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avasharpe · 4 years ago

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The Best of Me Belongs To You

Chapter: One of One

Summary: The four times Nyssa saw Sara and the one time she greeted her.

Fandom: Arrow, Legends of Tomorrow.

Relationship: Nyssa al Ghul/Sara Lance, Sara Lance/Ava Sharpe (Mentioned), Roy Harper/Thea Queen.

Characters: Nyssa al Ghul, Sara Lance, Ava Sharpe, Thea Queen, Roy Harper

Rating: General Audiences.

Additional Tags: Fall Aesthetics, Angst, Unhappy Ending, WE COULD HAVE HAD IT ALL.

Read at AO3

Read at FFN

(This is an old fic I’m reposting but it fits with the fall vibes.)

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Nyssa walks down the aisle in search of a new tea kettle. The old one had collected rust after spending the majority of its time on the stove holding tea she would never drink. Somehow she ended up in the home décor section and her boots click on the floor as she carries her basket in the crook of her arm.

There was a swish and the hairs on the back of her neck stood up as she felt the air brush past her, moved apart by the knife that flies through it. Nyssa hears it land and looks to see to it embedded in a cutting board on the next aisle over.

“What have I told you about playing with merchandise?” A harsh male voice criticizes the thrower.

Nyssa looks to see Sara turn towards the store manager with a disgruntled look. Sara wears jeans and a store issue shirt with her long blond hair swaying around her shoulders. She looks good, although she doesn’t look happy.

There’s a pain in Nyssa’s heart, one that is as familiar to her as breathing. The manager says something and Nyssa can see the murderous glare in Sara's eyes and she wonders if the effects of the pit still torture Sara. Nyssa stands there, frozen in time as she watches Sara scowl at her manager before being called away by another customer.

She wants to go to Sara, but a little voice inside tells her that Sara may not be happy to see her. Especially, if her soul is plagued by the Pit's desires. The event that Nyssa begged to stop, and the guilt she still cares for the part she played her Beloved's tortured soul.

...........................................................................

Nyssa had just finished her latest novel and in a fit of rage had gone back to the library in the midst of a rainstorm just to return the book. The novel, although praised by critics, had a cathartic tone that had not been well played by the author. Leading her to be disappointed and yearning for a more satisfying story. Now, she roams the shelves in an attempt to find something else to satisfy her.

The peace and warmth of the old building, along with the browned tones had calmed her as the smell of old books surrounded her senses. As she picks up an ancient novel she caught a flash of blonde hair in between the crack in the shelf that sent her heart into her throat.

Nyssa walks to the end of the aisle and peeks around the corner. Sara sat at one of the oak tables mulling over several books and papers. There were a number of tables set up in the library for students and others to sit at, but they were all empty save for the one Sara was using.

Nyssa could see the many papers Sara had spread out and the various books she had stacked around her. She was deep in her studies and writing in her notebook, a look of concentration on her features. One Nyssa had seen many nights before as she taught Sara her language and as they studied other League related things.

However, these were not subjects Nyssa had studied before. The stack of books next to Sara were about aerospace engineering and flight as well as astronomy and history. Curiosity got the best of her as she considers approaching Sara and inquiring about the reason for her study.

Once again that little thought intrudes into her mind, saying that Sara was better off without the pain Nyssa brought to her life. Every time Nyssa had entered Sara’s life it had ended in only heartbreak for both of them, but this time they were free of the service to the League and expectations of others. Perhaps this time it could be different.

She contemplated her position and almost lost herself when she caught Sara's blonde hair flicks over her shoulder. Sara whips around in an attempt to catch her. Nyssa quickly sidesteps behind the shelf as she hears Sara get up and race towards the aisle, but by the time she reaches it, Nyssa is long gone.

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This time she had drawn the short straw, literally. Thea had held them both between her fingers in an attempt to settle the argument of who should venture out into the cold fall weather for takeout. A welcome change from their usual dinner of boxed meals. She goes up to the podium at the restaurant and gives the manager the fake to name placed under their order.

The lowlights and red decor mirror the fall evening outside the windows. Nyssa looks around for a place to sit and wait when a short brunet woman brushes past her. She pulls along a tall man with a sunny smile whom she vaguely recognizes as he mutters an apology. Her eyes follow the happy couple as they go to their table. A party full of several other people takes up the center of the restaurant, but Nyssa easily picks out Sara’s face in the crowd. She’s smiling at them as they greet her and sit down across from her.

There is an empty seat next to Sara and Nyssa thinks about how easily she could fill it, but would Sara even want her there? There’s a familiar ache and her heart as if it was tearing open a deep longing. Nyssa watches the party as they laugh and talk, sipping red wine and eating the bread on the tables as they wait for their food.

A clap of thunder catches her attention as it rumbles through the air. The party doesn’t notice, they continue on with their merry dinner. The manager calls her name and hands over the bag of hot food and Nyssa can see the steam come up through the paper boxes. She takes one last look at the group and at Sara's beautiful smile. It’s a genuine smile and true happiness radiates from her.

Nyssa can’t ruin that, she thinks. Sara deserves happiness more than she does. She turns away and walks out the door of the restaurant into the wet, cold streets of the city, layers with golden leaves.

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Nyssa happens upon it, walking around the corner in the park towards the fountain. She sees the couple straight ahead of her. She had been out taking a walk to cool her head. It seems that sharing an apartment with two all but teenagers still slaves to their hormones had taken its toll on her sanity. Nyssa ran out of the apartment they had been staying in after Thea and Roy and started kissing, grabbing only a coat and her gray hat.

The couple is locked in a kiss. Sara is leaning up on her toes as the other blonde’s ducks down to reach her lips. Sara’s got a grip on the other woman's gray jacket collar, holding onto her to keep herself steady. She used to do that to Nyssa, she used to run her fingers along her label and cling to it with a death grip. Nyssa touches her collarbone as if she can still feel Sara's hands there.

Her first thought is that it should be her. It should be her kissing Sara. It should be her ducking down to reach Sara’s lips, but it’s not and Nyssa can barely stand to see it. She thinks she should feel jealous, but instead, she just feels a longing for her beautiful yellow bird.

Sara pulls away with a smile across her face, mirroring the one on the woman’s face in front of her and dropping back down onto her heels. Sara straightens the other woman’s shirt as she pulls Sara in closer to her. She whispers something in Sara's ear that makes her laugh, the sound echoing through the park.

It was that beautiful sound that sent Nyssa falling in love with her all over again. Sara’s laughter pulls at her heart, but it wasn’t meant for her. She knows now if Sara were to look over and catch her, she would see the pain on Nyssa’s face. She steps back once, then twice, till she turns and runs in the other direction. Now Nyssa only feels jealousy in her heart.

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“I don’t want to go,” Nyssa insists.

“Oh come on you’ll have lots of fun,” Thea said, as she put the finishing touches on her makeup. “It’s for Felicity, remember. It’s her first Hanukkah without Oliver and I want to be there.”

The idea of spending the entire night enjoying Felicity's and everyone else's company without having to see Oliver entices her very much so. Despite how the thought of potentially running into Sara overwhelms her senses.

“What are you gonna do Nyssa? Celebrate Hanukkah all by yourself in this crappy apartment?” Roy asks, knowing she would attend just to spit him. They have a very good relationship although, it was more teasing than anything, he was the little brother she never had.

She was also looking forward to having the night off and being around others her own age. Thea and Roy were wonderful, but despite their shared agenda, they were both at different stages in their lives.

"Alright," she agrees.

“Hey,” Felicity greets them with an eager smile and a warm hug and she ushers them into her home.

There was a fire going in the hearth and blue and white decorations adorn the brick walls. Felicity and Thea quickly got swept into a conversation as Nyssa hung back admiring the apartment. She wanders around towards the kitchen and before she catches Sara’s familiar warm smile. She’s wrapped around the arm of the blonde Nyssa saw at the park. She turns to walk away from them, but before she can take a step Sara recognizes her.

“Nyssa.” Sara calls out, her name sweet on Sara's lips.

“Hello, Sara,” she said trying to be polite. When she turns around and looks at Sara she sees a kind of softness in her eyes.

“It's good to see you, Felicity mentioned that you were traveling with Thea and Roy to destroy the other Lazarus pits,”

Nyssa nods. “They also told me of your time traveling adventures. It must be exciting.”

There’s a kind of heaviness that sets in the air as they gaze into each other’s eyes. The other blonde that is attached to Sara’s hip looks between the two of them.

“Hello, I’m Ava Sharpe, Sara’s fiancé.”

Before she can introduce herself to Ava, Thea bounds over having heard Ava’s introduction. She squeals at Sara as they embrace each other in an excited hug.

“I heard someone’s engaged,” Thea sang.

“Yeah, Sara show her,” Ava said, holding up Sara’s hand, to display the ring on her finger. It's certainly extravagant with several large diamonds in an intricate display. Something Nyssa knew Sara never wanted. Not in their lifetime at least.

“So Ava, Felicity said that you work for some sort of time agency?”

“Yes, the Time Bureau…” Ava said as she began to explain her work.

Nyssa lets her eyes fall down into left, a silent signal to Sara. Who takes her cue and untangles herself from Ava. They walk towards the pantry and away from the crowd as Nyssa puts her hand on Sara's back, knowing that she would lean into her as Sara caves to Nyssa's touch.

‘I’ve missed you’ or ‘you look good’ are some of the things she expects Sara to say. However, once they're alone in the pantry, Sara turns to lean against the counter across from her.

“I’m so proud of you,” Sara said, her smile is soft and the weight of her words surprises Nyssa. “Standing up to your father and Merlyn, dismantling the League, and destroying the Lazarus Pit. You've ventured out on your own and created your own path in life. It’s everything I could have wanted for you.”

“I was simply doing what was best," Nyssa said, looks down at the floor and away from Sara’s bright eyes, grateful for her approval, but her instincts are always to be modest.

Sara gave a little chuckle and Nyssa wants to wrap up this moment in a bottle. If only so she could keep the feelings and the sound of Sara’s laugh forever.

“And what of you? I have heard of some of your adventures, but none of the details?” Nyssa asks, yearning to hear of Sara's life.

“I’m a time traveler now and the captain to a crew of misfits. Recently we’ve been battling a few demons. Things somehow get messed up a lot, but I like to think we fix things more than we break them.”

Sara seems to shine as she describes her work in Nyssa can see that it is her true calling.

“I’m glad you’re happy with your work and with Ava as well,” Nyssa said, the first part fell naturally off her tongue, but the latter set of words she had to force herself to say.

“Yeah Ava and I are happy,” Sara said, nodding her head eagerly and fiddling with her ring. “Are you happy? Do you have someone? I didn’t see anyone else with you tonight.”

“There is no one else in my life,” Nyssa said, ‘only you’ she thought. “But I am happy, very much so.”

“That’s great,” Sara said nodding, drumming her fingers on her clutch.

“Yes,” Nyssa agrees too quickly.

Every cell in Nyssa’s body screams ‘go to her! Kiss her, pull her into your arms and never let go!' Surely Sara must see the longing on her face and the way Nyssa’s body aches for her.

“There you are,” Ava said walking into the pantry. “Have you two had enough time to get caught up?”

Ava plants herself next to Sara and wraps an arm around her. Ava leans down to give her a kiss, but Sara turns away and resigns Ava to kiss her cheek.

“Yes,” Nyssa said, eager to leave. “I think I’ll go find Felicity and see if she needs any help.”

Then she does something she’s never done before. While walking away Nyssa turns to look back to her. Sara's lips were parted and there was a look of longing in her eyes, one that Nyssa knows all too well. Against her better judgment, she left Sara in the pantry. She knew that Sara will be happy with Ava. Nyssa has seen it and she can find someone else to love. Although, in that moment it seemed she will never truly love anyone else.

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“Why didn’t you tell her how you feel?” Thea asks on the car ride home, questioning her from the passenger set. “You could have swept her off her feet and taken her away.”

“Not everything is a fairytale, little Queen.”

Thea rolls her eyes but continues. “Didn’t you see the way Sara looked at you, she still loves you.”

“She said she was happy and she is engaged to another. I will not go against her word and intervene where I am not wanted.”

“Nyssa, Sara’s lying. Can't you see, she was looking at you all night, she…”

“Thea, enough,” Nyssa said, gripping the steering wheel.

Nyssa studies the road before her and the rain that fell across it. The leaves from fall sit decaying on the roadside as winter sets in. She knows she will never be with Sara. No matter how much she longs for her, no matter how much she is jealous, no matter how happy she knows she and Sara could be.

#Nyssa al Ghul #Sara Lance #Nyssara #Ava Sharpe #Arrow #DC's Legends of Tomorrow #Roy Harper #otp: Beloved #Thea Queen #DC #FanFic: LoT #FanFic: Nyssara #FanFic: Arrow #My FanFics #my writing #my work

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nyssarra · 4 years ago

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You Are My Sunshine

Summary: Sara is Nyssa's sunshine, but the sun doesn't always shine for her.

Fandom: Arrow.

Relationship: Nyssa al Ghul/Sara Lance.

Characters: Nyssa al Ghul, Sara Lance.

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences.

Read at AO3

Read at FFN

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The League is death, it is darkness and it is the world of the devil, but Sara lives in it. She a part of her felt that after everything she's done, cheating with her sister's boyfriend, torturing men on the Amazo, and creating the monster of Mirakuru, this is what she deserves. They try to pull the wool over her eyes, tell her a line and have her repeat it back, but she never bought into the myths and legends of doing all right by killing in the shadows.

Sara let the water run over her hands as she scrubbed out the dried blood from underneath her fingernails. Some days it felt like it would never wash away, but today it does. When she finally saw the white of her nails and rinsed them off, drying them on the soft towel.

Yet there was happiness, in the form of a beautiful brunette who kissed her like no one else, who loved her truly, more than anyone else ever had. To Nyssa, Sara wasn't her second choice, and Sara didn't have to steal her away from anyone. Nyssa was hers by choice and for love.

Sara walked on her toes as she left the bathroom. It was late, but a few candles still burned around their room, forever providing light against the dark and the cold night outside their windows. Sara slipped under the covers and propped herself up on her elbows as she gazed down at Nyssa asleep before her. Nyssa’s black curls were a halo on her pillow and her lips were slightly parted as she slept. She was so beautiful, and wonderful, and everything good about the League. Nyssa was the bright spot in everything.

“You are my sunshine,” Sara whisper pressing her lips to Nyssa’s head. She can only remember a few lines from the childhood song, but it comes back to her like a soft memory.

“You are my sunshine,

My only sunshine,

You make me happy,

When skies are gray,

You'll never know dear, how much I love you,

So please don't take my sunshine away.”

