Part 14
Paternity 2
Nyssa had traveled a long way to get her Beloved and bring her back home. She understood's Sara's need to check on her family after what Malcolm Merlyn had done to her hometown but she had been away from Nanda Parbat for too long and that could mean only one thing in her mind: she was leaving them, running away. She was leaving her.
She quickly located Sara, dressed as Black Canary. She was in the middle of a street fight with two other masked Vigilantes that Nyssa had seen in the press: Arrow and Karma. Rolling her eyes, she waited until the fight was over and the criminals, some drug dealing gang, were tied up and the cops warned. Then she watched as they rode away. Karma and Arrow shared a green and black bike while Sara drove hers. Nyssa followed them from a distance and watched them approach what was probably their secret lair. She decided that now would be the best time to let her presence be known.
"You've been gone for too long, my beloved. The League needs you." Nyssa called out, letting them see her.
"Nyssa!" Sara exclaimed, not as surprised as Nyssa thought she would be.
She almost sounded like she was expecting her, like she was happy to see her and that set Nyssa back a little. She had expected Sara to try and run away, not to run in her arms.
"This is your girlfriend?" Karma asked and Sara nodded, confirming to Nyssa that she had told them about her.
"Why haven't you come back?" Nyssa asked her.
"I felt my presence was needed here. I don't know why but I felt like I had to stay. I figured you'd come after me anyway so I should do like your father taught me and listen to my instinct." Sara replied.
"Maybe we should take this inside." Oliver suggested, showing Nyssa and Sara inside his lair under Queen Consolidated.
John was usually with them or staying behind to point them in the right direction but tonight was his night off, he had to go to his nephew's school play.
Nyssa took Sara's offered hand and followed the little group inside, doing her best not to show how impressed she really was by what she was seeing. As soon as they were inside, Oliver and Veronica took off their masks, showing Nyssa that they trusted her with their identity.
As soon as Veronica's mask was off, Nyssa couldn't take her eyes off of her. She felt like she was seeing a ghost wearing a painting's face.
"Are you okay Nyssa? What's wrong?" Sara asked her when she noticed her behavior.
"Do I have something on my face?" Veronica asked, growing a bit worried as she looked at Oliver for an answer who, in response, shook his head in negation.
"Who are you?" Nyssa asked, well, more like demanded to know.
"Veronica Mars, or Karma, depends how you look at it." Veronica replied.
"I have to leave. Sara, come with me. We need to talk." Nyssa ordered, looking haunted.
Sara nodded, bid her goodbye to Oliver and Veronica and promised to call before she left or made any kind of decision. As soon as they were far enough away from the lair, Sara made Nyssa stop.
"Nyssa, what's wrong?" Sara asked her, having never seen this haunted look on her girlfriend's face.
"She looks like a blond version of my father's mother. I... I need to know more about her, I need answers." Nyssa replied.
"I'll tell you everything I know. I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation. Maybe we should talk to her about it? If there's an answer to find, she'll find it." Sara replied.
"Maybe later. Tell me everything you know about her." The heir to the demon demanded and Sara, sensing the urgency of the situation, obliged.
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Oliver was nervous. He wasn't used to feeling this way but he couldn't help but be nervous as he shopped for a ring with Tommy by his side while Laurel and Thea kept Veronica busy. The girls didn't know what he was planning, they just knew that Tommy and him were working on a surprise and that they couldn't let Veronica find out yet.
"She'll know I'm hiding something. Hiding something from Veronica is impossible." Oliver assured Tommy.
"You just need to find something to tell her, like you're preparing a surprise for her. It's not a lie and it doesn't reveal the truth either." Tommy suggested.
"Good idea. Anyway, let's find that perfect jewel." Oliver nodded.
"You have any idea of the kind of ring you want?"
"Not really. I'd like for it to have some green gems on it, something classy and impressive yet discrete. I'll definitely engrave something on the inside. It also need to be practical so that she doesn't have to take it off every time she puts her suit on." Oliver replied.
"Gold or silver?"
"Gold I think. It looks better on her."
"Let's start looking then." Tommy nodded as they entered the shop.
"Maybe I should get her two rings. You know, one for Veronica and one for Karma..." Oliver suggested in a low voice.
"Try finding one to start. I think it'll be hard enough as it is. " Tommy chuckled.
"If I get two rings, I'll need to make two proposals, we'll need to prepare two weddings. One for Veronica and Oliver and one for Karma and Arrow." Oliver added, deep in thoughts.
