To Embrace


Disclaimer: I don't own Arrow.


Chapter 9: Heat


The comforting sound of bamboo hitting bamboo rang throughout the gym. Thea had started Roy on Eskrima before their hiatus. He obviously had been practicing through out that time because as she called out the techniques his transitions were nearly flawless. It really was unfair how quickly he picked it up.

She accelerated the pace of her strikes. It pleased her to see that though he could keep up with her it was a struggle. They kept it up for a minute or so more before Thea stepped back and let her arms fall. "Nice work."

"Thanks." They both moved to the benches that were to the left of the area they utilized for practice. He tossed her a towel which she caught with one hand while reaching in her gym bag for water. "So, you ever gonna tell me where you learned this stuff?"

She gave him a sideways look as she took a long pull from her water bottle. "Now why would I do that Harper? Did we become friends without me noticing?"

He snorted and took his own drink of water before answering. "You don't teach someone how to break a person's neck without becoming something more than acquaintances."

"Touché," she acknowledged with a head tilt and a grin. "Now let's see how you are doing with knives." The pair returned to the mats and started up a rhythm. Thea had to admit that she and Roy were friends. Their relationship was easy and though they rarely met outside of the gym there was a camaraderie between them that reminded her of what they had been.

It was nice but the spark for more was there and getting increasingly more difficult to ignore. She could feel his eyes on her back when she walked away. The amount of focus required when they practiced kept his attention on what they were doing, but there were times when he was obviously distracted. He was certainly not alone in that.

Roy's body was a sight to see before they had begun training and now… Her movement faltered for a second and his eyes flashed up to her face. Her cheeks flushed with heat as her imagination took off. Swallowing, she pushed memories and fantasies to the back of her head and regained her momentum. Thea instituted a shirt policy for this very reason but it backfired because her mind already knew what was underneath and the cotton covering it became nothing more than a tease.

Hazel eyes caught Roy's lips twitching upwards. She could tell he knew where her mind was. Pushing her speed up, she anticipated an opening and her hand snapped up to not so gently smack the side of his head. The hit was so surprising it made Roy stumble backwards. "What the hell was that?!" he hissed.

"Ya gotta to be ready for anything Roy," she teased as she circled him before settling into a fighting stance.

"Is that so Mia?" Roy's blue eyes ran the length her body and she resisted the urge to shiver as her heart beat picked up. His use of her false name didn't throw her for a second. Mia Dearden was her go to alias. It was what she went by when she was in Corto Maltese and whenever she was outside Starling and didn't need the Queen name. There was a freedom to life without her family name.

Her time in Corto Maltese gave her more than just training with Malcolm. It also gave her a better understanding of Oliver. Even after he revealed himself to be the Green Arrow he didn't talk much about his years away from home. She finally worked up the nerve to ask him the one question that had been on her mind for a while. She asked her brother if he ever thought about not returning to Starling after the island, if he thought about going somewhere, anywhere else in the world and starting over, new name, new life. She wasn't surprised by his answer.

Thea knew nothing good could come from her deception but she also knew Roy. He would never have asked for her help if he knew that she was the spoiled heiress Thea Queen. His situation in the Glades with Kel's boss was even more serious than he let on and she couldn't let his pride get in the way. Though their practice had helped and the few times he had been cornered he fought his way out, Thea worried he would never be safe until the entire gang was brought down.

Roy readied himself for the spar and there was a pause as they both ran through each other's fighting styles and tried to anticipate opening moves. They collided in a rush that was calculated. With every block, grab, and landed blow her body warmed but it wasn't from the taint of bloodlust. Thea held back, keeping on the defensive till she found an opening just as she had done during the knife drill.

When she moved it was with a strength and skill she usually reserved for going toe to toe with someone fully trained. Roy ended up on his back with her training knife at his throat and Thea on top of him. By the look on his face she could tell he was a little stunned. "How?" he choked out of breath from the exercise and the fact her weight was centered on his diaphragm and making it a little hard to breathe.

