Chapter 131: Double Jeopardy

Two months later…

Oliver swung open the door and smiled. "Barry!"

"Hey, Ollie," Barry greeted his older brother with a smile and a brief hug. "Am I late again?"

"Well, you do live in an entirely different city, so I guess we can cut you some slack," Oliver joked, letting his younger brother inside.

Already there with them were Laurel, Kara, Sam, and Tommy. They noticed his arrival and smiled, each greeting him happily. Barry returned them, paying extra attention to Tommy, shaking the other man's hand. "It's good to see you again, Tommy," Barry said genuinely.

Tommy bobbed his head with a smile. "It's good to see you too, Barry. It's been a while. How's Joe, Iris and Eddie?"

"Eddie's leave is almost up. He's just about ready to rejoin the force, and they're re-partnering him up with Joe. Iris is doing well too. She's just about moved on from the Ralph thing and is preparing to settle in with her new partner, a friend of ours named Patty Spivot who was Joe's partner while Eddie was in a coma." Barry rubbed his arm. "That's actually why they weren't able to come with me — the transfer of partnerships is generating a lot of paperwork that they can't afford to put off."

The billionaire nodded at the explanation. He was reminded of that Thanksgiving all those years ago, the first time he had met the Wests and Eddie Thawne. It almost seemed like a lifetime ago.

Greetings finished and everyone present, the group settled around the dining table in Oliver and Laurel's new penthouse apartment. After months and months of searching, the two had finally found a place to their liking and taken the plunge of moving in together, into a place of their own. A penthouse had been a little pricy, especially for Laurel who made far less than Oliver, but they had compromised on the payment. Oliver would pay the majority of the rent, while Laurel would only cover a small fraction. In return, however, Laurel would cover the utilities entirely on her own — a much smaller bill, but nonetheless essential.

This dinner served as something of a housewarming party, their friends and family coming together to celebrate them starting a new chapter in their lives. Unfortunately, their blood families had been unable to make it tonight due to a variety of previous obligations, so Oliver and Laurel had set aside another day specifically for them. It was probably for the best anyway — there would be less of a certain decorum to uphold since their parents weren't around.

"It disturbs me how you three can eat like that," Tommy commented, staring at the growing mountain of plates that Barry, Kara, and Sam were all building. The former two shrugged, while Sam looked a little sheepish.

"So, Tommy," Oliver started after finishing his plate, "where have you been staying? You haven't really invited us over to your place since you came back."

"Yeah, sorry about that Ollie," his best friend apologized. "I've been trying to keep my new address on the down low because a lot of people still hold a grudge against my last name. I'm currently staying in my own apartment near midtown. Sold off the Mansion almost as soon as I came back. Too many memories."

Kara swallowed down some water. "Makes sense," she noted. "And I'm sorry to hear that people are still made at you for what Malcolm did."

The brunette-haired man shrugged. "I'm used to it at this point. I probably should've changed my name or something, but the reality is people are always going to know me as Malcolm Merlyn's son, whether they're angry about it or not. I might as well accept it, learn to deal with it, and move on."

"I know that feeling," Barry said, thinking back to those three years before Lian Yu, when he had been known as a murderer's son, as false as it was.

The dinner continued on well into the night. It was full of fun and laughter, something to remember back to fondly during the dark days ahead. But no one here knew about that — not until those days finally came, and swallowed up everything left.

Several hours later…

It was very late at night when Robert and Moira Queen were woken up by an unexpected sound downstairs. Their eyes were bleary and they were tired, but that didn't stop them from exchanging startled looks. Who could it be? The staff had already been sent home for the night, Thea was staying over at a friend's house to work on a project. Oliver, of course, had finally moved out to move in with Laurel, taking the next big step with her. Both had been elated with the move, as bittersweet as it was. Only a few years ago they had gotten their son back, and now he was getting close to leaving the nest entirely and starting a family of his own. Maybe it wouldn't hurt so much, had they gotten to see all the years in-between.

Perhaps it was him downstairs? Security wouldn't have let anyone else through besides Thea, and their son still had some things left over at the home that he was planning on moving to his new apartment later. If he had forgotten something important, it would make sense for him to come back and pick it up. Though it would probably make more sense for him to come back tomorrow morning instead of this late at night. Nothing could be important enough for him to come here at this late an hour.

Robert gestured for his wife to go back to bed while he exited the room to see who it was. He rubbed one of his eyes and yawned as he slowly shuffled down the hall and over to foyer, where the staircase was. He looked down and—

"Hello, Robert," Malcolm Merlyn smirked up at him, dropping the last, unconscious security guard to the floor.

And suddenly, Robert had never been more awake in his life.

Moira's hands trembled as she slowly sat cup after cup of tea down onto the coasters sitting on the coffee table of her living room. On one side of the coffee table, sitting on the couch, was her husband Robert, who looked every bit as nervous and terrified as she was. On the other side was Malcolm, looking perfectly composed, like he always did back in the day, before the Hood came into their lives and changed everything. Moira had hoped to never see that sight again except in her worst nightmares, when the memories became too much.

