Chapter 10: Rock Bottom

Thea sat straight up in her bed, heart pounding, an unvoiced scream dying on her lips. The dark room engulfed her and the shadows around her held threats that made her body freeze. She sprang for her bedside lamp and only once the warm glow filled her bedroom did Thea begin to breathe again.

The clock on her nightstand shone with red digits that it was 2:30 am. Thea had struggled for what felt like hours to fall asleep and this was already her second abrupt waking from a nightmare. Clearly this was not going to be the night for sleep.

Fortunately, she had prepared for this possibility. Thea shoved off her covers and trotted over to her closet. She pulled on a sweatshirt and then parted her hanging clothing to reveal a shelf bearing several bottles of tequila and a bottle of fruity, cheap champagne. This was not Thea's first sleepless night. Thea grabbed a tequila and the champagne, and, with creeping steps, made her way to the kitchen.

Thea was seated on the couch in minutes, covered in a blanket and, with the sound turned nearly all the way down, Thea quickly perused the late-night television options. Once she had selected reruns of Golden Girls, Thea jumpstarted her journey to blissful numbness with two back-to-back shots of tequila before taking the twisty top off of her grocery store champagne.

Dark contemplations and memories fought for Thea's attention in a nauseating battle of ennui and agitation. Thea sipped on her fizzing champagne, willing it to choke out her thoughts as they danced from considering her breakup with the entirely too sweet and too good Alex, to the idea that Oliver knew more about her life than she ever wanted, to remembering all the thoughts and feelings of being a 12-year-old friendless child manipulated into a relationship with a grown man. She became aware of one horrifyingly poignant thought – for the first time since her mom's death, Thea was thankful her mom was not alive to learn of Thea's childhood trauma. Thea attempted to focus on Bea Arthur making a biting remark to Estelle Getty on the TV and to allow their voices to drown out those of her own thoughts.

Laurel found herself sitting straight up in bed, unsure what had woken her up. Her ears strained to catch any unordinary sounds before she was even truly awake. After listening for a moment, Laurel became convinced she was hearing faint signs from the communal parts of her apartment. It sounded like multiple voices, and, as there were no obvious sounds of yelling or of things breaking, Laurel felt fairly confident that there were no night-time home invaders; likely just Thea watching TV.

Laurel walked to her doorway and saw the faint glow of lamplight emanating from the living room. The sounds of the TV were easier to discern now and Laurel became confident that only she and Thea were in their place.

"Thea?" Laurel called out blearily. Laurel glanced at the clock on the oven in the kitchen and noted that it was after 4 am. Laurel didn't hear a response and so meandered slowly around the couch. There, awake but bleary, was Thea. Perched on the coffee table was a partially full bottle of tequila and a nearly empty bottle of champagne. Glass shards littered the floor directly in front of the couch. So that was what had woken her up. Laurel was pleased to note that the glass had likely been empty when it dropped judging from the lack of liquid spilled.

"Thea?" Laurel prompted again gently, standing in front of Thea before sinking to sit beside her on the couch. "What's going on?"

Thea's eyes blinked slowly at Laurel. "Mom?" Thea asked confusedly.

Laurel was prepared for a drunk Thea, but she was not prepared to be confused with a deceased Moira Queen. "It's Laurel," Laurel corrected gently. "Your mom's not here."

"Mom, you shouldn't be here," Thea noted.

"Thea-" Laurel began to redirect again but stopped. Honestly, Laurel had been where Thea was before and arguing wasn't going to help the situation. Getting Thea tucked into bed might. "Okay, you know what?" Laurel started again. "It's bedtime. Time to go to sleep."

Thea shook her head slowly. "No, I can't sleep," she said with mournful conviction. Thea seemed to struggle with the words to explain before settling with, "Sleeping hurts."

Laurel was concerned and tried to clarify. "What do you mean, 'sleeping hurts'? Like you're having nightmares?"

"When I sleep, I get hurt," Thea said, sounding like she felt she had clarified matters.

"Hurt by what, Thea? Are you dreaming about things hurting you? Like your teacher? Or Ra's?"

"And Slade. And Malcolm," Thea added nodding seriously.

"That's a lot to deal with every night," Laurel affirmed softly, looking at just how young Thea appeared in her pajamas blinking blearily into the lamplight, all her usual bravado stripped away by the night and the liquor. "You shouldn't have to face all of that alone."

