Chapter 142: Isabel
"That godforsaken archer! Why does he have to ruin everything!"
"Malcolm—"
"Oh, don't you start Robert!"
"Honestly, Malcolm, if he's really such an issue then why haven't you set the League on him yet?"
"With Supergirl in the city? It would never work, you know that Moira!"
Tommy exhaled a soft sigh as he sunk into his chair, watching his three parental figures argue. It was a familiar sight, something that happened regularly at these meetings, ever since Tommy started attending them himself. That was awkward at first, as obviously Robert and Moira didn't know what to make of him now that he knew everything they had kept secret, but eventually their plans came first and they were all able to ignore that massive elephant in the room.
He would even deign to say that they were scared of him, almost as much as they were of Malcolm. After all, he was now a trained assassin, much like his father. Even if they felt threatened, they couldn't do much to him. He was strong in a way they could never hope to be.
"—Oliver needs to be told soon," Malcolm said, and the mention of his best friend immediately broke Tommy out of his thoughts. His heart clenched. Knowing the truth about Oliver made him feel all the more tense about the meetings, fearing that just one slip from him would be enough for someone to figure out the truth. And he could only imagine what would happen then.
"It's only a matter of time before the League's spies figure out that I'm alive and the new leader of the Shadows," Tommy's father continued, heedless of his son's inner turmoil. "I've already gotten reports of Assassins observing our lesser strongholds. Once Ra's figures it out, war will be inevitable and he'll try everything he can to draw me out in the open so he can capture or kill me."
"Including using Tommy or Oliver as a hostage," Moira finished, voice grim.
"Yes. You understand the danger. We cannot afford to wait any long—"
"Then why don't you just go over to him and tell him the truth!" Robert burst out, face red.
Malcolm glared back, fists clenched. "You know very well why, Robert. He won't trust me—"
"Of course he's not going to trust you! You're a terrorist! And the only person to blame for that is you! Even if you showed how much you 'care', even if he reciprocates, how long will it last if he ever finds out the truth?"
And just like that, the two men threw themselves into another one of their arguments. One that made Tommy wonder how they were ever best friends. Robert looked about ready to deck Malcolm, and it seemed the only thing stopping him was knowing that Malcolm would probably see it coming a mile away and retaliate with ten times the force.
Tommy just watched the scene with a distant dullness. He barely reacted when he saw Moira walk over to him and settle down on one of the arms of his leather chair, the perfect picture of poise. She glanced over at him and gave him a sad smile, one that he didn't have the energy to return.
"How are you doing, Tommy?"
Her godson shrugged. "Okay, I guess." He didn't sound very convincing.
Moira's smile faded. "What's wrong, Tommy? You know you can always come to me for anything."
Except when it comes to your own son, Tommy thought, noting the depressive irony. That was probably what was bothering Tommy the most, and he knew he couldn't talk about that to Moira here, at least not with Malcolm around. But there was something else he could talk to her about here, something she'd peddle the usual drivel everyone else gave him this morning. "It's nothing really, Moira. It's just… well, you know Sara is back in town right? And she's dating someone now. We were all talking about it at brunch today and, well — it made me think about Isabel. About how much I miss her."
Tommy glanced up at his godmother, expecting to see that usual expression of sadness and sympathy whenever his ill-fated love with Isabel Rochev was brought up.
That's not what he got.
The young assassin blinked when he saw Moira's expression. Instead of compassion or sympathy, the woman was completely frozen, eyes blown wide. She quickly schooled her expression into what Tommy had been originally been expecting, but it was already too late. "What is it?"
"Tommy—"
"No," the young man shook his head. "No. You're hiding something. Something about Isabel. I saw it, you know I did."
Moira dropped the act, now looking completely nervous. She glanced over at Robert and Malcolm, who had ceased their argument upon hearing Tommy's words. He hadn't been particularly quiet. While Malcolm was a bit confused and suspicious himself, Robert looked pale.
"You know," Tommy continued, noticing the way the Queens were beginning to panic, "Isabel never liked you. Either of you. She tried to be polite whenever we talked about you two, but I could tell there was more to how she felt. I didn't understand why at the time, and honestly I didn't care — when we were together, I wanted nothing to do with the Queen name at all."
He narrowed his eyes. "But now, I'm beginning to wonder. And to be frank, I'm sick of secrets. So if there's something that I need to know, about you and her, you better tell me now."
The Queens stared at Tommy in fear, like they had never seen him before. Malcolm, however, look a touch proud, if concerned. He had his own suspicions about Isabel Rochev, but he could've never imagined she was somehow related to the Queens. Something told him that whatever it was, he wasn't going to like it.
