Danny woke with the dawn, grateful that his apartment was on a high enough floor that he could actually see the dawn. He hadn't realized how much he'd miss K'un Lun - or parts of it, at least - when he'd escaped back to New York.
He rose from the floor and made his way into the living room, amused to see that Oliver, too, slept on the floor - again. Idly, he wondered whether Oliver still slept on the floor at Queen Manor, but pushed the thought aside as he began a morning routine the monks had said awakened body and chi both.
Usually, Danny performed the kata with precise movements and a focused mind. This morning, though his body remained precise, his mind was distracted. Oddly enough, not by the events since Oliver Queen's arrival nor the questions Nyssa's arrival had raised, but rather by a clip of film he'd seen some time before, when he met with Bakuto.
The clip had shown an Iron Fist - of that, Danny had no doubt. The condition of the film and the clothing worn by the men the Iron Fist fought suggested age, perhaps fifty years or more. While that was oddly reassuring - he wasn't the first Iron Fist to leave K'un Lun - it wasn't the reason for Danny's distraction.
No, what had caught his attention was that both of that Iron Fist's hands had glowed with power. Somehow, he had learned to channel his chi through both fists at one time. Danny allowed a huff of frustration. That was just one more thing he hadn't known about his abilities, and coming immediately after Bakuto had told him he could heal Colleen - or at least drain the poison from her system - with his chi, the sight of the other Iron Fist's abilities had, yes, shaken his confidence.
Had the monks failed to teach him? Or had they somehow not known about the additional abilities Danny had seen? A third possibility sent chills down his spine - had Lei Kung chosen not to tell him, for some reason Danny couldn't fathom?
The monks are far away. If I'm going to learn, I'll have to teach myself.
But how?
Danny summoned his chi, focused it into his right fist, then tried to siphon some of it to his left hand - and felt his power dissolve like mist in the sunlight.
He swore softly, and summoned the will to try again.
Again his power dissolved.
"Something's bugging you."
Danny jerked toward the source of the voice, blew out a calming breath when he saw that Oliver had awakened and now sat on the floor watching him.
"A little," Danny admitted.
"Need a more physical workout?"
Danny debated only a moment before nodding. Then Oliver was on his feet, turning to shove the sofa against a far wall. Danny helped him do the same to the remaining pieces of furniture, and then faced the other man.
Without an audience, Danny felt no need for the formalities of challenge. He simply shifted into a ready stance, then watched Oliver do the same. Not even five seconds later, some unspoken signal had them both moving toward each other.
It was as exhilarating as their first spar had been. Oliver knew how to fight, but hadn't been trained in the same forms and styles that Danny had. The difference was enough to keep Danny on his toes as they circled each other, occasionally closing for a brief exchange of blows before moving away again.
More to the point, Oliver wasn't intimidated by who he was - by what he was. To Oliver, Iron Fist was a nickname, along the lines of Oliver's own nom de guerre, Green Arrow. Oliver had seen the barest hint of the power of the Iron Fist, but still had no inkling of its full import, so Oliver respected him as a competent opponent without the overlay of fearful respect that everyone in K'un Lun, even Davos, had for him.
Still, Danny couldn't help hoping that being in a combat situation - even though they were only sparring, they were both good enough that an accident, even a deadly accident, could happen - would help him split his chi between both his fists.
The next thing he knew, he landed hard on his back, air forced from his lungs by the impact, and he found himself staring up at Oliver's upraised fist.
"Yield," Oliver said.
"I yield," Danny replied immediately, and Oliver's fist opened, became a hand offered to help him to his feet.
Danny took the offered hand, clasped it firmly when he was back on his feet. "Good match."
"Not so much," Oliver countered. "Whatever was bugging you before is still bugging you."
"Yeah," Danny blew out on an exhale. Then he turned toward the kitchen and filled two glasses with water.
Oliver took the glass Danny offered him. "You want to talk?"
"I don't know that it'll help," Danny said. "But then, I don't know that it won't."
