Welcome to the Dark Archer once again, my dear post COVID-19 readers. Hope you are all fine and are doing well through this pandemic.
COVID screwed with everything. But I hope this one chapter can bring a bit of smile and comfort to you all in these difficult times.
Nevertheless, Russia awaits you...
LONELY AND DISTRACTED
"Survive!" is all I could hear, walking back to the hanger.
Nyssa was right. I was too distracted. This wasn't the time to get to know Z better. I could have taken her to Russia, literally any time of the year.
When I'm with her, the time is like...it's like this addiction. This rush. I..I have to stop this. But how?
I waved a bit to Z, who was still waiting for me at the top of the stairs. Her eyes lit up at my sight and she began waving frantically, which made me grin like a 5-year old and wave back like anything too, lifting my shoulders a bit in joy.
Sigh. I'll...stop after we sleep.
Wait. That. Wasn't...Like not together.
I meant separately. Sleep separately. In separate beds. Or chairs, in this case. But definitely separately.
Sigh.
Sprinting to the top, I made the gesture to welcome her inside.
"There you go, madame.
"Like it?" I said after a pause, standing on my toes with my hands joined together in the front.
"Yeah. This is gorgeous!" she reciprocated my excitement. "I have been in a plane before. But this is posh. Like proper posh."
I giggled a bit as her eyes checked the plane out.
"What?" she said laughing, her hands stretched outwards in surprise.
"I was already in love your British accent. And then you went ahead and said posh." I raised my shoulders apologetically.
Her beautiful black eyes twinkled in awe.
"You know, Ms Queen. I know a lot of other British words," she said, teasing me.
"Well, then it's gonna be a fun trip, isn't it?" I let out a teasing laugh too.
"Yeah, should be wicked fun!" She let her tongue exaggerate the accent at 'd'.
We shared a smile as I gestured for her seat.
It was almost a cubicle-like space, just like the restaurant, with us grabbing seats opposite to each other.
"Well, where's everyone else?" she immediately asked, taking an apple from the basket, hanging from one side.
'Clean?' she mouthed.
I nodded my head.
"It's just us," I said, my head resting on my left hand.
"Wait, didn't you say that half the plane would be empty? I assumed it meant that half the plane would be, well...full?"
Makes sense.
"Well, I thought they'd disturb us. They're taking a different plane," I told her a lie I made up in the shower.
The potential of ideas in the shower is basically unlimited...
Her eyes shrunk and face tilted in surprise before letting just a trace of smile through.
"Ooh, so someone wanted to get me all alone at 30,000 feet..."
"Oh, yeah, definitely. You'd have to parachute out of here, madame if you wanna escape me..."
We went about laughing and staring in each other's eyes. The tension felt palpable. But thankfully, the hostess came to my rescue.
"Would you care for a drink, Miss Queen?" she asked, prompting Z to get a loud giggle through, before putting a hand to her mouth, and apologizing with the other.
I turned to the hostess with a smile. "Thea works, or mam will do, and I'll take some diet Coke?" I pointed to Z to let her speak her order.
"Do you have anything to drink?" she blurted out.
"Is that cool, right?" she asked, a little bit of concern taking over her face.
"Yeah, absolutely.." I assured her.
"You mean a drink drink?" the hostess interjected to clarify.
"Yeah, I mean a drink drink."
"Well, sure. Anything else?" she asked, walking away when we waved her a no.
"Are you sure you want a hangover in the morning? I meant it's 12 in the night right now and it's gonna be around 9 or 10 in the night Russian time when we reach there."
"Oh, don't worry. I can hold my liquor," she said, winking.
"Of course, your you can," I replied, and left her eye sight.
The plane was taking off and though I was having a good time with Z, Nyssa's warning just kept nagging at me, making me all nervous and anxious.
Stop enjoying it too much. I...I need to be alone...for this. I...have killed people for this. Real people with real families.
I need to focus and meditate. For Oliver. For mom and for dad.
I..
Within minutes, we were right up in the night sky, as I looked outside at the darkness.
"So beautiful, right? Almost surreal!" I heard Z squeal in excitement at the sight.
"Yeah..." I let it out in a low voice.
"What happened?" Z asked me, while I was still looking outside.
"Nothing," I replied back, without giving it any thought.
"Are you sure?" she asked in a low, serious voice.
"Nothing," I say involuntarily, not having heard her words.
"Hey?" Her pitch a bit raised, and her fingers touching mine slightly.
