Chapter Seventeen:


Markovia, a place where many Americans simply were not welcomed, unless of course they had big dollars to make the government overlooked. Also the last known location of where Isabel Rochev had been hiding out, although Oliver was very curious why. He would have to get those answers.

Oliver arrived and he was not alone. Talia walked alongside of him. In case the people who Isabel was meeting with hostile, it was best to have to sets of hands as opposed to one.

"What are you hoping to find out from her?" Talia asked.

"The truth," Oliver said. "I know she had...been with my father...but if my father had been planning this event with Malcolm for some time, perhaps she knew something. Or could at least shed some light of why she's in Markovia."

Oliver and Talia took a bit of an unconventional route. While they could take care of pretty much anything that came their way, attracting attention had not been the League way. They would loop around.

Of course, a couple of gentlemen walking around and talking in Russian caught Talia's attention. She caught enough snatches of conversation to be concerned.

"Shady business going on," Talia muttered. "Wouldn't be surprised if it's very illegal, even by the standards of the League."

Oliver figured about as much.

"Well, it is Markovia," Oliver said. "There are plenty of people around here who aren't necessarily the salt of the Earth type of people and this is the place where she was last seen."

"And then I wish you the best of luck," Talia said. "I have to meet up with another student of mine, who is...scouting something for me here."

Talia mentioned it before and Oliver understood. One last look at the two large men, who had disappeared into the shadows. Talia and Oliver parted ways with a kiss, before Oliver slipped his way around the back entrance of the bar and had been inside.

The two Russian gentlemen made their way inside the bar at the front entrance and went into a side room. Oliver could see a third man walking inside. Worthy of keeping an eye on, although Oliver did have a mission.

And he spotted the woman he was looking for, casually observing the surroundings. She had been dressed in a formal business attire, as if she had just in a meeting with someone or about ready to go to one. Isabel Rochev most certainly would stand out in a crowd.

Now it was time to Oliver to make his move. Exactly how she would react, well Oliver had to be ready for anything.


"This gentleman says he knows you, and wishes to buy you a drink," the man behind the bar said.

Isabel raised an astonished eyebrow and wondered who in Markovia would want to buy her a drink. A man beckoned to the side and a dagger up his sleeve proved as a warning that he might do her harm if Isabel did not join him in a drink. She moved over, to a darker part in the bar.

"Hello, Ms. Rochev," he said. "I understand you once worked for Robert Queen."

"Mmm, a long time ago, and he's long dead," Isabel said, choosing her words carefully. "The Queen's Gambit got in a terrible accident, didn't it?"

"Do you honestly believe it was an accident?"

Isabel tilted back in the chair.

"I believe Robert made many enemies, myself included when he spurned me," Isabel said. "But...that's in the past. I see what his wife is doing to his company, and she...doesn't understand. She never understood. Then again, she's a two-timer herself. So it wasn't as if Robert was the only one doing anything wrong. Moira Queen would stab her own children in the back if it got her goals in life."

"That's...a bold accusation," he said.

"It's a true one, if she was in bed with these people, then she sold out her son," Isabel said. "But...I wonder why a complete stranger would be so curious about the Queen's Gambit."

She took a long drink, and it felt very refreshing. And very, very, expensive, not that Isabel did not have one of the most refined tastes out there. The hood of the young man lowered and Isabel had almost been taken aback, just like the woman saw a ghost.

"You're...you died on the ship," she murmured. "Markovia is one of the last places...you should be."

"The city's gotten out of control,"Oliver said. "And there's people in the city who want to destroy it."

"Not it, a part of it," Isabel said. "The Glades. I have my contacts...deep inside...but we can't talk about it here, there are people listening...and you shouldn't be here. You shouldn't even be alive."

"And yet I am and you're coming with me," Oliver said.

"All it takes is one word for people to rush over here, and bring you in," Isabel said. "A pretty white boy billionaire like you would fetch a high price on the slave trade market going on in Markovia."

"I doubt they would risk the war."

Oliver's hand rose and Isabel's eyes widened when she saw the ring on his finger. One of the League of Assassins, and it signified Oliver Queen had ascended to a very high rank, no higher, the one of Ra's al Ghul. What had Oliver been doing in the time he had been gone?

"Little Ollie's grown up," Isabel murmured.

"And you're coming with me," Oliver said.

Isabel conceded, realizing that Oliver would take out everyone in this bar if it meant nabbing her, and she wondered if he had people standing in the shadows, ready to attack her, should she not come along with him. Very impressive and a bit terrifying to say the very least.

Well, let's see where this went.


They moved across town to the hotel room which Isabel stayed in. They shared a bottle of wine, which Oliver brought. Isabel eyed the glass for a long moment. Oliver drank it and Isabel followed, carefully slipping on her wine.

"The men who went into the back room," Oliver said.

"Kovar's...running his operations here," Isabel said. "He made me a deal to work for him...but I like keeping my options open. Still he's working with the Markovians and their deadly little experiments. He and his daughter, Katya….extremely beautiful and extremely dangerous."

"I've heard of Kovar, but I wasn't aware he had a daughter," Oliver said.

"Mmm, she was trained in the harshest of conditions in Russia," Isabel said. "There are rumors she's the most dangerous of all of his people, and...supernatural in her methods. A few people whispered they saw her shooting fire from her eyes and he normally sends her after people he wants dead and she's very good at what she does. She's never been photographed, just heard second hand accounts from my contacts, who know Kovar's men."

