Chapter 84: A Road Trip Back to Hell

For several minutes, the entire meeting room remained silent as everyone ruminated over the words their leaders — unofficially, of course, because the Justice League was a team of equals — said. Finally, it was Jefferson that spoke to everyone, standing up so everyone's attention was on him.

"In Freeland, you find a lot of stories like yours," he told them, looking at the three former assassins directly, "Good kids in bad circumstances forced into impossible situations where they have to do questionable things in order to survive. Yours is more of a… extreme version of that. But I'll say this now — you don't have anything to be ashamed of. You did what you had to do to survive, and you got out, for the most part. And all the good you've done since then, and will continue to do from here on out, proves that whatever the three of you used to be, you've changed for the better. And all of you, time and again, have proven that you've got my back. So I've got yours."

His piece said, he dropped to his feet and sat back down. Wide, thankful smiles spread across the faces of Oliver, Barry, and Kara, especially as voices of assent followed Jefferson's statement. There were some that clearly desired personal audiences, but for now, that was enough.

"Thank you, Jefferson, and to all of you as well for your vote of confidence. It means a lot to us," Oliver said genuinely as the room calmed down. "But now that we're on the same page, it's time to get to work. There's a reason we told you all this — the person we believe helped Merlyn escape is a woman named Talia. She's Nyssa's sister, and Ra's' eldest daughter."

With that, the screen on the wall turned on, and picture of Talia, grainy and slightly out of focus, appeared. "Talia is different from her father and sister. For all their faults, Ra's and Nyssa truly believe that what the League does helps the world, that their goal is noble, and to some extent, it is. But Talia — Talia is a monster. She is arrogant, cruel, vain, and incredibly entitled, and often used League missions as excuses to kill as many people as possible. That being said, despite being the elder daughter, she was passed over as her father's successor. Originally because she wasn't a man — Ra's is a chauvinist, though he's gotten better about in recent years — but after he had Nyssa and realized he was never going to have a son, it was because of all of those less-admirable qualities. He correctly concluded that if she were put in charge of the League, she'd bring it to ruin, and chose Nyssa to be his heir instead."

Barry scowled as he picked up where Oliver left off. "Talia didn't take that well, as you can probably imagine, and attempted to kill Nyssa in retaliation. When that failed, she fled Nanda Parbat with her followers and founded her own organization, called the League of Shadows. They're a more traditional mercenary group, and take hits for anyone who gives top dollar, regardless of alignment. However, reports before we left the League indicate that she's never given up on taking the League of Assassins for herself, because she believes it to be her birthright."

"Wait a minute — you're telling me that this all because of a family feud?" Iris demanded, understandably vexed. She had nearly died, after all, because a bitter woman couldn't get over the fact that she had been passed over for what she perceived to be her inheritance.

"Basically," Barry responded apologetically. "The al Ghuls may be an all-powerful family of assassins, but they're still human. They're subject to the same sort of family dynamics any family unit experiences, just with a more… lethal edge to them." He winced as he said the word lethal, remembering various other incidents throughout League history involving the succession. Ra's al Ghul's daughters had hardly been the first time people had squabbled over the Demon Ring, though the twist of them being sisters had a doubled novelty, as all the previous Heads of the Demon had been male.

"We believe Talia sent that assassin after Iris to pit us against the League of Assassins," Kara explained as Barry finished. "While we wouldn't be able to completely eradicate the organization, we would've done a great amount of damage and might've even been able to kill Ra's, leaving Nyssa in an unstable position and allowing Talia to take advantage and usurp her. Obviously, it failed, but does prove there's a bigger problem now — Talia knows our identities, and is likely to use that for her own ends. Combined with the situation with Merlyn, and it's sticky all around."

The discussion continued on for another hour or two, as courses of actions were determined. It was agreed that the Justice League would all indeed go to Tibet, but would split on arrival. While Green Arrow, Flash, and Supergirl went to Nanda Parbat to plead their case to Ra's, asking for aid against Talia, Black Canary, Black Lightning, Martian Manhunter, and Vixen would search the area for Merlyn and bring him in, hopefully before Ra's found out about his presence and decided to exercise his own form of justice. While no one would shed tears if Merlyn actually found himself facing the wrath of the demon, many of Merlyn's would-be victims had been relishing the chance of seeing him on trial and would be put-out if he were randomly "killed" during his re-apprehension.

It was unknown how long they would be gone, so in the meantime temporary protectors would have to be assigned to different cities. Jefferson already had his daughter Anissa covering Freeland, so that just left Starling, Central, Hub, and Detroit. Astra agreed to commute between Starling and Hub, using a disguise reminiscent of Supergirl's attire (no one upon a closer look would ever mistake her for her niece, but it seemed prudent all the same), while Firestorm handled Central. Most notably, an ecstatic Cisco was charged with the city of Detroit under his new moniker of Vibe. He had, thankfully, created his own suit over the course of the last few months and was eager to take it out for a spin.

