She sat at the witness stand, idly spinning her wedding band around her finger while the lawyers argued - again. It didn't seem to matter what the question or the answer was, the prosecution was determined to crucify her in this trial.
"Enough! Counsellors, get it together or we will convene for the day!" The judge finally snapped. Tala took the moment without attention to shift under the meta-dampeners. She'd been under them for hours at this point, and she just wanted a chance to breathe properly.
"Miss Merlyn-"
"That is not my name." Tala glared over at the prosecutor. It wasn't the first time she'd corrected them on her name.
"When did you first get the idea for the Justice League?"
"That wasn't my idea. That was Flash's idea. I was just the financier." Tala stretched back in her seat, giving the appearance that she didn't care about the proceedings at all. And in truth, she didn't. She was only there to show that she and the Justice League had nothing to hide. That was all she cared about. Continue the mission, push forward, keep the league going. "After the end of the world, we knew we needed to honor Oliver's sacrifice, and the Flash founded the League in his name. It was a way for the heroes to work together easier than we had in the past. Cataclysmic events just seem to pop up like daisies - sometimes it takes more than one team to beat them back. Darkseid's invasion comes immediately to mind."
Many of the audience flinched at the remembrance of the invasion three years prior. Too many were killed. Bruce was still shouting about it whenever it was brought up around him. Especially because Darkseid couldn't be killed. Tala was livid about that too.
"Right. And this, end of the world, you claim to have experienced. When was this? I don't remember the world ending." Tala made an annoyed sound in the back of her throat as she leaned forward in her chair. Even with the meta-dampeners, she was a frightening figure.
"Course you don't! We only remember because of the psychic imprint that J'onn J'onzz was able to pick up. He gave the rest of us our memories."
"And not the rest of us?"
"What good would it do you to remember your death and the death of everyone you love? Why would you want to remember the look on your wife's face as she disintegrated before your eyes? I wish that I didn't remember. We all wish that we could forget, but because of Oliver's sacrifice," Tala paused to take a breath. She was letting her emotions get the better of her, again. "Because of Oliver's sacrifice, the paragons were able to restart the universe from the vanishing point."
"The same vanishing point where your husband died?" That was an unnecessarily cruel remark, and it showed in Tala's eyes.
"Which one? I'm said to have three, and a wife."
"Yes," The prosecutor said nastily. "We'll be discussing that later."
"Objection! Relevance?" Tala's lawyer - Laurel Lance - glared at the judge and the prosecutor.
"Sustained, move along, or get to the point."
"My point, your honor, is that we can't trust anything this woman says. She is a metahuman with the power of a God, a mass murderer, a vigilante, and internationally feared assassin, the head of the League of Assassins. Before this all came to light, she was secretly financing three different vigilantes in their pursuit of violence!" Said like that, Tala thought it was a wonder she hadn't been sent to jail sooner. "How do we know that she hasn't been lying to us this entire trial?"
There was uproar. That sentence was the exact one Tala and Laurel had been angling for from the prosecutor. At her desk, Laurel's assistant sent off a text message to Star Labs. The teams were aware things were going as smoothly as they could with Tala's involvement.
"Order! I will have order!" The judge pinched the bridge of their nose, no doubt trying to stave off a headache. Tala was well known to cause those - just ask David Singh. "That's it; we're going to recess for an hour, give tempers time to cool."
Tala locked eyes with Laurel, who swept out of the courtroom and slipped into the shadows. The metahuman stood and allowed the bailiff to attach the meta-cuffs to her wrists and lead her back to her cell. Once they were removed and replaced with the dampening bracelets (the same design, just less restricting, and easier to wear for hours on end) Tala fell backwards onto the bed in the cell, kicking her feet up on the wall.
Tala allowed her eyes to close and give the appearance of sleep. The trial wasn't going to reconvene until tomorrow, Laurel was going to make sure of that. And if she couldn't, Tala herself could. Tala let her thoughts drift to how everything started, with a boat, a cold island, and Oliver Queen. Since he'd died several years ago, Tala had allowed herself to blame him for most of her troubles, even if it was unfair of her. She figured he wouldn't mind.
"Do you want to hear the story?" Tala asked out loud. Outside her cell, a woman froze like a doe in the headlights.
"How did you know I was here?"
"I'm an assassin; if I couldn't tell people were close to me with my eyes closed, I'd have been dead a good few years ago." Tala didn't sit up, but she turned to look at the reporter standing outside her cell. "Who're you?"
"Vicki Vale. Gotham Journal News." She had red hair, and a small frame. She reminded Tala of a younger Pamela.
"One of Batsy's then. So, do you want to hear the story? The whole story?"
Vicki thought for a moment, no doubt weighing the odds between wanting to know the truth (reporter's weakness) and sitting next to a known and feared assassin.
"Okay. Tell me everything." Tala grinned and sat up, leaning forward to balance her elbows on her knees. In a whisper in her ear, Tala heard Gideon say that she'd cancel the remainder of the trial for the day. They needed this story told.
"Everything really began in 2012. When Oliver and I were rescued from Lian Yu...
The paparazzi were waiting at the airport again. That in itself wasn't so unusual; Starling City had more billionaires than police officers. What was surprising was the plane that landed at precisely 1939, with no schedule, emergency call, or a passenger manifest. Already curious - a reporter always was, a film crew and two writers for local magazines went to stake out the terminal the Gulfstream was taxiing to.
Oliver Queen was tired. Kovar was arguably the hardest person he'd had to fight - and he was including Slade Wilson in that line-up. Sitting up with the newest burn on his back was borderline impossible, leaving him lying uncomfortably on his stomach on the jet's couch. He wanted a shower, a sandwich, and a nap, in that exact order. Oliver could still feel the Red Death in his system; Tala's miracle cure hadn't been enough to purge it all. Oliver stared out the window at the terminal they were approaching.
Tala Merlyn was restless. Five years away from civilization, left her paranoid and nearly unable to settle. Only having been with Oliver was allowing Tala to turn her back on him, to lower her guard with only him in the room. She still wondered how he'd convinced her to return to Starling, let alone join in his crusade against the people in his father's book. Tala was a killer, a murderer, not a savior. Tala paused in her pacing to look out at the terminal. She couldn't hide from this.
The first reporter to see Tala Merlyn looking a ragged mess with a clearly rescued castaway Oliver Queen regretted the day he went to school for journalism.
"Miss Merlyn, were you part of the rescuing party to find Mister Queen?"
Tala came to a sharp and sudden standstill in front of the reporter that spoke. The flashing lights didn't bother her, nor did the roar of voices in the airport. Tala was focused on one person with such ferocity that later, the reporter would thank his Gods that he didn't evaporate.
"Rescue party? Wouldn't I have to be found to help with the finding? You act like I haven't been stranded on an island in the middle of nowhere for the past five years." Tala's voice went quiet in a way that had all of Oliver's instincts screaming at him to do something.
"You were on the Gambit?" The reporter asked with such incredulity that Tala actually took a step backwards.
"Where else would I have been for the last five years?"
"You were never declared missing."
The sentence hung in the air for a minute before the two castaways could process it enough to react to it.
"What do you mean I was never declared missing?" Tala thundered, glaring violently at the circling reporters. Two swiftly backed away, their fight or flight instinct screaming about the apex predator in front of them. "I've been on a freezing death trap of an island for five years, and you're telling me that no one noticed?"
Oliver swiftly picked Tala up around the middle, making sure to keep her arms pinned to her sides so she couldn't get free and attack someone. Tala only had the presence of mind to make sure none of the recorded footage survived.
"Tala, it's okay, it's okay," Oliver tried to soothe, leading her away, toward the car that would take them to Starling General Hospital.
