In the Open

CONTENT:
Rating: Mature
Flavor: Drama
Language: yes
Violence: aftermath
Nudity: none
Sex: none
Other: none
Spoilers: Season Two, first half

Author's Note:

Okay, somewhere between Thea's reaction and Oliver's reveal to his family about being the vigilante... I lost the plot. Instead of leaving it sitting here and languishing for all eternity, I've posted what I have, and some end notes for you to ponder.

Sorry, but that's all I got!

Props to the DIO fans! \,,/,

In the Open

===#===

The police came and went. Oliver feared what might happen if they did manage to uncover the Dark Archer, but truth be told, the Queen family could use an army on their side right about now. Merlyn couldn't take them all on. There was safety in numbers.

The coroner's office removed the bodies of the eight bodyguards Moira had hired. Merlyn had killed them all, stealthily, like an assassin. Oliver shuddered. The man had no reverence for human life.

The paramedics had cleaned up and bandaged Oliver's face as best they could. He refused to be taken to the hospital for further treatment. He did accept a bag of frozen lima beans his mother had gotten out of the freezer. He held it gingerly against the bridge of his nose to keep the swelling down.

Oliver sat in his wheelchair at the kitchen table with Thea and their mother. The seat was a few inches lower than the standard chairs, and he felt like a little kid sitting at the grown-up table.

Thea stared vacantly, her face white, drawn. Her eyes were dull. Moira set a mug of hot tea in front of her, then pushed it between her hands, wrapped Thea's fingers around the warm ceramic.

"Thea," Moira said when her daughter still didn't react. "Sweetheart, I know how upsetting this is, but you mustn't let it affect you. Your father-"

"Is a mass-murderer." Thea's voice started out as dull as her eyes, but spiraled higher in fear-tainted distress. "A homicidal, deranged, soulless lunatic!"

"No!" Moira gripped her wrist to ground Thea before she broke down completely. "You listen to me. Robert is your father in every way that matters. He held you from the first minute you were born. He loved you and cared for you, he raised you to become the young woman you are. This... biological happenstance doesn't mean anything. It was just a random mistake."

"Yeah. Your mistake."

Moira flinched at the anger in Thea's voice. Oliver saw this circling around again to when Thea was angry at their mother. He couldn't watch them go through that again. "Thea," he said quietly, his voice still a dull honk.

"Yes," Moira admitted, her eyes level with her daughter's. "It is my mistake. One I must bear the rest of my life. But Thea, you are innocent."

Thea was the first to look away. Perhaps she, too, recalled a few of her less innocent escapades. Then she said, "Why is he doing this? Why did he do this to Ollie?" She looked at him with misery in her eyes. "What does he want?"

Oliver shared another look with Moira. Which did not go unnoticed. "You two know something!" Thea snapped. "Dammit, I'm not a little girl any more!" She shot a glare at Moira. "My life could depend on this. Our lives! You can't just keep me in the dark."

Moira gave Oliver a pleading look, but he had to side with his sister on this one. He turned to her. "He wants you. He said something about an inheritance, about plans he has for you."

Thea gaped at him. It took her a moment to gather her voice. "No," she said shakily. She took a breath. "Oh, fuck, no!" She turned to her mother. "Give me my gun back!"

"Thea-"

"Mom," Oliver interrupted gently. "Give her the gun."

Moira looked at him, here eyes filled with sorrow. He gave her a steady look. They didn't need words to communicate. What would you want, if he were after you? She looked down. After a moment, she got up and went to get the revolver. She brought it to Thea.

Thea took it and held it tightly, keeping it at hand as if she'd never let go. "We have to get out of here," she said, either settled with calm, or completely in full shock.

"No," Moira protested.

Oliver said, "Mom, it's not safe here. You told me that. Tonight proved that."

Misery creased her face, but she shook her head. "It's safer than anywhere else. We can't go out into the open."

"We can't stay here!" Thea insisted. "We can go to Europe, or Australia."

"No, sweetheart; he'll find us. Malcolm has means - even without his public company."

"What are we going to do? What if he comes back?"

Moira pressed her fingertips to her brow. The fatigue of the night showed on her face. "We just have to hold out a few more days. A man is coming."

"What man?"

"A man who can kill Malcolm."

Thea and Oliver both stared a moment. Then he said, "You hired an assassin?"

"Not just an assassin. The assassin."

"The League of Assassins?" Oliver blurted a bit too loudly. He winced and shifted his bag of lima beans.

"How do you know about them?" Moira asked with a frown.

"I've... heard of them." His mother looked about to ask another question, so he deflected it. "I'm going to call Diggle, get him to come over here. Thea, you call Roy." He pulled out his phone.

"Mr. Diggle no longer works for us," Moira said. "He's already failed at his job one time too many."

"No, he hasn't." He shook his head. He didn't have time to explain... not that he could. He dialed and connected with Diggle. He and Felicity were safe; Oliver filled them in on what was going on. "They'll be here soon," he said after he'd hung up. He passed the phone to a waiting Thea.

"Oliver, I don't know what you hope to accomplish. Bringing your friends here will only put them in danger."

"They already are in danger. But the more people we have around, the harder it will be for Merlyn to do anything."

"Yeah," Thea added in gloomy sarcasm, "let's throw a party. Oh, wait... no one came to the last one."

===X===

Sorry, yes, I know. Lost the plot. But! I can tell you how it ends. Depending on how much of a Dark Archer fanboy you are... (fanboy/fangirl, whatever.)

1: Malcolm Merlyn mops the floor with the League of Assassins, kills Ra's Al Ghul and stages a coup of Nanda Parbat. He terrorizes Moira, torments Oliver, and absconds with Thea.

OR

2: Everybody teams up against Merlyn, and in the huge final battle, Oliver wheels up in his chair with his bow and arrow and shoots him in the ass. ...Hang on...

Bloodsong: Brain, what? Shoots him in the ass? Wouldn't it be more effective to shoot him in the chest or something?

Bloodsong's Brain: No. After all that crap Merlyn did to him, Oliver definitely shoots him in the ass!

Ooookay, then, there you have it. And, as our mysterious Guest suggested, Oliver then goes on to find some mirakuru and get healed up and continue on with his life. And everybody lives happily ever after.