Chapter Eighteen:

The morning passed, and Chien, Katya, and Oliver had been ready to buckle down and discuss business. Helena joined them in the morning, and the four of them were sitting around, eating breakfast. And among the breakfast, they had several pages of notes laid out, ready to be consolidated.

"The Triad has no choice but to fall in line what I want," Chien said. "Unless they want to incur the full attention of the League of Assassins."

"The same with the Bratva," Katya said. "The fact I can break them with a single gesture keeps them in line."

"Yeah, my cousins, they're, they don't want the responsibility of my father's empire and his businesses, so I'm taking charge there," Helena said. "You're going to have to thank Laurel for helping me get everything legally squared away."

"She's only happy to help," Oliver said. "And no one is giving you any trouble?"

"Well, they wouldn't want certain information to come to light," Helena honestly said.

Helena learned a lot about where all of the bodies were buried, a term which could be very literal when you consider the various mob families in Starling City and Gotham. More Gotham, although some called Starling City, Gotham Junior. Then again Bludhaven was that way as well, with somehow more corruption than Gotham City, if one could believe such a thing.

"Pooling our resources together is going to lead us to pretty much block anyone undesirable from Starling City," Helena said. "The only group which is a potential threat to our powerbase is HIVE."

Yes, them, Oliver understood all about HIVE. Still one problem at a time, he supposed.

"We make sure to close the pipeline between here and Gotham," Katya said. "I'm certain the winged rodent will be happy that his workload is going to be cut in half."

A small smile crossed the faces of all, Helena especially at Katya's name of Gotham City's protector. Oliver thought he would be pleased, although perhaps not given that Oliver clashed with his "thou shall not kill" policy. Which, Oliver respected his mission, although questioned the man's methods and how effective they were, with the same group of sociopaths coming out of Arkham on a regular basis to terrorize the people of Gotham, worse than ever.

But, that was not on Oliver's plate. At least not right now.

"So, are we in agreement of what we're doing?" Chien asked.

Oliver thought the proposal would work. He had a lot of good ideas of how they could go forward, but he wanted to hear from the women involved in his collective to really get everything going.

"It will prevent any future incidents like the Vertigo from happening," Katya chimed in.

"Yes, and not a moment too soon," Helena said.

A stern look of disapproval went over Helena's face. Oh, yes she hated the fact the Vertigo had been on the streets for so long and her father, concerned with other matters, did not smack down the Count when he had the chance. The point was moot now that the Count had been pushing up daisies.

Oliver had a lot to deal with and a lot of thoughts on his mind. Fortunately for him, he also had a number of people who were on the same page.

"So, if you have any problems, you know how to get in touch with me," Oliver said. "And don't worry about HIVE, because taking them down is on my to do list."

He would have to wrap up this business meeting soon though, as he did lunch with his mother, which had been a tradition every Wednesday. And given today had been Oliver's father's birthday, had he survived, it had a special, sentimental value to him.

Lexi, being Oliver's bodyguard today, joined them for lunch. Of course, Moira insisted she ate at the same table as them, not wanting to her to linger awkwardly for two hours. The three sat down around the table to enjoy what she intended to be a very nice and relaxed lunch, hopefully devoid of any problems.

"Thanks for having me join you," Lexi said.

"You're one of Oliver's friends and I'm glad the two of you found each other as well," Moira said. "I'm glad my son found all of the women he found."

"So, how are you doing?" Oliver asked his mother.

"Busy," Moira said. "Always busy, always doing something. But, you know all about that."

Out of all of the people Oliver had to read, there were times where Oliver found it the hardest in getting a fix on his mother. However, there appeared to be something bothering her today, and Oliver could not really put his finger on what it might be.

"You know what today is, right?"

"Yes, I'm aware, and it's a shame he's not here," Moira said. "Your father was a complex man. He had his flaws, he had his secrets. Many of which I found out, some of which he took with him to the grave, and there's a small part of me who hopes I never find out and more importantly, you and Thea never find out."

"Yeah, I guess every man is entitled to privacy," Oliver said.

"Yes, and his work with Veritas, well that was more of his thing," Moira said. "I'm sorry you haven't had any luck in finding Virgil's journal, but it might be best that you don't go down that road."

Moira spoke about that quite honestly. Lexi and Oliver exchanged a look, wondering what was going on. They had not brought up Veritas since the original meeting. Had other people been asking Moira about it? Had someone threatened her?

"Everything okay," Oliver said.

"It's fine, just mostly thinking out loud," Moira said. "But, I can tell you one thing, I'm very proud of the man you've become and don't let anyone take that away from you."

It had been hard for Moira to remember how perspective her son had become and despite everything, he still was the head of one of the most powerful organizations in the world. Today had a very near miss, with the reporter snooping around. In another day, at another time, in another life, Moira would have her taken care of.

The fact that Oliver had a certain fondness for this reporter though, and the fact he would ask questions made Moira think twice about issuing any threats. She would hate to do anything to displease her son.

Still, the truth danced above their heads, practically taunting them.

She had thought about coming clean with Oliver about his half-sister, but decided against it. Best to leave certain skeletons buried. Besides, today was not the day anyway. Robert's birthday was not a day to bring up his past sins and his infidelities.

"He's missed," Oliver said.

"Yes, he is," Moira said. "But, he would be proud of what you've done for this city."

Oliver had no idea, and while his journey started with his father's list, Oliver prepared to go forward on his own accord.

"You have to try the stew, Alexandra, it's divine," Moira said. "Number three, on the menu."

The lunch went on through without any further incident. Oliver listened more intently to everything his mother said. But she did not say anything else off key. Which made Oliver wonder about a few things and wonder what was really going on in her head.

