Requested: Could you use number 7 with Thea Queen where the reader used to be part of the League of Assassins, but Sara convinced her to leave and now she's with Team Arrow, but she can't help as she keeps killing people that they go after because she's so used to killing her marks?
7: “When is a monster not a monster?” “When you love it.”
A/N: Yeah. I actually enjoyed writing this one and it’s helped me get out of this writer’s block that I’ve had for a long time now.
Oliver yelled, “(Y/N), don’t!”
However, it was in vain. You had already released the arrow that lodged itself into the man’s throat. The man gave a sputter of a cough before falling to the floor dead. Oliver gripped onto your arm and forced you to look at him. Oliver pointed at the man, “We don’t kill!” You wanted to snap at him. To tell him that it was better for the man to be dead than alive, but you didn’t. “We have to be better than others. Better than how people see us! We are not the League of Assassins.”
You snapped, “I know! You think I don’t know that? The League would never keep someone around who refuses to kill!”
You ripped your arm from Oliver’s hold to stalk to the edge of the roof. The others watched you as you stood at the edge. Oliver knew that you were having trouble adjusting to this lifestyle where you didn’t kill. He knew that you were used to only killing your marks, never letting them live. But Oliver also knew that Sara would have convinced you to join Team Arrow without a good reason. He just needed to find what it was.
The others left the roof of the building to give you some time alone. You weren’t sure why Sara had convinced you to leave the League of Assasins, much less join Oliver Queen’s team. You were a killer, and Oliver didn’t want killers. You were surprised when the red hooded archer joined you at the edge of the roof. You sighed, “I’m sorry.”
Thea shook her head, “You don’t have to apologize.” You refused to meet her eyes. You knew that they would hold disappointment even if Thea didn’t wish that her eyes wouldn’t. “You’ve been trained since you were young to kill people. It will take time to unlearn that.”
You rebutted, “Sara doesn’t have this problem.”
Thea pointed out, “Sara wasn’t raised to kill others. That was only a part of her life, (Y/N). You have spent the majority of your life being trained to be a killer.”
The two of you stood in silence as you both pondered your thoughts. You questioned, “When is a monster not a monster?”
Thea forced you to look her in the eyes, “When you love it.”
requested by anon: Could you do Roy introducing his s/o (or hopeful future s/o) to Lian?
OKAY! This blew up. It’s a little over 2000 words and I didn’t expect I would be writing this much for this prompt to be honest. Sorry if the ending feels a little bit rushed, I swear if it was up to me, I probably would be writing more than intended and it would just look draggy. Anyway, thank you for sending in this prompt! Hope it’s alright with you and hope you enjoy it!
note: Single Dad! AU, modern AU
You smile to yourself as you stare at the table you have managed to quickly decorate: a few colourful, glittery balloons, a teddy bear that is hugging a bag full of candies and chocolates and that was about it really - you didn’t really add much to the table mostly because you didn’t want to make it seem to over the top. You wring your hands, finally feeling the nerves that has been building up - she isn’t even here yet and you are already this nervous! Although granted, you really want this to go well. The both of you do, truthfully.
A smile appears on your face, despite your nervousness, when you think about your lover. (Referring to him as your boyfriend seems a little bit… short-term and it definitely is not the term you would use to describe what Roy and you have, that’s for sure). When he had proposed the idea of meeting his daughter, Roy had been nervous - more so than the first time he relented to go on a date with you (let it never be said that you didn’t fight for what you want!) - but you had been ecstatic!
You knew just how much Lian means to him - almost most of the time, Roy would be talking about his daughter. There was just something about the way he loves and carries Lian with all of his heart that made you fell in love with him, became all the more attracted to him - it really was just something endearing about how he spoke about Lian that warmed your heart.
It was no secret between the two of you that often Roy’s relationship didn’t work because the moment they heard he had a daughter, one that was really young, most dropped him like hot potatoes, not wanting to be a ‘mom’ this young and you also understood just how much those words had hurt him because he really loved Lian, even if she was unplanned. The fact that he wants to introduce you to Lian means that he is willing to put his own heart at risk again and you definitely did not want to hurt him which is how you knew how serious Roy must have been when he asked if you wanted to officially meet his daughter.
The two of you agreed to have the meeting at Lian’s current obsession: McDonalds. The closest McDonalds was, thankfully, not far from where you work at and also nearby Lian’s pre-school which is why you had gone straight to McDonalds (after buying the little things that you hope might help Lian to warm up to you a tiny bit because even though you have yet to meet her, the way Roy talked about her made you feel like you know Lian very, very well) to get a table for the three of you.
When it was nearer to the time Roy and you had agreed on and you still have yet to receive a message from him, that is when you got worried. Roy would have told you if Lian decided she didn’t want to meet you (he had been slowly warming Lian up for you, which was really sweet of him but you wanted to win her heart on your own!) but he has yet to text you so you assumed the plan is still ongoing. But when it is fifteen minutes past the promised time, you checked your phone to read the last text you received from him; it mostly consisted of how he is looking forward to seeing you later and how he still has a meeting to go through at lunch. So you decided to do the next best thing: call Roy.
It takes a few tries until Roy actually picked up the phone but by then your nerves feel fried, with worry and fear. “Babe?”
Roy groans. “Shit, Y/N. I forgot, didn’t I?” His voice feels faraway and you would have been offended by his words had you not hear the crying in the background and you furrow your eyebrows. “Y/N, I am so, so sorry. I don’t think we can make it - Lian came down with the nastiest cold and it’s been really hard and I am so sorry? Can we reschedule?”
It breaks your heart to hear Roy sound so defeated, so tired and so filled with worry and concern for his daughter and being the understanding person that you are, you nod your head. “Of course, I don’t mind at all. Do… do you need any help, Roy?”
