II. Gods and Monsters

4. Sins of the Father

Well... Here he was; Taylor Residence. He could feel his chest tightening with anxiety. Just getting the door would be difficult as Andrew would probably shoot him on sight. Oliver did a double take as he snapped back to reality. The door was wide open and no sound came from the house at all. It was deathly silent.

"No. Nonononono!" Oli yelled, bursting from the car and sprinting down the small pathway. "Charlotte! CHARLOTTE!"

He rocketed into the house, still calling her name as his eyes glowed a burning orange.

"She's not here," came a familiar voice. "But I am you freak!"

Oliver whirled around, the light in his eyes snuffing out as he found Andrew pointing his pistol at Oli's head.

"I knew you'd come back. After I found out your secret I felt it was only a matter of time before you came and finished me off. Lucky for me, Charlotte's with her friends so she won't see me put you down."

Oli's hands worked completely independently of his mind, grabbing the weapon with two hands and wrenching it away from Andrew before either men had any idea what was happening. Once Oliver had control again he threw the gun behind him. He'd had quite enough of guns.

"Andrew, we don't have time for this. Just let me explain."

"Explain what? What is there to explain?! You're one of those superhumans! Those freaks that think they're above the law! Not only that, but you're a sick and twisted one at that! You come into my house, spend time with my daughter... Then you try and kill us? What do you gain from this?"

"That's not how things happened! I wasn't in control!"

"How do you expect me to believe that? You were perfectly fine when you were having your deathmatch with that other freak and that robot!"

"I learned ok? And if you don't listen to me, that 'robot' is gonna come try and use you and Charlotte to get to me!"

"Why would it?! You don't give a fuck about us!"

As ridiculous as it was, Oliver actually took a step back at the sound of Andrew cursing. In the entire time he had known him, Andrew hadn't cursed once. In fact, he was completely against it.

"You claimed to love her, and you kept things from her. You lied to her, tried to kill her, yet you still come here, hold her and pretend like nothing happened!"

Oliver snapped, his eyes glowing a deep amber, like the colour of an intense forest fire as he grabbed two handfuls of Andrew's shirt and lifted him off the ground.

"Listen here," he spoke in a voice that wasn't his own, "I did not lie. You have no idea the suffering I have been subjected to. The torment of having some spirit possess me, make me watch as it burned the souls of those who deserved Vengeance. My love for your daughter has been the one consistency in my life since I was shot and killed by a bunch of thugs and I will not allow your blindness to bring about her death. Or yours."

"You are a liar. A backstabber and a liar!"

"Hypocrite!"

"What are you talking about?" Andrew yelled, his temper ever growing.

The two men whirled around when they heard girls laughing and a car door shutting. Charlotte was home.

"You tell her my secret, I'll tell her yours," Oli warned.

"What secret you sick bastard?" Andrew asked in a hushed voice, clearly worried about the answer.

"About her mother," Oli replied simply as his eyes gave a last emphatic pulse of orange fire before returning to normal.

Charlotte entered the house to see the two men stood side by side, clearly irritated at each other, but there was no evidence as to how intense the situation had been just seconds ago.

"Hey honey," Andrew greeted her immediately.

"Ok, what happened? I'm not stupid you two." Charlotte asked in a half amused/half serious tone.

"You're in danger," Oli blurted, "Both of you."

Charlotte raised an eyebrow and let out a little chuckle; "You know, you two need better excuses to explain why you fall out..."

When neither her dad nor Oli laughed she looked more concerned.

"This isn't a joke is it?"

"I'm afraid not..." her dad said, taking a sideways glance at Oli, barely attempting to hide his hostility.

"Why are Dad and I in danger Oli?" Charlotte asked, assuming correctly that he was somehow involved.

"Remember the night Gabe and I were attacked?"

"Yes I remember Oliver, I spent the entire night being afraid for my boyfriend's life..." She only used his full name when she was teasing him or she was really mad. She clearly wasn't trying to wind him up.

"Well let's just say I annoyed a lot more people than just the thugs that attacked me, and they might come after you and your dad. I came to warn you both, tell you guys to gather some stuff and go somewhere safe."

"Are you not coming with us?" Charlotte asked, "Surely they'll be coming for you too?"

"I need to deal with this. I've already sent my Uncle and Gabe away so I can just focus on looking after myself. I just need to know you guys are safe first."

"You seriously think that a cop and a cop's daughter are gonna just up and leave you alone?" Charlotte took a step towards him, "I'm not going anywhere. I'm going to help you fix this. I'm not just a damsel in distress, I can take care of myself."

"I'm sorry sweetie, but not this time," her dad chimed in. He may not have liked Oli at the minute, but Oli knew that he had his daughter's best interests at heart.

"It's way too dangerous, I genuinely cannot explain how bad things are getting, you just need to trust me." Oli agreed. He couldn't tell her the whole truth. Not yet.

"You know I trust you in most situations, but sometimes your 'knight in shining armour mode' can be a little too protective," she gave a small smile which Oli couldn't help but return.

"I know, but this is not one of those times, I'm being serious," he replied, his smile quickly fading.

She paused for a long time before making her decision, her face scrunching up: "Fine, but you give me constant updates, understood? Everyday. Every half a day even."

"Yes boss," Oli gave a casual salute, causing her to pull a mock affronted face.

"Oh really? Getting snarky with the girlfriend because she cares?" she smiled as she stood up on her toes, wrapped her arms around his neck and pecked him on the cheek. "You stay safe, you hear me? Don't go and do anything stupid."

"I won't," Oli assured her, knowing how great a lie that was. Wouldn't be his first though.

"Promise?"

"Promise."

Satisfied, she turned and ran upstairs. Oli faced Andrew one last time, who had dropped his act once more.

"You never set foot in this house again, understood?" he warned in a quiet voice.

Oli stood there in silence. This may have been all his fault, but he couldn't bring himself to let her go. What he had said to Andrew was true, she was the only thing keeping him strong at this point. Andrew realised he wasn't getting an answer and bashed his shoulder against Oli's as he passed him. This left Oli staring at the floor in front of him. After a long pause, he made his way out of the house, silently of course.

As he got into his car and drove off, a figure in a dark robe emerged from the shadows of the street opposite, watching Oli as he drove off. The mysterious figure raised a phone to their ear and spoke;

"My lord, we've found her, just as he said. The Rider has just left the building and she will be following shortly. What shall I do?"

"Come back. You have done well. I will see to this myself." came the voice from the other end of the phone.