Notes:
Thank you so much to everyone who reads and appreciates this story it means the world to me!
Once again, this chapter has not at all turned out the way I thought. I've been seriously struggling with it for the longest time, and now what barely had enough words for one chapter for the longest time will now be divided in two chapters... I'm pretty unsure of this one.
Again, not Felicity or Olicity friendly. Might, just have to make that my new disclaimer for the next couple of chapters.
Chapter 70
You don't know my life or anything that I'm about I'm on a ship in a bottle I'm tryna ride with the waves I heard my demons will follow I've been goin' through things
Oliver
Since his father's old friend was doing him a favor, the pilot could not fly him all the way back to Star, but dropped him off in San Francisco, so he could pick up his father's friend and fly him to his next meeting on the other side of the country. This was fine. He appreciated the help he had gotten; it was way more than most people would've done. He chose to rent a car to drive the rest of the way home instead of buying a ticket for a commercial flight. For one; it wouldn't take him that much less time flying commercial than just driving, given with the fixed departure times and the waiting. And two; he couldn't very well board the flight with the weapons his wife had packed for him. Driving wouldn't take him more than another day, less depending on traffic and the amount of breaks he decided to take.
He had already put more than half of his way behind him, when his phone began to ring, he answered the call through the cars Bluetooth system without checking the caller ID, given the fact he was currently on the Highway, maneuvering around slower cars and semis, to shorten the amount of time it took him to get home. He had been on the move constantly for the past six days and all he wanted was to get home, take a nice, long, hot shower, and curl up on the couch or in bed with Sara in his arms. Oliver couldn't remember the last time he had been as eager to get home as he was now.
"Ollie? I…" The last thing he had expected was the unmistakable voice of the woman he'd been thinking about on the other end of the line, they had talked only a couple of hours ago, the last time he had taken a break at a gas station, he'd called to let her know the approximate time he'd be home. This alone would've put him on edge even if she hadn't sounded as emotional and raw as she did now. And his heart dropped to the floor, assuming the worst. They had only talked a couple of hours ago. She had been fine then, more than that she'd been in very good spirits. Having Speedy, Roy and Sin stay with her during the time he had been gone had been good for her. And he was glad she had used the time to bond with her friends, enjoying their company.
"Sara. What's wrong? Are you hurt? Is Mila alright?" He would never be able to forgive himself if something had happened to either of them while he had been away. Fuck. He should've stayed home, he should've… he was interrupted from beating himself up when Sara assured him that both Mila and she were okay. He breathed a sigh of relief and focused on the words that followed her assurance. Oliver wasn't surprised that Sara had decided to learn more about the year she'd been… the year… it didn't surprise him she had taken the chance she was offered with Roy, Thea and Sin in one place to try and get some more answers and he couldn't fault her for that, even though he wished she hadn't. He had suspected that learning more about said year would upset her, and he seemed to have been right.
Oliver tried to give Sara Laurel's perspective on the matter, even though he hadn't agreed with her. And he could understand her fear of losing her father, too. After having just lost her sister. Having lost both of his parents, he could appreciate her wanting to do whatever to keep her father safe. Even so, he had felt Quentin had the right to know that Sara had… that they had lost Sara again, but in the end, it hadn't been his call it had been Laurel's, so he had dropped it and let her do whatever she had decided was the right thing to do.
Oliver was confused when his explanation only seemed to agitate her more, apparently not giving her the answer she was looking for. He wasn't sure if deceiving was the right word to use when it came to Laurel's misguided decision to put on Sara's mask and go out in the field. He was pretty sure that hadn't been her intention and told Sara so. But once again, his answer did little to quieten the storm that was her current emotions and only seemed to make things even worse. He wasn't sure what she was talking about, and suddenly he felt like he was the one missing something, something massive, given Sara's distressed state. There was a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, and he wondered for a moment if he really wanted to know. The answer was no, probably not, but that didn't matter. Never had before and wouldn't now. He hadn't wanted to know that Thea and he didn't share a father, and yet he had received that information at probably one of the worst possible moments to spring such a bombshell on him, but he wasn't given a choice there either. He hadn't wanted to know that Malcolm had manipulated Speedy into killing Sara, and yet that knowledge had been sprung on him, too. Oliver could go on forever, but none of those mattered right now. The only thing that matter was his Pretty Bird and getting to the bottom of her current distress.
