Title: Survive the Night
Author: QueencestQueen
Rating: R (for violence, indicative of the Purge Universe)
Summary:This is not a test. This is your Emergency Broadcast System announcing the commencement of the Annual Purge sanctioned by the U.S. Government. […] Commencing at the siren, any and all crime, including murder, will be legal for 12 continuous hours. […] Blessed be our New Founding Fathers and America, a nation reborn. May God be with you all!

It's the night of the annual Purge and for the first time in her life, Thea Queen is concerned that their home security system won't keep them all safe.

Pairing(s): Oliver/Thea, Walter/Moira, Roy/Thea, Tommy/Laurel (mentioned), Robert/Isabel (mentioned), Oliver/Shado (mentioned briefly), Slade/Shado (implied)
Warnings: Incest, Violence, Blood, Character Death(s), Attempted Sexual Assault
Notes:

- This meant to be posted on Halloween, but due to circumstances, I'm having to post early.

- Not for Roy Harper fans. Seriously, if you love him, just don't.

- Italicized statements are thoughts.

Spoilers: This fanfiction is in an alternate universe from the show, but everything below this point might contain spoilers for anything and everything up to and including Season Two, Episode 13, Heir to the Demon.
Timeline Setting: In Season Two, after Moira is released from legal prosecution and has decided to run for Mayor.
Canon Changes: Okay guys, so in order to fit ARROW into the universe of the Purge, some changes to canon had to be made.

PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE STARTING THIS FANFICTION (because you might be confused otherwise.)

- Because there is less than .01% of crime in the nation, thanks to the Purge laws, there is no need for Oliver to be the Vigilante on a daily basis.

- As such Oliver only acts as the Vigilante, seeking justice against the individuals in his father's ledger, on the night of the Purge.

- With no crime, Roy is never kidnapped and so he wasn't rescued by the Vigilante and thus never became obsessed with finding his hooded rescuer.

- Since Oliver doesn't dig in his father's book on a daily basis he is not aware of the Undertaking. Moira came to the decision to announce Malcolm's evil plot all on her own, but without Oliver to push her into it, she does so later than she did in canon.

- The result of this change is twofold: on one hand, Laurel didn't have to time to run to C.N.R.I. and as such, Tommy didn't have to save her by sacrificing himself so Tommy is alive and well.

- On the other hand, however, the delay in coming clean (and without the Vigilante to disable one of Malcolm's weapons) means that more residents of the Glades perished in the attack.

Thea's eyes were glued to the countdown clock on her cellphone, the seconds ticking away without fault. It was coming closer now; only fifteen minutes until it began. The dread weighed heavy in her stomach. There's no concrete threat, she reminded herself, only rumors. Yet, she couldn't erase the worries from her mind.

"You shouldn't watch the clock like that, Speedy." Oliver's voice drew her attention as it always had. "Commencement will come whether you spend the fifteen minutes staring at the clock or not."

He was dressed head to toe in his green hooded outfit that she'd only seen him wear once before. Disappointment swelled in her chest. "You're going to Purge?"

It wasn't so much a question as it was a statement of fact. He'd gone out, dressed in that same outfit, last year with a little book in hand and a longbow on his back. She hadn't said anything last year. It was his right, according to the new founding fathers, to 'unleash the beast,' but that was then. Circumstances were different this year. "You can't go, Ollie. We need you here."

Oliver sighed softly, taking a seat on the bed beside her. "I have to. There are things you don't understand, Thea. There are people that need to be Purged for the good of the city."

The way he spoke so casually about such a heavy moral action was frightening. He'd never Purged before last year, but ever since he came home, he was determined to rid Starling City of those who would do it harm on the one night that he could legally do so. Why is he suddenly so determined to Purge? Does he have that much pent up rage?

"There's a whole community of people outside this house who blame Mom for what happened last Purge. The things I've heard…"

"It's just big talk, Speedy, that's all." He scooted up her bed as gracefully as possible and wrapped his right arm around her shoulders from behind, gently tugging her into his side. "No one's getting in this house tonight. You're safe. You, Walter and Mom."

Thea sighed and rested her head on his shoulder. It isn't so simple. "No one's ever come at us, not like this."

After what Malcolm Merlyn did last Purge, the people of the Glades needed someone to blame, but by the laws of the annual Purge, he couldn't be prosecuted for his actions. Because Moira had warned people before the yearly night of lawlessness began, though, she had been tried for her foreknowledge of the attack on the Glades. Thankfully, she'd been acquitted, but from the mumbles Thea had heard, the people of the Glades weren't planning to forgive so swiftly. "Please, just stay. This year just stay. For me?"

He was silent for a few seconds and Thea worried that he'd deny her request. Is his mission that important? More important then us? "Alright, for you, I'll stay…" Oliver brushed the hair back behind her left ear before pressing a kiss to her forehead.

"We have got the top state-of-the-art security system, Thea. No one is getting inside unless we let them in, okay?" He pulled her a little closer to him, "We'll be fine. I promise."

You cannot promise that, Thea thought, but she didn't dare say it aloud. She knew what he was trying to do and she appreciated the effort. He stayed there, holding her, for a minute or two more. When Oliver stood, he held her cellphone in his hand. "No more clock-watching for you."

"Ollie!" She shouted in feigned protest as he disappeared down the hall towards his room, presumably to change out of his Purge getup. A small smile tipped her lips upwards as she unfolded her body to lay upon her bed. It was a horrible night, of course, but as he always did, Oliver had brightened her mood considerably. Even the droning, repetitious warnings, of the coming Purge on the television, as someone turned it on elsewhere in mansion, couldn't dispel the good mood that was left in Oliver's wake.

She stood from her bed and started to make her way across the room. Her bedroom door opened with a slight creak as Thea made her way out into the hallway on bare feet. She took the stairs two at a time as she called out for her brother, "Okay, Ollie. I get it. Give me my phone back." She had to check in with her friends and make sure everyone was home safe before everything started.

By the time she entered the living room the Commencement warnings were being broadcast on the high definition television. She flopped down on the couch between her mother and brother. Walter gave her a small, strained smile and Thea gave him a responding look before her verdant eyes turned to look at the television with the rest of them.

Release the beast and Purge in our American streets. Your New Founding Fathers encourage your participation. This is not a test. This is your Emergency Broadcast System announcing the commencement of the Annual Purge sanctioned by the U.S. Government. Weapons of Class Four and lower have been authorized for use during the Purge. All other weapons are restricted. Government officials of ranking 10 have been granted immunity from the Purge and shall not be harmed. Commencing at the siren, any and all crime, including murder, will be legal for 12 continuous hours. Police, fire and emergency medical services will be unavailable until tomorrow morning at 7:00 AM when the Purge concludes. Blessed be our New Founding Fathers and America, a nation reborn. May God be with you all!

For several seconds, the family sat in silence; each of them watching as the varied parts of their security system kicked into place. The windows were sheltered, made practically impenetrable by reinforced steel panels that descended from above the glass. The doors, too, were sealed and their lawn, with hidden safeguards and various pitfalls. They were as safe as money could buy. Thea still jumped when she heard what sounded like firecrackers though. Oliver reached out to steady her.

"Someone's probably just firing off a few test shots before they head out." Walter assured her, but even said in his calming British tone, Thea wasn't entirely convinced by Walter's theory. "No one's done any purging on this side of town in years." That was true. Back in tenth grade her entire history class had each been made to do a report on their neighborhood's past with the Purge. What she had discovered was that no one in their little community had died of purge-related violence since before she was born.

"Why don't we all watch a movie? Something distracting enough that we'll forget there is anything going on." Moira reached behind Thea to grasp Oliver's forearm. "Why don't you choose a movie, dear?"

While she and Oliver began to look through their digital movie collection, Walter and Thea headed for the kitchen. He made the popcorn and she pursued their numerous beverage options. She set the items down on the island and observed her stepfather. He seemed every bit the polished man that she'd come to know over the years, but there was something ever so slightly off in his stance as he waited for the microwave to ding.

"Have you ever Purged?"

He froze for a second and shifted his feet to look at her, "Yes, once." Walter paused as if considering whether or not to elaborate further. "In my family at the age of eighteen, the Purge was treated as a rite of passage. My father considered it retribution for what our ancestors went through. I had no choice in the matter."

Thea wanted to know more, but she could see, in the way that he held himself, that he didn't wish to discuss it further. Instead, she scooped up the cans and bottles and headed back into the living room. Her forward momentum was halted by the sight of an additional person standing in the doorway from the foyer. Oliver and Moira were still seated on the couch, talking about choices in movies, completely unaware of the new occupant behind them.

"Roy," Thea said, the single syllable weighted with the confusion she felt. "What are you doing here?" She had walked him to the door nearly an hour and a half earlier. It had been torture to do it, but she was aware that it had to be done; if he had left the mansion any later, he would have risked being out on the violet streets of the Purge.

"How are you even here?" The security measures had all slotted into place automatically after the Emergency Broadcast System's announcement ended. All of the doors and windows were impenetrable.

Her question drew Oliver and Moira's attention away from their task of finding a film. With her attention focused on her boyfriend Thea couldn't be certain, but she was fairly positive Oliver pulled out a gun hidden in the couch. If it weren't for the heavy feeling in the air, she'd give him hell for even thinking of pulling a gun on Roy. Given what night it was though, Thea couldn't blame him for his caution.

Roy didn't seem to notice how stilted the room had become. "I never left. After you walked me out, I snuck back in and waited until commencement." Before she could ask him why, he gave her the answer. "I have to be here with you tonight. I have to keep you safe."

She would have found the intention behind his words endearing, but he ruined it by glaring at Oliver over her shoulder. This subtle act of hostility made no sense to the youngest Queen. Sure, they weren't best friends or anything, not that she'd want that because it would be extremely awkward for her, but as far as Thea knew Roy and Oliver were on okay terms. There was no reason for the younger man to be so hostile towards her brother. Oliver hadn't done anything to deserve Roy's animosity, that she knew of.

As quickly as the moment came, it passed, and Roy's attention was back on her. "Can I talk to you alone for a minute? In your room?"

Thea hesitated in answering for reasons that she couldn't justify even to herself. It wasn't like Roy had never been in her room before. They'd been dating for months now. Hell, he'd been in there just a few hours ago. His request should be an automatic yes, but she couldn't say it. Something felt...different.

"I don't think-" Oliver's objection was quickly cut off by their mother.

"Go on, sweetheart. We'll call for you when we're ready to start the movie."

Taking Moira's answer as the definitive one, Roy reached for Thea's hand pulling her towards the staircase. As they reached halfway between the floors, Thea heard Moira chastising Oliver.

"She's not a little girl anymore, Oliver. Boys are allowed in her room."

Whatever discussion that followed, Thea was not privy to. Instead her attention was captured by the young man practically dragging her into her own bedroom. As soon as they were through the doorway, Roy was on her. His lips pressing against hers as his hands came to rest loosely over her collarbone. The soft sweeping motions of his thumbs against her neck relaxed her into the intimate embrace with ease. He nudged her backward with his body until her spine finally pushed the door to close.

"This," Thea said as they finally pulled apart to catch their breath, "isn't talking."

Roy smirked, a look which she had no doubt made a great many people weak in the knees. "Actions speak louder than words." His hands left her body completely for a moment before they were curved around her ribs. He leaned in then, his mouth coming to rest next to her left ear as he whispered, "What are my actions saying?" His lips made a trail down her neck, ever so slightly nipping at the skin which his thumbs had caressed just a moment ago.