As Sara trailed off, she wrapped her arms around Nyssa's waist and cuddled into her chest. Sara held her as if Nyssa would disappear like so many others had and Sara would never be convinced that this was permanent. So for now, she just squeezed Nyssa tighter and prayed that she'd still be there in the morning.

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Nyssa learned the song from Sara’s lips. She sang it only when Sara thought Nyssa was sleeping. The simple tune was a melody that floated off of Sara’s lips, it was childish, but beautiful. Nyssa couldn't help, but think of the song in reverse, with Sara’s yellow hair, musical laugh, and shining smile it reminded her remarkably of the sun. Sara was a warm and happy spot in Nyssa’s life, filled with duty, honor, and obedience. Sara was her joy and her happiness.

Nyssa can see how the darkness of their life affected Sara, taking away the glow of her hair and the brightness of her smile. Sara fell asleep crying in her arms for the little girl whose father she killed. For all the regret and anger Sara felts, for a commitment she has made that asked her to kill. Nyssa knew that it didn’t settle well in Sara's heart, even Nyssa was beginning to question whether what they were doing was right. Sara had always had a better moral compass than to her and if this tipped her scales towards the wrong, then Nyssa felt right to question it.

Sara's sobs turn into heavy breaths and shaking moans, until she finally drifted into a deep slumber. Nyssa took a warm cloth and washed away the saltwater from her cheeks. Then she tucked Sara further into bed and held her close. The words to Sara’s song floated into her mind. Nyssa had never been one for singing, but she did her best to sing softly, for Sara.

“You are my sunshine,

My only sunshine,

You make me happy,

When skies are gray,

You'll never know dear, how much I love you,

So please don't take my sunshine away.”

Nyssa knew that Sara had never been as committed to the League as most of the others are. She knew that she was the reason Sara stayed and there's a part, deep inside her, that knew that one day, that won't be enough.

……………………………………………………………………

Nyssa was right and one day it's not enough, Sara packed a light bag and dressed while Nyssa was out. Sara knew she wouldn't be able to walk away from Nyssa if she were there. So she left in the dead of night while Nyssa was in a meeting with her father. She took the dirt bike across the desert towards Baghdad. Sara looked up at the sky with no moon to reflect the sun’s light. She's turning away from her sunshine, but a part of her is still naive enough to think and maybe they will be together again someday.

That day came when Sara willingly returned to the League, she had a new understanding of death and its necessity, but also on her role in taking a life for the League. If it meant her family and her City's survival then Sara would willingly serve Ra's al Ghul. Nyssa in all her grace forgave her. There was an understanding in her voice as she spoke with her and she was happy to have her back willingly. So for a brief time, there was sunshine for both of them.

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Whenever Sara left on a mission without her, she seems to take the sunshine with her. Nyssa tried not to mope through the hall, but even Ra's al Ghul can sense her brooding. It was made worse when Sara failed to check in with her handler. Nyssa feared from the moment her father assigned this task to Sara, that her sunshine would be taken from her. A fear that settled heavy on her heart as she kneeled in front of Sara's Grave where her Beloved was buried. Her Sunshine is gone forever and Nyssa held back tears as she spoke with Laurel. It was only when she was back in the safety of Sara safe house that she leaned against the table and let her tears fall.

A few years ago she looked up the lyrics to Sara's sunshine song and realized the sad nature of the full song. The lyrics come back to her now as she cried.

“The other night dear, as I lay sleeping

I dreamed I held you in my arms,

But when I awoke, dear, I was mistaken,

So I hung my head and I cried,

You are my sunshine,

My only sunshine,

You make me happy,

When skies are gray,

You'll never know dear, how much I love you,

So please don't take my sunshine away.”

Someone took her sunshine away, but she would take the sun from them, permanently.

……………………………………………………………………

But the song was wrong and her sunshine came back to her.

Nyssa wrapped her arms around Sara's waist as they sit in the porch swing on Felicity and Oliver's back deck. The sun shined warmly above them as they enjoyed the last few days of summer surrounded by friends and family. Laurel and Tommy sit at the table drinking and laughing with Felicity and Lyla. John and Oliver play with the kids in the yard and Quinton was at the barbecue showing Donna how to cook the steaks.

Nyssa has never thought of loving anyone but Sara, but as they settle into their roles of aunts to the children of their friends, Nyssa felt her love open up a place in her heart for them and for their friends who have become her family. Sara was still her main sunshine and Sara looked at her like the sun shined in her eyes too. Sara leaned in and kissed her again, Sara's mouth warm and inviting as Nyssa put a hand on her neck and held her closer. They were both absolutely and blissfully happy.

Little Sara Diggle ran past and Sara scooped her into her arms, giggling as pulled away and ran off again. Little Sara came back and showed Sara the flower crown she was making. Sara pulled her up to sit in her lap and helped her tie the flowers together. Then she whispers and Little Sara's ear and she turned to place the crown on Nyssa's head. Sara held Little Sara close and sang to her.

“You are my sunshine,

My only sunshine,

You make me happy,

When skies are gray

You'll never know dear, how much I love you,

So please don't take my sunshine away.”

Little Sara smiles up at both of them and as they rocked back and forth. Nyssa looked over at Sara and caught her staring. They both know that they will never have to live without Sunshine again. The sun was warm on their skin and it sparkles in their eyes forever.

#Nyssa al Ghul #Sara Lance #Nyssara #Arrow #OTP: Beloved #DC #fanfic: arrow #Fanfic: Nyssara #My FanFics #My writing

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afaimsarrowverse · 4 years ago

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Ten Favorite Ships from the four main Arrowverse Shows:

Rules: For this list Crossover Pairings were excluded if one partner is confined to their own show. However if the character changes show later he or she is on the list. This is my blog, this is my list, it is in no way objective, everyone is entiled to their own opinion, so please don’t reblog or answer just to tell me how much you disagree with me. You can’t quantify love, well except with stupid lists like this, just because a ship is not on this list does not mean I don’t like it - except when it does - so…. yeah, here we go

10 besten Ships „Arrow“:

10. Merlance (Tommy Merlyn/Laurel Lance)

I always liked the unlikely story of Tommy Merlyn actually conquering Laurel Lances heart.

9. Overarcher (KaraX/Oliver QueenX)

While I don’t think our Kara would ever really give Oliver a shot, this one was undoubtly True Love, well at least for Oliver X, Kara X did love him, yes, but she was much more in line with duty than he ever was. Which is what actually makes this dynamic this interesting.

8. GreenAtom (Oliver Queen/Ray Palmer)

A very underapprecaited Ship that I love dearly. Ray und Oliver together have so much potential.

7. SmoakDetective (Donna Smoak/Quentin Lance)

Quentin needs love, and while Donna is not the first person you would think of when you would think of a potential partner for him, she is the best fit for the role. She challenges him and makes his day brighter. And he treats her well.

6. Olivarry (Oliver Queen/Barry Allen)

As unlucky as Olivers Love Live is, maybe that’s the case because the actual love of his live happens to be a man which he is not willing to admit to himself.

5. Raylicity (Ray Palmer/Felicity Smoak)

Cute and entertraining those two are actually a much better fit than Oliver and Felcitiy, maybe only a little bit too simelar as Oliver has pointed out.

4. Nysara (Nyssa al Ghul/Sara Lance)

We love Sara and we love Nyssa, why shouldn’t we love them together?

3. Throy (Thea Queen/Roy Harper)

This is the one ship that everyone agreed on was to be endgame.

2. Lauriver (Laurel Lance/Oliver Queen)

This was supposed to be endgame, and the fact that it wasn’t is frankly just an insult to anyone who knows anything about Green Arrow in the comics.

1. Cannarow (Sara Lance/Oliver Queen)

So here it is my Arrow OTP.

Die 10 besten Ships „The Flash“:

10 Elongsue (Ralp Dibnyh/Sue) Dearborn

This was supposed to be an epic love story with endgame potential.

9. Eobarry (Eobard Thawne/Barry Allen)

Fanboy Eobard might have come to hate Barry, but a part of him never stopped loving the scarlet speedster as we all know.

8. Elongflash (Ralph Dibny/Barry Allen)

I frankly never understood why people did not ship them more and there are so little fanfics about those two, I mean it’s a classic love story really.

7. Allenbert (Barry Allen/Julian Albert)

For a long time I thought that that would be the reveal about Julians problem with Barry. Appearantly so did the actors.

6. Jocile (Joe West/Cecile Horton)

They are cute and sexy together, have a mature realtionship that presents new obstacles the navigate around together, and it’s an eternal shame that their planned Season 5 sub-plot was cut short

5. Coldflash (Leoanrd Snart/Barry Allen)

Leonard flirts with everything that moves, but Barry has a special place in his heart.

4. Westhawne (Iris West/Eddie Thawne)

And he was ready to fight destiny itself. For Iris. And she did love him. A lot.

3. Thallen (Eddie Thawne/Barry Allen)

Barry und Eddie were crushing hard on each other, there is no denying that.

2. Westallen (Iris West/Barry Allen)

Westallen ist destiny in every timeline, in every universe, it’s a as simple as that.

1. Westhallen (Iris West/Eddie Thawne/Barry Allen)

This is how you solve a love triangle, that does not need to be one, when all three parties have certain feelings for all the other members of the triangle.

Die 10 besten Ships „Supergirl“:

10. Lanvers (Alex Danvers/Maxwell Lord)

Yes, I know Alex is lesbian, but this ship ist just too yummy.

8. Killiam (Kara Danvers/William Dey)

Frozen burn realtionship that deserves to pick up speed. Kara deserves a love life, please!

9. Karolsen (Kara Danvers/James Olsen)

Back in Season 1 of Supergirl I actually shipped this. I loved Kara and genuinly wanted her to get the guy of her dreams. I mean she got heart eyes, ever time James walked in the room, but she also was adult enough to stettle for „just friends“.

7. Dolsen (Alex Danvers/Kelly Olsen)

Kelly is a much better fit for Alex than Maggie ever was, because she is less selfcentered and much more willing to compromise and they are more simelar. And in the end all the obstacles those two faced they were willing to overcome together.

6. Overarcher (KaraX/Oliver QueenX)

5.Brainia (Brainiac-5/Nia Nal)

Brainy and Nia and their relationship were the only genuine good things about the first half of Season 4.

4.Winniac-5 (Winn Schott/Brainiac-5)

I am one out of two persons in the world who ships this, but I ship it hard.

3. Clois (Clark Kent/Lois Lane)

Clois has been done very compelling by many other actors before, but the Arrowverse-Version still managed to get their own spin on it and to come across super sweet.

2. Sanvers (Maggie Sawyer/Alex Danvers)

Ah, Sanvers, they took the world in storm and didn’t we love them.

1. Karamel (Kara Danvers/Mon-El)

Their chemistry jumped from the screen right into our hearts.

Die 10 besten Ships „Legends of Tomorrow“:

10. Saramaya (Sara Lance/Amaya Jiwe)

I really don’t know why everyone is going on about Kendra and Sara, when they could be going on about this ship were there is actual tension and actual chemistry there.

11. Coldray (Leo SnartX/Ray Terrill)

Those two are just two cute and sadly were wiped out of existence by Crisis, but I still love them.

8. Atomsteelwavevixen (Ray Palmer/Nate Heywood/Mick Roey/Amaya Jiwe)

I prefere Steelatom and Vixenwave as bros, but as a foursome those four rock the libido and the Waverider.

7. Captains3 (Sara Lance/Rip Hunter/Leonard Snart)

Given that Sara and Rip, Sara and Leonard und Leonard and Rip would not last together, my solution to this would be to get together as a threesome.

6. Constangreen (John Constantine/Gary Green)

We love Gary, and Gary loves John, and John does actually love Gary.

5.Avalance (Ava Sharpe/Sara Lance)

At this point Avalance is cleary planned to be endgame and rightly so.

4.Hellcanary (John Constantine/Sara Lance)

Two broken souls, two players who played which each other and found solace in each others arms – two bi-sexual icons together

3.Vixensteel (Amaya Jiwe/Nate Heywood)

I loved the star crossed romance between Nate and Amaya, and the fact that they defied history and was heart broken when they gave up after all.

2. Timecanary (Rip Hunter/Sara Lance)

Out of all her many suitors Rip is the one I would want to see her ending up with.

1. Atomwave (Ray Palmer/Mick Rory)

This is my Legends-OTP and I am still not over the fact that Ray is out of the show and so is this ship!

#Blog #Arrowverse #Favorite Ships #Arrow #The Flash #Supergirl #Legends of Tomorrow #everyone is entitled to their opinion #please respect mine #and don't hate on my because of it

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jbuffyangel · 5 years ago

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Strength: Arrow 8x05 Review (Prochnost)

We’re headed back to Russia for some Queen family vacation fun, except their version of “fun” is kidnappings and fight clubs.

Let’s dig in…

Oliver, Mia and William

Do you remember how we used to pray for a scene of Oliver teaching Felicity the bow and arrow?

The scenes with Helena fueled my hate fire for years. The closest we ever came to Olicity “training” was Oliver offering Felicity a few punching pointers

and the glorious salmon-ladder-leads-to-sex scene.

I’m not complaining! All I’m saying is we could’ve had a bow-and-arrow-training-leads-to-sex scene too. I have several insert-scenario-here-leads-to-sex scene ideas this show has yet to explore.

Anyway, if we can’t have Felicity training with Oliver then second best is their daughter training with Oliver. The intro to “Prochnost” is almost three minutes long and it’s pure fan fiction from start to finish.

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Oliver teaches Mia how to tennis ball and uses cooking as analogy before he remembers she’s 50% Smoak.

It is clear Mia still has a lot to learn not only from a vigilante perspective, but also in terms of her archer skills.

When we met Oliver Queen in the pilot his skill set was perfected. He was a fully formed bad ass.

We haven’t seen Mia train other than a montage with Nyssa Al Ghul in 7x16 and I am thoroughly enjoying there’s still a lot she can learn from her father.

Source: 1-crazy-dreamer

Oliver reviews all of his trick arrows with Mia, but doesn’t want them to become a crutch.

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What he doesn’t say is trick arrows became more of a necessity in disabling criminals after killing them was no longer an option. We’ve come a long way with Oliver Queen. If you had told me father/daughter training sessions were in our future when I watched the pilot then I would’ve laughed you out of the room because that’s a special brand of CRAZY.

Of course, a training scene without the stick thingies wouldn’t be a training scene on Arrow.

Source: miasmoakdaily

Yes, I know there’s a technical term for the stick thingies, but if I haven’t learned it by now do you think I ever will? No is the right answer.

Oliver: Nyssa taught you well.

Mia: Mom made sure of it.

I think Arrow makes an important point during this scene. Nyssa Al Ghul is good, but she’s no Oliver Queen. There’s been many seasons where it feels like the writers down played Oliver’s skills to give the other team members something to do *cough*L*urelLance*cough*.