The security guards had already been cleared out, taken back to their homes by several men and women wearing dark, ninja-like clothing. "The League of Shadows," Malcolm explained at their wondering looks. "They're an organization I came into leadership of several months ago. Don't worry about your security guards — they've been injected with a drug that'll wipe their memories of this night and replace them with false ones instead. Something I picked up while I was gone."

Robert swallowed, as Moira sat herself down next to him. The two reached out to each other and held hands, trying to take as much comfort from each other as possible. "How are you still alive? The Justice League, they reported you—"

"Dead?" Malcolm finished for him. Robert nodded.

The other man smirked. "A little bit of trickery on my end. A nearby mystic owed me a favor and helped me produce a body double. I didn't question how at the time, but judging by her words and the incident with Zoom and Earth-2 a few weeks later, she probably produced one of my deceased alternate counterparts to substitute for me. It worked, as you can see."

The mother of one of his sons shivered. "What do you want, Malcolm?"

"Honestly, I want you both dead," he admitted candidly, and his smirk widened as the admission only caused them to cling to each other tighter, "but luckily for both of you, I need you alive for my current plans to succeed."

"And what might those be?" Robert demanded.

Malcolm peered at the couple thoughtfully. "After Rebecca died, I left, as you both know," he started. "I had heard of a place that could help me channel my feelings and find myself. It was called Nanda Parbat, home of the League of Assassins."

"…what?" Moira whispered out, eyes wide and disbelieving. Next to her, Robert fell completely silent, stunned.

"I joined them for two years," Malcolm continued, as if she had never spoken. "They trained me in their ways, and I rose through the ranks to become their leader's Horseman, his enforcer. It was from them that I got the idea of the Undertaking from. However, after an… incident, I asked for my release, and they granted it to me in exchange for keeping to their code, the many traditions and mandates they had." His expression darkened. "And unfortunately for us, the Undertaking broke that code."

Robert frowned. "And what exactly does that mean?"

Malcolm observed him cooly. "Normally, breaking the code would signal my death at their hands. However, as it turns out, Green Arrow is also a former member of the League, and one who keeps close contact with them. They allowed him to hand me off to the regular authorities to face society's justice. When I escaped, they had to hunt me down lest the League get involved, but when I seemingly turned up dead, it put the matter to rest. When they find out I'm alive again, they won't stand for half-measures anymore. They won't just kill me, they'll wipe out my entire bloodline too."

The Queens paled. "Tommy," Moira whispered.

"And Oliver as well," Malcolm added, causing his former friends to blanch in horror. "The League's reach is everywhere. If they are not aware of Oliver's blood relation to me already, they will find out eventually, once they start actively hunting me down again. And if that happens, then he'll be in every bit of danger as Tommy and myself are."

His former best friend frowned at him thoughtfully. "It was you Tommy's been with since he's been gone," Robert realized, causing Moira to glance at him in surprise.

"Not initially," Malcolm partially corrected. "The previous leader of the League of Shadows, a woman named Talia al Ghul, was the one to initially take Tommy in after Isabel's death. Or, to be more specific, manipulated him into joining."

"Isabel's death wasn't just some random mugging," Moira deduced, realization setting in. "It was just staged to be that way. We should've realized — dying the exact same way as Rebecca, right in front of Rebecca's clinic? What are the chances of that happening, to Rebecca's son of all people?" It was so obvious in hindsight. She had been so relieved by Isabel's death, knowing the woman had no doubt been plotting the downfall of her family before she had been killed, that she hadn't bothered to take a closer look at the details, unable to see that something more was going on. For God's sake, Isabel had even looked a bit like Rebecca!

Tommy had been manipulated right in front of them, and they had been too stuck on their own problems to notice. Never more had Moira felt like she had failed her long-deceased best friend. Tommy may have been estranged from them at the time, but with Rebecca dead and Malcolm in prison, it had been her and Robert's duty as his godparents to protect him, and they had failed him completely and utterly.

"Yes," Malcolm confirmed, oblivious the inner turmoil of the Queens. "She brought him in to use as a hostage against me, because I knew about something she wanted. Luckily, with Tommy's help, I was able to turn things around and usurp the Shadows from her. She's dead now, and good riddance."

Robert blinked in surprise at the sudden vitriol. "Didn't like her?"

Malcolm scowled at him. "I know you both think I'm a monster, and maybe I am," he acknowledged. "But her? She was a bigger monster than I could ever hope to be. We're all lucky she's dead."

Neither Robert nor Moira knew what to say to that, so they remained silent.

"Moving on. I took over the Shadows and began training Tommy in preparation for this plan—"

"Training—you were your enforcer?"

"I think that would be obvious by this points, seeing as I stayed with the League of Assassins for two years," the former businessman dryly pointed out, causing his old friends to flush. "Anyway, I began training Tommy to prepare for this plan. See, the League of Assassins is led by a man named Ra's al Ghul, the father of Talia al Ghul and her younger sister Nyssa al Ghul. Talia used to be a member of the Assassins before a falling out with Ra's saw her cast aside in favor of Nyssa as his heir and eventually exiled from Nanda Parbat with her followers, after which she founded the League of Shadows."

