Until I Fight By Your Side Again
Oliver was supposed to be on a solo mission. Just a simple scouting mission. At least it would have been, that was the plan. Just scout out a Deathstroke hideout for any suspicious activity It was a somewhat remote area, with a giant warehouse and a few abandoned buildings around it.
But of course things went horribly wrong. He got ambushed. That wasn't the problem however. An ambush he could deal with quite easily. The problem was his time traveling daughter Mia tagging along without telling anyone. Usually a member of Team Arrow helping was a blessing, this however felt like more of an ambush than the actual ambush.
So there they were, back to back, bows at the ready, surrounded by enemies.
"Why are doing here?" Oliver kept his gaze on his enemies, while slowly reaching for an arrow.
"Finding Deathstroke." Mia responded quickly and before Oliver could ask any more questions she leapt into action. She charged at the two masked men in front of her, swinging her bow at one and kicking the other. The kick sent the mercenary back, but her bow missed the target, giving an opportunity for a counter attack. A swing and a miss as Mia put some distance between her and her opponent.
Oliver sighed.
The bowman charged at the men in front of him, shooting his arrows at them, enveloping them in the webs and knocking them to the ground. He glanced back at Mia, who was surrounded by three men, but she didn't look bothered at all. She glared briefly at Oliver before quickly knocking out two of her opponents.
She looked at Oliver smugly, as to show him she can be just as good as him. Oliver smirked back and rolled his eyes, he understood that, trying to prove oneself. He could hold that against her.
However when he looked back he saw the third individual charging at Mia.
"Heads up!" Oliver shouted as he shot an arrow in Mia's direction. It went just past her head, hitting the target, shocking him and knocking him unconscious to the ground.
Mia glanced at the man on the ground, then back at Oliver, "I could have taken him."
"Sure. I know that, but try to keep your head in the game."
Mia just glanced at him, shrugged, and ran passed him into the next room with the computers.
Oliver took a deep breath. He really tried to understand Mia better. But Mia made no effort to talk to him, or open up about anything. In fact it seemed like she made sure to do the complete opposite. She was driven, he'll give her that. But even her motivation of taking down Deathstroke was shrouded in mystery for him. Oliver had to admit he's faced a lot of hard challenges in his live, but trying to connect and get along with his time-displaced, future daughter was one of the hardest things he's done.
But that just meant that he's gonna have to work harder. He didn't get where he was without hard work and determination. With that resolve he made his way to the computer room Mia disappeared into.
Approaching the room he heard sounds of an ongoing fight, by the sounds of it Mia was winning. Arriving at the door he saw it was kicked in, and inside the room was Mia surrounded by guys on the floor, grunting in pain.
"I see you already took care of things here."
Mia just nodded as she made her way to the computers. Oliver did a quick scan around the room, luckily there wasn't anything that seemed out of the ordinary.
"Found anything?" He walked closer to the computer screen where Mia was typing.
"Nothing useful." Mia was frustrated. She hoped to get some intel or clue about where Deathstroke was or at least what his next move would be but there wasn't anything helpful in the files. Mia sighed, rubbing her temples.
"We should leave. We don't know how heavily this place is surveilled, they might be sending backup." Oliver made his way to the door, glancing around the place.
"Why do you bother? We took care of everyone here right?" Mia casually walked away from the desk. At least she tried to seem casual, but Oliver could see she was very disappointed at the lack of information.
"Hopefully the others had better luck. Lets go back to the Bunker for now and regroup." He knew it was a poor attempt to lift her spirits but he had to try.
Mia looked out the window, weighing her options.
"You can go back. I'll go look for information somewhere else."
"Look, I get that you're driven. That's good. But one thing I learned is that its never a good idea to go in without a plan. You'll get hurt, or someone else." Oliver understood that drive that she had, but he also knew how dangerous it could be.
Mia glared at him, "Oh no, you don't get to try and play a worried dad now."
