章 25: Cleared Air
Isaac spent over two hours explaining everything, he told them about Robert's many infidelities, including his tryst with Isabel Rochev. He told them the truth about Thea's birth father, that one got everyone in his family yelling, Diggle had to help Isaac calm everyone down. It was then that Isaac brought up their secret sister, Emiko, whom Robert had fathered, and Moira had turned away. Isaac explained how in his visons he saw how terrible her life had been and how her bitterness and anger eventually turned her against the Queen's. Isaac explained how he had reached out to her years ago, before their father had died, and showed her that she still had family that loved her. Moira was furious when she heard that, asking how Isaac could betray her and wondering why she would take that 'slut's' side.
"Moira!" Isaac yelled out. He had not appreciated that slut comment at all, and he told his mother as much. "I get that you don't like Emiko's mother, because of what Robert did, but did you really think taking your anger out on a child was the right answer?" Moira just looked down at that, her hands twisting in her lap.
"You are so much better than being resentful of a child who didn't even have a choice in the matter. Emiko did not ask to have a father who couldn't keep it in his pants, that was just the hand you were both delt. All she really wanted was to matter to her father, and you took that from her. It was your ultimatum that stole her father away, or at least that was what her mother told her, and it wasn't a complete lie." Isaac told them all the path Emiko would have gone down had he not interfered, from her mother's murder to trying to kill Oliver, and how it all ended in her death.
"You know what her last wish was mom? It was to be a part of our family, that's all she has ever wanted." Isaac pointed out. He looked at Moira, face wet with tears, and saw that she understood his point.
"Can we meet her Isaac?" Thea asked. Isaac figured she especially loved the idea of an outsider for a sister, given all that she had found out about herself.
"I know for a fact that she is very excited to meet the both of you, so you just tell me when and I'll make it happen ok?" Isaac added. He saw how excited Thea was and told himself to arrange their meeting asap. With Emiko already brought up Isaac figured it was the perfect time to talk about another secret love, or lust in this case, child.
When Isaac mentioned the name Samantha Clayton Moira practically begged him to stop, but he couldn't, not with everything at stake. To say Oliver was furious when he found out about his child was an understatement, Isaac had to physically retrain him he was so mad, even Dig looked shocked. Thea was the one who really helped calm Oliver, she ran right over to him and hugged him, crying over and over about how sorry she was.
"It's not your fault Speedy." Oliver whispered to her; his hands were still shaking but he had calmed significantly. Moira tried to explain her reasoning for sending his child away, but Oliver was not listening, he told her he did not wasn't interested in hearing it. Afterwards, Isaac gave everyone a 5-minute break and summoned some drinks and snacks for everyone in a casual display of magic. Before Isaac began John Diggle interrupted with a question of his own.
"Mr. Queen, I understand why needed to have this meeting and air out all these secrets, what I don't understand is why I'm here. I'm just the bodyguard." Everyone turned to look at Isaac, wondering the same thing.
"Because Mr. Diggle, you are far more than just my brother's bodyguard, you're his partner." Thea and Moira both looked confused at Isaac's assertion but before he was asked Isaac continued.
"Sorry Oli but it's your turn now."
"You can't Isaac!" Oliver exclaimed, jumping up. Isaac just sighed; he figured Oliver would object strongly to exposing his secrets, but it was his tough luck Isaac was not going to stop.
"So, it was ok that you got to hear everyone else's secrets, but you have a problem when it's yours? That's a bit hypocritical brother, but just like I didn't stop when mom asked, I'm not stopping now, for what it's worth I am sorry." Isaac said. Diggle gripped Oliver's arm and got him to sit back down, barely. Isaac took a deep breath before carrying on, everyone's eyes on him.
"Before I start, I want to warn you that as bad as you think Oli had it on that Island, I can assure you it was worst. You all have seen the scars and heard what he said in court, so you have a tiny idea of what he went through, but it's only that, a tiny idea." Isaac said. He told them everything he knew about what his brother had been through, with the occasional correction from Oliver. If there was something he forgot or if there was something more that happened that Isaac had not 'seen' Oliver would step in. Thea and Moira were in tears by the time Isaac finished the first two years on the island, even Diggle looked rough, Oliver though, his face was blank, and his eyes were as cold as ice.