However, the writers seem particularly focused on showing how Oliver’s skills are a whole other level now. Remember, he’s the guy who killed Ra’s Al Ghul – probably the greatest fighter of all time. It’s why Riccardo Diaz being a formidable threat was so laughable. When Felicity reached out to Nyssa she was asking the best for help, but there truly is no substitute for Oliver Queen.

Source: miasmoakdaily

Mia “The Machine” Smoak-Queen (her official title btw) doesn’t need a break, but I love how Oliver worries about her nonetheless. DADDY OLIVER IS SO SOFT.

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Mia gently reins in William’s ramble and this is the brother/sister banter I am here for. Look, I know we’ve clocked a season and a half with these kids and I should be used to moments where they remind me of Oliver and Felicity, BUT I CAN’T GET USED TO IT. It still fills me with absolute glee anytime it happens.

Children are individuals with unique personalities, but one of the more fun aspects of parenting is seeing traits of other family members, or maybe even yourself, emerge in the child you’re raising. I feel the same glee when my daughter reminds me of my husband or mother. And since William and Mia are my fictional TV children why should I be any different?

There’s a Curtis reference in this scene, so naturally I doze off when that happens, but the cliff notes version is the energy wave that destroyed Earth 2 can be recreated. There’s a Russian general trying to replicate it via pulse wave generator weapon and Team Arrow needs to get the plans.

I think. Plus they need plutonium which Diggle volunteers to get.

Oliver invites the kids to Russia with him and they are equally as shocked as I am.

Really? We’re going to Russia? I mean, I know we’re going to Russia, but Oliver’s casual invitation makes this trip sound like the equivalent of a grocery store run. The kids are so excited to be invited they think they’re going to Disney World with Dad.

This is so not going to be Disney World. TELL THEM THIS IS NOT GOING TO BE DISNEY WORLD OLIVER.

Oliver: I’m a better man. Different man. I think I can teach them the good without showing them the bad.

Oliver thinks this is going to be Disney World.

Diggle accurately points out visiting the place which was home to the darkest point of his life may not be as simple as Oliver would like it to be. His answer is equally wonderful and sooooo WRONG. It’s WONDERFUL Oliver believes he’s a better man. It took us 8 long years to get here and his statement is no small thing. Round of applause for our boy.

Unfortunately, this is where the wonderful ends. Oliver is determined to only show his children the good. I guess it sounds ok when he says it, but upon closer examination it misses the forest through the trees. Everything that happened to Oliver Queen, good and bad, has formed the person he is. He cannot extricate the bad from this story anymore than he can the good. They are a sticky wicket forever entwined together. Take out one and you don’t get the full picture. And what his children need and deserve is the full picture.

That’s not to say Oliver’s filter is entirely wrong. There are certainly topics and information children are not ready to hear, can’t understand, or wouldn’t be appropriate to tell them. Every parent has some kind of filter when raising their children because that’s what good parenting requires.

This is appropriate when children are small. As your child grows into an adult then your relationship with them must become more adult, which requires more transparency. This is the problem between Oliver and his children. He is parenting like William and Mia are still little. And they are not.

If plans for a pulse generator sound like a flimsy excuse to go to Russia then you’d be right. The real reason we’re going to Russia isn’t because of some rando general. It’s to say goodbye to one of Arrow’s greatest supporting characters - Anatoly Knyazev

“My brother.”

I block out most of Season 6 because half of it was a walking horror show, so I don’t remember where Oliver and Anatoly left things after he joined and then betrayed Team Bad Guy.

I guess their cool now? I don’t really want to spend all kinds of time on Oliver and Anatoly hashing out their issues, so if a hug gets the job done then I’m good. Also William speaks Russian. Queen men speaking foreign languages is hot.

A+ reaction Steve.

Source: arrowdaily

Anatoly was bored in the Maldives, now owns a bar and has a delicious pina colada recipe so that pretty much catches us up on him. He offers to help find Burov, but Oliver doesn’t want Anatoly’s “friends” involved because they are Bratva and he’s not discussing the bad parts of Russia with his children. I think the good parts of Russia ended at pina colada, Oliver. See how this is going to be a problem?

The best place to meet up with Burov is a local fight club. This prompts William to share where he met his baby sister and gives us Oliver’s best dad reaction to date.

Source: 1-crazy-dreamer

Bless you William. You do God’s work my boy.

Mia: Why did you bring us on this mission if you aren’t going to let us help?

Oliver: This is the Bratva. They are terrible people and you guys are my kids.

Mia: Yes, but we’re not children.

Oliver: Well you are when I look at you.

Aww… my sweet, lovable, wonderful Oliver.

Do we ever stop looking at our children as children? Probably not. I know I will always be my parents’ baby girl and my daughter will always be mine. It is difficult to fully accept a human being as an adult when you’ve changed their diapers. And in Oliver’s defense he changed Mia’s diaper about five minutes ago in the present timeline, regardless of the future adults standing before him. We must give him some time to… adjust.

But Mia is Mia and doesn’t listen to anyone, other than William (SOUND FAMILIAR?) and he’s firmly on her team this week, so they go to the fight club and watch Dad in action. Mia has heard the stories of her father all her life but seeing him in action is an eye-opening experience. She is difficult to impress, but her dad is AWESOME. Yeah, we think so too honey. Welcome to stanning Oliver Queen.

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Unfortunately, the Bratva aren’t cool with the deal Oliver made with Burov and kidnap him along with Mia. Her Spidey sense was tingling, so she went to check on dad. Oops.

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If there is one lesson the Arrow villains consistently fail to learn it’s DO NOT MESS WITH PEOPLE OLIVER QUEEN LOVES. He gets very angry and wildly unpleasant, which leads to many broken bones and occasionally murder. You put hands on Felicity Smoak and even I’m down with Oliver ripping off your head.

Of course, Oliver wakes from unconsciousness and his immediate question is if Mia is okay. Can’t-Admit-I’m-In-Love-With-You Oliver,

Boyfriend Oliver,

Fiance Oliver,

Ex-boyfriend Oliver,

Husband Oliver,

and Dad Oliver are all the same Olivers.

Mia doesn’t understand why everyone in Russia knows who Oliver is and quickly deduces Dad was Bratva. Our princess is a smart cookie! Oliver is ticked Mia didn’t listen to him and there is truly no greater justice in the world than God creating a child who is exactly like you. Robert and Moira are having themselves a nice little chuckle.

Source: lucyyh

The Bratva threatens to torture Mia if Oliver doesn’t tell them what’s on the zip drive. Mia is very brave and tells Daddy not to say anything. Pfft. Not likely Little Miss Square Bear. He points a gun at Oliver’s precious girl and counts down from five. The Green Arrow breaks like a pretzel. Honestly, I’m shocked Oliver didn’t give the guy the whole store after four.

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Unfortunately, nobody believes Oliver is telling the full story and a very large knife is brandished in Mia’s direction. Seriously? The one-time Oliver tells the truth he’s accused of lying. How ironic is that? The goon was at least 20 feet away from Mia, but Daddy was ready to flay him alive seven different ways.

Oh. He was only cutting the restraints. Okay, we’ll knock down the flaying to five different ways.

The Bratva force Mia to play the Ring the Bell game. I don’t know if that’s what it’s called, but it works for my purposes. Oliver is very much HELL NO CHILD, but really her only other option is death. Of course, if she doesn’t ring the bell she dies too. ISN’T RUSSIA FUN?

Mia kicks major ass, but is unable to ring the bell in under 60 seconds. This might have something to do with her wasting time to look back at the clock and then waiting an additional 3 seconds to reach for the friggin bell, but that’s just details. Be less stupid Arrow.

The Bratva don’t shoot her because… they’re nice gang of Russian mobsters now?

Source: arrowdaily

This made very little sense other than Arrow doesn’t want to shoot the female lead of their new television show. On second thought, good enough for me. Oliver shoots death daggers at the man who scared the friggin bejesus out of him and it’s pretty much a certainty he will be flayed eight different ways.

William has a full-on panic attack over his father and sister’s kidnapping and it’s pretty much the cutest thing ever. Then L*urel actually provides some necessary and helpful information. Is that the second week in a row this happened? I’m scared fandom. Hold me.

L*urel: Aren’t the people in your family constantly injecting each other with tracking devices?

William: Normally I would say God I hope not, but now I guess I can see the advantages.

He’s able to track them down, but L*urel and Anatoly show up right after Oliver has already freed himself by dislocating his thumbs. I love that trick. Mia’s reaction is the perfect combination of horrified and impressed. She really wants that trick to be on the next lesson plan.

Mia is bumming hard over not ringing the bell and boozes it up with some scotch. THY NAME IS GENETICS.

Oliver has had enough of his kids almost dying and is putting their asses on a plane back home BECAUSE THIS ISN’T DISNEY WORLD.

William jumps firmly on Team Mia and reminds their father he’d be dead without them. Oliver has been dislocating his thumbs on his own for awhile now children. I think he’d survive without your help.

It’s time to set these kiddies straight.

Source: oliverxfelicity

Mia tries to argue the whole adults saving the city angle, but that’s not going to fly in this timeline cupcake.

In this timeline, Oliver smooshed those perfect chubby cheeks one more time before he left to save the universe

Source: oliverxfelicity

and his rebelling teenage son, who was ousted from the present storyline to make a ridiculous plot point work in the future storyline, ignored his phone calls. (I’m never getting over the whole William never moves in with Mia and Felicity thing. NEVER.)

So, all of his children can take several seats and do what they’re told or they will be grounded! That includes no computer for you, William and Oliver will be taking that bow and arrow back little miss Mia.

Side note: This was a perfect time for William to explain WHY he didn’t return any of Oliver’s calls or if he even received them, but NOPE. Why would these writers attempt to clean up this mess of a storyline with reasonable explanations? Better to just ignore the Grand Canyon sized plot holes and keep driving through.

Stephen Amell does a wonderful job in this scene as Oliver’s voice quivers with emotion. He’s skating the edge of keeping his composure and losing it all together perfectly this season. Neither Mia nor William have offered much understanding for where Oliver is coming from. Yes, they are adults but 1) No matter how old they get they will always be Oliver’s children and 2) HE MISSED TWENTY YEARS.

Oliver has been very clear this was not a choice he wanted to make. Mia and William are not the only ones who lost something precious. Oliver lost a lot too. Part of being an adult is letting go of the natural narcissism we all have as children. So, if Mia and William want to put on their big boy and big girl pants then they need to show their father a little understanding and compassion.

Mia: And because you made the choice to protect us I had to spend my whole life alone. I didn’t have a chance to get to know my brother to get to know you.

Mia is not ready to do that yet. She throws Oliver’s choices in his face once again. He is still the one she wants to blame. If this reaction frustrates you then that’s understandable because Mia is supposed to be frustrating right now. It’s odd for us to be identifying through Oliver, but that’s what happens when the hero becomes fully evolved. This entire episode is about showing how much Mia still has to learn not only physically, but emotionally too.

Source: oliverxfelicity

Oliver is getting used to Mia’s blame by now and it doesn’t really change his opinion on this situation. The worst part of this argument is Oliver believing his children hate him. His worst nightmare was Mia and William not understanding his choices and resenting him for it. Oliver’s greatest fear isn’t death. It is his children believing he abandoned them.

Mia being angry at Oliver over not growing up with William is really not his fault and it’s bizarre how the writers are insistent on lumping that in with everything else she’s ticked about. I did a deep dive on Mia’s emotional and psychological viewpoint last week and I won’t repeat it here because everything still stands. But how is Felicity never going back for William Oliver’s fault?

I’m not putting the blame on Felicity here either. It’s a ludicrous plot point that makes absolutely no sense, so it’s pointless to even try to argue the logic. And yet, that’s exactly what the writers keep trying to do. But it merely shines a brighter spotlight on their illogical reasoning behind the decision.

We are already sympathizing with Oliver because we know how heartbroken he was to leave his children. We know he sacrificed everything for a bunch of ungrateful twats who caught a lucky break for existing in the universe. But forcing Mia’s character to continually blame Oliver for EVERYTHING can rapidly make this character unlikeable. Particularly since her father left to SAVE THE UNIVERSE. The writers need to tread carefully. This has the same nonsensical threads of the Season 4 break up. Or, even worse, Mia channeling the same the anger/blame/bitterness of Season 1 & 2 L*urel Lance. Nobody wants a repeat of those hot messes.

Oliver is floundering. He missed twenty years of his children’s lives. They’ve arrived from a different time as adults. Oliver was still learning how to be a parent and then the universe flipped the board. He has no idea how to do this and the one person who can help him isn’t here. If there was ever a time Oliver needed his Felicity this is it.

So, the only guiding light Oliver has right now is the promise he made his wife and mother of his children.

Source: oliverxfelicity

Not to get too nitpicky on the details Oliver, but as @callistawolf pointed out in our Watchover episode of 8x05, we never heard him make any promises to Felicity about the children.

In their final goodbye, it was Felicity promising Oliver to do whatever was necessary to keep their children safe (re: Nyssa Al Ghul). So, let’s just create our own head canon there was some Olicity discussion about the future kids being in present day off screen and he made the promise to her then. Cool? Cool.

OR Oliver is merely trying to score points in an argument via emotional manipulation, which hey man. More power to you. Whatever it takes to keep kiddos safe, I guess. I did have to chuckle about Oliver keeping his promises to Felicity NOW that she’s off the show. Where was this guy in 6x23? Or maybe I sobbed quietly. Probably a little of both. Regardless of the reasoning, it’s an EPIC speech. Dad for the win.

Oliver decides it’s time to get boozy. Amen brother. Pass the scotch.

Anatoly is no Felicity Smoak, but in the ever-spinning weekly wheel of characters trying to fill her role, he asks the obvious question. Is Oliver sending his children home because he believes they cannot handle Russia/vigilantism/life?

Of course, the answer has been obvious from the moment Oliver decided to only share the good. It’s not about what his children can handle. This is about what Oliver can handle.

Anatoly: That is understandable. You’re ashamed. You have truly done some terrible things.

Oliver: Thank you for the reminder.

Anatoly: But you also have done some good things. It’s important that the kids see both.

Can’t you just hear Felicity Smoak saying these lines? Only in an adorable ramble and less booze? I miss her. Just leaving this here.

I absolutely understand Oliver’s refusal to share the darkest moments of his past. It’s not like my dad has gone chapter and verse into his Vietnam experiences. But I know he was there. I know some of the stories. Maybe Oliver doesn’t need to go into detail about the time he skinned a guy, but he can be honest with his children about being in the Bratva.

Anatoly: That’s the thing about teaching. It’s not about what you want to say. It’s about what they need to hear.”

