Hey everyone, it's been a while, huh? Sorry for this, I had like half this act finished before I lost steam. Really needed that break from writing DC, or at least the Arrowverse. But I think I've had my fill of doing non-DC writing after this year's NaNoWriMo (the story I was doing had to do with wrestling and I wrote 50k of it). I finally found myself re-energized to finish at least this act, and now I'm going to start posting it. I still need to plan out Acts IV and V, but now that Act III is done, it should be easier to do that.

Many thanks to ArlyssTolero for betaing it and the Lauriver Discord for all their support!

Chapter 138: Reflections

One Month Later…

Tommy Merlyn was a conflicted man.

Not always, of course, and not often — not until the past three years, truth be told. Ever since Oliver came back, and he was beginning to realize that hadn't been a coincidence. His (secret) brother's return had always been where everything really began, even though he and his siblings had done everything they could to obscure it. All these years of never suspecting Oliver was Green Arrow, not even once, was mind-boggling, because of how obvious it was in hindsight. Every time there was some kind of major GA or JL-related disaster, he was always gone on some kind of trip, and none of them had realized the coincidence. Not even when Laurel began joining him, around the same time that Black Canary joined the JL. Tommy guessed he could be forgiven, considering that he was on the outs with them at the time, but everyone else?

Maybe they were just too happy to have Oliver back to realize something was going on. Robert and Moira certainly didn't know, seeing as if they did they would've told Oliver about Malcolm and the League and that would've been the end of the plans of Tommy's father. He had asked about Thea, once the shock passed, and Oliver assured him that Thea didn't know either. Nobody knew, except for Barry and Kara (because they were the Flash and Supergirl, and that was something else he needed to wrap his head around), and Kal, since the three of them raised him while they were stuck in the League of Assassins.

The League of Assassins. Tommy hadn't been prepared for those words to ever spill from Oliver's lips, even though he intellectually knew they would because Green Arrow was supposed to be a former member of theirs. He had stayed the explanation for a day, citing that he needed time to process everything, but came back the following day and was told everything. It had been… enlightening.

Oliver and the others, they hadn't always been on that island where they were found, the one called Lian Yu. They had all initially washed up (or landed, in Kara and Kal's case, and that hurt to think about) there, falling under the protection of a woman named Shado and a man named Slade. They came across some trouble during their second year on the island which saw Shado dead and them separated from Slade during an escape attempt gone wrong. That's when the League came into the picture.

It hurt, to learn about what happened. The League had saved them, had brought them to Nanda Parbat and nursed them to health, but it had come at a cost. In exchange for saving their lives, the League demanded they swear those very lives to the Demon. Either that or be killed, and that was something that none of them could chance, not when they were taking care of Kal, who had been a young toddler at the time. They had no illusions about what would happen to him if they didn't take his place.

So they swore themselves to the League. And Tommy had heard enough rumors and endured his own training, to imagine what happened to them after that, so he didn't ask for Oliver to elaborate. Two years of training, five years of service, and then they decided they couldn't take it any more, that they needed to leave.

When Tommy asked why, Oliver admitted that they had always intended to eventually leave. They were going to wait until Nyssa al Ghul (a close friend of theirs, someone Malcolm wanted dead, and oh did that burn to hear) succeeded her father, then request their release and return home. But then Barry gained his powers, and another clue to his mother's story — an even longer story Oliver refused to elaborate on, saying that it was for Barry to tell. Rumors about the Undertaking were drawing Oliver back to the then-Starling, the desire to protect his childhood friends and blood family, his home. And as for Kara — well, she had no one else but the small family she had made for herself on this new world. And the League was never a place for a child, so it made sense for her to go as well and take Kal with them.

It hadn't been easy. They were only released from their vows in exchange for taking out the age-old enemy of the League, the organization of HIVE. Malcolm had always been perplexed by their downfall. Tommy wondered how he would react if he had learned one of his sons had been one of the people responsible. But either way, they were released, they returned home, and they embarked the journey that would lead them to where they are today.

One Month Ago…

"When did you learn about Malcolm?"

Oliver grimaced. "I found out about a former member of the League being involved in the plot when he tried to confront me during one of my patrols," Tommy's best friend admitted. "The League informed us of his League identity and some of his history, but didn't give us his real name. It wasn't until Ruby Arias's birthday party that year, where I brought your father to as a guest, did I realize that it was him."

"You mean my dad was a former member of the League of Assassins?" Even though Tommy already knew this, he couldn't keep the shock from his face.

His best friend nodded grimly. "It's where he went to after your mother's death," Oliver explained gently. "And where he got the idea of the Undertaking from. I realized his plan had something to do with the Glades after he took me out to lunch one day and tried to convince me to change the location of the mall. So I spied on him to find out some more specifics about his plan, which is when I learned the truth about the Gambit."

"The truth?"

"It was sabotaged, originally intended to kill my dad, only to get me instead. Not that it stopped Malcolm from threatening both my mom and dad into complying with his demands after holding Thea over their heads. Mom and Dad, they tried to turn on Malcolm by telling Walter about what was going on and giving him evidence to turn in, but Malcolm found out and killed him and the Head of Security at the time, Josiah Hudson in retaliation." Oliver rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I always intended to spare him, Tommy, if only for your sake. But by God, when I found that out, it took everything I had not to march into that office and shoot an arrow in his throat."

