'L-Leyla?' I babbled uncontrollably. 'How-why-what-?'
'I can explain, my dear sister,' she smiled with the same smile she had when we were small. 'It's been too long.'
'But- but you were missing!' I gasped, barely able to string a sentence. 'Back home, they were looking for you!'
'While I was looking for you,' Leyla pointed out.
'But, why didn't you just... Text me or something?' I asked obliviously.
'You know that would've been impossible, with Merlyn and all that going on,' Leyla told me obviously. 'Yes, I know a lot about what happened to you. I've had almost ten years to do my research. And I already have tried texting, and calling, and visiting. But that assassin would not let me anywhere near you as your innocent, little sister Leyla Coleman. Little does he know who Molly Laneace is.'
'Why 'Molly Laneace'?' I asked out of curiosity while trying to process everything else that was going on. 'It's a bit... Unique.'
'It's an anagram of my real name,' Leyla laughed. 'I'd thought you would have guessed it was me; we did love our anagrams as children.'
I just nodded, the quiet making me feel slightly sane in all of this.
'I was the one who sent you your suit, in case you were wondering,' Leyla added. 'But from the expression on your face, I gather you already realised that.'
'How on earth did you get access to my suit?' I questioned with intrigue. 'I locked it away in Ted's Wildcat Lair so I wouldn't want to go back and find it, let alone anyone else.'
'Aren't you becoming a vigilante again?' Leyla reminded me rhetorically. 'Oliver isn't the only one who gets to go round fighting crime in a fancy suit.'
'He sure acts like he's the only vigilante in this city,' I remarked, not even questioning how Leyla knew about Oliver being The Hood or how she knew I had agreed to work with him. 'I'm starting to doubt him, a lot. I don't really know if I can work with him anymore.'
'He is always going to be that irresponsible, foolish boy he once was,' Leyla told me. 'Nobody can change overnight, not even someone who spent his years in purgatory. You should know that, Aria.'
'I was only on the island for about a year, though,' I remembered. 'Oliver was there for five.'
'Perhaps he experienced five years of hell, but they weren't all on Lian Yu,' Leyla mentioned controversially. 'I have my associations with a woman who goes by the name Ms Waller, who saved you from that island, and she told me otherwise. She didn't just save you, Aria, but Mr Queen too.'
'Why was she so vested in Oliver and I?' I inquired. 'I had, and still have, no idea who she was.'
However, I could remember the event so clearly. I had woken up on a plane with Amanda Waller sat opposite me, after Anatoly and I had seen the freighter explode, both Sara and Oliver supposedly being still on it. Waller had told me next to nothing about the whole situation, that it was 'classified', and had then left me in England so I could be reunited with my family once again. I still had no idea why she had taken such an interest in me though.
'The only thing I can tell you, Aria, is that she is the director of an extremely important advanced research group,' Leyla vaguely told me. 'I am unauthorised to let you know more, although I would love to.'
What on earth did a secret, and most likely governmental, agency want with me and Oliver? Organisations like that didn't just save people for fun.
'How do you know about all... This?' I questioned my sister further. 'Waller sounds like she was running a 'top secret mission' when she rescued Ollie and I. How did you come into the picture?'
'I may be unbeknown to Malcolm Merlyn, but I couldn't hide from the American government,' Leyla explained in an almost annoyed tone. 'I became a person of interest to Waller, especially. She sent for me and requested my help if I wanted to see you off Lian Yu.'
'You helped her just like that?' I quickly asked, astounded. 'She could've been working with Merlyn!'
'I assure you, she is not,' Leyla told me definitely. 'I would not have been so reckless; I made sure I was working with the correct organisation.'
'Didn't you feel... Used?' I asked. 'After all, it sounds like she played on your heartstrings to get information out of you about Oliver. She hasn't talked to me once since she rescued me, but it sounds like Oliver got up to a lot in his five years.'
'You are partially correct,' Leyla nodded. 'She didn't use me, but instead, we worked together. Yes, Mr Queen did work for Waller for a time. I didn't know a lot about what they did, but I do know that Waller took a keen interest in the both of you. It seems she chose your friend to do her dirty work and left you for greater things.'
'What greater things?' I wondered slowly, anxious for the answer.
'I have been trying to find out, but so far, I have had no prevail,' Leyla bowed her head in defeat. 'I may have aided Waller in knowing more about you, Aria, but I wouldn't have done so lightly. The organisation was my only hope in saving you from destruction.'
'Thank you,' I muttered just audibly, growing closer to my sister. 'I had no idea you had been helping me and trying to find me, all these years. I am so grateful, Leyla, I really am.'
