A/N: To highlander348 who left a comment wondering where Roy Harper was, since this is AU, Roy is NOT the Arsenal nor is he part of Team Arrow. In this story he is one of the men of Malcolm Merlyn. I had already plugged Roy into the story several chapters ago as the guard/aide assigned to Tommy Merlyn when he was in Corto Maltese. Roy eventually met Thea, regularly trained/sparred with the brother and sister and will be part of this chapter since he traveled with Tommy and Thea as well as Malcolm back to Starling City. However, Roy's character takes more of a backseat that a front seat in this story or at in this couple of chapters.
To all the others who left a comment for chapter 24: Wookie3 ships Olicity, sakura-blossoms62, lucy 1997, plinks1126 (my kababayan!), and Jommy26 who read or re-read the chapters again?!
Thank you for taking time out to drop me a line.
As usual, I do not own anything…again if I did then Moira and Tommy would still be alive and Olicity would probably be sprouting little Olicitylets as early as Season 2. Oh, and all the mistakes are mine because sometimes my mind runs faster than my fingers resulting in a puddle of writing errors.
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QUICK NOTE
Hard to believe we've reached 25 chapters. Just like me, maybe because of the length of this fiction, some of the previous highlights and character developments may have been forgotten. So for those of you who appreciate a refresher of the highlights just read through the next few notes otherwise I would be hurt if you guys choose to skip to Chapter 25.
Felicity stumbles upon Oliver's secret as lowered his hood on a dimply lighted alley. Oliver's first action after picking up Felicity's purse and discovering her identity was to "kidnap" her and bring her to the Queen Mansion, since she already knew who he was.
Oliver however did not anticipate his mother's discovery of Felicity in his bedroom and ended up feeding her the story the Felicity was actually his "girlfriend". Felicity decided to play along with the story Oliver had feed everyone.
Circumstances bring them together to the point that they realize they actually have feelings for one another.
In this story, Felicity is not an employee of Queen Consolidated but rather owns and runs her own company, Smoak Solutions. Both her parents are alive and just recently discover that their daughter is not only girlfriend to Oliver Queen but is also partner to the Arrow, Oliver Queen's alter ego.
After all the brouhaha of failing to stop a rogue LOA member and in the process Ra's al Ghul losing one of his daughters in that final battle, Talia al Ghul. Ra's instructs his other daughter to give Team Arrow an ultimatum to find and avenge his daughter or Felicity Smoak will be 'take' by the LOA as payment for the failure.
In an ensuing battle with A.R.G.U.S. who felt they needed to defend 'Starling City' from the LOA, Felicity was captured by Nyssa and brought to Nanda Parbat.
Ra's al Ghul had taken a liking to Felicity, opting to train her himself and accepting her challenge to challenge his way of thinking.
Prior to Felicity being taken, Felicity and Oliver discover that Felicity was carrying their child.
Motivated by his undying love for Felicity and his unborn child, Oliver embarks on journey that will take him to Nanda Parbat to 'rescue' his family.
In the meantime, Malcolm discovers Thea is his child and blackmails her to join him and his son Tommy, who he took from the hospital and who was in the process of recovering from his injuries. With the help of Roy Harper, a Malcolm guard who is befriended by Tommy and eventually sided with Tommy and Thea, the three plan an escape that will take them away from Malcolm's fortress and back to Starling City.
But it turns out, Malcolm was one step ahead of them and agrees with them that it was time to go back to Starling City after he comes back from his mission to 'aid' Oliver Queen in his quest.
Malcolm lives up to his promise to Oliver to take care of his city, taking down enemies of the city together his children and protégées Tommy and Thea, together they team up with Diggle the loan member of team Arrow still in SC.
Moira eventually takes the lead after discovering where her son had gone to and what his mission was, seeking the help of Malcolm, Thea, Tommy, Diggle and the Smoaks but not before the secret of Oliver Queen being the Arrow is shared.
Oliver in the meantime reached Nanda Parbat and after a brief chat with Ra's al Ghul is reunited with his Felicity.
Whew, those are just a few highlights of the previous 24 chapters, if I left out other highlights, my bad.
EXPOSED
Chapter 25 – Training for Dummy's
"Awww," Thea rubbed her side.
"Get up Thea, the league will not give time to rub your sore side," Malcolm scolded her.
Then Thea's phone rang. She ran to pick-up her phone from a nearby bench.
"Nor will the league give you time to answer your phone," Malcolm shook his head in frustration.
"Well, I need to rest and I was hoping the text was from Ollie or even Felicity," Thea said stubbornly.
Malcolm threw a knife across the lair and it landed severely imbedded in a wooden post before he expressed his sentiment.