Both Queen women walked over and wrapped their arms around Oliver, he flinched for a second before relaxing somewhat to their touch. The Queen family, minus Isaac, stayed huddled together for several minutes, whispering encouragements to the scarred member of their family. Not long after, Isaac called them all back, hoping to continue his brother's story, but before he started Thea interrupted.
"Oli, I'm sorry about what happened to your friends, and Sara, but you know it wasn't your fault right?" Thea wondered. Oliver just sighed at her question and took a second before responding.
"Speedy, it is not that simple. Slade was a good man, he was like a brother to me and what Sara and I did to him, it destroyed him. We took that good man and warped him into something that he would have hated, maybe if I had not lied to him…"
"Stop it Oli! You gave him that serum because he was dying anyways, you wanted to save his life. I can only imagine how awful what happened after was, but only God could have known what he'd turn into, and you Oli are not God. You are not responsible for what happened to Slade or Shado for that matter, Ivo killed her, there was nothing you could have done. At least Slade did one thing right while high on that Mirakuru crap." Thea absently added.
"Unfortunately Speedy, Oliver, he didn't." Isaac interjected. Everyone's eyes snapped towards him, all but Oliver looked confused, he just looked wrathful.
"Isaac what do you mean?" Thea asked. Oliver was up and pacing before Isaac responded, drawing questioning glances from the group, minus Isaac. He figured Oliver was probably thinking over his last confrontation with the mad scientist, wondering if there was anything he missed.
"Oli's already figured it out, but I'll tell the rest of you, Ivo isn't dead." That got everyone's attention, even Oliver's, as it was confirmation of something he had probably always feared, since returning home at least. Isaac knew, from his past life, that in Oliver's first few years back home he had been afraid of one of his enemies attacking him through his family. It was part of why he killed, his experiences taught Oliver that leaving enemies at your back was like asking for death. Oli turned towards Isaac and practically demanded to know how he was so sure Ivo was still alive.
"Who do you think attacked me the other day?" Isaac asked pointedly. Oliver reared back like he had been slapped; Isaac saw that Oliver had not even considered that possibility.
"Wait, explain that." Oliver asked, his confusion clear as day, and so was everyone else's, so Isaac explained. He walked them through his confrontation with Ivo's android and how he copied all of its information, which led directly to its maker, Ivo.
"And that is how I know it was Ivo, I'll admit it was quite the surprise for me, my vison showed his killed by Slade, something must have changed. As for why he targeted me, I thought about that a lot. The best I can figure is that Sara never told him about me so when I started to get all that media attention for my inventions it clued him in. He probably wanted to fuck with your head like he did with Shado, kill me, and then tell you it was your fault." Isaac added, shrugging. Oliver went a little pale at Isaac's theory, he figured it was because of how much sense it made, for Ivo at least.
Oliver wanted to leave right after to hunt down Ivo, but Isaac told him not to bother, which pissed his brother off.
"What the hell do you mean, 'don't bother'!? Ivo is psychotic Isaac; he already took a shot at you, and you want me to do nothing? What if he goes after Thea!?" Oliver demanded furiously. Isaac understood his concern, but Oliver kept forgetting an important detail, Isaac was not a normal human.
"Oli, calm down. You know I love Thea and would never put her in jeopardy, but I also know that Ivo likes to take shots at those around you. That is why I've already put protection spells on everyone here, and the Lances and Tommy will be coming over later so I can discreetly do the same to them. I'm not taking any chances Oli, I promise. In fact, my computer is doing global searches for him as we speak, the moment I find him I will deal with him, so like I said, calm down." Isaac said. Oliver took a quick breath and then sat down; Thea, however, was apparently more distressed than calmed by his speech.
"Isaac! What do you mean you'll deal with him!?" Thea demanded, already on her feet, hands on her hips as she glared at him. 'Fuck,' Isaac thought as he saw Moira eyes baring down on him as well, he had not meant to say that aloud, Isaac just shook his head and tried explaining things.
