Chapter 8: Breaking Away

Present Day – September 6, 2016

Thea leaned back on the Loft's couch listening to Oliver bang around in the kitchen. Thea peered down at her watch. Satisfied that Felicity taking her sweet time getting ready upstairs would not make them late, Thea closed her eyes, soaking in the sunshine that flowed in from the floor-to-ceiling windows.

"Late night?" Thea opened her eyes to see Oliver was now standing in front of her. She realized she must have dozed off.

Thea languidly stretched and said, "Kind of." She shot her brother a smile. "But believe me, I will be wide awake for lunch. I'm excited to see Raisa and get to meet her family."

"You know," Oliver said, his casual voice belying the tenseness that Thea could see around his eyes as he took a seat on the coffee table in front of her, "there's this rumor of a new vigilante in the Glades." Thea's heart stopped. "It sounds like she's some defender of women. Uses a whip and a sword. Is thwarting assaults, domestic violence. Locking pimps and johns up in jail."

Thea did her best to appear casually interested in the information. "Wow," Thea said, her eyebrows raised. "She sounds pretty badass."

"She's got a little sidekick too – the other woman doesn't fight anyone, she just always appears and gets the victims set in the right direction. Giving a little advice on what to share with the police. Providing information on the rape crisis center. Telling them to find a support person."

"That sounds like very practical help," Thea noted casually. "Stop the crime, provide an advocate."

"Thea," Oliver said, easygoing tone gone. Oliver was clearly frustrated by Thea's refusal to engage with his unspoken questions. "Enough games. You're the new vigilante!"

Thea, declining to acknowledge the accusations, said conversationally, "I hear her name's 'Arae' – like, fluffy clouds 'airy', except like the Greek 'Arae', the avenger of women. If you're ever talking about her, you should drop that nugget in."

"Thea!" Oliver exclaimed. He lowered his voice and said, almost gently, "I just don't understand; I thought you retired as Speedy to focus on building your life outside of crime-fighting! To be a normal twenty-one-year-old."

"To be fair, it was a somewhat forced retirement," Thea noted drily waving her left hand at Oliver. Thea glanced at her mostly healed hand, seeing it anew. She could see the gap where a bit of the knuckle of her index finger was gone, and underneath that, the gauge out of the hand's muscle which had tissue scarring over-top, but that would never lie even with her hand without cosmetic surgery. Her thumb was a little dumpy; her little nub. She was lucky that of the remaining nub, which started beneath where her thumb's knuckle once was, she maintained enough nerve endings and muscle to still be opposable. It was not enough, however, to hold a bow.

Oliver looked upward in frustration. "It was not, Thea. If you had wanted to still go out as Speedy, we would have found a way to make that happen! We have Felicity, and Curtis, and Cisco who could have helped design something if you had so much as breathed that you wanted it. You never once said that your hand was the reason you hung it up!"

Thea looked at her brother, confusion on her face. "If you were okay with me still going out as Speedy, then why are you mad about Arae?"

"Because, Thea!" Oliver said heatedly. "Because when you go out there as Arae, you're by yourself, without a team to support you! You don't have Felicity on comms to watch your back or get you help, and you don't have me or Digg to cover you in a jam!" He glanced down at her hand and then looked her back at her intently. "Your hand doesn't concern me – you can defend yourself with or without it. If I had any doubts, Arae has certainly proved it. But Thea, who will be there if some pimp pulls a weapon you missed? Or has some goons the next block over?"

Thea closed her eyes. This is why she hadn't wanted Oliver to be a part of her new world – she had a new focus, a new passion, and she didn't want anyone's permission or say-so to do it.

"Look," Thea said defensively. "Arae's not targeting gangsters, or people with arsenals, or soldiers with hand-to-hand combat skills. It's all, or nearly all, one-on-one takedowns with dumb, bully types. And she's doing a lot of good!" Thea leaned forward in her seat gesturing with her hands. "Did you know McKenzie and Shanique were both rescued by Arae? McKenzie had a trash boyfriend who regularly beat her when he was drunk and Shanique did nothing more than be a woman walking down a public street when a predator was near." She searched her brother's eyes, looking for acknowledgement. She was immediately disappointed.

"Thea, this has to be one of the least-considered things you have ever done!" Oliver exclaimed, ignoring Thea's arguments about the good Arae was doing. "You are going to get hurt. It's not about 'if', it's 'when'!"

Thea was getting fed up with the lecture and snipped back something Malcolm had once taught her. "Pain is inevitable; suffering is optional."

