Her tears had dried up a long time ago.

People still expected her to cry of course, so she'd tried to shed some fake tears, but it was no use. Any other day of the year, she'd have no problem, but on this day, she didn't even feel sad. She just felt numb.

Thea Queen was fourteen and was staring out onto the rainy lawn, ignoring the countless people behind her who had come to the memorial.

Like she needed a gathering like this to remember her father and brother. It was a stab to her chest every day for the past year since they'd been lost at sea. Every day she'd had to hold back a sob at some point, because someone mentioned something that reminded her of her dead family. She'd even had to sell her horse, because she couldn't come within ten feet of Snowfoot without breaking down into a crying mess.

But not today. Today, all she could think about was that the weather was such a cliché.

She was vaguely aware that someone was trying to talk to her, probably her mother or Walter – who had been spending more and more time at the house lately – but eventually, they went away. They always did. No one wanted to be ignored by a damaged teenager.

But eventually, the numbness receded, as it always did, and Thea could feel her eyes start burning. She hated that feeling, hated that the sanctuary of being numb was going away, and that there was nothing she could do about it.

"Thea?"

A voice cut through her thoughts, interrupting her efforts to avoid starting to cry. She looked up.

Raisa stood there, looking older, but no less motherly and concerned. This was what she had needed from her own mother. What she had gotten a year ago was a non-presence behind a locked door that didn't so much as show her face for two months.

"Miss Thea, I found something that… I think you should have," the maid said with a thick accent.

Thea blinked, letting the words penetrate the fog that was still in her mind. Slowly, she nodded.

Raisa took one of Thea's hands and placed something in it. For a moment, Thea couldn't see what it was, but then, she picked it up with her other hand and let it dangle from her fingers. It was a charm bracelet with only one charm on it. A little angel, holding a golden heart, and covered in little diamonds.

Thea lost the fight against her tears as she remembered sitting on a plane bound for Gotham with Oliver. He'd given it to her as an early Christmas present, and she'd loved it. She had wanted to add other charms, but could never find any that fit with the angel, so eventually she'd just given up. The day she'd lost it, she'd been inconsolable, but Oliver had said that just because the angel wasn't there anymore, didn't mean that he wasn't still watching out for her.

When her sight became too blurry to make out the bracelet, Thea shot up from her seat and raced away. She just had to get away, she need to… she had to…

Her feet were wet.

Looking down, Thea realized that in her mad dash, she must have lost her flats, and was now standing on the wet grass barefoot.

She didn't need to look up to realize where her feet had taken her. It was where she always went when things became too much.

"Ollie," she rasped. She hadn't said anything for two days, and her voice was raw from disuse. "I miss you," she whispered, not bothering to wipe away the tears that were now mixing with the rain. She sank down onto her knees, uncaring that her dress would probably be ruined now. "It's not fair. You promised." She clutched the bracelet to her chest. "You promised you'd always be there, that you'd always watch out for me…" Her voice was growing steadily louder. "But you left. How could you leave!" she screamed. "You promised!" Thea slammed her fists into the cold, wet ground.

For a few moments, which felt like hours, she just sat there, trying to breathe, trying to survive through this torrent of pain and heartbreak.

But eventually, she became aware of the pain of clenching the angel in her fist. When she opened her hand, she noticed the indent it had made on her skin and felt her breathing settle.

"You were such a sap," she whispered, staring at the angel. "I mean, I was 8, I was supposed to like girly stuff like that, but what 17 year old even thinks of giving their sister a tiny little angel?" she said with a breathy little chuckle, followed by a sigh. "You were always there for me, always shielding me from everything… I guess I should thank you for that."

Another chuckle found its way out. "You know, Tommy's sort of been trying to take over your role as big brother. But he also wants to be the 'cool' brother, so he's stuck somewhere between overprotective and getting me into trouble," she said, thinking about the other boy fondly. "Just last week, he got me into this party, only to realize that you'd probably kill him for it, so then he followed me around and kept steering me away from the alcohol and bad influences."

Thea settled into a more comfortable position and closed her eyes, letting the gentle rain soothe her red and irritated eyes.

And just like that, she could breathe again, even though it had felt like she hadn't been able to since she'd been told that the Gambit had gone down.