Thea's thoughts were becoming sluggish and cloudy as he touched her. It had been so long since she'd shared a bed with a man that, when he got like this, she struggled to remember why she insisted they hold off.

She took a wild guess, "...That being incredibly foolish on the most dangerous night of the year makes you horny?"

His hand left for a moment to flip the lock on her door. His laugh sent goosebumps over her skin. "It's not foolish to want to be with my girlfriend on Purge Night. Purge Night is the new Prom Night."

Clarity rushed back to her in an instant and she raised her hands to his shoulders and pushed him away. He only moved a step back. "Purge Night is NOT the new Prom Night. How can you even say that? Prom is a night of celebration; The Purge is a horrifying evening of cruelty. They are nothing alike."

"Prom is a night that gives people who want to wait 'until it's right' an excuse to give into their baser instincts. The Purge is the same. People can give into their desires then, in the morning, if they feel guilty, they can just claim that they didn't have a choice; it was Purge Night."

His words were horrific, but she had no doubt that some people used similar justifications for such things. The Purge was supposed to be a night to cleanse, to 'release the beast.' Most people used the night of lawlessness to commit crimes, acts of murder and the like, but now that he pointed it out, there could be another interpretation of the night's slogan.

She stepped around him, hurt and angry that he dared to try and circumvent a milestone that she'd been so clear on. She wasn't ready to be biblical with him, not yet. They only been dating for two months, if that. Rushing into sex before she was in love in the past had only resulted in pain and regret. She didn't want any more regrets in her life. He'd agreed to wait and yet here he was trying to justify pushing her when she had defined her position so vehemently. "Even if it was prom... I'm not ready yet, Roy. I told you that. I asked you to be patient."

Suddenly, Roy was advancing on her, a new glint in his eyes. Thea backed away from him instinctively. "Maybe you don't have a choice tonight."

Thea wanted to be able to laugh off his words as a joke or maybe even an ill-spoken attempt at getting her to let go of her rule. She wanted to, but she couldn't. There was something dangerous in Roy as he walked forward, something she'd never seen in him before. The taste of ash coated her mouth as she realized that she'd been so wrong about who he was as a person.

When her hip bumped into the edge of her bed, Roy rushed forward, pinning her half on and half off of the bed. His lips descended upon hers immediately, but unlike before, Thea refused to respond. She kicked and she thrashed, but she didn't dare react to the kiss. He reached and with one hand tugged her wrists together and held them above her head.

"This is all your fault," he informed her, his breath coming out in harsh pants now, "if you'd just taken the excuse I offered you..." His free hand slipped under her t-shirt, shoving it upward carelessly. "I mean, what choice did I have left, Thea?"

She thrashed harder on the bed, trying to dislodge him from around her hips. Her brain was running through a terrified litany, but his words froze her. "You had a million fucking choices!"

His hand left her wrists then and he grabbed her chin, his fingers pressing so hard into her skin that the color vanished under his contact. "No. It was either come here tonight or let him steal you forever."

His grip softened slightly, "I love you too much to lose you."

He's truly insane, the realization hit her hard as her freed hands frantically searched above her head. The fingers of her left hand found solid purchase around the object she sought and she pulled it out from under her skewed pillow. She raised the blade of the knife to his throat, hesitation nowhere to be found. Perhaps it was the feel of the metal just above his Adam's apple or maybe it was the horror in her eyes, but something brought Roy back to himself a little. He climbed off of her and backed away a few steps once his shoes touched her carpet.

Thea stood again too, her eyes not leaving him for even a nanosecond. She held the simple, yet deadly, dagger out in front of her defensively. In that moment, she was extremely glad that Walter had gifted it to her on his first Purge with their family; it was their little secret because her mother hated to even consider the real dangers of the annual evening. He'd given her a secretive smile and said, 'Better safe than sorry.' Up until now, she'd thought herself safe behind their mansion walls just as her mother did. It had never even occurred to her that she might just let the danger walk into her life.

"Stay back!" Her voice had an edge of hysteria, but she felt entitled to it. Her boyfriend had just tried to rape her in her own bedroom while her family was gathered downstairs. It was enough to make anyone distraught. "Just stay back!"

Roy, on the other hand, looked calm seemingly uncaring that the woman he'd just tried to harm was brandishing a weapon. "Put that down, Thea. You won't use it."

Inwardly, Thea bristled at his tone. He spoke to her as though she were a wayward child. Does he even know me?

"Leave my house. Now." It was pretty much a guaranteed death sentence to be out roaming the streets during the Purge. Under normal circumstances, Thea would hesitate to make even a total stranger face the wild streets outside the mansion. She would never have considered kicking Roy out into danger before, but he'd changed everything with one ill-thought-out decision. He'd made his choice and now she was making one too.

"No."

The determined refusal was unexpected. Thea was nothing if not stubborn, however. "I was not asking. Get out!"

"You don't want to do this, Thea." Roy said, his voice oddly calm. His hand reached back and took something out of his pocket. He let the item dangle off of his middle finger. It appeared to be a garage door opener on the end of a simple keychain and yet he presented it like it was magic or something.

"I didn't want to do this. I had hoped that I'd come here and you'd want me too. That we could make something wonderful on a horrible day." He shook his head slowly, "It has to be tonight. It has to."

She knew it was unwise to engage in his demented logic, but she needed a reason. Why would he do this? Why would he ruin the good thing that we had going? "Why, Roy? Why did you have to-?"

He cut her question off with an angry and harsh response. "Because if I didn't, I'd lose you! You don't see it; the wool has been pulled tight over your eyes, but I see it. I see how he looks at you. He wants you all for himself."

His vague rants were frustrating her; she practically growled, "Who?"

"Oliver!"

Confusion consumed Thea. Roy wasn't even making sense anymore."What? What does Ollie have to do with anything?"

"Ollie," his tone was mocking as he sneered at her, "Your precious Ollie. He's not as good as you think. He's just as lecherous and dark as the rest of us." Roy moved closer to her then, his steps purposeful and calculated. The blade of her dagger wavered from fear, but she wasn't willing to lower it even slightly. He spoke to her as one might a stubborn child, "Tonight is the night when all crime is legal, Thea."

That last sentence hung heavy in the air as the implication of it registered in her mind. Another hysterical laugh escaped her. "You're insane, Roy."

"No, no," Roy wagged his finger at her on each objection, "I'm not. That's the thing you're not getting. He's in love with you and I know you're in love with him too."

"I'm not-"

"Don't lie," He hissed, "It doesn't matter…at least I thought it didn't matter. I thought if I just made love to you, I could eclipse what you feel for him. But you just had to shoot me down." She backed away as he moved forward again and the back of her thighs hit her nightstand. "So I had to take control."

His throat was pressed firmly against the blade of her dagger, but it didn't seem to faze him. "I won't lose you to Oliver. I won't." His fingers closed around the garage door opener and he held it face-up in his palm. "You're making me do this, Thea."

Without any further discussion, he pressed the lone button. For a second, it seemed like nothing had changed and then suddenly, to her horror, the steel protecting her bedroom windows began to rise. Her voice was weak as she asked, "What did you do?"

"Take a look," Roy said conversationally, nodding to her window.

With one last glance at him, she slid out from between his body and the table behind her and headed to her window. She stood on her tiptoes and peered out. Their well-manicured lawn was being trampled by a mob of darkly-clothed individuals moving towards their back door. She couldn't see it, given her limited angle, but she just knew that they were coming inside.

"Now, you have two choices," Roy's breath was hot on her ear as he leaned over her to peer out as well, "you can either die with the rest of your family at the hands of angry Gladers seeking revenge…or you can stay in here, find love with me, and live to see tomorrow."

His hands, now empty, came to rest upon her hips. His fingers closed around the curve of her bones, almost painful in their intensity. Her gaze stayed riveted on the crowd slowly invading her home, but her mind was whirling with fractured thoughts. Her worst fear for the evening was coming true.

He wants me to make a choice? Fine. Her fingers flexed around the hilt of her dagger and suddenly, she whirled around. The silver blade stabbed into his side without hesitation. He stumbled backwards, eyes wide in shock. He fumbled for the hilt sticking out of his side, but the adrenaline flooding his system made it impossible to locate in the moment.

"I'd rather die with them, with him, than live another day with you."

Her green eyes watched him slowly slump to the ground before falling. His blood ebbed out sluggishly, the blade actually keeping the wound relatively sealed. He wasn't dead, but he wasn't long for the world anymore either. She knelt down by his uninjured side and ran a gentle hand over his face. What he'd done was despicable, but she wouldn't let her humanity suffer because of it. Her words were spoken quietly, "Why, Roy? I could've really loved you if you'd given me the time."

A dry wheeze left his lips, blood spraying out and speckling her shirt as he did so. "Will always be him."

With one last stuttering breath, his chest stopped moving and his eyes glazed over. She took a moment to look at him, to mourn the version of him that she knew just yesterday, and she reached up and closed his eyes. The companionship he'd given her the last couple of months deserved what little she could offer in the moment.

She caught the sound of glass breaking somewhere in the house. What broke? Had the popcorn bowl been dropped in fright as strangers invaded their residence? Maybe someone broke a window. It wasn't necessary, Roy had seemingly removed all but the most basic level of protection, but destruction simply for the fact of doing so was commonplace during the Purge.

Distantly, Thea knew that her concerns about minute things at such a moment was indicative of a coming panic attack. She couldn't let herself give into the rising, overwhelming tide of panic, though; she needed to keep a clear head and deal with things swiftly. This was the most dangerous night of the year and being anything less than rational and decisive would get her killed.

Having no more time to deal with everything that happened in her bedroom, Thea pushed the unnecessary things away to be dealt with later and pulled the knife from Roy's body. Outside her locked door was any number of individuals with serious vendettas, there was no way that she was leaving her only means of self-defense behind. She needed to deal with the bigger picture now. She grabbed the weird garage opener before she stood up, tucking it into her back pocket as she did so, and headed for the door.

She pressed her ear to the wood, listening for the sounds of anyone just beyond it. Turning the lock would make a small sound and the last thing she needed was to garner the attention of the intruders immediately. She'd be no help to her family if she was dead before she even stepped outside her bedroom. Thankfully, there were no discernable sounds to be heard and so she took a deep breath, tightened her hold on the handle of her weapon, and opened her door slowly.

It took a second for her eyes to adjust to the darkened hallway. Of course, they cut the power. It's step one in invading a home. Holding tight to her weapon, Thea stepped out into the hallway. Her feet slid soundlessly across the carpet, as taking a step risked making the floor creak.

As she reached the top of the staircase, she had to make a choice and fast. Who knew how long she had before the Gladers decided to investigate the second floor? She could either go downstairs with only her one blade, which would get her to helping her family sooner, but was risky given that she only had a single weapon against an unknown number of people. Her other option was heading into Oliver's room and gathering some of his weapon supply that he didn't think she knew about. It would allow her a better chance at success against the people purging in her home, but it would take precious time that her family might not have. Relying solely upon her instincts, Thea headed for Oliver's bedroom, listening all the while for any sounds that might be distinguished as her loved ones.

Thea slipped inside her brother's bedroom, closing the door as quietly as she possibly could. Her eyes shot to the bench below his bay window instantly. She'd seen him store some weapons inside of the hollow space his first night back, but at the time, it felt like something that should not be spoken of and, after the awkward moment that followed her question at his welcome back dinner, she wasn't going to bring up yet another uncomfortable conversation topic. Still, at the moment, Thea was extremely glad that he'd hidden weapons away, whatever his reasons might be, and that she'd happened to walk by while he was doing so.