"Give it a shot," Oliver said, and Danny found himself telling Oliver all of it, Colleen's secret, her desperate fight to help him, the poison, Bakuto's lesson and the film.
"So I'm trying to do what the other Iron Fist did - channel my chi into both my fists," he concluded.
Oliver sipped the water Danny had given him, obviously considering what he'd just heard. That was one thing Danny respected about the other man - he paid attention, and he reflected on what he saw and heard before he responded.
"With the reminder that I have only the most basic understanding of chi," Oliver began, then paused, looking at Danny inquiringly.
Danny grinned. "I know you're not an expert, Oliver. Skilled, yes, but your skill is in the physical, not spiritual, aspect of martial arts."
"Just lay it out there," Oliver muttered, and Danny chuckled. He sobered quickly, though, because Oliver's expression was serious. "Maybe you're looking at it wrong."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, you think of chi as something you focus in your fist," Oliver said, obviously choosing his words carefully. "But chi is the life force. It comes from all of you, and from beyond you - God, the Universe, the Tao, whatever you choose to call the Source. Maybe think about it as part of you, not just your fist. If it's you, then it's all of you."
Danny considered Oliver's words in turn. It was a good point, even if it was a point he wasn't certain how to apply. Maybe Oliver could help with that, too.
"What would you suggest?" he asked after several minutes.
Oliver downed the rest of his water in a long, slow swallow, and Danny assumed he was buying himself time to think.
The clink of the glass on the counter coincided with Oliver's inhale. "Chi flows throughout the body, right? With its center in the solar plexus - the core of the body?"
"More or less," Danny agreed. It was accurate enough, at least for this discussion, and he wouldn't gain anything by trying to condense fifteen years of study and practice into a few minutes of explanation.
"Then…" Oliver stepped back from the counter and started a kata Danny knew well. "Every movement involves chi. It's already in your body, so focus on your body. Don't think about splitting your chi - that'll just distract you."
Danny came from the kitchen to stand beside Oliver, picking up the kata form smoothly.
"If you can hit two opponents at once, your chi can be in two places at once."
Danny nodded briefly, then shifted his awareness to include his chi even as he repeated the kata. Beside him, Oliver matched his movements and Danny let the other man become merely one more aspect of the space around him.
By his third repetition of the kata, Danny thought he might be feeling his chi extending into both his hands.
When Nyssa emerged from the guest room and took a position on Danny's other side, he supposed he should have been annoyed. Instead, surprisingly, he found her presence as unobtrusive as Oliver's.
Some time later, Oliver said, "Ready?"
Danny knew what Oliver was asking, and he could honestly answer, "Yes."
Whether or not he succeeded in focusing his chi through both his fists, he would have more information than he'd had when he started.
Oliver spoke again, this time in a language Danny didn't understand. The meaning became clear in the next instant, when Nyssa and Oliver attacked from either side.
He countered instinctively, dodging and returning the attacks, until he focused his chi for what he intended to be the final blows.
His right fist glowed with power, and he sent Oliver tumbling across the room. With a moment's thought, he shifted his focus to his left fist, and then Nyssa flew away from him, into the far wall of the living room.
"Well?" Oliver asked as he scrambled to his feet.
"It wasn't simultaneous," Danny answered. "I shifted focus from right to left - but I haven't done even that much before, so I'd say it was a success."
Oliver grinned, but whatever he might have said next was cut off when his cell rang. He excused himself to answer it, grabbing it from the kitchen island as he crossed the room to look out over the city while he spoke with the caller.
Danny turned toward Nyssa, manners his parents had taught him years before urging him to help her to her feet, but by the time he faced her fully, she was already standing. Despite the flush of exertion and the sheen of sweat on her brow, she was smiling.
"An excellent workout, Rand-Kai. My thanks."
"I should be thanking you for helping."
"With what, exactly?"
Danny crossed to the kitchen to pour water over ice for each of them. "Channeling my chi in different, more effective ways."