"I'm just saying you should-" Oliver didn't finish the sentence because as he turned around to look at Mia she got shot by one of the men they thought was unconscious. Before he could even react he heard the shot. It all happened so fast: the sound of the gunshot, Mia screaming, Mia hitting the floor, Oliver running to knock out the shooter.
"Shit!" Oliver ran to Mia's side. She was on the floor, bleeding from the wound on her shoulder, clenching her teeth, "Let's get you out of here!"
Oliver picked her up, "Make sure to keep the pressure on, don't black out on me Mia." Oliver made his way outside as quickly as he could while also trying keep an eye out for possible enemies. He ran into one of the abandoned buildings, lucky for them it really was abandoned.
There was very little inside but there was an old couch that he put Mia on. She was passed out, which was odd. He knew a simple bullet would shouldn't be enough to knock her out, which meant there was something else at play and he needed to take out the bullet fast and dress the wound.
Unfortunately there wasn't a lot for him to use in the building. He managed to get the bullet out accompanied by a lot of painful grunts from Mia and even more when he applied some alcohol he found in one of the cabinets. It wasn't pretty but it would have to do until they get better help. Which he hoped would be soon.
Mia was currently sleeping so Oliver was left alone with his thoughts. He didn't want to seem overprotective or overbearing but he couldn't help but worry for Mia, despite her doing everything in her power to prove to him that she doesn't need or want his help and company. He was dead in her future, this was possibility the only time he would ever get to spend with his daughter. He wanted to know her better, that's all he wanted.
His train of thought was cut of when he heard shifting from the couch. Mia was blinking her eyes open, looking around. She attempted to get but winced as she felt the pain in her shoulder. Looking at it, it was tied with a piece of cloth.
"Its clean." Mia's eyes snap to Oliver who was sitting in a chair, not too far from her.
"How long was I out?"
"A few hours. No one's found out yet. But that being said I haven't heard from the Team either." Oliver's face showed concern at that. Its weird that no one even checked in yet.
Mia groaned and laid back on the couch. She wasn't feeling so well. Which must have shown on her face since she saw Oliver giving her a worried look when she looked back at him.
"The bullet may have been laced with something. I don't know what exactly but you might feel light headed for a bit. I got it out as fast as I could and cleaned the wound best I could but you should get medical attention to be sure." Oliver may not be a doctor but he took care of enough of his own injuries and those of his friends.
Mia glared at him, "I told you already, stop acting like a worried dad."
"But I am a worried dad. And I'm trying to be a good dad."
"Well I'm not a kid. I don't need you to worry about me and treat me like I am one." Mia made a motion to cross her arms but stopped short when she remembered that its probably not a good idea.
Oliver looked away, "I get that you don't like being around me. That you don't want anything to do with me anymore. But I'm trying here Mia, I'm trying to make a good relationship here."
"You didn't bother with that in my reality. You left us."
"I died Mia. Its not something I have control over."
"But you could have! You could have said no! You could have stayed out of it all with mom and me! But you left! All so you could a hero!" Mia's voice was raising with each word she spoke, but she still wouldn't look anywhere near Oliver.
Oliver looked at his daughter, "I'm sorry you feel that way. I do what I do for everyone else, for people to be able to live their lives. I tried to walk away from it, with your mom and you, I really did. But it found me again. I have to help, Mia, for you and your mom, for my friends and family. For the people who live in this world."
"Have you tried to say no? Not to fight? Find some other way? Anything at all?" Mia bit back aggressively.
"I can't say no Mia. Not to this. Now now."
Mia looked back at him.
"What about me, and mom and William? You'll just leave us alone to be hero again?"
Oliver shook his head, "You won't be alone, you'll all have each other. And your friends. People that you haven't even met yet."
"That's not it went in my reality." Mia scoffed. Oliver seemed to be way to optimistic. Way too sure that things would work out for everyone even after he's dead and gone.
"You... you never told me about it. I know you and William didn't see each other but what what abut Felicity? You haven't told me about her." Judging by the frown on Mia's face what ever the situation was it wasn't good, but Oliver still wanted to know what Mia's life was like. She turned to look at the wall.
