A/N: Okay, so I've spent quite a while trying to figure out a way to fit in Kara into one of these one shots, let alone Talia, since plenty of people have requested both of them. Honestly, I had to get that breakup scene with Felicity out of my system first. His lack of reaction and outright pitiful stance made me want to scream, so I couldn't help but write something about it. However, I didn't think it fit in with these, so I didn't include it. Maybe I should though. Hmm. Anywho, this one is going to be with Talia, so I have a few options on the one with Kara.
Should Kara be a regular civilian or Supergirl? Maybe even in hiding that Oliver doesn't know about?
Should Kara and Oliver be friends or more? Maybe even meeting for the first time?
I'll let you guys try and give me some ideas, if you will. I always like to hear your opinions and I'll try and do my best to include what I can. :D
Forgetting the Past, On Towards the Future Part I
The news had been broadcasting nonstop ever since Oliver Queen had mysteriously come back from the dead after the Queen's Gambit had gone down and he had been left stranded on Lian Yu. No one knew exactly what had happened since then, and he had declined several interviews since then. Of course, no one had noticed the dark haired woman that had managed to sneak in along with him and had been keeping him company from the shadows ever since. He knew, of course, that Talia was there and had been even before he arrived. It had been a part of an elaborate scheme that had been cooked up long ago, when they were still together back in Russia. In exchange for her help and training, he would help her. She knew that sticking to the shadows was the best plan, as to avoid her father for as long as possible. She had avoided him for far too long and left her sister in his hands. She could still remember the look on Oliver's face, dead as it was back then, and yet full of disapproval. Obviously, he had been thinking of his sister Thea and trying to put himself in her shoes. It hadn't been pretty, that was for certain.
"You've helped me a lot since we've been training and you should know that I appreciate that." Oliver said, with a stance that was guarded and stiff. He had learned the hard way that letting down your guard got you hurt or maybe even killed.
Talia took notice of this constant new version of Oliver, versus the one she had seen in the tabloids and news that had previously existed. It was almost like they were two separate people.
"I have told you that I thought you showed promise, which is why I taught you."(1) Talia told him evenly, noting his slight flinch that he tried to hide. She was no fool and he knew that. There was little doubt that he was remembering what had happened in Hong Kong with the Yamashiros. (2) He had told her very little; but his dreams when he was recovering from his imprisonment with the Bratva Pakhan, Ishmael Gregor.
"I guess that a lot has happened in the past few years, and I'm still not sure if I want to go back home." he said, mostly to himself, while carefully caressing his bow. "It's almost as if I'm afraid of how everyone will react when they see what I've become."
"You are acting like this is a final farewell, Oliver. While you have improved quite a bit, there are many things in your training that you still need improvement on. Plus, I would still like you to take up some sword training. I know how much you like the bow, but you need something more."
"You mean, if I end up someday facing the Demon's Head, don't you?" he asked, already knowing the answer. He sighed inwardly, knowing she'd never give up on this. She'd asked him several times why he wouldn't try, but it just wasn't something he wanted to do. Call him lazy, but he was more of a long distance fighter until he was forced into close range combat.
"You know that it will happen, so why are you putting it off? It is one of the only things you are lacking." she told him, narrowing her eyes.
"What else is there? I'm perfectly fine the way I am." he argued back, knowing that he was lying to himself. He knew for a fact that he needed improvement when it came to fighting multiple enemies at once, and fighting with a sword was becoming inevitable. He knew that sooner or later, the League of Assassins would come for them both, given what they were trying to do.
Oliver was probably one of the more stubborn students that she'd had, which was saying a lot she supposed. She had been teaching some others as her own way of defiance, which was something her sister had very little choice in achieving. She had, in her own way, left her to be tortured and possibly die by their father's hands.
"You do remember that by going against the League as you promised that you are essentially going against my father who uses a sword? You need to be prepared for not only him, but his top horseman."
Oliver sighed at this, knowing when he was beaten. He knew that if it ever came down to him having to actually defeat the Demon's Head, he'd need every advantage possible. As he was right now, he'd be forced into fighting using his reflexes alone; and he knew that was a rather quick way to die. He nodded his head, reluctantly being forced to acquiesce to her "request".