"Thank you." Nyssa took the glass he offered, then regarded him quizzically. "Such as?"
Danny downed half the water in his glass before answering. "To focus it in more than one part of my body at the same time."
"I did not train with my sister," Nyssa said, "so I doubt I can assist you. She can, perhaps, when we find her."
"I hope so," Danny said, and if he meant that he hoped they found her sister more than that he hoped her sister could assist him, he'd never admit it aloud.
"What news?" Nyssa asked. Danny wondered what she meant - until he saw that she looked not at him but rather at Oliver, who was approaching from the far side of the room.
"Felicity couldn't track Talia," Oliver replied before draining the glass Danny offered him.
Danny's heart clenched at Nyssa's devastated expression. "What happened?"
Oliver held Nyssa's gaze as he answered. "She tracked one SUV and two vans leaving that night. The SUV went to a building in Tribeca - Talia wasn't in it, only an old woman and two men, apparently her bodyguards."
"Madame Gao," Danny said, glad that he could offer some information, however little. "She's part of the Hand. She was there that night - the hostess, if you will."
Nyssa's expression hardened. "I will question her, and she will tell me all she knows."
Danny shook his head, but before he could speak, Oliver did.
"Let's leave that as a last resort," he said.
"Then Talia was in one of the vans?" Nyssa asked.
"We believe so, but Felicity lost them."
"Oliver-" Nyssa's tone was as quiet as ever, but now it held a threat. Danny wondered whether he should attempt to get between them if this disagreement turned physical.
"Nyssa." Oliver held her gaze, and after a moment, her lips tightened and she nodded. "The vans went to a public parking garage near Madison Square Garden and Penn Station. They never came out."
"Because they switched vehicles?" Danny asked.
Oliver nodded. "Unfortunately, she couldn't figure out which vehicles exiting the garage belong to the Hand."
"Could she not see them on the garage's cameras?" Nyssa asked.
Oliver shook his head. "They were either not working or not connected to the internet."
"And you wished me not to question this - Madame Gao?" Nyssa's tone sounded as hard as his fist when he channeled his chi.
"Not yet." Oliver matched her tone. "Give Felicity a chance to trace the vehicles - she can run the plates, find their owners. Let's do this the smart way."
"The smart way takes time," Nyssa snapped back. "Time that Talia might not have."
"Madame Gao won't be easy to question," Danny put in. "She's powerful in her own right. I don't know how powerful."
Before Nyssa could object - and Danny knew she would object - Oliver's phone rang again.
With a glance at the screen, Oliver answered, saying only, "Da." He listened for a minute, then said, "Spasibo," before ending the call. When he looked back at them, he was smiling.
Well, Danny amended privately, maybe not smiling, but certainly not as severe as he had been before the call.
"The bratva found the Veznikov brothers," Oliver said.
Nyssa's expression turned hopeful. "Perhaps they know where Talia is."
"One way to find out." Danny turned to Oliver. "I'm going with you this time - they already know who I am."
=A=IF=A=
Nyssa followed Oliver as he guided them to a tiny apartment in a run-down tenement in Hell's Kitchen. It was unusual for her to approach a target in broad daylight, and more unusual still for her not to wear League armor - though she had a collapsible bow and arrows concealed on her person and a handful of bladed weapons as well.
With little ceremony, she and Oliver breached the apartment door. Danny joined them as they swept through the apartment only to find the brothers collapsed in the same bed. Her initial thoughts were that they were more than brothers, but then Nyssa realized that they must have been more seriously hurt than Danny had realized, given the little resistance they offered.
She found it difficult to reconcile the warriors Danny had described with the men before her - the men who, when confronted by Oliver tugging down the neck of his T-shirt to reveal his bratva tattoo, Danny simply channeling his chi into his fist, and her standing with two arrows nocked in her bow and ready to rain the wrath of the Demon's Head down on them both, simply held up their hands in surrender.