"Is it, Ollie? Five years and no one noticed? Not Tommy, Thea, Laurel? Hartley didn't notice, Quentin?" This was the first time Tala had ever seemed small to Oliver. She looked shattered, even more so than when she discovered him sleeping with Sara. "I put in for two weeks of vacation at the company. I had reports due, but no one noticed I never returned?"
"We'll look into this; we'll get your answers. And whoever was behind it will pay."
Tala didn't say anything as she looked out the window. She didn't want them to pay, she wanted them to burn.
Arrow
Tala sat through the doctor's exam in a trance. She moved when she was told, but mentally she was at a loss.
"Miss Merlyn, is your father coming to get you?" Tala resisted the urge to snarl.
"No, I'll be going home with Oliver in the morning. Tommy won't be back in Starling until closer to lunch tomorrow." It had been a hard phone call. Tommy had thought Tala returned to the Army - it was what Malcolm had told him. "I'm not feeling very charitable towards my father at the moment."
Tala and the doctor glanced at the TV sitting mute in the corner, where every reporter was speculating why no one knew Tala Merlyn, prominent heiress to the Merlyn Global Group and the Merlyn Billions, had been missing for five years.
"You're free to wander the hospital, but I want to keep you overnight, alright?" The doctor patted Tala on her arm and left, leaving the assassin with her thoughts. After a few minutes, Tala shook the murderous thoughts from her mind and left her room for Oliver's, just down the hall. She settled in next to him, staring out the window at the Starling skyline.
Everything was so shockingly different, her home city felt alien. Tala resisted the urge to scratch at her skin until she bled. She'd never been one to show her anxiety, but her left hand twitched. Oliver noticed and took her hand in his own, giving and receiving comfort. His meeting with his mom still fresh in his mind. He squeezed Tala's hand, silently wondering if he'd made the right choice in returning. Tala squeezed back, reminding him why they came back as they did. For their safety.
"Do you remember when we first met?"
"At that bar?"
Billionaire playboy Oliver Queen entered the nightclub his best friend said he was at, in a navy-blue shirt, the top few buttons undone, and the sleeves rolled up - as he was told he looked best. He was going to meet up with his girlfriend and her sister in a bit, but first he was going to the bar to get a round of shots. And maybe a beer. He walked up to the bar to order and watched the girl next to him. She had dark red hair and wore a blue dress. She had five shots of something that could've been vodka or tequila. She nodded to the bartender and lifted the first shot. She pointed it to the sky and said something in a foreign language.
"Manzelle? What does that mean?" He asked her.
"Manzil. It means home in Arabic. I haven't been home, here, in years. I'm saluting my return," She explained, turning to look at him.
He tried to stay objective, remembering his commitment to Laurel, but even then he couldn't help but notice the muscle tone on her arms and legs. This girl was tough, and beautiful.
"Well then, welcome home. Finish your drinks and I'll take you and introduce you to my friends. My best friend would probably love you," Oliver watched as she downed the rest of the shots in quick succession
"Lead the way Oliver Queen," He raised an eyebrow at her and held out his arm - his mother had taught him manners, even if he ignored them a lot - and led her to where Tommy, him and the girls agreed to meet them. They were all there already.
"Ollie!" Laurel said, smiling as he appeared.
"Who's your friend Ollie?" Sara asked, adjusting the strap to her small bag that rested on her hip.
"Tala, you haven't introduced yourself yet?" Tommy asked the new girl.
"You know her? I found her at the bar, she said she hadn't been here in a few years. She hasn't given me her name yet," Tala pulled away from Oliver and moved to stand between Tommy and Laurel.
"My name is Tala Merlyn. I'm Tommy's sister. I just got back from Kandahar." Both of the girls and Oliver stared at her in surprise, whether it was because of the familial revelation, or her being in the army, she wasn't sure. She took a sip from the drink Tommy placed in front of her and watched his friends. Sara Lance was the first one to recover from her surprise.
"Well, Tala, any family of Tommy's is a friend of ours. I'm just glad no one suggested that you two would be cute together!" She and her sister laughed as Tommy and Tala looked at each other and made a face at the thought of being together.
"I say we need more drinks! Tommy said that I don't drink enough, and I'm going to prove I can drink plenty!" They all cheered and tossed back their current drinks, heading to the bar again for more.
"Laurel told me later that she was thinking of setting me up with Tommy to keep me away from you," Tala confided. "When I started dating Sara, she was glad for her sister's happiness. I'm sure she hates me now."
Tala slid out of the town car and darted around to the back, just as Oliver stopped the driver from pulling out their trunk.
"We've got it." The driver would never forget the steel hidden in Oliver's eyes. He backed off, almost raising his hands in surrender.
"Your room is exactly as you left it," Moira said as she opened the doors. Tala trailed behind Oliver, resisting the unnecessary urge to case the house before she entered. "I never had the heart to change a thing."
Queen Mansion looked the same way it had when Tala last visited. Oliver traced the path he'd taken the last time he went home, just before he watched Robert's message and decided to return to Lian Yu. He absently sat the trunk down at his feet. Tala leaned into it, keeping it pressed against her ankle to make sure it stayed there.
"Oliver. It's damn good to see you," a tall man said, entering the front room. Both castaways stared blankly at him, Oliver wondering who, and Tala wondering if they were a threat. She knew that instinct would take ages to recede. "It's Walter, Walter Steele."
"You remember Walter. Your father's friend from the company," Moira explained. It clicked for Tala. He was the CFO for Queen Consolidated. What she didn't understand was why he was there. A few hidden glances at Moira and Walter spelled it out for her, as evident as drying paint.
"It's good to see you, Raisa," Oliver said, skirting around Walter to greet the housekeeper. He had a genuine smile on his face, unlike the cold, blank look he reserved for Walter.
"Welcome home, Mister Oliver, Miss Tala. Mister Merlyn phoned. He would like to join you for dinner." Raisa gave Tala's hand a light squeeze as she reached out to take it.
"Wonderful," Moira said, allowing it. She knew she couldn't refuse with Tala being there as well. Even knowing what she did about Malcolm, Moira couldn't believe he covered up Tala's disappearance on the Gambit.
Tala was the first one to turn to look at the stairs when she heard movement coming from them. She nudged Oliver, who moved to look and see who was coming down. Both castaways lit up as Thea, now seventeen instead of twelve, came downstairs.
"I knew it. I knew you were still alive," Thea said as she threw herself at her older brother. Thea melted into the hug. "I missed you so much."
"You were with us the whole time." Oliver effortlessly passed Thea over to Tala, who was waiting with open arms.
"I missed you, little one." Tala pressed a kiss to her forehead before pulling away. "If dinner is going to be a production, I am going to need another shower. I can still feel saltwater in my hair."
"Of course, make yourself comfortable, dear," Moira said benignly. Tala smiled at Thea again before following Oliver up the stairs to his room. The girl sank onto the mattress, laying there bonelessly for a moment before she propped herself up on her elbows.
"I have completely forgotten how difficult people are. And when did Walter and Moira start sleeping together? My dad refused to consider looking at another woman after Mom died." Tala pushed herself completely upright. "Although, I seriously wouldn't be surprised if dad slept with Moira."
"What?"
"Oh, come on, you never wondered? Thea was born in '95, Tommy and I are two years apart," Tala explained. "Besides, Thea and I could pass as twins. I asked dad about it a few years ago. He said it was a possibility."
"That's enough of that; I don't want to consider it."
Tala shrugged as she walked toward the bathroom, "I think I'm gonna take a nap before dinner."
Arrow
"Come on, Laurel. We're lawyers, not miracle workers," Laurel's friend Joanna protested. "We can't win this!"
"If we can't win a class-action suit against a man who swindled hundreds of people out of their homes and life savings, then we're not fit to call ourselves a legal aid office," Laurel said. She knew that by laying out the facts like that, Joanna lost a lot of her argument.