'I am just thankful you are alive,' Leyla came even closer, outstretching my arms and unexpectedly hugging me, her uninviting exterior disappearing at once.
'Aria,' Leyla started. 'I must warn you about Malcolm Merlyn. He is plotting something. I can sense it. You cannot fall for his lies.'
'I won't,' I shook my head, reassuring my sister. 'Don't you worry.'
'I'm so very sorry I couldn't save you from Mr Merlyn before the island,' Leyla apologised, ashamed. 'You went through so much, and I was too weak to prevent it.'
'How could you have?' I smiled, understanding her delay. 'Merlyn is a hard opponent to defeat; I haven't been able to defeat him all these years. The only reason he's laying off me now is because we've just grown distant and he doesn't need me anymore.'
'I wouldn't be so sure of that, Aria,' Leyla doubted mysteriously. 'Just, please, be careful.'
We just looked at each other silently for a good few seconds. I was still astounded that Leyla had been able to find me and talk to me after all those years, and that she had been looking out for me like a guardian angel. Yes, she had changed, becoming more guarded and detached from her old self, but this had been the first time I had seen her since she was sixteen years old. She was bound to change in her transition from adolescence to adulthood.
'I don't want to lose you again,' I started to grow teary. 'Don't go.'
'I wish I could stay, but I'm afraid I cannot,' Leyla told me sadly. 'I hope we see each other very soon, my dear sister.'
'As do I.'
---
I still couldn't believe I had spoken to my sister as I left for work the next morning. Some of the things I had been so confused about finally made sense, Leyla having been with me every step of the way, silently helping me to stay alive. I was so moved by her cause that I was reduced to tears, wishing she was with me still, never leaving my side.
I noticed something suspicious as I went to analyse new evidence at the lab. The black arrow, Merlyn's arrow, was missing.
Had Lance given Oliver the arrow after all? What awful thing had made the detective go against all his morals and take a vital piece of evidence the SCPD badly needed to a vigilante he hated? Did he know The Hood's true identity?
I stormed across the building towards Lance, angered at how the whole situation was completely out of my hands. I wanted them to find out Merlyn was the archer, but not like this. Not only Oliver and Diggle were involved, but now Lance had been pulled into this mess.
'The arrow is missing,' I confronted Lance in a hushed voice.
'Oh, that's a, er, a shame,' he mumbled back. 'I'm sure you'll find it again soon.'
'I know you're hiding something, detective,' I narrowed my eyes at him.
'Okay, okay,' he whispered, taking me into a small, empty room where no one could hear us. 'The vigilante wanted a look at it.'
'And you just gave it to him?' I pretended to be shocked. 'What motivated you to do such a thing?'
'I can't watch as my Commissioner tells the world that the copycat archer is The Hood,' Lance said angrily. 'It goes against what I believe in, regardless of whether I agree with the vigilante's methods or not. I want to deliver justice, not cover up a serial murder case.'
'I'll admit, I want that too,' I nodded. 'But someone else in the forensics department is going to notice the absence of the arrow soon. And I won't be able to defend your actions.'
'He said he's gonna return the arrow,' Lance interjected as I started to walk away. 'The vigilante, that is.'
'Well, he better do, and quickly,' I stated, turning on my heel and marching back to the lab.
Lance would never guess I had wanted to become a vigilante once again. But now I wasn't so sure I wanted to if it meant I had to work with Oliver Queen.
---
'Thanks for all your help, Aria,' Oliver says as I hung the last wreath on one of the walls of the massive room we were in. 'I thought you never wanted to speak me again.'
'I'm only doing this for your family, not you,' I informed him, still angry at Oliver.
The Queens were hosting their first Christmas party since Oliver and Robert had disappeared, Oliver being the one who had insinuated it all. Although Oliver was the one arranging it, I still wanted to help.
'Of course,' Oliver commented slightly sarcastically.
'It looks wonderful,' Moira entered the room cheerily. 'You both have done a great job.'
'Aria's the one who decked the room,' Oliver smiled, trying his best to get my forgiveness. 'I only proposed we hold the party.'
'Honestly, it was nothing, you should thank your staff instead of me,' I denied the credit Oliver gave me. 'I just made the finishing touches.'
'Well, I still think you are the reason our parties are always successful,' Moira smiled. 'Before you disappeared, you always used to make sure this house looked perfect before the guests got here.'
I thought back to the Christmas party the Queens held the year before I was shipwrecked on the island, when we were all virtually living together and Oliver, Tommy, Laurel and I were the best of friends. After Oliver had returned from his 'five years in hell', as Leyla put it, things between the four of us had definitely changed, Oliver and I having to watch as our ex-partners were one.
At least I had had four years to adjust; Oliver had only been back a few months.