"That's assuming she'll say yes."
"I trust that she'll say yes. I know her and us. I know that she's not a fan of marriage because of the way her parents broke up and because of her PI work and everything she saw. I also know that she has faith in us. I think she'll say yes." Oliver replied.
"Enough to make your proposal a public one?" Tommy asked Oliver.
"Enough to make both proposals public ones." Oliver smiled.
"Can't wait to see it." Tommy smiled back as he pointed a few rings out to Oliver.
"Maybe I should have them custom made. Two small band that get together and form one engagement ring along with two wedding band that add to the ring. The stones would have to be small so she can wear it under her gloves." Oliver suggested when he saw that none of the ring in the shop were good enough.
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Veronica had spend 3 full hours with Laurel and Thea being pampered in a spa and they were leaving to join Oliver and Tommy at some restaurant when Laurel's father called her. At first, she thought he needed her help with a case, that he was stuck and reluctant to ask the Vigilantes for help, but when he told her that he had her mother in custody and that she could come and speak with her now, if she wanted, she didn't need time to think about it.
"I'll text Oliver to meet us there." Thea replied before they rushed to the station, knowing that her brother would want to be there for Veronica.
When they arrived at the station, Oliver and Tommy were already waiting for them next to Detective Lance. They had been closer to the station than the girls and Oliver had rushed there to be able to help his Love through this moment.
"You can't all go in with her, it's an interrogation room, not a coffee shop. I can let her and Oliver go in there, but the rest of you will just have to stay behind, I'm sorry." Quentin lance declared.
"Thank you detective, I appreciate the chance you're giving me to speak with her." Veronica told Laurel's father.
"Good luck. Remember that you're a strong independent woman and that she can't hurt you anymore, not even with her words." Thea whispered in Veronica's ear as she hugged her.
"Are you ready honey?" Oliver asked her.
"I will be." She nodded, trying to hide her feelings while knowing that Oliver could see through her.
Lance lead them to the interrogating room where Leanne was being held.
"She was arrested for public intoxication and when we looked in her cellphone, we realized that she's been following you. She has pictures of you with Oliver, Laurel, Thea, Moira... All taken during the day, it seems that after 5 pm every day, she heads to grab some drinks because the pictures stop." Lance explained.
"Is she sober now?" Veronica asked him.
"I think so, yes. We'll have to let her go soon, unless you want to press charges for her spying on you and following her."
"I'll make a decision once I've talked to her." Veronica nodded before squeezing Oliver's hand and heading inside the room with him by her side.
"Veronica?" Leanne asked.
"Don't sound so surprised, you knew I was around since you've been spying on me. I bet you even knew they'd call me if you got arrested. How long have you been around?" Veronica asked her, doing her best to have a hard voice.
"It doesn't matter, the matter is that you came here, to see me. Because I'm your mother. Is this your new and fancy boyfriend I've heard about? Hotter than Duncan that's for sure. Just looking at his arms..." Leanne smirked.
"Why did you leave all these years ago? Why didn't you contact me, ever?" Veronica asked, cutting her mother off.
"Because you were a disappointment to me Veronica. I wanted you to be a boy, a boy that would have gotten me to where I wanted to go but you ended up being a girl and I didn't have any use for you."
"I don't understand." Veronica shook her head, ignoring the pain she felt at her mother's words.
"Right, you don't know... Well, here is for some surprising news for you, Veronica: Keith Mars isn't your father."
"What?" Oliver exclaimed while Veronica took a step back.
"Jake Kane is my father?" Veronica asked, looking horrified.
"Jake? No. Your father is much more important than some dumb CEO of a computer company. Your father is Head of the Demon." Leanne revealed.
"Raz Al Ghul? How is that even possible? How do you know him?" Veronica asked her mother.
"You know of him? I shouldn't be surprised with that habit you have of putting your nose where it doesn't belong. Well, see, I met him one night when your father was working late at the station and after I found out who he was, we had fun. I figured that if you turned out to be a boy I could take my place by his side but you were only a girl and he already had two so... I didn't even tell him about you because I knew that he wouldn't care, how could he? You were nothing, you didn't matter. I stayed with Keith and let him think that you were his. It seemed to make him happy enough and since I didn't want you in the first place... Well, you know the rest, I took any excuse not to be around you and left as soon as I could. Very happily so, by the way." Leanne kept on smirking, knowing that she was ruining her daughter's perfect world.