"Thea, I have to go after him, if I don't, he will target you, mom, hell even the Lances, while he's out there he's free to keep taking pot shots at you all, I will not allow that. Plus, my visions have only been useful because things have stayed somewhat like what I've seen. With Ivo on the loose that could all change, he could make any number of decisions that would make what I've seen useless. I need to deal with him before that happens or else my future knowledge will be worthless. Now, moving on." Isaac said, brokering no argument. He looked at Oliver and asked him if he wanted to tell it or if Isaac should, Oliver opted to tell them his story himself.
As Oliver started talking about his 3rd year away the Queen women grew incensed at the idea that Oliver had made it off the Island and had not come home. That was until Oli told them about Amanda Waller and what she had been prepared to do if Oliver had tried to escape.
"That fucking bitch!"
"That fucking bitch!"
"That fucking bitch!" Thea, Moira, and Diggle said simultaneously. They each looked at each other, surprised, and then broke into laughter.
"I knew that bitch was evil but damn, even I didn't expect her to do that." Diggle added, his head shaking in disbelief. The Queen women rounded on Dig after hearing that.
"Wait you know this bitch?" Moira questioned. Diggle nodded and told them about his history with her, how he thought she was scum, and that his ex-wife still worked for her.
"She doesn't matter. I have enough leverage over her that she will never come my way again, she has too much power for any of us to take legal action against her. If anything, she'll use that as an opportunity to out all of the things I did under her, most likely leading to my imprisonment or death." Oliver said casually. Before another argument began, Isaac moved things along and asked Oliver to continue.
He told them about how Waller had demanded he kill Tommy and what he did to protect him, the Queen women were livid at that, but Oliver pressed on. By the time he finished, leaving nothing out, as far as Isaac could tell, the women were in tears, Diggle was shaking in rage, and Isaac was genuinely shocked. Akio had survived, which meant that Maseo never joined the League of Assassins and was still together with Tatsu, Isaac had not expected that, at all. Oliver looked at his brother's shocked face and asked about it, wondering why if he saw the future, was he so surprised.
Isaac paused for just a moment before he told everyone how things had gone in his vision, he even told them what Oliver had done in his grief. It was Oliver who looked shocked now, Isaac figured his brother had never even considered that he could've failed to save Akio. While things had mostly stayed the same, including Oliver torturing that military guy, apparently, he took a little girl hostage and was going to kill her. Isaac smiled when he saw his mom and sister huddling together, hugging Oliver, telling him that they understood and still loved him, Diggle was even on his side. Isaac swore he saw Oliver tearing up a little.
While happy at seeing his family so accepting and loving towards Oliver, Isaac was concerned for the future and what it meant that Maseo was not with the League. He pushed those troubling thoughts aside and had Oliver continue, Isaac wanted to get through Oliver's time away faster. Oliver told them how after Hong Kong, Waller sent him back to Lian Yu, where he had his first run in with magic and how he saved a magic user's life. He told them everything, what he had been sent to do, the things he had to do in order to complete his mission, even how an innocent woman had died by his hands.
"Oh, shut up Oliver! You know damn well there was nothing you could do to help Taiana; sometimes terrible things happen to good people. She made her choice, and it was a brave one, don't diminish her sacrifice with self-pity." Isaac interrupted. Oliver was a little taken aback when he saw everyone in the room nodding their agreement with what Isaac said.
It took another 20 minutes until Oliver had finished talking about his last year away, everyone was shocked at hearing that Oliver was a Captain in the Bratva. What concerned them the most though, were the possible long-term effects of 'The Red Death' that Kovar dosed him with. Oliver was not even sure of them although he had heard rumors that the drug was supposed to cause brain damage, but no one knew for sure.
"You idiot!" Isaac muttered as he walked over to his brother and laid a red and black glowing hand on Oliver's head.
"Exploro Cerebrum (Explore this brain)!" Isaac whispered out. A sudden rush of information flooded Isaac's mind, but his decade plus years of meditation and organizing his mind made it a piece of cake. Isaac saw damage in multiple areas of Oliver's brain, including in his Frontal Lobe, Amygdala, and Cerebellum, and Isaac told Oliver as much. Isaac heard them gasp, they had not expected Oliver to have such extensive damage, even Oliver looked a little pale. Isaac let Oliver sweat a little to hopefully drive home how important his health was, but then told him he could heal the damage. What Isaac didn't tell Oliver was that he planned to make some improvements as well.