"And if we go bankrupt in the process, we won't be a legal aid office!" It wasn't that Joanna didn't want to go after Hunt, it was just that she knew that their odds of losing were a lot higher than their odds of winning. Hunt had entire teams of lawyers that excelled in shutting down annoyances, exactly like CNRI. The last time someone went against Hunt, they ended up moving to Coast City, and trading in their law degree for a food truck. "Hunt has an army of lawyers, and they're ready to bury us."
"You and me against an army, I love those odds," Laurel said. In her experience, the more people a businessman threw at a problem, the bigger the likelihood they were hiding something.
"Why do you hate me?" Joanna stepped away to grab her ringing phone as Laurel nearly flopped in her chair. Her pin board held articles against Hunt, and a few photos a private detective took. Laurel's attention was shattered as the other people in the office started shushing each other to listen to the news story.
"The Queen's Gambit was last heard from more than five years ago. Mister Queen has reportedly confirmed that he and Miss Tala Merlyn were the only survivors of the accident that took the lives of seven people, including local resident Sara Lance. Survived by her sister Laurel..." Laurel snatched the remote up and shut off the TV, causing the entire office to stare at her. Only a few looked away, abashed. What to them was a high-profile media frenzy was a tragedy to her. Laurel hated everything to do with the ongoing story. It was still only a few months ago that Laurel and her father managed to find a balance in their lives, only for Oliver to come and upend that again.
Laurel knew, objectively, that she was acting cruelly. But emotionally, Laurel was still shattered over the blow of losing her long-time boyfriend, only to discover a few days later that Sara was gone too. Finding out that Oliver had cheated on her with her sister was a wound that not even a superhero could recover from. Laurel had tried to find comfort in Tala, but the girl had vanished without a trace. Malcolm had told Laurel that she was away on business, checking in on the Global Group holdings in Europe, but Tommy had said that she re-enlisted into the Army. Only now did Laurel know the truth. Tala had almost died on the Gambit and should've been considered dead. Malcolm was going to have a lot to answer for when Tala next spoke with him.
Arrow
Oliver walked out of his bathroom with a towel around his waist, his hair still dripping from the shower. Tala was still sitting on the floor in front of a mirror, trying to style her now significantly shorter hair. It swished along her jawline, trying to curl at the ends.
"I think I'm going to dye my hair blue," Tala said, turning to look over at Oliver. "I'm done playing Malcolm's game of heiress. I'm taking control of my own life."
"And blue hair is the way to that?"
"You ever see a CEO with blue hair?" Oliver held up his hands in concession.
"After five years, everything that was once familiar is unrecognizable. Even my reflection shows a stranger," Oliver sighed as he started buttoning up his shirt, hiding the scars and the tattoos.
"I know." Tala traced a finger down one of the uglier scars that went down her arm. A scimitar in Pakistan gave it to her. Oliver placed his hand over hers and gave her a warm look. Tala gave him a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. They took a fortifying breath before they went downstairs to greet Tommy.
Arrow
"What'd I tell you, yacht's suck," Tommy said to Oliver the minute he was in sight.
"Tommy Merlyn," Oliver said, pulling his best friend into a hug.
"Tommy!" Tala rushed her younger brother and nearly tackled him into a hug. Tommy swore he felt his ribs creak with the strength of her grip. He pulled her closer, wrapping her in his arms. Neither sibling wanted to let go, not even Tommy.
"Okay, what else did you two miss," Tommy asked after the meal had started. "Super Bowl winners, Giants, Steelers, Saints, Packers, Giants again. A black president, that's new. Oh, and Lost, they were all dead, I think."
Tala hid a laugh behind her glass as Thea rolled her eyes at Tommy.
"What was it like there?" Thea asked. Tala watched as the mood at the table suddenly tanked. Moira and Walter were so determined to pretend the last five years hadn't happened, and Tommy was trying to keep things lighthearted, but Thea's question, innocent as it was, was the stark reminder that two of their number had been dead for the last five years, and that there were two more that could never return.
"Cold," Tala said, exchanging a glance with Oliver. They gave each other heavy glances, remembering everything with grief in their hearts.
"Tomorrow, us three, we're doing the city," Tommy said, shifting the mood away from the chill Tala's answer gave the rest of them. "You've got a lot to catch up on."
"That sounds like a great idea," Moira said, nearly beaming at Tommy's suggestion.
"Good. Then I was hoping to swing by the office." Tala watched with hidden amusement as Moira nearly swallowed her tongue with her wine, and Walter froze, his glass an inch from his lip. There was something that Moira didn't want Oliver seeing. She would be investigating Queen Consolidated immediately after she found out why she'd never been declared missing.
"Well, there's plenty of time for all that," Walter said. Tala studied him but dismissed the idea that he was involved with whatever Moira had going on. She wasn't sure if that was a comforting thought, or a horrifying one. "Queen Consolidated isn't going anywhere."
Raisa broke the hidden anxiety of the room by tripping as she approached the table. Oliver and Tala moved as one to catch her and support her until she regained her balance.
"I am so sorry, Mister Oliver."
Oliver waved away her apologies in quiet Russian while Tala took the fruit bowl and placed it on the table.
"Dude, you speak Russian?" Tommy was impressed.
"I didn't realize you took Russian at college, Oliver," Walter said. When Tala saw the look on Oliver's face. She knew he had just laid a trap.
"I didn't realize you wanted to sleep with my mother, Walter." Oliver kept a pleasant but neutral expression as he stared down Walter and Moira. Both had frozen like deer in the headlights of a car.
"I didn't say anything," Thea said when Moira looked at her, then Tommy. Tommy looked away from his sister and his best friend.
"She didn't have to."
"Oliver, Walter and I are married." Moira reached over and took Walter's hand. "And I don't want you to think that either one of us did anything to disrespect your father."
"We both believed that Robert, like you, was, uh, well, gone."
"It's fine," Oliver said, though his body language was screaming that it wasn't. He stood from his chair, his plate half full, and moved to leave. "May I be excused?"
Moira looked for a moment as if she would protest, insist that he stay at the table and finish his food, the way she had when he was younger, but when Tala stood as well, Moira nodded. Oliver grabbed an apple off the table and walked past Tommy on his way out of the dining room.
"Hey, don't forget about tomorrow, buddy," Tommy reminded Oliver as he left, clasping his hand. Oliver simply nodded and held out his empty hand for Tala. The two castaways left and returned to Oliver's room. The tension slowly left them with every step away they took.
Oliver tossed and turned on the bed for an hour before Tala got fed up and shoved him onto the ground with a pillow.
"Jeez, Ollie, neither one of us are gonna get any sleep if you don't settle down. Just because you're not used to a bed doesn't mean you have to keep me up all night."
"I'm not used to anything anymore," Oliver replied sullenly. The two exchanged soft looks, each knowing how hard adjusting was going to be. Tala crossed the room to let in the sound of the late summer rain from outside. "But that does help. Good night, Tala."
Tala accepted the gentle kiss from Oliver before she dragged the duvet off the bed and settled down next to him.
"We're in this together. Night Ollie."
Arrow
Tala woke up in a haze. It wasn't time for her to wake up yet, so why was she? Blurry eyes scanned the room for a threat and saw two shadows hovering over her and Oliver. Oliver woke up just as Tala moved and tackled one of the shapes.
"Oliver?" Oliver flipped over the person above him and held them down.
"Oliver, Tala!" Tala looked down at the man she was holding.
"Walter?" Tala asked, squinting. "Oh, hell..."
Tala let go of Walter and stumbled away. Oliver grabbed her around the waist and guided her down to the floor next to him before she fell.
"I'm sorry!" The castaways apologized together, tripping over their words as they moved away from Moira and Walter and further into the rain-soaked area in front of the open window.
"No, it's alright Oliver, it's okay sweetheart." Moira and Walter knelt down like they were approaching a wounded animal. In a sense, they were. "You're home."