"Let's go. I'm pressing charges for her spying on me and I don't want to see her ever again." Veronica declared as Oliver escorted her out of the room, knowing they'd have to call Sara and Keith to check if what Leanne said was true.
When he heard that she wanted to press charges, Lance nodded and told Oliver that they'd send them the paper work so Veronica didn't have to worry herself with this now. She already looked about to break in tears and it was understandable. Her own mother told her that she didn't matter, that her life had been an accident that she regretted. He shook his head and watched her leave with their friends.
.
While Tommy and Laurel left to go home, Thea went to Verdant to get some work done and make sure they had received the deliveries she wanted while Oliver took Veronica to their lair where Sara and Nyssa were waiting for them. Oliver had called and, without giving them any details, he asked them to come over and they did, sensing the urgency in his voice.
"What's going on? What's wrong with Veronica?" Sara asked Oliver while his girlfriend was calling her father to ask him to send some of his DNA by express shipping so she could test it.
"Your father arrested her mother for public intoxication. Veronica went to confront her about why she left her in the past and Leanne had some surprising revelations to make." Oliver summarized.
"How does it concern us?" Nyssa asked though she felt it could be linked to the fact that Veronica looked like her grandmother, only blond.
"Leanne said that my father was Raz Al Ghul. Could it be possible?" Veronica replied, having just hung up.
"I... Yesterday I left so abruptly because you look a lot like my father's mother, except you've got blond hair and a slightly paler skin. It would explain why. If we look nine months before your birthday, we land in a period were my father was in California hunting one of the League's enemies." Nyssa nodded, looking at Veronica differently.
"I need more than a maybe. My father will send me some of his hair tomorrow, I'll have a friend of mine test it with mine as soon as I get it. I'll get the results in a couple of days." Veronica stated.
"I'm going back to Nanda Parbat tomorrow. I'll talk to my father about it. Bring him a picture of you and one of your mother. I'll give you my blood so you can test it with yours if you want. Sara, I want you to stay in town. Your new mission is to protect my little sister." Nyssa decided before she smiled softly at Veronica and added:
"We'll get your answers. For what it's worth, I'd be honored if you happened to be my little sister."
Before she left, Nyssa hugged Veronica, kissed Sara and shook Oliver's hand.
"She acts like it's only a formality, she seems to believe it." Veronica realized as she sat down.
"She does. I know her pretty well and I know that she's convinced your mother is telling the truth. She'll tell her father and he'll probably invite you to Nanda Parbat, or he'll come here himself to meet you." Sara replied.
"I'll send her blood to test against mine tomorrow when I receive my father's, I mean, Keith's." Veronica nodded.
"Are you okay?" Oliver asked Veronica softly.
"I will be if you find someone for me to hit soon." She smiled.
"Let's go then. John is waiting for us, he's already on the way there with the van." Oliver nodded, understanding her need to process everything.
.
The next couple of days, Veronica did her best to keep a busy mind and they all understood why. She didn't want to have the time to think about her DNA being tested in her friend's lab.
"You know, when you're ready to talk about it, I'm here." Thea told Veronica on the morning of the day she was going to get her DNA results.
"Yes, I guess you know what it's like to to find out that your father wasn't your father." Veronica smiled.
"At least your father isn't an evil murderer." Thea tried to joke.
"He's the leader of the League of assassins. I don't think he got there by asking his enemies to step down nicely. Yours has a few skeletons in his closet, mine has a castle full of closets that are full of skeletons." Veronica shook her head.
"True. I gained a brother when you told me that Malcolm was my real father, looks like you gained two big sisters."
"According to Sara, the elder one isn't around anymore."
"You still gain a sister if it's true, and a League of trained Assassins to back you up."
"True. Keith would tell you that it's barely enough to keep me safe, it'll just motivate me to put my nose where it doesn't belong even more." Veronica smiled, before Thea left to go to the club while she got ready to go to Queen Consolidated with Oliver.
.
Later that day, Detective Lance left a message on the Vigilante's phone to tell them that he needed their help. Apparently, a criminal nicknamed the Dollmaker had escaped his cell at Iron Heights. He was back in town, ready to get revenge on the cop that had arrested him, Quentin Lance, and he had already killed one girl.
"We'll meet with him in an hour." Oliver told Veronica as they got dressed in their vigilante outfits.
"Where?" She asked him.