Oliver stood up, frustrated. "No, pain is not inevitable!" Oliver said sharply. "Come on, Thea. You have your entire life ahead of you - you don't need to shorten it by fighting crime on your own."

Thea felt the sting of those words, understanding more than Ollie could that her life was going to be shorter than she wanted, crime-fighting or not. Thea stood up too, refusing to back down. "You have no place to judge me for taking my lived experiences and using that pain to protect others. That's what you do every day, and by god, if you're not a self-righteous ass about it."

"Woah woah woah," Felicity's voice came from the stairs as she rushed down to reach the feuding Queen siblings. "Why are we fighting? We don't need to fight before lunch with your old housekeeper."

Oliver turned to Felicity as his wife's feet hit the first floor. He gestured at Thea. "Thea is Arae."

Felicity looked unimpressed, raising an eyebrow at her husband as she approached the living room with the arguing siblings. "Um, yeah. Did you think there was someone else wielding a sword and locking up perverts?" Felicity turned to Thea. "I've seen some sketches. Arae's suit is wickedly cool. I like her color scheme, too – the black with maroon accents. Chef's kiss," Felicity said putting her fingers to her lips to mime launching a kiss outward with her hand.

Thea shot a grateful smile at her sister-in-law, grateful to have her support. "No, Felicity, it's not cool!" Oliver said, equal parts angry with Thea and distressed to find his wife was not on his side. "Thea is going to get herself killed!"

"I will not!" Thea said at the same time as Felicity said, "Stop being dramatic."

"Look," Felicity continued. "You hate that you can't have Thea's back when she's out there as Arae. And that's very sweet and big brothery of you. But there's also probably a little bit of you that feels out of control knowing that Thea is doing this without your help." Oliver scrunched his brows together, disliking what Felicity was saying, but listening anyway. "You became a vigilante without Thea's approval. You make choices and live your life without her permission. Thea is perfectly capable of making her own choices. And this is her choice. To do something really amazing, protecting women who need someone in their corner."

Oliver paced behind the table scrubbing at his face with his hands. "She's doing it alone," Oliver said to Felicity. "You remember how that worked out for me."

"Eh, I have a feeling that Arae's got her own eye-in-the-sky, am I right Thea?" Felicity asked with a knowing smile towards Thea. "How is Sin doing these days?"

Thea smiled back, not confirming or denying Sin's assistance in Arae's vigilantism. But honestly, where would she be without Sin?

"Oliver, this is one battle you're going to lose," Felicity said. She glanced down at her phone for the time. "Look, you two, make up with each other, because I am not going to be your buffer during lunch today."

Oliver begrudgingly walked over to Thea and said, "I am proud of you, I swear." He sighed. "I just want you safe."

Thea met Oliver's sad eyes and tried to show him she understood. She said gently, "You can't protect me forever, Ollie – you never could." Oliver met her eyes and gave her a small, sad smile in response. Thea knew every time she had been hurt, that Ollie had felt responsible – but it hadn't stopped bad things from happening. Thea continued, "But I promise, so long as I have any say in it, I'll always come back to you."

Oliver pulled her into a hug. "You had better," he said softly.

Past – May 24, 2016 – 4 months ago

"Your hand is healing well," Dr. Henson commented, rebandaging Thea's hand. "Where did you have your hand seen at?"

"Starling General Hospital," Thea said before hissing a little at the sharp prick of pain Dr. Henson's touch produced.

"Huh," Dr. Henson said, perplexed. "Typically the ED docs at Starling Gen send me a heads up when they see one of patients. I didn't get anything on this."

Thea had a feeling she knew what had happened. But it was only worth saying something if she really had to. "Look," Thea said nervously. "You would guess I'll probably be seeing more of the inside of Starling General with my HIV like it is?"

Dr. Henson considered her question, then nodded. "I would say that's likely." Thea figured she would likely need emergency treatment in the future due to her HIV, but it didn't feel great to have it confirmed.

"Then I think I know why Starling didn't give you a heads up," Thea admitted, feeling her heart begin to race. "And it probably makes sense for you and Starling to be on the same page." Thea took a breath, steadying her nerves. "My name is Thea Dearden Queen. My date of birth is January 21, 1995."

Dr. Henson sat in silence for a moment, clearly trying to wrap his mind around the information. "So Mia Dearden is-"

"An alias," Thea admitted.

"And older than Thea Queen," Dr. Henson said seriously. Thea met his eyes knowing he was putting everything together. "So, when you first came in, you weren't sixteen-years-old -" Thea did her best to hold his gaze as he stumbled onto the truth. "You were thirteen." His eyes met hers with sympathy. Thea nodded slowly.