"Mmmph?" I let out, responding to the stimulus, turning to look to our fingers and then to her.
Her pointed eyes looked at my chest. Looking down too, I understood it.
"Is that a special necklace?" her voice soft and somber.
"I-" I tried mustering up the truth, and when that wouldnt work, a lie. But I could say nothing in reply or explain why I was holding the necklace with my other hand while I looked at the darkness outside that reflected my soul.
"You okay, Thea?" she asked again.
I sniffled a bit and brought a smile to my face. "Yeah, yeah, why won't I be?" I said, putting the necklace underneath my undershirt, out of public view.
But her eyes understood. I could feel it.
Even as her fingers moved further to completely put her hand in mine, I could sense that she felt betrayed. Sad, more likely. That I wouldn't confine in her. That I wouldn't share this moment with her.
I wanted to, but...but-
Her puppy eyes were disappointed, yet compassionate, not leaving my hand even after my fake smile wore through my own efforts.
I just missed Oliver too much. And tomorrow, I'll face Deathstroke. I don't know what will happen. And this, with Z, is not exactly the frame of mind of an assassin. I-I-
Silence had overtaken the ambience as we just sat there. Her fingers were holding onto mine tighter with time, before she turned brave. Her fingers opened mine to go between the gaps, interlocking them.
Our eyes, which were so far focussed on watching our fingers, shot up immediately to each other in a moment of slip. To see if it was okay. To see if it felt right. We both did feel the connection in that one moment. We both probably said a lot without uttering a single word.
If earlier was too much to handle, then, this had crossed the limit on the thermometer.
But before I said anything, the hostess came to my rescue again, bringing a tray with her.
"Are you alright, mam?" she politely enquired, prompting both of us to jerk back a little at the surprise, separating our hands.
I cleared my throat and immediately smiled through to her, not realizing a bit that a tear had been rolling slowly down my cheek all this while.
"Yeah. Of course," I said, breaking the silence that had engulfed us in the last 10 minutes or more.
Clearing the tear off with my sleeve, I grabbed the glass that she placed on the table.
"And one chardonnay for the miss," she said, placing the glass in front of Z.
"Thank you," she replied, lowly. And the hostess left the scene.
"Are you okay, Thea?" she asked me again, after five minutes of further silence.
"Yeah. I'm just- I'm just a bit scared of flying. That's it," I faked another smile.
"Alright," she said, taking a sip, fully aware that it wasn't the truth. But as I said, she understood and I couldn't be more thankful that she didn't probe it.
"It's just-" I began in an explanation, even though nothing was asked of me.
She took another sip, with both of her hands grabbing on to the glass, with her eyes looking down to her legs.
"It just feels...warm somewhere in my heart to be not alone, tonight," I said, my eyes a bit watery.
"Hey," she whispered, drawing a bit in and looking straight into my eyes.
"You are not alone. Alright?" her words, along with a smile.
"Thank you so much."
"You wanna talk about it?" she offered, concern apparent in her voice.
"It's just, a very important day tomorrow. My mother and I have been waiting for this day a long time since."
"Do you want me to come along with you, tomorrow?"
"NO!" I said that a bit too loud and a bit too suddenly.
"Alright, alright. Don't worry. Trust me though, it would have been a good excuse to blow off my thing."
I smiled just a bit. "You wanna talk about it?" I said, smirking.
She tilted her head, smiling at my sarcasm.
"Do you want me to come along with you, tomorrow?" I continued as she threw a mini pillow at me - laughing now - that was kept besides her chair, in response.
"Okay, okay. You don't have to tell," I said.
"It's just...tell me first, what do you think it is?"
"Family drama," I said instantly, without thinking.
"Wow."
"Well, am I wrong?"
"Yes and no. I want to tell you Thea. But, I can't right now."
"What happened to Miss Queen?
"I understand," I said to her after a teasing smile, taking a sip off my coke.
"Maybe after both of our responsibilities are over in Russia, we can maybe.." she said, drinking a heavy sip.
"Maybe?"
"Maybe...have that cocoa and that walk and well, talk to each other about it. How's that sound?"
I smiled back. "That sounds perfect, Zara."
Her lips twirled inside herself.
"Well, on that note. I guess, I shall go to bed."
"Oh, sure. By the way, would you need transportation in Russia?"
"A taxi would do. I'll manage."
"And cash?"
"Don't worry. I got some money converted from my savings."