The first and third of the navy blue cushions swung outward while the middle one had to be carefully raised up. Her eyes widened slightly at the array of weapons contained inside the lengthy bench. A long bow, hastily crafted, but sturdy nonetheless, set atop the pile. A quiver of handmade arrows was settled between the arch of the bow and the back of the bench. She eased both of the items out gently, setting them down behind her as she knelt to get a better look at the cache of weapons available inside. There was a single hand gun, a box of bullets, a sword and at least two daggers. As she removed these items, she found a set of brass knuckles, several bottles of what appeared to be various liquids and syringes as well as two cans of mace and three roles of duct tape. It was quite the stockpile. When we live through this, I'm getting myself an arsenal too.

When she tipped her head down to look at the selection, she realized her shirt and the top of her jeans were covered in blood, which wouldn't be helpful if she needed to lie her way out of a situation with the furious people invading their home. The weapons she could theoretically justify if the need arose, but she'd have no excuse for her blood spattered clothing. Quickly, she headed to Oliver's closet and chose a dress shirt at random, buttoning it up, and half-tucking it into her jeans. It was the best she could do at the moment.

Once that was handled, Thea turned her attention to the arsenal laid out in front of her. She quickly loaded the handgun, thanking the heavens that one of her very first boyfriends was an avid gun enthusiast and took her to the shooting range to learn. She tucked it safely into the back of her jeans. Her dagger was exchanged, for one that wasn't covered with the blood of a man she cared for, and lastly she positioned the quiver and bow over her back. She rather haphazardly tossed the remaining weapons back in and closed up the hollowed bench. If she just left them laying on the floor and the intruders happened upon them, they would be inadvertently arming the people who were there to do them harm.

With everything once more hidden away, Thea headed for the door, ready as she would ever be to face the unknown. Then she caught sight of her face in Oliver's mirror, blood speckled her skin and she went to his adjoining bathroom to wash it away before returning to her initial task of saving her family. Just as her hand closed around the knob, she heard a pair of voices coming up the hall. Her grip tightened around the brass, prepared to use her own strength and bodyweight to stop them should they try to enter the room. Her other hand brandished the new dagger, ready to strike if need be.

"Which room is off-limits again?" The voice was rather muffled, but it was clearly a girl and a slightly too chipper one at that. The notes of slight giggles on every word spoke volumes to Thea. She grew up in high society, in a preparatory school, where everyone and everything was just a little too perfect. She'd learned long ago how to decode pieces of a person's true self by voice as well as body language. Either this girl was trying too hard to act like a positive, happy, person or she'd taken something. No matter what the reason, her companion didn't seem to mind. His chuckle positioned the duo right in front of Oliver's door. Thea's heart was pounding in her ears.

"You weren't listening either, huh?" There was a pause, a few seconds in which Thea tried to prepare herself for anything that might happen should they try and open the wood separating her from them. "I think the Gatekeeper said he and the Princess would be...in this room?" Gatekeeper. Princess. It didn't take rocket science to figure out who they meant; she was the Princess and Roy was the Gatekeeper. Another smaller pause, "He probably locked the door anyway."

"Wouldn't want anyone interrupting playtime." The girl laughed loudly, this time the sound echoing slightly in the empty hall. "As if she'd really slum it with someone from the Glades." Any other time of the year, Thea would not stand for such slander, but tonight there were bigger things to contend with.

"Maybe he's got the right idea," the masculine voice said, in what Thea assumed, was meant to be a sexy tone. Judging by the giggling 'ooh' that followed, his female companion thought it was. "How about we find ourselves a room and have a little fun?"

"Who says we need a room?" The door shook with the force as one of the two was pushed against it. "Let the others shed the blood, we'll make a different kind of mess."

Disgusted and dismayed, Thea began trying to find another way out of the room. She couldn't stay in here while her family was attacked; not because two hormonal idiots couldn't keep their pants zipped. The window was her only real option, but it was a long way down and making a sheet ladder would take far too long, not to mention it could attract unwanted attention if the wrong person happened to look out a window on the left side of their house. Maybe if I jump and tuck...

"Sanderson! Potter!" This new voice was authoritative without being unduly loud. Thea had no doubt this was one of the leaders. "Have you finished your sweep of this section?"

"Not yet, sir."

"Get on it then. We've only got so long before it ends. Enough time has been wasted already. We've got the husband, but we can't begin until we have them all. Find them!" Four feet ran down the hall.

"How hard is it to find four people? Idiots." With that final exasperated aside, the newcomer turned and headed back down the stairs.

Thea breathed a sigh of relief as she waited tense seconds to ensure she wouldn't be seen leaving the room. They're okay. If the intruders were still seeking Oliver and Moira, then they were able to slip away in the chaos of the invasion. Relief was rapidly chased away by guilt for being relieved in the first place.

Walter was in their clutches. Walter who had held the family together in the darkest of times and had not once complained. She couldn't leave him to the whims of maniacs, but she could not go after him alone either. The enemy had far too many people with them, she would be overpowered in minutes. If she had her mother and brother with her...well, their chances would be slightly better.

Unlike the mob tearing apart their home, Thea knew exactly where it was that both Oliver and Moira would go in this worst case scenario. Their emergency strategy had been planned long ago. Robert had a secret panic room constructed within the basement of the manor when he first married their mother. He, like Walter, was a big believer in better safe than sorry. Moira believed the construction unnecessary, but allowed it because she knew his paranoia stemmed from a place of pain; Robert had lost his younger brother, who was only sixteen at the time, to an annual Purge. It made sense that he'd be emotionally scarred by the loss and overreact, that was what Moira had said when six-year-old Thea asked why they had to do yearly drills in how to access and operate the bunker.

It's instinct to head there, Thea thought, as she readjusted her weaponry and cracked open the door. There was no sign of anyone nor even any noises in the hallway so she slid out and closed the door behind her. She had to hurry if there were several groups of people searching for her hidden family. Thea had no doubt someone would soon discover Roy's body and she too would become hunted.

Though the dagger was always at the ready, she kept it loosely at her side as she descended the staircase. Her adrenalin fueled brain fabricating a story when, not if, she was spotted. These people, driven by grief to commit horrible acts, were seeking the Queens. She would stand out within seconds and indeed, that was all that it took.

Just as she turned in the direction of the dining room, someone in an all-black outfit wearing an absurdly creepy mask walked out of it. Immediately, the person raised their weapon and words tumbled out of Thea's mouth without thought.

"Wait! I've been recruited by the Gatekeeper!"

For several tense seconds, the two were a frozen tableau. Did I overestimate Roy's pull with these people? Was I not convincing enough? A million thoughts raced through Thea's mind, but her face displayed none of her inner turmoil. Then the faceless person's gun lowered ever so slightly and she forced her body to relax a little in response. The mirroring of emotional states made her opposition unconsciously trust her a little more. Junior year psychology comes in handy after all. I so owe Mr. Devilline an apology.

"How?"

This was one of the questions she'd seen coming. Acting as though her nerves were forcing her to rush through her explanation, Thea began to weave her lie. "He reminded me of things, facts, that I already knew. My mother," she added a disdainful sneer for good measure, "allowed cowardice to keep her quiet. He reminded me of all the people who lost their lives, men, women, little kids. She could have saved them all if she wasn't such a selfish bitch."

She hated having to speak harshly about her mother, but even she knew that Moira had done wrong. She should have taken the risk: announced Merlyn's plan earlier and given people in the Glades time to flee. But Thea also knew something these vengeful people didn't; Moira struggled under the guilt of having done too little, too late, every second of every day. Did that compare to the sorrow and loss of the surviving Gladers? Not by a mile, but they all believed Moira dealt with no consequences. That simply wasn't the case.

"What about your father?"

"He's not my father." While true, the words still tasted sour on her tongue, but she couldn't let her emotions show through. She had to convince the person in front of her that she sided with them. "My father died years ago. Walter's just a man who tried to steal my Dad's place in my life." Her hand curled around the hilt of the dagger, "I never wanted him here."

The faceless individual tilted their head slightly, scrutinizing her from underneath the mask that they wore. What are they looking for? "What about your brother?"

The hardest question of all and yet she had a lie prepared. "My brother should never have come home. He was dead and buried. Yet here he is again and all he does is criticize me. Pick, pick, and pick at me constantly." She feigned a growl, "With him around, my inheritance is half of what it could be. I'd gladly take him out myself if I could."

"Come with me, Princess." It wasn't a request. The faceless stranger turned on a dime and marched back into the dining room. She started to follow behind this intruder when, within the span of two seconds, one of the wood panels that made up the grand foyer slid back and a hand reached out, latched onto her wrist, and pulled her behind the wall. The secret area wasn't meant for two people; that was made undeniably when she took an involuntary breath and her chest met her kidnapper's. The panel slid back into place the second she was clear of it, coating the tiny space in blackness. Coming from the lit foyer into total darkness meant that Thea couldn't see anything and so self-preservation kicked in, but with so little space to maneuver, she was out of options.

"It's me, Speedy."

The second that her whispered nickname hit her ears, Thea wanted to sob in relief. Now, they were two against the unknown. It was better than being alone. "Ollie!" Her voice was as soft as possible. That Glader would realize in seconds that she'd vanished and she didn't want to risk the sound of her voice giving away their hiding spot. "What are you doing in the wall?"

He leaned ever so slightly forward, placed his mouth next to her ear, and began to tell his tale, "I was on my way up to tell you we were ready to start the movie when suddenly all the security measures were lifted and people started pouring into the house. I only had my gun on me, but I held my own as long as I could. During a fight with one of them, this panel was jarred loose for a moment. After I emptied my clip, my number one priority was regrouping, getting you, and getting to the panic room."

Every syllable he spoke, pressed his chest into hers and with literally no room between them, Thea was distinctly reminded of Roy's claims. There was no way that he was right about how Oliver felt, because that wasn't even within the realm of remote possibility. In that moment, though, she realized he had been right about her feelings for Oliver. She knew with absolute clarity that she was in love with him and had unknowingly been for a while now. How did I not know this? That realization coupled with their extreme proximity and his breathy voice in her ear, lips so close to her skin, was almost too much to deal with at once.

"They have Walter. I overheard a conversation between three of them when I went into your room to get weapons." Due to their nearness and the darkness that surrounded them, Thea couldn't see it but she had no doubt that surprise was written on his face. "I can't maneuver to give you a weapon now, but as soon as we're out of this...what is this place?" Fleetingly, a clip from an old, now ridiculous, movie entered her mind; a moment where a child, who'd lived in the walls came crawling out. Bizarre as it was, Thea couldn't help but wonder, has someone been living inside the walls?

Before Oliver could answer her question, the sound of muffled voices could be heard in the foyer.

"Well, where is she?" The voice was loud, definitively male, and aggressive. Oliver placed his finger on just her lips, but the warning was unnecessary. The eye roll that followed his nonverbal communication was entirely warranted. She was not an idiot.

"She was right here, sir, I swear." Thea recognized that voice; it was the person with whom she'd shared her fabricated tale. It was then that she realized how clearly conversations outside the wall could be heard. Thea turned her head slightly, his finger finally dropping from her lips, and her eyes fought the masking darkness. She wanted to see his expression. She wanted to see his eyes.