"You'll excuse me for knowing a little bit about the Queens from the news," Dr. Henson said slowly, "but we would have met after your father's death. So that man with you -"

"Was not my father," Thea agreed.

Dr. Henson asked gently, "Who was he?"

Thea took a breath in and admitted, "He was my teacher. And also the man who was pimping me out to other adult men."

Dr. Henson didn't look surprised, just sad. "And I missed it."

"If you had suspected it, I would have denied it," Thea reassured.

Dr. Henson seemed lost in his thoughts, and then laughed suddenly. "You're going to think this is crazy, but do you remember nurse Deb?" Thea thought back and nodded, picturing a middle-aged woman in brightly colored scrubs with cartoon characters or animals on them. "She used to swear up and down that she thought you were Thea Queen. We used to make fun of her for it." Thea smiled a little at the idea that someone had been so near to the truth but was teased out of it.

"Early on, that man, your teacher - he stopped coming with you." Dr. Henson noted.

Thea nodded. "It turns out the staff at my house suspected something untoward was going on and solicited the help of a family friend. That friend, Walter, became my stepfather." Dr. Henson nodded that he was following. "I only recently found out that he was behind my teacher vanishing from my life. Walter managed to get him out of the state and arrested. He's in prison now."

"And your family didn't know about your HIV," Dr. Henson guessed.

Thea nodded, remembering back to those scary, confusing days. "It was hard to get the money together for antiretrovirals as a thirteen-year-old."

"Which is why you stopped taking them," Dr. Henson surmised. "You were a very sick young lady before we figured it out." Oh, Thea remembered. She remembered how she had sat in this very exam room, fever raging, struggling to sit upright, and still rejecting Dr. Henson's help. Dr. Henson seemed to remember the same thing, as he said, "I seem to remember you were adamant that you didn't want to be admitted to the hospital for antibiotics. You said your dad didn't have the money."

Thea laughed drily, "It would have been pretty hard to explain away a hospitalization to my mom." She could still feel the panic from thinking she was about to be caught – that fear had somehow far surpassed her fear of dying.

Dr. Henson looked at her sympathetically. "You could have died," he said gently.

And this was why she still came back to this clinic, even as an adult with health insurance. She knew Dr. Henson cared about her and wanted to see her healthy and well. How could she leave the place where they looked after her like their own?

"You saved me, giving me free medication until I could pay again," Thea said, the gratitude of her words springing tears into her eyes. "Walter freed me, and you saved my life. Everything good in my life since has only been possible because of the two of you." Dr. Henson's eyes filled along with hers and he squeezed her arm in acknowledgement.

They sat in a brief, understanding silence. Dr. Henson cleared his throat and then said, "Well, let's keep this honesty going. You missed an iron infusion last week."

Thea nodded in agreement and added, "And I missed two days of my new ART meds."

Dr. Henson gave her a nervous look and asked, "Do I want to know what happened?"

Thea gave an embarrassed smile. "A relative of mine was a Damien Darhk follower. They didn't know about my treatment and kidnapped me to bring me on Darhk's Ark."

"Oh god!" Dr. Henson exclaimed. "Nothing is ever dull with you! Is that how you amputated your thumb?" Thea confirmed it with a wry smile.

"Is it going to be a problem?" Thea asked anxiously. "I worried about missing doses the whole time I was there."

"Honestly, we don't have enough information yet on whether the new therapy is working. Your viral count has still risen a few points and you've lost another few T-cells. Honestly some of that could have to do with your body trying to fight this bronchitis you picked up."

Thea felt her stomach clench. She had been afraid Malcolm's little stunt wouldn't bode well, but the confirmation scared her.

"Look, try not to worry. I know you, and, so far as it's in your control, you keep up with treatment. And the iron infusions are bringing up your iron levels."

Thea nodded dully. Dr. Henson said gently, "I know this is discouraging, but there's still a lot you can do. You need to cut stress from your life – stress can impact your immune health. Keep eating well, exercise daily. Practice consistent infection control – lots of hand-washing and alcohol-based hand-sanitizer, avoiding people who you know are sick, and avoid eating uncooked or under-cooked foods. Okay?"

Thea was introspective as she took the bus out of the Glades and towards downtown Star City where the campaign offices were preparing for the mayoral election in two days. Here she was, a month after her first really bad clinic appointment and Thea didn't feel any better about her future and her health than she had a month ago – if anything, Thea felt more discouraged.

