I do not own Arrow.
"You killed him…" Thea whispered, still in disbelief and stepped back, when Oliver neared her.
"Thea… he had it coming. After everything he put our family through… he killed Tommy… and hundreds of innocent people. And he blackmailed our mom and sabotaged the Gambit and Dad died because of him." Oliver reminded as he neared her.
This seemed to affect Thea enough as she remembered how Moira had been afraid of Malcolm and was coerced into helping him with the Undertaking. Yes, Malcolm did save her life and train her. But that did not change the fact that Malcolm had been responsible for many wrong things in her life, Robert's and Tommy's deaths included. Yes, Robert may not have been Thea's father by blood but he still loved her and raised her as his own and she threw it all away when she became Malcolm's daughter. And all of Oliver's and Moira's lies and secrets, despite that they later came back to haunt them, were to protect her, which led her to the realization.
"You… you're him." Thea said, once she recovered from the shock as she eyed Oliver and then reflected back on when the Hood had gone after the Count after she had almost been arrested for using Vertigo and then when the Arrow had saved her when the Hood copycats kidnapped her.
"Yeah." Oliver nodded, not denying it.
"That night with the Hoods and that woman in black… that…" Thea trailed off.
"…was Ra's al Ghul's daughter." Oliver confirmed before he held Thea's shoulders. "And he's gonna come for you too because of Malcolm's role in the Undertaking. And trust me, you're much safer with me than with him."
Thea stared in shock for a moments before nodded, tears filling her eyes as she hugged him and he wrapped his arms around her.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Ollie…" She whispered, sobbing quietly as Oliver patted her back, soothing her.
"It's OK, Thea. It's OK." Oliver assured.
It took a while before Oliver could calm her down but they sat down, while Oliver quietly disposed of Malcolm's corpse. Part of Thea was grateful for Malcolm training her and looking out for her… but it didn't change the fact that she had lost her family because of him. Every wrong thing in her life had been because of him, which she now came to realize.
"Did Mom know?" Thea asked as Oliver poured them cups of tea and nodded.
"The night that she died she told me… she'd known for a while." Oliver admitted. "Thea… I understand if you're upset…"
"Honestly…" Thea took a breath. "It explains a lot and knowing now what I know… how could I be mad at you?"
Oliver smiled as he noticed how upset she was.
"If there's anything I'm mad about, it's me. For…" Thea took a breath. "You know, sometimes I lay awake at night, wondering what would Robert think about me and Malcolm. He may not have been my biological father but he raised me, he loved me as his own… and I threw it all away, when I became Malcolm's daughter. He blackmailed Mom. He sabotaged the Gambit and got Dad and Tommy and hundreds of innocents killed." She wiped her face, realizing how stupid she had been.
"Thea, this isn't your fault." Oliver assured as he placed his hand on Thea's shoulder. "Malcolm was a charismatic and manipulative person, who managed to sway many people to support his Undertaking, Mom included. You can't blame yourself."
"But I knew who he was. I knew exactly who he was and I chose to turn my back on everything I know." Thea said, looking at Oliver guiltily.
"And you'll have to find a way live with it. Just like I have to with a lot of horrible things I've done." Oliver said as Thea looked at him. "I've had other people that would help me get through my guilt. Now… I'm going to be here for you."
Thea nodded appreciatively before something occurred to her. "Where have you been the past month?"
Oliver took a breath. "Short version, Malcolm blackmailed me into challenging Ra's to a duel to get the League off his back. I lost. Almost died. An old friend saved me and helped me recover for the past few weeks."
Thea wondered what leverage would Malcolm have on Oliver before something occurred to her. "What happened to Sara?"
Oliver looked at her in surprise. "How do you know—"
"Laurel told me. Kind of by accident. When you were gone. I know she's dead. And you told Malcolm that this was for Sara." Thea reminded and Oliver sighed. "Did Malcolm kill her? I mean…" She took a breath. "I was with him the whole time but I didn't know about you being the vigilante and Malcolm didn't tell me about the League until recently, so… I guess there's a lot I don't know about. And I need to know. Please." She said pleadingly as Oliver considered.
"No. Not directly but…" Oliver trailed off. He couldn't tell her the truth but tried to stay as close to it as he could without upsetting her. "He set in motion a chain of events that got her killed. It's complicated and we have more important things to worry about, like the League."
"Ollie, tell me what happened to Sara." Thea insisted as Oliver got up but stopped, when Thea held his hand with a pleading look.
"Sara had her own secrets. Secrets that weren't mine to tell. She used to be a member of the League of Assassins and after the Siege, she came back to them. And she… was on an assignment to track Malcolm down." Oliver explained.
"And it got her killed." Thea said as Oliver looked at her worriedly. "You said he didn't kill her directly but he caused her death."
Oliver nodded.
"Do you know who killed her?" Thea asked and Oliver sighed.
"Let's just say you don't need to worry about them anymore." Oliver said as he got up. "Look, Thea… it's been a… very long night and we both deserve some rest. And there is still some damage control I need to do since I was gone. We'll talk tomorrow."