Her own breath was harsh but she managed a wide grin that showed teeth. "I got all kinds of tricks you don't know about," she gloated moving down to his stomach and taking some of her weight off of him by moving her legs to straddle his torso. The feel of him between her thighs made the arousal she had been feeling for longer than she'd like to admit ignite.

In response to her movement over him she saw his pupils swallow a majority of the blue that surrounded them. Any thoughts of stopping what was about to happen were chased out of her mind when Roy's hands reached forward to grip her thighs, burning her skin through the linen fabric of her pants.

Mimicking their fight the two froze, but neither wanted to move first and it became a battle of wills. Roy faltered first. "Fuck it!" he snapped before he came up off the ground and captured her lips, none too gently with his own. His hands shifted from her legs to her ass as he used his strength to lift her completely off him.

Thea let him support her weight and rearrange them as he liked. She was much too preoccupied by kissing the mouth she missed over the years. Her hands smoothed over the skin of his neck and up to his hair. She scratched at his scalp just how he liked it and ran a thumb lightly, teasingly behind his ear.

"Shit," he moaned into her mouth. Roy hauled her up higher as he came forward to his knees. They both reacted when his hands dropped her down and she used her legs to pull herself flush to his body.

The need to feel more skin, to feel the calluses on his palms rough against her, to have nothing between them momentarily chased away the thought that she missed the way his teeth felt against her jaw.

Thea leaned back trusting that he would counter her weight and tugged the tee shirt over her head. His hands were instantly on her body and their warmth made her shiver. She resumed her attention's to his mouth as he began to explore her body.

She groaned in frustration as he skimmed over the patch of skin on her lower back that had the potential to drive her wild. She dug her nails into his shoulders and nipped sharply at his lips in retaliation of the teasing.

"Damn Mia," he bit out as his hips rolled at her actions. The exclamation and name trigged a cold realization that had her pushing against his shoulders to put space between them. "Mia?" he questioned, confusion clear in his voice. Thea unwrapped her legs from around him and slid down to the mat below. Sensing her sudden change of heart Roy let her go and didn't give chase.

She was so preoccupied with feeling him again she didn't notice that his kiss wasn't the same. His hands were exploring her body because they didn't know it. The familiarity of his touch was an illusion her mind created. She knew every spot on his body that would make him moan. She knew how to drive him crazy with the lightest touch. She knew him.

But he didn't know her.

It went beyond him not knowing her real name. Nothing could make up for the fact that she already knew who he was, where he'd come from, his hopes for the future, an entire history they no longer shared. Their easy friendship and mutual sexual attraction made her forget this.

"Hey, you ok?"

His question spurred her to move up from the floor. "Yeah," she answered, still trying to figure out how she was going to explain her sudden backpedaling.

Roy looked apprehensive as he rose to his feet. He spoke first, "Look I really don't want to screw this up so if you want to hit rewind, I'm cool with that." The hope in his face made the guilt she was feeling already cut deeper. "I mean we can just take it slow."

Thea's hands fisted. She made this mess she had to clean it up. "Roy, this," she gestured between them. "There is something there." It would be another lie to say there wasn't and she didn't need another piling on the mountain she had to tell. "But I don't want to go there. This was a mistake and I'm sorry I let it happen." Not being able to look at him as he processed what she said she picked up her shirt from the floor and put it back on.

"Why not?" he asked sharply following back to their bags.

"I don't owe you an explanation," she ground out through her teeth. Her cheeks which hadn't lost their color began to glow with a heat that had nothing to do with arousal or exertion.

He blocked her path to the door of the gym and glared down at her. "Yeah, ya do. I'm not some guy in a bar, bugging you for your number. I'm a friend and what's between us is obviously mutual."

"Yes, we're friends Roy which is why when I say back off you should respect it." Her words seemed to hit home as she saw him deflate. "I'm sorry," she repeated. "I'll be here on Friday like usual." She walked past him relieved that the confrontation was over.

