Mercer Park Square, Starling City.
The Lance sisters met in broad daylight for lunch. Sara was in town on the hunt for a rogue League member and wasn't looking to roam the city in her Canary costume 24/7. As usual, Laurel didn't pry further on her little sister's ongoing assignment.
She had gotten the Commissioner to request an inquiry of DEA agent Bill Baston's background. A lot of incriminating evidence had surfaced thanks to the Arrow putting pressure where pressure was needed. Laurel could see herself winning the court case against him in a landslide.
"How's Nyssa?" They sat down on a bench, Laurel with a coffee in hand. She could not remember the last time they had a quiet moment like this. No comatose father in the hospital, no siege, no murderous masked men terrorizing the city, or masked woman for that matter.
"She's doing alright. I miss her though." A pregnant silence passed. "What is it? What's on your mind?"
These days Sara seemed to walk and talk as if she had a giant ball weight chained to her ankle. Laurel bit her lip sheepishly, she sensed the subject matter would be unpleasant for her. "It's about a case I was working on, Vertigo-related."
"Did you win?"
"No" she said with a thwarted frown. "Count Vertigo and his drug are back at it."
"Maybe you should take this to Oliver."
She did not want to derail her sister's quest here, but her input could make a noticeable difference. "He has his hands full, but he told me the League was involved with Werner Zyrtle. The only reason he even has a business is because of a favour from the League." Watching Sara's reaction it was as blank as she felt.
"Did he say how the League was involved?"
"No, but my bet is the Count is just an underboss, practically near the bottom of the chain of command. The drug has gone global; someone with more influence and more money is pulling the strings. I'm asking you because you're the only person who I can go to with this. Could it be Ra's?"
The younger Lance was normally more reserved but she could see the agitation in her sister, the vein in her forehead tensing and relaxing as she controlled her disquiet.
For the first time since she was saved by Nyssa Al Ghul, Sara described the League to someone who was not an assassin. "Many people seek audience with the Master; they trade money, treasure, even children in exchange for a favour from him. All I can tell you is that this someone must have a lot of power to get Ra's' attention."
Laurel put down her coffee on the pavement, angling herself to face Sara. "I have to know who it is. Help me out here, please."
"Laurel" she started in a tone she knew would lead to an 'I need to protect you' type of conversation. "This is risky, you shouldn't be getting involved" she told her, as if that would make her any less invested in the case. Nevertheless Sara was obliged to warn her, "If the League has anything to do with Vertigo, then you are in more danger than I thought."
Laurel smiled, "then you'll protect me."
"I can't ask you to let this go can I? Fine. I'll help you" Sara held up a cautionary finger. "But the moment I sense we have gone too far you have to drop this case and move on, alright?"
Nanda Parbat
When she was merely a slip of a girl, Nyssa saved a baby blue bird that broke its wing in a fall from its nest. It was alone; no mother to care for it, and it would have died if she did not help the poor creature. Nyssa brought it home, and hid the little bird from Sensei, her father and most importantly Talia.
She nursed it back to health over several days, letting it rest within a cage in her quarters, looking forward to the next morning where she would set it free at dawn, watch it fly and melt seamlessly into the cloudless blue sky.
But when she woke she found the bird dead at the foot of her bed. Its neck snapped and blue feathers ruffled. She had screamed and cried and run to father and big sister at breakfast. Father told her to calm down. Talia smirked wide and said to him, "Do you see her weakness? Crying over a bird."
She had screeched at her, "You killed him! I was going to set him free!"
Talia leveled her big dark eyes at her, raven-colored ringlets framing her pretty, cruel face. "It would have never survived on its own without its mother. I was doing you a favor."
They argued afterwards, and father scolded them both. Ever since that moment, she knew that Talia meant business. She wanted to be the heir, and she would take away everything Nyssa loved from her to ensure she ascended to her destiny. The one bestowed upon them both, but only one of them could have.