"Alone is better," Thea murmured. "Only you get hurt if there's only you."

"What do you mean, Thea?"

"You would have liked Alex," Thea mused softly. "He was really nice. He probably would have brought you flowers. And complimented your smile or how you raised me or something sweet like that." Laurel understood with a sick feeling that Thea still thought she was Moira. "But he was too good. It's not fair to put your badness on someone that good."

"What happened between you and Alex?" Laurel questioned even while guiltily realizing that she was taking advantage of Thea's vulnerable state to get answers she was sure she couldn't get out of her roommate sober.

"He was too good," Thea reiterated. "Roy." Thea stated suddenly. "Roy was broken. We were broken together. We held each other down – made each other better. Until we didn't. But Alex. He's good. And I'm broken. He tried to pull me up to him, but all I do is drag him down."

"Thea, that's not true! You're good too – you've dealt with some terrible things, but Thea, you are not a bad person."

Thea continued as if she hadn't heard Laurel – and likely hadn't. "A guy wants to be able to touch his girlfriend. It's not fair to say you can't touch. He needs to find a girl good like him."

This time Laurel remained silent. Thea was clearly in no state to take in Laurel's encouragement and this conversation was getting too real to have while intoxicated. Was this what Thea had been struggling through over these last weeks? Laurel hurt for Thea realizing that while Thea had appeared so put together, inside Thea was slowly unraveling. Her connection with Oliver was in disrepair and she had broken up with Alex. Laurel would have said before this moment that Thea hadn't started pulling away from her, or John, or Felicity, but now – it was obvious that the Thea she had been patrolling with and sharing dinner with on the couch had been putting on a Moira Queen-style mask.

Laurel let out a deep sigh, then stood up and gestured towards Thea. "Come on, Thea. Let's get you to bed." Laurel leaned down, holding her arms out to grasp her drunken roommate.

"No no no," Thea said desperately. "I don't want to sleep, mom, I don't want you to leave!"

Laurel did her best to remain firm in the face of Thea's devastation. "Thea, I will be here in the morning. You and I can talk and we'll figure this out, okay?"

"Mom, no – I don't want you to go back to Tommy and dad! I want you to stay with me!"

The mention of Tommy made Laurel go cold. The memory of Tommy rushing into the CNRI to save Laurel the night of the Undertaking and dying for her still stabbed her heart as much as it had when it happened nearly two years ago. Laurel drew back and tried to catch her breath.

After steadying herself enough, Laurel leaned back towards Thea and saw tears streaming unchecked down the young woman's cheeks. Laurel gently pushed Thea's bangs away from her forehead and gently said, grief still thick in her heart, "I'll stay with you until you fall asleep. Okay?"

Thea sniffled softly and gripped Laurel's hands, allowing herself to be pulled to her feet. Leaning heavily on Laurel, Thea made her way back to her room. Thea flopped akimbo onto the bed and Laurel reached down to carefully right Thea's body enough that she could pull the covers up around her.

"You'll stay until I go to sleep?" Thea whispered confidingly.

Laurel pulled a chair up beside Thea's bed. "Yup. I'm right here, Thea. You're safe."

Thea mumbled into her pillow, "I'm never safe."

Laurel waited until Thea appeared completely asleep. Then she stood up silently and began to pull open Thea's nightstand, looked under her bed, and peered into the closet. As soon as she shifted Thea's hanging clothes, she could see the shelf behind with several bottles of alcohol. Content with knowing what Thea had stashed, Laurel left them there – taking her alcohol without her consent was not the best way to address Thea's alcohol use. Laurel should know. She had been at this very rock-bottom herself following Tommy's death.

Oliver was pacing. It had been hard enough finishing out his workday after receiving the call from Laurel that she wanted to come over that evening to talk about Thea. He all too clearly remembered his last conversation in the Loft with Laurel. It was the night of his fight with Thea. The last time he and his sister had spoken.

3 weeks ago

Oliver reached the door as the insistent knocking continued. He pulled open the Loft's front door to find Laurel. He glanced down at his watch checking that it really was as late as he thought it was.

"Who is it?" Felicity called from the couch.

"It's Laurel," Oliver replied, shooting Laurel a confused look. Laurel hadn't moved at all since Oliver opened the door. "Can I come in?" Laurel asked pertly.

Oliver took a step back to allow Laurel room to enter and then pushed the door shut behind her.

