This was an extremely fun chapter, subtle but with great potency to write.
Soon enough, the whole family (plus Tommy) were seated around the dining room table. Oliver sat at one end, with Thea and Tommy to his left and right respectively with Austin next to Thea; Moira sat at the other end with Walter to her left.
"Ok." Tommy started. "What else did you miss? Super bowl winners Giants, Steelers, Saints, Packers, Giants again. A black president, that's new. Oh, and 'Lost,' they were all dead I think." He finished with some confusion.
"What was it like there?" Thea asked suddenly. There was silence as everyone turned to look at Oliver.
He plastered a fake smile on his face. "Cold." He said after a moment, an air of finality in that one word.
" Thea that isn't good of you." Austin scolded. "Not everyone is okay with talking about trauma, Oliver-" He turned to the Survivor, who looked at him with raised brows. "Do not answer anything you feel uncomfortable with. It is your life, your trauma. Keep it or share it." He turned back and glared at Thea, who sighed.
She turned to her brother. "Sorry, that was rude of me..."
"Tomorrow, you and me, we're doing the city." Tommy suddenly announced, sensing that it was time to move on. "You've got a lot to catch up on."
"That sounds like a great idea." Moira said, her tone kind and genuine.
"Good." Oliver replied. "Then I was hoping to swing by the office."
Walter and Moira exchanged glances. "Well, there's plenty of time for all that." Walter responded. "Queen Consolidated isn't going anywhere."
At that moment, Raisa ( the really nice maid, who Austin spoke with offer to learn Russian) came back into the room with a bowl of pears. She tripped on the rug and stumbled into Oliver, who deftly caught her and the bowl "Oh, I am so sorry, Mr. Oliver." She said. Oliver smiled at the older Russian.
"Ni dlya kogo ne volnuites." He replied.
"Dude, you speak Russian?" Tommy finally exclaimed.
Austin started to clap happily. "Krasivo, kak ty etomu nauchilsya?"
Oliver smiled at him, only to frown when Walter spoke. "I didn't realize you took Russian at college, Oliver." Walter said, slightly confused.
"I didn't realize you wanted to sleep with my mother, Walter." Oliver replied bluntly, making Austin frown.
Conversation again died, and Walter and Moira glanced at each other. Moira looked back to her son, whose face showed only polite interest, no anger or disappointment. Moira looked over to Thea.
"I didn't say anything." She said.
"She didn't have to." Oliver added.
Moira's eyes narrowed slightly, then she nodded to herself, seemingly coming to a decision. "Oliver," she started, taking Walter's hand in her own, "Walter and I are married. And I don't want you to think that either one of us did anything to disrespect your father."
"We both believed that Robert, like you, was, uh, well, gone." Walter added.
"It's fine." Oliver said. He stared at his mother for a few moments, before he rose. "May I be excused?" he asked, rising from his chair. Moira nodded, and Oliver turned to leave.
"Hey, don't forget about tomorrow, buddy." Tommy called out as Oliver left, casting one last look at Thea.
Austin's frown deepened and in fluent Russian, said. "Ne vam sudit', oni tozhe proshli cherez ad, ikh lyubov' byla ikh utesheniyem."
Oliver froze, sighing after a long moment. "You make a good point... I am sorry, to both of you..." And he walked away then.
Moira turned to Austin. "What did you say? How do you speak Russian?"
"Self taught plus Raisa, but as for what I said, well I reminded him that you went through hell too. Your love with Walter was your solace. Now, can I be excused?" A Moira'd nod, he hurried off, needing to finish his spell to help Oliver's mind.
"""'
Later that night, as a storm raged outside the mansion, waves of agony filled the Queen Mansion, so intense that it left Austin regretting his powers for a moment. "It has to be Oliver, what is in his soul?" Angry for the other man, he grabbed his spell bag and hurried towards Oliver's room and what he saw broke his heart. In his room Oliver slept on the floor besides his open window, with rain pelting him as he slept fitfully. His face one of anguish, and that was too much for Austin. Kneeling he put the spell bag on Oliver's chest, and started to chant in Latin. "Solamen et pacis, tenebras pereffluamus anteactae memoriae. Sana malum, lux beata." The spell bag started to glow, and that should have been that... but then something happen. Light, purple and powerful, shot out from the bag and surged not just into Oliver but into Austin, fixing in their heads.