Tala stayed pressed against the wall until Walter and Moira left the room. She slowly forced her body to relax as Oliver pushed towels around the floor to mop up the water.
"You were going to kill him." It wasn't a question.
"There wasn't a want, it was just instinct. He was there, he was a threat." Tala accepted Oliver's hand to stand, and allowed him to pull her into a hug, resting his chin on her head. There was a moment of understanding. Five years of needing to kill anything that moves in order to survive leaves you with instincts that have to be smothered in polite society.
Arrow
Tala let the steam from her coffee rise up and fog her glasses as Oliver crossed the room to pull his trunk out from under the bed. He threw a small, brown book at her, knowing she would catch it, even while distracted. It was quickly tucked out of sight and into the inside pocket of her leather jacket.
"For Thea?" Tala asked when Oliver stood up with a hozen in his hand. "A rock with the coordinates to a miracle drug?"
"More the inscription on it."
"I'm surprised you didn't bury it with Shado," Tala commented as Oliver left the room and headed down the hall to Thea's room. Tala looked down at the battered box at her feet and tried not to get sucked into memories she'd rather forget. They flashed behind her eyes anyway. Flashing swords and flying arrows. Sharp searing pain from blades, and slow burning pain from the fires on the boat. An agonizing scream as she washed up on shore and realized that her entire life was gone. The body-numbing pain as the heartbreak set in. Pushing everything else aside for the will of...
"Tala?" Tala shook herself as Tommy called out to her. "You still with us?"
"Yeah, sorry, I was lost in thought."
"Apparently, I've been calling for you for a minute now." Tala shrugged and threw back the remainder of her coffee, frowning as it went cold. Tommy handed her a thermos filled with still warm coffee. "Do you want to..."
"No. No, I don't want to talk about it. There's nothing to talk about."
"T, you were gone for five years, and... I don't want to say that no one noticed, because we noticed, but you weren't declared missing. That's a lot."
"So is being hidden away from the world because you're a woman," Tala said. There wasn't bitterness in her voice, not over this, not anymore. Tommy flinched at the old argument. They'd been arguing about this since Tommy was five. Their father's actions didn't sit well with either of them, but they both knew they couldn't do anything against him until he stepped down as CEO. "It's just another suitcase, Tommy. That's all it is."
"You can't carry all of them."
"No one else will," Tala shrugged. Tommy shook his head but ended the conversation. He knew it was pointless to argue with her about these things. Tala fell into step behind him as they left Oliver's room.
"A rock! That's so sweet! I want one of those t-shirts that say my best friend was a castaway and all I got was this lousy shirt," Tommy joked, ruining the moment.
"I just want more coffee," Tala chirped, smiling at Thea from her brother.
"Don't let the boys get you into too much trouble, Tala," Thea said, smiling. "You two only just got back."
Tala smiled as Thea hugged Oliver. Tommy cleared his throat, causing them all to roll their eyes at his antics.
"The city awaits!" Tommy said, leading Oliver back out of the room. Tala winked at Thea before following the boys, linking arms with them. "Have you noticed how hot your sister has gotten? Because I have not."
Tommy changed his tune at Oliver's glare. Tala frowned at the back of her brother's head, remembering her question to Oliver the night before. Thea looked too much like Malcolm Merlyn for there to not be some relation.
Arrow
"Your funeral blew," Tommy said as they pulled into the Glades. Tala scoffed, rolling her eyes.
"Did you get lucky?" Oliver asked. Tala chuckled and Tommy nodded.
"They were like fish in a barrel," Tommy laughed. "They were so sad, and huggy, and I am counting on another target rich environment for your welcome home bash."
"For the what?" Tala demanded, glaring at her brother. "No?"
"Oliver just came back from the dead. From everyone else's perspective, you just returned from five years of being gone. That constitutes a party!" Tommy enthused. Tala stared at him in mild horror. She may have been a party girl in high school and then in the army, but that wasn't her anymore. "You two tell me where and when, I'll take care of everything."
Tala swallowed her groan, bracing herself against Oliver's seat as her brother swung a tight corner. She looked out the window over her glasses and saw the old Queen Consolidated steel factory. She remembered Robert closing it in the months before the trip on the Gambit.
"This city's gone to shit," Tommy said, looking around. "Your dad sold his factory just in time. Why'd you wanna drive through here anyway?"
"No reason," Ollie said, avoiding the question. Tala glanced up from her phone at the back of Oliver's seat, wondering at his thought process. The factory was likely the base he wanted, but they were going to have to be careful. Both of their faces were splashed across every tabloid from Starling to Coast City. People would start to wonder why they were in the Glades. The game just got more dangerous. Tala hid a dark smile behind her coffee mug.
"So what did you two miss the most?" Tommy asked, driving again. "Steaks at the palm, drinks at the station, meaningless sex?"
Tala ignored the last suggestion and started wondering what she had missed the most. She hadn't missed her family, she'd found a new one. There wasn't any food she missed, she ate whatever she wanted. Tala didn't drink anymore, so she didn't miss that.
"Laurel," Oliver said, causing Tala to smile sadly. Objectively, Laurel had gotten the short end of the stick. She lost her longtime boyfriend, and one true love, only to discover that her sister was also lost, because she'd gone along to start an affair. And the one person she could've commiserated with was completely gone, with no word, warning or whispers. She was just gone.
"Everyone is happy you're alive," Tommy said, glancing back at Tala. "You want to see the one person that isn't?"
Tala reached out to squeeze Oliver's shoulder. She understood Laurel's pain over what happened between Sara and Oliver. It was her pain too. But she'd at one point thought she'd lost both of them, and Tala worked to let go of what she felt. Holding on to her past would only ruin her future.
Tala started working through her backlog of emails while Tommy drove them down to CNRI, Laurel's legal aid office. Oliver climbed out to talk to her, and Tommy directed a distracted Tala to SC Jitters.
"What are you planning for yourself, since you're back in the land of the living?" Tala tilted her head in thought for a moment, weighing her personal plans with those that Oliver had made.
"Harrison Wells, in Central City, is launching a particle accelerator in December of next year," Tala said excitedly, smiling up at Tommy. "I've had Dad investing in Star Labs on my behalf for the past eight years or so. I'm thinking about going out there and applying as a Mechanical Engineer."
"You're going to leave?" Tommy asked, incredulous. "We just got you back!"
"Tommy, if I don't get out of Starling, Dad will have me married off to Hartley Rathaway to merge Rathaway Industries with the Merlyn Global Group," Tala said, glaring at the sidewalk. "I'd be CEO and a trophy wife for my gay best friend before I'm thirty. If I go to Star Labs, I can be something on my own merits before I am forced into the big chair at the company."
"Better you than me," Tommy scoffed. "I'd run the company to the ground, then end up on the streets."
"Nah, I won't let that happen," Tala said, laughing. "I have enough stored away to keep you from the streets. I've always got your back."
"How'd you think that was gonna go, Tommy?" Laurel demanded. Tala sighed, throwing her coffee cup in the trash can.
Laurel stormed past, glaring at the Merlyn siblings. Tala looked away, feeling bad about Laurel's hurt. It was her fault Sara was on that boat. Even now, five years later, Tala blamed herself.
"'Bout like that," Tommy said, looking after Laurel. Tala wondered if something had happened between the two of them. Oliver came back over, looking forlorn, but determined to get past it. The trio started walking back to where Tommy had parked.
"Okay, so we took care of that, good call," Tommy said, trying to break the tense mood. "Now we can make up for lost time. If you're not too sick of fish, I suggest we find some leggy models, and eat sushi off them, what do you say?"
Tala sensed the van before she consciously saw it. She grabbed Tommy by his collar and yanked him out of the way of the bumper before she crouched down to pull her knife out of her boot.
