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Chapter 11: Gotham, Part 2

Nyssa woke up to the sound of her alarm going off right next to her ear. She groaned and rolled onto her side, blindingly patting the bed with her hand to find her phone. She huffed and opened her eyes after a few unsuccessful attempts, turning off the irritating alarm as soon as she found it.

There were a few notifications on the lock screen, so she rolled onto her back, phone in hand, to go through them. She quickly responded to her sister's 'extremely urgent' texts, letting her know she would be at her house as soon as she was ready, then opened another one, this one from Sara.

The brunette chuckled and shook her head after reading it, getting more comfortable to text her back. Sara's response came almost immediately, making her laugh again as she left the device resting on her leg.

She frowned a minute later when she felt the phone aggressively vibrating against her thigh, but smiled when Sara's picture popped up on the screen.

"Good…" she paused looking at the time "...well, I believe it is technically morning for you, too, habibti"

"Morning, gorgeous. How'd you sleep?"

"Good enough, considering you are not by my side. Did you sleep at all? What are you doing fully awake at 4 a.m.?"

"Well, I tried to make it up to you for my absence last night" the blonde answered laughing "And no, I didn't go to bed yet, Arrow stuff came up; just got home"

"Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, just some kids being little punks. Thea and I handled it in like fifteen minutes"

"Then why did it take you so long to get home?"

"There was a weird Pokémon at the docks, that took a while and most of my Poké balls, but we caught it"

Nyssa laughed at Sara's explanation "You stayed up until 4 a.m. to catch a Pokémon?"

"A weird Pokémon, Nyssa! We had to!"

The brunette chuckled and shook her head "You are lucky I am so in love with you, Sara"

"Aw, I love you, too, baby"

"It is a strange change of scenery hearing you in such good spirits when you haven't had any sleep yet. Is it because you and Thea had fun at the docks?"

"Nope! I have my reasons"

Nyssa laughed wholeheartedly "I am fully aware of those reasons, beloved"

"Can you blame me? It's been a while since we did that, babe" Sara said between giggles "Can't even remember when the last time was"

"If I am not mistaken, it was after the Moscow incident"

"Oh, yeah! Goodtimes"

"You angered the Bratva, beloved, I do not believe that qualifies as a 'good time'"

"They started it"

"I highly doubt that"

"It honestly was Anatoli's fault"

"You were not supposed to be there in the first place"

"Anyways! We had great phone sex that night. That qualifies as an awesome time in my book"

Nyssa laughed "We did"

"Last night was a close second"

"I will have to agree on that, too"

"Wanna go again?"

"As much as I would love to after that picture you texted me before, it is past 7 a.m. here and I have to get up and ready for the day, habibti"

"It can be embarrassingly fast, I swear!"

The brunette had to laugh again "While I am aware that is absolutely true, I do need to get up"

"Aw, c'moooon! You sound all sleepy and sexy, it's making me think stuff"

"I will be home tonight, habibti, don't you prefer it that way?"

"Always; but then Damian will be here, too, and we won't be able to do anything"

"You were the one who insisted on him visiting"

"I'm obviously having second thoughts"

The brunette smiled and said in a low, soft voice she knew the blonde loved and wouldn't be able to fight "Sara, I promise you we will find the time"

"God… Argh! Fine!"

"Thank you"

"Doesn't mean I'm happy about this"

"Oh, I know"

"Okay, good. Now I'm gonna try to get some sleep, then go run a few miles and punch, kick or stab something for a while"

"Sweet dreams and have fun"

"Say hi to Talia for me"

"I will"

"Don't let Damian nap! I'll need him to crash early tonight"

"Please, come in" Taila said holding the door open.

"Thank you" her sister nodded, walking past her into the mansion-like house "Sara sends her regards"

"Ah, thank you; please, extend mine to her. Do you mind waiting for a few minutes? Damian only finished with his morning training a short while ago and is now in the shower"

"Not at all"

Talia started walking down a big corridor, the sound of her heels against the stone floor echoing loudly. Nyssa followed her, knowing her sister well enough to realize she was supposed to do exactly that without being told. They entered a spacious office, and Talia sat down, occupying a massive armchair, inviting her sister to do the same.

Nyssa sat down in front of her "Is there something wrong?"

"No, no" her sister answered shaking her head "However, there is something I need to discuss with you"

"Talia, if this is regarding Damian visiting—"

The older woman interrupted her holding her left hand up and smiling "This is not about Damian at all"

Nyssa nodded once "Alright, then; what is it that you wish to discuss with me?"

Talia reached for a pair of black rimmed glasses that were lying on top of a folder on the coffee table between them and put them on. She opened the folder, searching for a specific page, then handed it to her sister "We have some decisions to make, Nyssa"

She took the folder and started reading the signaled page "I see"

Talia crossed her long legs and leaned back, resting comfortably against the armchair "I believe it is time we go back and decide what to do"

Nyssa considered her sister's words while turning the page "As you wish"

"I would like to hear what your thoughts are"

She closed the folder and placed it on the coffee table again "Honestly, Talia, I wouldn't feel comfortable making profit from it"

"I understand" her sister nodded "But you have to agree, sister, that Nanda Parbat is too valuable and dangerous for us to leave abandoned"

"I do"

"And no one knows it better than you do" Talia added with a smirk, making her younger sister smile "So, I was thinking we should visit to make sure everything is still in order, and decide what to do. Together"

Nyssa nodded shortly "When?"

