Queen sighed and nodded. "Are there any other earth shattering revelations you would like to stuff into this 24 hour period? I don't think it's quite been that long since you told me about Isabel's history with my father."
Moira shook her head. "No, Oliver. I think that I've unloaded enough secrets on you for one day. But I do have one piece of motherly advice for you. Get some sleep. You look exhausted, and even heroes need to rest eventually." Without another word, Moira Queen left the new Lair's training room.
Oliver nodded his head and silently acknowledged that his mother was right about one thing He was exhausted, in more ways than one. He just wasn't sure that he would be able to sleep with so much on his mind. Still, deciding that it was worth a shot, he decided to follow his mother's advice and walked towards the men's dormitory after he had cleaned up the training room.
Half an hour later…
Oliver Queen tossed and turned in his oversized sleeping bag on the cot he had picked, the bunk closest to the only entrance to this dorm and farthest away from Roy and Diggle's beds on the other side of the room. As the archer had feared, he couldn't sleep at all, because he simply had too much on his mind right now to do so. Which was sort of ironic, really, considering that tomorrow was a Saturday, a day he wouldn't have to worry about waking up early for any reason, since he wouldn't have to work or (probably) watch over the streets until tomorrow evening.
Oliver's private musings about his sleeping habits were cut short, however, by the sound of a light pair of feet entering the room, and the archer instantly turned toward the doorway to face the unknown individual in the dark while his hand instinctively went under his bunk towards his bow and arrows.
But the blonde man's hand pulled away from his weapon when he heard the person in the doorway speak softly. "Calm down, Oliver. It's me, Isabel. I…I know I'm not supposed to be here but I'm far too hyped up to sleep and I thought…" The archer saw his co-CEO, fellow vigilante, and love interest shake her head, while he noted her uncharacteristically nervous tone of voice, which seemed to convey that Isabel was feeling more troubled and vulnerable than usual. "You know what? Never mind. This was a bad idea. I'll go now."
But Oliver's voice cut off Isabel's retreat from the room. He guessed that the brunette was probably still pretty wired from having the Mirakuru in her system being forced into her bloodstream "permanently" not three hours ago, and that was probably making it hard for her to get into a state even remotely resembling calm right now, much less sleep. So, because of that guess, and the conversation he had just had with Moira, Oliver felt absolutely no guilt due to what he did next, especially if his actions could help Isabel calm down. "No. It's okay. I can't sleep either. As long as you can keep quiet and not wake the others up. You can stay. Here."
Oliver opened up his large sleeping bag just enough for Isabel to climb into it beside him before the brunette re-zipped it and said. "Thanks. I know this is sort of breaking the rules, but… I've never been too good with rules anyway."
Oliver chuckled softly and wrapped his arm around Isabel while noting the feeling of her long red silk pajamas against his bare skin, as Oliver had elected to sleep in his underwear, an act which evidentially surprised the hazel-eyed woman, because her posture stiffened for a moment, but she quickly reciprocated the gesture with her own arm while the blonde man spoke. "Don't worry about it. I only divided the dorms up because I thought Roy might try to get in my sister's pants tonight otherwise. I know that they have been in a relationship for a while and all… I just don't want to be under the same roof as them when that happens, you know what I mean?"
Isabel chuckled back. "Not really. I've never had a younger sibling. I had an older foster brother for a while, and I got along well with him, but I only knew him for three years before…you know." Oliver just nodded before Isabel changed the subject. "Besides, the silly dorm division rule you implemented like this place was a summer camp isn't what I was referring to when I said we were breaking the rules. I meant the unspoken rule that two adults who aren't romantically involved aren't supposed to sleep in the same bed together. Not that I don't intend to keep fighting you on the choice you made without my input, for us to break up…"
Oliver interrupted Isabel while holding her closer to his body. "That isn't necessary. I just made a judgment call, Isabel. I decided that this is okay. We, the two of us, together, are okay."
Isabel turned her eyes to face Oliver's, and the archer was just able to make out Isabel's hazel orbs since his eyes had long since adjusted to the dark. The brunette spoke in an amused tone of voice. "Oh, you made a judgment call, huh? Well, that's great for you, but if we get back together, it will be because that's what we both want. So let's get that straight right now. If we are going to be in a relationship together, then we are going to make decisions together from now on, do you understand?" Oliver nodded while Isabel added. "Besides, I thought you said we were over? That we couldn't be in a relationship because of my past dealings with your family…"
Oliver shrugged. "What can I say? I was being an idiot before. Like you said, if I love you and you love me, that's something worth fighting for. And I've finally decided that I'm willing to fight for us, because you are worth it. Because I love you."
Oliver could just make out the brunette smirking as if she knew something he didn't, but it quickly turned into a smile, as she leaned her face close to his and said in a playfully teasing voice. "It took you long enough." Then Isabel pressed her lips against Oliver's and the emerald archer reciprocated the gesture, until both of their mouths were opened towards the other and their tongues met.
Oliver pulled away from Isabel after several seconds and smiled. "I was missing that! But…do you mind if we wait until we are somewhere more private before we do anything else? Besides, I'm kind of exhausted right now, and I do need to get some sleep…"
Isabel grinned. "Sure, that seems reasonable. I should probably try to sleep too."
Oliver nodded his head, grinned back at Isabel, and closed his eyes, just as the brunette hit the blonde man in the shoulder just hard enough that it hurt, but not hard enough to leave a bruise, causing the blonde billionaire to open his eyes and exclaim in a volume that was just barely too soft to wake Roy and Diggle. "Ow! What was that for?!"
Isabel smirked. "That was for unilaterally breaking up with me last night without taking what I wanted into account. And by the way, if you try to do that to me again, I will kick your ass!"
Oliver nodded. "Noted. And I suppose I deserved that. Still, don't I get credit for saying we could get back together as well?"
Isabel smiled and whispered into her boyfriend's (for that is how Isabel thought of him now, and nobody, not even Oliver himself, would convince her any differently) ear. "Sure, but as you said, the make-up sex will have to wait till later". Isabel grinned in response to the smile on Oliver's own face and said. "Good night, Oliver."
Oliver pulled Isabel's body even closer to his own as he wrapped the brunette up in an embrace. "Good night, Isabel."
AN: And thus, another chapter ends! I apologize if this chapter, and the one that will follow it on my next post, are not as dramatic (and, for this particular chapter, as long as) some of my previous chapters, but I will soon be in circumstances in which I will be unable to access the internet for a while. So I just wanted to post something for my readers before I have to take that break from posting!
In any case, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and please don't hesitate to leave a review to let me know what you think! A big thank you goes out to my readers, especially those of you who have given me input on my story, and an even bigger thank you goes out to my beta reader! Until next time, I am…
-supercode