Tommy fell to a dart in his neck. Tala glanced up to see a man in a mask. He sent a dart to her, but she caught it an inch from her skin. She pretended to fall to the ground, winking at Oliver as he struggled to stay conscious. A man came out of the warehouse next to them, and the masked men shot him, killing him instantly.
This wasn't a robbery. This was a kidnapping, and it was personal. A bag was shoved over her head, and the last thing she saw was Oliver's eyes rolling into the back of his head.
Tala forced herself to stay limp as she was thrown into the back of the van. Tommy was half underneath her, and Oliver was lopsided on top. Something hard was digging into her ribcage, but Tala couldn't tell if it was an elbow, or one of her weapons. Counting the turns, Tala assumed the warehouse district. She knew she was right when she could smell the water of the docks.
Tala couldn't help the soft oof she let out when she smacked into the pile of pallets. Her forehead banged off a piece of wood as one of the men jerked the bag off of Tala's head. She felt the familiar itch of blood and knew she'd ended up with a cut.
Tommy was tossed down next to her, and Tala wondered what exactly was going on. She and Oliver had only been back for 48 hours, there was absolutely no reason for them to have already been kidnapped.
Tala opened her eyes slightly and watched as they zip cuffed Oliver to the chair. She counted five of them, one had his back to her, another was just pulling the bag off Oliver's head. She glanced around the room and noticed that none of the masked men were looking toward her, all more interested in watching Oliver.
"Mister Queen!" The masked man yelled, holding up a taser. "Did your father survive that accident?"
Oliver looked around, seeing Tommy, then meeting Tala's eyes. She grinned at him, pulling her hands free from behind her, untied.
"I ask the questions, you give me the answers," He said, before looking at his cohort. The man tased Oliver, who yelled in pain. Tala winced in sympathy. That was never a pleasant feeling. "Did he make it to the island? Did he tell you anything?"
The line of questioning had Tala frowning. Someone knew about the book. They worried that Robert had passed it on. Someone had paid for them to be grabbed and questioned. But why had they grabbed Tommy too? Because he was there, as leverage? Tala forced herself to not think about the fact that she would let her brother be tortured without revealing anything. She knew Oliver would too.
Tala met Oliver's eyes as he struggled to breathe normally through the pain. He nodded slightly, and Tala moved silently to stand behind one of the men.
"Yes, he did," Oliver panted, still working on controlling his breathing.
"What did he tell you, Mister Queen?" The mask asked. Oliver slowed his breathing, glancing at Tommy before he looked up at the mask in front of him.
"He told me that I'm going to kill you," Oliver said. The masked men laughed, and Tala had to lean out of one of their peripherals to avoid being spotted.
"You're delusional," he said, getting back in Oliver' face. "You're zip-cuffed to that chair."
Tala didn't bother to hide the smile on her face as Oliver raised his hands, completely free of zip-cuffs. While the men were busy gaping in surprise, Tala grabbed the one closest to her and jerked his head down with a twist that shattered the top of his spine. He collapsed at her feet, not even having known what was happening. Oliver used his chair to fight the two men closest to him. The remaining two split in different directions.
"You get him, I've got this one!" Tala snarled out in Russian. She charged after him, stepping over his mask as she ran. He shot blindly at her as they ran and leaped across rooftops. Tala jumped over a smokestack and grabbed a knife she had tucked in her boot. When he turned around again to shoot at her, she threw the knife and watched as it lodged itself in his sternum. He fell to his knees as Tala almost casually walked over to him.
"Please, you don't have to do this," he begged, not realizing he was already dying.
"And you didn't have to take the hit on Oliver. Who hired you?" Tala cupped the man's cheeks, looking at him with a soft, gentle look that belied the death that awaited him.
"We don't know his name, I swear! He's an archer, he wears all black and we didn't see his face." Tala tightened her grip on his face, encouraging him to give her more information. "He had a necklace! It had a blue stone on it."
Tala snapped the man's neck. She considered the description as she wiped the blood off her knife and started the trek back to where Oliver and Tommy were. Most in the League wore black armor, but who would send someone with that line of questioning? They would've had to have an immense amount of power to risk her. Unless it was someone that wasn't in the league. Talia was released of her oaths. There were a few horsemen throughout the books that had been released for exceptional services. Tala herself had been released on Talia's request. One last favor from her father.
But it still begged the question - who was sending goons after Oliver, and why were they so focused on what Robert may or may not have told him? Tala thought to herself that her investigation into herself might have to wait. They had other problems.
Tala dropped through a shattered skylight to land next to Oliver, who was just starting to rouse Tommy. She shifted from assassin to concerned sister as she took on most of Tommy's weight while he tried to stand.
Arrow
Tala sat in between Tommy and Oliver on the couch at Queen Mansion, looking at Detective Lance and the two police sketches on the table. One was of a woman in a hood, the other, a man. She hid her grin, knowing that neither of the drawings looked like either of them.
"So that's your story," Lance said, looking dubiously at Oliver. "A guy in a green hood, and a woman in black flew in and took out five armed kidnappers? I mean, who are they? Why would they do that?"
"I dunno, find them and ask," Oliver said cheekily. Tala rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, what about you?" Lance turned to Tommy, who hadn't said a word yet. "You see the hoods?"
"I saw, just movement," Tommy said, making Tala lose some of the tension she held. "Everything was really blurry, I was kinda out of it."
"Yeah," Lance said almost wistfully. "It's funny, one day back and you've already got people gunning for you. Aren't you popular?"
"Were you able to identify the men?" Moira asked, sounding concerned.
"Scrubbed identities, untraceable weapons," Detective Pike said. "These were pros."
"Yeah, well they probably figured you'd pay a king's ransom to get your boy back," Lance said, anger starting to slip into his voice. "Or a Queen's ransom, as it were. After all, a parent would do anything to keep their child safe."
"Quentin, enough," Tala said, looking at the Detective. "If Oliver and I can think of anything else, or if Tommy starts unblurring his memory, we will call you. I promise."
Quentin and Detective Pike stood and moved to leave, packing up the sketches of the hoods.
"Your luck never seems to run out, does it?" Quentin asked Oliver, before he turned to Tala and his look softened. "Are you sure you're okay? They didn't hurt you?"
"Unconscious and rattled, but I'm okay Quentin, I promise," Tala said, smiling gently. She leaned forward to hug her ex-girlfriend's father. Quentin hugged her tightly before leaving, only pausing to shoot Oliver another dirty look. Tala refrained from rolling her eyes. It wasn't Oliver's fault Sara was dead, it was hers. "I'm going to go clean up. Tommy, I'll see you later?"
Tommy nodded and left, a town car waiting for him out front. Oliver wrapped an arm around Tala and guided her up to his room.
"You can't heal that," Oliver said shortly. "They've seen it, they'll get suspicious."
"Don't use logic at me, Oliver. It itches!"
"Doesn't matter." Tala glared at him, more annoyed that Oliver was unphased by her anger. Perhaps she'd gotten too used to being the scariest thing in the room. Tala idly played with the ring on her finger as she walked over to the computer.
Oliver carefully, and gently rebandaged the small cut on her forehead, even going so far as to mockingly press a kiss to it. Tala gave him a playful jab to the sternum, grinning as he let out a huff of air.
"Adam Hunt?" Tala asked, flicking open the small book. Oliver reached around her and pulled up the news - Laurel was trying to take him down too. "As good a place to start as any, I guess."
"Of course Laurel is going after the scum of this city."
"Still can't believe Adam's this big of an ass. He's worked with us a few times. He's a dick, but I wasn't expecting... My dad's not on here, is it?"
"I haven't seen his name." Tala sagged in relief. Raisa opened the door, and they both looked up. Oliver casually put the monitor to sleep as Tala flipped the book over so Raisa couldn't see it.
"You are different," Raisa said in greeting, making Oliver look up. "Not like you to read a book."