Mia was silent for several minutes. The silence was suffocating. It was awkward. Was it so terrible of him to ask about his wife in the future? Was it something Oliver didn't even want to know? No, he did. He had to know, even it its only one of the possible futures he wanted to know.
"We... we didn't get along. I didn't like the way she did things. She hid me from people, had secrets, had me trained to fight, kept other people from me. She didn't even tell me about her own life, about being a vigilante. And I hated her for it. I ran. I fought in cage fights, I found out about you. About who I am." Mia briefly looked at Oliver before turning away again. "But eventually I found her again. With some help from William. We talked, I realized that some of my feelings may have been misplaced."
"Misplaced?"
"I hated vigilantes for a long time. Because of her. Because she lied to me. And maybe a bit because of you. Because you chose that life instead of us. But after spending time with William, Roy, Zoe, Dinah and Connor I realized that they weren't that bad at all. They did good thing, they were good people. And so here I am now, acting as a vigilante myself. It seems to be in my blood I guess." Mia chuckled at that statement, how ironic it was.
Oliver chuckled as well, but became serious again quickly.
"I hope you get to spend more time with her. And with the others. I don't know if I can prevent myself from kicking the bucket, but if I can I'll sure as hell try. Until then I want to spend more time with you now, if its the only time I get with you."
Mia sighed, "As I keep saying, I don't need that."
"Then what do you need?"
"I need to find and kill Deathstroke." Mia clenched her teeth at the name, rage filling her eyes.
Oliver was about to ask more but he saw that Mia was pretty emotionally drained from talking about her mom.
"Let me see if this place has any food. Its unlikely but you never know."
Mia merely nodded, turned her back to him and dozed off. Oliver was once again left alone with this thoughts. What Mia told him gave him a lot to think about. Was he wrong? Was his choice to fight wrong? Did he condemn his loved ones to a life of mistrust, pain and loneliness? Was that version of the future set in stone? Was his death set in stone? He wasn't sacred of death, he's been close to it many times, he's seen it. But what he was scared of was being the cause of his own family's fallout. He wanted the best for them, was a sacrifice so they could live not the way to go? Should he go back? Fix things now so they aren't broken in the future?
No, the future wasn't broken. There were good people in the future. People who fought for what's right, for Star City. His family, while not perfect, was alive. They found each other, no matter how long it took. They will no doubt do great things for Star City, the world, the universe, the multiverse, for each other.
Maybe the future was bright after all, even if he wasn't in it. But that being said Oliver Queen isn't going down without a fight. If he can survive the upcoming Crisis, he'll find a way. He enjoyed the time he spent with William, and he wanted to enjoy spending time with Mia as well. She's a capable fighter, but he also had to admit that she was hotheaded and too quick to act. If he lives he could teach her to fight better, to fight smarter. To fight side by side, rather than Mia trying to one up him at every move. He wanted them to be a team.
Of course being a team took trust and that was something Mia didn't have for him. He hoped he could change that eventually. She opened up about Felicity, he was glad for that much.
He didn't have much luck with food. Most of it was dry rations and canned food.
"They sure didn't bother much with food. Or they didn't have reason to." He muttered to himself more than anyone else. This was part of a hide out, pretty remote too, so its likely that not many people visited.
He found some plates and spoons they could eat with. They weren't in the best condition but nothing in this place was. It was just functional, and that's really all that Deathstroke needed when it came to his sacrificial pawns.
Oh right, he still wants to ask Mia about what her deal with Deathstroke is. She wanted him dead for something. She hated him with a burning passion, he could tell that much. Maybe he could ask her after she wakes up. After they get something to eat. In the meantime wanted to contact his team. They hadn't got in touch with him yet, that either meant that they were in trouble themselves, which he hoped wasn't the case, or they something else was interfering.
He tried calling the Bunker. No signal. He tried to call Diggle. No signal. Dinah. No signal. He tried to call Rene. No signal. And William? No signal.
There must have been some type of interface. If he's figured it out then the others must have done the same. Hopefully they're on their way now.