"We'll start by going to see his therapist, then we'll see, depending on what we find. We might have to break in to see the complete files of his old victims, compare it with the new ones." Oliver replied.
"I hope we'll stop him soon. This guy creeps me out." She nodded.
"Do you think Sara will join us?" He asked her, knowing that she and Sara talked.
"I don't know. She'll want to be there for me because of Nyssa's order but she also wants to stay away from her father. She'll probably watch from a distance." Veronica replied.
"You're probably right." he nodded.
They both ended up in a lab with Detective Lance, going through files, when Veronica found out that all the victims used the same skin cream.
"We might have a problem." Karma whispered to Arrow's ear while Lance left with the promise to hear from them the next day.
"What is it?" Arrow asked her.
"I use this cream." She revealed.
"I knew this looked familiar for some reason. He won't touch you." Oliver promised her.
"Don't worry, I can take care of myself. I know I'll be fine. I could even play bait."
"I don't like this very much." He shook his head.
"I don't think John can play bait on this one. This is a skin cream, not a dose of Vertigo." Karma chuckled.
"Only if Sara agrees to help. She doesn't have to reveal who she is to her father, she has her mask and can disguise her voice. If she helps, you can play bait." Oliver decided and Veronica nodded, seeing the reason behind his decision.
"Good." She nodded, confident that she'd be able to convince Sara to come along and help them.
.
When they got back home, Veronica had a message on her cell phone. It was from the friend who had tested her DNA.
"So? What did he say?" Oliver asked her after she hung up while Thea and Moira looked at her as well, waiting for the answer.
The expression on her face was blank, she was wearing her armor and was trying to look like it hadn't affected her.
"To make a long story short, Keith Mars isn't my biological father and Nyssa is my sister. I guess it means that Leanne didn't lie, I am Raz Al Ghul's daughter." Veronica replied.
"Are you okay?" Oliver asked her as he came to hug her.
"I was prepared but still... I need to tell my... I need to warn Keith." She replied, having a hard time to call him her father, even though she still loved him like he was.
"He knew why you asked his DNA, he'll be prepared as well." Oliver told her.
"This doesn't have to change anything in your relationship, Veronica. He will always be your father, he'll still love you. Considering the mother you have, it's okay to have two fathers." Moira told her to reassure the young woman.
"You're right, but Raz might not even want to be my father." Veronica nodded.
"I guess we'll see soon. I think Nyssa must be close to arriving now. I don't know how she was planning on going there but I know that she can't travel by plane anymore, not on commercial ones anyway." Oliver added before he lead Veronica to their bedroom.
.
The next day, Veronica and Oliver were busy at Queen Consolidated until 5 and then, they headed directly to their underground lair to start planning the night's action against Barton Mathis, aka the Dollmaker who was killing so cruelly young women who had all of their lives ahead of them. The man poured polymer down their throats and suffocated them, making it a slow and painful death.
Veronica felt like she needed this fight and this case to keep the news of her paternity out of her mind.
She had called Keith the previous night and it had been a short call. Her father had been expecting this answer and told her that, deep down, he always knew that she wasn't his biologically. They both agreed that they needed time to get acclimated to this news but they promised each other not to let this change their relationship. Keith had agreed with her that she needed to meet her real father and to give him a chance, no matter who he was, because he refused to know the identity of the man just yet. They hung up with the promise to give each other some time and to call back soon.
"Ready to go, Sara?" Veronica, dressed like she had been all day, asked her.
"I think so. I guess I should have known I'd have to face him eventually." She replied, putting on her mask.
"He doesn't need to know who you are if you're not ready to let him. With the wig, the mask and the voice changer, nobody could recognize you, not even your father. If you want him to know you only as the Black Canary, then that's what he'll know you as." Veronica told her with a smile.
"I know. Thanks." Sara smiled just when Oliver arrived, dressed as Arrow.
"Is John joining us?" Veronica asked her boyfriend.
"Yes, he's already checking the places around the shops you'll buy from tonight." Arrow replied.
"Good then. Well, I'll do this right and go back up and leave through the front door, we never know who's watching. I guess I'll see you later." Veronica told Oliver and Sara with a smile before she kissed her boyfriend and took the elevator back up.
She knew that Oliver was nervous. Barton Mathis seemed skilled in the art of evading capture, it had taken a long time to catch him the first time around and she understood why Oliver could be nervous. She was strong but she wouldn't have any weapons on her or it would raise the man's suspicions. Oliver was afraid they wouldn't be enough to stop him but she had faith. She'd be fine.