Immediatley, images, sounds and feelings slammed into Austin's mind, into his soul and he shared in Oliver the terror of the past.
A voice could be heard counting "One, two, three, four…", They were on the Gambit. Oliver was busy opening a bottle of wine as Sara sat on the bed, counting the beats between the lightning flashes and thunder. "It's getting closer." Sara said, as the lights flashed on and off.
"That's not very scientific." Oliver said teasingly.
"What would you know about science, Mr. Ivy league dropout?" she asked as he brought two glasses of wine to the bed.
"I happen to know a lot about science." Oliver said, handing her a glass. "I know about fermentation. I know biology…" he trailed off as he kissed her. The broke apart and Sara leaned back smiling.
"Laurel's gonna kill me." She said, putting the glass down on the nightstand. "Oh, she's so gonna kill me."
"Your sister will never know." Oliver assured her, pressing her down into the mattress. "Come here."
Sara laughed and they kissed some more, and suddenly there was a loud crack of thunder. Sara broke away, slightly panicked. "Ok, that one was really close." She said nervously.
"Sara," Oliver said, grinning at the girl, "we're gonna be fine." Suddenly, without warning, the room seems to flip and suddenly the far wall became the floor. Oliver and Sara were thrown out of the bed, slamming into the wall with enough force to nearly knock them out. Oliver staggered to his knees, pulling himself up on the edge of the bed.
"Sara?" he called out, looking around. There, across the room near the door lay Sara, a small cut on her head bleeding. She blinked in confusion, then look up and back at Oliver. She reached for him- but was suddenly swept from the room as the entire ship tore apart. "Sara!" Oliver screamed as the water claimed him, too.
It seemed to take forever as waves crashed over and over, but soon Oliver managed to break the surface of the ocean. He gasped for breath and looked around frantically. "Sara!" he screamed.
"Oliver!" Robert, his father, called from the life raft. Oliver frantically swum for the raft, and Robert and a crewman pulled him onboard.
"Sara! Sara!" Oliver screamed. He lunged for the side, trying to get back in the water to find her. Robert grabbed him and held him in. "No! Dad, she's out there!"
"She's not there, Oliver. She's gone."
And heartbreak shattered through, as Oliver and Austin separated with great force. Oliver was crying, though he was confused as hell. " What are you...doing here?"
Austin answered with a hug, pulling Oliver into his arms, Oliver's head in his neck. "It wasn't your fault. You could never prepare for that storm, or the crash or the sinking. Sara's death was never your fault."
""
Oliver didn't know how Austin knew of his dream, not until he saw the spell bag on the floor, and saw it still glowing a fading purple. "You're a witch?" He muttered into the boy's extremely comfortable embrace. He should have been uncomfortable, but gods hadn't been held like, not from someone that understood him in anyway... not in forever.
Austin pulled back, nodding. "Yeah, how do you know of witches?"
"How did you learn magic?"
Austin gave him a little boy smirk. "How about we tell each other later, but for now get some sleep... my spell should have helped your dreams. My guess, why I saw your memories, is you needed understanding more than magic and the magic understood that."
Oliver sighed. "I am sorry you had to see that."
"I am sorry you had and have to actually endure that. You deserve your peace, Oliver... you really do. Now get onto the bed, and I will help you sleep without a dream." That made Oliver smile, soft and sweet, moved by the boy's words.
"Can you really do that?"
"I am almost offended, that's easy magic." Austin helped him to stand and led him to his bed. "Now get comfy, you'll really be out of it after this." Oliver did as he was told and without fail, Austin muttered. "Somnia."
And darkness, peaceful darkness took Oliver into the deepest sleep he had for five years...
With that sleep came happiness, hope and appreciation a mile wide.
""
Exhausted, Austin closed the window then moved to Oliver's couch and laid down. "I'll be here if you need it... goodnight, Oliver... you deserve it."
He would never notice it, but at some point Moira walked into the room after hearing the rain from the once open window and saw them both sleeping, leaving with a smile on her face. Happy her family was just a little but more whole...
Chapter end, tell me what you think in the reviews.
This was a lovely chapter, some of my best work.
Love, your Ninja Overlord,
Mika.