"If none of you will take this training seriously then you might as well just have me all shoot you now. None of you are near enough the level where you can at least go at it for five seconds with even a novice member of the league. Yes it is, unbearable, almost impossible, the methods I use to train you. But I don't have to remind you, the league is in a class on their own. None of the others, not even A.R.G.U.S. men will be at par with any member of the league."
"You are right Malcolm," Diggle was the first to react and agree with Malcolm. "You will get no further complains from any of us," looking at Tommy then Thea who gave both Diggle and her father a nod.
Malcolm looked around the room. He spotted the Smoaks working on the task of customizing weapons to be used by the team for the attempt to rescue Oliver and Felicity. In the short span of time he had known the Smoaks, he had been impressed by the combined skill of Felicity's parents. Donna Smoak after all operated a lab that serviced contracts that included medical and science breakthroughs while her husband James was still on top of his game as a computer whiz, just notch below his daughter.
It amazed Malcolm how the husband and wife team worked. Donna would decide which type of weapons would be most effective for the battle ahead and James would design the casings or which current weapons in the arsenal of the arrow lair would suffice for the redesign.
Malcolm of course had been consulted by the Smoaks on his inputs. Both he and Moira had given their opinions as had John Diggle.
Being around the people Oliver and Felicity had by blood or choice surrounded themselves with was a new experience for Malcolm. He had been getting feels that were foreign to him. The familial, selfless, easygoing atmosphere this team had given the circumstances.
Looking at his children Tommy and Thea as they had seamlessly blended as if they were part of team Arrow from the beginning, this had opened Malcolm's eye to a new perspective, a possibility that would have been impossible for him to comprehend a couple of weeks back.
In a way, the determination to get Oliver and Felicity back had become a blessing in disguise for him too.
It had showed him, in the most irrevocable way, his eyes witness to everything, that his familial and almost selfish love, because Malcolm still believed that love was his motivation for what he did for his children, was not the way to go to get his children to love him or at least understand and respect him.
Maybe unconsciously when Moira broached the subject of teaming up, he had this in mind when he readily accepted her proposition. But now he had no more excuses, he had the time to ponder the reasons why and to see for himself how much twisted his perspective was. This was to be his redemption, the change to better himself.
Because Malcolm understood now that the change would have to come from him with no expectations that his actions would be appreciated by his children. If at the end of this they come to understand, respect and god forbid love him, then that would be the bonus to come out of this.
With renewed determination, he hollered out to his children and John Diggle to get in position in the lairs training mats again.
Malcolm had just come out of the lair's shower dressed only in sweat pants holding a towel as he rubbed his hair dry. His first assumption was everyone else had left for the night or was it early morning, the better for him.
He had volunteered to take the shower last hoping that everyone else would clear out by the time he was done with his shower. Tommy and Thea were probably back in the Merlyn Mansion but for some reason Malcolm didn't feel like going back there.
He had spotted the cot at one end of the lair a few days earlier and he thought tonight would be a good night just to stay in. After the training earlier, he had to do some tactical rethinking. As much as Tommy and Thea has stepped up, it would be at least three months before they would be ready to face an assassin and at least survive to fight another day.
Fighters just didn't happen overnight, or even a few months, no matter how dedicated they were. He needed reinforcements, to expand the team, but where to go. There was the matter of trust to consider. At least for now he had one more name to add to the team, Roy Harper. Usually Malcolm had no patience for disobedient underlings and Mr. Harper was on top of that list.
But Roy's reason for defying him was forgivable given the turn of events. Roy had sided with Tommy and Thea, helped them plan and 'escape' from Corto Maltese. Of course, his children did not expect that Malcolm would anticipate that move and be waiting for them at the airport. Now, that was all water under the bridge. But one thing was clear to Malcolm. When the going got tough, he could count on Roy Harper to back-up his children. That was the most important thing now.
So effective tomorrow, Roy Harper would officially become a member of this rag tag team. Team Archer, because Malcolm could not still convince himself to accept that it was Team Arrow as of yet, Team Archer would become a team of five.
The subtle sound at the other end of the lair caught Malcolm off guard. Grabbing the first weapon he could see handy, a piece of discarded rod, Malcolm makes his way across the lair a little surprised to see Moira Queen sitting on what was known to all as 'Felicity's chair'.
"Moira." Malcolm said.
"Malcolm," Moira answered him in the same tone. "I thought now is a good time for a talk."
Malcolm grabbed his shirt which was on top of a metal table before he leaned back on the same metal table, "how did you know I would be here."
Moira gave Malcolm a small grin, "I know you a lot more than you think I do. Although truthfully lately, you have been surprising me, it's been a little more difficult to second guess you."
"It's almost three o'clock in the morning Moira. I don't think we are both up for this conversation."