It had been Oliver who got his parents off scot-free with their involvement in the Undertaking. At the time, the thought of how the Queens escaped justice had made Tommy burn at the hypocrisy, but now, with the full context, he supposed he couldn't blame any of them for that. They had been the only unwilling members of Tempest. They hadn't wanted anything to do with the Undertaking at all, had even tried to stop it twice. But Malcolm had held their children over their heads like an executioner's axe, and they hadn't had a choice. Interesting how he had failed to mention any of this to Tommy.

There had been more, and Tommy had listened, but his thoughts had been elsewhere. Because there it was, the root of his conflict. Now that Tommy knew, Oliver and Laurel were telling him everything.

And in return, Tommy wasn't telling them anything.

He had wanted to, if only out of guilt. But something had stayed him, made him restrain himself from saying a word. Had made him act like everything with the League, about the Queens being involved in the Undertaking, were all things he was learning for the first time, even though they weren't. And he couldn't pinpoint why.

Just like how he couldn't pinpoint why he hadn't told Malcolm their identities later, during their meeting over the staged attack at Oliver's apartment. Tommy had told him the attack had failed, that those three Shadows were dead and had been stopped by Green Arrow and Black Canary, but he hadn't told his father that Oliver and Laurel were Green Arrow and Black Canary. The man had ranted and raved about the setbacks, about how GA might already know and that they needed to find a way to tell Oliver without cluing in those "meddling vigilantes" and even then, Tommy hadn't said a peep.

He didn't know why. It would make sense to. If he told one or the other, their problems would be solved. If he had told Malcolm, the man would no longer have to worry about Oliver's safety. He could just kill Ra's and Nyssa to wipe out the blood debt and then lean in on his and Tommy's connection to Oliver to smooth things over between them. It wouldn't be easy, chances are Malcolm would probably die because the way Oliver and Laurel talked about Nyssa was the same way they talked about each other (and that was something Tommy was going to have to probe them about later), but Tommy would live. And honestly, as much as Tommy might still love and care for his father, the man had given him more than enough grief for one lifetime.

And if he had told Oliver, then it would've been even easier. Oliver could just kill Malcolm and trap the Shadows so Ra's and the League could wipe them out, and could use the boon from that to have Tommy spared. He could go on with his life as if everything with Talia and Malcolm had never happened, and that would be the end of that. All his problems would be solved.

So why hadn't he said anything? Why was he keeping his mouth shut and letting this charade go on? For once in his life, Tommy was the one with all the secrets, the one who could tip the scales, the one with all the power — and he didn't know what to do with any of it.

Irony could be such a bitch.

"Who wants Big Belly Burger?"

"Oh, Barry," Iris said with a well-practiced sigh, but there was no denying the smile on her face. Patty didn't bother saying anything at all, just patted on an empty space on their shared desk.

Barry set one of the bags on the desk, before heading over to Joe and Eddie's desk. "Lunch?" He asked with a grin, lifting another

Joe exhaled deeply. "Thanks, Barry. We've been neck deep in this case that we completely forgot about lunch today."

"Yeah, thanks Barry," Eddie said offhandedly, still neck-deep in said case.

The speedster blinked, eyeing Eddie in confusion and worry. "Don't mention it, guys," Barry replied, setting the bag between them. "Just doing my job as the lunch gopher."

He returned back to Iris and Patty's desk, carrying his own, much larger bag of Big Belly Burger and pulling a chair for him to sit with. Barry glanced around before leaning forward. "Is he…?"

Patty and Iris exchanged looks and winced. "Yeah," Patty admitted. "But it's only been a month and all."

"We all handle grief differently," Iris concurred. She knew that all too well.

As did Barry. "I just wish there was something we could do," he lamented. "He was making so much progress and now he's barely talking to anyone."

"You can't blame him, Barry," Iris gently chided his best friend. "Hugo and Charlene might have been… well, you know, but they were still Eddie's parents. It's understandable he's had a hard time processing their deaths. We just need to give him time and be there for him. He'll come around and be back to his old himself when he's ready."

"Iris is right, Barry," Patty agreed with her partner. "Eddie wi—"

The two best friends blinked as Patty suddenly froze, cutting herself off from whatever she was about to say. "Patty," Barry started, "what's wrong?"

"Hi, guys."

Both Iris and Barry froze themselves when they heard that familiar voice, and turned towards the direction where Patty was staring. They weren't the only ones either — it seemed like the entire bullpen had fallen into a hush at the sight of this one visitor. But who could blame them?

Ralph Dibny stood awkwardly at the entrance of his former workplace, dressed in a cheap suit and trying to avoid looking at anyone, especially Iris, directly. He failed, as his eyes were inevitably drawn to those closest to him, particularly Joe, Eddie, Barry, and most of all, Iris. The first three seemed to be more stunned than anything to see him, perhaps at the audacity of him daring to show up here at all after what happened. And as for Iris…

Well, anyone who knew Iris wasn't surprised to see her expression morph into something of a mixture of anger and pain. She shot up from her seat and began marching up to Ralph, ignoring how Barry had done the same. Her best friend walked over and reached out to her, trying to calm her down, and while she didn't shake off his comforting touch, she did ignore his words.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded. "Weren't you fired?"