Nyssa thought of this as she stalked to the solar to confront Talia who was speaking-no, plotting with Artemis. Those two are thick as thieves. The ungrateful wretch, Sara spent innumerable hours training the girl and this was the repayment for her noble efforts?
"Where did you send her?"
Talia took her sweet time to acknowledge Nyssa's presence until her stare was burning a hole into her back. "Excuse me Al-Sayad, my sister is currently in a nagging mood." Artemis bowed and left them.
The eldest Al-Ghul sauntered to an ornate table painted with an ancient map of their territory, battle pieces representing long-dead tribes and noble houses dotted on it. She picked one up, a lion, and moved it.
"You're going to have to be a little more specific. I have many operatives under my command, my dear."
She bit her tongue to stop herself from snapping at that depreciating endearment. "You know who I'm talking about" she said steadily.
"Oh" she pretended to only just realize and moved another piece. "I sent your little bird to chase down a whisper."
"Al-Zaheer. That rumor came from a reliable source apparently."
"Oliver Queen's mother. Pray that your girlfriend is successful in finding the Magician, she has much to prove to us."
Nyssa flared. She was done with the scheming, the never-ending plots. Talia had been preparing to destroy her from the moment she emerged from her mother's womb. "You're paranoid, you know that?" Someone had to give Talia a reality-check. "Pitting Artemis against Sara proved nothing. Of course she would defend the Arrow, they were once lovers. What game are you playing at Talia?"
"They were team members too, that's what she did during her time 'away' from us. You hid that fact quite well from me didn't you? Not well enough though." She moved another piece closer to the first as if to mock her when she said, "I'm not playing a game sweet sister, merely giving you some perspective to protect you, loyalty to the League must be absolute, and Sara's is not."
Nyssa scattered the battle pieces across the table. "If you lay a hand on her, I swear you will regret it. "
"No need for threats" she was only mildly annoyed by the mess she made. Talia gave her a plastic smile; only with her did she put less effort into concealing her intentions, seeing Nyssa as pathetic and low-grade version of her who could never possibly outsmart her. "She'll ruin her position here all on her own. One day I will inherit this" she waved her hand at the general vicinity, "I have a vision for it that doesn't involved potential traitors stabbing me in the back."
"You talk like I'm not part of that equation".
"The League is mine little sister. It's pitiful for you to think otherwise."
"You've lost it Talia! You don't deserve to be heir. You only know how to manipulate the situation to a pre-ordained outcome you've construed in your mind."
Talia gave her a dirty look. "I don't have time to put you in your place—" she spat, and stomped to her, "—the true-born heir comes first…then the bastard" she said with withering scorn.
They came face to face, inches apart, both wishing their stares could set the other person on fire. When Talia looked at Nyssa she only saw Ameena Raatko, Ra's' concubine and Nyssa's mother. The concept was medieval and only Talia seemed to believe in it; that being the first-true-born meant she had more rights than Nyssa and deserved more. But this thinking was most likely a product of deep-seeded resentment that no one had bothered to adjust when Talia was a child.
To hear her admit it was refreshing but also hurt like stepping on broken glass. And she hated Talia for inflicting that emotional pain on her. Talia glanced down at her with repugnance, and Nyssa wished she was taller.
"When the day comes that I triumph you better have decided whose side you're on, and whether Sara will be part of that."
The Foundry, Starling City.
Early the next evening Sara visited them. She was still in the city, which meant Merlyn was not yet in her custody. She nearly shoved Roy to the ground in her haste to get inside, and more specifically to confront him.
"When were you going to tell me the League had something to do with Vertigo?"
"We thought you knew, but weren't telling us" Roy said, which gave Felicity a perfect gateway to say; "oh look, you two have something in common."
Since that initial heated argument, she took every opportunity to make Roy feel more ashamed, Oliver should probably put a stop to her brutal punishment…but maybe later.
"Of course I didn't know!" Sara threw her hands out; she returned them to rub her temples as if she had a headache. "Laurel is investigating the Count and now I find out that my people were somehow involved? Who told you this?"