"I'm almost sorry this talk is an inconvenience to you. But with Oliver away, I had to take care of a lot of the day to day operations in Queen Consolidated. This is the only time I had free."
"What do you want to talk about," Malcolm asked accepting Moira's explanation.
"How is the progress of the children and Mr. Diggle?"
Malcolm exhaled rubbing his face, "it's a work in progress. We are literally at the beginning of ninja training. They have a very long way to go, but it isn't for lack of trying. Getting them to the point of being able to at least be able to battle a league assassin isn't easy work."
"So they have no chance?" Moira was a little deflated.
"No, don't get me wrong. Their determination and dedication alone is guarantee enough that they have a chance. It's just these are my children, our child Moira. I wouldn't just train them half-way, they have to be the better than good."
"How long?"
"Three, four months at least to give them a fighting chance."
"Do we have that long? I mean do Oliver and Felicity have that time, would they still be…." Moira couldn't utter the word.
"Alive? Yes, I believe Ra's al Ghul would rather have both Oliver and Ms. Smoak alive. They both have something to offer him. Something he may want, skills he can use. I think his purpose is to make them full-pledge members of the league."
"Then that's a good thing right? It will guarantee that they would be alive?"
"Yes and No Moira. The longer they are in Nanda Parbat, the smaller the chance that we can get them out. When they become inducted members of the league, there is no way they would be able to get out. There would be only one way to leave the League of Assassins."
"How," Moira asked curiously, afraid of Malcolm's answer.
"Death, any member who leaves or goes against the league forfeits his life, if for some reason he is able to escape, he would be hunted down. Blood is the only acceptable compensation, that's the way of the league, the way of Ra's al Ghul."
Moira gulped, her hands unconsciously flew to her face in shock.
"But you were able to get out."
Malcolm shook his head, "the league is still after me. They want me dead, that has not changed."
"So it's hopeless? Pointless?"
Malcolm felt a pinch in his heart at Moira's reaction. Against his better judgment, he found himself moving toward Moira, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"We will get them out. I understand now, family is everything."
Felicity woke up to Oliver stroking her bare back repeatedly, his action soothing and comforting her. Despite the situation they were both in, Felicity had never felt calmer than she did that moment in a very long time. Hoping that they could stay that way longer but knowing they couldn't. Not when behind the bedroom door, a maniac of biblical proportions was plotting world domination or at the very least how to make both their lives miserable.
"Stop worrying Felicity, I will get us out of here," Oliver told her gently. His hand lifted to sooth her brow.
Felicity lifted herself a little, enough so that she could look at Oliver but still keeping their chests still partially joined together.
"I know. I believe in you. I will always believe in you, me and our baby," kissing his cheek.
Oliver maneuvered their bodies so now Felicity was underneath him.
"Did he hurt you? I'm sorry I didn't even check first before we….."
Felicity gave him a smile, "are you trying to apologize for jumping me as soon as you saw me?"
Oliver smiled in return. Live it to Felicity to find humor in even the worst of scenarios.
"I'm fine," Felicity answered Oliver's question. "Ra's interest in me was more for my brain, my skills and I think more than that he felt challenged to convert me to his way of thinking. And, he also personally spared with me, took to training me himself for some reason," Felicity shrugged.
Oliver's look darkened, images of Felicity being thrown in his head.
Felicity lifted her hand to his cheek, "don't worry, he knows about the baby. He was teaching me to defend myself and the baby, which in itself was kind of weird for him to do."
Oliver leaned to give Felicity a kiss before he continued, ""Ra's told me before letting me see you last night that he was never going to allow you to leave but that I was welcome to stay if I wanted to. That this would be our home now, if I chose to stay."
"Oh." Felicity answered him, absorbing what Oliver shared with her, her hand unconsciously slid on top of her tummy.
Oliver read immediately where her thoughts had turned, his hand on top of hers instinctively.
"We will find a way. I will find a way. When I first came back from the Island, the last thing on my mind was this, you, starting a family, falling in love. I'll be damned if this is the life we will have. You deserve better." Oliver gently rubbed his calloused hand on Felicity's cheek, "I know what I am fighting for, I'm fighting for us. And I have never been more motivated to come out on top. I swear to you Felicity, I will get us away from this."
"I believe in you Oliver. I've never doubted you and I will not doubt you now."
I'm sorry for the lack of Olicity in this chapter but it was necessary to set up the next few chapters for this fic.
Among the highlights of this chapter was giving Malcolm a conscience. Again, it will take someone of Malcolm's experience to help the cause of saving Oliver and Felicity. While Oliver and Felicity work from inside, hopefully crumbling the walls around the hardened heart and mind of Ra's al Ghul.