As for the Justice League's civilian loved ones and allies, they would be tailed by A.R.G.U.S. agents, coordinated by Slade, in case of further reprisal from Talia. The monitoring would end when Talia was defeated or captured, but until then it was better safe than sorry. This monitoring included those currently not at the meeting and still unaware of their relatives' vigilante identities. Of those present, none had protested, those some like Iris highlighted the difficulties the monitors may have keeping hidden and suggested temporary leave in case the mission bled into the next work week.

The logistics covered, everyone prepared themselves to leave, whether it was for work or for the mission. A few, however, stayed behind for some private conversations.

"Oh, little one," Astra murmured as she pulled her niece into a fierce embrace. "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry."

Kara sighed, but returned the hug. "Like I said before, it wasn't your fault, Aunt Astra. You couldn't have known." Nobody on Krypton could have known. And if they had known, well, Kara wondered whether or not they would've gone off with sending Kal-El and her to Earth anyway.

"Perhaps so, but I will apologize anyway. First Krypton, and then the island, and now this — you have suffered over the years far more than you deserve, my dear," she pulled away slightly so she could slide her hands to cup Kara's face, "But I am proud that you came out of it so much stronger than you were before."

Her niece smiled tearfully at her for a moment, only to soon adopt a look of guilt and remorse. Astra frowned. "Kara?"

"Do you think they'd be angry at me?"

It took a moment for Astra to figure out who 'they' were, but once she realized who it was, she looked absolutely stricken. "At you? No. Never, Kara. I may have not agreed with your parents on many things, but if there was one kinship I shared with them, it was our love for you. The only people they would have been angry at are the people who forced you to go so far so you and Kal-El could survive."

It didn't seem like her little one believed her, but Kara nodded nonetheless, so Astra let it go for now. She returned to hugging her niece, burying the younger woman's face in her shoulder as she hummed a Kryptonian lullaby.

The first thing Laurel did the moment she and Oliver were alone was kiss her boyfriend. Oliver was surprised at first, but soon melted into the gesture, and had to visibly restrain himself from going any further. They soon separated, exchanging tender looks.

"You don't…" Oliver didn't say anything else, the implication clear.

Laurel simply shook her head, smiling sadly at him as they held hands.

Oliver smiled back for a moment, though his face soon turned serious. "Laurel, we still need to talk about something."

"Nyssa," she instantly concluded, and Oliver sighed, nodding. "… do you love her?"

Oliver licked his lips. "I do," he admitted, "I love you Laurel, do not doubt that, but I love her as well. She was my closest friend in the League. My teacher and my partner. I wanted to leave the League for many reasons, but if I did have a reason to stay, it was her."

Laurel pursed her lips. "I love you, Ollie. I always have. And I'm not sure if I love Nyssa too, but I do feel something strong for her. You might've inspired me, but Ollie — she's the one who made me feel strong. She supported me as much as you did, and I…" Laurel blushed, and looked away.

Oliver thumbed her chin so they could meet each other's eyes again. "We need to tell her."

"We do," Laurel agreed, "But not now. Not with this thing with Talia going on. The last thing she needs is to be distracted from that."

"Right," Oliver nodded. "Then we'll tell her when this is all over. Agreed?"

"Agreed."

"I'd told you I'd tell you one day."

"You did," Iris said, peering up at him softly, "And my stance hasn't changed — I'm not going anywhere."

There was more she wanted to say though. More apologies about the way she had treated him, shunning him for so long for being the Flash, for not telling her why. She had always wanted to know the truth, and now that she did, it horrified her. Not Barry — never Barry — but how Barry had been forced to live, the kind of things her best friend had been forced to do to keep his life. Things that, even now, she saw that he struggled over the morality of. And if she was feeling this bad, she could only imagine how Henry and Joe would feel about it if they were to ever know the truth.

She had resented her father for what had happened to Barry but now she was beginning to realize how tremendously unfair she had been to him. Joe had never intended to saw those words to Barry, had never intended to drive him away and incidentally lead him to his supposed doom. He certainly hadn't intended to force Barry into the life of an assassin and, judging by what else had been said today, a mad scientist. Iris had been wrong to blame him for all of that. She would have to apologize to him later, hopefully without telling him the complete truth. As said before, if she was reacting this badly to all of this, then the truth might very will kill Joe with the guilt alone.