After that, however, they seemed reluctant to answer Oliver's questions - at least, Nyssa assumed Oliver was questioning them in Russian.
Several minutes and, if her ear were any good, repetitions of the same question later, Oliver switched to English.
"Maybe you'll understand this better in English," he said. "We're looking for the woman who was the Iron Fist's second challenge. Tell us everything you know, or I will blacklist you with the bratva. And then, just because I can, I will call down the wrath of the League of Assassins on you and everyone you've ever associated with."
One of the brothers snorted a laugh, then winced and clutched at his ribs for support. "You," the man said in good, if accented, English. "You may be bratva, but you know nothing of the League of Assassins."
Nyssa's fingers itched to loose her arrows and show them exactly what was known of the League, but for the moment, she allowed her husband to continue.
"I know more than you think, Andrei," Oliver said. "I am Al Sah-him, heir of the demon."
Beside her, Danny Rand stood calmly without reacting to Oliver's words, and Nyssa wondered just how much Oliver had told him of the League and his and her roles within it. But that was a question for another time, and she smiled when she saw the Veznikov brothers exchange a concerned glance.
"More to the point," Oliver continued, "the woman we seek is aibnat alshaytan, a daughter of the demon. Yes, I can summon the League of Assassins, and I will unless you tell us everything you know of the woman - the Bride of Nine Spiders, aibnat alshaytan, now."
Nyssa took cold satisfaction in watching both brothers' faces grow ever paler as Oliver spoke. They held an entire conversation in one long look between them. Then Andrei - if she identified him correctly from the descriptions Danny had given - sagged.
"We never met before the challenge," he said. "But while we waited, we talked. She said she worked as a researcher in an entomology facility. And she lives near it."
"What else?" Oliver asked.
"That's all, I swear," Andrei replied.
"Is it in the city?" Danny asked. "The place where she works."
The brothers exchanged another glance, then Grigori nodded. "I think so."
"Shouldn't be too hard to find an entomology facility," Danny said. "Even in a city the size of New York, there can't be too many of them."
Oliver nodded acknowledgment, but kept his gaze focused on the Veznikov brothers. "If I find out you lied, there will be no place you can hide - from the bratva or the League."
=A=IF=A=
"You should have let me flay them," Nyssa said when they emerged from the tenement building.
"Don't you think that's a little extreme?" Danny asked.
"I never said I would flay them alive," Nyssa countered, and then realized that Oliver hadn't kept pace with them as they walked away from the building. She turned back to see him tapping a message into his phone.
"Felicity has more to work with now," was all he said.
"Let me make a call, too," Danny said. "Rand doesn't have an entomology department, but I'm sure someone there will know who does."
Nyssa scowled at the two men. "I said before - the smart way takes too long."
But she knew it was the smart way. The League had not remained successful for so many centuries by being stupid, and she would not destroy that legacy by acting out of anger or, yes, fear that her sister might already be dead.
=A=IF=A=
Oliver knew Nyssa was eager to find Talia, as eager as he would be if it were Thea who had been lost to him and might be dying even as he searched for her. But from what Danny had told him, the Hand might be the only organization that could stand up to, or hide from, the League of Assassins.
For that reason alone, he'd proceed cautiously, double-checking everything they were told. He wanted to save Talia, too, but he wouldn't sacrifice Nyssa or Danny or anyone else to do so.
Once Felicity and Rand's people were following up the lead Andrei Veznikov had given them, Danny offered Oliver the key to his apartment.
"I'm sure you could get in without it," he said, obviously amused, "but it's the principle of the thing."
"Where are you going?" Oliver asked.
"Rand," Danny said. "I'm still figuring out how to be in charge of a corporation, but I do know that I shouldn't stay away from it too long. Call if you hear from Felicity."
And then he was gone, and Oliver and Nyssa were at Danny's apartment, waiting.