"So, you saw one of our targets and instead of taking her down or even getting someone else to handle her, you decided to let her just walk away?"

"I didn't let her walk away!" The second voice, the closest to where the siblings were hiding, insisted, "she said the Gatekeeper had swayed her onto our side."

"And you bought that?" Number three asked, his tone clearly declaring the second individual an idiot. "This is her family we're talking about here!"

"There were reasons!"

"Enough!" The first person interceded again, his boisterous volume allowing for no deviations from that command. "What's done is done. Clearly, Carter was mistaken in believing the story she was told, but I'm sure there was a good reason why. This family is masters in deception and manipulation. Any one of us might have believed the Princess." There was a pause of a few seconds and when he spoke again, he sounded closer. "It was a simple mistake." The last syllable of the sentence was eclipsed by the sharp sound of a gun being fired, followed by a dull thud.

Thea's gasp was muffled by the fabric of Oliver's shirt as he quickly pulled her into a tight hug. Tears closed her throat as guilt burned bright in her soul. Why did she feel guilt for that stranger's death, but not Roy's. As soon as that thought occurred to her, though, the reason followed behind it. That person's only crime was trusting in my lies, I'm the motivation for that death, but Roy tried to hurt me. He tried to force his will onto me and put my family in danger. The stranger's demise was an unforeseen consequence; Roy's death was self-defense.

The first man's voice rang out, loud enough she would guess to be heard through the mansion, "Find them! Our clock is running down!" With that decree issued footsteps could be faintly heard heading back to their command post. The siblings stayed perfectly still, scarcely breathing for fear of being discovered, before slowly separating as much as possible in the limited space.

"We've got to get out of here. They'll kill Walter if we don't stop them "

"We've got to find mom first," Oliver countered, "she will have headed for the panic room. She's their priority. If we get her to safety, then we'll have taken them out at the knees."

The argument had merit, but Thea hated the thought of leaving Walter in danger while they fulfilled Oliver's plan. There was, however, one big flaw in her brother's idea. "Nowhere is safe during the Purge, Ollie."

Even if they got to their mother and somehow managed to get her outside safely, there was nowhere to take her. There was nowhere to hide and no one was coming to help them. We are on our own. It was a sobering thought.

"We'll figure that out when we come to it." His hand settled on her shoulder, a reassuring weight. After a second, it dropped down her arm to take her hand, "come on, these hidden passageways go all through this floor. Once we've reached the sitting room, we'll exit the walls and enter the panic room."

Without wasting another moment, the duo walked single-file through the darkness, breathing in stale air. Only the fact that Oliver was holding tight to her hand assured Thea that he was still there with her. As seconds turned into minutes, her eyes began adjusting to the dark. She could just barely make out the shape of Oliver's shoulders in front of her.

Now that her eyes were functioning again, Thea began to look around as they walked, turning corners blindly, trusting Oliver to lead her. Finding no telltale clues on the dusty walls themselves, Thea had to ask again, "What is this place?"

His answer drifted back to her, though Oliver never lost focus on navigating the labyrinth they were in. "Dad once told me that the mansion was constructed when rumors of another war were being whispered among the people. As he told it, our great, great, great grandfather was a strong believer in all of the causes that this possible war. In case the town gossip was true, he had secret tunnels built into the house. That way if the war ever came to be, which of course it did, he could offer a refuge to those in need. According to family legend, he hid over a hundred slaves within the safety of these walls whenever a bounty hunter came to take them back to the south."

Silence stole over them again as they took a right turn. The story as it was relayed to her was quite the act of patriotism. Why have I never heard that story before? Why didn't I know about these tunnels when I was younger? It would have been a whole new level of fun to play hide and go seek within these difficult hiding spots.

She was so lost in thought that it wasn't until Oliver's forearm collided with her chest, the soccer-mom-arm-save technique, that she'd realized he'd stopped walking. They reached a dead-end in the tunnel. Assuming that he wasn't just lost, Thea strained her ears to hear whatever it was that he did. Sure enough, after a few seconds, she heard the sound of someone throwing the books off the shelves along the opposite wall. It's not enough that they came here to slaughter us, they've got to destroy our house too? It wasn't unheard of, of course, but chaos for the simple sake of chaos always was a surprise to her.

Without a second's hesitation, she flipped the dagger around in her hand so that she was gripping the blade and tapped him on the shoulder with the hilt. He reached up with his free hand and accepted the weapon. As much as she preferred to use the bow on her back, there was not enough room within the walls to remove it and notch the first arrow. She reached back and took the loaded handgun from the waistband of her jeans, switching off the safety. Given how much attention a gunshot would draw, Thea would only use it if absolutely necessary. Oliver would have to take care of whatever awaited them on the other side.

He looked over his shoulder at her and Thea's heart squeezed in her chest. We've got to get through the night. We will live through the night. Shenodded once and he reached out, slid the loose panel out and exited the wall with her right on his heels. There was only one person in the sitting room, but unfortunately that one person happened to be looking in their direction when they appeared.

"Hey-" Whatever the person behind the creepy plastic mask was going to shout was lost as Oliver reacted immediately and punched them in the chest. Losing no advantage, her brother swept the individual's feet right out from under them. The two of them fought for a couple of minutes, the Glader's street smarts not making this an easy take down, but then suddenly it was over. She couldn't look away as blood spurted from the stranger's neck. His blood soaked the plush tan carpet beneath him and splattered in an arc on the nearest wall. She wanted to blink, to stop seeing this, to stop watching the lifeblood leave someone's body, but it was an impossible task. The longer she looked at this faceless person, the more she remembered what had happened to Roy; what she'd done to Roy. Oh God. I killed him. He loved me and I murdered him.

The world was starting to tip and twist dangerously, but she was stuck. Her feet wouldn't move. Her hands were frozen at her sides. She couldn't even speak. This is hell, she thought, trapped inside the moment when you realize the horrible thing you've done. It felt to her as though hours had passed since she'd witnessed Oliver cut that person's throat, but it was only a matter of seconds. Just as she was about to give in to the panic threatening to swallow her whole, Oliver was there. He crouched down slightly, using his head to block her view of the body.

"Thea, you can't do this right now. You need to stay with me, Speedy. Just breathe. Breathe and blink, okay?" His warm hand took a hold of hers once more. He pulled her over to the bookcase, careful to step around and keep the body from her view as much as possible. "Just breathe and blink. That's all."

Before he could even begin to hunt for the tome that would slide the bookcase away and open the door to the panic room, the shelves slid back themselves. Just beyond the doorway to the all-metal room stood their mother, haggard and tear-streaked but seemingly without injury. She ushered them both inside the secret chamber and Thea went numbly as Oliver pulled her into it. Once all three of them were safely inside the hidden room, Moira slammed her hand down on the big red button and the door slid shut again.

It took less than a second for Moira to wrap her arms around both of her children. Thea welcomed the embrace; it was warm, comforting, and for the minute that it lasted Thea could pretend that everything that night was just a horrible nightmare. But all good things must come to an end and so the hug was broken when mother and son pulled away. With a reluctant heart, Thea stepped back as well.

"I'm so glad you two are safe." Moira's blue eyes turned to her daughter as she spoke to her, "I'm so sorry about Roy, Thea."

Thea could practically feel Oliver's attention snap to her instantly. Did he forget I went upstairs with Roy? If so, she couldn't exactly blame him for forgetting when so much was going on around them. Thea's arms wrapped around herself, trying to keep the cold that emanated from inside of her from freezing her completely. The image of his eyes going dark and his blood spilling out just wouldn't go away, not completely; they lurked at the back of her mind, threatening to overwhelm her yet again.

"What happened to Roy?" Oliver's question hung unanswered in the air, but Thea couldn't find the words to express the events. It was too harsh, too much. She couldn't handle talking about it, not if she wanted to function and help them all escape this situation.

Remembering that there was, in fact, a situation outside that door that needed handling helped Thea find purchase in the sea of emotions that wanted to swallow her whole. She straightened her spine and turned to face her mother, "Do you know how to use a gun?"

Confusion and worry were etched on both Moira and Oliver's faces, but Thea ignored it. They needed to get to Walter and find safety in this night of chaos. She had to focus on that and only that. When no answer seemed forthcoming, she sighed with frustration and took the dagger from Oliver's hands and forced her mother to take it despite her obvious disapproval. Now wasn't the time for moral objections or arguments. The longer those angry individuals had Walter and didn't achieve their primary goal, the more danger he was in.

Setting her gun down for only a moment, Thea removed the bow and quiver from around her back. She held them out to Oliver without a word. He clearly had knowledge of how to use them because they came from his weapons stash. She picked her weapon up once more and pulled back on the slide before giving her full attention to the security monitors behind her mother. Her green eyes swept over the various displays, counting the number of masked individuals moving about the house and its surrounding property.

"I count 30 inside and 12 on the lawns," Oliver's voice from her left side was a surprise. She hadn't even realized he'd come up beside her.

"42 it is."

"Three against 42 isn't the best scenario."

Thea turned half a step to face him, arms folded across her chest. If he thought she was going to back down simply because they were outnumbered, he was going to be sorely disappointed. "So what?"

He picked up on her defensive attitude immediately, but they were both equally stubborn individuals. He wasn't about to concede to her will without a fight. "We are three people with three weapons, Speedy. There are 42 of them and they are furious."

"So you want us to what? Hide in here until seven in the morning? If we do nothing, they'll kill Walter and I'm not going to let that happen." She glared at him as anger bubbled up inside her. This damned night had been like a battering ram to her soul and she was done with it. Losing anymore of herself was not an option. "I am not going to let these invaders ruin our home. It's ours and I'm taking it back. Are you two coming or not?"

Thea turned on her heel, prepared to march out the door alone with just a gun as her defense. She was tired of all of it and she wanted the cursed tradition to come to an end already. At this point, it didn't even matter how it ended for her. Just as she was about to open the door again, Oliver's hand enclosed around her wrist. He turned her away from the exit.

"Thea, just slow down, okay? I wasn't saying we shouldn't help Walter or that we should stay here. We just need to breathe, collect our thoughts, and come up with a plan." His thumb began to rub soft, calming circles into the tender skin on the inside of her wrist. "Not two minutes ago you were in the middle of a panic attack and now you want to go out there, guns blazing? You're not thinking clearly."

Before Thea could open her mouth to argue that she was fine, Moira came up to her left side and laid her hand on Thea's shoulder. With the wall of security screens on her right, her mother to her left and her brother in front of her, looking at her with kindly concern, Thea knew she was defeated. "He's right. I hate the idea of Walter with them a second longer than need be too, but we have to be smart about this. If we don't, we all will die."

Outnumbered, Thea conceded defeat and together the remaining Queens discussed strategy. It took no time at all for them to agree that taking their house back before the end of the Purge was not a feasible option given how they were only three against what was basically a civilian army. Then the talk turned to how to get out of the house, the back doors were less guarded, and where, if anywhere, was safe. Oliver suggested seeking refuge at the old Merlyn place.

Thea saw the brief look of disgust on her mother's face at the mention of Malcolm Merlyn. It was a sentiment that they both shared. "Isn't that sort of...pouring salt in wounds if we hide at the former home of the man who caused all this?"

"Yes," Oliver admitted easily, "but that's exactly why they'll never think to look for us there. We won't have to worry about endangering anyone else either. Tommy's still living at Laurel's." Despite their initial distaste for the idea both mother and daughter had to admit he had made valid points. It was as good a hiding place as they were likely to find. No one in their right minds would allow the four of them into their secured home on the most dangerous night of the year.