"I missed you Raisa," Oliver said as Tala walked around to take the tray of fruits from the Russian maid. Tala set the tray on the set of drawers at the foot of the bed before eating an orange slice.
"No kitchen on the island," Raisa guessed, smiling at the returned boy.
"No. No friends either," Oliver said, standing from behind the desk. Tala pretended to be offended as she stuck her tongue out at him. He came over and took an apple slice, biting into it happily. "Thank you. Do I really seem different?"
"No, you're still a good boy," Raisa said, smiling at Ollie.
"Oh, I think we all know I wasn't," Oliver said, approaching Raisa again. Tala laughed softly, selecting another fruit slice.
"But a good heart," Raisa said, placing her hand over Oliver's heart. Tala smiled, knowing that no matter what, Oliver did have a good heart.
"I hope so," Oliver said. "I wanna be the person you always told me I could be."
Raisa smiled at Oliver and Tala before she left. The two started on the fruit as they planned what they were going to do to get the money back from Adam Hunt. They argued back and forth for nearly twenty minutes before they were both satisfied with the plan.
"I'm planning on making the steel factory a base," Oliver said, grabbing a jacket from the closet. Starling wasn't nearly as cold as the island, but he was letting himself enjoy being warm. "Let's head there for now, we can plan more once we're set up."
Tala grinned and they walked down to the entry hall, neither mentioning their plans for the night.
"Oliver, I want to introduce you to someone," Moira called before they could escape. Tala rolled her eyes but halted dutifully. "John Diggle-"
"Johnnie?" Tala shouted, turning around at the mention of his name. She looked at him with a wide smile on his face before taking two quick steps and leaping at him, hugging him tightly. "What are you doing here? I thought you were still in Afghanistan."
"I'm working in the private sector now," John said as he straightened himself out, letting Tala drop to the ground. "I'm working for Mrs. Queen now, to accompany Oliver."
Tala blinked rapidly, imagining Oliver's plan crumbling around them like shattered glass. She turned and glanced at the man in question, finding his neutral but startled expression mirroring her own. Tala smiled tightly at Oliver, wishing she was telepathic to know what he was thinking.
"I don't need a babysitter," Oliver said, turning back to his mother after a brief pause. Tala agreed, knowing Oliver could take care of himself.
"Darling, Oliver's a grown man," Walter said, surprising Tala as he jumped in on Oliver's behalf. "If he doesn't feel he needs armed protection..."
"Yeah, I understand," Moira cut him off, determined. "But this is something I need."
Tala rolled her eyes, glad her father was never this much of a helicopter parent. Oliver looked at John before nodding. Tala tilted her head slightly, raising an eyebrow at Oliver. He sent her a reassuring look before moving toward the car. She opened the door for Oliver, climbing in after him, a duffle perched on her lap.
"Where to, sir?" John asked, looking in the rearview mirror at Oliver. Tala smothered a laugh at John's formality.
"I think we are heading to the Palms for drinks," Oliver said, looking at Tala, who nodded. John nodded and pulled out of the driveway, heading toward Starling City proper.
"So..." Oliver said, tapping the back of Tala's hand. "What do I call you?"
"Diggle's good," John said, focusing on the road. "Dig if you want. Only Tala can call me Johnnie."
"War buddies and all," Tala said, grinning toward the bodyguard.
"You're ex-military?" Oliver asked, looking at John. Tala couldn't tell what his tone was, but the smile was polite.
"Yes, Sir. 105th airborne out of Kandahar, retired," John said proudly. "Been with the private sector a little more than four years now. I don't want there to be any confusion, Mister Queen. My ability to keep you from harm will outweigh your comfort."
While John was focusing on the road, Tala slipped her duffle around her neck and quietly opened the door, dropping and rolling as Oliver did the same on the other side. They both darted to opposite sides of the road, Oliver donning a hat while Tala adjusted her bag to rest tightly against her back. She moved toward the Glades, slipping a beanie off the head of a blonde woman on the phone.
Tala stepped into the steel factory just before Oliver did, carrying two bags he didn't leave the house with.
"So what's the plan, brother?" Tala asked, pulling on a set of fingerless gloves. "That abduction wasn't good, especially since they weren't looking for money, but information."
"The abduction was unexpected. It's forced me to move up my plans," Oliver said, looking at the flyers on the ground. "We need to put a base of operations in the basement, because eventually this building will be a cover."
"Night club? Easy enough for people to believe," Tala suggested, grabbing a broom. "But it does need cleaned and reorganized. And we need equipment."
Oliver grinned and gestured to the bags he brought with him. The two of them made short work of the stuff they had, with Oliver doing deconstruction and Tala rolling her eyes and trying to make things easier. She climbed up to the rafters, looking at the wiring they had available. Tala grinned when she found copper wiring still in place from five years ago. She quickly collected it and used it to set up the computers Oliver had brought, connecting them to the internet and the Merlyn Global Group satellites.
A few generators were found and set up, giving them power while keeping them off the main electrical grid. Oliver set up a section for them to train in, archery and stamina. Tala watched as Oliver loosed a few tennis balls, shooting them all and attaching them to the wall with arrows. She smiled proudly at him, impressed with his abilities. She knew what he could do, but there was still a lot of pride in how different he was from five years ago.
The man Tala met at the bar, six years ago, and the man that stood next to her, were complete opposites. Tala didn't think she changed. Not much anyway. She was a bit quieter. A bit more paranoid, and a bit more bloodthirsty. But outside of that, Tala hadn't noticed any changes in herself.
"Wanna spar? We have time to kill," Oliver offered, holding out Tala's bo-staff. Tala grinned before kicking it out of his grip, catching it as she lunged for him.
Arrow
Tala looked over Oliver's shoulder as he watched a news report about Laurel being the lawyer taking on Hunt.
"His crimes go deeper than fraud and theft. But he's been able to bully, bribe, or kill anyone who's gotten in his way," Oliver said, talking over the news reported as he turned to face Tala. "He hasn't met us yet."
Oliver walked over to his trunk and held up a green hood. Tala simply reached over and pricked her thumb, letting it bleed before she turned to face Oliver, black armor replacing the leggings and shirt she'd started in.
"What the hell?" Oliver demanded. Tala just smiled mysteriously before pulling up her hood and the dark blue cloth that covered the lower half of her face. She wore a long necklace with a blue stone on it, had a quiver of arrows strapped tightly to her back, and a compound bow ready to draw.
Oliver could see several knives and daggers scattered about, and the hilt of a sword sticking out of the quiver. He didn't doubt Tala carried more than what he could see though. He looked at her warily.
"You're not the only one with secrets," Tala said, a thick, unplaceable accent coloring her words. She winked at him as he shook himself and started getting dressed.
Arrow
Tala hid her smile behind her scarf as she knelt down to fire an arrow, shattering the light behind Adam Hunt. She watched as his security team frantically shoved him in the car before looking around, guns drawn. Tala carefully took out one of the men, a black arrow suddenly protruding from his heart. The remaining bodyguard fired a few rounds in the opposite direction.
"Hey. You missed," Oliver and Tala called. They dropped from their spot in the ceiling and shook their heads at each other. They each fired, Oliver hitting the guard in the stomach, Tala catching him in the throat. He fell to the ground, dead.
Tala shattered the window of Hunt's car with her bow, scoffing when he ducked down and covered his head. Oliver used his distraction to grab him and pull him out of the car, throwing him to the ground. When Adam looked up, he saw two angry people standing on top of his car aiming arrows at him.
"What, what?" Hunt shouted, holding his hands up in surrender. "Just, just tell me what you want!"
Oliver jumped down and grabbed him, slamming him against the side of the car while Tala watched in amusement.
"You're gonna transfer forty million dollars into Starling City bank account one one four one by ten pm tomorrow night," Oliver demanded, holding Hunt by the collar of his suit jacket.