"Sar, Pretty Bird, what are you talking about?" He needed to know, needed to know what had happened so he could find out how to help Sara. What he could do to make things better, calm her down.
"The phone call." Her voice was suddenly so matter of fact, as if those three words explained everything. But all they did was bewilder him even more. What the hell was she talking about? What phone call? He could hear her exhale and the relief in her voice when his question made her realize he had no idea what she was talking about. Still, her relief did little to ease his worry. She was still extremely worked up, and he needed to know why. Needed to know what she had been told.
"Roy said that Laurel and Felicity used recordings of my voice to get dad to help them with information, making him believe he was talking to me. Months after I had died, while you were in Nanda Parbat. How could they do that to him?" Oliver felt like he had just been punched in the gut and it had come completely out of left field, leaving him totally winded. He drove the car onto the shoulder, put on the warn blinkers and the car in park. Taking several deep breaths, trying to digest what his wife had just told him. His mind having difficulty wrapping around the words she had said, shying away from the implications that came along with them.
He wasn't sure he had heard her right. Hoping he hadn't, but knowing from experience he probably had. Bad things always tended to be true in his life, just like bad news seemed to always find him.
"Ollie?" the vulnerable way her voice sounded snapped him back from his spiraling thoughts.
"They did what?" He needed her to clarify. He needed her to tell him exactly what they had done to her. His mind had finally managed to reach a conclusion on how he felt but was still trying to process the rest, while the fury was slowly coursing through his body, his hands gripping the steering wheel tightly. Still not sure he had heard her right, hoping he hadn't, but certain he had, especially when she began to share more of what she had been told. Hoping a proper explanation might calm him down, he doubted it, but everything was possible. He listened carefully to her explanation and he could feel his insides twist. The red-hot fury coursing through him at her words came with the urge to break something, to give it physical release and it took everything he had not to follow that instinct and stay on the phone with her, trying to stay calm, because that was what she needed of him right now. She needed him to be the calm, levelheaded one in this situation. He would deal with his own emotions, once Sara's were taken care of, at least enough to make sure she was no longer as agitated as she was now.
God, Sara sounded so vulnerable, so broken when she asked him how Laurel could've done this to their father and he wished he had an explanation for her, wished he could say something that would take all of her pain away but there was nothing he could say that would change what her sister had done, which meant there was nothing he could do to ease her pain. And he was right there with her. He couldn't understand how Laurel could've done that to Quentin. Keeping Sara's death from him was one thing, but this… he had no words. He couldn't even begin to comprehend what she could've possibly been thinking. What could've made Laurel and Felicity come to the conclusion that this was the only way they were going to get Quentin's help. Quentin had been helping the team for more than a year at that point. Oliver was pretty sure he would've given the same information to Felicity had she asked. There had been no reason for them to go to such lengths to deceive him, simply to get information about a criminal. A criminal Quentin had wanted off the streets, too.
"I don't know, Pretty Bird, I have no words… I had no idea, I swear." Sara sounded so lost, so broken, and all he could do right now was talk to her through the phone. He clenched his fists around the steering wheel in helpless anger. All he wanted to do right now was take her in his arms, hold her close and give her some semblance of comfort, some reprieve. He heard a soft thud and was confused for a moment until he was subjected to the unmistakable sound of his pregnant wife retching. Fuck! He hit the steering wheel hard a couple of times, cursing himself for once again not being with her in her hour of need. Oliver felt the familiar feeling of dread creep up on him, his mind taking him back to three months ago and the night Sara had gotten so sick they had needed help to ensure both her and Mila's wellbeing.
