Athena and the League of Assassins (An Arrow: Season 3 Fanfiction)

Chapter 28: Oliver's Return

The two of us walked into the hideout. 

'Sorry that I didn't come by sooner,' Oliver said, making Felicity, Diggle and Roy turn around. 'I just wanted to check in on Thea and Evelyn.' Felicity stood and ran towards him, throwing her arms around his neck, letting out quiet sobs. He seemed startled, but accepted the hug. 'It's okay. I'm okay.' 

'Merlyn told us you were killed,' Diggle said as Felicity disengaged from her tearful embrace with Oliver. 

'I was close. I'm sorry that I didn't reach out sooner. I wasn't exactly in a cell service area.' He came towards Diggle and shook his hand warmly. 'You kept the city together.' He turned then towards Roy and did the same thing. 'Saved the Glades... well done.' He walked over to the desk where the sword was sitting, now cleaned but wrapped in plastic. 

'It's a gift from Malcolm Merlyn,' I said. 'He went looking for you.' 

'It's Ra's al Ghul's, right?' Roy asked. 

'Yep,' Oliver replied. 

'So, what are we going to do about him? I mean, if he finds out about Thea -' 

'Merlyn and I are working on that.' 

'Sorry,' Felicity said, causing all of us to look at her. 'For a second there, it sounded like you said "Merlyn".' 

'I need to know how to defeat Ra's. Merlyn has the knowledge.' 

'Merlyn is a monster,' Felicity snapped. 'You're in this situation, Thea is in this situation because of him.' 

'Felicity -' Oliver began to say, but he was interrupted. 

'No. Just a few hours ago, I stood right here, and I swore there was no way you would ever agree to work with Malcolm Merlyn, not ever. I guess I was wrong about everything. I need some air.' She walked past Oliver and out of the hideout, saying as she left, 'I'm glad you're not dead.' 

Later (at Verdant)... 

The DJ, Chase, walked away from Thea, and she was just walking up the stairs when she caught sight of Oliver and Evelyn walking towards her. 

'Ollie!' she said cheerfully. 

'Hey, Speedy,' he replied with a warm smile, going to hug her. 

'Hi, Ellie-bear,' she said, and I embraced her gently as well. 

'You haven't called me that name in years, Thea,' I replied. 

'I'm so happy you're home,' she said to Oliver. Oliver had a strange look on his face, and we both looked at him. I knew next what he was going to say, but Thea spoke first. 

'What?' 

'We have to show you something,' he simply replied. 

The three of us walked down the hall to the door that we used to get down to Verdant. 

'Where are we going?' she asked with uncertainty in her voice. 

'The basement,' I said blankly, and I punched a code in on the number pad, causing the light to flash green. 

'I thought you said the basement was flooded, Ollie.' We turned to her. 

'I lied.' 

The door soon opened, and we walked down the dark stairs to the basement. 

'Ollie, Evelyn...' Thea began to say. 'What's going on? You're both kind of making me nervous.' We stopped at the bottom of the stairs and Oliver reached for the panel, switching the lights on to the basement. Light flooded the room as I walked up alongside Thea, watching her keenly as she took in the sights of the Arrow and Athena hideout. 

'I know that this isn't going to mean much,' Oliver said from his position at the light panel. 'I've given you no reason to believe us when we say it. But we lied all of this time to protect you.' She walked towards the glass cases and spotted both the Arrow and Athena suits next to each other. 

'You're... you're them.' We walked towards her. 

'Yeah,' Oliver replied. 

'That night with the - the Hoods, and the woman in black, that...' 

'That was Ra's al Ghul's daughter,' I said, coming to stand behind her with Oliver, looking on as she took all of it in. 

'Every time I got so mad at you two for being... a flake, or telling me something I knew that had to be a lie...' She turned and looked at both of us as we stood there, waiting for her to speak, say something, storm off, vow to never speak to us again. Reprimand us, even. But her next words were something I would never forget. '... you were saving someone's life. Thank you.' She walked over to us and pulled us both into an embrace that made us both freeze temporarily, but then our arms settled around our younger sister. 'Thank you. Thank you.' 

That evening (at the apartment)... 

'You know how many times I've wished that I could thank the Arrow and Athena for things they've done for the city?' Thea asked as she sat on a couch, with me seated across from her in another seat, with Oliver staring out the massive windows of the apartment. He turned to face the two of us. 

'Probably as many times as I've wished we could have this conversation,' he replied. 

'Did Mom know?' Thea asked, looking between the two of us. 

'The night that she died, she told me... that she'd known for a while,' he replied. 

'We were worried that you'd be angry,' I said softly, meeting her eyes. 

'Only because he broke my window,' she replied pointedly. 'Although I did kind of kick your ass.' 

'You didn't. But you did have a good teacher.'  

'You were looking for Malcolm that night,' Thea pointed out.

'We know about each other?' 

'Wait, Malcolm knows that you're the Arrow and Athena?' 

'Relax, sis, no big deal. I am amazed he didn't tell you.' 

'Then why did you... tell me? Why now?' Just then the door opened, and the person in question, Malcolm Merlyn, stepped through the door, shutting it as he came through. 

'Because Ra's al Ghul is coming for us,' Oliver replied. 'All of us. And the only chance that we have to survive is to work together. To trust each other.' 

'He's right,' Malcolm spoke. She stood, an angry look in her eyes. 

'No. No, he's not.' She walked to Malcolm. 'I turned my back on everyone I know, including my own siblings, because you told me there was nobody else I could trust.' 

'I was only trying to protect you,' Malcolm replied, trying to step forward to assuage her, but she backed up further, away from him. 

'By driving a wedge between me, Ollie and Evelyn? You manipulated me.' Turning, she stalked off and out of the room. 

'Thea,' I called out. 

'Let her go,' Malcolm said, but I ignored it.