With a tentative exit strategy in place, the only real question remaining was: how to get Walter back? That was the most difficult part, after all. Especially given that they only had a gun with a fully loaded clip, a long bow with arrows, and a dagger. Nothing that really stood a chance against the numbers they were about to face.

Out of the corner of her eye movement on one of the screens tore Thea's focus away from their discussion. "They're gathering." That simple sentence drew everyone's attention to the multitude of screens. As if they were wayward children summoned by a persistent school bell, all of the individuals within the mansion and on the lawns were making their way towards the dining room. Time for preparation was over; if they were going to save Walter they had to go now.

The trio moved as one, doing their best to keep the element of surprise as long as they could. It was the one advantage they had. Vague cadences could be heard with every step they took out of the sitting room. It wasn't until they were rounding the corner into the foyer that Thea could make out what was being said in the dining room.

"-have to be here somewhere, people! They haven't gotten past any of our guards!" It was the same voice as the one she had perceived to be the leader earlier. His voice alone made the hair on her neck stand up in warning; no doubt the others in his army were weary of disappointing him.

Thea pressed her back closer to the wall as she waited for Oliver to give them the signal to go ahead. For now, mother and children hugged the shadows and listened with baited breath.

"Maybe," a new voice faltered, gathering courage to raise a contradictory opinion. When she spoke again, her words were strong and sure. "maybe our guards weren't paying close enough attention. They might not even be here anymore. We're wasting a perfectly good Purge."

"Yeah," chimed in a third person, considerably younger than his conversation partners. "It was a pipe dream anyway. People like them don't get purged." There was a soft, but still existent murmur of agreement among the gathered mass. For a fleeting second, hope fluttered in Thea's chest. Maybe they'll just give up and leave... That hope was ruthlessly obliterated.

"No!" The leader's exclamation was accompanied by a fist to the dining table and the sturdy wood shook. "They are here and they will pay for the harm we have been done." He paused and an ominous feeling encased Thea. "We just have to draw them out somehow..."

"Let's see how much your wife values your life, hmm?" Though she couldn't see it, Thea could picture the scene well enough in her mind. That man in the eerie plastic mask holding a weapon, be it a gun or a knife, and resting it against Walter's skin. "Come out, come out, wherever you are," the leader sing-songed mockingly, "I'll slit hubby's throat from ear to fucking ear."

The lilt to his words had both mother and daughter looking to Oliver, silently pleading with him to give the signal. He shook his head in the negative and mouthed, 'not yet.'

What does he want? Thea wondered, a ball of worry and stress churning in her stomach. An engraved invitation? She was sorely tempted to just go in, gun quite literally blazing, without his say so. Who made him leader anyway?

Moira started forward, eyes wide with alarm and horror, and Thea reached out and stopped her without really knowing why. A mere moment ago she was ready to go in alone, firing until her clip was empty and yet, here she was using the soccer-mom-arm-save to stop her mother from doing that very thing.

The lack of response on their part clearly frustrated the leader. "Do you enjoy having to bury your husbands?" Out of the corner of her eye, Thea saw Oliver's hand tighten on the bow. Their moment was coming. "We deserve our pound of flesh, Mrs. Queen. It is our right. If we can't get it from you this year," there was the briefest of pauses, "we'll take it from Mister Steele."

Without a word shared between them, Moira, Thea, and Oliver entered the dining room. Immediately, Thea's gaze found Walter among the masked strangers. For that single second before their entrance was noticed, it felt as though time slowed to a crawl and Thea was able to take in the entire scene. Walter was bound to one of their dining room chairs and gagged with what appeared to be one or more of their cloth napkins and duct tape. In front of him, laid out upon the dining table, was an array of weapons; some she could identify by sight, but most were strange peculiar things. Surrounding the piece of furniture on all sides was the thirty-one other furious Purgers. Lastly, Thea took note of the man standing behind her stepfather. He was rather large, by any definition of that word, and the plastic mask covering his face certainly didn't make him any less intimidating. The knife he held to Walter's throat added quite a bit of danger to his appearance too.

Then, as if time suddenly decided to catch up to itself, the world was moving fast again. The leader's gaze flicked to the trio beneath the slits in his mask, the knife moving mere centimeters. Thea levelled her gun and fired. There was no hesitation in her, just split second action. The bullet was propelled from the gun, bridged the distance between Thea and her target, before it found its resting place in the side of the man's head.

The instant his blood was spilled all Hell broke loose. It was impossible to keep track of what was happening after that. Some of the less determined invaders turned tail and ran out of the house no longer secure in their mission without someone to lead them. Most of the intruders, however, threw themselves at whomever they could. As much as she wished she could keep her family in her sight, Thea could barely fend off the hands that tugged at her hair or the weapons that sliced clothing and skin; there was no way she could even see her mother, brother or stepfather in the chaos.

Some random person grabbed her left forearm and twisted it back at an impossible angle. She felt the bone snap, pain radiating through her arm, but the break couldn't be heard above the din of rage that the dining room had descended into. Thea spun around and slammed the butt of her gun into someone's nose. Contact was confirmed by the spray of blood that dusted her hands. Out of her peripheral vision, she noticed a lead pipe being swung her way. Without a single thought, she raised the gun and shot. She didn't even see the person at this point. It was fucking war. Another person's head came into view and she grabbed a hold of their collared shirt and brought their head down on the edge of the table.

A hand fisted in her hair at the back of her skull and pulled down and backwards, forcing her to her knees. She wanted to keep a hold of her gun, her only viable weapon, but instinct forced her to abandon it as she attempted to catch herself on her palms. Excruciating pain radiated up her left arm and her vision tinted around the edges.

"Uppity bitch." The words were hissed into her ear as the person pulled harder on her hair. Thea fumbled blindly for her gun or anything she could defend herself with, but the only things her hands could find were people's shoes.

It was almost a relief when she felt the bite of rope around her neck, not because she was ready to die, but rather she knew her attacker would have to let go of her hair if they really wanted to strangle her. Sure enough, the fingers in her hair released and Thea lunged for the floor, eyes finding her weapon in an instant. Her hand closed around the grip of the gun just as the enemy got a hold of her shirt. Whether it was the same individual as before or not, Thea got her dominant hand positioned correctly, pulled back on the slide, and fired. The vibrations were Hell on her body as they moved through her, but there was no time to indulge in pain. Instead, she turned and used all of her remaining bullets on the enemies closest to her.

Of course, for every person that fell, there were others to take their place. It was a precarious situation to be in without a useable weapon. Luckily for her, the table of armaments, that had once been meant to torture them, was within her reach. She just needed something that she knew how to use while avoiding the furious and frustrated grips of the men and women who sought retribution. Easy as pie, Thea thought as she dropped the empty pistol to the ground and ruthlessly shoved someone aside who stood between her and the dining table.

Just as she grasped the handle of a hammer, more people entered the dining room. Her heart plummeted at the sight of four more people dressed from head to toe in black. They were barely holding their ground against the individuals in the plastic masks.

Still, never one to back down, Thea brandished the hammer. It wasn't as light of a weapon as the dagger she'd given to her mother, but she could lift it with only her right hand. Granted, her precision wasn't stellar with only one hand to stabilize the blunt weapon on the downswing, but accuracy wasn't exactly her focus at the moment. Getting out alive was what counted.

A tiny person, a woman judging by her shape, in a plastic mask pushed through the chaos somehow. She carried what at first glance appeared to be a homemade spear and kept repeating the same thing, voice cracking as she had to scream to be heard over the melee around them.

"Mi hijo, mi hijo! Su vida por su!" Thea didn't understand what she was saying, though, having taken three years of French in high school instead of Spanish.

Thea was so focused on the woman in front of her, homemade spear and all, that she failed to take note of the individual coming at her from her left side until it was too late. The axe they bore was ready to strike and Thea instinctively raised her broken arm to stop the attack, though a mere forearm would not protect her from the deadly intent. This is it. This is the moment I die. There was a strange calm in accepting her fate. She simply closed her eyes and hoped her father was waiting for her on the other side.

But the lethal blow never came. Her eyes opened slowly, afraid that maybe her body had simply gone into shock from pain, or perhaps blood loss, and that was why she didn't feel the fatal wound. Yet, as her eyes adjusted to the reality of the world around her, there was no wound, no severed limbs, and the only blood on her person was splattered. When she finished her self-assessment and raised her gaze, she found the masked individual on the floor, the arm wielding the axe completely separated from the rest of the body; such was the fate of the head as well.

Behind the decapitated body stood one of the new persons in all black. The katana in their steady hands dripped thick droplets of blood on the hardwood floors. They're on our side. It was a realization that gave Thea renewed vigor. Now they were seven against a civilian army. It wasn't much, but it was something.

Minutes passed and bodies dropped around them. To Thea's astonishment, they were soon seven against seven. As they fought off the last vestiges of their opponents, Thea noticed that the new people were making a conscious effort to aid her family when it seemed as though fate had turned away from the Queens. The last man standing soon fell to Oliver's sword, though she had no idea when he abandoned his bow for the blade, and she could breathe easy for a moment. If there were still a few enemies guarding the lawns, they'd be idiots not to flee now that the mansion was secured again. Without a thought. Thea rushed to Oliver and hugged him tight, "we did it!"

"Thea," that was all he said. She knew something wasn't right. She took a step back, letting her arms fall to her sides. A cursory glance at him confirmed that, while he was bruised, battered, and bleeding, it was nothing life threatening. Then she noticed he wasn't looking at her, he was looking behind her. She turned, fear slowing the movement, and the horror behind her made her want to throw up. She didn't even realize she was swaying on her feet until Oliver's hands steadied her.

There, still tied to that godforsaken chair, was Walter. He was brutalized, beaten and partially decapitated. Tears silently fell down her cheeks as she let Oliver keep her standing. I wanted to save Walter, not...doom him. He never stood a chance, being bound as he was. The horrific scene was made even worse by their mother. She was seated on the floor next to Walter, hand reaching up to hold his, and she was completely catatonic. She blinked and she breathed, but said nothing. Thea pulled out of Oliver's hold and knelt down in front of their mother. There was no recognition there.

"Mom?" The younger woman waved her hand in front of her face. There was no response. "Mom, please." She looked her mother over, seeking a physical wound that could account for the extreme paleness. Much like Oliver, she was injured, but not grievously so. Still without a response, Thea's voice was very child-like as she asked, "Mommy?"

Thea was genuinely startled when Oliver started to pull her to her feet. "Let's give her a minute, Speedy?" She wanted to tell him no. She wanted to pull away from him again and tell her mother how sorry she was. She had to apologize for acting so rashly. If she'd given it some thought, maybe they could have found a way to untie Walter before all Hell broke loose. She wanted to do all of that, but she didn't have the energy for it.

Oliver wrapped his arm around her shoulders and led her back to the dining room entrance. He made sure to stand just a half step back to prevent her from turning around again. The four black-clad strangers stood silent and stoic in a pyramid shape against the right door frame. It felt like all of them were watching her intensely and in order to keep from yelling at the people who saved their lives, she turned her focus on her brother. Thea didn't understand how he could be so unaffected by Walter's death. Yes, Oliver was struggling with the whole step-father thing still, but it wasn't like he'd only met Walter when he returned home. The man had been in their lives for as long as Thea could remember; he'd been their father's best friend for crying out loud!