Roy doesn’t answer your question instead you can hear him trying to placate his daughter, coming her into eating her medicine but judging from the wailing you hear, he isn’t really doing much of a good job. “Sorry, Y/N. Did you say something just now?”
You begin packing your things - putting the bear and the chocolates in the bag - and gave the balloons to the little girl that had been eyeing them since she came in. “Call me later okay? Hope Lian gets well soon, Roy.” Roy makes a noncommittal hum and you hang up the call, pondering what you should do now that your plan for the night is cancelled.
An hour later, you find yourself standing in front of Roy’s cozy house with chicken soup, porridge an some shawarma for Roy (since you know he skipped lunch earlier). Your mother always made you some porridge and chicken soup whenever you were sick so hopefully, this will be alright for Lian. When you ring the doorbell, you almost wanted to just leave the food you brought since this is really the first time you have ever done something like this - inviting yourself over to Roy’s house. Half of you hopes he doesn’t mind you stopping by unannounced and the other half hopes he wouldn’t be too mad.
Roy opens the door a few minutes later, surprising you with how disheveled he looks and when he actually turns to look at you, his eyes widen in surprise. “Y/N?”
You give him a wary smile before handing the porridge, chicken soup and shawarma to him. “Chicken soup and porridge are for Lian and the shawarma’s for you.” You point out. “I’m sorry I dropped by unannounced but I got worried.” You really did - it was right there and then in McD that you realised just how far deep you have fallen for the man right in front of you and just how much you have grown to like Lian (even if you hadn’t met her yet!).
Roy stares at you with an unreadable expression before he reaches for you with his free hand, wrapping an arm around your waist, hugging you tightly and you carefully wound your arms around him, careful not to jostle the food too much lest it spills. Roy presses his lips on your forehead, leaning back to stare at you. “Thank you, Y/N. I - I really appreciate this.”
Before you can even reply, you hear the pitter patter of feet and you pull away just in time to see Lian standing by the door to the living room, sniffling and tearing up, wrapped in a blanket. Her face looks flush and she hiccups before crying out loud and your heart tinges with pain as she cries out. Roy immediately releases you in favour of heading over to his daughter.
Feeling slightly awkward by the door, you stepped in to the house, closing the door behind you. You follow after Roy and watch as he rubs Lian’s back as he tries to hold the four year old and balance the food as well. Judging from his attire, Roy definitely did not get the chance to change out of his work clothes either and that was probably not good for Lian either. So you place your hand gently on Roy’s shoulder, catching his attention. He sends you an apologetic look. “Why don’t I help?” You ask him as you kneel on the ground beside Roy. He stares at you and you gently take the crying girl into your arms - Lian must have been so out of it because the moment you took her in your arms, she latched her arms around your neck, crying into your shoulders and you could feel the heat radiating off of the little girl.
“Y/N,” Roy starts but you shake your head.
“I can handle her. Why don’t you go take a quick shower, eat the food and we can figure out what to do about Lian, okay?” You look at Roy. You can see the gears in his head turning as he contemplates your suggestion. You could see that Roy is hesitant but when you shake your head and usher him to leave, Roy relents but not before placing a kiss on top of Lian’s head, telling her how Daddy will take a quick shower and that she is safe with you around.
Lian sniffles loudly and tightens her hold on you so you rub her back soothingly, wondering what your own mother did whenever you were sick. You slowly stand up, moving Lian slightly so she is more comfortable in your arms as you made your way to the living room where the sofas have been pushed aside and in the middle, there is a foldable mattress where you assumed she had been resting just before Roy answered the door.
You made yourself comfortable on the sofa and cuddled Lian to you. Her crying has slowly ceased to sobbing and sniffling and her breathing is laboured too. “There, there, Lian.” You murmur as you rub her back, humming a tune your mother used to do whenever you were sick. You made sure Lian is comfortable and continued doing the same thing as your mother had and not before long, Lian is sleeping fitfully in your arms. It was better than nothing, you suppose as you stare at the little girl in your embrace.
Lian’s face is pressed against your chest, her hand fisting your shirt and even though she looks like a mess, she is still beautiful. You press your lips on her forehead, tightening the hold you have on her and continue humming the tune.
You aren’t sure how long you had been sitting there because the next thing you know, Roy is gently shaking you and you realised that Lian isn’t in your arms anymore, causing you to sit up straight in panic and Roy places his hands on your shoulders, stopping you. “Babe, Lian - “
Roy gives you a small smile as he takes a seat beside you. “She’s in her bedroom.” Roy tells you and he smiles, taking you by surprise. You blink a couple of times as you stared at him, unaware of why he is smiling like that at you. Roy reaches for your hand, intertwining your fingers together and he brings your hand up to his lips, kissing it, causing you to flush slightly from the sudden attention. “It’s been awhile since I’ve last seen Lian like that and - Y/N, thank you so much for being here for Lian and I.” He tells you earnestly and you shake your head, blushing at his compliment. “
“It’s nothing, Roy. I just hope Lian will feel better soon.” You yawn and Roy furrows his eyebrows. “I think I should head home now.” Roy shakes his head, throwing an arm around your body. You raise an eyebrow at him.
“It’s late, you’re tired and I really don’t want you to be driving home this late. How about you just sleepover here?” He asks, looking at you expectantly and you mull over your decision before slowly nodding your head. Roy smiles and presses his lips on your temple. “Come on, let’s get you settled in. I think I have a spare shirt that you can fit and some pants…”
(The next morning, when Lian’s temperature went down a bit, she greeted you with a smile and for the rest of the morning, demanded cuddles from you, to Roy’s surprise because he doesn’t even remember Lian being that affectionate with anyone).
