#tipofthearrow

Thea entered the foyer of their family mansion slowly, weary of the memories that threatened to overwhelm her. She set her wooden suitcase down by the door before following her mother’s subtle directive to join the small group lingering near the staircase. Moira stood next to their family acquaintance, Walter Steele, who had no compunction about pulling her into an unsolicited hug.

“It's so good to see you, Thea.” Walter said. Thea didn’t return the hug or sentiment, choosing instead to just stand in his hold until he released her.

Before anyone could say or do anything else, Thea heard a tell-tale click from the second floor of their home. Given that she could see Raisa behind her mother, there was only one other person that could be upstairs then. A small smile started on her lips as she approached the bottom of the staircase, waiting for him to finally appear.

@tipofthearrow

It wasn’t until she heard the crack of the tip of her nail splitting that Thea realized she was nervously battering her nails against the island’s counter. She knew what that meant; whenever she bashed her nails, particularly into breaking, she was nervous. A night in watching movies was nothing that should inspire nerves and it probably didn’t in normal people. but the Queens were nowhere near normal anymore.

The truth of the matter was it had been so very long since they’d done something for themselves, like watching movies or anything remotely relaxing, that Thea was nervous they wouldn’t be able to indulge in the intention of the night. A chance existed, as well, that something would ruin the evening. An attack from Ra’s, an unwelcome intrusion from Malcolm, or just some bad guy trying to take over the city. Thea hated the idea that they might not get to enjoy their evening. It was well deserved, wasn’t it? Oliver had been defending the city, helping to train her and god knows what else; if anyone deserved to kick back, relax, and forget their troubles, it was him. 

Thea looked over the varying bags of popcorn she laid out on the counter, labels all facing up to display the flavors. She would let Oliver choose their first flavor when he came home. It was only fair, given that she’d chosen their first movie of the night: We’re the Millers. The disc was already cued up in their player, blankets and pillows for their comfort laid out upon the couch. All that was needed now was Oliver to come home. Did he forget?

Thea hadn’t meant to fall asleep this time. In fact, since that night that she’d woken up in Oliver’s bed, she’d been striving to stay awake. Sure, he said it was fine that she took over his bed, but she knew he was just being polite. He felt obligated because he was her older brother, he’d said as much; so for the past couple of days, she’d been drinking un-measurable amounts of coffee, energy drinks, and those little energy shots to stay awake. But everyone has to sleep eventually so, despite her best efforts, Thea ended up drifting off to sleep in front of their living room television. For the next hour, everything was fine. Thea slept peacefully, curled awkwardly on their leather couch.

She had to find him. She needed him. Nothing would be okay without him. Nothing was okay without him. She had to find him!

Then her bare feet touched the carpet and she stood without any awareness of her actions. Her first several steps were slow, faulty, but by the time that she reached their front door she was steady. Determined. Flipping the lock on the door was a mechanical action, simply turning it back the way it went.

Nothing awoke Thea as she made her way out of their building and onto the sidewalk. Cars honked, people swerved around her, and still she marched forward unconsciously. Block after block, street after street, her naked feet carried her to her destination, even as they began to crack and bleed. The door to Verdant was a bit harder for Thea to open then her apartment door had been, because of its weight, but luckily it was left unlocked so Oliver could return to his home base at the end of the evening.

The keypad to the Foundry presented a problem that Thea couldn’t get past. So, with no options left, she opened her mouth and started screaming, while her fists pounded upon the door. When it finally opened, Thea started down the stairs, wobblingly, unaware that Felicity was the one to open it and was trying to talk to her. Thea made a wide loop of the underground room, but came up empty. The person she wanted wasn’t there.

He was gone again. He’d left. He left her He wasn’t coming back. He’d broken his promise. Left her alone. She was alone. All alone. Exhausted from the long walk, Thea sat down in the middle of the floor, folded her legs, and started crying in earnest.

Thea laid down in her bed, weary as always of late of going to sleep, but she knew Malcom was right. She couldn’t risk being completely unresponsive in case Ra’s al Ghul decided to  go on the offensive about this whole killing them thing. Still, not taking her pills made her nervous; it had been a week already and nothing had happened, but it still could. She remember what it was like to go to sleep in her own bed and wake up in various places: outside Oliver’s bedroom door, outside on the driveway, and in the most memorable insistence, in the rain on the dock where the Gambit had once been docked. She really didn’t want to start that again.

She sighed as she wrapped her arms around her pillow, waiting for sleep to take her away. It wouldn’t take her long to drift off after the day she’d had. Five minutes later and Thea was falling into her dreams, worries slipping away for the moment. After an about an hour of rest, Thea flipped back her covers from her legs before climbing out of her bed. She made her way across the room slowly, her feet dragging slightly on the carpet. Her fingers reached out and flipped the lock before she pulled open her door. Her feet scuffled across the floor as she made her way down the hallway, quiet in the silence of the night around her.

Thea reached out and took a hold of the doorknob, turning it slowly before stepping inside the room. Muscle memory led her up to the bed before she climbed up on it, her knees settling on the soft comforter before she laid down beside him. She wrapped an arm loosely around his waist before she molded herself to his side. His skin was so warm against her; it made her smile softly as she said in a soft sleepy sigh, “Ollie.”

Her eyes widened a little as she spotted her brother on the sofa. Damn. She’d been hoping to avoid him. “Shouldn’t you be out? Keeping secrets and confusing people?”