"That's great. Let me know if you need anything."
"Sure, Miss Queen. Now, take that pillow I threw at your pretty face and sleep."
"Oh, so my face is pretty?"
She laughed and laughed and eventually turned in. "Good night," she said, resting her head on a soft pillow.
"Nightie night," I replied, sitting there in my seat.
And just sat there, looking at her fall asleep and taking in another look at the darkness outside.
Right. The bag. It suddenly hit me.
I quietly sat up and tip toed my way across to where Nyssa mentioned the bag would be.
'Ah-ha! There it is!' I say, taking it out to the air hostess area.
"You guys mind letting me have the area for like half an hour?" I say to the hostesses.
"You own the plane boss," both of them shared a giggle and went across to sit a dozen seats away from Z.
It was a big leather black bag.
Black and leather. Just the League of Assassins' way.
I unzipped to get a sneak in. That's what she said. Nevermind.
I immediately could see the Katana as Nyssa told me. Alongside other stuff were a couple of small guns to hide in my heavy shoes. A holster for either side of the waist as well.
Along with it was a small box. Ancient focus enhancer herbs were placed inside, their smell alone intoxicating. Weapons I already had - snipers and guns of all kind - but potions and herbs was something dad didn't get a chance to teach me at all.
Moving things around in the bag, it became apparent that there was no Lazarus water.
But a Bluetooth device was, alongside the heavy laptop.
Just enough accessories to not disrupt my normal fighting stance and actually help. Say, whatever about Nyssa, she has already helped tremendously.
Just then, my eyes caught the sight of something. Right at the bottom of the bag.
It was a piece of cloth. A suit. Green colored and with a hood. This...this was Oliver's. I looked at the end of the top. The three marks that tore through this, stitched back together.
Alongside, a letter popping out of the pocket.
"Not for wear," it said. "But thought it'd be nice to have this with you. Wear the Bluetooth."
That's it. No funny business. Hmm.
I immediately turned on the laptop, placing it on the table.
I had already glanced through 80% of it. One drive left.
The other two drives were so messy. Huh. Why can't bad guys organize stuff neatly on their laptops. I guess that's why they are the bad guys in the first place.
"Hmm, 'New Folder (8)'...oh, no, no. Not this. Geez."
I glanced across a file named "files". Flies well for me.
A folder titled Russia stood out.
A lot of photographs of the "items" - close ups this time of each girl, individually - and base prices of each was mentioned along with a category name.
A couple of screenshots with conversations about the finer details being mentioned.
Funny how everything gets organised when it comes to the creepy stuff.
'Moscow. The girls' auctions are taking place at 1 pm. And according to Nyssa, I'll find Slade at this old factory around 3. Plenty of time...not. It will be tough to squeeze both events in and I'm certainly not comfortable with it.'
Hmm. Maybe that's why my friend from Gotham growls too much. Huh.
Still. Nothing more to do now. Just wait before the shitstorm hits me.
I could feel my chest getting heavier and getting out of breath. Planes suck. But it wasn't that this time.
I quietly and shakingly made my way to my seat, buckling down the belt, my eyes closed in fear and tiredness.
And at a sudden jerk of the plane, my eyes popped right open.
Z just turned sides; no idea what just happened. Her hair, though, had landed above her eyes and forehead.
I bent forward to put the flick of her hair behind her ear.
But she shuddered excitedly at my touch, turning sides again and smiled.
And all I could do was smile in awe. Gosh, her smile is the prettiest thing in today's night sky. How could...this ever be distracting or a hindrance?
In that very second, I realied that no, I do not need to be alone. For she wasn't ruining the mission. In the end, I guess, she was the mission.
All my nervousness gone. Because for the first time, I was fighting for something living. For not something that I can't change shit about. And for the first time, I was following on through my promise to Oliver. Even if it's only sort of.
My breath turned to normal, and my body relaxed. I stroked her hair once just to comfort her and left for my "bed".
I won't get any sleep tonight. But it's all worth it. For it's Slade Wilson's moment of reckoning. And well, he better get some sleep tonight. He sure as hell is gonna need it.
Author's notes:-
Guys, I'd really be more motivated to post more if there was more interaction between us, or more follows (here and on Instagram) or anything.
Also, hopefully, you liked this cute piece about Thea and Z, and exploring Thea's innermost fears and desires at this crucial moment. Don't worry though. We're almost in Russia. Deathstroke's just around the corner! #PromisesClash
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