"So you're not gonna go MIA again?"

The question made her freeze. Part of her wanted to keep walking but she knew that wouldn't fix anything. Thea turned back to him.

"Am I allowed to ask about that, as a friend and all?" Sarcasm touched his words but he had a right to be irritated about this.

Thea shrugged her shoulders. "I had stuff to do," she knew her vague answer wouldn't fly but she didn't expect his reply.

"Like putting a rapist in the hospital."

It took every ounce of control she had to only let her shock show for a second. "What?" The question was infused with confusion because she was confused. There was absolutely no way that he should've been able to connect her to the attack on Casper.

He stepped into her space and Thea could see his face was tight with anger. "I may have dropped out of high school, Mia, but I'm not an idiot." She shook her head and opened her mouth to deny it again but Roy continued talking. "I ran into your friend Sin a couple days after the third time you canceled on me."

Thea stiffened at Sin's name. Her friend was still acting chilly towards her. More important to the current moment was that if he talked to Sin there was no way he didn't know who she was. So why hadn't he said anything about it?

"I was surprised to hear that you weren't just taking a break from training me. You were taking a break from life in general according to your friend. Though she thought you were fooling around with me the entire time." So that was why Sin was so upset. He still wasn't blowing up at her for giving him a fake name. "And then a few days after the serial rapist that has been terrorizing the Glades for months, that most of Starling City doesn't give a damn about is caught by a hooded vigilante, you call me."

"It's a coincidence," she tried to begin.

"Bullshit!" he retorted. "I know a nurse who works at St. Joseph's. She was only to happy to talk about what all happened to that bastard. She said whoever did knew exactly how to cripple someone. Just like you know exactly how."

Roy was certain he was right. She knew him. She knew that nothing she could say at this point would change his stubborn mind. He would never believe a lie no matter how well spun. So she didn't lie. "So it was me. Now what?"

Her admission turned the tables and now it was his turn to be surprised. "You did it? You tracked him down and just attacked him?"

The muscles in Thea's jaw ached from the tension it was holding as she fought over what to say in her head. "I hunted him. I found out he was suspect from a friend. I broke into his place. Found his stock pile of sick trophies. And then I watched him and I waited. I knew what he was going to do when he left his apartment that night. But I needed to catch him in the act. I needed for that girl to see his face. When I was done, I left a bag with a few of pieces of his collection with him for the police to find." There was no remorse in her and every sentence dripped with the venom she still felt for the man she'd made sure would never be able to stand upright again.

She was expecting revulsion, disgust, for him to say they were done and walk away. She didn't expect understanding. She didn't expect the rage she felt to be mirrored on his own face. But she should have. After all, she knew him.

"Next time you want to go beat up a scum bag, invite me," he demanded.

Thea's head tilted to the side as she took in his body that was nearly vibrating from the need to move. This was the Roy Harper that couldn't leave the Green Arrow alone. It wasn't just about hitting someone in the face for him either. He cared deeply about people. In a way he was far more of a hero than she or Oliver because even when he was just a kid with a few fancy acrobatic tricks and a mean right hook he stepped up when no one else would. It frustrated her to death when they dated. Now it just made her love him more.

"Ya know, I might just take you up on that."


A/N: This chapter was not easy to write. I have a really hard time writing Roy. Or maybe I have a hard time writing romance scenes. Writing Thea Sin and Roy altogether comes really easily though. I dunno.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed and sent me supportive words. I really appreciated them.

whitetiger1249: Thanks for the review! I will be going into Thea's past when she confides in someone but unfortunately it won't be for a while chapter wise.

kindleflame5: Thank you for reviewing again! As far as Thea not doing quite enough I understand. But one thing she is always conscious of that I will be going into in other chapters is losing her future knowledge advantage if she changes too much. Laurel is an interesting character. I think she is very justified in her anger at Oliver. Now whether this anger becomes hate is another matter. I believe anger and hate are two very different things that are too often made out to be the same.