But even so, Tommy deserved the truth. "Agreed. Robert, Moira, whatever you're hiding, you need to tell us now. I am not going to have any discord between the four of us just because you're keeping secrets."
It was a testament to Tommy's mood and self-control that he didn't flinch at that incredibly ironic statement.
The Queens exchanged another look. Finally, some kind of unspoken agreement passed and they looked back at the Merlyns, faces nervous and grim. Robert took the initiative, and began to speak. "Isabel used to be an intern here at QC, around her last year of business school and the year Oliver went missing," he explained.
Tommy raised an eyebrow. "And?"
"And… I had an affair with her during her time with the company," Robert finished with a sigh.
There was a moment of silence as both Tommy and Malcolm processed that statement, before they both reared back in revulsion. "What?" Tommy gasped. He knew Isabel a good deal older than him, but old enough to have an affair with a man like Mr. Queen while he was still in high school? "Was she even legal?" He demanded.
Robert had the gall to look offended at that statement. "Of course she was! She was twenty-two at the time!"
"So barely legal," Moira noted, voice dry. While she had long made peace with her husband's unfaithfulness, it was still something of a sore spot for her.
Her husband ignored her and continued with the explanation. "Look, I was in something in a midlife crisis at the time. I'll admit it wasn't my proudest moment. After Oliver went messing, I reassessed my priorities and ended it, firing Isabel for good measure. And that was it."
"The hell it wasn't!" Tommy all but yelled, getting up from his chair to glare down at both Robert and Moira. "Why the hell did you let me, your godson, date her when you knew she was your former mistress? Do you know how screwed up that is?" He would've never gone anywhere near Isabel had he known she had slept with his godfather before. The very thought of all the times they were together were now making his stomach turn. She had to have known that too, so why…?
"Tommy, by the time we found out you two were dating, you had already cut us out of your lives," Moira said, quick to defend her husband and her. "There was no guarantee you'd believe us!"
"You could've told me before we even started dating!" Tommy retorted. "Head it off before it even happened! I mean, why did she even come back to Star City after you dumped her? She had to have known how influential you two are, how you could've ruined her all over again. You'd think she stay away."
"She was vindictive, Tommy," Robert said, the words spilling out of his mouth in a desperate attempt to repair things with his godson before they became irreparable. "After we broke up, before she left QC for good, she swore to me that my family and I would regret it. That she'd come back one day and take everything from us."
"So why the hell did you let her stick around?"
"It's not like we had any proof, Tommy!" Moira practically shouted. "And we couldn't afford to let the affair end up in the press! She was helping you with your company, doing something we couldn't because of our own actions, not to mention Oliver and Thea—there were so many reasons—"
"You mean excuses," Tommy cut her off, voice scathing. "You just wanted to keep on pretending to be something you never were, the perfect First Couple of Starling City. And you were willing to do anything and everything to keep it that way, even if it meant potentially leaving me out to dry."
Neither of his godparents had anything to say to that. Tommy sighed.
"Did she even love me?" He wondered. That's when everyone noticed Malcolm stiffening, much like Robert and Moira had earlier. Unfortunately for him, everyone noticed.
"Malcolm," Moira said slowly. "Do you have something to add to this discussion?"
"Of course not, Moira. I'm the only person here who had never met this woman," Malcolm smoothly replied.
The expressions on everyone's faces, including Tommy's, made it clear that they didn't believe him. Malcolm's composure slowly began to falter in the face of their pointed, silent disbelief. "I really don't."
"Dad." Tommy's face was completely flat.
"No secrets, Malcolm," Robert reminded the other man, taking some perverse pleasure in throwing those words back in his tormentor's face.
For the first time since returning into the Queen Family's lives, Malcolm wasn't the picture of composure or the insane, raving lunatic that everyone knew he was deep down but wasn't willing to admit to his face. He looked completely nervous, his eyes darting across each of his companions. When it became clear they weren't going to budge, he sighed.
"I never found any official proof," the Magician qualified early, "so everything is just pure speculation on my part."
Tommy groaned. "Just get on with it, Dad."
Malcolm swallowed. "Right. Tommy when you told me about your relationship with Isabel and how she died, I found the entire thing suspicious."
"Yeah, yeah, I know. Talia killed her to manipulate me into joining the Shadows—"
"Tommy. It's not just that. Did you ever find it weird that your long-time girlfriend not only died in the same way as your mother, in front of your mother's old clinic, but even looked like her too?"
The room fell dead silent.
"No," Tommy whispered.
"Yes. Did you ever wonder why she was even there?"
"She was surveying a possible location for an outreach center, to help our PR—" This time, Tommy cut himself off. He closed his eyes and buried his face into his hands. "That outreach center wouldn't have lasted a day past the opening before being firebombed by one of the locals," he noted, clarity suddenly hitting him. "And that's if we managed to keep the fact that it was being built by Merlyn Global under wraps. Isabel was one of the savviest businesswomen I knew — she would've known that."