A few hours passed without incident. Mia was soundly asleep, it seemed that what ever the bullet was laced with was running its course but wasn't deadly. Then Mia began to stir. She struggled, tossed and turned. Her face was in a frown. She mumbled something that Oliver couldn't make out.
"Hey, hey kid. Wake up." Oliver shook her lightly, "Come on."
Mia shot up, she was breathing heavily, she looked around frantically, like she was looking for someone. Her eyes landed on Oliver, she took a few deep breaths to calm down. It her her a moment, but she managed to calm down. Her wound was bleeding again though.
"Great." Mia groaned, "Just fucking great."
Oliver set down the rations in front of her, "Here. Eat something. Then I'll clean the wound again."
Mia didn't look to pleased but at this point she was too tired and hungry to complain. She ate in silence. Oliver didn't make a move to talk to her again. Not that she wanted him to. He said what he had to say and so did she. She didn't want to hear anymore of his excuses. She didn't need his excuses. She didn't need to be doted on either. She was trained her whole life. She fought in underground rings. She was no stranger to pain. Physical or emotional.
She also didn't understand why he was trying so hard. They can't make up for her whole life of him not being there. He can't change the way she lived her life, even if he changed his mind now and didn't die somehow, she still lived a life without him in her timeline.
"I tried contacting the team. No one responded."
Mia glanced up at her dad.
"I think they got something here that jams our communications. But the good news is that since we haven't heard from each other in a while they should be coming to get us. Hopefully. Probably." Oliver knew his team wouldn't leave him stranded. If they're safe and well they'll come looking for them soon enough.
Mia nodded. She wasn't sure about Oliver's team but she had trust in her brother. And Connor too.
Oliver seemed to have a lot of trust in his team. She supposed it made sense, he's been by their side for years. Its something she didn't have with her team.
She finished her food, as bad as it tasted she couldn't really complain. Oliver was still silent. He cleaned up the trash. He got more alcohol and quietly went to work with taking care of her bullet wound. Mia winced a few times but remained silent. The silence was somehow comfortable. It wasn't was awkward as it was just a few hours ago.
Mia leaned back on the couch, while Oliver sat back in his chair.
"Do you wanna talk about it? Your nightmare?" Oliver asked slowly, not wanting to push any boundaries because what ever this was it was clearly a touchy subject for his daughter.
"Not a nightmare." Mia said quickly. She was quiet for a few moments then she spoke in a tone that Oliver could barely hear, "A memory."
"What?"
Mia took a deep breath. She didn't want to talk about this. She never wanted to talk about this. She just wanted to get her objective over with. And then maybe, just maybe she can find some piece in her mind. At least she hoped it would.
What happened to Zoe... she won't ever forget it. Forget that feeling. That sight. That pain she felt. The guilt she felt. The anger she felt.
"It was my fault." Mia finally spoke, her voice low and shaking, "Zoe... it was my fault what happened to her. Deathstroke... JJ killed her. Right in front of me. I couldn't do anything. I never even got to react or try to stop it." Tears started running down Mia's face, "It could have all been over that night. But I lost to JJ. Zoe saved my life, but I couldn't save her. She died bleeding in my arms."
Oliver slowly put his hand on Mia's. She flinched briefly but didn't pull away.
"I've lost good friends in my years as a hero. I wish I could tell you its gets easier. Dealing with the pain. But it doesn't. Each is more painful than the last. There's no getting around that pain, all you can do is try your best not to lose anyone else, even if you've failed in the past." Losing people is something that seamed to go hand in hand in their line of work, no matter how they wished they could avoid it.
Hell is seemed that soon Oliver would be the one that people lost. And he knew all too well the kind of pain his loved one would be in. That knowledge scared him more than the thought of dying. That was the thing that made him second guess his actions, the thing that made him so careful on missions, that made him strive to be better and better, to not get hurt. At least until the Crisis. He already made up his mind about that when Mar Novu showed up and told him and Felicity about the upcoming Crisis and his death.
"Thanks for the heads up." Mia's tone was sarcastic but Oliver could tell that there was a bit of sincerity there as well.