"Your friend Al-Sayad" he said, trying not to say 'I told you so'. "She stood beside Werner Zyrtle and tried to kill me with Vertigo overdose and nearly succeeded."
Not the anger he was expecting overcame Sara, but rather disappointment. "I cannot believe this… she never breathed a word of it to me."
Roy asked, "How do you know it was her with Werner Zyrtle?"
"We all thought I was hallucinating, but after I saw her face I am positive I've met her before."
"Before she came to Starling? Where?" Asked Felicity.
"In Hong Kong, during my five years away." For once, no one in the room asked him what he was doing in Hong Kong or why he never told them this before, because for once he wasn't the only person with secrets.
Sara nodded, "she was there. Artemis recently graduated to assassin; Hong Kong was her first mission. I was there too, to guide her." They passed a silent acknowledgement of the events that had occurred, the alpha-omega bioweapon; the League had set its sight on it too. "She never said she was unmasked."
"Her grey eyes are unmistakable, and the blonde hair was a dead giveaway."
"Small world ain't it?" Remarked the IT tech blandly, leaning back in her chair.
"A rookie assassin, that explains her technique. But she lied flawlessly about Hong Kong when I interrogated her."
Sara was not up to speed. "'Interrogated' her?" She demanded defensively.
"She was here for Lacroix." Oliver folded his arms and narrowed his gaze at her. "You really have no idea what's going on in the League do you? They're plotting against you Sara, someone is anyway, and Al-Sayad, whom who care so much for, she's involved too. She was trying to kill me in order to prove your loyalty to the League and Talia—"
"What?" Sara went pale.
"Nyssa's sister apparently."
The pallor changed to flushed cheeks within moments. "I am perfectly aware of who she is" she snapped. "Talia Al Ghul, of course."
"If you're in trouble, we're here to help you" Roy offered.
"For whatever reason Talia wants you gone. If she's your enemy than she's ours too" asserted Oliver.
She jabbed her palm at him to stop him. "I can't let you become a part of this anymore than you are. Malcolm and Thea is enough, you're already in too deep."
"You have to let people help you, Sara". He was frustrated at her refusal for it, how she acted reminded Oliver of himself and how he was constantly trying to do everything on his own.
"My position and reputation are being tested. I don't expect you to understand, but we should stay out of each other's way." She started to move towards the door, "You have a city to protect; but my primary concern is Laurel, my father… and Artemis."
Felicity and Roy exchanged staggered looks, perhaps the first thing they had agreed on in days. The tech said vehemently, "She doesn't deserve your protection! She would've killed every single one of us if she could."
"This isn't who she is; she's being manipulated by Talia. I told her to stay in the League, I could've-" she corrected "-I should have helped her escape. But I didn't. I was selfish. She is my responsibility". Her face became as soft as her heart was for the younger assassin. "She deserves a second chance."
Once the door closer behind the Canary, he immediately felt the prick of a stare, he glanced over his shoulder.
Oliver frowned at Roy. "You have something to say?"
Harper grazed his bottom lip with his teeth, his arms were folded tightly, he could see the outline of muscle straining from his sleeves. He shook his head, jaw clenched, "nothing, Oliver. Just… nothing". Swiftly, he got out of the chair and stormed out, and Oliver had a sudden surge of panic that it might be the last time he ever saw Roy Harper.
2009
Hong Kong
They trudged up the endless staircase to the Yamashiro's apartment. The mission to acquire the alpha bioweapon was finally at its end and the sun would rise in the next three hours. He only had that amount of time before the agent would shake him awake to run some other errand for Waller. He only hoped no League Assassins or mercenaries or Triad hitmen would plague his dreams. A place to lie down alone, water and food were the three things Oliver Queen ever wanted nowadays. Simple life for a simple man, a nobody. He almost laughed to think of the playboy-billionaire he used to be, when fame, money and scandal had defined him. No fame, no power, no wealth... that hardly seemed like such a terrible fate now that he had looked death in the face countless times.
