A/N: Okay, since this has sorta been in my head for a while I'm going to get this written and possibly even get some others done, since I am determined to get that NCIS/CM fic finished. T.T
Okay, for this one (and pretty much almost every single one afterwards I guess...maybe?) we may just have to assume that everything is in a way AU; either that, or it's just the same situation (more or less) and just out of order.
*Obviously, there will be spoilers ahead.
Lazichicken123: I have seen the different interactions between Talia and Oliver after Russia and it pains me that she turned on him so drastically. It sounds like a good idea though. :)
Guest: Initially, when I first saw Kara with Oliver, I have to admit that I kinda cringed at the clash. (I'm talking Invasion, really) Barry looked awkward about the whole thing and Kara almost looked like she wasn't sure what to think. Admittedly, they have both grown on me.
Kenriot1214: I had some plans on doing Oliver with Nyssa, but I hadn't really thought about including Kara at the same time. O_o It's an interesting thought though.
Summary: Oliver has just been married to Nyssa and debates with himself whether or not he should just stay in Nanda Parbat after he makes sure Starling City is saved from the Alpha Omega attack. This is all under different circumstances with Merlyn, of course.
Chapter 1: Nanda Parbat vs Starling City
Oliver had been thinking about it for a while now but had been forcing himself to ignore the signs as he usually did. He'd actually avoided telling Thea about his entire situation, especially anything concerning her father Malcolm Merlyn. He'd been forcing himself to get along with the man, but it was mostly for her benefit. She still didn't know what he'd done to her and thinking about it now, Oliver wasn't sure that she would handle it all that well. She'd be undoubtedly angry with him for not saying anything to her, and obviously be livid with Merlyn as well. He honestly didn't know what to do on that front. He was just glad to have had some...distractions lately, so he didn't have to think about it so much. Figuring that it was best to just compartmentalize like he was usually forced to do, he rubbed his temples and willed his latest stress-induced headache to just go away. He had too much on his mind lately and at times he just wanted to disappear, going back to Lian Yu or someplace equally isolated so that he wouldn't have to deal with these types of problems. He couldn't help but think that maybe R'as had been right and that he should just go back to Nanda Parbat and forget he ever came back. Things just hadn't been the same since he had initially gone to fight him to protect Thea and had steadily been declining to the point where, more often than not, he was turning off his comms and going solo at night. He knew that he wasn't alone, of course. Even if Felicity and Dig couldn't track him, he knew without a doubt that Nyssa wouldn't let her husband be without protection. They both knew that they didn't necessarily love each other and were equally unhappy to be forced into an unwanted marriage, but they had become close enough that he knew she wouldn't want him hurt. He wasn't alone even now, but it was somewhat comforting to know that someone cared besides Thea. If he did decide to leave, he needed to make sure that she knew she could visit and that he'd come whenever she needed him. He was still her big brother, even if he loathed her father. Sighing, he glanced backwards towards the shadows of the rooftop he was sitting on.
"Did Nyssa send you to watch over me?" Oliver asked, already knowing exactly who she had sent after him.
"Yes, my lord. She decided to look in on your sister's welfare, as she thought that you would appreciate it. She figured that you have been too distracted as of late to do so."
"I wonder how it is that someone I barely know, aside from my dealings with the League, knows me better than my own friends do."
"I suppose it is not my place to say." the assassin said, looking at the ground.
Oliver glanced at the man, who was dressed in his assassin gear and shook his head at the answer.
"As one of my friends, I think that I'd have to disagree with that...Maseo." To his credit, the man did not flinch at the name as much as he thought he might. "If I told her to come, would you not meet her again?" Oliver asked, looking straight at Maseo...or Sarab. This time, he flinched at the mention of Tatsu.
"We did meet, as you saw. There is nothing more to be said, as her husband left her long ago in Hong Kong."
"You were in the same room and you sat outside in a blizzard almost the entire time." Oliver shot back, not even trying to hold back his flat and sarcastic tone. Maybe Tatsu was right and her husband was really gone.
"My-Oliver," Sarab, no this was Maseo speaking, Oliver told himself. He may be a mere shadow of his old self, but he was still there. "Do not pursue this. If we were ever friends and comrades, you will let me remain as Sarab. Let Maseo die, as Akio did."