This part of the speech is all Anatoly.

Source: 1-crazy-dreamer

He taught Oliver living was not for the weak because this was the lesson Oliver needed to hear. Maybe he missed out on teaching William and Mia how to tie their shoes or ride a bike, but nobody understands what it means to be a hero better than Oliver Queen. The Crisis is coming and if Oliver is marching slowly but steadily to his death then he must pass on all he’s learned. There is still so much to teach Mia and William about Oliver’s life and who he is. Those lessons can only come from their father. What William and Mia need to hear is the truth.

“You were so little. I think that’s what I’ve always wanted all these years. Is for you just to stay little, quiet and safe. But you’re not any of those things. You’re loud and fearless and it scares the crap out of me.” Derek Shepherd, Grey’s Anatomy

His children are loud and fearless and it scares the crap out of Oliver Queen. But there’s a deeper fear driving his hesitation. Oliver is afraid that if he tells Mia and William the truth about his past then they’ll only hate him more. He is constantly afraid of losing his children’s love.

But truth is the path to understanding. Anatoly is right. Oliver must give Mia and William a chance. The real truth is there’s nothing he has done or will ever do that will make his children stop loving him. Sure, Mia is angry at Oliver, but she’s only angry because she loves him. She craves her father’s approval more than anything.

Oliver changes his parenting tactic. He cannot shield his children from the very life they have chosen for themselves. He asks Mia to fight in the ring with him and William to help get them in. Oliver treats his children like they are part of the team – like partners.

Mia has been trying to show her father what she’s capable of since the moment she came to the present. Underneath all that anger and blame, is a little girl who just wants to make her daddy proud. What Mia needs to realize is she already makes Oliver proud merely by existing. However, he offers her the support and belief she’s been craving as they enter the ring together.

Source: oliverxfelicity

The look on her face says everything about how Mia truly feels about her dad.

Source: arrowdaily

FATHER DAUGHTER FIGHT CLUB. From the moment, we met Blackstar in the ring I hoped she was Olicity’s daughter and we would somehow, someway get a scene of Oliver and Mia teaming up. But I never imagined these circumstances. It’s awesome.

After kicking butt as a team and a family, Oliver opens the door to his past and lets his children walk through. And what better place to start than the beginning?

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The truth is a tie that binds and it will be the foundation of Oliver’s relationship with his children. Something he never had with his parents until it was too late.

And did William and Mia stop loving Oliver after they heard the truth? No. They understand him better and love him all the more for what he’s survived.

Mia: Don’t forget to send me that picture of my dad with that haircut.

Anatoly: Don’t forget to ask about Bratva tattoo. We have matching.

Oliver: Used to. Used to actually.

William: Oh I’m gonna need to hear that story immediately.

Well... son this raving loony burned my tattoo off my chest after several hours of torture.

The warm banter of this scene isn’t to make light of what Oliver Queen suffered. It’s to show the power of telling our stories. Pain and fear lose control over us, bit by bit, the more we talk about it and share with our loved ones. We let them inside the good and bad, so we don’t have to carry it by ourselves anymore. Overtime, we begin to see our suffering for what it is - something we survived. Children, in particular, have an ability to find the light in the dark. We can see our life through their eyes and remarkably, yes even find the humor in what was once unspeakable pain. And come on - Oliver’s flashback hair is always funny.

Family is the source of Oliver’s strength. It always has been. It’s what helped him survive the unsurvivable.

He can only become his children’s strength by teaching them how he became a better man. William and Mia can only understand who their father is, and how to be heroes, by knowing the good and the bad. Hiding either tarnishes the beauty of his story. Oliver is finally strong enough to tell it and his children are strong enough to hear it. And that’s how the past, present and future will find harmony, acceptance, forgiveness and love.

Source: oliverxfelicity

Diggle and Roy

John enlists Roy’s help obtaining the plutonium.

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We’re going to run through this pretty quick because this storyline is all about getting Colton Haynes back on Team Arrow for the final episodes.

Diggle tells Roy what happens to him in the future. The cure for Roy’s bloodlust wasn’t hiding out on Lian Yu for 20 years. It was rejoining the team and fighting for the city again.

Diggle: Maybe this time you don’t have to wait that long.

Diggle’s ENTIRE motivation is to change Roy’s future and it’s not difficult to figure out why. Obviously John cares about Roy and wants to help him. However, Roy also makes a very good test case. Diggle is also desperate to change Connor, JJ and Zoe’s future as well. If they can make their own hope in the present then maybe things can be different for his children in the future.

Source: 1-crazy-dreamer

We all need love and support. None of us can truly survive on our own - particularly when we are suffering. Roy fights John at first, but eventually he comes to realize he’s right. Roy found purpose and family when he met Oliver so it makes sense to him they are the reason he gets better. So why wait? He comes home and begins the path to healing twenty years earlier. And thus, a major storyline from Season 7 flash forwards begins to change.

ROY MADE SENSE Y’ALL!!!

L*urel L*nce

I truly could not figure out why L*urel was in Russia. I guess to help Oliver track down these plans, but she spent the better part of the episode staring at her fingernails. That’s not even an exaggeration. KC stared at her fingernails for an entire scene.

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Her interactions with Oliver are even more bizarre.

Source: 1-crazy-dreamer

I’m sorry, but does L*urel go here? Bl*ck S*ren has been on the show since Season 5. You’d think at this point she’d know Oliver Queen can easily handle one guy twice his size. I’m chalking up this stupidity to the acting version of a layup, so Stephen Amell can spike it with the epic comeback of, “I’ll give him half a chance.”

I guess L*urel is primarily in Russia to betray Oliver Queen and steal the plans or something, per Lyla’s instructions.

LL: And here I thought I was supposed to be the bad guy.

At last count Lyla never murdered innocent people, so I think she's still ahead by the numbers Bl*ck S*ren. This is the problem with L*urel’s character this year. The comparisons her character makes this season are INSANE. Putting on a new suit and calling yourself Bl*ck C*nary doesn’t automatically make you morally superior to everyone.

At least when Season 7 L*urel was playing attorney she had a healthy perspective on herself. I was a big fan of the snark last season and found her character to be refreshingly amusing in her biting honesty, but this year the writers lost the snarky humor and have gone straight to obnoxious hypocrisy and judgment. Sometimes she’s just downright mean in a way none of the other characters deserve. Yes, Lyla is being shady, but this in no way erases the horrors of your past L*urel.

L*urel: If saving it means going back to the person I used to be then what the hell is the point?

We all know this whole betray Oliver thing the Monitor is playing at with L*urel is a trick. She’s not going to betray Oliver and prove herself a worthy and useful hero. Ok. Whatever. I know I’m supposed to get excited about her big speech, but this line kind of gnawed at me.

L*urel is unwilling to save an ENTIRE EARTH because she’d have to do something shady. She’s not willing to do any dirty work if it sullies her good name. So, Earth 2 only matters as long as L*urel gets to be a hero on it? I guess I should be happy L*urel is holding onto her moral center, but if there’s anything Oliver Queen’s story has taught us sometimes heroism requires doing unpleasant things for the greater good.

Take Lyla for example – a person L*urel feels quite comfortable judging. Lyla has been lying to her husband, something she does not want to do, for the greater good. I think we know enough about Lyla’s character by now that even though her actions are hurtful we can trust her reasons.

LL’s primary function this week it seems is to rat Lyla out to Diggle and Oliver.

Source: stevesrogered

I guess we’re supposed to rejoice there’s no price L*urel is willing to pay for her morality, but this is still the same person who has yet to take any responsibility for the people she’s murdered. The line just sounded so arrogant and self serving to me. I don’t know. Maybe it was just KC’s delivery.

It’s been difficult for me to imagine what role either L*urel or Dinah will play in the spin off and seeing as how the writers are struggling to find a purpose for their characters in the final season of Arrow I am not encouraged. That said, L*urel’s scene with Mia was one of the few bright spots for her character in this week’s episode. Mia believes she’s not cut out to be a hero because she failed to ring the bell like her father and Zoe’s death still weighs heavily on her conscious.

Mia: Every time I try and live up to my dad or to prove I can do what it is you all do. I fail.

L*urel: If you’re trying to live up to us, don’t. We are just as flawed as anyone. Especially me. All you can do is live up to yourself.

Damn L*urel. That was really good advice and a truthful reflection of the person you are. CAN WE HAVE THIS ATTITUDE CONSISTENTLY WEEK TO WEEK PLEASE WRITERS? This is the first time I can see a version of L*urel working in the spin off, but that’s always the problem with the writing of her character. We never know which version we’re going to get.

Season 8 is slipping back into very bad Season 1 habits. There’s a lack of cohesiveness with L*urel and they really need to get this sorted out before the new show hits the air. Otherwise, we’re going to have the same problem we’ve always had with her character. No matter how many versions of L*urel’s character these writers create they never figure out who she truly is because they don’t want to devote the necessary screen time. This leaves us with a half baked canary every single time.

If L*urel is going to play Rupert Giles to Mia’s Buffy in the spin off then this scene is a good indication of how it could work, but that’s only if this path stays on track which seldom happens with this character. The key to LL is a very specific supporting role. She worked great in Season 7 because her focus was getting Oliver Queen out of jail. Then,it was about fleshing out her redemption and shipping her back to E2 to make amends.

L*urel lacks a concrete To Do list this year. They toss her into scenes and she takes up space looking at her fingernails. Or she arrives a few minutes after Oliver frees himself to scream down a door he could have easily opened. Or she says something hypocritical and nasty. REALLY? This is the best these writers can come up with? Sadly, history points to yes.

Keep her scenes short. Keep her scenes specific. Keep her scenes supporting. That’s the only way this character works. And believe me I wish it was different, but there doesn’t seem to be any version of L*urel L*nce these writers can keep a handle on.

You know what I appreciate about this scene between Anatoly and William though? Anatoly addresses his less than honorable past and apologizes. I can’t fully remember what Anatoly did to William - I think it might have been related to kidnapping or a bomb or a nuke or all three. See? I told you I don’t remember S6. My point is - can we expect an apology from L*urel for being an accessory to William’s mother’s murder? I won’t hold my breath. It would be extremely helpful if they addressed LL’s past in an honest way and actually had her show remorse to one of her victims, but again that requires more screen time and effort than this show is ever will to give her character.

SO WHY DO THEY KEEP HER AROUND?

Stray Thoughts

Connor isn’t in this week’s episode because he’s checking in on Sandra. Soooo… Connor can visit his mother but Mia and William can’t visit theirs? I know this is yet another EBR plot hole, but find a better reason for Connor to be MIA writers. It just makes the Smoak-Queen family look uncaring, which we know they are not. And if Connor can get an off camera mother moment mention then why can’t Mia and William? THESE ARE THE THINGS THAT ANNOY ME.

“Has anyone fought six men before?” Mia and Oliver’s side eye is hilarious, but didn’t Mia fight six goons by herself? And we’ve watched Oliver take down twenty without breaking a sweat. Raise the number in the ring a little if you want me to take their hesitation seriously.

Diggle is absolutely horrified to find out Lyla is working against the team with The Monitor. “I didn’t want to believe it was true.” Boy, really? Who are you kidding? This is Lyla Michaels, super spy. She’s been lying and doing shady things from minute one. She’s the Oliver to your Felicity. Get out of here with that nonsense. This is totally something she would do and you know it. Lol

William doesn’t like the field, but the allure of beautiful couture convinces him otherwise. At least he didn’t have to go on a skeevy date with Ray Palmer to wear it. Source: felicitysmoakgifs

William’s “Wrap it up” sign while Mia was fighting was such a funny and wonderful way of showing their team within a team.

“I can be the fun uncle.” Raise your hand if you want Anatoly as a fun uncle.

He was a complicated, but ultimately wonderful character who made Arrow a better show.

Goodbye Anatoly. I will miss you. source: oliverxfelicity

Disclaimer: Any gifs on the blog are not mine. If you would like a gif removed from my reviews, please message me. 8x05 gifs credited.

If you’d like to support the blog, please buy me a cup of tea!

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inappropriatefangirlneeds · 5 years ago

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Gotham s5ep11 “They Did What?” Personal Review & Rambling

I DID IT .... I WATCHED THE GOTHAM FINALE

“We need to make it a bomb again.” Absolutely no warning cause that’s all no spoiler anymore for a long time

So I´m not sure if it´s good thing I´m watching this ages late, partly I guess I could be more emotional, partly not. It´s sweet to see how everyone and their aunt is teaming up for the city. “Well, this is gonna make one hell of a bedtime story some day.” With Nyssa al Ghul holding the baby I briefly totally forgot the plot and wondered where did that child come from again? And my brain went back to the (godawful) “Ra´s present for Barbara is a child” theory, and then I remembered oh no it was Jim ..and I was like .. eh, magic baby would have been the better plot. So that´s how we started this but at least Jim and Barbara were quite sweet, even with the child (I usually just cringe and crumble in sheer terror of what kind of responsibility a child is whenever one of those appears but they made it sweet) BARBARA KEAN & JIM GORDON were such a great team! Also Barbara just looks so damn fine, they really did good with that. And just bless the FIGHT CHOREOGRAPHERS of the Show , handcuffed Barbara taking out the guy with her legs > Jim later handcuffing Nyssa to keep her close to not get shot at < Good Stuff! * ~ 24:05 even up to the Steps of SELINA KYLE , Just the way she walked before fighting Bane was such a neat detail ”My father made his name destroying empires.” NYSSA AL GHUL I guess with more time she´s got potential but rushed like that her character is just boring.