Yet, as she leaned heavily into his side, Thea realized she might have been misinterpreting his reaction. Maybe he wasn't unaffected, maybe he was just pushing his feelings aside because he needed to be strong for them. That made more sense in her exhausted mind so she decided to just accept it as the truth.

Oliver held out his hand to the assumed leader of the mysterious four, tall and bulky, presumably male. "Thanks. Without your help, we might not still be standing right now."

"We wouldn't want that, would we?"

Oliver went completely, terrifyingly still beside her. She didn't need to know anything more than that to understand they weren't out of the woods just yet. Will this fucking night never end?

Without a word, Oliver stepped in front of her and used his bulk to force her into backing up. The leader reached up and rolled his mask off. He was unfamiliar to her. She would've remembered meeting a man with an eyepatch and such an angry demeanor. Oliver, however, clearly did know this man. His reaction was enough to prompt Thea into reaching for her knife again. If he scared Oliver, then that was all she needed to know. A sharp sword blade embedded itself in the hardwood of the floor mere centimeters from her hand.

"No, no, Thea, that's cheating." Thea pulled her hand back and glared defiantly at the woman who had, not that long ago, saved her life. The woman mimicked the actions of her companion and rolled her mask off. She was a beautiful brunette with brown eyes who was only a few years older than Thea herself. This time it wasn't Oliver whose reaction spoke of recognition, but Moira's.

Their mother's voice was distant as she said, "Isabel Rochev." Neither her name or her face brought any recollection to Thea, but it was clear from Oliver's reaction that he knew Isabel as well.

"You know her?" Oliver's question was meant for their mother, but his eyes didn't so much as move from the man with the eyepatch. What the Hell is happening here?

Moira didn't hesitate to answer the question. "She was one of your father's lovesick mistresses."

Sadly, this was not the first indication the Queen daughter had of loyalty troubles in her parents' marriage. She'd suspected such things for a while now; this was just the first time it was confirmed. Thea looked closer at the other woman. There didn't seem to be anything about her that was worth throwing away a marriage. It was things like this that made her think loyalty and love were just myths.

"How do you know her?" Thea asked trying, and failing, to step out from behind Oliver so she could stand at his side. He physically wouldn't allow it.

"She was brought in to the company after I took over."

Thea gestured at the man with the eye-patch, "And now do you know him?"

"Ah yes, I figured you failed to mention me, Oliver."

With that said, his one good eye locked on her. It felt as though he was looking into her soul, searching for weakness. She refused to allow him to find one, to be intimidated by his mere presence; Thea was a Queen, damn it, and Queens were strong. She held herself taller, prouder. Eyepatch guy chuckled and the sound was so pitying that Thea wanted to punch him in the throat. Judging by the way Oliver was holding himself, however, she surmised that it wouldn't be a good idea. It was tempting, though.

"My name is Slade Wilson. I have heard much about you, Speedy."

Her nickname sounded wrong coming from him, like it had turned sour in his mouth somehow. The use of it didn't sit well with Oliver either. She could literally feel the tension radiating from her brother, like he was ready and willing to attack, he was just waiting for his foe to make the first move. "You do not speak to her."

The glee in Slade's grin spoke volumes. He'd gotten the reaction he wanted from Oliver and he delighted in the ease with which he had gotten it. "Why, Oliver? Afraid of what I'll say?"

Never before had Thea felt like such an outsider. She had no idea what his connection to this Slade person was and, to top it all off, she wasn't even sure what was happening. Was this another fight they had to win? Or did this apparent enemy of Oliver's just drop in and helped them so he could rub it in Oliver's face? The last option seemed a little too juvenile for two grown men, but anything was possible.

Slade's expression was eerily blank as he looked at her brother and Oliver looked back at him; it was quite the standoff to witness. Then, suddenly, the older man snapped his fingers. His two silent masked associates moved with impossible speed, taking ahold of Oliver's arms before he even knew what was happening.

Thea reacted instinctively, reaching for the knife she'd dropped to jump to Oliver's defense, but before she could get ahold of it, Isabel was behind her. The older woman took ahold of Thea's broken arm and twisted it ruthlessly. A cry of pain ripped from Thea's throat. As her vision tilted, the youngest Queen became aware of two things: one, Oliver was struggling against the hold of the two men and two, Isabel was kicking out the back of Thea's knees.

As her body fell towards the floor, Slade approached; he stepped over the dead bodies littering the dining room. "It's a real pleasure, Miss Queen."

"Don't you touch her!" Oliver shouted. Slade looked over at him, grinning devilishly, "Your issue is with me, Slade! Me! Not h-" Suddenly, everything went black and Thea slumped forward.

When she came to, the situation became quite clear. She was in the foyer, for some inexplicable reason, and in one of the dining room chairs, with her hands tied far too tightly behind her back with a coarse rope that bit into her skin where it made contact with her ankles and wrists. Her head pounded in her skull and there was a dull ringing in her ears. Oliver was in much the same condition as she and he was clearly furious. She watched his lips move, trying to figure what it was that he was saying. Thankfully, it only took a few seconds for her hearing to return to normal.

"-Shado was a loss to both of us. You are not the only one who feels her absence. She was my friend too!"

"You don't deserve to even speak her name!" The declaration was practically a roar and Thea jumped from fright. She hadn't even realized that Oliver's apparent enemy was somewhere behind her. "You chose wrong!" Chose? Chose what? Who is Shado?

"What? W-what's going on?" Interjecting and pretending to be ignorant to the discussion seemed like the best possible route for surviving this…whatever this was. Immediately, Oliver's blue eyes met hers, his chair was positioned across from her own. There was a moment of relief in his gaze that was quickly overthrown by guilt and regret.

"Ah, the young Miss Queen," his hand, large and vice-like gripped her bad shoulder. Thea tried and failed to hide her wince. "May I call you Speedy?"

Her answer was immediate, "No."

He chuckled as though the denial meant nothing to him, but his fingers clamped down harder. The broken bones in her arm sent signals to her brain, forcing a noise of pain from her lips. Oliver reacted instantly, his chair creaking as the ropes holding him in place were tested.

"Take your hands off of her! Your issue is with me. Not my sister." He spoke so passionately that his words were punctuated with spittle. "You want vengeance for Shado? You want a life for hers? Fine, take mine. I won't fight it. But Thea,"

For a scant few seconds his gaze flicked to hers. There was an immeasurable sadness within those familiar depths. "She had nothing to do with this! She's innocent, just like Shado!"

It seemed that Oliver's words struck a chord with their captor. His hand left her shoulder, and she could hear the sounds of his boots on the floor as he walked away.

Any hope, however, was quickly extinguished when Slade replied. "Haven't you learned anything? Innocence is just a myth." His fingers carded through her hair, almost reverently, before he grasped it and yanked her head back without mercy. "No one is innocent, Oliver, and you are dead wrong. She has everything to do with this." There was a soft whooshing sound from behind her and before she could even begin to worry about it, the steel of a sword was pressing against her throat. "You made her a part of this."

Thea had no doubt that he would do it. He was crazy and determined with some serious issue regarding her brother and, apparently, a woman named Shado. Knowing Oliver's track record, having had a front row seat to it during her childhood, she would guess that Slade and Shado were a couple and then Oliver came along and stole her. It would not be the first time that a jilted lover sought justice for such a slight from her older brother. It was, however, the first time she was the one who would pay the price.

In that moment, as the blade pressed ever so slightly into her skin, her life flashed before her eyes...or rather the people of her life that mattered most. Suddenly, there was a clarity to absolutely everything; suddenly, she didn't fear the sword at her throat. All that mattered was that she had loved. No one could want anything more than that. Death wasn't a dreadful inevitability, not for her. She didn't want to die, but if she had to she was going to do so with grace. She welcomed the chance to be with her father again.

Defiant as always, Thea lowered her head just enough so she could meet her brother's eyes. Though they were quite far apart, Thea could still see the turmoil that brewed inside of him. He's going to blame himself, she realized, and she knew she couldn't give up and accept death. Then a solution that would save them both occurred to her: run out the clock.

After the end of the Purge, their front door alarm would sound at the security company and the Police would be summoned. Their neighborhood and social standing would make them among the first to receive help. She just had to distract Slade until the authorities arrived. It was a rather elementary school plan, undoubtedly used on a Scooby-Doo villain or two, but it could work. What other choice is there?

"If you're going to kill me, you could at least give me a reason. I've done nothing to you and yet, you come into our home, have me knocked out, and tie us up like animals. I deserve to know why." She waited, holding his gaze steadily, for this stranger to do something.

"Why? You want to know why?" His voice rose with each rhetorical question; Thea was determined to seem as unaffected as she could. Maybe her cavalier attitude would piss him off enough to keep him talking.

It worked. He ranted and raved, making sure to keep the sword at her throat unfortunately. She'd take still breathing and listening to the madman talk any day when the other option was having her throat slit.

The tale he relayed was tragic and her heart went out to a woman she had never met, but she was also aware that there had to be more to the story. Oliver would never have allowed someone to die like that if he had any say in the matter. It simply wasn't possible. There had to be something missing from the tale she'd just been told. Finding out her brother's side of the story would have to wait, though, what mattered at the moment was distracting her would-be murderer.

"Why me?" She inquired when he was finished spewing hatred. "I had nothing to do with what happened to this Shado woman. I've never seen you or that Isabel bitch before tonight." Unflinchingly, Thea met his remaining good eye with her own, "I'm nobody in all of this."

There was a look of disbelief on her captor's face. She didn't understand what was so impossible about her statement. While the two men were stranded on that island, Thea had been in Starling City. She'd played the part of the dutiful daughter, the perfect princess of the Queen family. She'd done nothing to deserve this.

"Come on now, Miss Queen," the man chided, "playing dumb doesn't suit you."

"You don't know me."

"Oh, but I do, Speedy." The use of her nickname was another jab at her brother and she saw Oliver react unconsciously. She wanted to reassure him, tell him to keep his emotions hidden better, but she couldn't with their opponent so close. Instead, she ignored Oliver, hoping that if she did, Slade wouldn't notice him either. "There were many long nights on Lian Yu where your beloved brother and I had only our memories and each other to keep us sane. He shared many, many stories of his Speedy with me."

His free hand carded through her hair, mockingly loving; she pulled away as much as she could. "In the time since I left Lian Yu, I've watched your brother, watched you." The implication of his words was so creepy that it made Thea's skin crawl. "I've learned a great deal about you, Thea. About your relationship with your Ollie."

"Leave her alone, you bastard!"

Slade was too focused on her to even hear Oliver's protest. "And I've learned that you're the key. You are the one person he loves, that he can't live without. That makes you the perfect justice for Shado."

His words intermingled with Roy's in her head. Do they know something I don't? Despite the steel at her neck, Thea tipped her head down a little so she could look at Oliver. No, she decided, Roy was just too insecure and I am just reading into what this asshole said because of what Roy said.

Before she could come up with something else to distract the man from his murderous intentions, Oliver interjected. "You're wrong, Slade. There's one vital difference between Shado and Thea." She knew, the moment before he answered his own implied question, that she would want to smack him for what he was about to say. "Thea actually gives a damn about me."

What. An. Idiot. Thea could hear the bending of the metal where Slade's hand was curled around the hilt. The vibrations from his force pushed the blade into her skin, creating just the slightest of nicks. A single drop of blood formed and started its slow descent. Is he actively trying to get me killed now? Her eyes widened, in a desperate, nonverbal attempt to get him to shut the Hell up.