"Medicas Manus (Healing hands)." Isaac guided his spell covered hands over Oliver's head, making sure his spell reached every part of Oliver's brain, including his Brain Stem. Once Isaac was sure all the damage had been healed in his brain, he went onto the rest of his body, ignoring his protests. While he did not heal Oliver's scars, as that would have been too suspicious, he did heal all the damage and wear and tear his body had been through. Once he was done, he worked his way back to Oliver's brain and thought, 'Accommodans Manus (adjusting hands),' and went to work on certain parts of Oliver's brain.
By the end of Isaac's "healing" session Oliver was not only fully healed, in both body and mind, he was quite improved. Isaac had increased his brother's reaction time by a wide margin, improved his Occipital Lobe, his eyes, and his Prefrontal Cortex (making him much smarter and improving his vison by miles). As an afterthought, Isaac also made Oliver's brain able to learn things at a much faster rate than he had before. Once he was done Isaac lifted his hand and stepped away from his brother before he spoke.
"So, how do you feel Oliver?" he asked, more so for everyone else's sake than his own. Oliver paused over the question for more than a few minutes, but eventually he answered.
"I can't really explain it. I guess it feels like I've been sleepwalking and I'm only now waking up. It's crazy I don't think I've ever felt this good in my life." Oliver added, properly awed.
"Yea I healed more than just the 'Red Death' Oli; I healed every bit of damage your brain has ever been through. You've basically got a brand-new brain, hell even your eyes are basically new, congrats." Isaac said, his arms out, waiting, jokingly, to be praised. Oliver, and everyone else, just looked at him, shocked.
After the shock wore off and everyone had asked their questions Isaac insisted that they moved on, considering how close they were to being finished. Isaac then dove into explaining how the Queen's Gambit was sabotaged and why, when Isaac revealed that it had been Merlyn who orchestrated everything, they all had varying reactions. Oliver was practically foaming at the mouth, he was so angry, Thea was heartbroken, and felt almost dirty knowing her birthfather had killed the man who raised her. Moira went pale as a sheet, when she heard, probably scared that Isaac would be killed and her role in the undertaking would be exposed. Dig looked dumbfounded, even after everything Isaac had exposed about their family this probably took the cake for him.
"I'll kill him!" Oliver growled out, momentarily forgetting Thea's connection to the man. Isaac placed a hand on both his siblings' shoulders, squeezed them and then told everyone the rest of the story. He explained how Merlyn had been blackmailing Robert into helping him with his plan to destroy the Glades, and Robert's trip on the Gambit was to go get help. Unfortunately, Malcolm got wise to Robert's plan and had him killed for it, and strong-armed Moira into helping him.
"Why did he do this, he and dad were so close he was practically family!" Oliver asked, bewildered by Merlyn's actions.
"Fuck Mr. Merlyn, Mom what did Isaac mean when he said you were involved?" Thea interrupted, impatiently. Moira's head dropped down at the question, ashamed, thankfully Isaac answered instead.
"Ok, Thea first. Mom has been under Malcolm's thumb since dad died, he has been using our lives to threaten mom into doing his bidding. With what he did to dad it's not surprising that she has been helping him, she already almost lost one child to him, I don't blame her for not wanting us at risk again. That being said, Mom from now own I expect you to tell Oliver and I everything you find out about Merlyn's plans, and try to slow things down for a while, but don't be too suspicious." Moira hesitantly nodded in agreement.
"Good. Now, Oliver to answer your question, Malcolm is not the same man you knew growing up, I know you've heard rumors about the 'League of Shadows'. Well, they exist and they're scarier and more vicious than you can imagine. It was them Merlyn went to after his wife died, it's why he was gone for so many years. They turned him into a master warrior and assassin, he eventually became one of their four horsemen, warriors so skilled that they answered only to Ra's Al Ghul, their leader. And now he's on a mission of revenge, he wants the Glades to pay for what happened to his wife, and he doesn't care about innocents and collateral damage. For the record Tommy has zero idea about what his father has been up to nor the fact that Thea is his sister. We'll deal with that when he and the Lances come over later."
"So, it was really him this whole time?" Moira mumbled out. Everyone, but Isaac, looked confused by her comment, wondering what she meant, Thea decided to just ask her.