Thea nodded. After everything that had happened, she could definitely use some sleep. But still… She pulled a phone out and dialed a number. "Hey, Roy. It's me. Can you come down to the loft? I need to talk with you… about my brother."
Wearing his hood, the Arrow was waiting in an alley outside of the precinct, when Quentin exited and turned to face the vigilante.
"You said it was important. What is it?" Quentin asked.
"It's about Sara. I wanted to tell you months ago but Laurel convinced me to keep it a secret since it wouldn't be good for your health but after what has happened in the Glades, you deserve to know." The archer explained.
"What are you talking about?" Quentin asked, not understanding before remembering Sin had said that the Canary Quentin had seen was not Sara.
"Your daughter… is gone. Sara is dead. I'm sorry, Captain." The Arrow explained, trying to suppress the sadness and pain in his voice and Quentin stiffened.
"What… that… it can't be. I just talked to her few nights—"
"It was Laurel posing as Sara. I had no part in it and the moment I found out, it was too late. If it'd been up to me, she never would've done this to you." The Arrow explained. "She made me promise not to tell you because of your heart condition but I would never agree to her tricking you into believing she was Sara."
Quentin swallowed as he stared in shock and tried to contain his anger. "She knew for months?"
"Yes. I'd been telling myself that it wasn't my secret to tell but this has gone too far. You deserved to know. I'm sorry." The Arrow explained.
Quentin stared in front of him, panting out and angry that Laurel would trick him into believing she was Sara, when Sara had died months ago and Laurel kept it a secret. With the vigilante, Quentin couldn't really fault him for respecting Laurel's wishes. He looked at the archer with pain-filled voice. "No. You were only trying to look out for my health. I get it."
The archer nodded under the hood before notching an arrow and firing a grapnel, ascending above, while Quentin, flooded with sadness and grief and anger at Laurel's betrayal, leaned his back onto the wall and sat down, placing his hand on his eyes, sobbing quietly. "Not my baby girl, not again…"
Later, Oliver was in his apartment, leaning onto the railing of the balcony, contemplating, when he noticed someone else approaching him.
"Well, few concerns taken care of." Talia said as she leaned onto the railing next to Oliver in her robe. "Malcolm Merlyn. Your team. Mr. Lance."
"But there's still the matter of the League." Oliver said.
"You may have conquered your doubts and fears but your sister hasn't. She needs to move past the fear of my father and guilt over trusting Malcolm Merlyn." Talia said.
"And how is she supposed to do that?" Oliver asked.
"The same way I taught you to conquer your fear and guilt." Talia explained. "Ra's al Ghul exploits the fear of his enemies to his advantage. And just as you learned to conquer your fear, so must she."
Oliver sighed. She had come a long way but she had only months of training and she was still no match for the League of Assassins.
"You still doubt yourself." Talia said as she held Oliver's hand.
"It's not about me." Oliver said. "I thought my crusade would end with my death but while… they did manage to go on, they still have to learn so much."
Talia nodded. "You think that their independence on you is clouding their judgement and focus on the bigger picture."
"I've shown them how serious it is but I can tell that they are having doubts. Not as much about me… but about themselves." Oliver explained.
"Then give them something to believe. I believe that you can defeat my father… but you need to find that spirit to." Talia said as she held Oliver's hand and he turned to her as they stared into each other's eyes with a deeper and profound look.
They began to kiss as Talia took off Oliver's shirt and he took off her robe, leaving Talia naked as they laid down on the bed. Talia moaned softly as Oliver ran his hands from her shoulders to her exposed chest down her breasts and they were kissing passionately. Talia was running her hands from Oliver's neck down his chest which had no scars now as they stared at each other briefly, wondering how it was odd that Oliver had no scars anymore thanks to the Lazarus pit but paid it no more mind as they resumed making love, losing themselves in their desires, their legs entangled and their hands exploring each other's bodies beneath the bedsheets, while Oliver continued kissing Talia, who was examining Oliver's chest, while Oliver was tracing his hand along Talia's back with her hair entangled in between the fingers as Oliver was brushing them.
This story is more grounded and targeted for larger audience, so this story doesn't have explicit sexual content but still heavy enough.
Honestly, it is aggravating how Thea would trust Malcolm and give him more benefit of the doubt than Oliver, if you consider that Thea knew that Malcolm had planted a bomb on the Queen's Gambit and threatened Moira, Oliver and Thea during the Undertaking, so I wrote her reaction how I thought it would make sense here.
And Laurel keeping Sara's death a secret from Quentin was understandable at first, but her posing as the Canary and tricking Quentin into believing she was Sara was wrong of her and I didn't want to do Quentin being angry at the vigilante and the manhunt, since it was just a repeat of 1x13.
I am not doing the Vertigo part in 3x13, since Laurel and Team Arrow already had their reality checks, so they aren't going to talk back to Oliver. Next chapter is going to go to 3x14 with some changes.