"I cleared my agenda as much as I could. I can fly to Star City by the end of next week and we can go from there, should you find it convenient. Your little bird should come, too"

Her sister smiled softly "What about Damian?"

"He is to accompany us; even if it turns out to be for the last time"

"Is that what you wish? For it to be the last time?"

Talia sighed and took a few seconds to answer "We never had the luxury of allowing ourselves to be emotional, Nyssa. Not until recently. I am still learning how to feel and deal with some of those emotions" she said uncharacteristically honest and sad "Needless to say, I hold a great deal of affection for the place after growing up there, as I am positive you do, too; but I do not see its use or place in our lives anymore. I am afraid I even started to resent it lately. Don't you agree?"

"If I am entirely honest with you, Talia, I stopped thinking of Nanda Parbat as 'home' after Merlyn's undertaking"

Her older sister nodded seriously "When Sara left" she waited for the other woman to nod and smiled "And that is because Sara is, and always will be, 'home' for you. Just as Damian is, and always will be, it for me"

Her quiet confession caught Nyssa by surprise and she couldn't hide her stunned expression.

"I know it might be shocking coming from me, but I do love my child, Nyssa" she explained with a shy smile.

"Believe me, sister, I am fully aware of that" the youngest said smiling, too "What surprised me was the fact that you put it in words, and in front of me, no less"

"I am trying this new 'honesty' thing. Thought it would be safe to start with my baby sister" Talia said smirking.

Nyssa chuckled "I feel honored. But 'baby sister'? I do not recall you ever addressing me that way"

"Not to your face"

Her response made Nyssa chuckle again, inciting a soft, easy smile from her older sister "Should I ask, or…?"

"I'd rather you didn't" she shook her head, still smiling softly "There are things… People... I still find quite difficult to talk about"

Nyssa caught the flash of sadness and nodded softly "Of course. Whenever you wish to talk about them, your 'baby sister' will be there to listen"

Talia nodded and cleared her throat "This conversation is starting to get annoyingly emotional and I do not feel entirely comfortable in such vulnerable position at the moment"

"Let's go back to business, then, Ms. Tate"

"Is there something wrong?" Nyssa asked, noticing Damian's worried expression.

The boy looked back at the woman sitting in front of him and readjusted his seatbelt "Is my mom gonna be okay while I'm with you and auntie Sara?"

"Do you have reason to believe she will not?"

He shrugged and looked out the window, staring at the clouds "Dunno, she'll be all alone"

Nyssa smiled sweetly and leaned forward to run her fingers through his messy hair, trying to make it less messy "She will be alright, Damian, I promise. Your mother is one of the most skilled, strongest women I know. And I can guarantee you, she will not be 'all alone'"

"Yeah, she's pretty strong" he took a few seconds to gather his thoughts "Did you talk to her this morning, khala?"

"I did"

"Will she get mad at me if…"

Nyssa waited as the boy searched his brain for a way to express his concerns, finally deciding to help him "If you have fun?"

"Yeah"

She shook her head smiling "She wants you to have fun, Damian. Her only request was that we continue with your training. Other than that, we are free to decide what to do, together"

He nodded smiling before asking "I can talk to auntie Sara the same way I talk to you, right? Like this?"

"Yes, Damian" Nyssa said laughing "Even more so"

"Cool!"

"Will you be able to relax and have fun now? Or do you have any more concerns you wish to discuss?"

"No, I'm fine, khala. Thanks!" he said smiling and reaching for his backpack.

After rummaging through it for about a minute, he took out some kind of electronic device Nyssa was not particularly familiar with, but have seen Sara use on numerous occasions; mostly while traveling, too.

"Khala, do you think we'll get to see the Green Arrow?" he asked excitedly, startling her.

She glanced at him for a second before going back to her reading "I hope we don't"

Damian paused his game and looked up at his aunt again "Do you know him?"

"No"

"What about the Black Canary?"

"There is no Black Canary"

"Not anymore, but there was" he leaned closer and whispered, even though they were alone "I know the first Canary was auntie Sara"

"Then you also know you should keep that information to yourself" Nyssa answered smiling.

"Yes, of course!" he looked back down and resumed his game "What about Speedy? Arsenal?"

The woman tried to hide her smile "Damian, just because we live in the same city, doesn't mean we know one another"

The boy shrugged while aggressively pressing some buttons "My mom says you could kick all of their butts if you wanted to, anyway"

"Does she?" Nyssa asked amused, resting her book on her lap.

"Well, she didn't use the word 'butts', but yeah" he said, shrugging again "I think so, too"

"Please, remember to mention that to Sara"

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