"Sara, how bad is it? Do you need me to call Caitlin?" He tried to stay calm, tried to not let her know just how scared for them he was, how much he wished he were home already. With them. Being able to see her, to see for himself just how bad it was. It only took her a short moment before replying, assuring him she was simply trying to process everything. It wasn't difficult to understand her reaction. What Laurel and Felicity had done was disgusting. More than that, it was truly sickening. So, Sara's visceral reaction made sense, but still he worried.
"Alright, if you're sure, but promise me, you'll call her if you're not feeling better in an hour." He needed to make sure. He wasn't willing to take any risks with their lives or health. He couldn't lose them. They spent several minutes in silence, processing the information they had been provided with after she had promised him she would call Caitlin if she wasn't feeling any better in an hour. His mind was replaying the last couple of minutes, the words Sara had spoken and still trying to make sense of them, having serious difficulties to wrap his head around everything. Realizing just how much had been left out when filling him in on what had happened while he had been recuperating from the wounds Ra's had inflicted on him. This made him wonder what else they hadn't told him.
"Ollie… How did Felicity get recordings of my voice? I never agreed to that. I would've never agreed to that." His wife's troubled voice snapped him back to reality.
That was the million-dollar question. How had Felicity gotten recordings of Sara's voice and against her knowledge? This had also been the aspect of her explanation his mind had shied away from. The implications behind the existence of those recordings were almost too much to grasp.
If Sara hadn't been aware of it, which he knew she hadn't even if she hadn't just told him so, meant there were only a handful of options as to how Felicity could have gathered them and none of those were ways he could even begin to comprehend or support.
She had either bugged Sara's phone, which would have been such a tremendous breach of trust and privacy, and he honestly couldn't come up with a single reason that would've justified an action like this. Or she had bugged his phone, which was a possibility and again an enormous breach of trust. Or she had bugged the Foundry. None of those options were anything he wanted to consider, the amount of moments that should've been private, and not just between him and Sara, that would've been tainted and exploited by someone he trusted was almost too much for his brain to handle. So, his mind shied away from it for now, not yet ready to process it all and come up with the inevitable conclusion and the consequences that would follow.
But there was one thing his mind had no trouble processing: it was the fact that this was all his fault. He had brought Felicity in. This happened because he had let it happen. He should've known, he should've been aware of what she was doing. It was his job to know everything there was to know about every single member of his team. It was his job to make sure they were all safe, that they weren't put in any unnecessary risks. It was his job to make sure their location was clean, safe, and protected. His team was his responsibility. He had brought them in; he had made the choice to trust them and to put their lives in each other's hands.
Sara had been violated because he hadn't done his job, because he had developed a blind spot when it came to his team, because he had forgotten that they weren't Sara, that he couldn't trust them blind. Or more importantly, he forgot they didn't trust him blind. They never had. Not like Sara did. He had grown compliant over the years and therefore been unaware of the danger everyone following him had been put into. He should've known. It was his job to know what every member of his team was up to. Everything they've built and everyone involved had been jeopardized because of this.
He decided to end their conversation when he heard Sin in the background, being reassured that Sara was no longer alone, that someone was with her in case she would suddenly feel worse. It also gave him the chance to put his focus back on the road and his drive home. The sooner he got back on the road, the sooner he'd be home with her and, therefore able to comfort her in person.
"Okay. And it wasn't your fault. Good, I miss you. I love you." Those words were like a balm to his soul and helped calm the whirlwind of emotions and thoughts that were rushing through him because of everything that he had learnt, because of his failures. And nothing Sara said or did would change that. It was the cold, hard truth. Everything that happened and everything that was going to happen now was his fault and his responsibility.