"Hi Laurel!" Felicity called from the couch. "Give me a second, I'll come over." Felicity made a move to get into her chair.

Laurel said quickly, "Please, no – I won't be long." Felicity nodded and allowed herself to fall back into her seat on the couch. Laurel explained, "I just had to see Oliver."

Oliver didn't like the sound of that and glanced at his friend and then back at his fiancé, before retreating to sit on the back of the couch facing Laurel. He gave a little gesture indicating that Laurel could continue.

Laurel seemed to be working hard to restrain herself while considering her first words. Finally she said, "I talked to Thea." The change in the room was instantaneous. Oliver slammed his eyes shut and Felicity jerked more upright, turning to face them both.

"If you've come to yell at Oliver, I have already given him a sound verbal lashing," Felicity declared emphatically. "I'm team Thea," she added firmly. "That said, continue."

Laurel took a deep breath. Then, like a bursting dam, began at full speed, "Who do you think you are, Oliver?" The question held a particular weight when it was fired by Laurel. She knew him so well for so long that she had a way of managing to cut to the heart of him. "Digging into Thea's past behind her back? How is she ever supposed to trust you if you can't even wait for her to come to you?"

Oliver opened his mouth to respond, knowing he didn't have a leg to stand on but wanting his side to be acknowledged, but Laurel wasn't finished. "You're her brother, her only living family," Laurel stated with disappointment. "She needed someone to support her unconditionally, and instead, what? You say something about it being her fault that she didn't tell anyone? That it was her fault other kids could have been hurt?"

"I didn't say that!" Oliver tried to defend, horrified by his words being twisted into this new accusation.

"That is what you said, Oliver!" Felicity countered, upset. Oliver looked back at his fiancé, shocked that Felicity was in agreement that he could have said that to Thea. "Not in those words," Felicity acknowledged, "but that is what you were implying!"

"Then that's not what I meant." Oliver stated, irritated.

"Well, honestly, I don't much care what you meant, Oliver," Laurel broke in angrily, "because your sister very much believes that you are blaming her for being raped."

The room stilled. Oliver realized that this was the first time in all of these days since Earth 42 that anyone had uttered the words. Or had confirmed what had happened. He felt like he couldn't breathe.

Oliver looked at Laurel with wild eyes. "She did talk to you," he breathed out. He knew, he had known since that night when Thea couldn't look him in the eye. But hearing it … actually knowing it felt somehow completely different.

"I get that you are having some sort of epiphany right now," Laurel sneered, "But honestly, I don't even care." Laurel's eyes flashed as she described, "I just spent the last hour with your devastated sister who thinks she doesn't have anyone to turn to and that she would have been better off if Ra's had killed her."

Oliver gaped in pained shock. His mind flashing back to finding his sister bleeding out on the floor of this very loft. Thea, trying to form words through a mind hazy and body weakened from blood loss.

Laurel's voice cut through the images haunting Oliver's memory. "She felt like you were blaming her for what happened to her because she never spoke up," Laurel explained with clear derision towards Oliver, and Oliver opened his eyes, meeting her piercing gaze. Laurel continued, "Which is particularly awful because she has been blaming herself too." Oliver shook his head slowly, trying to deny what Laurel was saying. Laurel pushed through, adding, "She didn't even choose to disclose to you and you still managed to burden her with the worst kind of response."

Oliver couldn't tear his gaze from Laurel's as she took one step closer to where Oliver and Felicity sat. Laurel looked first at Oliver and then glanced briefly at Felicity. She said, "I just want to be perfectly clear on something. Thea could have been raped yesterday and chosen to never disclose her entire life, and it would still not, in any way, be her fault." Laurel's words rang into the silence.

After a moment, Oliver said quietly, "Of course it wasn't her fault." He shook his head and stood up, saying louder, "Of course it wasn't Thea's fault. I … I don't know what I did to make her think I thought that. Since the first moment when I found out what happened on Earth 42, from the instant I realized that the same thing may have happened to Thea, the only people I have blamed were the man who did it, and my mother."

"Oliver," Felicity breathed out with pity and horror.

"She was right there, Felicity!" Oliver raged, turning around to look at Felicity. "She should have seen the signs, she should have been available so Thea could have come to her. She should have protected her."

"I am not going to defend Moira's parenting, Oliver," Laurel said with an edge, adding facetiously, "but if we're going down that path, you might as well blame Tommy and I for not looking after Thea."