Ralph swallowed, flinching at the last word she said. "Just here to pick up the last of my things," he said carefully, "and drop off some leftover paperwork."

"You could have done that at the front desk," Iris stated bluntly. "Why are you here, Ralph?"

Hesitation, now. Then, "I'm here to apologize, Iris," the former police detective admitted.

Iris's nostrils flared. "For what? For sending an innocent man to prison?"

For a brief moment, Ralph broke out of his uncharacteristic meekness to fume. "He wasn't—" He stopped himself, probably realizing it wouldn't do him any good.

But that didn't stop Iris from pouncing on it. "It doesn't matter what you think he was," she stated, "you didn't have any proof. And instead of searching for more or waiting for something to come up, you made up proof instead, breaking the law, not thinking of what the consequences would be if you were found out. Not only did you drag me and others down with you, you caused all your cases to be put under the review and gave an opportunity for several dangerous criminals to be put back on the street."

Ralph didn't say anything to that. The guilt in his expression was enough.

Iris continued speaking, though now there were tears in the corners of her eyes. "I trusted you, Ralph. Looked up to you. Thought that, for all your faults, you were a great cop, a great detective. And now…" She didn't say anything more. Couldn't. She simply looked away, trying not to make herself not look any more vulnerable than she already was. If Ralph saw how much he'd hurt her, he'd stay longer, try to push through with that stupid apology and that's something she just couldn't deal with right now.

"Iris…" Her former partner moved to talk to her again, perhaps to apologize like he said, but found himself stopped by both Eddie and Patty, who were both giving him unfriendly and disappointed looks.

"You need to leave, Ralph," Patty said firmly.

"You're not welcome here anymore," Eddie added, equally forceful.

Ralph glared at them both, before noticing the hostile expressions of everyone else in the bullpen. In particular, he spotted Joe West eyeing him with twice the hostility his daughter had been throwing at him earlier, and resisted the urge to flinch again. He was all too aware of how protective West could be with his kids.

Realizing that he wasn't going to get what he wanted and a mite afraid for his life, Ralph slumped his shoulders, turned around, and left.

The moment he was gone and out of earshot, Iris turned to Barry, and let him gently gather her into his arms for comfort. It was only when she was in his familiar embrace that did she allow herself to cry.

"Okay, so where should we go today?" Sam asked her daughter and her daughter's best friend. Kara was off on important business today, attending a special presentation for the internship program, and so she had left it to Sam to pick up the kids from Lacrosse practice and Journalism Club respectively and treat them to dinner.

Ruby and Kal exchanged looks. "Japanese?" Ruby suggested.

"Japanese," Kal agreed.

Sam laughed. "I'm guessing you two are hungry for some sushi?"

The teenagers nodded. "Sushi! Sushi! Sushi!" they chanted.

If anything, that caused Sam's laughter to increase, and she pulled out of the parking lot with a big smile on her face.

This was good. This was very good. This was normal. She just had to focus on that, and not at what she found at her old home a month ago. Sam let the chatter of the children wash over her, and tried not to scream.

Some part of her wanted to say it was all a hoax, one last spiteful trick from Patricia from beyond the grave. That the spaceship and that silly, glowing, blinking crystal that she stored in one of her safes back home weren't real. Sam wanted to believe all that, with everything in her heart, but deep down, she knew that Patricia would never do something like that to her, no matter how badly things had fallen apart between them before the end.

The problem was that she didn't know what any of it meant for her. What would happen if she pursued it any further? It's not like she had told anyone, not even Ruby or Kara. Even if she were an alien, she didn't have powers, and the fact that she had Ruby and was able to pass as human for all these years meant that she could keep on passing as human for the rest of her life. Nothing would really change if she found out any more, so what would it matter if she didn't?

It didn't. Of course it didn't. With Patricia dead, nobody knew who she was, what she was. If she just kept it that way, then it would continue not to matter. Sam could just live on the rest of her life as if this was all some kind of distant dream. One she could forget.

Yes. That's what she'd do.

It didn't matter. Not a single bit.

A lot going on in this chapter. First the stuff with Tommy — why didn't he tell Malcolm? Or Oliver and Laurel? Well, that's just something you'll have to wait and see. I've got big plans for Tommy, as I've said, something that I've been building up since just about the start of the story. I'm sure you all have a feeling to what it is, but I hope you like it.

And of course, not even Eddie could quite shake off what he did to his parents, as much as they probably did deserve it from his POV. Especially since, you know, he covered up how they actually died.

Then there's Ralph — he's still got a role to play in this act, though what that role is, you just have to wait and see.

Now that leaves us Sam. Poor, poor Sam. She's in such denial, she just wants to forget and move on, and who can blame her for that. But unfortunately for her, as we see in this act, we don't always get what we want.

As always, feel free to make comments, flames will be ignored and deleted, and don't forget to update the TV Tropes page!