this was too much for even malcolm to comprehend and
even more for him to be truly able to stomach. he knew that
ra’s al ghul wished for oliver to suffer but to this extreme? had
they not lost enough already, and in order to get the one they both
loved back he had to endure this? he waited till ra’s al ghul left and
then quickly proceeded forwards and let his gaze look over the man
before he got closer and unhooked his wrists to let him down. he
carefully moved to catch oliver. the heavy weight of his body as it
collapsed against him and carefully moved to rest him down upon
the floor away from the flames that had been licking away at his body
as the former demon’s head had branded oliver as a league of assassins
now, but not just any assassin, the demon’s head.
he carefully rested oliver there and then moved to rested a hand against
his head as he breathed in. “it’s going to be alright, oliver…” he confessed
as he watched the young man and tilted his head carefully. “you did what
we needed and we can save her now.” he stated as checked the branding
mark upon his body, it would certainly hurt for a few days. “we can save
thea now.” he spoke slowly as he watched oliver carefully and tapped his
cheek to ensure that he stayed awake. “deep breathes, you’ve been
through much worse, and now you’re gonna to save thea, let that be
your light, and hope, let it keep you focused. focus on that, and not your pain.”
the moment he learned about thea was the moment oliver could do
one of two things: allow his sister to die or accept ra’s offer and do
whatever it took to bring thea back. everyone knew the moment they
heard the news that thea wasn’t going to make the next forty eight
hours that oliver had made his decision. so, the eldest queen had
found himself in the lair of the demon’s head with his sister in his
arms, telling ra’s that he was going to accept his offer one one
condition: his sister was brought back with the lazarus pit. and the
head of the demon accepted.
the next few hours passed in a whirl wind of pain, heat, blood, and
words spoken in a language oliver didn’t understand. everything
happened but he knew it needed to be done for thea. there was no
question about it. even as he was left alone, fading in and out of
consciousness, the pain from the brand throbbing over all his other
injuries, oliver knew that he needed to stay awake a little longer.
the little longer seemed to pay off because he could feel the familiar
hands, hear the familiar voice. he tried to support himself yet his feet
wouldn’t allow him. unfortunately relaying on malcolm at the moment,
oliver felt the cool rock against his burning back. the idea of sleep
quickly ran when fingers knocked on the side of his cheek, oliver’s
brow furrowing lightly. even if he wanted the darkness to swallow
him, allow oliver to have those mere moments of rest before even more
pain came, malcolm was right. he needed to focus on that light right now,
allow himself to grab onto it. not for himself but for thea. always thea.