'The guests are to arrive very soon,' Moira announced. 'I was surprised at how many said they could make it, this being a rather last minute gathering.'
'I don't think anyone would decline an invitation to a Queen party,' I grinned, almost making Moira laugh.
'I have to go,' Oliver told us rather unsurprisingly. 'I will be back in time for tonight.'
He was probably tracking down another criminal, or finding out more about Merlyn's arrows. I wondered how long it would take him to crack the case.
'I can never understand why my son is in such a hurry all the time,' Moira expressed in a concerned tone. 'He has nothing to run to.'
'I think it's the... Club he's working on,' I tried to cover up Oliver's real motives.
'I still don't know why he would want to build a nightclub in a precarious place like the Glades,' Moira shook her head disapprovingly.
'He's trying to make a difference to the city, in his own, unorthodox way,' I defended Oliver. 'I think he wants to make the Glades a better place to live for the people of this city.'
'That district isn't the safest place to spend your afternoons,' Moira said, her voice almost sounding upset. 'I wish he'd stay away from there.'
Something didn't sound right about Moira's worries. Maybe she was just being excessively snooty, but her sadness didn't make sense. Oliver was a grown man, who could look after himself. What did Moira think was so dangerous in the Glades?
---
'Good evening, Mr Chen,' I greeted our newest guest with a smile.
I had managed to join Diggle at the door, welcoming guests into the home and keeping a close eye on who Moira had decided to invite. If anyone showed up without invite or appeared to be up to something, I would know straight away.
'You don't have to stay here, Aria,' Diggle muttered from the side of his mouth after Frank Chen had left us. 'I can watch over the guests by myself.'
'I want to know who turns up to this party tonight,' I explained quietly. 'Some of the people affiliated with the Queen family won't be here just to enjoy themselves. I suggest you stay alert at all times, Diggle.'
The main person I was watching for was Merlyn. He had been attacking businessmen all that week, and I didn't want to have to deal with another murder case where I had to hide who the killer really was.
'You look nice,' Oliver complimented me as he entered the house later on that evening, shortly after he had had a quiet but swift conversation with Diggle.
'Thanks,' I uttered sarcastically. 'You clean up well too. The only thing you seem to be good at at the moment is getting all that green stuff off your face.'
'That green stuff is one of the reasons why no one has found out that I'm the man behind the hood,' Oliver pointed out.
'Well you're good at hiding that too then,' I rolled my eyes, not being able to stop myself from blabbering on.
'I will take that as a compliment,' Oliver smirked before leaving to find his family.
'You need to let this go,' Diggle advised me as he joined me in navigating past the clusters of people filling the house. 'Oliver's your friend, and he's the only one who knows what you went through on that island. He understands you like no one else can.'
'How do you know about the island?' I hissed, keeping my voice down.
'I overheard you talking about it sometime this week when you were training with Oliver,' Diggle explained quickly.
'Is this your date, Aria?' We heard Tommy joke from behind us.
'Very funny,' I swivelled round on my stilettoed heel to find Tommy and Laurel hand in hand. 'This is Oliver's bodyguard, as you well know.'
'Didn't you resign because Oliver was too hard for you to babysit?' Tommy turned to Diggle.
'No, I just realised that Mr Queen just needed to stop being mislead by people like you, Mr Merlyn,' Diggle shot back, his face deadpan.
'That guy cannot take a joke,' Tommy commented as Diggle left the three of us in search for Oliver once again.
'No, but he is ex military, and he could break your jaw if you're not careful,' I warned him half seriously.
'Well I thought he seemed... Focused,' Laurel tried to stop Tommy's sudden worry as he cupped the side of his face anxiously.
'I'm sure he won't do anything to you,' I reassured him. 'Yet.'
'You better be right,' Tommy said. 'I can't lose these dashing good looks at the young age of twenty-seven.'
'Anyway, Merry Christmas, Aria,' Laurel hugged me, rolling her eyes at her plus one's comments.
'Merry Christmas,' Tommy also hugged me, but it felt slightly awkward, both of us remembering our last conversation which had resulted in being a bit too like when we had been dating.
Oliver joined us, looking merry.
'So glad that both of you could make it,' Oliver beamed at the two.
'Merry Christmas, pal,' Tommy hugged Oliver, Oliver doing the same with Laurel.
'So how long do you guys think it'll be before this isn't so weird, you know, the four of us?' Tommy asked awkwardly.
'It's not weird at all,' Oliver beamed even more, making us all laugh even more uneasily in unison.
But we all knew that really Oliver was being extremely ironic.
'I'm going to go and talk to more guests,' I quickly excused myself from that train wreck of a conversation.