"Mom, what do you mean by that?" Moira looked like she had not realized she had spoken aloud and was unsure what to tell her daughter, she settled on the truth considering that was the whole point of this meeting.
"Merlyn has always been able to keep those of us who did not agree with his plan in line by threatening us and our families with this mysterious assassin. None of us knew who he was or how Malcolm found him. But I guess now I do; it was him this whole time." Oliver thought over his mom's statement, something about it had caught his interest.
"Mom, was this assassin dressed in a weird black and dark grey outfit, armed with both a bow and a sword?" Moira's face went pale at Oliver's description.
"Y-yes that sounds exactly like him, Oli how did you know that?" Moira's voice trembled a bit at the end, scared for her son.
"That question takes us into one of our last big secrets, Oli do you want to be the one, or should I?" Isaac wondered, genuinely. Oliver just sighed and motioned for Isaac to continue. Thea and Moira looked intrigued, both wondering what big secret of Oliver's Isaac was revealing.
"Oliver knew what the assassin looked like because he fought the man before, when the assassin took a bunch of hostages Christmas night." The ladies of the group looked confused for a second before it suddenly hit them, what Isaac was trying to say.
"You're the Arrow!!" They shouted, simultaneously.
"Wait is this why Isaac said Mr. Diggle is your partner? Has he been helping you?" Thea wondered, correctly. She was practically vibrating in her seat while Moira looked stunned with tears welling in her eyes.
"Oh, my sweet boy." She whispered and rushed at Oliver, arms open, with Thea not far behind. Isaac noticed Dig smiling and gave him a slight nod. After a few minutes the Queen ladies finally let Oliver go and headed back to their seats.
"My brother is the Arrow, that is so cool!" Thea said as she sat down, Oliver chuckled at that.
"Yea, it is Speedy." Isaac agreed, earning thankful nods from both Oliver and Dig.
"Now Oli these next secrets are gonna throw you for a loop, just warning you. Sara Lance is alive and so is Slade Wilson." Everyone gasped. There was not a single person, outside of Isaac, who expected that. Oliver was the first one on his feet.
"You're wrong Isaac, that is not possible. I put an arrow through his fucking eye!" Before Isaac could respond Oliver continued ranting as he paced.
"And I saw Sara get blown into the sea. There is no way she survived, not with that current." Oliver finished, finally taking a breath.
"Point in fact Oli, Slade didn't survive his encounter with you unscathed, he is missing an eye, everything else healed although he is still cuckoo for coco puffs. We will have to deal with him soon, but not right now. Sara's story is a little more interesting, you were right in saying she couldn't have survived that current, alone at least. She was saved by the daughter of Ra's Al Ghul and then taken into their service; I've made plans to get her back in Starling soon. I plan to tell the Lances tonight, you might want to do it with me, they'll have questions." Things passed quickly after that. Not even 20 minutes later Tommy and the Lances showed up, and The Queens were there to greet them, Diggle having already left. When Isaac told The Lances and Tommy the truth about Thea, Malcolm, and Sara. As Isaac predicted, there were a lot of questions, denials, and just some plain old yelling. Oliver did his best explaining why he never told them Sara made it to the Island, he tried to say it was his fault, but Isaac made sure the Lances knew it was Sara's last wish. Tommy took it the hardest and yet he was not too surprised by what he had found out, he had not expected it of course but he had always known that there was something fundamentally broken in his father. The whole group just stayed together, comforting one another, it was all they could really do. Before they left Isaac made it abundantly clear to both Tommy and the Lances that there were to be no moves taken against Merlyn until Isaac said so. He explained not only how deadly Malcolm was but also that if they moved too soon that he would activate his plans, destroying the glades and killing tens of thousands of people in the process.
It was on that sour note that Tommy and Laurel walked out, before Quentin left, Isaac gave him a copy of all the evidence he had compiled against Malcolm, including those that implicated Merlyn in Robert's murder. Quentin told him that he would tread carefully, and Isaac warned him, again, that he better, for Laurel's sake. Days passed by as Isaac waited for Claire to find Ivo when finally, after almost a week, she sent Isaac a still from a security camera in Tibet, it was Ivo.
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