Oliver returned the sentiment before ending the call. He spent another couple of minutes just sitting in the car, still parked on the shoulder, gathering his thoughts enough to make sure he could focus on the road before putting the car into drive and resuming his journey home. Not that it was easy to keep the onslaught of thoughts at bay, especially since he was alone on the road for hours on end and he had plenty of time to mull it all over and the longer he did the more agitated he got, realizing the enormous amount of information that was potentially gathered about him, about Sara and just how much their privacy might have been invaded, had the Foundry been bugged.
All he wanted to do right now was go to what was left of the Foundry, to the Bunker and even to Felicity's apartment and tear those places apart until he had found every last recording device and recording. To find out exactly how bad her breach of trust was and what had been recorded and also how. Not that this was currently a possibility, he still had four hours, possibly three if he was pushing the speed limit, of driving in front of him. And there was no way he wasn't going straight home to be there for Sara. Wishing he could get home in even less time, but there was no point in risking getting stopped by the police. That would only prolong his return home.
So, he pushed his fury aside, for now. He couldn't wrap his head around the implications that came with that knowledge. He managed to shove the thoughts about the recordings into a mental box and push it to the side for the time being, but that just gave him the chance to think about other things, mainly Felicity and his relationship with her. A relationship that almost felt like a lie now. Looking back at it now, having gained some distance to everything that had transpired between them helped slightly shift his perspective and evaluate it a little more rationally and he could see where he might have gone wrong and how they've ended up in the mess they had been in. There had been a turning point early on. Looking back now, it was almost like a flashing neon sign, but he hadn't realized it then. He should've seen it. Had he not been as emotionally drained and off balance because of Sara's death he might have seen it, but everything had just been too much, and he had tried to hold on to everyone he had still left in his life, deathly afraid he was going to lose them too and once again be all alone. Stranded on an island of his own creation.
"You're just going to spend your life hiding down here in this cave, waiting to die? I'm sorry. I'm not going to wait with you, because if there's one thing that today has taught me, it's that life is precious. And I want so much more in mine than this… I don't want to be a woman you love." her words rang in his ears again, he could hear them as if she were in the car with him. He should've known in those moments that it was a bad idea. To just let her go. To not give them a try. To leave her alone. He would've spared them both a lot of pain. He still wasn't sure what had changed her mind. Why she had suddenly decided Ray wasn't who she wanted anymore and that she had to have him, no matter the consequences... he thought back to Nanda Parbat, their first night together... Felicity manipulating and poisoning him... the memory still left a bitter taste. It should've been a happy one, a good one without any negative feelings. It's what he had wanted instead he got this... he knew she just did it for his "own good" but still... not only had she gone against his wishes and risked Thea's life, and the lives of everyone in his team and Star City but she had used his feelings for her against him. She had poisoned him with a substance she hadn't known nor understood, she could've just as well killed him. It had been callous, and stupid, and so very selfish.
His mind took him to another time, another conversation, so very different and yet, so very eye opening in comparison.
"Together?" He had no trouble recalling everything about that moment. The way Sara's word was as much a question as it was a promise. A promise to be there for him, a promise that he was no longer alone, a promise that they were in this together, no matter what, that she would be here to catch him when he was ready to fall.
"Together." Oliver wasn't sure if Sara was aware just what it had taken for him to return the sentiment, the promise, to make the choice to let her in completely, to let down the last of his walls, the last of the guards to keep his heart safe and lay it all at her feet, to do with as she pleased, to fall apart in her arms.
"Thank you for being there for me." He had meant it wholeheartedly. He couldn't remember the last time someone had been there for him the way she had been back then. And he had appreciated it more than he could ever put into words.
"You mean for not letting you push me away?" Oliver had to smile at that, leave it to Sara to not beat around the bush and point out the obvious, but what had given him a warm feeling in the pit of his stomach had been the look on her face and just how much she had looked like the old Sara in that very moment, the mischievous twinkle in her eyes and knowing smile on her face.
"I'm going to stop doing that." It had felt good saying it out loud and meaning every single word of it. He had been tired of keeping everyone at arm's lengths. He had been tired of not having anyone to lean on, to open up to without being judged or yelled at. And Sara had proven to him once again that he could always count on her, that she'd take whatever he'd throw at her and still turn around and catch him the moment he stumbled and fell.
