Three years ago, Nanda Parbat
Oliver had successfully gotten Nyssa back alive, but if he had been just a couple of days later, he wasn't so sure she would have been alive. On the flight home in the plane, he had been reading about what A.R.G.U.S. was, and what they did in that organization, but every time Nyssa made just a single sign of moving or any kind of sound, he had been ready to help her with whatever was going to happen. Nothing happened though, but he would rather be safe than sorry with Nyssa.
Because of all of the reading he had done, he had a hard time understanding why A.R.G.U.S. wanted the League to disappear and never show itself again, since they were practically doing the same, just with a couple of different methods. In a way it made sense because when you aren't the most dangerous person in the world, but is so close, you would probably seek to become it.
They had landed a couple of hours earlier, and Nyssa was now lying inside her room with a drop that gave her blood, to get stronger again. Oliver was watching her, but at a respectable distance. He was sitting at the passageway, connecting her room to the rest of the League's base. He was sleepy, but he didn't want to sleep and that was beginning to become a problem. One time a medical assassin had opened the door without knocking first, since he didn't know Oliver would still be there, and Oliver had twisted the arm on the assassin and nearly killed him out of pure instinct. No one was going to touch or see her, without his approval.
Oliver heard a knock on the door and quickly turned his focus towards the sound to see who was now going to bother him.
"Al Sah-Him, you are needed in the Hall," The assassin that had been knocking told him, but Oliver wasn't planning on leaving his place unless there was a really good reason, so he was going to need more information than that.
"What is it?" Oliver demanded in a cold, yet tired voice.
"Ra's Al Ghul has summoned you. He told me to make sure nothing happens to his daughter while you are not there to watch her," The assassin explained, but ended on a gulp since he knew that Oliver wasn't going to like the idea of leaving Nyssa. Oliver stood and walked up to stand right in front of the assassin.
"If something happens to her, you will die a terrible death," Oliver threatened and left the room. He knew that when Ra's was calling for you, you had to get to him as quickly as possible.
He did as he was told and entered the Hall. Ra's was standing at the end of the small pathway that leads up to him. Oliver spotted a small assassin by his side. The assassin must have been new because Oliver didn't seem to recognize such a young face within the League. This had made him slightly curious about what Ra's was planning, but that thought was very brief since his mind went back to Nyssa who was still unconscious in her bed.
"Al Sah-him, I know it was hard for you to leave her room, but I have someone who I think you should meet," Ra's said and lightly put his hand on the young assassin's back and pushed her forward. The assassins took a few steps forward and reached out to shake hands with Oliver. "Al Sah-Him, this is Aaila, your new student,"
Oliver looked at the little girl shocked that a girl this young was practically raised into the League. Out of politeness, Oliver grabbed her hand and shook it. He then turned his attention back to Ra's.
"With all due respect, isn't it too early for me to train someone. I have yet to fulfill my own training," Oliver asked Ra's. he was genuinely curious and surprised that Ra's wanted him to train her, but he would never dare to defy him.
"You will still have your own training when your teacher will be ready again, but one of the best ways to learn is to teach. I'm not planning you using her for own sake, but it does have benefits to train someone, so I think this will suit you both well," Ra's explained for Oliver. Oliver nodded in understanding and turned his attention back to the little in front of him. She looked so innocent, happy, yet still nervous in some way.
"Come on, Aaila," Oliver said with a soft voice and started walking out of the Hall and towards Nyssa's room. Aaila followed him like she was supposed to as a student. She looked around in awe of the place she was in. She had never been in this part of the temple they were in right now. She had only been in one of the guest rooms for the last couple of hours and was then brought before Ra's, wearing the assassin outfit she was wearing now.
"I have been told I'm supposed to not ask too many questions about what is happening with you at the moment, but I would like to know. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but I would really appreciate it. I understand if you don't want to, I mean, you have just met me, and I might look really young compared to a lot of others in this place, so it makes sense-" Aaila asked nervously, but was cut off. Oliver could hear her voice shaking as she was talking, probably because there still was blood on his uniform from the soldiers he had killed less than eight hours ago.