"Urghh I just want to put my head on a pillow and sleep" moaned Oliver.
Maseo glanced behind at him, "You whine a lot don't you Oliver?"
Oliver answered with another tired moan. At the final flight of stairs, Maseo stopped short. Oliver moaned even louder, "what's going on?"
"Tatsu! Akio!" Maseo bolted up the stairs.
The front door to the apartment had been smashed open off its hinges. He forgot his exhaustion and ran after Maseo, leaping up two steps at a time.
When he crossed the threshold, he saw there had been a battle.
The table where Akio would normally be drawing at was turned over. There was a spray of blood on the wall beside the kitchen. Signs of a struggle were evident from the scratches made by Tatsu's katana across the walls as she fought to protect her family.
Maseo was desperately running between the rooms but it was fruitless. Oliver was at a loss of what to do.
The ARGUS agent stumbled into the centre of the living room, his utter hopelessness tore at Oliver's heart. He may have despised this man for the past seven months but he could not leave him now, not when he needed him the most. "Who could have taken them?" He asked to get him to focus. "C'mon man! Was it Triad? ARGUS? Someone must have found out where your family was. Think!"
He had never seen Maseo so vulnerable and on the verge of hyperventilating. He stared at Oliver, straining to find some logic in the chaos his world had spiralled into.
A thought struck him, "I know" he said in a low voice, "I know who did this. I know who betrayed me."
Present Day
Nanda Parbat
The Al-Ghul's were discussing Sara, she was certain. Artemis waited in the adjoining chamber for her lady to finish what was no doubt a confrontation with the younger Al-Ghul. Talia entered the room silently, but with a burning coldness simmering off her.
"Is something the matter?"
"My sister's questions are relentless. She calls me paranoid, the gall she has. Never mind Nyssa." She flicked her fingers uninterested by discussing her little sister at length, "You have been idle too long; I want you to resume your hunt for Lacroix" Talia ordered.
"HIVE is protecting him."
"Then find a way to unprotect him" she dead-panned with a tone that brokered no argument.
"Yes my lady" she lowered her head respectfully. "What are your father's plans?"
Talia harrumphed, "He has other business elsewhere, I sense he will be gone for a while, where specifically he did not disclose with me. He does not deem me worthy of his secrets."
"He should have more faith in your my lady. You deserve it."
The Al Ghul was not encouraged by her practiced compliments. The argument with her sister must have bothered her, putting her in an irascible mood. "You know what he once said to me? He said 'you are the most competent first commander in the League, I am so proud of you. If only I could correct your one fault, then... then you'd be my perfect Heir'" she said to her chagrin, a bitter smirk twisting her mouth.
Her lady recounted this tale before but Artemis never heard the last past. "What was your one fault?"
Talia Al Ghul leveled a hard stare at her. "That I was born a woman".
Artemis was disconcerted by this supplementary detail, she had ample experience with disapproving father figures, but she never had to contend with one that was dissatisfied by her gender.
The moment passed as if it never occurred. "Father will likely leave Nanda Parbat in the charge of Sensei, the old bat" said Talia her words dripping with disdain. "But this makes it ripe for the taking". Talia drew a vial of blood from her pocket with a confident, devious smile, "I have mirakuru blood with me. I think I know where I can make it into something useful."
"I grow tired of treachery." Ra's Al Ghul, Head of the Demon arose from the pit, silvery droplets of water glistening on his back as an acolyte draped his robe over his shoulders, then handed him his sword belt and cufflinks. Sensei waited in front the partition for his Master to emerge.
He was a trusted advisor of the Demon's Head, giving him council for as long as he remembered. He had come to the Nanda Parbat as an orphan, impoverished and starving, with nothing but a sack and a lifetime worth of dark memories of his war-torn home. Ra's looked the same 60 years ago as he did this very second looming over him from the stairs.