"Yeah, well maybe I do!" Oliver bit out, spinning back to look Laurel square in the eye. Laurel and Oliver held fierce eye contact, Laurel not backing down in the face of Oliver's anger.

Laurel's eyes flashed with hurt and Felicity's mouth dropped open in shock at Oliver's words. Oliver immediately knew he had taken it too far. Laurel said softly, but firmly, "I feel awful about what happened to Thea, Oliver, I do. But we were a group of hurt, broken people who were just doing what we could to survive. Thea included. And that man preyed upon that. He's the only one to blame."

Laurel gestured in defeat and said, "Look, I came here because I thought you should be aware that Thea takes to heart what you say and do, and you really hurt her. She is already struggling – she needs support, not blame."

Oliver felt his anger deflate as he considered his little sister. He said softly, "I know."

"I don't know if it's really occurred to you, but her world revolves around you. Her job is working on your campaign, she patrols at night because of the world you pulled her into. Her friends are the team that you founded, including her roommate, who happens to be her brother's ex-girlfriend. The things that were hers – Verdant, Roy, the manor, Walter and Moira – they're gone." Oliver felt his eyes slide closed, feeling weighted down by Laurel's words. "I'm not saying that to hurt you. I am saying that because when the things she loved were lost and she remade her world around you, you gained a new responsibility. You hopping in your car and driving off into the sunset or lashing out at her isn't going to cut it."

Oliver met Laurel's eyes with conviction. "I'm not going anywhere."

Present Day

Oliver had taken Laurel's words from that night to heart. He was ready immediately to seek Thea out and convince her that, despite his history, Oliver wasn't going to leave. But, Laurel and Felicity had also been steadfast in defending Thea's right to have space from Oliver for as long as she chose. Not having contact with his sister, particularly when he knew from Alex that she was struggling, had been driving him a little wild. Diggle had been right – the frustration from his inability to fix things was showing up as anger at those around him. Oliver was aware that he had been anything but easy to be around these last few weeks. Felicity deserved some kind of medal for remaining by his side.

Speaking of Felicity, Oliver glanced over as he paced the floor to observe Felicity taking the opportunity to cut up some vegetables for dinner. Oliver felt certain that Felicity was every bit as anxious as he was: if she was actually feeling calm she would have been trying her best to get Oliver to settle down, not distracting herself with meal prep.

Outside of the loft, Oliver thought he could pick up the faint sound of footsteps. Oliver nearly sprinted to the door, opening it to reveal Laurel, hand raised as she prepared to knock.

"Hey," Laurel offered a quick smile.

"Come on in," Oliver said with forced nonchalance. As Laurel stepped in, Felicity and Laurel exchanged greetings.

"Need an extra set of hands?" Laurel enquired, observing the table before Felicity covered with bowls of chopped veggies along with several untouched vegetables.

"No, thank you," Felicity said quickly. "This can wait. I'd rather talk, if that's okay."

Laurel nodded in agreement. "That's fine."

"But if you'd like, you're welcome to stay for dinner," Felicity offered hastily. "Unless you had plans with Thea? Or, you know, other plans?"

"If it's okay, I thought I'd just stop in to catch up and leave you to your evening."

"Oh, of course! Just – you're always welcome," Felicity said quickly, her babbling reminding Oliver again that he wasn't the only nervous one.

Laurel gave Felicity a small smile. Then she said, "I just wanted to catch up with you – both, I guess, but mostly Oliver - on Thea."

Oliver couldn't contain himself for another moment. "Is Thea okay?"

"Can we sit?" Laurel asked, taking control of the situation. Oliver nodded and gestured to the kitchen table. Silence reigned while Laurel and Oliver took their seats and Felicity pushed the cutting board off to the side. Oliver leaned back in his seat and set his hands, fingers interlocked, on the table in front of him.

"Thea is …" Laurel hedged. "Okay." She sounded uncertain enough that Oliver was anything but convinced. "I'm doing everything I can to be supportive of her decision to have some space from you. In the context of everything she was dealing with, I thought it seemed appropriate. Like she was making some healthy boundaries for herself."

Felicity tilted her head, considering Laurel's words. "You don't think so now?" Felicity asked.

Laurel was clearly trying to find the best way to convey her thoughts. "I think that the boundary was healthy," Laurel said firmly. She continued less certainly, "But … I am beginning to think that she's using 'boundaries' as an excuse to pull away from people."