"Calm down. I know the blood on my suit isn't exactly a nice sight for anyone, and especially not for someone as young as you are, but I take it you understand what you have to be capable of doing to survive to be here?" Oliver tried to calm her down but waited for her answer before he would continue. Aaila nodded at his question and let him continue. "This is why I am looking like this now…"
Oliver opened the door to Nyssa's room and found her unconscious body still lying in her bed. The assassin that had watched left when he saw Oliver enter the room but told Oliver that he would be ready to look after her if he wanted a little sleep. Oliver appreciated the offer but would much rather look after himself.
"This is Nyssa Al Ghul, Ra's daughter, and my teacher… I found her like that… She was kidnapped and I had to go and save her before it would be too late. The soldiers guarding the place she was held in, didn't make it," Oliver explained for the young girl. Aaila looked curious at Nyssa. She looked so weak, and thin.
"She's your teacher?" Aaila asked cautiously since she had been warned that Oliver wasn't in a great mood, but she was still a curious girl, so she wanted to know so much Oliver would tell her.
"She is," Oliver replied, looking at Nyssa sadly. He still felt bad for not getting to her before, even though he wasn't able to get out of the Cleansing before, but if he had she probably wouldn't have been taken.
"And you love her," Aaila stated after seeing the look on his face when he looked at her. Oliver quickly looked at Aaila surprised that such a young girl knew how people looked like when they were in love. He had never thought about that he actually loved her, but after Aaila mentioned it, he realized it was the truth and he would do anything to make sure she wasn't going to die. Oliver let out a long sigh.
"You are smarter than you seem. I suppose you are right. I've just never thought about it like that, but I suppose you are right," Oliver admitted and put his hand on her shoulder. "I know this isn't exactly training the way I believe you think training is, but right now we are going to train your patience because I'm not ready to leave her side just yet,"
Aaila nodded and sat down on the ground beside the chair. She didn't want to take Oliver's space on the chair, and she didn't mind the floor, even though the chair would be a lot more comfortable.
"You can take the chair. I need to stand up a little, so I don't fall asleep," Oliver told her and patted the chair beside him. Aaila looked at him surprised that she was given the privilege of sitting on the chair instead of the floor. She took his offer and got up from the floor to sit on the chair.
"Thank you," Aaila said lowly.
"You are very shy, aren't you?" Oliver asked, knowing he was right but wanted her to tell him it herself and why she was that.
"I am…" Was all she answered and looked down in her lap, trying to avoid Oliver's eyes. Oliver kept looking at her, waiting for her to continue. Aaila could feel Oliver's eyes on her and looked up at him. She looked into his warm blue eyes. There was something about them that made her want him to tell more about herself. Maybe it was safety? "I've been picked on in school because I have no family… I have been in and out of families because I didn't feel like I belonged there. I guess that have just gotten to me,"
"You have an incredible amount of insight into your own life, I have to give you that. Now you have a family. I just hope you are going to feel like you belong here," Oliver said and tried to make her feel better by telling her that he was going to take care of her.
"Thank you, Al Sah-Him," Aaila said. She was happy that he wasn't only focusing on Nyssa even though she wasn't well at the moment.
"Oliver. Call me Oliver," Oliver told her and smiled at her.
"Oliver. Okay," Aaila said followed by a yawn.
"Are you tired? When was the last time you got a proper night's sleep?" Oliver asked. He understood what it felt like to not sleep properly for a few nights in a row.
"It's been a while, but it's fine. I've gotten used to it by now," Aaila said and leaned her head back to rest on the wall behind her.
"You don't feel safe, which is why you are awake most of the time when you should be sleeping," Oliver stated and kept his eyes on hers. Aaila's lifted her head and looked at Oliver surprised he knew exactly what she was feeling when she was sleeping. Oliver noticed the surprise in her face, so he decided to continue. "I feel exactly the same. Before I got here, I was shipwrecked on an island where I lost a lot of my innocence, if not all of it… My father was with me and made it to the life raft, but when he realized there wouldn't be enough supplies for us both to survive, he shot himself in the head so I could live, and right his wrongs. That is just one of the things I see when I sleep. I am haunted, and I will try and make sure that you won't be haunted like I am and probably will be forever,"
Aaila looked at him sadly. She thought she had a terrible story, which she has, but Oliver's was something else. It was worse than hers for sure.
"I am sorry to hear," Aaila said at a loss for anything else to say.