Sensei once had a name, but the boy he used to be was killed the day he stumbled on the footsteps of the temple. He was no one's son, no one's brother. Ra's had commended him for being of the rare group of people through the centuries who had discovered the ancient stronghold of the assassins, and immediately admitted him into training.
Every few years he turned down the Demon's offers to use the pit. Soon, and before he even grasped the reality of it, his body started to deteriorate, his breaths were slower, skin sagged, gut enlarged, and his heart lost its robust pace. The man he saw in the mirror was getting older and older as the months passed.
Nevertheless, if his Master sought his wisdom he would continue to give it until his last breath.
"There will always be those who oppose you" he said, bowing his head with deference, "Whose hearts have not released their previous lives, and those who are too fearful to enact upon their traitorous thoughts". With his role as instructor, warping and shaping the future assassins of the world, he had come across many and more would-be traitors and minds that were as changeable as the wind.
"I am aware of that, Sensei" said Ra's. "But that is not the sole reason I summoned you here." The Demon's Head ushered him to accompany him through the temple. "On the surface, I may appear healthy and capable, but within my body has aged several decades, what you see on the outside is merely a shell. There will be a day when my body catches up, and it's evident from the diminishing effects of the waters, that that day will come soon."
Ra's Al Ghul spread out his palm for him to examine and there was a faded pink scar on it. The Master was not healing. It was a very real truth that he had dreaded to encounter for nearly twenty years.
"I must choose an heir; the issue I face is which daughter I should choose".
While Sensei was not his youthful, agile self he could still carve through all of the assassins in Nanda Parbat like they were made of cake and beat them into their graves without breaking a sweat. Thus he was chosen to personally train Ra's' offspring in martial arts. They felt more personal than the other students he had taught, they were family, perhaps the closest thing he ever had to one here. But he could recognize what his Master insinuated.
"You believe your daughters to be treacherous."
Ra's frowned grimly as he stared out at the expanse of his land. Beyond the red mountains sloping in out of the valley floor in graceful waves, the snowy peaks were still shrouded in night, thrusting in the air like the spokes on a crown.
"Nyssa has been struck by the most difficult burden to remove...love; she is wavering in her conviction to assent to her destiny."
Sensei understood his Master's trepidation; they both protested the younger Al Ghul's rash decision to bring two dozen of their best warriors to fight another's man's petty war half a world away.
"Sara Lance is a loyal subject Master. You have lived many lifetimes on this Earth, she is merely a dot in the grand scheme of this world and she will not stand in the way of Nyssa's calling."
"But who is more suited to take my place?" Ra's pressed, "To become the next Ra's Al Ghul?"
That answer was rather easy.
"Talia".
The Demon's Head nodded as if he had also been thinking the same. "Many would agree, yet Talia is the one whom I don't trust. It is simple to read someone who is in love, but reading Aramaic scripture is easier than trying to anticipate Talia's next move. Indeed she is most suited, with the fierce will of a lion and more followers who fear her. But Nyssa, her heart has changed, and her followers, they adore her".
The Master was more serious than he presumed if he was having second thoughts about his first choice. Sensei weighed each option; wanting to give Ra's the best advice he could, after all, the leadership of the greatest and oldest institute of killers was being decided upon. He would hate to be in Ra's' position.
Finally he said, "It cannot be a question of who is most loved and who is most feared. You trained them both with the utmost strident discipline and have been critical in your judgement of their capabilities. The heir is whoever you can be proud to name your heir."
Ra's grimaced, "I have had many children in my life Sensei. But these two have yet to earn my respect. Despite my condition I am in no hurry to hand over my kingdom to either of my daughters."
Every Ra's Al Ghul to the League of Assassins had defining campaigns during their reign, and the demons daughters did not display the potential for greatness every Demon's Head sought in a successor.
The temple was on the top of a steep slope of the canyon, looking out over the rest of the vast red stone fastness. Stately domes, teetering towers, leaping arches, and proud columns thrust from the rock. There were several moments of silence as they observed an eagle soaring across the horizon. The just-risen sun hung at level with his eyes, watery yellow through the morning haze. The sky was clear and pale above the stronghold, a few shreds of white cloud stretched out almost still.
