Summary: Moira was expecting a distinct lack of attendance to the party Oliver was planning. Instead she gets a small gathering of people who may not necessarily like her, but have reason to care about her family anyway. And then there's Walter.
She's been planning for this moment from the moment she'd been declared not guilty. Turning the possible scenarios over and over in her head until she determined the best possible words to say. But now that Walter's really here, standing in the very home she drove him away from with her lies and deceits... Moira knows that there's not a thing she can say that wouldn't be woefully inadequate.
Notes: Follow up to Scientific Method (second story in The Scientific Method series)
Take These Broken Wings And Learn To Fly
It's not exactly the high society soiree that Moira is used to. But it's not as bad as she feared either.
There's Oliver's friends - Mr. Diggle and Miss Smoak and Laurel Lance. Not to forget the handsome CSI from Central City, who has joined them for the weekend. Moira's fairly certain Oliver's trying to seduce that one, though he's a lot clumsier about it than he was before the island... yet Oliver's also somehow more invested than she can remember seeing him either. He's smiled more around Barry than usual and Moira can't help but like anyone who has that effect on her son.
Detective Lance came too, which was surprising. He seemed to be on better terms with Oliver these days and didn't seem to hold too much of a grudge against Tommy for how things ended with Laurel.
Tommy's there, but he's family. Roy comes for Thea and Moira watches them with a mix of feelings in her chest she can't quite name. There's her little girl, growing up so fast. (Malcolm Merlyn can never know that Thea was aware of her biological parentage now... and none of her children could know Malcolm was still alive. She would rather die than allow him to come near Tommy or Thea and she doesn't regret contacting the League of Assassins to reign in their loose canon. Still, she worries what the price of contacting Ra'as al Ghul will be in the future.)
Jean Loring was there with her husband, Jake, and her sister-in-law Anna. Anna's boyfriend and business partner, Ray Palmer, was out of town visiting family and Anna conveyed his regrets that he couldn't be there.
There were a few people from Queen Consolidated present, former coworkers whom Moira had enjoyed working with during her short term as CEO. They each expressed gladness to see she was doing well after her incarceration and assured her Oliver and Tommy were taking good care of the company.
A few of her friends from before the Undertaking were there as well, husbands in tow. Moira never would have guessed that Julia Donaldson and her husband Rick would attend, as she'd been ducking Moira's calls even before her arrest. But when Julia arrived she actually hugged Moira.
"If Merlyn had been threatening my children," she admitted quietly to Moira, "I think I would have done the same." Glancing over at Tommy she said, "how someone so monstrous could have a son so kind, I'll never be able to understand."
This was the second chance Moira knew she'd never deserve. And a surprising showing of who her friends really were.
Just when it seemed like everyone who'd be there had arrived, there was one last person at the door. And Moira knew exactly who it was when Thea dashed across the room far faster than advisable in those heels of hers.
From the moment Moira was released from prison, she imagined what it would be like when she saw him again. What would she say and do... how would she apologize for hurting him and lying to him and letting him down so badly...
She'd run hundreds of scenarios in her head, trying to lock down all the right words to say. Eventually settling on a basic script that she had a few variations on, depending on when and where they finally saw each other. Moira had thought she was prepared.
But standing there watching her son and daughter hug Walter... Moira knew there was nothing she could say. Not a single word could possible ever be adequate to make up for her betrayal.
She feels tears prick at her eyes and Moira has to turn away and take a deep breath. How did that song go? It's my party and I'll cry if I want to... well, Moira doesn't want to cry.
Steeling herself, Moira puts on a brave face. The last thing Walter deserves is for her to make how much she hurt him all about how much losing him hurt her.
She walks over to him and smiles softly. "Hello, Walter. Thank you for coming."
"Moira." He says her name fondly. She'd always loved the way her name sounded when he said it. "I'm glad to see you." He says it like he means it. In fact, he probably does mean it.
He'd never been a very good liar, after all.
The party thins out, the guests go home. And Moira's relieved when Tommy says he's going to stay the night. She always feels better when she has all her children under one roof.
Barry's staying, of course, and he follows Tommy's path upstairs while Oliver and Thea handle clean up. Which leaves Moira with Walter. Walter, who did not leave with the rest of the guests.
She's under no illusions that he'll stay the night. But her heart aches anyway for the nights he held her close. Moira hadn't slept well since Walter left her. Though at least she'd improved somewhat from the awful low point in her insomnia, the night after their divorce was finalized.
They retreat together into the study, Walter tracing familiar steps to where the brandy was kept. He poured them each a glass, handing one to Moira.
"I'm glad I came," Walter finally said.