"Yeah? Good. You'll be wasting your time, anyways." And if there hadn't ever been truer words spoken, there was no way to out-stubborn Sara, nor would she ever let him get away with that behavior. She never had before, so why would she now?
"No, you deserve someone better. Someone who can harness that light that's still inside of you. But I'm not that person. And I never will be." She had been wrong. He had wanted to tell her that. He should've told her that. But he knew Sara better than he knew himself, and he had known the look in her eyes and had known there was no changing her mind.
"Sara..." So the only thing he had been able to say was her name, in a desperate plea, hoping that it would be enough to make her see, to make her understand how much he needed her. Always. He had wanted to remind her of the promise she had made him, that they'd face whatever the world was going to throw at them together, that she was going to be there to keep him from pushing her away, from letting things fester and not let people help him. She had promised to catch him when he fell. She had promised. But the only thing he had been able to say was her name, like a prayer. Because the last thing he ever wanted to do was make her feel obligated, manipulate her into staying, caging her.
"Don't. I'm sorry. I just care about you too much to be with you." The Canary had put his life, the lives of the people living in their city, above her own desires, above her own happiness. She had walked away from him, from their chance to finally give them a real shot to be together and find out what it was between them, something they had talked about a lot on Lian Yu, so he would have an army that could help them even out Slade's advantage. He hadn't known that detail at that moment in time. And to this day, he still wondered; going back and forth between wishing he had known and being glad he hadn't. Not sure which option would've been better. But knowing full well that he would've tried everything he could've to stop her from going back to the place she would've rather killed herself than returned to. So, maybe this was better, because Sara would've still left, only it would've been after they'd had gotten in a serious argument and fighting with her having been the last thing before she left would've gutted him.
"Together?... you deserve someone better… I'm not that person…" Sara had been wrong. There was no one better than her. He didn't deserve her, probably never would, but he couldn't do better than her. He didn't know how he came to deserve such a pure and selfless woman. A woman who valued his happiness more than her own. He understood her. He valued her happiness above his own, too. But he would've never expected her to return the sentiment in kind. He would've never expected her to sacrifice everything for him. It had been too much, way too much, and he had never gotten the chance to repay her back then. He hoped in time he'd be able to by giving her everything she had ever wanted, by loving her the way she deserved to be loved. By giving her the family she had always wanted.
"Someone who can harness that light that's still inside of you." Sara was the only person who could fane the flame responsible for the light she had talked about. He was blessed to have her in his life again. To have shared so much of his life with her, so many milestones, and to now share even more with her. Have her by his side every single day.
There was no one else he'd rather share the new and upcoming adventure and rollercoaster ride he was sure parenthood was going to be with.
"You know, no matter how much you love me, there's always gonna be a part of you that defaults to the man who was on the island alone... who came back to save the city alone. And sooner than we both think, you're going to be stuck in a situation where you have to make a decision that requires you to hide things from me again." It had taken a while for him to admit to himself that she had been right. At least to some degree. But he wasn't the only one to blame for him to default to that when things got complicated, for him not being able to let her in. There had been too many moments she had made light of his trauma, too many moments she had thrown his failures back into his face, too many times she had diminished what he had been through, too many times Felicity just hadn't been able to understand, to grasp just what he was going through, even when he had tried to explain it to her, she usually never let him finish, never let him share all of it before commenting, admonishing, judging.
"Shado. Sara. How many women were you marooned with? Are you sure this wasn't fantasy island?..." How was he supposed to trust her, let her in when she had been incapable of understanding that just because Shado was someone he had met and learnt to love on Lian Yu and Sara had been with him for a year while being there it hadn't changed the hell it had been. Yes, it had made it a little easier to handle at times, not being alone. There had even been a couple of moments that had been good, but the bad had always followed. It had been the furthest from fantasy island than it could get, the physical reminders of that on his body should've been enough for her to realize that.