"Mia... I know working with a team can be hard, especially if you aren't used to it. And I know it brings along a lot of fears. But have to let yourself trust people. Its gonna be painful at times, but no one can do these things alone."
Mia finally looked at him. She wiped her tears with her free hand.
"I rushed in. I know that. I still do that. I know you see that too. You just won't say it to my face." Mia narrowed his eyes at Oliver, the man just laughed.
"You're right. I don't say it you your face. But that's because I already know that you're aware of those things. You just... have a hard time working on them right? I get it, I really do. Trust me, the more time you spend with your team the better you'll get at taking care of yourself. For your sake and theirs."
He leaned back in his chair. Mia was silent, thinking about his words. She knew he was right. But she also knew that will all of that came the fear of losing the people she loved, which did happen. And them losing her, which she hoped she wouldn't put them trough. Like her dad did to his family and friends. It seemed like Oliver read her thoughts because he spoke up again.
"Of course trust them more means getting to know them, and the more you know them the more you care. It can be scary. Sometimes its the hardest thing to do. But in a lot of ways it makes you better, the knowledge that you care for others and they for you." Oliver closed his eyes, reminiscing about his team.
"I hope I can avoid the painful parts of it. Zoe was a friend. I... That's why I need to find and kill Deathstroke. For Zoe." Mia sounded determined now, not as sad as she was before.
"He's not the same person."
"I know! But... I think that, maybe if I kill this Deathstroke then JJ won't ever become the next Deathstroke. No JJ Deathstroke, no fight with the Deathstroke Gang, no Zoe dying. I know it will never erase the fact that it happened in one timeline, but I can make a future where Zoe is alive, I know I can. I can save her. I just need to find him. If I can do that... I might start to forgive myself." Mia started crying again. Remembering Zoe saving her, falling into her arms bleeding, Mia trying to tell her its gonna be ok. Before everything went white and they were transported into the past. Before things got more complicated.
Oliver again placed a hand on hers. He didn't want to invade too much of her personal space. She was opening up him and that was good. But he won't try to push things too far.
"I killed people before." Oliver spoke, hanging his head down. He took a deep breath, then looked back up, "It doesn't get easier either. Its not a good feeling Mia. Even if you hate the person with a burning passion. Its a slippery slope. I was forced to kill someone I cared for once. To save her. It was one of the hardest things I've had to do. And I can't take that back. I can't back any of the people I've killed. Its a part of me. A part I'm not proud of." If there were any lessons and speeches Oliver wanted Mia to remember and take to heart its this one.
Its true that killing was a slippery slope. Some fell down hard and fast. Others slowly over a longer period of time. And some managed to get back up before they could fall down. To catch themselves or to let others catch them.
"So I should just let Zoe die?!" Mia yelled in his face.
"I didn't say that. But like you told me earlier: have you tried to look for another way? Some way that doesn't lead you down this path. Even if you don't know now I hope you can find one. Like I hope I can find some way back to you, your mom and William. Its a slim chance I know. I made peace with there being a 99% possibility of me dying, but I'm still holding out for that 1% that I'll find another way." Oliver smiled, a hopeful smile.
Mia looked away, she didn't know what to say, how to respond to that. Maybe he was on to something. Maybe there was another way. But right now she didn't see it, she wasn't sure if she ever would but she will take Oliver's words into consideration.
"I hope you get that 1%. You... you aren't as bad as I thought. Which admittedly isn't much better." Mia laughed, followed by Oliver's laughter.
"I'll still help you. As will the rest of team. Both teams. I just hope that when the time comes you'll consider what I told you. And I really hope I get that 1% as well. It would be pretty fun fighting side by side with you when you grow up. You're pretty good already."
"Oh... Um... Thank you... dad."
Oliver smiled, a big bright smile on his face. For once Mia didn't call him dad with any trace of anger, contempt or malice in her tone of voice. That made him happy. It meant he was on the right path. Even if it was a short path its a path he'll gladly walk with his friends and family by his side.