“Can we really be so cavalier about the destruction of Gotham?” Oh OSWALD COBBLEPOT that´s part of why I fell in love with you. So he and EDWARD NYGMA go over the whole “listening to your heart never did you any good Oswald” spiel, and “I´ll miss you”, or “not so much”, Ed kind of is saying “don´t go” , but just not quite, the usual, you know, I can´t bring myself to care much but damn do I like watching their pretty selves talk through it. * Edward later follows Oswald, claiming it´s about the city, says the submarine can only operated by two people, and actual people, dog didn´t work. The usual. * Holy Shit, JIM GORDON ´s so gorgeous. It´s not like I had forgotten how pretty he is but damn that episode hit me hard again with Jim feels. Him over that map, going through their strategy. Daaaamn daaaaaaaaamn. * JIM GORDON & OSWALD COBBLEPOT in something that might as well be just fanfiction: “Oswald, come in.” / “Still have those eyes in the back of your head, Jim.” / “No. You just have a remarkably recognizable odor. Part dandy, part snake. After all these years, it hasn't changed. Drink?” / “No, thank you. Dulls the senses.” / “That's what I was going for. Surprised you're still here. Figured you'd be long gone by now. That storm you've warned me about for so long, it's finally here.” / “Sure, I could escape... with money, I might add... but then what? Stand on the shores of the mainland and watch the army burn it to the ground? Then watch tasteless industrialists and vapid politicians rebuild it? No. My life is etched on the walls of every alley and dirty warehouse here. My blood lives in its broken concrete. I'm staying to fight. For my legacy.” * LESLIE THOMPKINS caring about the people of the Narrows was great, I don´t know, if I like that she “abandoned” them in order to stand next to Jim but I can let it pass because of the way she did: She respected and trusted BARBARA KEAN to get them out. I can accept a plot that doesn´t pit those two women against each other (anymore). It was equally great that Lee just told Jim to “yes, go to your child”, and not to forget the scene where Barbara is thanking Lee for what she did, and “Barbara Lee Gordon” * Lucius is full on providing gadgets for Bruce, including that Bat Beacon that slowed down Bane. Nice but eh. Also they rehash Jeremiah´s plan to turn the city in a labyrinth to slow down the army. “We need to make it a bomb again.” Battery goes Bomb again, but eh, kind of fell flat for me

* HARVEY BULLOCK pointing out they are fighting SOLDIERS that are just following orders was a good touch. And it makes sense that JIM could brush that aside, he knows what they signed up for. That´s what you do, that´s what you accept. * Also I can stan a good story that rejects and is a slap in the face of the "NUREMBERG DEFENSE" so props to that! Just the execution fell so remarkably flat for me. I felt nothing then the people came back with Barbara, nothing when the soldiers pointed their guns at Bane. BRUCE WAYNE & SELINA KYLE Just Selina checking in with a “Bruce?” to make sure he actually wants to do that bomb thing was so precious. Also her recognizing that he is and accepting his choice. [Rant Below] Them later sitting on the stairs and talking was sweet too, except for what they talked about. SELINA KYLE MRs. & MR WAYNE So apparently they paralleled those in this episode 1. Selina´s shadow is just right under the painting of Mrs & Mr Wayne and Bruce just plants the bomb right in the middle of her shadow ~19:40) 2. Selina telling Bruce on the stairs she will be there whenever he needs her and Bruce replying that this is what his parents used to tell him. Which is a good setup for the kind of conclusion Bruce draws out of all of this but also I´m gonna rant about it below but first: 3. Bruce says his parents would have and did sacrifice everything for the city. He´s making the same choice but apparently can´t see that Selina has as much a choice to do so as he and Mrs & Mr Wayne have . So in the end I´m getting overly emotional, angry, hurt, let down to be precise: How dare BRUCE WAYNE leave SELINA KYLE behind like this?! Given the backstory that´s bound to be so much more painful than whatever Jeremiah or Bane ever could do. Selina has been through this after Jeremiah and she made a choice. She stayed, she thought and she was (not that that matters but let´s not forget it) damn good at it. I know Bruce thinks he´s making a “sacrifice” but how dare he take away this choice from her. How dare he hurt her like that.

* Most importantly though ALFRED PENNYWORTH in that COAT at the end looked so damn dashing. I´m in love. But I don´t like that they made a point of benching his character like that. He added plenty to the fight, he´s been in hospital before, he can add still contribute like he always did. Don´t let it end like this. Yeah I do need at least three seasons to magically happen before the 5th. OSWALY COBBLEPOT & EDWARD NYGMA Round #2 * Edward apologizes for freezing because of the grenade, Oswald understands. Edward gags when seeing Oswald´s hurt eye but claims it is just a scratch. * Back in a remarkable awesome looking place they lick their wounds: > Oswald feels not appreciated he wants “credit for our loyalty, our selfless bravery?” aka Love. > Edward however feels better than everyone else. He used to be “Shy awkward, pathetic Ed”. Not anymore. He´s better! “I don't want their thanks. Or their respect. You know what I felt, standing shoulder to shoulder with those people out there? Nothing. I... feel... absolutely nothing for those drab... boring people.” Never again. I've shown this city who I truly am once before, and I will do it again. They will bow to the Riddler, and they won't get up until I permit them to.” >> The notion of the “Thankless Job” is there too with Ed but Ed get his kicks out of separating himself from the people, he´s different and above them he doesn´t care about their opinion and has no real stakes in their well being. Oswald however obviously still want´s the recognition of said people, and he wants the good and nice kind, so it´s important that they aren´t miserable. However “Yes. You're right. Our accomplishments have been erased, our brilliant minds underrated. If they had let me run this city the way I wanted to, it would not be in ruins now. I had the men, the money, - the guns... “ 1. Oswald falls in line with Ed´s reasoning, appeals to his brilliance spleen but tweaks it for his need. Edward says he has to rule and they have to bow to him. Os says Ed is right, follows in line with Ed in reassuming a strife for leadership but adds his twist that this is necessary not so much because he (just as Ed thinks he is) is superior but because his leadership is “good” for the people. He´ll do good for them so they´ll like him. >>> Oswald wants to rule to not have the city in ruins and get praised for that >>> Edward wants to rule because he´s better and deserves so regardless of other imbeciles thoughts or needs. 2. Divide et Imperare Edward is quick to make sure to point a finger to an enemy and separate Oswald from Jim “Gordon took them.” Oswald just might as well try to go back to old methods and try build alliances with Jim and the law again, Edward recently saw Oswald and Jim kind of teaming up again and he just can´t have that. Just like Mr. Penn was in the way. Jim is a threat. One to be undermined at all costs: “Gordon took them. Why? Because he still sees you as Fish Mooney's umbrella boy, and he always will.”

3. One Ring to bind them. Edward starts with a selfish reason but is quick to put Oswald back into the plan. First there´s “I” suddenly he talks about a “We”: “I only came back to help him save this city so that I could take it for myself. We would be stronger together. No one could stop us.” 4. Do they believe each other?! Apparently they don´t because the both go in the hug with a drawn knife but are relieved when they don´t feel one in their own back. Which was really nice and fitting imagery. I can live with that “conclusion” but I have so much open questions. I really got to look for post that worked through all of this. > Oswald obviously must be weary of Edward because (I just have to believe) that he sees through the manipulating words of Edward. (as listed above) [[[ Especially the scene with Jim: They had a rather respectful, familiar interaction. I can´t quite believe that he follows Edward´s claim that JIM only thinks of him as that umbrella boy. I do think Oswald gets that Jim takes him serious, just well considers all his crime stuff to be wrong, and that´s quite a different thing than what Ed claims.]]] > What is Edward´s angle there? Yeah he might not have been able to operate the submarine alone but granted his speech it sounded like he would think that he is capable of taking the city for and by himself. Why is he appealing to Oswald to form a “we”? Just to get him in the hug situation and test him, asses a possible future threat to his claims? The only other proper motivation for that would be …. he likes Oswald. 5. “Brothers” Hahahah * Okay, but Oswald´s face when Edward and his mirror self do their thing …Damn …. * 8:26 Are the “Captain Jim Gordon” letters on his door window colour ??! * Jankey Piss Whiskey, what is Jim drinking? * Oh no, not the General

#gotham #gotham meta #mine Gotham full episode reviews #nygmobblepot #gotham s5ep11 They Did What?#bruce wayne

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ao3feed-avalance · 4 years ago

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by MissConstance

A few days after Oliver's funeral, Sara gets an unexpected visitor who will make the impossible possible: bring her sister back to life.

Laurel Lance deserves so much better and she is getting her second chance.

Words: 1933, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: Arrow (TV 2012)

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: F/M

Characters: Laurel Lance, Earth-2 Laurel Lance, Sara Lance, Quentin Lance, Felicity Smoak, Lyla Michaels, John Diggle, Thea Queen, Dinah Drake, William Clayton (Arrow TV 2012), Oliver Queen, Tommy Merlyn, Nyssa al Ghul, Mia Smoak, Dinah Lance (Arrow)

Relationships: Laurel Lance & Sara Lance, Laurel Lance & Quentin Lance, Laurel Lance & Quentin Lance & Sara Lance, Laurel Lance/Tommy Merlyn, Laurel Lance & Felicity Smoak, Laurel Lance & Thea Queen, John Diggle/Lyla Michaels, Dinah Drake/Earth-2 Laurel Lance, Sara Lance/Ava Sharpe, Laurel Lance & Oliver Queen, Nyssa al Ghul & Laurel Lance

Additional Tags: Laurel is alive, Laurel deserves better, Fluff and Angst, Fix-It, The Lance Family deserve everything

#ao3feed #fanfic #avalance #avalance fanfiction #sara x ava #sara lance #ava sharpe

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raywritesthings · 5 years ago

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A Father’s Faith

My Writing Fandom: Arrow, The Flash Pairing: Laurel Lance/Oliver Queen Characters: Laurel Lance, Quentin Lance, Oliver Queen, Thea Queen, Mari McCabe, Team Arrow, Team Flash, Damien Darhk, Nyssa al Ghul, Earth 2 Laurel Lance Summary: Quentin Lance refuses to accept his daughter's death, leading him and her team to recruit a number of their friends with surprising results. *Can be read on my AO3 and FFN, links are in my bio*

Quentin tried not to show it, but he was crushed by the news Nyssa had given him when she’d come to offer her condolences. How could there no longer be a Lazarus Pit when he needed it most?

He didn’t blame the woman. Sara had been frightening when she had first emerged from it. They’d all been so worried she would never really recover, hard as Laurel tried to reach her. Without that magician friend of Oliver’s, who knew if she would be out there right now figuring out her life and how best to help people? Some people might say he was crazy to want to try to risk all of that again on his older daughter.

But that was the thing. Loving someone was a risk, a risk Laurel had always taken with the people around her. Even when it didn’t pay off. Especially when. After all the risks she’d taken on him, how could he not do the same?

Without this Pit in Nanda Parbat, he just had to find another way. Their world had become filled with magic and all kinds of impossible science. In all of that, there had to be something.

Quentin didn’t know everything the others did. He may have been a resource and ally they called on when needed, but he knew there were things he was simply kept out of the loop on. But he had eyes and ears, and a mind sharp for detail. He knew asking that friend of Laurel’s in Detroit wouldn’t pay off; her magic didn’t work that way. The guy in Central City supposedly could recover from devastating injury in record time, but that ability didn’t seem to extend beyond himself or beyond the grave to his knowledge. The magician called Constantine could recall souls, but was that to living bodies only? He needed a way to heal her, to rejuvenate the body before they could expect that kind of spiritual aid. Something like the Lazarus Pit even if he’d never seen it before.

And then it hit him where he’d seen something like it.

Darhk. In his office, he had kept a pitcher. Quentin had seen it, and Darhk had noticed. He’d boasted it was a souvenir from Nanda Parbat, something to keep him young, as he’d put it. Hadn’t Darhk been connected to the League? That was how he’d known what had happened to Sara during her resurrection. What if the water he had was the same as that Pit?

He had to get his hands on it. If nothing else, the bastard shouldn’t have it anyway. The trouble was, he knew he couldn’t possibly get into Damien’s office, steal one of his most highly-guarded possessions and get out with it alive. At least not on his own.

It was a good thing he knew a whole team of vigilantes.

Oliver was the first one to answer his calls and agreed to meet him down in the base. Quentin paced as he waited. Over the years, they’d had their disagreements, but he was confident he could convince the younger man. And if Oliver was on board with the idea, the rest would follow. He’d be that much closer to having his girl back.

Oliver arrived, and Quentin wasted no time. “I’ve figured out how we can get her back. It’s risky, but it’s the best we got.”

“If this is about the copycat—”

“It’s not. This is about Laurel. I saw, in Darhk’s office, he’s got this water that works just like that Pit she used for Sara.”

“Lazarus water,” said Oliver, a spark lighting in dulled eyes. “Ra’s said when Damien left the League, he took some with him.”

“Yeah, well I know where he keeps it. If we can just get it we can, I don’t know. There’s not enough to submerge a body, but if we could get it into her system somehow—”

“That’s assuming we can get past Darhk and his men,” Oliver reminded him. “I still don’t know how to beat him.

“Well, what about that friend of yours. Uh, Mari. Didn’t she beat him last time?”

“I can’t ask her for help every time,” he told him. “She did me a favor already by coming in the first time.”

“Then I’m calling in a favor for Laurel. She went out and helped her before. You’re telling me Mari wouldn’t want this lunatic taken down anyway?”

“It’s not her responsibility.”

“And neither is it yours. You know? It’s supposed to be the police’s job to bring in criminals. But we needed help, even if we couldn’t admit it at first.” He gave a shake of the head; still referring to himself as police. Old habits. “It’s not wrong to ask for help. Better to do so before you’re in over your head.”

Oliver considered that silently. Then he looked up and asked, “Even if we defeat Darhk and secure the water, there’s no telling if it would work for a resurrection.”

“Maybe not, but I’m willing to try.”

“Quentin, I just don’t know if I am.”

He scoffed. “You’re kidding me. After all the times she stuck her neck out for you.”

“That’s not what this is about. If we get this wrong, we’d be bringing her back to some kind of half-life.”

“Well then that friend of yours gets her soul back, right? Just like with Sara.”

“He’s out of contact. There’s no telling when or if he gets back, and in the meantime she would be...I couldn’t do that to her.” He shook his head, and for the first time Quentin noticed something past his own grief; he’d assumed, because Oliver wasn’t outwardly spiraling like the rest of them seemed to be, that he was coping the best of all of them. Yet he could see now that his face was screwed up like he was barely holding in a storm. “Not to her.”

“What did she say to you?” The question he’d been longing to ask slipped out. Oliver’s expression shuttered. Not in a way that left him looking angry, just...broken. He’d gotten what might be the last minutes with Quentin’s daughter — a part of Quentin envied him for it — and those minutes seemed to have changed something in him.

Oliver shook his head, shoulders hunching. He couldn’t or wouldn’t share. Fine.

Quentin took a step closer. “Look, you told me once you love my family,” he reminded the other man. “Well, now’s your chance to prove it.”

Oliver’s hand curled tight into a fist, and for a wild second Quentin thought he might be about to hit him. But instead, the archer swallowed once and said, “You’re right. You- you all deserve better than just words from me. She deserves better. Where was Darhk keeping his supply?”

—-

Oliver felt slightly out of his own head when he placed the call to their ally in Detroit. Quentin’s plan, the hope that Laurel might not be as out of reach as they all thought, it had to go to the back of his mind if he was going to concentrate on the fight ahead.

Mari answered and he briefly explained the situation. How the idol had come back together and how Malcolm had stolen it as well as the betrayal from Andy. Laurel’s death at Darhk’s hand. The need to stop him again.

“I wouldn’t ask another favor of you so soon, but we’re...we’re struggling here,” he admitted, hearing the exhaustion in his own voice. None of them were doing well without Laurel; over the months, she had become the glue that had held them all together it seemed, and he wondered if that, too, was something he’d taken for granted.