"Don't be. If none of that hasn't happened, I wouldn't be here and I wouldn't have met Nyssa or you," Oliver said and gave her a warm smile. Aaila had never someone being happy that they had gotten to meet her, so she didn't know what to say and ended up reacting in pure instinct, pulling Oliver into a hug. Oliver was surprised by the hug but returned it and actually lifted her up in his arms. He sat down on the chair with Aaila sitting on his lap. "If you can, try to get some sleep. I will protect you,"
Aaila smiled and curled herself into a ball, so she could fit as much of her body in Oliver's lap as possible. There was something about Oliver that made her trust him more than she had trusted anyone for a long time. And trusting him resulted in Aaila falling asleep in Oliver's lap with her head resting on his shoulder.
Present
Aaila woke up in her bed. She remembered falling asleep at the foundry on top of one of the tables, but also Oliver who was sitting beside her as she was falling asleep. He had told her that she might wake up in her own bed, considering he and Nyssa didn't want to sleep at the foundry, even though they had a bed there ready for them.
She had just opened her eyes and her room was dark, so her eyes had no problem getting used to the lighting. When she then tried to move her arm, she could feel her entire body was weak, and it felt like one big bruise. She turned on her side and looked at the watch she had on her bedside table. It read one pm. Aaila's eyes shut all the way up seeing it was that late. Most of the day was already gone and she had just been sleeping. She had never tried sleeping in that long, so she felt somewhat bad about it, but didn't think about it more than that.
She wanted to sit up, so she used all of her strength to do so and ended up letting out a groan in pain. She couldn't remember what Waller's men had done to her yesterday, but it hurt like hell right now, and she was sure she didn't let them see it when they were, probably, torturing her. She tried to stand and was able to stand on her own. Yesterday she wanted to stand on her own too when she and Nyssa were going to leave the bunker she had been held at, but she had failed and had to let Nyssa help her a lot with just standing straight.
She started walking towards the door of her room. She didn't want to be in her room when Oliver and Nyssa probably were in the living room waiting for her to wake up. She reached the stairs and could feel this was going to be really hard. She was already struggling to get out of her room, and now she was standing looking at the stairs going down to the living room. She let out a sigh and held onto the railing, hard, to hold herself up when she was going to move her foot down the next step.
"What do you think you are doing?" Oliver said behind her, as her foot reached the first step of twelve.
"I wanted to get downstairs to let you know I was awake," Aaila replied in a hoarse and small voice. She knew Oliver wasn't pleased with her wanting to everything on her own after what she had just been through.
"A text would have been better, Aaila. You are hurt, and you need to rest your body," Oliver told her. Aaila was surprised he didn't sound mad, but she knew he was.
"I'm sorry…" Was all she could reply to that and looked down at her feet shameful.
"Come here," Oliver said and lifted her off of the ground and place her in his arms. He was about to walk downstairs when he realized what she was wearing but decided to turn around and walk into his and Nyssa's bedroom instead.
"Why are we going in here?" She asked about understanding what was going on, even though she was sure it couldn't be something that prevented her from getting downstairs in her own house.
"Thea and Roy are here. I don't think underwear is appropriate for that," Oliver said and found a t-shirt in one of the drawers Aaila knew were his. "Lift,"
Aaila did as she was told and lifted her arms and Oliver put his shirt over her body. His shirt was covering her down to the middle of her thigh, which was good enough for Oliver. He picked her up again and started walking towards the living room, and down the stairs. They reached the bottom of the stairs, and Aaila could feel eyes on her, but she did her best to ignore them when she could feel Oliver was going to put her down.
Nyssa felt ill in a whole new way when she saw Oliver walking down the stairs with Aaila in his arms. She had hoped that Aaila was able to walk on her own, but it had been a really rough night for her yesterday, so it made sense, but it wasn't nice to see at all. She could hear Thea and Roy, let out a very small gasp when they saw them too, but she was thankful that they tried to make sure Aaila didn't hear them since she knew Aaila didn't like to get other's pity for her.
Aaila started walking, and without Oliver's help too, but he was staying right beside her incase her legs failed her, and she would fall. She walked very slow and was using all of her strength to do so, but she was walking alone, and that was the most important thing for her. They reached the kitchen counter and Aaila was sweating from walking the small distance there was from the stairs to the kitchen. She was going to sit down on one of the barstools, but they were too high for her to get up herself, but she didn't mind when Oliver helped her up on it.