'I don't know what you were talking about, but it looked extremely uncomfortable,' Diggle said as I went to get a drink to calm myself down.
'And I felt so tense,' I shook my head as I took a glass of champagne. 'Oliver had to make it a hundred times worse for all of us. I think he almost did it on purpose, probably to annoy me since I've been so cold with him.'
'If you feel that way, I really think you should forgive him,' Diggle advised me yet again.
'But I know he doesn't trust me enough yet,' I shook my head in frustration and sorrow. 'I want to help this city as much as he does, but he won't let me. So until he starts treating me like an equal, I'll forgive him.'
'Hey,' Tommy appeared out of nowhere, getting drinks all by himself.
'You can't bear the tension either?' I raised an eyebrow at him as he chugged down a glass of champagne.
'Laurel wanted a 'minute' with Oliver,' Tommy too raised his eyebrows. 'And we all know that that means a sentimental heart to heart between them both.'
'Oh, so now you don't like it that Oliver has history with Laurel?' I questioned him sharply. 'Because I thought you were fine with it.'
'Yeah, as Oliver said, it's not weird at all,' Tommy pretended to shrug off his feelings.
'You do know that it is weird, the four of us acting like nothing happened?' I challenged him. 'You can't just act like it isn't, Tommy. And I know that yesterday I said I wanted things to go back to what they once were, but we both know that can't happen.'
'Well done Aria, you manage to put a dampener on everything, even at Christmas,' Tommy remarked.
'And yet you're allowed to go through life not caring about anything but getting with your next fling?' I exclaimed, extremely irritated. 'I think being miserable is better than being a slut. I know you won't be able to stay with Laurel for long, don't kid yourself. As soon as I was gone you just moved on to the next girl you could find, Laurel unfortunately being the one this time.'
'What about your whole speech about you being selfish when you expected me to be single after returning from the island?' Tommy reminded me, sneakily using my words against me. 'I thought we had put this all behind ourselves!'
'Well maybe we can never do that!' I ended the conversation, hurrying away from Tommy and to the upstairs of the house.
I needed to be away from everyone. All the party was doing was bringing back memories from my past; yes, they were happy, but they were too painful to think about as I watched the man who I poured my heart out to care for another woman who used to be my best friend. I was messed up and I was broken, the most joyous time of the year emphasising this.
'You okay?' Diggle interrupted my misery at the door of the upstairs lounge I was sat in, crumpled on the sofa.
'Do I look like it?' I tried to sound as calm as possible.
'I'll take that as a no then,' he came closer. 'You know, you don't have to let other people upset you. Although Christmas is a time for family and friends, it can weigh you down, that constant duty of pleasing others and looking your best.'
'It sounds like you're talking from experience,' I took in what Diggle had said deeply.
'I'll just say that I used to spend each Christmas with the woman I loved,' Diggle opened up. 'But we couldn't pretend to be people we weren't in the end.'
My phone intruded on Diggle's heartfelt monologue, the number being private. Cautiously, I put the device to my ear and listened to the caller.
'This is Laneace,' I heard my sisters voice on the other end, still concealing her identity for some reason. 'Switch the news channel on now.'
Fumbling for the remote, I switched on the wall-mounted TV, it's plasma screen flashing with the colours of a newsroom, strangely bright for the urgency in Leyla's voice.
'-the fact is that we Americans need to cut back on the amount of energy we use to power our Christmas lights,' the topical, quiet chatter of a female anchorman met my ears.
'What has this got to do with anything?' I felt like my sister had been so low as to pull a prank on me.
'Wait,' Leyla insisted as I grew more and more impatient.
My sister messing me round when I had just become very angry wasn't the best idea.
'What do you know?' I muttered as I spotted Diggle trying to work out what the hell was going on.
Leyla speedily ended the call, not bothering to even answer me. Frustrated, I tuned back into what nonsense the news anchors were discussing.
'The numbers don't lie,' another woman on the screen laughed with her coworkers. 'All those pretty fairy lights we've got hanging around our trees are racking up a nationwide electricity bill larger than countries such as El Salvador and Ethiopia total altogether.'
'A sudden interest in the environment, Aria?' Diggle asked in amusement.
Without warning, the screen flicked to dark, pixelated camera work, as if it was overriding the news channel.
'What the...' Diggle started, taken aback.
'So this is what Leyla was on about,' I murmured under my breath.
As the image became clearer, the events that were unfolding before the city also did. Five people were bound up on chairs, each chair tied together in the centre of some pokey room. Whoever or whatever was manning the camera slowly revolved around the five, their faces identifiable.
It appeared that that Christmas, I wouldn't be only reunited with one sister, but two, because my youngest sister Rose was one of the hostages.