Talia trained a young woman with platinum blonde hair. She dressed in a tank top and sweatpants, with a very intense look in her eye. The two circled each other, with Talia blocking her moves and sending her down.

"You need to telegraph less and protect your right shoulder, because it's easy for an opponent to get in there," Talia said. "Let's go again."

Oliver approached them from above and Talia, flashing him a smile, invited Oliver to join them. It was time for the two to be introduced.

"So, is this is your new student?"

"This is Rose, Rose Wilson," Talia said. "You remember her father?"

"How could I forget?" Oliver asked. "From what I've heard, retirement did not stick with Slade too well."

The last Oliver heard of Slade, he had been involved in the rescue of the Princess of Markovia. And apparently, the very underaged Princess tried to throw herself at Slade, for her gratitude. Slade respectfully turned down her advances in the process, despite her repeated assurances she would be in Slade's debt.

"So, I wonder if you have the same fierceness he does," Oliver said.

"I wouldn't know," Rose said. "I just found out he was my father a couple of years ago. Shock to me, although I understand why my mother would keep it from me. We came to this country to hopefully get away to get a better life."

To be honest, Rose barely knew her father. Knew of him, knew of his work, and knew his reputation. She had been more interested in knowing Oliver a little bit more, and she locked her eyes onto him, smiling when getting a good look at him.

"Talia took me under her wing and here I am," Rose said. "It's a pleasure to meet you. She's told me of you, the great Ra's al Ghul. I hope to one day train under you."

"Well, we can arrange something."

"That is earned," Talia said. "And I hope you have not distracted yourself in staring at my beloved biceps."

Rose, flushed, walked over to rejoin Talia in the sparring session. She intended to hopefully make a mark. Of course, Oliver knew trying too hard could end up with a humiliating defeat.

"I'll talk to you in about an hour?"

"That will be fine," Talia said.

Oliver would wait for Talia to wrap up her training, as there had been another person who had been trying to catch his eye this entire time.

Jade Nyguen followed her master out into the arena for a nice little sparring session. The two of them circled each other with Oliver catching Jade's arm and pushing her back down onto the ground. Jade backed up and took a deep breaht before she moved back into the attack on Oliver.

"I see you've met my sister," Jade said.

"Your sister?"

"Artemis Crock, budding fangirl of the Hood, actually has a tribute to him in her room," Jade said. "You took her out on a mission with the Count and took him down a couple of nights ago."

Oh, Oliver thought there had been something familiar about Artemis's mother, how she looked like an older version of Jade. And Jade did mention having a sister a couple of times. Strange coincidence Oliver happened upon her in such a way.

"She has potential," Oliver offered Jade. "The same fire you do."

"And that what worries me," Jade said. "You intend to take her under your wing, and train her personally?"

"If she passes a few tests, I will."

Trying not to leave her left side open, Jade moved for the attack. Of course, this allowed Oliver to get her from underneath and sweep her legs out. A little break and Jade popped up before the two smashed wooden staffs together. They pivoted and moved to break through the barrier.

"Trust me, she'll be good."

"And I know you'll smooth out her rough edges," Jade said.

In more ways than one, Jade silently mused.

Jade smiled, knowing Oliver would get the best out of Artemis. Although, she was anxious about Artemis joining this particular crusade. Best though for Artemis to be lead by someone they could both trust, rather than have her jump headlong into it on her own and get herself killed.

"Talia and Shado will likely have their own input," Oliver said. "And she'll be very well rounded."

Well, Jade could not think of any better teachers. Throw Shiva in there, and well now Jade felt a little sorry for her sister. Still, adversity build character and if anyone could build character, it was Lady Shiva. She trained Oliver from a billionaire playboy party boy to Ra's al Ghul. Impressive what she molded, although if the potential was not there, impossible.

Oliver dared to defy and defied all of his expectations. And he smashed Jade down onto the ground and not in the fun way either.

"And again."

And Jade turned her full attention back to her master, sparring with him for a few rounds. With any luck, she would go a few rounds with him elsewhere.

Oliver intended to make a trip to Nanda Parbat. While Shiva sent her own reports and Talia did the same, it would be best for Oliver to follow things up with an assessment of his own.

"You've been busy," Talia said.

"And Starling City is almost under my full control," Oliver said. "If Shiva's reports are accurate, the new recruits are doing rather well."

Shiva's reports were very accurate.

"And HIVE is next," Oliver said. "They haven't made any moves, but I know they're here. It's just a matter of breaking Darhk into the light."

His plans caused Talia to smile. Now Oliver's power base consolidated, it would be a perfect time to get Damian Darhk out in the open. Her father allowed Darhk to grow too fat and happy with his power.

"He'll be gone, and you'll take everything from him," Talia said. "He should have never been allowed to survive his first act of treachery."

No, he should not have. Talia nudged Oliver and Oliver followed her through the doorway.

Talia pulled Oliver into the side room, where she had a bed prepared for them. Candles and wine surrounded the bed, and the room had been lit just right. She removed her league uniform and sat herself down onto the bed, wearing a lacy black bra and panties.

"Beautiful," Oliver said.

A brief kiss and Talia sauntered over to the bed.

After all of the training Talia did with the League, with the help of Shado, Tatsu, Shiva, and Nyssa, Oliver figured she would be rewarded. And great minds thought alike as Oliver and Talia share a glass of wine and then a kiss with each other. Which deepened.

Talia pulled back and took her time unraveling Oliver's armor, like a Christmas gift she wanted to savor. Kisses followed from Talia easing her mouth down Oliver until the lovely assassin reached the point she sought.
The Shameless Smut Commences In the Next Chapter