Could she have done more? Yes, she had been as consistent with taking her antiretrovirals as she could, and she had shown up faithfully for iron infusions and bloodwork. But the past month had been incredibly stressful with the campaign as they pushed towards the finish line.

Even worse had been Laurel's near-fatal stabbing by Damien Darhk amidst the Iron Heights prison break. Thea had done her best to support Laurel as she recovered, making sure Laurel had food and meds and a shoulder to lean on as she ambulated around the apartment. Meanwhile, as a member of Team Arrow, she had burned the midnight oil trying to catch Darhk's trail and foil whatever he was planning. When they failed, she found herself fighting for the fate of the world on her own inside Damien's Ark. And frankly, this past week recovering from the amputation of her thumb while fighting bronchitis hadn't been a whole lot of fun.

So, she had a lot of stress she could cut out. She now knew what she had to do, even if it hurt her.

She steeled herself to tell Oliver that Speedy was retiring. Her life depended on it.

Present Day – September 6, 2016

Oliver did his best to let go of his concerns about Thea's night-time activities for the time being and to enjoy the time reconnecting with Raisa. It was the first time that Oliver had met Raisa's adult children, Dimitri and Mariya. Felicity seemed to be connecting well with Mariya, who was involved with computer coding at a software company. He had even asked that Dimitri, a paralegal, send Oliver his resume so that Oliver could pass it along to Laurel in the District Attorney's office.

Oliver was gratified to find that Dimitri and Mariya seemed to have taken in stride Raisa's role in caring for the Queen family and didn't seem to have any hostility towards he and Thea for taking so much of their mother's time. Of course, age may have softened feelings of jealousy and hurt if they had existed.

As for Raisa, she seemed thrilled to have her children getting along with the Queen siblings, taking turns bragging on her children's accomplishments and eagerly asking about Oliver and Thea's lives.

Raisa was delighted by Felicity, and Felicity's presence seemed to act as a nice buffer for any discomfort there may have been over lunch. Felicity's constant, light chatter loosened everyone up and even produced some sincere laughter. Oliver would consider lunch a success.

He smiled as he watched Raisa's eyes light up looking at pictures of Thea's office and hearing about Thea opening her own business. Dimitri and Mariya were closer to Oliver's age, with Dimitri a couple of years older. There was no doubt seeing Raisa delight in Thea's success that Thea was Raisa's baby. That was never clearer than when dessert had come out and was millionaire's shortbread – Thea's favorite.

Oliver heard a little snort and turned to see Mariya watching her mother and Thea. Mariya caught Oliver's eye, gave a little eyeroll and smiled. Oliver politely smiled back.

As they prepared to depart, Felicity and Thea exchanged pleasantries with Mariya and Dimitri at the door while Oliver stood apart with Raisa. He looked over the petite woman who had made his childhood warm with wonderful meals, interest in his homework and activities, tender care when he was sick, and who was always excited when he came home.

He knew she had been the same for Thea. He could clearly recall days he returned home from school to hear little Thea's giggles from the kitchen where she was "helping" Raisa cook; or the way Raisa seemed to know when Thea was having a bad day before anyone else in the family did and dropped gentle hints to get him or his mother to look in on her. Now knowing how checked out their mother had been after the sinking of the Queen's Gambit, he wondered if Raisa wasn't the only thing that had made Queen Manor a home for Thea while Oliver was gone and before Walter entered the picture.

And while Walter had never confirmed it, Oliver was positive that it had been Raisa who had noticed what Thea was going through with her teacher and intervened to save her from further abuse.

Oliver leaned in to accept a tight hug from Raisa, as she said emotionally, "Mr. Oliver. I am so glad you came." Oliver could feel her love for him through the warmth transforming her formal words.

Oliver replied, still holding her tight, "Thank you, for everything." He pulled back and met her eyes and said meaningfully, "Thank you for protecting my sister."

Raisa's eyes grew large and she darted a look over towards Thea and the others. She looked back and said quietly, "Mr. Phillips was the devil. To hurt your sister that way …." She shook her head, eyes sad. "Never mind," she said softly, patting Oliver's cheek with a gentle hand. "Look at you both. Grown up so well."

It felt like Oliver had been dashed in cold water. Nearly a year had passed since Oliver had found out about a teacher sexually abusing his sister when she was a preteen. Thea and Walter had been tight-lipped about the man's name and Thea had forbidden Oliver from doing any further digging. Both Thea and Walter had assured Oliver that the man was in prison. But a name – he had never had a name.