Iris opened her mouth to do the same with Barry, but he pressed a finger to her lips and shook his head, smiling lightly. As always, he already knew, and as far as he was concerned, there was nothing else that needed to be said.

The next morning, the Justice League departed for Tibet. A private plane provided by A.R.G.U.S. was the method of transportation. As everyone settled in for a long flight, Laurel settled her eyes on Oliver, a pensive look on her face. Oliver, always alert, caught onto it almost instantly.

"What is it, Laurel?"

"Something has been bugging me about this whole Merlyn situation," Laurel admitted, rubbing her arm. "Why didn't you hand him off to Ra's? Not that I'm saying you should have," she quickly added.

Oliver sighed. "Well, one reason why is that we publicly exposed him, so that meant, in the court of public opinion, he needed to be punished by our country's justice system."

"And the other?"

Here, he rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "The League invests heavily in blood debts. Meaning that if one person wrongs them, then their entire family is liable to punishment."

It hit Laurel immediately. "Tommy."

"Yes. If we had just let the League deal with it, have them assassinate Merlyn with his actions never being exposed, it's possible they could've targeted Tommy as well. Or perhaps they would've kidnapped Tommy instead and press-ganged him into the organization like they did with us, to atone for Merlyn's crimes. Probably the latter; Tommy is Merlyn's blood. If he had even a fraction of his father's talent, Ra's would've been interested in having him as an assassin — and if he didn't, well, no big loss."

"But if that's the case, how did you convince Ra's to let you three handle it?"

Oliver pursed his lips. "As we said before, we were Ra's' elite. His perfect assassins, his horsemen. You don't know how many resources he poured into making us what we are today. Even though we are no longer under his direct control, the last thing he wanted to do was alienate us. We were far more useful to him alive than dead. That's why it was so suspect that he sent someone after Iris — that would've enraged Barry, and enraging Barry enrages Kara and I as well. That's not what he wants."

"Another reason is because the one Merlyn wronged, above all others, was me. I had more right than anyone to decide his fate, and Ra's knew that. More than that, I was one of his favorites. He took special interest in my training and I spent more time with him than anyone that wasn't Nyssa. He, perhaps, trusts me as much as a man like him can trust anyone. So he left Merlyn in our hands under the assumption we would level a sufficient punishment. The fact that we did not and Merlyn escaped will make things… difficult in the negotiations."

This made Laurel frown. "He won't hurt you, will he?"

"No, but he'll give us a tongue lashing for sure and might refuse to help us with Talia. However, we do have a lot of goodwill, both for our previous record and for the destruction of H.I.V.E., and that might be able to swing things in our favor."

"But I thought you only did that to get a release from your vows. Since all three of you were 'valuable' and all."

"We did, and for the most part that is the main benefit of that transaction. However," and here Oliver's eyes darkened, "H.I.V.E. was more than just an enemy organization, led by a former member of the League. Damien Darhk was once a candidate for the title of Ra's al Ghul, only to be beaten out by the current one. He fled to avoid being killed, and subsequently helped create H.I.V.E., which came to rival the League in power. Damien Darhk in particular began messing with dark magic, which arguably made him even more dangerous than Ra's. By eliminating H.I.V.E., we technically eliminated the biggest threat to the League, and secured it for at least another generation. Ra's is obsessed with keeping the League intact for the foreseeable future, so this service carries a lot more weight than he was willing to admit at the time."

He leaned back into his seat, resting his head. "The main reason why Ra's never did anything about Talia and the League of Shadows is because, ultimately, she was a minor threat compared to H.I.V.E. at the time, not actually because she was his daughter. She still is a minor threat, comparatively speaking, even now — as long as Nyssa is alive, none of the League of Assassins will follow her. The only way they would ever consent is if she defeated and killed Nyssa in honorable combat, and I can assure you that while Talia is talented, Nyssa is even more so."

"However, she is still Ra's al Ghul's daughter and that is why she has so much potential to be a threat. She knows the inner workings of the League, their general logistics, including the layout of Nanda Parbat, and even may have sympathizers among some of the old guard. If we can convince him of that, convince him to eliminate her before the League of Shadows becomes another H.I.V.E., then we can get rid of her before she does something else that all of us will come to regret."

"And if you don't convince him?" Laurel asked hesitantly.

"Then we're just going to have to do it ourselves."

As they closed in upon the Himalayas, Barry glanced out the windows of the plane, and snorted.

"And back to hell we go."

My chapters for this story are so much shorter. I think I meet adopt the method I've been using for One Day at a Time when I write Act III of this arc. Allows for meatier chapters without having to constrain myself to certain events.

Please comment or review, flames will be ignored, constructive criticism welcome, and don't forget to update the TV Tropes page!