Oliver felt chills on his arms that had nothing to do with the cold as he heard Maseo's words. He still remembered everything surrounding the kid's death, including torturing Shrieve. Just thinking about it made him feel slightly ill. It was probably one of the first times that he'd truly seen the path he had set himself on. Tatsu had looked at him in such horror, but he'd come to feel like Akio was like a little brother. Letting Maseo die and turn into Sarab and giving up on trying to patch things up between Maseo and Tatsu? Would it solve anything or just make things easier? What was it that Tatsu had told him the last time he had seen her?
The line between grief and guilt is a thin one. Sometimes death is preferable to the agony of life.
"I understand...Sarab," he told his friend, as he felt like he had just stabbed him. Why does it feel like I'm betraying them and Akio?" Taking a cleansing breath, he tried to get the image of the child out of his mind. "What has Nyssa been doing?"
"Other than checking on your sister, I believe she was going to check in on your friends."
As objective as he was trying to be about this entire thing, he knew that if he just left without saying goodbye; well, he supposed that things wouldn't be too off-balanced. Of course, that could only be based on what Nyssa had said to them about what happened. He had helped stop her father and was the new leader, as was the plan. He could always say goodbye to them and leave, then hope they didn't come after him again. As things stood, only a small select group would bother at this point. Thea would, once she recovered, but she would be very angry at him no doubt. John probably wouldn't bother, seeing as he had been forced to use Lyla in all of this. Laurel had always seen the best in him, but he saw her staying with Quentin since everything had happened with Sara.
Felicity was...complicated, no doubt. She and Ray had been involved, for a while no doubt. Everyone wanted to see her as his light in the darkness, but he had seen her for what she truly was when she tried to twist and manipulate him. Barry had told him that the two of them had been on a few dates, which for some reason, had made him slightly jealous. He didn't even see her that way. It was almost like he was being conditioned to feel this way, which felt disturbing. He could tell that she might actually like Ray, but it was pretty visible that she had not only used him but Oliver as well. What was worse was how quickly she switched to the next rich guy she found and had made it out like it was Oliver's fault for not being there. And seemingly, with perhaps the exception of Roy, everyone had no problem with this logic. Putting his hands over his eyes to try and rub the exhaustion out, he laughed mirthlessly. He was always the monster and the one to blame. It didn't mean that there weren't plenty of things that he wasn't responsible for, but now there wasn't anything he wasn't blamed for, either. He heard more than saw Nyssa coming up behind him, as she came to stand behind him.
"How is Thea?" he asked her, not bothering to look at her. He could see her from a distance of course, but he didn't have the heart or courage to talk to her face to face quite yet. Nyssa raised an eyebrow but said nothing for a moment. "Nyssa?"
"If I may speak plainly, husband, I never took such a great warrior as you to be such a coward, Al Sah- Him," she told him, not bothering to sugar coat it at all. He wasn't quite sure whether to be offended or amused.
"Why bother holding back? Just tell me how you really feel, Nyssa," he mumbled, sounding almost petulant to her. She sighed inwardly and chose to sit down beside him, having the feeling that this would be a long talk.
"Husband, why are you acting like this? She will only be angry at her father, not you. You are not the one that killed Sara."
At this, she saw his eyes widen slightly as he struggled to contain his reaction. He obviously knew more than that but didn't want to let her know just in case she wasn't aware who had really killed Sara. Sure, it was ultimately Merlyn's fault, but Thea was the one who had been the unfortunate and unwilling assassin. He wanted nothing more than to have the man's head, but he had no idea what that would do to Thea's emotional state with everything that was already happening. For all she knew, he had left her all alone and to Merlyn's machinations, no doubt. He needed to get her out from under his greedy and deceitful hands, but he had no idea how to get her to trust him without her pushing him away. If he told her about Sara, she would undoubtedly hate the man; but she may just hate him too, for everything he had done to let her stay alive.
"What is it that you know about Al Sa-Her?" he asked, looking down at the city streets that were full of the nightlife. "Do you think he was involved in...Sara's murder?"
Nyssa narrowed her eyes at him, tired of playing his games; and yet, she knew what he was trying to do. Thinking of Sara as she gazed at Thea through the windows, she remembered what it felt like to try and protect someone by any means necessary.
"I do not know if your sister knows what her...father has done. I do not think even my father would have been so heartless as to do so."