"You make it sound like she's pulling away from more than just Oliver," Felicity noted cautiously. Oliver was thankful Felicity was there, because this kind of detailed analysis of interpersonal interaction was not his forte. He was ready to get to whatever point Laurel was there to make, but he knew neither Laurel nor Felicity would appreciate being rushed, so he bit his tongue.

Laurel nodded. Then she asked, "Did you know that Thea and Alex split up?"

Oliver nodded, "Alex told me earlier in the week that he thought Thea was going to end things. He implied that he wasn't at fault. Unless you know something different?" Oliver gave Laurel a searching look. He would really hate to have to fire Alex, but he would in a heartbeat if he had hurt Thea.

Laurel shook her head. "I have the impression from Thea that she made a purposeful choice to cut Alex loose because she thought she was too much trouble."

Oliver winced. As much as it hurt to hear, Oliver could relate strongly with the desire to end relationships, both romantic and platonic, because he didn't feel worthy of them. He felt something squirming in him that reminded him that Thea was very much his sister, even in his less positive traits.

Laurel continued, listing, "She's cut you off, broken up with Alex. She barely talks to me at the apartment, but she's nearly always there, mostly in her room. She's not seeing other people and she only interacts with John and Felicity when we're on patrol."

"That's true," Felicity agreed. The 'keep an eye on Thea' crew had fallen apart after that first weekend of Thea's disclosure and fight with Oliver, and Felicity realized that she hadn't really had any interaction recently with Thea.

"Look," Laurel said. "I am really trying not to break Thea's confidence or just tell tales behind her back without purpose, but … I feel like I am starting to see her spiral. She's … holding it together. I mean, she's the daughter of Moira Queen – she puts on a good face." Laurel gave a small shrug. "I just don't want to see it get to the point where we are in crisis mode."

Oliver was looking at Laurel like he was trying to read between the lines. He asked slowly. "Laurel … are we in crisis mode?"

"No," Laurel stated quickly. Oliver tilted his head to ask her to try again. "No," Laurel said again, but less sure this time. Finally, Laurel admitted slowly, "I told you I think she's intentionally pushing people away. I also think she has been staying in the apartment on purpose to protect herself from the temptation to use. But … she was pretty drunk last night in the middle of the night when she didn't think she would be caught. It sounds like she's been having trouble sleeping and nightmares, so she decided to drink instead. I just found her last night – I don't know how many nights she has been drinking."

Oliver took a deep breath and nodded in understanding.

"Look," Laurel said seriously, looking to Felicity, then to Oliver. "Take this from me – once the drinking becomes more than a fun time and becomes a crutch, it becomes way harder to stop. I don't want to see Thea get to the point I did. I don't want her to hit rock bottom before we reach out a hand."

Laurel released a deep breath and then said, "I also think that we remember Thea's party days and we have a little better idea now of what she was running away from even then." Laurel said with a hint of irony, "I'm not sure that Thea has developed any great ways of dealing with all of this."

"You've had the most contact with Thea over these last weeks," Felicity said to Laurel. "She trusted you to talk with you about her experience. What do you think she needs?"

"I'm far from an expert on Thea or how best to help her," Laurel said firmly. "But - I think that Thea needs her brother." Laurel's eyes pierced Oliver through to the core. "And Oliver, I don't mean she needs a protector. She just needs her brother."

"Not that I'm complaining," Lyla noted to her husband, "but I have a feeling that there's more behind your spontaneous request to have Thea join us for dinner than a desire to have someone wear out Sarah for us."

Diggle glanced over at his wife as he pulled the leaves off of cilantro stems, dropping the leaves into a bowl. "I don't know what you're talking about," he said innocently.

"Just like you haven't been a little extra stressed each time you left for patrol this week?" Lyla baited.

John stayed stalwart in his silence, giving Lyla a knowing grin and shaking his head. Not enough for Lyla. It was one thing when John kept work at work. But when "work" was becoming "home", and John was making his "colleagues" into "family", Lyla felt that it impacted her own life enough to be included. Especially when it meant bringing someone into her home with her daughter. Lyla continued to prod, "So what's going on with Thea?"

John clearly picked up that Lyla had made herself part of the "need to know" circle and was lightly laying claim to her informational "spousal privileges". John shot his wife a little side eye before giving in. "You're right – something is up. This is the second time Laurel has called me to keep an eye on Thea when she can't."

