Promises

Sins of the Father

"If you cared about Thea, then curing her bloodlust wouldn't come with any conditions." I said standing slowly glaring a Nyssa.

"Thea is my sister-in-law. You are my husband."

"I'm not your husband."

"But war does not know family bonds nor friendly sentiments."

"Who are you at war with?" I asked blankly.

"I just told you I want you to kill Malcolm Merlyn. Try to guess."

"Hey, hey. If you have a problem with Malcolm Merlyn, deal with it yourself. Do not involve me or my sister." 

"You put the Demon's Head ring on Malcolm's hand." 

"You-- You can't defeat him."

"But you can. You have." 

"And that was before I knew that he was my sister's father." 

"So he dies so his child might live. Didn't your father make a similar bargain? I'm sorry, Oliver. I would not resort to this if I had any other choice.

"Nyssa, my sister is dying because of something that your father did. I think you have every choice." 

"Thea is dying because of what her father did. I am only following events to their inevitable conclusion."

With that she left me in the room alone with Thea pondering on what to do.

⬡ ・ ⬡ ・ ⬡

"So Nyssa's holding Thea's life hostage until you kill Malcolm Merlyn? I would be surprised if she wasn't the daughter of the Demon." John joked. 

"That's not funny, John." Oliver said walking into the bunker.

"No, it's not. Thea's dying. She has one, maybe two days, and if we can save her by killing the man that killed my sister, then how could you even think twice about that?" Laurel asked.

"I'm not gonna defend Malcolm." Oliver started. "He orchestrated your sister's murder, he killed Tommy. Nothing is ever gonna changed the fact that he is Thea and Lyam's family. I don't know how much you remember of my father, but he was not a good man, he threw in with Malcolm Merlyn, and all of that being said, there is nothing that I wouldn't do to have him back. So you tell me how am I supposed to take that away from Thea?" 

"But, Oliver, what's the difference if Thea dies?" I asked.

"It doesn't have to come to that. There's more than one choice here."

"Like what?" Laurel asked.

"Diplomacy." I said.

"I mean, all Nyssa really wants is control of the League, so I need to convince Merlin to give her the ring, she gives us the cure, and no one has to die." I suggested. 

Olive considered this for a moment.

"Laurel, can you convince Nyssa to go along with that?" He asked.

'Yeah. It's easier than talking Malcolm into it."

"Well, let me worry about Malcolm." I assured.

⬡ ・ ⬡ ・ ⬡

I walked over to Malcolm who was leaning next to the edge of he parking garage.

"Let me see if I've got this right. There's a magic potion that could cure Thea's bloodlust that we've never heard of but Nyssa conveniently has. I've been holding off telling you this for years, Lyam. You're very handsome, not especially bright." 

I didn't take offense to this.

"Bright enough to have checked. It's called the Lotus. Tatsu Yamashiro is part of the order who guards it--or did. They gave it to Nyssa, and if we don't get her to give it to Thea now... We're gonna lose her." I explained.

"Even assuming such an elixir existed, even assuming Miss Yamashiro's order parted with it willingly, even assuming Nyssa Al Ghul's words could be trusted, then yes. Of course I'd do anything to save my daughter, but none of that is true, Oliver. Look. I appreciate you're trying to embrace a more optimistic viewpoint these days-"

"Malcolm, we're talking about your daughter. My sister."

"Yes, and I need to do something to save her, and you need to stop wasting my time with Nyssa Al Ghul's games."