It took everything in Oliver to finish his farewells and climb into the car to drive home with Felicity and Thea. Oliver's head was spinning and his heart pounded. Oliver numbly agreed to drop Thea off at her apartment in the Glades without even making a comment about her safety in her chosen neighborhood. He managed to give appropriate "Yeses" and "Umhms" as Felicity kept up a steady stream of chatter.

As they almost reached home, Oliver told Felicity he needed to get a few things done at the office and asked if he could drop Felicity at home. After Felicity disappeared into the front doors of the Loft's building, Oliver turned the car away from City Hall and towards the Bunker.

An hour later, Oliver had pulled up driver's license photos of Tim Phillips, his career highlights from St. Cecelia's where he had come into contact with Thea, and his trial and conviction in Central City. Oliver was deep into a court transcript when he heard a throat clear.

"Oliver. Jonas. Queen. What do you think you are doing?" Oliver looked over the screens to see his very pissed-looking wife.

Oliver began trying to minimize screens as Felicity's heels clicked as she approached the Hub, "I'm just looking up some things for work."

"Oliver," Felicity said in exasperation. "Look behind you."

Oliver turned around and felt his face color. There were screens behind his head mirroring what he was viewing on his screens. Oliver knew he was caught and decided to stay silent.

"So, what? You and Thea have spent months and months rebuilding your relationship after the last time you went behind her back, and within eight hours you decide, 'eff this'? First you push her about being a vigilante like you, and then you do this," Felicity said, gesturing angrily at the screens. "Did I marry a masochist? Do you just like being in the center of drama?"

Oliver was embarrassed he had been caught so easily, but he was honestly not ashamed that he was looking the guy up. "Look, Felicity," Oliver defended. "Raisa gave me his name. I didn't ask for it, or go looking for it."

Felicity's voice was low and serious. "And Thea was abundantly clear about what she would do if she found out you were digging into this again."

"Then she's not going to find out!" Oliver said hotly. "Felicity, this is the bastard that destroyed my sister! Before today he was just a nameless boogeyman, today he's a flesh and blood human. What was I supposed to do? This pervert is living out his life behind bars in Central City and she's out here, every day, trying to live with what he did!"

"And what difference does knowing his name make, Oliver?" Felicity demanded. "What difference does it make to know what he looks like, or where he was born, or what fricking subject he taught at Thea's school? You knowing that won't make what happened not have happened, and it won't make him any less alive or behind bars."

"Who's Tim Phillips?" Oliver and Felicity froze in the middle of their argument and turned to see Diggle standing below, arms crossed and looking up at them. Felicity reached out a finger towards the keyboard, punching a button, and the screens went black. Oliver stuttered and said, "Just someone I'm keeping eyes on."

Digg gave them a steady look and asked, "This the guy who hurt Thea?"

Felicity acted confused. "Whaaa…? I don't- ?" Digg walked towards the Hub and in moments was standing with Felicity and Oliver. He leaned back, partially sitting on the railing that ran around the Hub.

"Despite the way you both are acting, I'm no idiot." Digg said drily. "And I can put together a story: Phillips is in jail for kiddie porn and sexual contact with a minor. You both are out here yelling at each other."

Oliver tried to act like he wasn't following, shaking his head with his brow furrowed. "I don't -"

"Look, Oliver," Digg said. "Back in the winter you were talking about someone hurting Thea, angry enough to burn the world down. There's only a handful of things that people won't say out loud that could piss off someone - an older brother - like that." Digg gave a small shrug, admitting, "Not to mention I overheard Thea talking with Lyla."

Oliver's shoulders drooped and he said wearily, "Digg …"

"I'm not going to weigh in on whatever it is that you two are arguing about," Digg said, raising a finger to stop Felicity as she opened her mouth to explain. "But I won't have any trouble falling asleep at night if you go medieval on his ass."

Oliver let out a small snort of humor. Felicity glared at Oliver.

Oliver sighed and said, "Honestly Digg, I don't think I could lay a hand on him without snapping his neck." Digg nodded in understanding. "You gathered that she was a kid?" Digg nodded slowly. "And it went on for … too long." Oliver drew in a breath and looked up to the ceiling. "But Thea doesn't want me involved. She doesn't want me to know anything more. Which, as you can imagine, makes me think that I've only scratched the surface. But him showing up dead in prison would make for a short trip to me not having any kind of relationship with Thea. So, Felicity is right." Oliver looked at the dark screen. "I've got to … leave it alone."