“It’s not a favor, Oliver,” Mari said, her tone hardening into steel as she added, “That bastard is going down permanently.”

He didn’t tell her the rest of the plan. He didn’t tell the others, either. There was still such a chance that it wouldn’t work. Getting their hopes up would only distract them from defeating Darhk, and the last thing they needed was distractions when going up against him. He already felt guilty enough asking Thea to postpone her vacation with Alex, but they would need all hands on deck for this one.

Oliver knew the others were getting nervous all the same. Quentin announced they were postponing Laurel’s funeral. He’d cited waiting for Sara as the reason.

“You’ll be waiting a long time, then,” Felicity muttered under her breath.

Oliver convinced John that the best way to do right by Laurel in the meantime was to help catch the copycat who had stolen her suit and device. Oliver was forced to unmask Evelyn Sharp in front of a crowd, denouncing her as a fraud. The media picked up the story; eyewitness accounts of the Black Canary easily confirmed she hadn’t been a teenager even at the start, and Evelyn had had to make crude hem adjustments to make Laurel’s longer pant legs and jacket sleeves fit her smaller frame.

She’d been taken in by social services who were treating her case as one of severe emotional and mental trauma from the loss of her parents. Her status as a minor would likely save her from jail time. Oliver sent a message to Cisco, hoping the engineer might be able to restore Laurel’s costume to its original state. He excused it as sentiment to the team.

He didn’t tell them he held the slimmest hope that the suit might be needed again.

By the time Mari could join them in Star, Darhk had set his sights on his next target: an ARGUS transport. Diggle was inside with Lyla and Sara to better protect their family. He and Thea were approaching the HIVE members and Darhk from behind on a motorcycle, his little sister letting go of him every so often to fire off an arrow at their opponents.

Just as he watched the truck doors open, they all heard the screech of an eagle as Vixen swooped into the fray. She grabbed Darhk by the shoulders and threw him to the ground where he went rolling. It took him some time to rise off the ground, and he did so shakily, a scrape on one side of his face.

“You and Spartan occupy the Ghosts!” Oliver ordered Thea as he stopped the bike, running to Mari’s aid.

The two magic users were facing off, Darhk’s usual tricks no match this time for the protection Mari got from her amulet. He wondered if her proximity to it versus Darhk not having his idol on him had something to do with it as well, but dismissed the thought as Darhk moved into the physical offensive.

Having been trained by the League, he was a threat even without his powers. Mari was barely able to get her guard up and was losing ground. But Oliver had completed that same training. He had something more he was fighting for, as well. Something greater than delusions of power and conquest.

Darhk raised a hand, but Oliver caught his arm, twisting it with a snap. Darhk gave a sharp cry and sank to one knee, breathing in deeply. “Oh, that’s good. Didn’t know you had it in you. Hero type and all that.”

“Arrow,” said Vixen, a warning note in her voice.

“I never tried to be a hero when I started all this,” Oliver said, watching the man at his feet. His arm would heal, he’d go back to plotting, and they would do this all over again. It would never end, with Oliver losing more and more pieces of himself along the way. William, Laurel...even if they could get her back, would it really be the same? “Not until someone believed I could be. You killed her.”

Darhk’s breath quickened as he withdrew an arrow. He pushed up onto his feet, his other arm striking out—

The arrow went in under his arm, stabbing through the material of his suit. Darhk stiffened with a ragged gasp.

“You could have gone to prison. You could have served your time or broken out and simply left this place. But you didn’t.” Darhk’s knees were giving out again, and Oliver brought him down to the ground. Then he ripped the arrow out as he stood.

“You’re not going to pass on a message to anyone. But I want you to think of her in your last moments. I want you to know she wasn’t just a pawn in your game of control over this city. And I want you to know that’s why I’m not the hero you thought I was.”

Darhk’s eyes had gone wide as he hemorrhaged. There was no way of knowing if he’d even heard or understood. Oliver watched solemnly, silently, as the light left his eyes and his breath stopped coming.

When he looked back around, Mari’s eyes were on the ground. “Would Laurel have wanted that?”

Oliver couldn’t answer right away. His impulse was to say no; Laurel had believed in the changes he had tried to make in himself, in the light she felt he still had. Yet he could see her flashing eyes and pointed words every time they argued about Merlyn, who had hurt and threatened their loved ones time and again. Was this really so different?

“I don’t know,” he said finally. “I’ll have to ask her.”

Mari looked up sharply, her confusion plain, but Lyla was walking over to join them. Beyond her, he could see Thea and John finishing tying up the Ghosts they had managed to take down.

“Thank you all for your help,” Lyla said. “If Darhk had gotten ahold of Rubicon, he could have launched a nuclear apocalypse.”

“Then I take back my objections,” Mari stated swiftly, as they all eyed the body of the man who had nearly taken away the world as they knew it. “We should still secure his idol to make sure it doesn’t fall into the wrong hands.”

“We’ll take Captain Lance,” Oliver told her. “There’s something in Darhk’s office he was hoping to find.”

They caught the few Ghosts left to guard the place off guard with a sudden attack. Four vigilantes — as grateful as Oliver was for her help, he felt a pang in his heart every time he looked and didn’t see the teammate he wanted to — with a former police captain for backup. Without their leader, they were disorganized and overwhelmed.

Mari was quick to get possession of the idol sitting inside a cabinet, but Quentin only had eyes for a pitcher.

“It’s here. This is it.” He lifted it down with trembling hands, but his grip was secure. The both of them peered inside to see the water that sloshed around. Oliver couldn’t describe it; all he knew was that it was no normal water.

Now that it was in their possession, it felt real.

“Uh, guys?” Asked Thea. “What do we need that for?”

Oliver turned to his team — the ones that were present, though he knew Felicity was likely listening through the comms — and drew in a breath. “There’s something I haven’t told you.”

Sure enough, there was a scoff heard through their ear pieces. “Isn’t there always?”

Oliver grimaced.

—-

Thea was having trouble wrapping her mind around all of this. The Lazarus Pit wasn’t as totally destroyed as they’d thought it was. Or at least, the water wasn’t.

Was it enough? If it was, how did they get her soul back with Constantine away? If they did that, how did they get some of the Lotus to cure her bloodlust? Thea didn’t want her friend to suffer they way she had for so long before she’d received the cure, but she also needed her friend back badly. They all did.

Mari shook her head as they stood in the base, Laurel’s closed casket sitting on a table. “I don’t see how this works. You said the last two times the person was submerged?”

“We’re thinking if we feed it directly into her system,” Quentin explained. He was energized, almost manic.

“But how does it get around?” Asked Thea. “I mean, don’t you need a working heart to pump the blood and other stuff?”

“Very scientific,” Mari remarked. Thea made a face. What, she’d barely gone to high school. “But yeah, I think she’s right. You’d have to get her heart restarted first.”

“There’s machines or something, aren’t there?” Oliver looked around at them all, and Thea hated to see him hurting. It was clear he wanted this to work, maybe needed it to. When Felicity had been injured around the holidays, he’d turned angry and vengeful. Without Laurel...it was like he was desperately searching for hope in a place she wasn’t sure still existed. But if Laurel could still come back to them, if they could just figure out how—

“I can’t believe I’m going to say this,” Felicity abruptly cut in. “But Barry can restart hearts with his powers. I don’t know if it’d be enough for someone who’s been dead for over a week, but.” She shrugged.

“If we’re gonna do this, we probably need STAR Labs’ help anyway,” said John. “They’d have the science.”

Oliver nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, we’ll need to do that.”

Mari tagged along. “I’m the best expert in magic you have right now. If we're doing this to a friend of mine, I want to be there in case it goes sideways,” she stated firmly.

It took them another week before they could head to Central City. They needed to make sure Ruve and her daughter left town along with the remnants of HIVE. Once the woman resigned, it was safe enough to leave the city unwatched for at least a couple days.

Thea followed the group right into a central hub of STAR Laboratories without so much as a sign-in sheet. Barry and his team seemed to be in the middle of celebrating a recent victory and looked startled to see them all there.

“Oliver!” In an eye-blink, the speedster was standing in front of them all. “What’s going on? We heard on the news, have they set a date for…” he trailed off as his eyes landed on the casket Mari and John carried — Mari using the strength of a gorilla to help that along. They probably did look like a procession, the way they were all standing around it. “Uh…”

“Barry, we need your help,” Oliver said simply.

Team Flash was filled in on the details. Thea could see the same mix of hope and doubt on their faces that was in her own heart.

“You really think this will work?” Asked Cisco. “I mean, there’s been some time.”

“We’re not ready to give up yet,” Quentin stated. “Now are you helping us or not?”

“Of course. We told Harry, we loved — or love Laurel,” Caitlin said. “I’ve just never overseen this kind of blend of science and magic.”

“Magic doesn’t exist,” a dark-haired man in glasses said dismissively.

Mari gave him a look. “Oh?”

“Magic is simply science that has not been explained or explored to its fullest,” the man maintained. “These chemicals in this water have restorative properties. If the properties were broken down, we’d understand them.”

“We don’t need to understand them. We just need Laurel back,” Thea said. “Can we do that?”

“If what you say about the water is true, then yes. Though, given the time that has passed since the heart stopped pumping blood, we might want to do an additional transfusion,” the man said.

“But dad,” a girl with brown hair who’d remained silent until now spoke up. “Wouldn’t there be a higher chance of rejection of the blood with the additional substances?”

An older man standing by Barry and looking remarkably like him nodded as well. “She has a point. It would definitely pose a risk.”

“It would, if we were simply using blood of the same type. That’s not what I’m suggesting,” the man with glasses said. “I’m suggesting we use her blood.”

There was silence as Mari and the team from Star City glanced around at each other to see if they understood.

The people from Central seemed to be catching on one by one. “Oh no,” Cisco said with a shake of his head. “Harry, come on. We only just got her in the pipeline.”

“Sorry, who are we talking about now?” Felicity asked.

“Your friend’s Earth 2 doppelganger was part of Zoom’s army,” Harry told them. “She was captured tonight.”

Thea felt her jaw drop. Laurel was a bad guy on another Earth? That was crazy!

“Will she even agree to donate some blood?” John asked.

“We’ll have to ask Black Siren. You guys don’t have to come down,” Barry said. “I know it’ll be kind of hard to see her like this.”

Oliver shook his head. “We have to be the ones to ask.”

They left Laurel’s casket in the cortex with Caitlin and the other scientists. Barry hit a button to open a door, letting them see a glass box of cell. Inside was Laurel — it was uncanny. If her hair were blonde, there would be no telling the difference. Except for her black leather clothes not being a match for Laurel’s suit, and the way she scowled as she paced.

She froze at the sight of their group and came up to the glass.

“Ollie?”

Oliver said nothing, his mouth open slightly as he stared at the woman who looked just like their friend.

Her painted lips turned down again. “Oh. You’re not my Ollie. You’re from this Earth, aren’t you?”

“Yes,” he finally managed. “We have something to ask you. It’s about your counterpart here on this Earth.”

“I heard about that,” Laurel’s double said with a smirk. “Poor Canary met her coalmine.”

Oliver flinched, and Thea couldn’t blame him. “Not necessarily. We have a way to bring her back, but it requires a transfusion. Your blood is the best match to hers available.”

The woman with Laurel’s face scoffed. “You want me to agree to give a blood donation to a dead woman?”

“To bring her back to life, yes.”

“Why?”

That brought them all up short. “You...want your counterpart on this Earth to stay dead?” Felicity questioned incredulously.

The Siren shrugged. “I don’t see why she’d want to return to the living. What does she have to come back to? Zoom’s told me everything, you know. Let’s see...a mother who abandoned her, a sister who slept with her boyfriend. The boyfriend,” she listed off, eyes flicking over Oliver as she did so. “Friends who use her for pep talks or as their personal legal aid office. It’s no wonder she just gave up and died, her shoulders were probably aching from everyone crying on them all the time.”

Thea’s gaze was on the floor, her eyes feeling heavy with tears she didn’t want to she’d in front of the others. She’d worried to herself from time to time that she was a burden to Laurel, that she’d taken advantage of her kindness and hospitality, that she wasn’t giving back enough. To hear it spelled out in Laurel’s own voice — dripping as it was with a bitterness Laurel had never had — was hard to face.

“Well, there’s your answer,” Quentin said, and Thea wasn’t the only one who looked around at him in confusion. “That’s why she’d want to return. To help people. Friends, family, complete strangers. It didn’t matter. She was a hero, and heroes a lot of times, they’re taken for granted. It’s a mistake I’ll never make again. But that’s who my daughter was — who she’ll always be.” He looked Laurel’s double straight in the eye. “I think you could be that, too, if someone gave you the chance.”

Siren looked uncomfortable. She’d drawn in on herself and blinked a couple too many times as she looked back at Quentin. It occurred to Thea he hadn’t made her list of reasons for Laurel to stay dead.

“Please,” she said, standing at Quentin’s side. “We just want her back. We love her, and we want her to come home.”

“We do,” John echoed quietly, though his voice carried.

Felicity and Mari both nodded, the former clearly choking back tears.

“That’s really sweet,” said Siren. Her eyes narrowed. “But I want to hear it from Mr. Green over here. You’re the one asking for my blood. What’s it worth to you if your birdie comes flying home?”

Thea frowned. She wanted to say that of course her brother felt the same as the rest of them. But then, he hadn’t actually said anything just now. And if she thought about it, he hadn’t said anything when they’d all told Laurel they loved her at her hospital bedside.

But he spoke now. “Laurel...asking what she’s worth, it’s impossible to say. She has so much to give, to the people in her life, to the world. She should never have been taken away like this. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do to change that.” He swallowed and said, “Because I do love her.”

Thea pressed her lips together to keep from making a sound. She had to. Because she knew now why Oliver hadn’t said it with the rest of them before; they could all hear how completely he meant it.

She could see Felicity knew it, too, by the way her shoulders hunched and her eyes squeezed shut. Even knowing she’d been the one to break things off, that couldn’t have been easy to hear.

“Well then,” Siren said, her eyes on the ground. “I guess people can change.” Her gaze cut to Barry, still standing at the control panel. “You and your friends better remember this when it’s time for you to decide what to do with me.”

“We’ll see,” he replied before flicking a switch.

Gas filled the little cell and Siren reared back, only to collapse moments later.

“Knockout gas,” Barry explained. “She may have agreed, but I don’t trust her not to try and break out afterwards.”

Thea nodded. It had still been hard to watch someone who looked so much like her friend fall. “What will happen to her?”

“It depends on when and how we stop Zoom,” said Barry. “But first thing’s first.” He went in to get the blood for the transfusion.

Oliver turned back towards them all, his hands rubbing over his face. Thea went up and hugged him.