"How are you feeling?" Nyssa asked as the concerned mother she was. She was sure that the weird ill feeling she was having was because Aaila wasn't feeling her best, and it hurt her to see her like this. She was always strong and independent, and rarely needed anyone else's help for anything, so seeing her like this was actually hard for Nyssa.
"Definitely better than yesterday… Just wish I could have done more on my own," Aaila replied and tried to sound like she was okay with her situation. In reality, she was okay with it, it was just really annoying she isn't able to do everything on her own like she was before.
"You will get there very soon," Oliver said and put his hand on her shoulder, to comfort her lightly. Aaila looked at him, to her side, and nodded in understanding of his remark. Oliver went to grab a glass and then left the room, which Aaila thought was weird since he left with an empty glass.
"We are happy you got back home," Thea said and gave Aaila a genuine smile that told her the same.
"Yeah, it really worried us when you didn't arrive when you said you would," Roy added and looked at her with a look of guilt. He knew he could have picked her up and none of this could have happened, but obviously, no one knew that Amanda Waller would have taken Aaila some soon after getting a threat from Oliver.
"What even happened to, this-Waller-person?" Thea asked completely innocently. She had forgotten she was in a room with two assassins and her brother was the most powerful man in the world and had no mercy for others when it came to saving his family. Nyssa and Aaila were about to speak when Oliver beat them to it.
"She died," He said bluntly and handed the glass he had brought with him, which was now full, to Aaila. "Here. Drink this. It's from the Pit. I wanna make sure you don't have any internal bleedings or anything,"
Aaila took the glass of water and started sipping on it. It tasted weird, not like water, but water with some different flavor in it. She didn't know whether she likes it or not, but she could the water already strengthening her body, so she didn't mind at all.
"How did she die?" Thea asked still not understanding that Oliver didn't really want to talk about it. Roy sent her a look that told her she should stop questioning it, but Thea didn't understand why Oliver didn't want to tell them, no that Waller had been a pain in the ass, close to ever since they got home. Oliver let out a sigh, which he didn't think Thea heard, but he was sure Aaila and Nyssa heard it, because of their training.
"She died a very painful death," He said like it was nothing at all. He didn't want to go into details like his sister wanted him to, because he knew she would be terrified by just hearing it and he didn't want that to happen. "I'm not giving any of you any further details. Bruce saw what happened and told me to stop it before I would do something too inhumane. So, please, stop questioning it,"
Thea could hear by the tone of his voice, that sounded almost pleading, that she had to stop the questioning before she went too far. She nodded at him and mouthed 'I'm sorry'. Ever since Oliver had gotten home, Thea had seen Oliver with a whole new set of skills, and she knew reading lips was one of them, so she didn't have to say it out loud and change the mood for everyone since everyone seemed calm and composed.
Aaila shifted on the chair and that gave her Oliver's attention. Oliver wasn't overprotective of her, but he was still ready at any second to help her if she needed it, now that she wasn't a hundred percent ready to take on everything on her own. Aaila noticed she got his attention and felt like she had to calm him down in some way.
"Calm down, I was just shifting. By the way, the water has helped a lot already, thank you," She told him and could visibly see that he was already calmer already. Oliver nodded and turned to Nyssa.
"I have to go meet Ray and Felicity about the next public event we are holding about the project," He said and kissed her on her lips, which she returned.
"I know," She replied after the had broken the kiss. They could feel Thea and Roy was a little uncomfortable with seeing them kiss, for some reason, but they would just have to talk about that later or completely let it be until they get comfortable enough.
"Can I come too?" Aaila asked, gaining surprised looks from Thea and Roy and worried looks from Oliver and Nyssa.
"Are you sure you can? I mean I had to help you down the stairs," Oliver asked worriedly. He didn't want her to rush getting better, but he knew if she wanted to get out, she would do it without them if that was needed.
"I'm feeling better already. Plus, if I remember correctly, you have no stairs at your office," Aaila told them which earned her a smile from Nyssa and Oliver.
