The Starling Saviour

Chapter 74

'Great,' Tommy chipped in a bit too joyfully, his actions amusing me. 'I'll go wake up Taylor.'

'No, Tommy, please,' Moira suddenly stood from her couch. 'He's sleeping, he's been through a lot. Now you all are welcome to stay. We certainly have enough room.'

'It's your call,' Tommy told Laurel while shaking his head, not knowing what else to say.

I could see the disappointment plastered all over Tommy's face, literal tears in his eyes. He couldn't stand Laurel being in Oliver's company for some reason that I was unaware of, but I knew that he was threatened and also annoyed at the situation. I didn't blame him; I felt exactly the same.

'Thank you, Mrs Queen,' Laurel turned to her, relieved. 'I guess we'll stay, then.'

'Good,' Moira smiled at us all, pleased that her son's old group of friends were back together again. 'And you, Aria, are welcome to stay here too. You don't have to, of course, but I will sleep better tonight knowing you're here to keep us safe.'

'Of course, thank you,' I nodded, keeping my own resentment hidden behind a smile. 'I'll make sure you are all okay.'

The room was soon empty except from Moira and I, the three others having gone to check on Taylor. And then, I wondered. Why had Moira said that it reassured her I was there, that I could keep them all safe? I was only an ex-forensic scientist, after all.

'Moira, why did you say what you said just a few minutes ago?' I asked her quicker than I intended, almost immediately back-tracking. 'I mean, I'm not that good at using firearms, or fighting off criminals.'

'Everyone seems to have forgotten about the time you saved the SCPD from that awful gang in the Glades, before you went missing,' Moira explained mysteriously. 'Even you, Aria.'

'That was only by chance, really,' I tried to play my accomplishment down so she wouldn't suspect me of anything else. 'Maybe it's a good thing that nobody remembers, it wasn't pretty.'

'I was surprised you didn't become an officer after that,' Moira professed kindly as we sat next to each other on the couch. 'Perhaps they'll let you back in.'

She opened a sizeable, thick photo album from the coffee table near us, decorated with pictures from before the island. On the page that we were currently looking at was a photo of a proud Robert Queen stood next to his prized possession, the Gambit, his son by his side who was wearing that smirk he always used to have on his face. Learning Moira and her allies in Tempest had salvaged the very same boat and dumped it in some warehouse had tainted the photo for me, and the painful memories I had from Lian Yu started to come back to me, like an unwanted relative at a family gathering.

'Are you okay, dear?' Moira sensed my pain, leaving me speechless as I had no idea what to say next.

It had suddenly occurred to me that I was sitting next to a psychopath, or perhaps just a really good actress. How could she show me these photos, knowing that she was the reason her family had been torn apart, that her husband had died, that her son's friend had died, and her brother and even I had been stranded on a murderous island?

'Ah, I remember this night as if it was yesterday,' Moira said as she pointed towards a photo of Tommy, Oliver, Laurel and I at the last Christmas party the Queens held before the Gambit sunk. 'You all looked so happy, like nothing could tear any of you apart.'

I looked at the photo closer, noticing Tommy's hand around my waist and the love I had for him captured in one still, perfect moment. I could almost hear Jingle Bells Rock playing through the function room the party was held in on that cold Christmas Eve, and picture the many guests whose numbers had overwhelmed me back when I was a quieter and much more nervous girl. I could see the Christmas tree the four of us were posing in front of, the tree that the four of us had decorated together in merry delight. And we were happy, something that somehow used to happen all the time, not like now, where we constantly were conflicted with one another's relationships in this strange love square-dance we had created for ourselves.