“Thank you.” She knew how hard it was for him to open up, to be vulnerable. Thea felt it when a hand clapped her brother’s shoulder. She looked up to find it was Quentin.

“We’re getting her back,” was all Oliver said. “We’re getting our Laurel back.”

—-

Mari went back upstairs while the others were still recovering from having met Laurel’s doppelganger. She wanted to see what the scientists were making of the Lazarus water and begin some preparations of her own.

When she arrived, they’d moved Laurel’s body to a table and inserted a number of different IV needles and various points. One even directly into her chest underneath the loose shirt she’d been put in.

“The idea, as I understand it, is to get this water through her system as quickly as possible, particularly to the heart,” said a man who introduced himself as Henry Allen.

Another young woman had arrived in meantime as well. “I should tell dad to postpone the party then?”

“I think so, Iris,” Henry said with a rueful smile.

“Wow, a real-life resurrection. I thought we’d seen everything,” Iris said with a shake of her head.

“I’ve learned the best way to keep from being surprised is to expect anything,” Mari remarked. She then went for her things, carefully removing and unwrapping Darhk’s idol.

“What’s that?” Iris asked, walking over to join her.

“The man that killed Laurel used this to power his magic. It drew on the souls of his victims. I’m hoping that when her body’s brought back to life, Laurel might be drawn to her own soul. Then we’ll have both parts of her back.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah.” Mari nodded. “Expect anything.”

Barry raced up ahead of everyone with an IV bag that he attached to the system they had going. “Are we ready, Caitlin?”

“Just waiting on you,” Caitlin confirmed. “Harry and Jesse have theorized that if you give her heart a jolt at the same moment that the Lazarus water reaches it, it should hopefully respond and rejuvenate her.”

“Right.”

Mari looked back around as Oliver and the rest of his team entered the cortex, some of them with red-rimmed eyes and all looking varying degrees of downcast or hopeful. “Anything else we should prepare for?” She asked them.

John collected himself first. “We should fasten her down. The first few minutes, Thea was pretty disoriented. Sara was dangerous until Constantine got her soul back.”

Cisco hurriedly moved in to add restraints. Mari had to marvel at it all, both teams and her working towards one common purpose. The things they could do together.

The man named Harry counted down on a watch at his wrist as the water and blood were fed into the IV tubes and began trickling down. “Ten seconds...five...now, Allen!”

Barry’s hands sparked as he touched down on Laurel’s chest. The body jolted once.

“Again!”

Thea was gripping her brother’s hand tight enough Mari could see it turning chalk white. Laurel’s father was using the back of a chair for support.

“One more time!”

“You can do this, son,” Henry Allen encouraged him.

“Come on, Bear,” Iris muttered.

The lighting was crackling in Barry’s eyes this time as he pressed onto Laurel’s chest.

A jolt. Then a gasp.

“My God,” Mari breathed. She’d seen a lot of things in her time as a hero, but this?

Laurel’s body was alive. Her friend began writhing against the restraints with an energy and fluidity that would have been impossible seconds before. Cisco, Harry, Jesse and Henry each held a limb down as Caitlin frantically checked over the IV’s. A snarl that didn’t sound quite human left Laurel’s lips as the doctor fiddled with them.

“Honey!” Quentin suddenly pushed forward. “Honey, it’s okay. I know you’re scared, but you’re safe, I promise!”

Laurel’s head whipped around, seemingly searching for her father’s voice. Disoriented like John had described. She was more like a wild beast, Mari thought to herself.

“Careful, Mr. Lance,” Caitlin cautioned.

“No, let him,” said Mari. In the corner of her eye, she watched Oliver drift closer towards their friend as well. She doubted he was even aware of himself. “It’s soothing her.”

Even as she said it, her senses detected a charge to the air and her hand went to her necklace, instincts kicking in. Danger.

Laurel, in her altered state, seemed to have that heightened sense, too. Her body went rigid and lips pulled back over her teeth as a blue streak of lightning entered the room.

It impacted a scream.

Lights shattered overhead and they were all forced to duck the glass shards. There was a thud as the blue lightning resolves into the form of a man and slammed against the far wall. Barry was on the unknown attacker and then Mari was seconds later with the speed of a cheetah. She followed Barry’s lead in punching him out.

“Zoom. I’m putting him in the pipeline!” Barry called out into the near-darkness before vanishing with the other speedster. Only the lights out in the hall allowed them to make out dimly lit shapes.

“Ramon, we need lights!” Harry was barking.

“Got it!” His footsteps were easier for her to track than his shape.

“What the hell was that?” She was able to easily discern Quentin’s voice. “What happened to Laurel? Did it go wrong?”

“That was her doppelganger’s ability. The transfusion must have reacted to her latent meta gene.” That she was fairly sure was Harry. “We’ll have to test when she’s stable. What’s her status?”

She touched the Anansi Totem around her neck again to give herself a leopard’s night vision. The first thing she noticed was Oliver. He’d thrown himself over Laurel’s form on the table to shield her from the glass, and still had his head ducked down.

“She’s still breathing,” Oliver announced, slightly muffled. “She’s...she’s calmer.”

That, Mari could see as well. Laurel’s face was turned into his neck, and she was no longer fighting to get free.

The backup lights kicked on with no warning, and Mari quickly cancelled her borrowed powers. She had to blink spots out of her eyes for a few moments.

Everyone was either lying or crouched on the floor like one of the drills they put kids through for storms. Henry’s hand rubbed at his neck.

“I could swear I felt fingers for a second,” he muttered. “It was all so fast.”

Iris was the first to move to brush some of the glass off of Oliver’s shirt. “I don’t think you got cut too badly.”

“Thanks.” He slowly leveraged himself up back to standing.

“No problem. This might be a weird time to ask, but since when did you know about Barry being the Flash?”

“Uh…” Oliver didn’t seem to have anything ready to answer that question, and truthfully Mari wasn’t sure why it was being asked. He was saved when Laurel made a sudden jerky movement and started snarling again.

Harry and Jesse pushed both Oliver and Iris back in order to hold Laurel down again. “Snow! Snap out of it! We need you focused,” Harry commanded.

Mari noticed Caitlin, still sitting on the floor and staring at the spot where the other speedster had been. She was paler than what seemed natural. “R-right!”

“Let me bring this closer,” Mari said, lifting the idol up and doing her best to find room amongst the small crowd. If Laurel reacted to it, that would give her a better idea of what needed to be done.

Her friend was fighting against the restraints, struggling toward something like Mari had predicted she would. But it wasn’t towards the idol.

It was towards Oliver.

Mari’s eyes narrowed. “Okay, I have to be missing something.”

“What do you mean?” It was Felicity that asked.

She set aside the idol. “Oliver, come stand by me.”

He did, and sure enough, Laurel’s focus shifted in his direction again. They all stared.

“What does it mean?” Quentin asked.

Mari frowned, touching her totem to try and center herself as she concentrated. She thought she could detect some kind of trace on him, only she didn’t see how.

Mari opened her eyes. “You didn’t tell me you could channel magic.”

“I can’t,” Oliver said with clear confusion.

“Then what are you hiding there,” she said, gesturing at his torso.

With a slightly uncomfortable look, he lifted up his shirt a little. On his right side was a tattoo. A couple years ago, she would have thought nothing of it; since she’d begun studying the occult, she knew better now.

Mari hummed to herself. “That’s it.”

“Constantine gave it to me. He didn’t say it could channel magic.”

“That’s probably because he never expected you to learn magic. But I think I know what’s happening. You were with her when she died?”

Oliver’s throat bobbed before he answered. “Yes.”

“Then her spirit isn’t in Darhk’s idol. Somehow it’s in you.”

“Whoa,” said Cisco at the entrance to the cortex. He’d clearly just returned from turning the generator on. “How does that work? Is he an Oliver-Laurel hybrid? Could she take him over? Can we talk to her through him?”

“You might be able to, Ramon,” said Harry.

Mari looked between them. “I’m gonna need some clarification on that.”

“Cisco’s a metahuman,” said Iris. “He used his powers to pull Barry out of the speed force. I went with him.”

“I’m not sure this is the same,” Mari told her. It was admittedly murky territory. As much as she drew on the spirits of animals from her ancestors’ tribal lands, she had no real experience transferring a spirit from one person to another.

“Would it hurt if Cisco tried?” Asked Caitlin. Some of the color was beginning to return to her cheeks.

Mari still didn’t know how Oliver had accidentally absorbed Laurel’s spirit instead of Darhk, and if Cisco really could even just open a line of communication, it would help. “We can try it.”

“Okay.” Cisco came forward, stepping between Laurel on the table and Oliver. “I’ll take one of her hands and you give me yours.”

Oliver eyed it. “Then what?”

“You’ll have to reach out to her,” said Iris. “It’s hard to describe how, but you just- you just sort of know. That’s how it was for me when I brought Barry home.”

If anything, her earnest words seemed to make him more hesitant. “I don’t know if I…”

“Oliver, just do it,” Felicity said, her tone practically a command. Almost everyone turned to look at her. “We’ve come this far, and we know you — well, I’d like to at least have my friend back after everything.”

“Please,” Quentin added after a slightly tense pause. “If it’s gotta be you. She trusted you.”

Oliver nodded, and Mari caught a glimpse of his determined look before he turned back and took Cisco’s hand.

—-

Laurel didn’t know where she was. Not in a scary way, but this place felt familiar. Like it resonated deep in her bones somehow, like she’d known it her whole life without ever having been here before.

She walked through the dense trees, sidestepping undergrowth and other dangers alike. She wasn’t sure how she knew which patches of earth were safe and which meant trouble, but it didn’t seem to bother her.

A storm was coming, had been the whole time. The clouds had gathered and the thunder boomed in the distance, but it was yet to arrive here on this island. She wasn’t sure when she’d decided it was an island either, but she could hear the choppy waves on the shore behind her even louder with the storm on the way.

She paused at a sound, turning to see a cave she might have otherwise passed up. Laurel heard the sound again. Someone was inside.

It was the first she’d heard of another human being since she’d woken to this place. Laurel carefully approached the mouth of the cave, her eyes going wide.

Inside was Oliver. Not the Oliver she felt she had spoken to only just before and yet seemingly so long ago. This Oliver was younger, with shaggy hair and worn clothes. His cheeks were clean-shaven and wet with tears as he sobbed, curled in a ball.

How had she gotten here? She wasn’t a speedster. She couldn’t time travel, and she didn’t hitch a ride on a ship like Sara was doing. However this had happened, she probably needed to go.

She shifted back but snapped a twig under her heel. Oliver looked up.

“Hello?”

His voice tugged at her heartstrings. So lonely and scared.

“Is someone out there? I can’t see. It- it’s too dark.”

This was her Ollie. Caught on the cusp of changing; with all his innocence and all his flaws. She couldn’t help herself.

Laurel entered the cave. “It’s me, Ollie. I’m here.”

“Laurel.” He didn’t seem at all surprised, and that was maybe only the latest sign that this place wasn’t quite what it seemed. Was this a vision? Some kind of hallucination she was having in the hospital?

Oliver straightened up, and she saw what he’d been curled around: a small, handmade cage with a bird inside.

“What’s that?” She asked walking over and sitting on the ground beside him.

“Oh.” Ollie’s face fell. “It’s supposed to be food.”

“Supposed to be?”

“This guy, he says I have to kill it first. I don’t want to kill it. I’m not a killer!”

Laurel bit her lip. His desperate plea was hard to hear, knowing what she did.

And she thought he knew it, too, the more she looked into his eyes. This wasn’t the Ollie from nine years ago, not really.

She wasn’t sure why, but Laurel suddenly knew whatever she chose to say next was vitally important, unreal as her whole situation seemed.

“Killing a bird because you need to survive isn’t wrong, Ollie. It doesn’t have to make you a killer. It doesn’t have to define you.”

“I don’t want to be in this cave anymore,” he said.

“We can leave it if you want.”

Oliver looked at her miserably. “I wouldn’t know where to go. I don’t know what’s out there. What’s beyond the island. What if it’s just worse? What if I’m worse?”

“That’s the scary thing about change. You don’t know what will happen.” She took his hand between both of hers. “But that change is possible, Ollie. I know it. I’ve seen it.”

He reflected on that for a time. “Do you think...I could become the man you always wanted me to be?”

Laurel shook her head even as her lips curved in a half-smile. “That man was a fantasy. He couldn’t live up to my childhood dreams any more than I can be some kind of angel for you,” she said, gesturing to herself. “What you’ve become is someone I believe in. Someone I trust, that I choose to trust. You’re so much more than that man and, for all the mistakes we’ve both made along the way, I’m proud of and happy for you.” Her eyes were watering but she didn’t bother to do anything about that. She was long past being ashamed of her tears. “Never doubt that.”

He leaned forward, and for an absurd moment she thought he might kiss her — but instead his forehead rested against hers, his eyes closed. “I don’t want to do this without you.”

“You don’t have to. Come on.” Laurel pulled him up by his hands, leading him out of the cave. The storm had passed them by. The clouds lingered, but lighter gray and less dense. As they climbed, light filtered through some of the gaps in the cloud cover and the trees. They climbed until they reached a high peak, marked by a pile of stones.

“My father,” said Ollie, and his voice was low like the way she was used to him speaking after all these years. “I buried him here.”

Laurel reached out and cupped his cheek. “I’m sorry you had to do that alone.”

For once, he didn’t brush off the concern, the way he did when he felt he needed to shoulder all his own burdens plus a whole city’s worth. Instead he stepped forward, hugging her to him. One of his hands braced the back of her head while the other wound tight around her waist. It was the kind of embrace she’d long missed.

Then he drew in a breath and said the words that nearly shattered her. “I wish I knew how to love you better.”

Laurel’s grip shifted to his shoulder blades, holding tight. Her eyes squeezed shut. “It’s okay.”

“If I could have another chance—”

“Ollie, it’s okay.” She pulled back, not quite out of his hold because he wouldn’t let her, but enough to see his face. “I’m dead, aren’t I?”

His face crumpled.

“Laurel!”

She blinked and looked around. His mouth hadn’t moved but she’d heard Oliver’s voice—

Above them, the sky had turned a strange blue with constant ripples. In the middle of it all somehow stood Oliver. Short-haired and stubbled and tired. World-weary and so well-meaning. Still trying to change.

He reached a hand out. “Come with me, Laurel. Please, trust me.”

The younger Ollie had shrunk back in response to his double appearing, but she looked back to him. “I promise, you’re never really alone. Even if it seems like I’m gone, I will always be here.” She laid a hand over her chest. “Okay?”

“Okay.”

“Laurel!” Oliver shouted again. Stern, too. This was her Oliver.

