The Starling Saviour

Chapter 84

'I gave you a job, a home, when you needed one!' Malcolm shouted, as if I should've been grateful for what he had done.

'You only employed me so I could do your dirty work, unknowingly!' I seethed at Malcolm, completely and utterly betrayed. 'And you only offered for me to live at your house because you blew my old one up! I thought you'd changed, Malcolm, I really did, but I was so, so wrong. Why did I ever think you could be a normal human like everyone else, and why did I ever turn my back on Oliver?'

'Because we both know that you like it here, working for me, being with Tommy,' Malcolm responded, talking as if he could read my mind.

But, much to my dismay, he was right. He always was when predicting my every move. And he now had me right where he wanted.

'Why didn't you choose someone else to do this, instead of me?' I started to cry with despair. 'I thought I was like a daughter to you, Malcolm. I thought you cared about me, because I had started to care about you, after all what you've done to me and the people I care about.'

'I'm surprised you didn't see this coming, Aria,' Malcolm claimed, and if I agreed with him; all that had happened in the ten years I had been away from my family, away from my home, and away from anything normal, had been leading up to this seminal, frightening moment. 'The whole reason I took you here, to this city, was to protect Tommy, but also to save it.'

'I still don't understand why you picked me, Malcolm,' I growled angrily. 'Why take me to this country, this city, in the first place? Just so you could get me to kill everyone in The Glades? You could've easily chosen someone local, at least, instead of travelling all the way to a different country. That would've been cheaper and a lot easier.'

'You weren't some random choice, Aria,' Malcolm smiled at my obliviousness. 'It was your destiny to be here, in this city.'

'It was never my 'destiny', Malcolm,' I rolled my eyes at his excuse. 'The truth, you're going to tell it me, and now.'

'I'm not lying,' Malcolm persisted. 'I have a... Friend who I think you've met a few times, especially in Central City. His favourite colour is a very striking yellow.'

'The Reverse Flash,' I breathed.

'He gave me information, about people who would try to get in my way, people who could be responsible for my death. And, you came up. In your original timeline, you would board the Queen's Gambit and become a vigilante with a grudge against me after finding out that Tempest was behind Robert and Sara's death. An eye for an eye, or rather, an eye for two eyes.'

'I've still tried to kill you before,' I seethed at him. 'Why try to stop me from my first fate if I would just repeat it in a different... Alternate timeline?'

'But you didn't kill me, did you?' I could've sworn Malcolm winked. 'Originally, though, you did. An arrow right through my heart. I was quite impressed, actually. So, I made it my duty to steer you from the wrong path. Be on my side. And I was successful, to some extent. But, back then, I didn't know how big of a part you would play in the Undertaking, and after I watched you grow into the person you are today, I knew you would be vital in curing what ails this city. Levelling The Glades will do just that.'

'It's not the answer to the city's problems, and you know that!' I argued, not knowing what else to do after hearing all that Merlyn had to say. 'Murdering hundreds, thousands of lives and destroying a part of the city will just make matters worse! Why can't you see that, Malcolm?'

'Because you're wrong,' he told me indignantly. 'The Glades can't be fixed, so eliminating it and then building on the city is right. And you need to see this, Aria, or else I will do something terrible so you will.'