They both hated waiting, but where Nyssa sat on Danny's sofa in meditation, Oliver found himself pacing back and forth before the wall of windows. He supposed he should log in to his QC email to catch up on anything that might have happened while he'd been in New York, but there was something about being here with Nyssa - not just the circumstances - that kept him focused on here and now, not whatever might be happening in Star City.
No, he realized, it wasn't just something about being here with Nyssa - it was things she'd said earlier. He replayed her words in his mind.
"On their fifth birthday, all firstborn children of Ra's al Ghul are taken for fifteen years of training. It is part of the agreement between Nanda Parbat and Zhizhu Wangguo."
In and of itself, it was a simple statement of fact. It was only when Oliver added to that statement something else Nyssa had said about him being her husband that a fuller picture began to form.
"That is a fact I must accustom myself to."
Oliver didn't like the picture Nyssa's words had painted, and he paused in his pacing, turning to study her where she sat impassively, her eyes closed in meditation. Surely she couldn't mean what he thought she meant?
"What troubles you, husband?" she asked without opening her eyes, without moving anything other than her lips.
"You said it was a conversation best had another time," Oliver kept his tone level so that it was an observation, not a request or, worse, a demand. "Another place."
Her eyes opened slowly, met his gaze. "Now is another time."
"But not another place."
Nyssa glanced around Danny's living room. "It will do. Speak, husband - what troubles you?"
Oliver considered his words, finally choosing to phrase it as a question. "When you said that my being your husband is a fact you needed to get accustomed to… is it because you need a child to honor your agreement with Zhizhu Wangguo?"
"Yes," she answered simply. Then, more pointed, "Does that disturb you?"
"No," Oliver answered equally simply. Then he had to be honest. "Not much."
Nyssa tilted her head slightly to one side. "What part does disturb you?"
Oliver crossed the room to sit on the coffee table facing her. He had to answer her, and answer her honestly - that much he knew. The words to use… those he was having trouble finding, no matter how hard he searched.
After a few long moments during which he considered and discarded several approaches, Nyssa said, softly, "Husband?"
And the words tumbled out of him.
"That. That's what bothers me - that you call me husband, but only seem to want stud service."
That could have come out better. But the moment demanded honesty, and that was what his heart needed to say.
"More that I thought that's all you would offer."
Her words, so matter-of-fact, had Oliver sitting back, staring at her. "Why do you think that?"
"Because I have seen how you look at women you desire," Nyssa said evenly. "Felicity - even Sara. You do not look at me the same way."
Oliver almost laughed aloud. He forced the laughter back down his throat, allowing only a small smile when he said, "When would I have had the chance?"
Nyssa frowned, the merest furrow between her brows. "Pardon?"
"When would have been a good time to desire you? For a definition of good that means you wouldn't try to maim or kill me if I did." Oliver let his grin widen. "When you kissed Sara the first time we met? When you took her mother? When you poisoned Laurel? Or tried to kill me, more than once? Should I continue?"
Nyssa looked away, and Oliver knew her well enough to know she was embarrassed.
Before she could speak, he continued. "Of course I knew from the moment we met you're beautiful. Intelligent. Confident. Sexy as hell without realizing it."
His voice had lowered, taken on a raspy edge, without his intention. He cleared his throat and it was his turn to look away.
"Hus - Oliver."
Her use of his name made him return his gaze to hers. Her eyes, the color of rich dark chocolate, held a warmth he didn't remember seeing before.
"Kiss me."
Keeping their gazes locked, Oliver rose from his seat, rested a hand to each side of her on the back of the sofa and leaned over her. That Ra's al Ghul let him loom over her in what could have been a threatening position was unexpectedly, intensely, arousing.
He bent his head to hers, brushing her lips lightly with his before claiming them fully.
Nyssa tasted of the desert, of sun and sand and spices he couldn't name. More than that, she met him, and matched him, taste for taste, nibble for nibble, exploring and savoring until Oliver wasn't certain where his mouth ended and hers began.
When Oliver finally drew back, she was as breathless as he was, and her eyes were shining when she met his gaze.