.
Lance was connected to Arrow and Black Canary through his ear piece and he wasn't that surprised when he learned that Veronica Mars had volunteered to play bait.
"So, where is Karma tonight? Shouldn't she be here too?" Quentin Lance asked.
"She's concentrating on another problem that requires her special set of skills, which is why Black Canary is here to replace her." Arrow replied.
"You like surrounding yourself with strong women, don't you?" Lance smirked as they watched Veronica walking out of the last shop.
"Watch out, it could be anytime now. This alley is the perfect place for a trap." Black Canary warned them.
They were all spread around the place, watching and ready to jump in.
Everything happened very fast. They didn't see the Dollmaker's face but they saw a pair of arm coming out of the shadows and grabbing Veronica from behind, putting a cloth on her face and knocking her out.
"Let her go!" Arrow screamed, jumping down, followed by Black Canary as Detective Lance and a hooded John Diggle ran there with their guns ready to fire.
"Ah, I see you thought you'd be able to trap me. You should have known better." Barton Mathis smirked.
"Why do you do this Mathis? These women don't deserve it!" Lance said, trying to distract the man so Arrow and his partners could work their magic.
"It's for the world to enjoy, after all, who doesn't love a pretty doll? I believe this one will be especially pretty once I'm done with her. Maybe my greatest work yet." Mathis replied before he dropped a small smoke grenade on the floor.
It was enough to distract them for a few seconds, which gave him the time to disappear with Veronica.
"Dammit!" Arrow and Lance spat at the same time.
"We have to find her, we can't let her die this way!" Lance exclaimed.
"Don't worry, we were prepared for that. She has a tracker in her shoes." Black Canary replied just as Arrow's phone rang.
Oliver stepped away and answered it, seeing that Tommy was the one calling.
"Now's not really a good time Tommy." Oliver whispered.
"I know but it's Laurel, she's been taken." Tommy replied.
"What do you mean she was taken?" Oliver asked him back.
"I came home from work and found a few things knocked over a a note addressed to Detective Lance saying that it was revenge for arresting him and that Laurel would be his last Masterpiece in town before he moved on to another city. It was signed by the Dollmaker." Tommy said in a quick voice.
"I'm on it." Oliver replied before he hung up and turned toward Black Canary, John and Lance.
"The Dollmaker has Laurel as well. He took her for revenge." Oliver explained.
"When did he have time to take her he just took Veronica!" Black Canary exclaimed angrily.
"He probably did it before he came here. Come on, let's go." Arrow replied and while John rushed to his black van, Arrow and Black Canary went to their own bikes.
"Wait, I'm coming with you." Lance called after them.
"Are you sure? this could be dangerous, he could be ready for us." Arrow asked him.
"It's my daughter and one of her best friends we're talking about, I'm not staying behind." Lance nodded.
"Get in the van then." Arrow nodded before he took his cellphone out once more and looked where the tracker was going.
When they arrived in the abandoned factory where Veronica was being held with Laurel, they spread around to surround Barton Mathis and to make sure he wouldn't escape.
Arrow and Black Canary arrived in what seemed to be Barton's lab and torture chamber at the same time and they could see Veronica and Laurel tied up in front of each other and hooked to two identical tube that was about to put polymer in their throats. There was a camera filming Laurel and they could guess that the plan had been to send the video to Lance to torture him later.
Oliver noticed that Veronica seemed to relax a bit when she saw him. He was here and she knew she'd be fine.
Not willing to give Mathis the time to do anything, Arrow shot the tubs out of the girls' mouths while Sara used her sonic cry to break all the glass around the place. Lance arrived at this moment and while he untied Veronica and Laurel, Arrow and Black Canary fought with Mathis. Of course the man was skilled but not enough to hold his own against the two of them, especially once John arrived and started pointing his gun at him.
The night ended well with Barton Mathis back behind bars and Lance still unaware that his other daughter was alive and in town playing hero. Veronica and Oliver went home feeling the need to be alone together for a while and so they locked themselves in their room to enjoy quietly and alone the fact that they were both alive and perfectly fine. Mathis had scared them both and they needed to calm down, together.
Another chapter done. What do you think? Which part is your favorite yet?
This was a big chapter, but not the biggest. The biggest is yet to come.
Lorelei Candice Black