"Hmm," Lyla hummed, expecting her feigning of mild interest would inspire John to drop more details in an attempt to pique her curiosity.

"Oliver and Thea had some kind of falling out, so patrol has been … odd. Oliver has been particularly angry. Frankly, I thought that Thea has seemed fine, but I guess Laurel is seeing something I'm not." Digg gave a little shrug.

"What do you suppose it's about?" Lyla asked lightly as if she was describing the weather.

John shot her another look telling her he saw straight through her. "I have a guess," Diggle admitted. "Oliver implied that some kind of harm came to Thea and that he's being expected to let it go." Lyla fixed her husband with a mild look. John said, "I think Oliver became aware of something that happened to Thea, maybe a while ago, and it made him so mad that he flew off the handle and did something that made Thea cut him off. I don't know – maybe pushed Thea too hard for answers, or went after the person who hurt her. I'm not sure. But whatever Oliver did, Laurel and Felicity are on Thea's side."

Lyla added lightly, "And it's going so well that Laurel feels Thea needs babysitters when she's not around."

John looked like he wanted to deny this but after a moment of consideration gave his wife an acknowledging shrug.

"Well," Lyla said, indicating that she was satisfied with the explanation, "I like Thea and she is welcome to as many spontaneous dinners as you want to invite her to. But, if you value sleeping in the bed, you will let me know as soon as you become aware if something is going on with Thea which puts my baby at risk."

"Yes ma'am," John said seriously. Lyla was pleased that John was aware that while Lyla's tone said "jest", her meaning was deathly serious. The Diggle-Michaels household doorbell sounded. "I've got it," Digg said, stooping to kiss Sarah in her highchair where she sat clinking together her blocks.

Lyla listened. "Hey Thea," her husband greeted warmly. "Glad you were able to stop over. It's a new recipe and Lyla and I get a little competitive. We tend to not let the other know if it's actually any good. We need an outside opinion to keep us honest." Thea let out a light laugh that made a little smile cross Lyla's face. "I've never been one to turn down home cooking!"

Diggle and Thea entered the kitchen and Thea gave Lyla a sincere smile, the kind that you would expect to adorn the face of a happy, well-adjusted 21-year-old. The fact that Thea did not fit that description meant that the smile felt a little sweeter to Lyla. Under her tough exterior, Lyla was loathe to admit she had a slightly mushy interior.

That smile got even brighter when Thea caught sight of Sarah in her highchair. "Sarah!" Thea cried out and laughed happily when Sarah looked up at the sound of her name and shot Thea a huge smile complete with only a handful of darling, too-large teeth.

Dinner was lively, with Lyla and Diggle trading their best declassified stories with a comedic flare to entertain their young guest, interspersed by Sarah's babbles and grins to everyone seated around the table. Lyla had to admit that it all felt very domestic and cozy. It still was nearly unbelievable to Lyla that this life - house in the suburbs, a husband, and baby – was her life.

After everyone was finished, Thea helped clean off the table and washed up dishes while Lyla nursed Sarah. Once done, Thea eagerly plopped onto the floor with Sarah and proceeded to entertain her with toys, books, and songs while John and Lyla spent a few blessed minutes perusing the newspaper and cracking open a much-neglected novel.

When Thea declared, "Oh, Sarah – did you have a stinky?" Lyla was surprised to look at her watch to find it was time for Sarah to get ready for bed. Lyla languidly stretched and then patted her husband's leg.

"Hey hon, do you think you can get Sarah ready for bed tonight?"

John's eyebrows raised in a silent question which Lyla declined to answer. After the briefest of moments, John smoothly answered, "Of course." John nimbly rose to his feet and then swung down to scoop up his daughter. "Phew!" he cried out in only slightly dramatized fashion. "Girl, what did you eat?"

Sarah giggled at her dad. Lyla felt like she could see the moment that John melted into a puddle. "Okay, bedtime little lady," Digg declared. "Say 'goodnight' to auntie Thea."

Thea looked startled at the honorary title. Then she grinned gamely and waved at baby Sarah. "Goodnight, hotdog! I'll see you later, okay?" John and Sarah disappeared into the bedroom hallway.

"Hotdog, huh?" Lyla asked with a smile. Thea gave Lyla a nervous glance, as if she thought the nickname had offended Lyla. "I like it. She does have the chunkiest hotdog legs."