Oliver just smiled and put his hand on Isabel's bare leg. She would have slapped the hand of any other man away for being so brazen, but given this was Ra's al Ghul himself, Isabel did not dare do such a thing.

"Kovar was rumored to work for HIVE," Oliver said. "With Damien Darhk."

"A ghost if there ever was one," Isabel said. "But, you were concerned about Malcolm and his plans for the city, weren't you? He's obsessed with tearing down the Glades because what happened to his wife. Murdered, bled out."

Oliver swallowed, he remembered what happened to Rebecca Merlyn. A nice woman, who did not deserve the fate she suffered.

"He is working with a rouge Markovian scientist, who happens to be the brother of the current Queen of Markovia," Isabel said to him. "People who look into Markovia, wind up dead or worse. I've seen it."

"And none of those people are me."

"You've cheated death before," Isabel said. "And you've been reborn, to be part of the League I understand this but...how did…."

"My father did survive the ship, along with a crew member," Oliver said. "He shot himself in the head, but not before handing me a list of all of the people who are corrupt and likely involved in this."

Isabel only just scantly betrayed the surprise on her face. Robert had finally felt guilt, as he should. He had abandoned his other child to save face, if the rumors were true. He might have other bastards out there, and some people who knew the truth about what he was planning with Malcolm, disappeared.

"You really think you can save Starling City?"

"The League's mission is to eliminate the corruption," Oliver told Isabel honestly. "And I want your help. You know a lot about this."

"I know people who know a little about what they're planning," Isabel said. "And these people would see me dead."

"Not if you join me," Oliver said.

"Mmm, your father swore that I could be with him, and it ended up with him deciding to run off when your sister broke her arm," Isabel said. "Even though Thea wasn't his, and he knew it."

"What?" Oliver asked.

"Do you have any more of that wine?" Isabel asked.

"Quite a bit," Oliver said. "I'm guessing this is a story that…."

"It's not a conversation that I expected to ever have," Isabel said. "There's a couple of things that I can't tell you about Robert and his past that you have to find out on your own...mostly because there are other people who were be threatened, who don't deserve to be targeted."

"Fair enough," Oliver said. "So, about my sister?"

Oliver looked her dead in the eye. He would know if she was feeding him a story or not.

Isabel drew in a deep breath and drained her glass of wine before pouring another. She had always thought Oliver was a bit cute, although kind of an idiot. Well, not an idiot, but made poor choices. Then again, those in glass houses should not throw stones. Now he had matured and Isabel had considered his proposal more than ever, especially because it would be a very mutual agreement.


From the shadows, a blonde woman with bright blue eyes observed Isabel following this hooded man. The woman dressed in black and red armor, which concealed her toned and beautiful body. She found a match and it had been interesting how Isabel Rochev had been meeting with the dead son of her former lover. Very interesting indeed and very suspicious.

A handsome man to say the least, this American, and one who had more going on with him than met the eye. He had survived a terrible ordeal and great loss, at least that's what she determined by looking at him. And came out stronger than ever, in a position of great leadership.

He was very good, very good indeed. Her keen eye followed the young man's movements.

While she had been tasked on keeping a close eye on Isabel, who would be a useful asset, she thought keeping a very close watch on this man would be important. Do not engage, merely observe.

The man who the world believed her father, but was really just her handler, had very small ambitions. He had been working with the Markovians on a drug which would kill his enemies and strike terror in them. Isabel had valuable information about a device which could spread the drug more easily, and that's why Katya was to snatch her.

The blue eyes looked through the hotel room, observing Oliver Queen and Isabel Rochev, and she could sense they might get to know each other a little better.

Katya could not tell a lie. A man of that caliber and who had grown strong, she would not mind knowing a little bit better as well.


Oliver just whistled. Boy it had been a shock to learn his sister Thea, was really the bastard daughter of Malcolm Merlyn. Which her mother had an affair on. At least according to Isabel, who seemed adamant it was the truth.

"I have proof if you would like it," Isabel said. "Blackmail material that I intended to use on Robert down the road…."

"You're casually telling me you intended to blackmail my father."

"I considered doing it, but whether or not I would go through...we would never know, will we?"

Oliver just looked at her and Isabel just backed off. The two moved over to the table and to the bed. Isabel played with a couple of the buttons on her blouse and already had slid her jacket off.

"I wonder if you have some of the nicer things in common with Robert," Isabel said. "For me to follow you...I need to know that you're equipped to handle…"

Oliver silenced Isabel in mid-sentence with a very intense kiss. He had little desire to hear of his father's sexual prowess, compared to his. No child wanted to know that in fact. Oliver reached over and undid Isabel's skirt so she was nothing but a pair of lacy black underwear, a garter belt, and stockings.

Isabel melted underneath Oliver's kiss. Oh, he had the face of an angel, but he kissed like a ravenous Incubus. Isabel knew he would be if nothing else a great lay and would perhaps give her leverage to get out of the sticky situation she had been in with Kovar and his people.

"Let's get you out of that cumbersome armor, lover," Isabel murmured.

Isabel had already been in her bra and panties, and Oliver smiled, looking at her sexy body. It was only fair she stripped him and saw what he had underneath.

The Shameless Smut Commences In the Next Chapter.