"Talia deliberately sent her after you, to seduce you, probably promising retribution against the Queens for it," Malcolm explained, enunciating every word so not a single one was mistaken. "And then she set Isabel up to be killed just so she could have you, and thus me."
Tommy shook his head with exaggerated motions before screaming into his hands, muffling the sound. When he was done, he lifted his head, eyes red with tears. "You knew! You knew!"
"I suspected," Malcolm corrected gently. "I didn't know for sure until tonight, when Robert revealed his past affair with her. After that, I had a possible motive to fit it all together."
"It's basically the same! Why didn't you tell me?"
His father swallowed again. "She was dead, Tommy," he said, voice still gentle. "You loved her, and she was dead. There wasn't any point any more. Telling you the truth — all it would've done is just hurt you."
And that was it. Tommy had enough. "That's it. I'm done." He picked up his bag and moved to leave.
"Tommy—" Moira reached out to her godson, trying to stop him, to comfort him.
But Tommy stopped her. "No. Just… no. I can't deal with any of you right now. I'm still with the plan, I still want to protect Ollie, but right now…" He trailed off, refusing to say another world. All three of his parents, blood or bond, could only watch as he left.
As the front door closed behind him and the sound of engine starting was heard, they glanced at each other, exchanging looks.
"Are you going to blame me for this too?" Malcolm asked dryly, looking like he had just aged a hundred years.
Robert shook his head. "No," he said, sounding just as tired. "I think all three of us can agree that we're all equally to blame."
Despite it all, Malcolm couldn't find it in himself to disagree with that.
"Are you really sure you're okay with this?"
"I'm fine, Barry," Iris repeated with a sigh. The two best friends were currently in S.T.A.R. Labs, doing some late night work. For Barry, that was fulfilling his promise to Ralph and running some tests on the evidence the older man had given him. For Iris, that was doing some paperwork for one of her cases.
"Look, I'm still not happy with the guy—"
"Understatement."
"—But I know how important this probably is to him. I don't want him dying on the streets just because we couldn't do this one favor for him."
Barry raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that a bit hyperbolic?"
Iris waved him off. "You know what I mean. The life of a PI, especially when you're not a part of an established company, is difficult Barry. The fact that he's willing to reach out at all for help, considering how soon it's been, means that this case means a lot to him. That it's one of those cases that could help re-establish his credibility after, you know, everything."
"Ah, I see. It's an opportunity."
"Yeah. If he solves this case to satisfy whatever client he has, then that means more cases in the future. It means he won't starve." Iris sighed. "I'm angry at him Barry. And I'm going to be angry at him for a long time. But I've gotten those feelings off my chest, to you and everyone else, including him. That's enough for my head to clear, to see how much his choices have not just cost us, but him as well. And no matter angry I am at him, that doesn't mean I wish him ill." She shrugged, face a little glum. "He was my first real partner. He taught me a lot of what it means to be a cop, to be a detective. That's something I am never going to forget."
Barry smiled. "You're a good person, Iris," he said warmly.
Iris blushed at his words and looked away. Before the conversation could persist, there was a sudden beeping noise: the preliminary tests were finished. Barry pushed his feet against his desk, allowing his rolling chair to glide across the floor to the other side of his lab, where his computer was set up. He hummed as he looked through the results.
"What'd you get?" Iris asked out of curiosity.
"It's some kind of gas accelerant," the speedster replied, frowning. What kind of case was Ralph investigating involved that? "I'll have to do more tests to narrow down the brand before giving it to Ralph—"
He was cut off by another, more distinct beeping noise. This one was coming from his phone. Barry reached into his lab coat to take it out, reading the text on the screen and paling drastically. Iris noticed the change in his complexion and swallowed. That couldn't be good. "Barry…?"
"It's Purity," her best friend answered, and Iris felt her blood freeze. "She's escaped from containment — and she somehow has Pestilence's powers."
Now it was Iris's turn to pale. Barry threw off his lab jacket onto his chair and head to where his regular jacket was hanging. "I need to go," he announced, before speeding around the room to do a quick clean up.
"Be careful!" Iris shouted as he left.
"Will do!" Barry shouted back. He could only hope she heard him.
This chapter has been in a quasi-finished state for a while, but it's only now that I've felt the urge to finish it. I think I've had enough of a break to really throw myself back into this, though Act IV and Act V still need to be planned in detail. I think I can just do that after I finish Act III instead of ahead like I originally planned to.
As always, feel free to make comments, flames will be ignored and deleted, and don't forget to update the TV Tropes page!