"Shado only gave you the time of day because you were always around. She didn't want to make our lives miserable by outright rejecting you. Face facts. She didn't love you. Hell, she would never have even said two words to you if it weren't for the situation we were in." Somehow, despite the ties binding him to the chair. Oliver managed to sit up straighter and look prideful. "She didn't even like you as a person, Slade."

That did it. With a roar more akin to a wild animal than a human being, Slade launched himself across the foyer. His sword was held out in front of him like a soldier charging into battle. Instinct alone forced Thea to close her eyes; if she saw her brother impaled to death, she would have to live with that horror every second of every day. There was a loud popping sound, which caused Thea to flinch, followed by a heavy thump.

It wasn't until she heard the tell-tale noise of the door opening behind her that she dared to open her eyes again. Her survival instinct forced her to at least be aware of what threat was coming. She turned her head, looking for the newcomer, only to see Oliver's bodyguard rushing across the foyer. Her heart nearly beat out of her chest in relief.

"Dig," the sound of Oliver's voice caused Thea's attention to snap over to him immediately. She checked him over, scanning him for an additional blood or wounds since she last checked him for injuries. There were none. How can that be? I saw…

"I got caught up making sure my family was safe and couldn't get across town before commencement. I got here as fast as I could."

"You were here when it mattered." Oliver assured him quickly. When Diggle headed to free him, her brother had other ideas, "Untie Thea first."

As the older man turned on his heel to get her out of her bonds, Thea looked around for their captor. Last she saw, he was rushing at Oliver with a sword, ready to end her brother's life and now…

Her eyes landed on him quickly. He was face down on the floor, his sword laying beneath him haphazardly, with a bloody bullet wound to the back of his head. How?

The ropes pinning her arms slackened as the knots connecting them were undone. She rubbed at her wrists automatically. Once more, the bodyguard moved towards Oliver to release him as well, but yet again, her brother had an objection. He didn't even bother with a full sentence this time. "Mom, kitchen, Isabel."

The man of few words nodded and moved in the direction of the kitchen, gun in hand. Thea scrambled out of her chair and over to Oliver, her fingers deftly undoing the knots that bound him too. She did her best to ignore the blood and brain matter that splattered his face and upper body. As she began to pick at the third knot, the quiet of the mansion was interrupted by two gun blasts. Frustrated with how long it was taking to undo each rope with only one hand, Thea grabbed a hold of the sword where it peeked out from under the body of Slade Wilson and used the weapon to free Oliver.

Without a word shared between them, the siblings ran towards the kitchen. She'll be okay...please let her be okay. As irrational as it was, Thea thought God kind of owed it to them to protect their mother from harm. He had taken their father, and now Walter too; not to mention that he'd tried to usher Ollie away as well. It wasn't too much to ask that God not take their mother too, was it?

The floor made a horrendous squeaking noise as brother and sister entered the massive kitchen. The sight before them was incomprehensible. On the floor, blood pouring from a bullet wound in both her shoulder and her knee was Isabel Rochev, but it was their mother who made the scene impossible. She had several new injuries, a ton more bruises marring her skin and, while Thea couldn't be entirely sure because Moira kept moving, she suspected that her mother might be missing a finger. Yet, with all those new wounds, Moira was still on the floor, propping the injured businesswoman up with her knees. Her hands held a dishtowel tight to the shoulder and she was instructing Diggle on how to deal with the bleeding knee.

"No one else," she ordered between harsh breaths "is dying in this house tonight. Thea, go restart Purge procedures on the security system. We don't need any more surprises." It was such a drastic turnaround from how she was acting when Thea last saw her, that her daughter didn't even hesitate. She headed straight for the panic room. As she was just about out of hearing range, Moira instructed Oliver to "help Mister Diggle carry Isabel to the living room."

Thea found herself oddly stumped as she stood in front of the panel. Why are there so many buttons? Who needs this many possible keys? She searched her brain for several minutes; her father had told all of them the code to restart the system in the event of this exact situation, but that was such a long time ago. Her instincts said to just press random things until she got the desired result. That was a dangerous idea simply because, for all she knew this panel of infinite buttons could cause their house to implode.

"Having problems?"

Thea jumped at the sound of Oliver's voice. After what they just went through, she should be more aware of her surroundings, not less. "I can't remember which code starts the Purge protocols."

Since the panic room was installed and the security system upgraded, it had always just clicked into lockdown mode when the emergency broadcast system finished announcing commencement. Automation had tricked her brain into thinking that she wouldn't need to know the code. Oliver simply stepped over the threshold and in a matter of seconds had the system restarted.

"Show off." It was mumbled under her breath in jest. That was when she noticed that his face was relatively clean of the blood that had decorated his features the last time that she saw him. That was good; the blood spatter kind of made him look like a serial killer.

He scanned the various security monitors with his eyes and Thea turned her attention there too. They had all assumed that every threat had been dealt with or fled, but they could be wrong. There could still be people in the yards or people who avoided the carnage of the dining room battle by hiding in one of the many rooms. She saw no living persons on the screen who weren't supposed to be there, but that meant very little at the moment. Nowhere is safe until the Purge ends.

When she turned her attention back to Oliver, he was still looking at a screen with an intense look on his the path of his eyes, Thea found herself looking at a grainy, black-and-white feed of her own bedroom; Roy's body was still on her floor. Just looking at the slightly unfocused image brought it all back. So much had transpired since that horrific moment in her bedroom that, just for a few minutes, she'd forgotten that the man, she had just recently started calling her boyfriend, had died by her hands.

"What happened with Roy, Speedy?" Of course he wanted to know. It was entirely reasonable that he would have questions. Oliver had watched them head upstairs to talk and now Roy was. He was absolutely entitled to ask about what happened in-between. The problem was that she wasn't sure that she could explain it without falling apart. He deserved any answer she could manage.

Keeping her gaze firmly on the screen that displayed her bedroom, she tried to share the tale. "He'd been acting odd since he showed up, but I just chalked it up to Purge nerves, you know? We were in my room, kissing and everything was fine, but then he started saying weird things, like how Purge Night was the new Prom Night."

She paused in her story, waiting for him to ask what that meant. He didn't. Maybe it's easier concept to understand without someone pawing at you. "I said no. I had already made myself very clear on the subject of sex. He flipped out on me, said that if we didn't have sex tonight, someone would steal me away or something like that." She shrugged helplessly, "He pinned me to the bed-"

Before she could even blink, Oliver's hands were holding tight to her shoulders and turning her to meet his eyes. "Did he hurt you, Thea? Did he-" Here he struggled to get the words out, anger and hatred boiling behind his eyes, "Did he rape you?"

"He tried, but I got a hold of the dagger that Walter gave me." Slowly she released a breath. "I thought that the sight of it would be enough to make him realize how crazy he was acting. It didn't. He got furious with me and started ranting again. It was like he was in his own little world then and he was speaking at me, not to me." A shiver stole through her as she recalled the distant look on his face. She would be haunted by that look.

Reaching into her back pocket, Thea pulled out the small device that started the chaos. It was such an innocuous object. "He showed me the people on the lawn and said I had two choices, I could stay in my room, have sex with him, and live to see tomorrow or I could choose you and die tonight."

"Roy took out this thing. I don't know what it is, but he pressed this button and all our security measures deactivated." She flipped the device over in her hand. Could all the chaos have been avoided if I'd just pressed the button again? The thought alone made her want to be ill. "He tried to wrap his arms around me from behind, I guess he thought my survival instincts would force me to pick him. As soon as he touched me again, I lost it. I don't know. All I could think about was him, pinning me to the bed, his hand under my shirt and him trying to undo my jeans."

Her eyes as shined in the L.E.D. lights of the panic room as she turned her gaze from the little object to Oliver's eyes again. "I swear I didn't mean to kill him. It was just a reaction. Before I could even try to help, Roy was gone. It happened so fast."

Oliver pulled her into a tight hug before she could say anything more. "Shh. Everything will be okay."

She voiced her contrary thoughts into his shoulder, "Nothing is okay. I murdered my boyfriend tonight and there was a bloodbath in our dining room. Nothing is okay anymore." Tears fell silently; the moisture dampening the fibers of the already ruined shirt he wore.

He took a step back and gently tipped her face upwards, "You were just defending yourself against a man who had already tried to harm you. You had no choice, Thea. It was him or you."

With the utmost care, he brushed away her tears, "As for the bloodshed in the dining room, that's not on you. The blame for that belongs on whoever made and programmed that thing. Pressing the button again would have been too risky. You could have permanently overloaded the system and we'd be defenseless until the Purge ends. Pressing it again could have indeed turned it back on, but then we would have been stuck in the mansion with a bunch of bloodthirsty Purgers without a way out until seven in the morning." He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "You did everything right."

Hearing those words from him made it just a little easier to breathe. If Oliver thought she wasn't to blame, maybe one day she could start to believe that too. It seemed impossible right now, but maybe...

The immediate threats were over and the house was secure again, but there was still much to be done. They had to move all the bodies, with the exception of Walter obviously, into the foyer so that the cleanup crews could come and remove them as soon as the Purge was completed. They had to sweep the house for any bugs or bombs that might still be active and try to figure out how Roy managed to disengage their security. He was smart, but certainly not smart enough to find the flaw in their supposedly un-hackable system and exploit it so. There had to be someone else involved and, if that someone survived the night, they would have to be handled.

"Thea, about what Slade said-"

"Don't worry about it, Ollie. I know that was just the side of the story that he had to believe. There is definitely more to it then what he said." She reached out and squeezed his bicep, "You don't have to talk about it...unless you want to. Just, I understand, okay? His credibility was shot with me the moment he put a sword to my throat." Her hand fell away as she started to move around him.

Oliver grabbed her arm and abruptly stopped her exit, "That wasn't what I meant. I was talking about you being the perfect justice for Shado. That I can't live without you."

He looked absolutely pained to be saying this and, though everything in her wanted to explore the implication, she had to let him off the hook; it was what a good sister would do. "He was insane, okay? I highly doubt any of his weak reasons for what he did hold any truth. Don't give yourself a heart attack over it, Ollie." She knew that was true, and could also be applied to Roy's rantings, but hope clung tightly in her chest.

"That's not-" Oliver ran a frustrated hand through his hair. "Thea, I… Screw it." In the blink of an eye, his arms were wrapped around her, raising her up ever so slightly, and his lips descended upon hers. It started with the slightest brush of skin on skin and quickly turned passionate. The love she only recently allowed herself to acknowledge bloomed bright inside of her. It was exhilarating and frightening at the same time.

"Ahem," the sound of someone clearing their throat from the doorway had the two of them jumping apart in a panic. Thankfully, Oliver managed not to drop her as they broke apart. Diggle smirked for a moment before his expression smoothed out. "Your mother sent me to find you two. Isabel is ready to talk." With that said, he turned on his heel and left again.

Silence stole over them in the wake of his interruption. It was Thea who finally broke the oppressive quiet. "Ollie…"

He seemed to understand what she meant without her having to give voice to it. His hands curled around her neck as his thumbs brushed her skin softly, "It's okay, Thea. We're okay. John's a good guy; he won't say anything to anyone."

She nodded in ascent. Oliver knew the man better than she did; Diggle was his bodyguard, after all. Thea had wholeheartedly agreed with Moira's decision to hire protection when Oliver first arrived home and there were murmurs of a possible kidnapping. She definitely agreed with his hiring now that he'd saved their lives.