"You'll probably end up going out anyway if we don't keep an eye on you all the time. You weren't meant to leave your bed just yet, so not much more harm could be done," Nyssa said and kissed Aaila's forehead and grabbed her glass to fill it up with some normal water. She wanted her to stay hydrated, especially now considering her condition. She placed the glass in front of Aaila again and told her to drink up.
"I will go change into something else, and come back and help you upstairs again, so you can get dressed," Oliver said and left the kitchen and disappeared up the stairs. While waiting for Oliver to come back and get her, Aaila was sipping on the water Nyssa had given to her, and now had a small bowl of cereal in she was eating from. In the kitchen, they were just small talking, about what Thea and Roy had planned on doing the rest of the day, now that they had checked on Aaila to see she was okay. Roy told Aaila that he had bought a punching bag he had set up in the front yard of his house, so he was able to train at home whenever Aaila didn't have time every day or was hurt like she is today.
Oliver came back downstairs dressed in a light grey suit with a white shirt underneath and a pair of tan Chelsea boots. Thea whistled at him since she had no idea her brother was so good at dressing up and actually knowing how to put together an outfit, so it matched properly.
"Thank you, Thea," Oliver said and smiled at her. He turned to Aaila who was eating her last bite of cereal, which was all she had to finish before she was going to get ready. He lifted her off of the chair and placed her back down on the ground knowing she would want to walk on her own. She started walking and when they reached the stairs, she expected Oliver to just lift her, but he was waiting for her to try if she was able to take at least one or two steps on her own. When she tried, Oliver could see that she was having a hard time, so he wanted to offer his support to her, which Aaila used the moment she saw him offer some help. She wanted to do it all on her own, but she knew her body and when she was supposed to give up. They had made it up to four steps when Aaila told Oliver it would be nice to be carried the rest of the way. He picked her up and placed her back down on the ground when he had walked up the rest of the stairs with her in his arms.
"I know this is hard for you, Aaila. Not being able to do everything on your own like you are used to, but you know that you will be able to do that again. You just have to give it time," Oliver said to her as they were walking from the stairs towards her room.
"I know, it's just frustrating that I NEED you to help me. It would have been something else if I had asked for it," Aaila said feeling slightly out of breath by walking, on top of her attempt to walk up the stairs alone.
"I know I know, just give it some time and you will be ready soon," Oliver assured her as they entered her room. Oliver sat down on the edge of the bed while Aaila went to her closet to pick out something that she would be able to put on without needing Oliver's help, and still look good since they were leaving the apartment. She didn't care that much whether she looked good in what she wore when leaving the apartment, but because of Oliver's status in this city, she kind of felt like she had to.
She found a pink dress shirt with no sleeves, that was tucked into a white skirt that went to the middle of her thighs. She didn't know whether she wanted to wear a jacket on top, but she didn't think it was going to be that cold, so she ended up just wearing the pink shirt and white skirt.
"I'm going to need some help with the shoes…" Aaila said from her closet, feeling slightly defeated. She was sitting on the ground since she still wasn't able to stand on one foot and put on her skirt, so she had to do it sitting on the ground. Oliver peeked into her closet and saw her sitting there waiting for him.
"And getting up again?" He teased her. He knew that she wasn't able to get up on her own, and Aaila knew that he knew that, which was why she wasn't irritated by the little tease. She simply nodded at it. "Which shoes?"
Aaila handed him a pair of pink high top Converse that she wanted to wear, and Oliver started to give her shoes on. Oliver helped her back on her feet, so they could get going to that little meeting that Oliver had to attend to.
"We are not late, are we?" Aaila asked concerned that she was actually slowing him down enough for him to not attend the meeting at the time that it was planned.
"That's the thing, it doesn't really matter. I'm still Oliver Queen, and he is known for being fashionably late to a lot of things," Oliver told Aaila. He didn't want her to feel bad about him getting late, but he said was true and that was a thing that he didn't want to rush getting rid of since it had its perks of being a little late sometimes. Aaila sent him a look that said she wasn't really pleased with his answer but understood that he was telling her the truth.
They got down the stairs and were met with Nyssa, who was ready to say goodbye to them. Nyssa kissed Aaila on the cheek and Oliver on the mouth and they said goodbye. They said goodbye to Thea and Roy as they were walking out of the door and heard them reply just before the door closed behind them.