"Husband," she said softly.
"Wife."
He wasn't sure what surprised him more - the word he spoke or the lightness in her eyes when he said it.
Nyssa brushed her lips against his once more. "First Talia."
"First Talia," he repeated. "Then us."
It wasn't exactly a question, but her, "Then us," was a welcome confirmation, and he couldn't resist kissing her once more.
Just as his arms were beginning to tremble with how long he'd been propped over her, his phone rang.
With a groan, Oliver pushed himself up and away, turning from her to grab his phone. Two deep breaths in time with his phone's ring were all he allowed himself to recover before he answered the phone.
"What?"
"Hello, Mr. Grumpy. New York not treating you well since John and I left?" Felicity's voice sounded irritatingly cheerful, and for a moment, Oliver was glad she was half a continent away. She might be one of his best friends, but right now, he wasn't certain he could resist the temptation to strangle her.
"Felicity," he said carefully. "Do you have something for me?"
"I think so," she answered. "It wasn't a lot to go on, but I found an entomology research facility associated with Bellevue Medical Center. Their assistant director of research is a woman. I'm sending you her picture now."
Oliver held the phone away from his ear, looked at the screen display. His gut clenched when he saw the photo Felicity sent, but he held the phone for Nyssa to look at the screen, too.
"Talia," Nyssa breathed.
Oliver put the phone back to his ear. "Confirmed," he said. "Do you have an address for her?"
"Not yet, but I'll let you know when I do."
"Thanks, Felicity," Oliver said. He disconnected the call on her answering, "You're welcome."
Nyssa was on her feet, like a lioness ready for her kill. "Where is she?"
Before Oliver could answer, the door to the apartment slammed open and Danny hurried in, a manila folder in his hand and excitement radiating from him in waves.
"I think I found her," he said. "Well, Rand did. I think she applied for a job there last year. Is this her?"
He offered the folder to Nyssa, and her expression was enough to tell Oliver that Danny had found the same woman Felicity had.
Danny apparently read that in Nyssa's expression, too, because he said, "I have the address she used on her application."
Oliver texted the address to Felicity. Moments later, she confirmed that it was still in the name Talia had been using.
"We know where she lives," he said. "Let's go."
But Danny was shaking his head. "Let's wait until night," he said. "Less chance of anything ending up all over the news or, worse, the internet."
Oliver wanted to protest, but he reminded himself that this was more Nyssa's choice than his and turned to her.
Nyssa appeared torn, and Oliver wanted nothing more than to offer her comfort he knew she would reject. Finally, she nodded, once. "The League works best at night, and it is only a few hours away."
"We should eat," Danny said, "and rest."
Oliver couldn't help smiling. "You sound like a soldier - never pass up a chance to eat, sleep or piss."
"Sound advice, if crudely put," Danny agreed. "But we don't know what we're going to face. We should be as ready as we can be."
"I'll set an alarm," Oliver said, and turned to Nyssa. "Three hours from now?"
Nyssa nodded, those lips he'd so recently enjoyed pressed into a thin line. "Three hours."
=A=IF=A=
Something had changed between Oliver and Nyssa in the few hours he'd been gone. Danny studied his new friends - and strangely, he did consider them both friends, despite how briefly he'd known them - surreptitiously, trying to figure out what the change might be.
It was nothing obvious, that much was certain. They still acted almost formally with each other, and when Oliver escorted Nyssa to the guest room, there was nothing but simple courtesy in his manner, nor anything more than an acknowledgment in her nod to him.
Then Oliver was returning to the living room and he quirked an eyebrow at Danny. "Something wrong?"
"No," Danny said. "Something… different."
Oliver studied him for a long moment, then shrugged. "We talked. About things we hadn't talked about before and needed to."
It was the truth, Danny decided, even if it wasn't the whole truth. "Good, I guess."
"I hope so," Oliver said, and then lay on the floor, apparently ready for a nap.
Danny smiled to himself, and joined his new friend on the floor.