"Or what?" Hunt demanded.
"Or we're going to take it," Tala growled. "And you won't like how."
Tala walked down the back of the car and left, walking alongside Oliver, trying not to grin.
"If I see you again, you're dead!" Hunt threatened. Tala and Oliver turned in sync and fired two arrows, sending them through the rear window, before they grappled themselves to a neighboring building.
Tala mounted Oliver's bike behind him and relaxed as he drove them back to the steel factory, where she pricked her thumb again. Her armor vanished, leaving her standing there in the same clothes she started in. Oliver gave her a wary look.
"If I wasn't afraid of you before, I definitely am now," Oliver said. Tala just laughed and pulled a small gym bag out of her duffle.
"I'll catch you tomorrow, Brother, I've got to get home so I can get to work."
"Work? You have a job already?" Oliver asked, incredulous. "We haven't even been back a week!"
"I'm CEO in training so I can take over when Malcolm retires. As it stands, I'm practically running the company anyway." Tala rolled her eyes and started up the stairs. "Tommy isn't inheriting the company, I am."
"I didn't actually know that," Oliver said, surprised. Tala winked as she left, taking the stairs two at a time. The assassin hailed a taxi, having it take her back to her house, where she showered and changed for work. As she left she saw a sleek town car sitting in the drive, waiting for her.
"Miss Merlyn, My name is Cody James, I'll be your driver if and when you need me," He introduced himself, holding his hand out for her to shake. Tala put on a gracious smile and shook his hand, noting that his grip matched hers in terms of firmness.
"Nice to meet you Cody. If you could, I'm running late for work, you know where the Merlyn Global Group building is, I assume?" Tala asked, slipping into the back seat.
"Yes ma'am. And there is coffee and breakfast in the seat next to you," Cody said as he closed the door behind her. Tala turned, pleased that her father had hired her a competent driver. She sipped at the coffee as she read through the budget for the upcoming meeting.
Tala ran her fingers through her hair as she entered her father's office, dropping the budget on his desk in agitation. Cody stood by the door, holding another stack of files and folders.
"This is completely wrong!" Tala said, shaking her head. "First of all, much as I adore the Queen family, we should not be financing their new division. If we stop doing that and simply invest in it, we can save the thirty people you want to lay off. Second of all, these numbers don't add up at all, even after taxes, personal salaries and investments, we're still missing a hundred thousand dollars from the budget, and I can't find it."
"You won't, because the person who has it is dead," Malcolm said standing from his desk. He waved Cody out before turning to his daughter. "I owed someone a favor, and that's what it cost me."
"You owed them a favor and now they're dead? The hell kinda shit is that?" Tala demanded, refraining from throwing her hands in the air in frustration. "Dad, you took that out of company finances, meaning everyone from me to the damn IRS has access to this. If it's traced, you're doing jailtime for murder at worst, wrongful death and tax fraud at best."
"Tala-"
"No." Tala held up her hand, steel slipping into her voice. "I don't want to know anything about this. Fix the budget, replace the money, and tell Kevin to make the changes. Twenty-four hours, or I'll go to the damn IRS myself."
"You wouldn't." Malcolm said, sure that Tala was bluffing.
"You never declared me missing despite knowing I was on that damn boat. And you did it for stock points. I hold you no good will." With that, Tala turned on her heel and stalked out of the office and back down the hall toward her own. Cody appeared at her side carrying a stack of files, folders, and binders he didn't have before.
"I have lunch being brought in for you, coffee as well. Kevin Reitz called and asked for a meeting. I penciled him in just after lunch as he said it would be brief." Cody paused as they entered Tala's office, letting her drop into her chair in silence before he picked up a slim folder. "These are the reports from R&D, and the science divisions from the past five years, as requested. I've also included everything pertaining to STAR labs and a few messages from Dr McGee at Mercury labs."
"Kevin's the CFO, I have to have that meeting, so if I had anything else scheduled this afternoon, cancel it. Then schedule me a face to face with Walter Steele over at Queen Consolidated. You... are not my PA, just my driver. I appreciate you going above and beyond but go ahead and put something out for a PA for me." Tala snatched a blue pen up off her desk and started scribbling on a legal pad in Arabic. "You and whoever I hire will work for me directly, so I'll draft up a few different contracts and we can choose whichever works best for us, okay?"
"You want my input on the contract I'll be signing?"
"You won't be a Merlyn Global employee, you'll be my personal employee. All the same benefits and the like but comes with side effects of personal calls as well. If I'm drunk somewhere, I'd call you to come find me, things like that. It will include an NDA, but you'll have permissions to talk about things with my PA, and the two of you will be the ones to make health decisions for me if I'm unable to and Tommy and Ollie aren't immediately available."
"You trust me that much?" Cody stared at Tala in surprise. She glanced up from her scribbling and nodded. She clicked the pen a few times, chewing on her lip. "You've known me a day. If."
"I spent five years on a frozen island, and no one noticed until I was rescued. At this point - you can't possibly be worse."
"Delivery for Tala Merlyn?" a delivery girl asked, leaning around the door frame. "Chicken parm sub and a vanilla latte from Jitters, and a chicken salad croissant."
"Yep, that's us!" Cody said, crossing the room to take the food from the girl. He handed her a fifty and told her to keep the change.
Arrow
Tala slid through the back doors of the convention center and immediately wanted to turn around. Cody gave her a shove between the shoulder blades, and she stumbled in.
"You cannot hide in your office all night. Enjoy your party, I'll see you tomorrow!"
Tala huffed and walked to where she could see Thea chatting with her friends.
"Hey, Tala!" Thea greeted, clearly a few drinks in. Tala glanced at the people around her and pegged three as dealers. "Tommy didn't think you were gonna make it!"
"My driver pushed me through the doors and insisted." Thea rolled her eyes at Tala's clear lack of enthusiasm. "You having fun? Being safe-ish?"
"I'm not gonna do anything I can't handle, T, you don't have to worry."
"I always worry, Little Sister. It's my job." Tala gave her a hug before walking off.
"No dress? And why is your hair blue?"
"I don't do dresses. And I thought it was interesting. I needed something new," Tala said, running her fingers through it. They both turned when Oliver started coming down the stairs. Tommy ran over, pushing through people while Tala watched in amusement.
"Man of the hour!" Tommy shouted after the DJ cut the music. Tala walked over to catch their conversation. "And, ladies, please give this man a proper homecoming!"
Oliver stepped up on a table, winking at Tala who rolled her eyes. Tommy passed them both a shot of tequila.
"Thank you very much, everybody!" Oliver threw back the shot with Tommy before smiling at the crowd. Tala didn't drink it. "I missed tequila!"
Tala snorted as Oliver dropped back down to the dance floor. They gave their glasses to a passing waitress and settled around a table. Tommy gave Tala a questioning look about her drink, but she missed it, checking her phone. He pointed out John, who was watching Oliver with a blank stare. Tala looked up and smiled at him, breaking his emotionless facade.
"Hey, does he wipe for you, too?" Tommy asked sarcastically, making Tala and Oliver laugh. "Now, by my rough estimate, you have not had sex in one thousand eight hundred and thirty-nine days. As your wingman, I highly recommend Carmen Golden."
Tommy gestured to three girls dancing in front of the DJ, though neither Tala nor Oliver had any clue as to which one Carmen was.
"Which one is she?" The two vigilantes asked Tommy.
"The one who looks like the chick from Twilight," Tommy said. Tala gave her older brother a confused look.
"What's Twilight?" Oliver asked. Tala shrugged when he looked at her.
"You're so better off not knowing," Tommy said, frowning slightly. Tala wondered if it was a chick flick that came out while she was gone.
"Back in a minute," Oliver said when he spotted Thea. Tala leaned against her brother and declined a drink from a passing waitress.