Oliver could feel his heartbeat quicken as he began to realize the implications. She knew. She knew that it was Thea that had killed Sara, even if she had been forced to do it. He didn't want to be forced to pick sides between his new wife and his sister, but he knew that he would pick his little sister every time. She was the only family he truly had left and he didn't want to lose her, even if it meant that he had to go against Nyssa. He tried to remain calm and looked at her with what he hoped was a calm facade.
"And what is that, exactly?"
He heard her sigh as she looked away from the windows and made him look at her. Her eyes were intense as she looked into his, searching for some sort of answer.
"Do not try and play coy with me, husband; I am not so foolish as to play these silly little games of yours."
"What do you-" he started, before she cut him off.
"I know everything about Ta-er al-Sahfer's killer, as unwilling as it was," she said, noticing him flinch slightly. "That is why Merlyn should die; even if he is her father. She will hate him for what he has made her do."
"And what about what I was forced to do?" he asked, almost whispering in an uncharacteristically quiet voice. "I tried to protect her and I lied about almost dying, saying I was basically partying. If I tell her I lied, I'm no different than he is."
She grabbed his hand and he jerked slightly, not used to the contact. He frowned and looked at her, confused. "Nyssa?"
"You are different because you are trying to protect her from what he did to her, just like you always have. You're her big brother and you have always tried to protect her, even when she didn't want or need it."
Oliver looked at her and thought about how she was brought up. His eyes softened as he remembered her once mentioning a sister that had left long ago. As much as Barry had struggled to make him be one, he was never a hugger and hardly ever initiated contact; so it was probably a surprise to both of them when he slowly brought her into a hug and held her. It must have been difficult to see someone like him so willing to stand up to her father and protect Thea when she was always forced to stand up for herself. He opened his mouth a few times before continuing, trying to find the right thing to say.
"I need to know if you're going to want his head, hers or both." he started, before pausing. She looked like she wanted to say something, but he raised his hand silently asking for her to wait. "If you are going after Malcolm, I won't stop you; however, I will want to tell Thea everything so she doesn't strike back foolishly. She has always been the type to be rash. On the other hand, if you decide to go after Thea, I will put her under my protection. I'm sure I don't have to tell you what that means." he finished, giving her a pointed look.
Nyssa knew exactly what he meant and she didn't want to tempt fate again. She knew exactly what he was capable of if he got serious. He would protect his sister, regardless of her feelings concerning her role in Sara's untimely death. Actually, she felt quite the opposite. She loved Thea as if she were her own sister in the short time they had known each other, as she did Laurel. Her father was the one responsible and she felt as if Thea would be caught on the same dark path they were on if they didn't keep an eye on her.
"Your sister is not to blame and so I will allow you your time to give her your explanation before taking Al-Sa Her's life or taking him back to Nanda Parbat for torture first. She is the victim in all of this, as are the rest of us. Also, I see her as if she were my own sister and I would never see her harmed."
Oliver felt like a giant weight had been lifted off of his shoulders as he heard her say that. She's safe from that monster, but not the ones inside.
"I recommend that we take her with us, husband. You know as well as I do that know that she has been touched by death like we have that it would be wise to keep her close."
He nodded in agreement, seeing sense in what she was saying. She was quite the wise woman when she wasn't being held back as her father had always insisted on doing. He had seen the way she always bit her tongue around him and followed orders, just as he was always forced to. He liked her better this way, though; free and untamed. He wanted them as equals, like a king and queen ruling beside each other. He got up, followed by Nyssa; and nodded at Sarab. They had things to do, but he would make sure that she was as happy as possible. Hopefully, they could learn to love each other, but for now, they would take care of their business in Starling before leaving for Nanda Parbat.
"First things first. I will go and see my sister, while you take some backup and find Al-Sa Her. I think we both know how slippery and dangerous he can be, so I'd rather save ourselves the trouble."
Nyssa nodded, remembering how the slippery "magician" had managed to slip through not only the League but Oliver's hands as well in the past; faking his death a few times. The magician, indeed.
Splitting into two groups, they both were determined to be done by the end of the night so they could leave for Nanda Parbat as soon as possible. Oliver Queen had died that night, fighting to save his city. He would return with his new wife and sister to Nanda Parbat as their leader, the Demon's Head.
A/N: So, I'm not sure exactly well that turned out, but I've never written an Arrow fic before. Although (much to my dismay), I came up with a Flash/Arrow crossover. Woe is me, really. As if I don't have enough stories going already. T.T Okay. I will try to get to all the suggestions that I can and hopefully I can meet your standards. *crosses fingers*