"My friend, our friend, was shot full with arrows and fell off of a rooftop. Her body is upstairs right above us in a freezer because we don't know what to do with it, with her. So I am so sorry, Oliver, if I have feelings, but maybe if you did, too, we…" How was he supposed to open up to her and let her in when she had seriously thought losing Sara hadn't completely gutted him. That the fact they had stored her body in a freezer in his club, her former place of work, right above the place she had called her home, wasn't disturbing him and one of the most horrendous things he had ever been forced to do. But they couldn't very well have brought her to the city morgue, and they needed to make sure they got all the forensic evidence they could get. And keep her from decomposing. Just thinking about it now almost made him throw up. Something he had done right after he had put the cold, lifeless body of the woman he loved in the freezer.
The only thing he had been able to do to function was focus on the tasks at hand, one after another, to find her killer. It had been the only thing his mind had been able to focus on. Everything else had been too much for him to process. The reality of her having been ripped from his life yet again and this time forever had been too much for him to handle. His fucking heart had been ripped from his chest and he honestly hadn't known how he was still alive, yet Felicity had accused him of not feeling anything. Yes, he had been fucking numb, but that was what shock did to you. The last fucking thing he had expected to walk upon that morning was Sara's dead body in the place they used to call their home, not mere hours after he had last seen and talked to her, after she had implied that she might be around more regularly again. Not after he had dared to hope that maybe he was getting her back as a constant in his everyday life.
How the hell was he supposed to trust a woman who had poisoned him because she didn't agree with his choice? How could she expect him to just trust her with his innermost thoughts, feelings, and secrets when she had not been able to understand them before? He had trusted her with his secret, and she had callously revealed it to Barry.
"While you were gone for almost a month, I allowed myself to fantasize, to dream that maybe, just maybe Merlyn was wrong, that you were alive and that you would come back and that when you did you would be different, that almost dying would give you a new perspective on life, that you would just do things differently... Before you left, the last thing you said to me... was that you loved me. Now you're back, and the first thing you tell me is that you are working with the man who turned your sister, a woman you're supposed to love, into a killer, who killed a woman you used to love. I don't want to be a woman that you love." This moment had probably been the most telling of them all, though. She hadn't understood, she hadn't understood why he was doing what he was doing. She hadn't understood him. Hadn't understood that he was doing this for Sara and Thea. Working with Malcolm wasn't his first choice, but it was the only chance he had to beat Ra's and the only way to keep Thea alive was to beat Ra's. And that was all that mattered now. Thea's safety. Felicity hadn't realized there was nothing he wouldn't do for the women that he loved. Nothing. He'd die for them, he'd kill for them, he'd burn the world down for them, he'd even make a fucking deal with the devil for them. If it meant that they were safe, that they were alive, that they would breathe another day and get a chance to be happy, to live their lives.
But more importantly, she had very clearly pointed out the cold, hard truth. He hadn't realized it back then, but he did now, now that so much had gotten clearer, with everything he had learnt.
"… that when you come back you would be different…" She had wanted him to come back a changed man, to be the way she wanted him to be, to act the way she wanted him to, to be who she wanted him to be and not the way he was. He should've known then… what Felicity wanted wasn't him. Not the way he was. She wanted the fantasy she had created, the potential she saw in him, not the reality of who he was. Just like Laurel had back when they were not much more than kids. He had inadvertently found himself in the exact same position he had been in before he ran off with Sara. Only he hadn't realized it.
Not until just now.
Now that he had put some space and distance between them, now that he had been with Sara again, had been reminded what it felt like to be with someone who loved him for who he was. The good, the bad, the ugly, the trauma, the killer, the monster and every other fucked up aspect he was struggling with. She loved it all, every single fucked up piece of him and she took him the way he was, never trying to change him, never putting any expectations on him. No matter what, no matter all the things that had changed over the years, one thing had always stayed the same: he was simply "Ollie" to her. While everyone including, Tommy, Laurel and Thea had started to switch between Ollie and Oliver ever since he had gotten home, Sara still always used Ollie, unless she was pissed off or trying to make a point and be sure he was listening closely because it was important, just like she always had. Just like she was still his Pretty Bird, and always would be. Nothing was ever going to change that.