"Several months ago, around the time I faked my death, she made an attempt to usurp the League of Assassins from her father to claim what she viewed as her birthright. She failed, in part thanks to the efforts of the Justice League, which allowed me to usurp her and take leadership of the Shadows for myself and Tommy. Unfortunately, however, her actions had marked the Shadows for death by the Assassins, with Ra's actively doing everything he can to hunt us down and wipe us out. It'll only be a matter of time before he realizes that Talia is dead and new leadership is in charge, and then he'll devote everything he has into finding out who that new leader is. And once he does…" Malcolm left his words hanging, but the implication was clear.

"Why should we help you, then?" Robert burst out, suddenly angry. "If you hadn't planned the Undertaking in the first place, hadn't tried to make it happen, none of this would be happening right now! Oliver and Tommy would be safe!"

Malcolm, irritated by the truth of Robert's words, drew a knife out. Robert stilled in obvious fear. Malcolm glared at him, toying with the knife in a silent but blatant threat. "You're going to help me, because I'm the only one who can save Oliver," he bluntly told them. "With the Undertaking over and dealt with, A.R.G.U.S. no longer has any reason to help you. They're not going to go against the League of Assassins — the JL certainly won't, considering Green Arrow is a former member of the League. If anything he'll just serve Oliver and Tommy up to Ra's on a silver platter to curb whatever rage the master has against him for once again failing to properly deal with me."

"This isn't like the Undertaking, Robert, Moira. Here, no one you once considered an ally has any vested interest in facing off against the Assassins to save our sons. They're far too powerful for that. The only way to save them is to help me either claim the Assassins under my leadership or wipe out the current Ra's al Ghul's bloodline. More than likely, both. Once that's done, my blood debt to them will be wiped out as per their traditions, and Oliver and Tommy will finally be safe from any reprisals." Malcolm rubbed one of his knuckles with his thumb. "Of course, Green Arrow will need to die too. Even if we do wipe out the current Ra's al Ghul's bloodline, he'll never stand to have me alive or in control of the League, and that may make him a threat to the boys as well."

"And of course, if all of that is not enough motive, I'm certain Thea's life will be, as it always is. She's staying over at Sally Crane's house tonight, isn't she?"

The Queens clasped each other's hands tighter, supporting each other. Just like they had for all the years Malcolm had taken their son away from them. And now here he was, using their son and daughter once more to tether them to his service. Robert and Moira exchanged a single, resigned look.

They had been fools. When Amanda Waller made that deal, when Malcolm had been taken down by the Justice League, when he had been reported dead after that kidnapping attempt, they had thought that had been end of their personal nightmare. That they could finally leave this horrible decade behind them and forget that Malcolm and the Undertaking had ever been a part of their lives.

In the end, it had been too good to be true.

"What if they figure it out early?" blurted out Moira, clutching her husband's hand like a lifeline. "What if Oliver is attacked?"

"Like I said, I've trained Tommy in preparation for this plan. He's skilled, very skilled. Maybe not quite up to Green Arrow's level yet, but he should be able to handle just about any assailant thrown Oliver's way."

Robert narrowed his eyes. "You're the one who arranged his job at QC, aren't you?"

"What?" Moira blinked, looking genuinely surprised and confused. "Robert, what do you mean?"

"I didn't realize it at first, but after reading some of the Quarterly reports for the Marketing Department, I realized there had been something strange going on with the recent patterns of talent acquisition. Most of our middle management there had suddenly gotten new offers, many that were too good to pass up. Then we lost one of our junior executives, the one whose job Tommy now has, and coincidentally matches his exact skill set." Robert shrugged helplessly. "It all looked suspicious, but I didn't want to believe he had anything to do with it."

"It was necessary, Robert. Bad enough Oliver has moved out of the Mansion with Laurel — it leaves them vulnerable in their new home. At least with Tommy working at QC, he shouldn't be vulnerable at work as well."

"And just how are we going to explain things if he is attacked?" Moira demanded. If she had her pearls on, she'd clutch them with all her heart at the thought of one of her babies being attacked like that.

Malcolm smirked. "Now that, is where you come in."

There's so much irony going on in this chapter it's almost painful. Like I told people on the Lauriver Discord, a big theme of this arc is all the secret-keeping finally crashing down around our favorite trio and friends.

I mean, it's not like they didn't have a reason to keep things on the down low — it's a dangerous secret and they don't know who's watching. And they did a far better job of keeping secrets than they did in canon. The only person who found out that wasn't supposed to in their immediate circles was Laurel, who joined the JL as BC, and Iris, which only happened because bad luck and circumstance more than anything else. And since it wasn't really causing issues back then, why change it?

And here is a reason why they should've changed it. As far as Robert and Moira know, Malcolm's current assessment of the situation is correct. He's the only person they can turn to, in order to protect Oliver and Tommy. If they knew Oliver was GA they could just tell him and he could handle the problem easily, but they don't and now they're stuck in a trap with no visible way out. It's not all on Oliver of course, Robert and Moira telling Oliver or even Thea about what was going on would have the exact same effect regardless of whether or not they knew Oliver was GA, but it's all the same in the end.

As for what's next… you'll just have to wait and see.

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