He gave her a questioning look, as if trying to figure out some obscure puzzle that had no reasonable solution. For some reason, that intense look he now had in his eyes made her want to squirm without her permission. She sighed, looking back at him.
"Stop looking at me like that and just tell me what it is that you are thinking." she demanded, determined to get him to stop looking at her like that.
"You are...I mean, we are about to take on a rather large mission here. You want the both of us to somehow manage to get your sister out from under both of your father's thumb, so to speak." he started, getting his thoughts together on the subject. She nodded, looking a little confused about where he was going with all of this. "What I want to know is how you're here in Russia and she's there in Nanda Parbat. It doesn't make any sense. Did he separate the two of you?"
For the first time since they had met, Talia flinched. Oliver blinked a few times, sure that it had been some hallucination. This was Talia and she never flinched. It just wasn't something she did. Was it something that he had said about her father and sister?
"That's...not exactly what happened. I knew that my father would most likely never give the title of Demon's Head to me, and our relationship was very strained once I had discovered this. I left to forge my own path, which unfortunately meant leaving my sister behind. I began teaching students shortly after I left. One of them was one of your teachers, Yao Fei. I learned about what happened to him, which led me to you."
Oliver looked at her, for once not bothering to hide his shock at what was revealed to him. It didn't make any sense, but at the same time it did. She was Yao Fei's teacher? And leaving her own sister behind? If she was training others, she should have taken her sister with her!
"But Yao Fei was-" Oliver protested, cutting himself off. He had a daughter, no, two daughters of his own. And theTalia in front of him looked no more than thirty years old at the most. He didn't understand.
Talia smirked at him, understanding his predicament. He had seen many things in all his time away from home, including magic and other things people would find quite unbelievable.
"It's called the Lazarus Pit, and it gives one the ability to not only heal but keeps up the appearance of youth. There are a few downsides, of course."
"Right, and leaving your sister to suffer at the hands of your father? I don't understand how you could possibly do that." he said, his voice becoming rough and low. He thought of the last time he saw his own sister, and how much it had killed him to leave her after seeing her. After following her around that day and discovering how bad things were, it was only the threats from Waller that had forced him to stay away. He couldn't imagine leaving her in the hands of someone like Ra's al Ghul. He'd rather get killed trying to get her out then leave her in the hands of someone like that. He shook his head, trying to get the image of such a fate out of his head.
"I knew that I had no other choice. I could never defeat him on my own. She'd be left there with my corpse or just left there regardless."
"I would have never left Thea there in the hands of someone like him!" he yelled, failing to control himself at the mention of his sister. "I'd rather die trying then leave her there to suffer."
"At what cost?!" she yelled back, forgetting her self control. "If you were in my place and Thea had to watch as her brother was tortured slowly and then killed in front of her, would you still try? She would blame herself for the rest of her life, or even kill herself, which I doubt my father would allow. No, it is better if she were to hate me if she must."
At this, Oliver deflated and wasn't sure what to say. If he knew the consequences would be Thea hating him for not trying versus her hating herself for getting himself killed in front of her, which one would he choose? It was something he wasn't sure he could answer, at least not straight away. Biting his lip, he merely nodded in understanding, unable to come up with a suitable reply.
"We will work on your sword training until your work here is done and then you will return to Lian Yu. I will meet you in secret back in Starling City, and we will also be working on your Arabic for when we are facing the League."
Oliver sighed, but acquiesced, not looking forward to this particular round of training.
Oliver had improved quite a bit, but sparred with Talia just as often as he used his bow. She had once commented that he certainly seemed to be a natural with the bow, and was determined to make sure his sword felt like an extension of his arm. He had learned many things from Talia; from knife throwing and near perfect stealth, using his body and the things around him as a weapon and infiltration. It was decided that they would both train in Starling so that he could be close to his family for as long as possible before going to Nanda Parbat to retrieve Nyssa. He had initially wanted to pay more attention to his father's list, but Talia had convinced him to pay more attention to the bigger players like the Triad. His look of confusion must have been obvious, because she explained that something about it needed investigating instead of merely diving in right away. In hindsight, he supposed it would have definitely been quite hasty for him to have become active right around the time he had reappeared. The timing would be far too convenient for people like Detective Lance, who was definitely not a fan of his, not that he didn't have a very good reason for it.