Oliver had never thought there would be a moment in his life that he would be grateful for something Malcolm had done. But if Malcolm hadn't intervened and Felicity found out about William because of that, he wouldn't be here now. He wouldn't be with Sara. Not that he would ever forgive Malcolm for dragging his innocent son into this and putting a target on his back. No, his decision still stood; if Malcolm came anywhere near his family again, he would kill him. He wasn't ever going to take any chances with him again. He couldn't afford taking any chances with him any longer. Not with Sara, William and Mila's lives on the line. He had killed Sara once before. Oliver was sure Malcolm wouldn't hesitate to do it again. He had never thought highly of Sara, not back when they were kids and definitely not after she had come back home. He would never forget the hateful words Malcolm had used in reference to Sara while talking to Nyssa.
"Do you really need me to tell you what he would do to the degenerate who would steal his daughter's heart?" Degenerate, such a hateful term to use against anyone, especially someone with such an enormous heart and beautiful soul as Sara. He should've known then, the way he had spoken about a dead woman he had known for most of her life, a woman who had been one of his son's best friends through all of childhood, a woman his daughter had considered a sister. Yes, he should've known then that all Sara had been for Malcolm was a means to an end. She had been expendable because he hadn't liked her. Hadn't liked the fact that she had been on to him, had been about to hand him over to the League. His ego probably hadn't been able to handle the knowledge that after all those years, Sara was finally going to win. She had always been the one who had challenged Malcolm whenever Tommy had had another bruise. She would've glared at him and reminded him who her father was. Not that it had mattered, Malcolm had had enough people in his pockets that he easily got away with whatever he wanted, but that had never stopped Sara from reminding him that what he was doing wasn't just wrong but against the law and that sooner or later he was going to pay for it.
Sara had been close to making good of her promise. To make sure he was going to pay for the sins he had committed against his only son, for the pain he had caused Tommy. Yes, Malcolm must have known that there was no escaping the wrath of Sara. This was why he had chosen Thea, knowing full well Sara would never harm her, not even in self-defense.
Oliver was sure Malcolm couldn't stand the thought that his son's willful friend, who had stood up to him in defense of Tommy before she had hit her teens, would bring him down. Yes, Malcolm despised Sara and everything she stood for. He turned the car into his street and pushed his dark thoughts away. He was finally home, and he didn't want them to overshadow his and Sara's reunion. Oliver drove into the garage and parked the car, before getting out and taking his duffel with him, stepping in the elevator to get to the top floor as fast as possible.
Notes:
As always I'd love to hear your thoughts.
This chapter has really been kicking my ass. The entire premise of Sara and Oliver learning about the recordings came out of left field, it was not something I had planned and the repercussions of that revelation are severe and I had to restructure the story and sort of change some of the plans I had for the next couple of chapters, because they no longer worked the way I intended. Originally Oliver was already supposed to get home in this chapter and deal with some of the repercussions that came with the revelation but the chapter turned out differently than planned and that will now have to wait for the next chapter because this one would've gotten to long and this was the best place to split them up.
I really hope I got Oliver right. This is all such a huge mess. And leads to him questioning everything he thought he knew about Felicity. I hope that makes sense.
The way Malcolm referenced Sara has always stayed with me. It is so callous, so cold and cruel and disgusting. Especially because she had been a childhood friend of his son's. Just wanted to point this out, I think it is very telling and shows exactly what Malcolm thought of Sara.
Chapter title is from the song "We all got some things" by Tom MacDonald and Adam Calhoun, you should really check it out, you can find it on Spotify.
No rant this week, haven't managed to force me to watch more Arrow, lol.