"I was dead for five years, and no one noticed," Tala said quietly. "How did no one notice? I..."
"Dad told me you went back to the army. Handed me a letter you wrote, saying that you'd done it cause you felt bad about taking my place as heir to the company." Tommy said. "Which is dumb, because we've known since your what, sophomore year of high school, that you were going to inherit everything."
Tala frowned for a minute, "that letter... did it mention mom?"
"If I remember right, yeah. You said that you hoped she was proud of the decision you'd made."
"That wasn't a fuckin' see ya next time, I'm running back to the army, for fucks sake - I'm gonna kill him," Tala seethed, glaring out the window. She took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down. Breathe. Everything breathe. "Tommy, I wrote that damn letter my sophomore year of high school. Like, two weeks after Malcolm declared me the heir and you the spare. It was supposed to be a suicide note."
"Sorry, a what?" Tala waved him off. Tommy gave her a look that said they would be talking about that later. She ignored it.
"I didn't go through with it. Jackie, my caretaker? She dragged me out of the house that night, brought me back to Central City so Hart and Snowflake could talk me off the ledge." Tala rolled her eyes. Jackie had been her caretaker for two years, encouraging her to do what she wanted, not what Malcolm wanted. "That was the night I decided I wanted to join the army."
"How did Dad get it?"
"I'm sure it was still in the Gotham house, probably still on the desk. Jackie helped me get accepted to the military academy by the end of the week. I packed like six things and that was it."
"You never were one for things. That was always me," Tommy said, smiling. They watched Laurel and Oliver walk away, going upstairs to talk.
"So when did you and Laurel become a thing?" Tala asked, causing Tommy to choke on his drink. "Please, it was obvious. And I'm not stupid. If you really like her, you should go for it."
Tala pulled her phone out of her pocket as it went off, alerting her to the fact that it was ten and there still wasn't any money in the account. She sighed and frowned.
"What's wrong?" Tommy asked, concerned.
"A coworker was supposed to finish this report by ten, for the meeting on Monday, but they haven't done it. I'm going to run back to the kitchens and do their work for them," Tala said, slipping her phone back into her pocket. "And then I'm going to draft their termination letter."
Tala gave Tommy a hug before darting back to the kitchens where she ran into Oliver who looked as annoyed as she felt by the situation. They were about to round a corner to the exit when they ran into Johnnie.
"Something I can help you with, sir?" John asked, causing them both to freeze.
"We just wanted a second to ourselves," Oliver said, wrapping his arm around Tala's waist. She bit her tongue but leaned into the embrace.
"I would believe you, Mister Queen," John said, giving Tala a knowing look. Tala had come out to John and Lyla back in the army. He was one of five people that would've known that was a lie. "If you weren't so full of crap. Party's this way."
Oliver stepped forward and acted like he was trying the door. It didn't budge. Tala took a subtle half step out of the way, content to just watch.
"It's locked," Oliver said, letting John step in front of him to try the door. Oliver swiftly wrapped his arm under John's arm and around his neck, knocking the man unconscious. Tala waited until John was slumped on the ground before she bit down on her thumb until it bled. She pulled for her armor to appear, adjusting her scarf as she followed Oliver.
Oliver ducked into a stairwell and pulled his gear on. Tala used that time to go to the roof and set up their escape, firing a grappling arrow from the roof, securing it to Hunt's building and a smokestack on the convention center.
Oliver went to the back of Hunt's office building, where Tala met him before they took the elevator up. Tala smiled at him before it opened, pressing a button that cut the power to Hunt's office.
"What was that?" Oliver asked.
"I got bored at work, so I set something up to cut the power on Hunt's floor," Tala said. "Something to announce our presence."
The elevator opened and Oliver fired off a shot, killing the first security guard. Tala responded by throwing a knife that slit the throat of the hired muscle closest to her. When the man behind her grabbed her elbow, she used his grip to pull him around to face her. Tala knocked him out, hitting him in the temple with her bow. When she turned, Oliver was flipping a man to the ground, his legs wrapped around his throat. There was one guard left and Tala stalked toward him while he reloaded his weapon, spinning and kicking him through the glass doors into Hunt's office. He spooked the security so much that they killed him, allowing Oliver to get a free shot off, taking out another guard. Oliver stepped into the office and fired the tech arrow Tala had designed, hitting the wall behind Adam Hunt.
"You missed," Hunt hissed, annoyed and angry as Oliver aimed another arrow at him.
"Really?" Oliver asked.
"Alaiqtisas, down!" Tala shouted as a man appeared in her field of vision, striking Oliver across the face. Tala fired at him, catching him in the thigh as he started trading blows with Oliver.
"He's here!" Hunt shouted into his phone as he ran out of the office. Tala fired another arrow, catching the last man in the heart as he fired his gun at Oliver. Tala ran over to Oliver, pushing her hood down as she knelt next to him.
"We have to go, SCPD is on their way up," Tala said, helping him sit up. Oliver groaned in pain as he did, pulling his hood up. Tala did the same and grabbed her bow as SCPD, led by Quentin flooded the floor.
"Lay down your weapons, or we will open fire!" One of the officers shouted. Oliver grabbed his bow, turning to head toward the windows. "I repeat, lay down your weapons!"
They both fired at the first two SWAT members, knocking their guns out of their hands as they dove for the window. Tala jumped out, enjoying the free fall before hooking her bow around the grappling she had set up. She pushed her armor away, leaving her in the same outfit as before.
"That's a neat trick," Oliver said, shedding his green suit. Tala started wiping away the grease paint on their faces before using her same trick to replace the makeup she'd ditched.
"It comes in handy, even if the man who taught me wasn't a good man," Tala said, checking her reflection in a passing window as they quickly walked back to the party. They arrived just as SWAT told the DJ to stop the music.
"Starling City Police, the party's over, kids," Quentin shouted as soon as he had everyone's attention. "Oh, Mister Merlyn. Imagine my shock at finding you here. Did you roofie anyone special tonight, huh?"
Tala darted over to Quentin, stepping between him and her brother. She crossed her arms and glared up at the detective.
"Quentin, this is a welcome back party for me and Ollie, why are you here?" Tala feigned innocence, stalling until Oliver could join her.
"There was an incident at Adam Hunt's building tonight. You two know anything about that?" Quentin asked, glaring at Oliver as he stepped behind Tala.
"Who's Adam Hunt?" Oliver asked.
"An old business partner of Dad's, is he alright?" Tala asked, knowing full well the man hadn't been harmed.
"He's fine. He just got attacked by your two hoods. The two that saved you two the other day," Quentin said, still giving Oliver a dirty look.
"The hoods? You didn't find them? I'm gonna offer a reward," Oliver said, turning away from the detectives. "Hey everybody! Two million dollars to anybody that can find a nut bar in a green hood!"
Tala bit her lip to smother her giggles at the thought of Oliver giving a reward to whoever finds himself.
"Did you even try to save her?" Quentin demanded, getting in Oliver's face. "Did you even try to save my daughter?"
Tala pushed Quentin backwards toward Detective Pike who led him out of the building. Tala turned to Oliver and Tommy, shaking her head. Oliver rolled his eyes before jumping up on another table.
"It's way too quiet in here, this is a party!" Oliver jumped down as everyone cheered and the DJ started playing again.
"Can we go, I can't take this many people anymore," Tala asked, looping her arm through Oliver's.
Oliver took them back to the steel factory where they watched the forty million from Hunt be deposited into the different accounts it was originally stolen from. Tala smiled proudly as Oliver crossed the name off his list.
"It feels good to make a difference. We do this for Robert, and for Sara," Tala said, placing her hand on Oliver's shoulder.
"Laurel said that the island changed me, but she doesn't know how much," Oliver said, looking down at the list. "There are a lot of names on the list. Every last one of them will wish I had died on that island."