Oliver leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers ever so gently, "We'll be okay, Speedy."

It wasn't exactly the lengthy discussion that they really should have, but it would do, for now. At least there was one thing that they didn't need to worry about: all consensual, illegal relationships between adults that were started during the Purge were free from legal prosecution. That didn't mean such relationships were socially acceptable, but at least they wouldn't have to worry about the law.

Oliver took her hand and led her out of the hidden room as they headed in the opposite direction. By the time they entered the living room, though, they were the siblings their mother expected. Not that it would have mattered; Moira was too focused on stopping Isabel from bleeding to death on their couch. Diggle was standing behind the sofa, hand on the gun at his hip and keeping diligently focused on the incapacitated woman.

Thea spoke up first, "Mom."

Moira looked up at them then, "Oh, good, you're here." Turning her attention back to Isabel, she suddenly pressed her hand down on Isabel's wounded shoulder. "Talk. Now."

The angry woman on the couch hissed in pain as her injury was made worse. Thea wished her mother's actions could seem cruel to her; the endless night had drained her of compassion though. As far as Thea was concerned, Isabel was a villain or, at the very least, willingly aligned herself with one; guilt by association. A little pain was the least of her problems.

"Fine!" She shouted amid a groan. "After Robert ended things, I wandered alone, furious that the love of my life would choose to remain in a loveless marriage just because a brat, who isn't even his, fell off a horse and broke an arm. Then, one day, a man showed up on my doorstep and asked if I was interested in getting even with the family that stole my happiness."

Isabel kept talking, laying out details of a most devious plot to destroy Oliver and their family, just for good measure. She explained that she and Slade Wilson created this plan to distract Moira, with the allure of political office. Oliver would be installed as head of Queen Consolidated as a show of familial strength. Then, according to the plan, they would emotionally compromise Oliver and steal the company away as well as simultaneously destroy his life.

She laid all of it out on the table, with Moira and Diggle helping to 'motivate' her along the way. Thea heard all of it, but comprehended nothing. Her brain just got stuck on Isabel's words: kid that wasn't even his. It was like a scratched vinyl playing in her head, the words running on a loop. She wanted to doubt the veracity of the claim, but it was too ridiculous of a thing for the businesswoman to have made up. All of the sudden, Thea looked around the room, so familiar and now it all felt false. It was nauseating. Everyone else seemed focused on the story they were being told, completely glossing over the bombshell that had just destroyed the very foundation of Thea's existence.

"It was all going so well, perfectly according to our plan." The vindictive brunette took far too much pride in that for Thea's liking. "but then, the news began their annual Purge countdown. Slade had forgotten about the annual event during his time on Lian Yu. Once he was reminded of it, he decided to scrap our plot in its entirety and sate his need for revenge and blood tonight."

Thea tuned back into the conversation just in time to witness their captive roll her eyes like an exasperated girlfriend. "I tried to convince him to wait, to slowly and methodically destroy everything you people care about piece by piece. His super soldier army wasn't even complete yet! There was only me and the two henchmen, but no. He just couldn't be patient."

In the wake of such a detailed confession, no one else knew quite what to do or say. Thea had a great deal to say, though, but the words were stuck in her throat. She didn't want to know if it was true. Eventually, the words broke free anyway. "Is it true?"

That had everyone's attention snapping towards her, even Isabel's. Did they forget I was here? It had to be her that Isabel was talking about. She had ridden horses quite frequently in her childhood. Not Oliver. She was the one who broke her arm while riding. Not Oliver. Unless Robert had more children that they didn't know about, it had to be her. When Thea asked again, her voice was louder and more furious. "Is it true?!"

No answer was forthcoming, but it wasn't necessary. She saw Moira look at Oliver, who was still standing at Thea's side, and that was answer enough. It was true. Angry tears blurred her vision and her body started to shake. "Who?" She asked, the words biting as she rounded on her mother, "who is my father?"

Her mother stood slowly, leaving the task of watching over their captive to the hired bodyguard. She crossed the distance between herself and her daughter. Her hands came to rest on Thea's shoulders, her missing finger was now bandaged. "Blood doesn't make a father, sweetheart. Robert is your father in every way that matters."

"Who is my father?" Thea insisted anyway.

As if she were a balloon that someone let the air out of, Moira deflated as Thea watched. "Malcolm Merlyn."

Dizziness overwhelmed Thea as the name registered in her mind. Malcolm Merlyn. The man responsible for the mass deaths during last year's Purge. The man whose actions inspired angry Glade residents to lay siege to the Queen family home that very night. Malcolm Merlyn was her biological father.

Abruptly, she spun on her heel to face Oliver. Her features bore no hint of the turmoil brewing inside. "How long have you known?"

It wasn't if he knew, the look shared between mother and son had banished all hope of that possibility, it was a matter of how long he'd been lying to her. He was her person, after all; the one individual in the world that she could trust implicitly. This lie he'd kept for their mother had shaken not only the entirety of her life as she had known it, but also her trust in him. How could he keep this from me?

Oliver had the decency to look chagrined by the question. Her stomach plummeted. "Since mom announced her run for Mayor." His answer was quickly followed by a hasty explanation, "I knew the truth would hurt you. I was only trying to protect you."

A harsh laugh tore the air as she glared at him. Two weeks. He'd known the truth of her parentage two weeks ago and said nothing. "You sound just like her."

Thea literally shoved past him and headed to the foyer. She needed space to breathe and time to think. Her entire life had been upended and nothing was what it had once seemed. If she were one for fanciful thoughts, Thea might have believed that she had fallen into a looking glass, much like Alice in the tales of Wonderland. This was not, however, any upside down world that she found herself in, this was real life. Even more unfortunate news piled on when she realized that she couldn't even go outside and get some fresh air. The Purge was still in full swing and, even in such an angered state, Thea wouldn't venture out there.

"Where are you going, Thea?" Moira called, running after her daughter. Neither woman paid attention to the rapidly cooling corpse of Slade Wilson.

"To take a shower." Thea answered, her words were bitten off as she reached the top of the staircase. It was only when she started to make the turn to her bedroom that she remembered the gruesome truth that awaited her behind that door. She couldn't face it, not yet.

Luckily for her, the mansion had a plethora of guest bedrooms with fully stocked attached bathrooms. Choosing a room at random, Thea opened the door and looked inside cautiously. There was always a possibility that a Glader was still lurking in the shadows of the room. Several minutes later, she was assured that the rooms were safe so she locked the doors both to the bedroom and bathroom. She turned the handle on the shower, water cascading in a rush from the showerhead, letting the spray warm as she disrobed.

Going through the motions, Thea removed the borrowed shirt, setting it on the sink's edge. It was speckled with drying blowback, but it was nothing compared to what she wore underneath. She pulled her tank-top off next, the dried blood making it a slightly more tedious process than usual. She tossed it into the waste bin between the sink and the toilet; there was no saving it. Her jeans were shimmied down her hips before they were kicked off with the same destination as her tank. Thea stepped into the shower numbly.

For several minutes, Thea just watched the water fall from the showerhead. She couldn't feel, couldn't really think about anything. She just blinked and breathed. Her father wasn't her father. She wasn't a Queen. She was a Merlyn. Does Tommy know too? If Oliver did, it wasn't out of the realm of possibility that Tommy knew as well.

She stepped forward so that the hot water touched her toes and held out her hands in a cupped shape, letting the water gather before she splashed her face. Her fingers rubbed over her skin, smearing her mascara over her fingertips, the color running down her arms to swirl around the drain in a light ash color. She turned so that her back was to the spray and she stepped backwards into it, letting the water soak her hair before working her fingers through her shoulder-length tresses.

When she reached for the shampoo bottle, Thea noted with a muted sense of horror that her palms were pink in color. Panicked she looked down and saw that the swirling water around the metal drain was a fading color too. Her fingers tangled into the soaked strands as she tried to scrub the blood out. When did someone bleed into my hair? Roy's wound sprayed blood across her chest and face, not her hair, and Slade Wilson's blood splattered Oliver. Of course, the battle in the dining room was so chaotic that she couldn't account for anything then.

It was in that moment that everything that happened that day hit her. Thea was curled up in a ball under the harsh spray of the water before she even knew what was happening. Her tears fell down her cheeks before vanishing into the gathered water beneath her. In the span of just a few hours she had: been attacked by her boyfriend, killed the aforementioned boyfriend in self-defense, been in a battle in her own house, had her arm broken, her stepfather had been murdered, she had been threatened with death, kissed her brother, learned her father wasn't actually her father and that everybody in her life was a liar. It was too much. All too much.

Thea stayed under the spray of the water until it ran cold and only then did she stand up again and leave the shower. She dried off with one of the stiff towels meant for guests and slipped the borrowed shirt back on and did all the buttons slowly. She wrapped up her hair in the towel carefully. Exhaustion slowed her footsteps as she unlocked and opened the bathroom door. Oliver was seated upon the neatly made bed as she entered the room once more.

"Jesus, Oliver! How did you get in here? I locked that door."

He shrugged unapologetically, "I got the key and unlocked it."

Thea made a noise of discontent, "I locked it for a reason."

"I'm not going to let you shut me out, Thea."

She sighed, reaching up to tug the towel from her hair, "I don't want to talk, Ollie. It's been a long day and I just want to sleep."

To her surprise, Oliver didn't argue the point; he simply stood up and folded back the blankets. She looked between the uncovered half of the bed and the door. There was so much that needed to be done before emergency services were activated in the morning. Oliver saw her hesitation and answered the unasked question, "We have already taken care of everything."

"What?"

His lips turned up a little as he explained, "You were in the shower for an hour. Diggle and I gathered and piled all the bodies, searched the house, and secured Isabel. Everything's been dealt with already." He gestured towards the tempting bed and she could find no reason not to give into her exhaustion. She curled up on her side, keeping her wounded arm above her body, and Oliver pulled the blankets tight around her. He hesitated for only a second before he bent down and kissed her forehead, "Sleep well, Speedy."

Thea laid there for a few scant seconds, staring blankly at the wall, her thoughts racing. "Ollie?"

For several heart-pounding moments, she worried that he had already left. Then, his voice responded, "Yeah, Thea?"

It had been a stressful day and she wasn't ready to forgive him for lying to her yet, but she couldn't push him away either. The truth of the matter was that, yes, he had lied to her about her father and that stung painfully, but she was in love with him. One bad decision on his behalf didn't completely eradicate her feelings. It was a complicated matter, too complicated for Thea to deal with right then. "Stay, please. Hold me."

It was the sound of the lock on the door clicking back into place that answered her request. The blankets flipped back for a moment as he slid onto the bed behind her and tucked them in again. His arms wrapped around her and when she made a noise of discomfort due to her broken arm he readjusted his hold.

He whispered against her ear as he settled in behind her, "I know I hurt you by keeping Mom's secret, but you know that I love you, don't you?"

"I know." Thea replied automatically. "This doesn't mean I forgive you, though."

Oliver chuckled softly, pressing a gentle kiss behind the shell of her ear, "I understand. I'll earn your forgiveness, I promise."

Of that, Thea had no doubt. It was them against the world; so it had been, so would it always be. Together they'd managed to survive the night of lawlessness. They would find each other again and be all the stronger for it in the end. They were Oliver and Thea Queen, after all.

A/N: Hope you all enjoyed my tale, please comment if so.