Talia appeared in front of Oliver, looking casual as she sat across from him in a busy restaurant. As always, they chose a booth closest to the kitchen that had easy access to all of the entrances and exits. One would think that someone with his status would instantly be recognized and be in the headlines the next day, along with a picture of a picture of Talia. However, the places they chose were always random, busy and loud, making the two of them seem insignificant in comparison.
*It's noted that Oliver is fluent in Cantonese, Mandorin, Arabic, Russian, Japanese, and obviously English. So, to have him keep in practice with his lessons, Talia makes him speak mostly Arabic when they meet in public.
"I see that your sister has been quite rebellious as of late. I suppose she is trying to emulate your own teenage years, even if it has somehow managed to stay out of the tabloids. What was her latest venture?"
Oliver raised an eyebrow at her supposed interest in his sister, which he guessed could possibly be true. She had been watching his interactions with Thea, probably to see what repercussions her own meeting with her sister would and could possibly take place. It had taken a while, but Thea was starting to come around and see that things weren't the same; they had both changed and they needed to accept some things and change some others. His sister was on a dangerous path, he knew, but a lot of it was his fault. He had failed her in a big way, just as Talia had failed Nyssa in an ironic sort of way. It was something that they both needed to fix.
"Is this some thinly veiled way of asking if I am ready to leave her to her own devices while I go parading off to Nanda Parbat?"
Talia looked at him nonplussed, but was obviously getting impatient. While he was busy taking down the bigger threats and dealing with his sister's dangerous path, she had been searching what they had learned was called "The Undertaking". The news just seemed to get worse as they progressed, even learning that Malcolm and his mother were very involved somehow. Talia had even said that she was quite certain that she had met him somewhere before but couldn't place it. What was even worse was finding out that the Queen's Gambit had been sabotaged, which he had found out right before preventing his stepfather from being kidnapped. He had been forced into hiding him, telling only his sister that he was in a secret location for his own safety. She had looked like she wanted to question him, or even tell their mother, but he had sworn her to secrecy. What's one more secret in the family anyway?
"The longer she is with him, the worse it will be. You know this, probably better than anyone."
"I know that, but things are so complicated now. If something were to happen when I was gone or if I truly did die this time-" he said, speaking almost too quietly for her to hear in their busy surroundings. She sighed, looking at him seriously.
"Nothing will happen, because you are probably the best trained student I have ever trained. This "Undertaking" shouldn't be for a while yet, which leaves us some time to get there and back with time to spare. Have you prepared her?"
Oliver looked down at the table, suppressing a sigh. His conversation with his sister about this particular mission had not been exactly pleasant. She demanded to know where he was going and why, especially since Walter was "missing". At that point, he decided that there was little choice but to reveal a little of his abilities to her. She already knew that he could pickpocket, considering how often he had lifted her drugs without her knowledge. He told her the bare minimum of his abilities, only things like martial arts and stealth. He didn't want to put her into any danger by giving her more knowledge than necessary. He explained that his vacation wasn't really a vacation and that he should be back in a week or so. She wasn't happy about it, but she was glad that he decided to share with her what he had.
"I have prepared her as much as I possibly can, I suppose. I'm ready to leave whenever you are."
TBC...Okay, I realize that this part took me a good while to write and I apologize for that. But I am going to try and get the second part done as soon as I can.
Oliver and Talia go to Nanda Parbat, but do they face the Demon's Head or sneak in? What surprises are in store for them there? Will Nyssa come with Talia freely?
I know that Talia was more or less interested in him because of Yao Fei, but I think she also saw his potential
I want to say that he went to Hong Kong and then Russia, and then back to Lian Yu to go home. I'm 90% sure I have it right, but it's been awhile since I've seen season 3.