"So am I," she replied, grateful for the glass in her hands giving her something to hold onto. It's steadying, having her hands occupied. "Thea misses you terribly and Oliver grew to love you as family too. And... and I've missed you as well."
"Tommy dropped by my office this afternoon to encourage me to show up. He pointed out that every time I've seen Oliver and Thea since the divorce, they were the ones to initiate contact. Kindly not saying, of course, that I ought to reciprocate and reach out to them for lunches and dinners more often. They looked so... so happy to see me when I arrived." Walter stared pensively into his glass. "I suppose I was afraid that divorcing you meant I was losing them too."
"Never."
"I do understand that now." He sipped from his glass and settled onto the loveseat. "I've missed you too, Moira," Walter said quietly. "But I don't know how to trust you anymore. I don't know where we can go from here."
"If I work on being more honest, do you think maybe we could be friends?" Moira watched him hesitate and her heart ached. "I still love you, Walter. Maybe I always will. But I know better than to hope for anything other than friendship."
"And I still love you," he admitted softly, reaching out to catch her hand in his and placing a delicate kiss on her knuckles before letting go. "I don't know if we can mend this broken trust between us. But I'd like to try. I'd like to hope we can learn to be friends again too."
"I told Thea about Malcolm being her father. I don't... I don't know if she's told you. I didn't tell her you knew," Moira said, hesitantly joining Walter on the loveseat. She makes sure there's plenty of space between them, despite the small size of the sofa.
"How'd she take it?" Walter asked, sipping at his glass.
Moira shook her head, expression turning wry. "She was upset. She knows now that both Robert and I really did have affairs and I... she's never going to look at me the way she did as a child. You're not the only one whose ability to trust in me has been irreparably harmed." She sighed and took a long sip from her own glass. "Ultimately she seems to have accepted things. It helps, I think, that Tommy was just so pleased that she really is his sister. It's the happiest I've seen him since... well... though I admit I was surprised she came to the party tonight. I thought she'd prefer to spend time with Roy and the young lady they're courting."
Walter's eyebrows went up. "Oh, Thea and Roy are considering a polyamorous relationship?"
"Sin seems like a very sweet young lady. A bit rough and I suspect she's connected to that new vigilante who's popped up. The one protecting women on the streets of the Glades." Moira doubted Sin was the new vigilante herself. But it was fun to have a bit of family gossip for Walter to catch up on.
Should she tell him about Malcolm? She'd dealt with the problem already. Moira doubted Malcolm would stay alive much longer with the League after him. But if Malcolm survived the League's attempts to assassinate him long enough to broker a deal with Ra'as... well, Malcolm was, as always, a very charming man. If the possibility for him to talk his way out of death presented itself, he'd take every advantage available to him. The possibility of his continued survival made her awareness of him being alive now a secret that threatened any chance she had with Walter.
"There's something I need to tell you," Moira said quietly. "You see, I told Thea about her parentage not because I thought it was time she knew, but because I was afraid not telling her would put her in greater danger. Malcolm Merlyn is still alive."
She can still feel the phantom feelings of his arms around her, long after he finally leaves the house.
Walter had hugged her, tightly, and Moira had felt truly safe for the first time since she learned of Malcolm's survival. It was silly - Walter had been kidnapped and harmed by Malcolm before. But confessing what she knew and not being rejected for speaking the truth...
Though Walter didn't agree with her method of dealing with Malcolm, he'd also accepted there were few other ways of dealing with the danger Malcolm presented to her and her family. And he'd held her before he left.
Sighing, Moira made her way to the movie room to check on her children. She smiled at the sight of them each asleep as the credits rolled.
Shaking Tommy's shoulder lightly she murmured to him, "help your sister to bed," when he was awake enough to process Moira's words.
He smiled sleepily and stood up, gesturing to Oliver asleep with Barry tucked against him on the couch. "What about them?"
Collecting a blanket, Moira gently draped it over the two young men. "I think they'll be fine as they are. Sleep well, Tommy."
"You too, Moira," Tommy said with a yawn, reaching gently for Thea.
She watched her children a few minutes longer, wishing Walter could have stayed to see their children like this. Perhaps one day... perhaps...
Notes: Moira is starting to realize here that she has to be willing to show trust first before she can begin to earn trust back. Which is why she's telling Walter about Malcolm. As for the secret about Thea's biological father, well... Moira realizes here that eventually Malcolm might just show up to tell Thea the truth himself. It hurt Thea to tell her the truth, but it also becomes one less weapon Malcolm could wield against Thea. And it helps tie Tommy closer to the rest of them, which helps protect him too. Ultimately, Moira decided it was a trade off worth making and so far it's paid off.