Without a second thought, she took a run and jump off the cliff’s peak, her hand catching his and then another’s with her other hand—

Laurel shot up from a table, her hands grasped firmly by Oliver and Cisco and her heart hammering like she had just run a marathon. Her arms and legs were strapped down and she felt a bone-deep tiredness.

“What just happened?”

“Honey!”

“Dad?”

He was breaking through the crowd — and the more Laurel looked the more it seemed like a crowd, most faces she knew but some she couldn’t recognize — and wrapping her in a hug. She felt the buckles on her arms come off allowing her to return it.

“Oh, my girl,” her dad kept saying into her shoulder. She could feel tears leaking into the shirt she couldn’t remember dressing in. “I knew you’d come back to us, I just knew you would.”

“Dad, what’s — where even are we?”

“Welcome to STAR Labs,” Cisco told her with a big smile and teary eyes. Laurel’s eyebrows lifted; as many times as she’d spoken to her engineer friend and worked with his teammates, she’d never been to their base of operations.

Pinpricks of slight pain were starting to register, and with a start she noticed the number of IV’s poking into her. “These aren’t—”

“None of them are painkillers,” Thea assured her, and Laurel was very glad to see her friend had made it to her side. She was less glad to see the girl she thought of as a little sister also on the verge of tears. “Can we get these taken out so I can hug her?”

“Of course,” Caitlin agreed softly. She was gazing at Laurel with something like wonder. “This is fascinating, really. And of course, we’ll need to run that bloodwork to test for the gene right away but—” and here she clutched at Laurel’s arm after removing to IVs. “This is amazing! I can’t believe it worked!”

“It was pretty touch and go there,” Mari spoke up from one side of the room. Laurel was still trying to process how they’d all moved from Star to Central and gathered several of their friends to really understand what they were alluding to.

Caitlin and a young girl she didn’t know were each removing the IVs. The one inserted into her chest hurt the worst coming out, and she probably crushed her dad and Thea’s hands while it was removed.

“What exactly, um—” Laurel started to ask, her eyes searching over various people’s heads for where Oliver had gone.

But a whoosh of air and crackle of lightning announced Barry’s arrival.

“Did the pipeline work?” A woman asked. She came over to stand by him as she did so.

“Yeah. I wanted to know his plan, so I- I talked to him.” Barry turned to an older man with a striking resemblance. “He was after you, dad. He was gonna— I can’t believe I almost lost you.”

Father and son embraced, and Laurel averted her eyes from what was obviously a private moment. Except that in the next instant, Barry was suddenly hugging her.

“Thank you, thank you so much—”

“Uh—”

“I mean I have no idea how you did it, but you saved my father. I’m so glad you’re alive.”

“Yeah, how is that a thing exactly?” She finally managed to get the full question in. Everyone thankfully quieted down a little.

“Well, um, you had a complication at the hospital and they- they lost you, honey,” her father started to explain. Laurel nodded; that made sense. “So I started looking at ways to, you know, to get you back.”

“Right,” Laurel agreed with only a touch of irony. It was just their lives now that death was only a temporary setback, wasn’t it? She was too emotionally drained from everything that had happened between her and Oliver — both at the hospital and in that representation of what must have been Lian Yu — to really feel much shock over all this.

“Nyssa, she said the Pit was gone. But Darhk had some of the water. He’d taken it for himself years ago. So we took him on.”

Laurel quickly cast her gaze around the room. She’d seen her father, Thea and Oliver already — there was John and Felicity. She sagged in relief. “No one else was hurt?”

“Only Darhk,” said Mari. “He’s dead.”

“Oh.” She felt nothing really about that. It certainly wasn’t anything she would lose sleep over, at any rate. Darhk had been an evil hanging over her family for too long for her to care that he wouldn’t be facing legal justice. He’d had his chance.

“So with him gone, we got a hold of the water he had and went to these people for help,” her dad finished explaining.

A man in glasses stepped in to continue. “This mix of medical and experimental science along with Ramon’s ability allowing your partner to bring your consciousness back to your own body had a significant chance of failure and required a very specific set of circumstances to work out in your favor. There also appear to be side effects. I would not recommend anyone try it again in the near future.” He fixed the room with narrowed eyes for a long moment.

Okay, so she’d been dead. And they’d brought her back with Darhk’s stolen water. There was poetic justice in that, she could acknowledge. There was one thing she still wasn’t clear on.

“I wasn’t...when we went to get Sara’s, she was in a place, almost like Nanda Parbat? And she was trapped. That wasn’t what it was like for me.”

“It could just be the different representations of your souls. If I had to guess, your sister’s soul was truly lost when she was killed,” Mari said. “It’s amazing that you were even able to recover it. Your soul was supposed to be absorbed by Darhk’s idol like all his other victims, but…” she trailed off.

“Ollie was hanging onto it for safekeeping,” Thea supplied with a cheeky grin.

“What?” Laurel finally spotted him; he’d ended up near the back of the group, half-sitting on the edge of a table with a hand pressed over his mouth.

He took it away to answer, “It was an accident.”

“A lucky one,” Mari agreed. “I’d like to talk to this John Constantine myself about it, if he’s available.”

“Trust me, he’ll make himself available for you,” Felicity remarked, and Laurel had to fight a smile off her face. Then it really did fall when Felicity added, “So, if you were in Oliver — in the tattoo! I meant the tattoo. I mean...what was it, uh, like?”

It occurred to Laurel that if she’d been on Lian Yu and seen another Oliver, that hadn’t been a representation of her soul at all. It had been his. She met his eyes and said, “Actually, I don’t really remember much. It’s kind of slipping away from me.”

His eyes closed, relief plain on his face that fortunately no one else saw.

“You’re probably exhausted,” her dad said from his perch on the side of her bed. “Everything that happened. You need your rest, honey.”

Someone’s phone rang, and the woman standing beside Barry gave a start before answering it. “Dad? Yeah, we got a little held up. Well, it’s Bear. Don’t you expect him to be late by now?” She sent a teasing look back at the speedster before starting to usher the various members of Team Flash who weren’t doctors out of the room. Mari followed them after giving her a brief hug. John was next, though he stopped at her bedside to squeeze her hand and smile at her with watery eyes. Laurel returned it. Felicity approached with a hug she gladly returned, then followed John out the door.

Oliver finally walked up to join Thea and her dad at her bedside. He leaned in and brushed his lips against her cheek, a whispered, “Thank you,” in her ear.

Laurel’s hands shook a little, but she managed a smile. What she had seen and learned about him in her time there was something she would keep private as long as he wished. Even if it was his loved ones asking, it had to be Oliver’s choice to share that part of himself.

He lingered, tucking a bit of her hair that had fallen into her face behind her ear. His gaze left her feeling warm all over.

“We’re ready to move you to a cot, Laurel,” Barry’s father said gently, breaking the moment. Laurel ducked her head and allowed him and her own father to help her over to the medical cot. Her arms and legs worked fine, even if they felt a little stiff. Probably something that would heal with time.

After she slept, they had a lot to address. For one thing, she’d been resurrected as a metahuman.

“The blood transfusion from your doppelganger must have activated your dormant meta gene. We’d never tested for that sort of thing before,” Caitlin explained to her. “It’s honestly a fascinating discovery.”

“And she’s going to be sent back to Earth 2 for a trial, right?” Laurel checked. She really didn’t like the look of those tiny cells from what she’d been shown on the security footage.

“We’ll have to work out a way to transport her without risk of her breaking out, but yes. Her and the other metas from Earth 2 that we captured,” Barry promised.

She and her dad stopped by her mother’s house before they all got ready to leave Central, and she wasn’t sure she remembered the last time her mom was so emotional over seeing her.

“I’m the luckiest mother in the world,” she declared to them both. “My daughters always come back to me.”

“We always try, mom.”

With some edits to the medical records by Felicity, they created a cover story; she had been near death and had been transferred to an elite, private hospital where they had stabilized her and kept her for observation over the last month. It likely wouldn’t stop her from being bombarded by the press upon their return, but it would likely hold until some other bit of news distracted everyone again.

Laurel used the last couple of days of their stay in Central City to observe the changes in her friends, the old ones as opposed to the new ones she was making from Team Flash. It was hard to imagine that so much could have changed in so little time, but it had seemingly changed all the same. The biggest one was that they all seemed very aware of her presence and took to hugging her quite often. Laurel could only assume that would calm down once the reality of her being back had really settled in.

Stranger was the distance that seemed to remain between Oliver and Felicity. She knew Felicity was likely still upset for the same reasons she had broken things off with him, but Oliver seemed to have completely accepted this. They treated each other cordially the few times they directly interacted, and there weren’t the hints of pain in his eyes that had been there before. If anything, he seemed totally at peace.

He also seemed to find any excuse to be around her. Sitting by her whenever they took meals, watching her practice her new powers out at the abandoned airfield and providing words of encouragement. He seemed committed to embodying that hope she’d once told him he represented to the people of their city.

Oliver’s new outlook on life perhaps best expressed itself when he received a call from the City Council. “They want me to fill in as mayor,” he told them all once he got off the phone.

“What?”

“Really?”

“Yes. They need someone for the interim since Ruve left. I- I got the job.” A smile was growing on his face.

“Oliver, that’s wonderful,” Laurel said, intending to just give his shoulder a squeeze. Oliver seized her around the waist and spun her around in a hug, and if she hadn’t been practicing her control her yelp of surprise might have shattered a window. When he set her down, she patted his shoulders and stepped back a good foot, sure she had to be blushing.

What was going on with him?

The night before they left, she gathered the courage to ask. Laurel found him up on the roof of STAR Labs, seemingly enjoying the spring air. “Hey.”

“Hey,” he greeted her back, opening up his stance as a silent indicator she was welcome to join him.

“I don’t want to seem like I’m spoiling a good thing, but I can’t help noticing you’ve been a little different lately,” she observed.

He chuckled, looking down at the ground. “Yeah, I don’t know. Something about bringing you back, ever since then, I just…” Oliver shrugged. “Things seem better. Or maybe I just feel like they do. Watching us all come together to do this, to have you back, maybe it just finally sunk in, you know? That I’m not alone and I haven’t been.”

Laurel nodded, absorbing that.

“It was like, Cisco used his powers to let me get to you, and something just changed. I feel...lighter, like there’s this weight that’s been taken off my chest. I don’t even know how or why.”

“Oh,” said Laurel, something clicking in that instant.

He looked at her. “What?”

“I think I, um, maybe did something by accident. I was...that was your soul, where I was, wasn’t it? And I found you. Or a you.”

“The representation of me,” Oliver agreed. “Go on?”

“Right. Well, we talked. And I- I wasn’t trying to- to change your very being, Ollie. I swear,” she said, holding up both hands. “But I promised you that you weren’t going to have to keep doing things alone, and I...was that wrong?”

He stared at her for a long moment, incredulous. “If it was, I’m not sure I agree. I think maybe I’ve needed that. All this time I’ve wanted to, to let someone in and to believe you and the others when you try to reach me, but...there was always this wall. It was me on an island, and you all on the other side of an ocean. But you came and met me there. I’m...I’m grateful, Laurel.”

She sagged in relief. “This is crazy, isn’t it?”

“Maybe. But our lives have been that way for a while now. We should take the good with the bad.”

“I’ve broken you. You would’ve never said that before,” she maintained with a shake of the head. He snorted, and she followed suit. Then they were both laughing on the roof. She leaned on him and his arms went around her, the both of them trembling in this strange new embrace.

His laughter slowly subsided. “I’m always going to be grateful for you, Dinah Laurel Lance.”

She rested her head on his shoulder. “That goes for you, too, Oliver Jonas Queen.”

They stayed like that until her father poked his head up from the roof access door, claiming she needed to get some sleep like she was still a teenager living in his house or something. Laurel didn’t really mind; wherever this was going with Oliver needed time.

Her dad insisted on helping her to put her things back in order once they returned to Starling — apparently he had started packing a bag sometime in the last month of all her essentials and they needed put away. Thea stepped out to pick up some Big Belly Burger for the three of them, so Laurel was surprised when there came a knock on the door.

She was even more surprised when she checked the peephole, though she immediately threw the door open. “Nyssa!”

Her friend’s smile was tinged with something like a scolding, as it often was. “I see my assumption was correct. Your family holds little regard for the dangers of the Pit as always.”

“Uh…”

“Who’s that?” Her father asked, stopping in the hallway at the sight of Nyssa. “Oh. Sorry, uh, about not saying. Wasn’t sure how to contact you.”

“I’m sure.” Nyssa reached into her pocket and withdrew a familiar looking vial. “Luckily, I made my own observations and prepared accordingly.”

“Is that…?” Laurel started to ask.

“More of the Lotus. I will admit, it was not easy to come by, and I have been asked to help the Crescent Order in exchange for it. This should be enough to cure you of the effects of the Pit’s waters.”

“But you- you shouldn’t have put yourself in debt just for me,” Laurel argued. She’d been worried about when the effects of the Lazarus Pit might assert themselves — she’d yet to go out in the field, so it hadn’t exactly been tested yet — but to know that Nyssa would do that for her was almost too much.

“Thank you,” her father intoned solemnly.

“I told you I would do anything for your daughter, did I not? It is thanks to your fortitude, and perhaps stubbornness, that I am able to uphold that promise.”

“Yeah, well anything you need from us, you never hesitate to ask, alright?” Her dad said. “You’re as good as family, far as I’m concerned.”

Nyssa blinked, her careful mask slipping for just an instant so that Laurel got a glimpse of the shock and happiness that statement caused. “I am honored,” her friend managed in her dignified way at last. Her gaze softened again, intentionally, as she looked at Laurel. “And I am glad to know you are back in the world, Laurel.”

“Me too.” She reached out and hugged Nyssa. “Thank you so much.”

“I am happy to do my part for the Crescent Order,” Nyssa told her after they broke apart. “Especially with the Magician gathering the remnants of the League to him, it is my responsibility to see their efforts stopped. That I was able to help a friend as well only makes this clearer to me. But I must take my leave and resume my duties.”

“We’ll see you again?” She asked as Nyssa turned for the door.

Her friend looked back. “You may yet.” She winked and left down the hallway.

“Well, that went better than I was expecting,” her dad remarked. “Best for you to take that right away, honey.”

“Mm-hm.” But Laurel tucked the vial away for the moment in order to turn and hug her father. “Thank you for not giving up on me, Daddy.”

“Well, how could I?” He asked, returning her hug. “You never gave up on me.”

There was still plenty up in the air, for both herself and her friends and family. But if she could borrow some of that hope she’d known Oliver always held inside, Laurel had a feeling they could handle it together.

#lauriver #laurel x oliver #laurel lance #oliver queen #arrow #quentin lance #mari mccabe #nyssa al ghul #green arrow #black canary #my writing

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