Thea laughed at the unexpected comment. A comfortable silence fell over the two women.

"You seem tired," Lyla noted casually, leaning back in her seat. Thea looked over towards Lyla, confusion clear in her eyes again. Lyla wasn't sure why, but Thea always seemed a little on edge around her – Lyla had seen Thea's composure and the polished side which the public saw, but it was like being in Lyla's home threw Thea off somehow. Lyla mused that growing up in a mansion surrounded by other wealthy friends was a far cry from the Michaels-Diggle household. Not to mention the fact that Lyla and Digg were both military and had just shared some pretty wild stories about their professions.

Lyla could see the circles under Thea's eyes even though it was clear that Thea had done her best to blend makeup over them. "Don't think that's any kind of judgement," Lyla clarified. "I know a thing or two about 'tired' because I live with that adorable monster," Lyla noted drily indicating back where Diggle had vanished with Sarah.

Thea nodded briefly, then stood up from the ground and, choosing a seat a ways off from Lyla, sat gently. "I guess I have been running on empty lately," Thea admitted.

"You know, I was pretty used to being sleepless even before Sarah came along," Lyla noted casually, looking down at the newspaper in her hands as if glancing over it. "When I was growing up with my two brothers, my uncle used to watch us sometimes. And every time he did, he always found some reason to get me alone." Lyla still didn't look up, but gave her words a moment to sink in with Thea. "It's wild how that stuff still comes up at night, even as a grown, professional adult."

Lyla flipped open the newspaper with a quick flick of her wrist, folding it over on itself and resting it on her lap. "But I found a job that gives me control," Lyla noted, smoothing out the newspaper's creases with one hand. "I come into contact with a lot of men now and I have authority over most of them. I even get to kick some bad guys in the balls every now and again. That never gets old." Lyla was gratified to hear Thea's sudden expulsion of air as she snorted her amusement.

"But even so, sometimes I close my eyes at night and I still feel like that little girl wishing her big brothers would just come looking for her." Lyla let silence fall into the room and took the time to peruse the article in front of her.

Just when Lyla had given up hope of receiving a response, Thea asked softly, "How did you know?"

Without looking up, Lyla casually stated, "It's a survivor sense. We know our own." Lyla glanced at Thea out of the corner of her eye and could see Thea looked obviously disturbed by the thought. Lyla gave an affectionate eye roll. "I'm just messing with you. There's no 'sense'," Lyla clarified. "John gathered from off-hand comments that the fight between you and your brother was due to some past harm befalling you. I guessed based on my own history. If someone I didn't want to know stuck their nose into my past, I would be pissed off enough to cut them off."

Lyla could see Thea squirming in her seat as if trying to get comfortable. Likely she was uncomfortable with how on point Lyla's speculation was. Lyla felt for the young woman and remembered what it was like to be her age, carrying her own burden in silence. Lyla said, "There is a world of people, both men and women, who survived some of the same stuff you and I have. The stories might have plenty of differences, but what remains the same is this: you can still have a life - a real, full life - in spite of whatever was done to you." Lyla looked up from her paper and looked towards Thea, meeting her eyes. Lyla said, voice firm, "You survived. And you're kicking ass everyday just by getting up and moving forward." Thea's eyes began to glint in the lamplight and Lyla felt a minute where she was sure her own eyes could have filled in response, but Lyla managed to will them back.

"Do you have your phone?" Lyla asked. Thea nodded. Lyla held out an expectant hand towards Thea. Thea crinkled her brow, but readily tossed Lyla her phone. Lyla quickly opened contacts and punched in her details. Lyla then tossed the phone back to Thea. "Now, if you have a sleepless night, or a rough day, you can call me so I can go through it with you."

Thea looked at Lyla with sparkling eyes. "Thank you," Thea said softly. "Thank you for the offer and for … getting it." Lyla shot Thea a warm smile. Thea looked a little nervous again. "Could you … not tell Digg?" Lyla gave an agreeable nod. The two women fell back into a comfortable silence.

Later that night when Thea was safely home, John asked into the dark, "Where is your uncle now?"

"Had an accident," Lyla noted casually. "You can never be too careful around Christmas lights."

Lyla heard her husband give a grunt of approval. Then she felt his arms coming around her and husband and wife settled into a comfortable silence. Lyla mused again – she really had everything.