Chapter 2: Daddy issues

Thea collapsed against the pillar behind her. What she used only moments before to hide from the monster who shared her DNA was now the only thing keeping her from melting into the train platform beneath her. She was shaking, the gun lying next to her, and the man she never really knew lying in front of her. She closed her eyes and let her head fall, she didn't want to see all the blood, not again, not after having her skin stained by her mother's just last week.

Her eyes suddenly shot open as she lifted her gaze toward Malcolm. "The blood, there should be blood..." She rushed to his side feeling for a pulse. She felt a slight breath and her words slipped out in utter shock, "how are you even alive?"

Malcolm chose that moment to sit up, pulling down his black shirt to reveal the fitted Kevlar beneath it, carefully removing the bullets from just over his heart. "Well it's not because you're a poor shot."

Thea jumped back, reaching for the gun once again.

"Thea, Thea..." He began to plead with her again, arms raised in surrender. "I know you want nothing to do with me, that much is obvious." He tried to lighten the mood while once again patting his chest. He continued on, voice breaking, "Tommy is gone because of me, I know that Thea. Even if you never want to see me again I can't allow anything to happen to you. Please, just let me take you somewhere safe- let me take you to Oliver."

"Huh! You think Oliver is safe." She was screaming at this point, "he is why I was kidnapped, why mom was killed, why we lost QC..."

"Thea, shhh, I need to keep you safe which means keeping these maniacs away from us. There has to be someone you can trust- the Arrow saved you, didn't he? And he would do anything to save this city- he even stabbed himself in the chest to run an arrow through me. Listen, let me take you to him and we will both get our wish- he will keep you safe for me, and probably kill me for you."

She just glared, stuck in a nightmare that had somehow become her reality. She wanted to be at home with her mom and Walter, to be able to trust Oliver, to be cuddled up with Roy knowing she was safe in his arms. But now that was all a fantasy and this messed up world was all she had to work with. "Can't say I completely disagree with that plan, the only problem is I don't know who is is or how to find him."

"Lucky for us, I do- give me your phone."

She was skeptical and still clutching the gun in her right hand, but handed the phone over anyway, brow raised as she watched him. "Put it on speaker, I still don't trust you." The phone rang so quickly she would have sworn he was using speed dial, but how would that be possible on her phone? What she heard next shattered the last bit of the reality she had once believed in.

"Speedy, thank God, are you alright?" The relief in his voice was evident, but she just continued to glare at Malcolm, partially feeling sorry she hadn't called Oliver herself, partially pissed that he had lied about being able to contact the Arrow.

"Not exactly son, but she is with me."

"Your dead, your supposed to be dead. I killed you. I, I, I... Where is Thea!" The initial shock in his voice had made Felicity and Dig both lean in a little, trying to hear the other side of the conversation. But by the end of his sentence as he screamed Thea's name Roy was jumping from the table ready to kill.

"I'm right here Ollie, I'm okay, Malcolm found me at the train station- he stopped 2 of those crazy guys wearing masks. I tried to get away from him, but he claims to just want to get me somewhere safe- and since he called you even though I just shot him in the chest twice- I guess he wasn't lying. I thought he was when he said he was going to take me to the Arrow and you answered the phone, but since you're on speaker and I heard what you said, I guess everything makes sense now. You've been lying to me since the day you got back." The venom in her voice was unmistakable, and it cut Oliver to his very core. "You could have warned us, could have saved mom, could have warned me about Slade, about Roy..."

At the mention of Roy her voice trembled and he took his chance, stealing the phone from Oliver, it hadn't been on speaker but Thea had been quite loud and forceful so the whole team heard everything. As a quick apology and courtesy to everyone else in the room, especially Oliver since he had snatched the phone from him as he was about to speak. "Thea, It's so good to hear your voice. I am SO SO SO sorry, I can't even begin to explain." The glare from Felicity and the nod from Oliver let him know that he needed to though, and he had permission to tell everyone's secrets at this point.

She was going for dry and cold, but her voice was full of emotion- anger, relief, confusion, all mixed together. "You sure as he'll better try Harper."

So he got into it, quickly explaining starting with being shot in the knee with the arrow as Oliver was trying to prevent him from being anywhere near the Mirakuru. He then explained that Oliver saved him when he got injected and was working with him to help him control his anger, and that she was the only way he could focus. That He broke up with her because he was afraid that he would lose his temper and hurt her, and he hung his head in shame as he recalled what he actually did in his rage. He noted that Felicity got her hands on the cure and now he was getting back to normal. He told her he had been unconscious since the incident at Verdant and that he was sorry he wasn't there for her this week. At that point, Oliver heard the sound of a neck breaking and the sound of a body being dropped several feet.

He took the phone back and got to the point, heart breaking that he could still hear his sister crying on the other side of the phone. "Malcolm! Thea said you took out 2 masked men- they are almost impossible to kill. We have the cure, it will weaken them, bring them back to Mortal-"

"Don't worry, I made sure they were dead, I wasn't in a hurry to run away like you were- thanks for the chance to get away by the way."

Oliver's voice was thick with emotion, he couldn't let it go, couldn't contain his anger, "I left to try and reach CNRI in time, to save Laurel- I dint get there in time, instead of waiting for you to die I sat in the rubble with Tommy in my arms as he took his last breaths!"

For the first time since the call started there was utter silence. "Just bring Thea to me, we are in the clock tower on 5th and Graham in the Glades." He hung up quickly and slammed the phone onto the table. He caught Felicity's eye and couldn't look away, with his jaw set he knew it was time to move on, "we need reinforcements and we need to get this cure mobilized!"

Diggle spoke up for the first time since Roy had awoken, "I think I can help with that..."

...

AN- I am looking for a Beta, someone who can do a quick turn around as I want to get this done before the finale. Please PM if you are interested and reviews are like gold!

What characters should I focus on next and what issues need to be resolved?