"There is another matter I need to discuss with you, Al-Sayad, the Young One" said Ra's after the peaceful moment had ended, perhaps one of the last he would ever have.
Sensei tried his earnest to recall but his memory was not as swift as he would like it to be. "Artemis, yes, what of her?"
"I still am uncertain of her loyalty. But she has exceeded my expectations, despite her mother's betrayal."
He gulped, similarly to the the discussion of heirs this was a topic he did not enjoy conversing with the Demon's Head on, fearing if he said the wrong thing it would lead to his head on a spike. "Master, we both agreed that our...experiments—"
"Trials" Ra's corrected, watching him from his unmoving grey-blue eyes that masked what the Demon's head was thinking but could pierce his very soul.
He cleared his throat. "Whatever you will label them your grace, they were unwise and frankly, if I must speak out of terms—morbid." Ra's never blinked, never breathed, he was impossibly still like a menacing statue. "The search for the 'one who is all' your ultimate bodyguard, you yourself said it was a waste of resources and considering your current physical state…"
To his relief, the Master was not, and had never been a man who sprung for his sword at every paltry remark or differing opinion. He took Sensei's council because he appreciated the honesty and bluntness; every great leader needed a man like that by his side. Or her side. Would Nyssa or Talia keep me alive, an old man, once their father has stepped down?
"Except I no longer think it would have all been for naught" said Ra's. He unhooked a vial from his belt, he passed it to him. There was dark red liquid in it, blood he surmised.
"Where is it from?"
"Al-Sayad tracked the abomination from Gotham and took a sample of this from his body before exterminating him. An impressive feat and likewise an impressive child, don't you agree?" But that was an observation Ra's did not need an answer too. "Take in its odour". Sensei sniffed it. There was the metallic sharpness of blood, but something else laced in it that he couldn't quite discern.
"It is as I suspected when I first heard rumours of it in world war two. And you see why I speak of traitors and bodyguards? Can you tell me what it is Sensei?"
Then it struck him. "Lazarus" he muttered. Traitors took the lazarus waters from the pit and into the outside world. Unequivocally loyal bodyguards were what Ra's Al Ghul tried to create to protect himself from more traitors.
"Lazarus amongst other components; ingredients to a miracle drug."
Sensei revered at the object in his hand, the Japanese, they had done it.
They had made a super soldier serum.
The corner of Ra's lips turned upwards into what was unmistakably a smile, it was barely there but it was such a rare occurrence that it terrified him a little to see it. "It true when they say war is the fuel that drives technological advancement" he muttered and closed the vial, holding it more delicately he returned it to the Al Ghul's waiting palm.
The Master concurred, "I have seen enough to know. And this is an example of that" he pointed at the miracle drug. "I am most pleased with this concoction".
He knew exactly what this entailed. Sensei stood straight as an arrow in military form as if he were a young recruit once more, a speck in a long column of in-training assassins, ready to undertake whatever mission the Demon's Head would bestow upon them.
"What are my orders, Master?"
"To protect the League in my absence."
The burning sun painted Nanda Parbat in strokes of fire. Ra's clutched the vial; his brow was a wrathful wrinkle as he stared at the lands of the League of Assassins. Its origins began in antiquity; a meagre dozen men occupied its ranks. But it had since grown over the millennia to harbour thousands of legions of men and women, borne and trained to hone the darkness, to become the footmen and knights of the Demon, fallen angels that roamed the Earth.
"We will do what we could not do years ago my friend, we will create the greatest army the world has ever seen."
A/N: I just casually added in the Lazarus pit since we all know it exists now. What are your thoughts? Is Talia justified in her motivations? Or is she just the product of bad parenting? Who would be a better leader of the League? Ra's, Talia, or Nyssa? The 'Sensei' character is from Young Justice. Hope you liked the chapter! Review, Follow or Favorite for more.