Soothsayer ⚡ Barry Allen

Al Sa-her

I carefully opened the bathroom window to the penthouse suite and methodically worked myself through the small space. At fifty stories up, who bothers with screens? I caught a glance at myself in the large mirror on the wall, my hair an inch above my shoulders and beginning to generate a new flow, all of my face but my eyes covered, my dark eyes menacing as I clutched my sai between my fingers. Flipping one around I slowly opened the door, the other raised defensively. Malcolm Merlyn stood before a body mirror, adjusting his suit as I entered his room. "I've heard a lot about you, you know. The assassin with hair so red she was kissed by fire. Your body count has really piled up these days."

"I wouldn't have a problem adding you to it, but my orders are to take you alive." An image of a bow crossed my mind, leaving goosebumps on the back of my neck.

"You could try, but I assure you my experience outweighs yours."

"Quantity never outweights quality, Al Sa-her," I reminded.

"It's a bit ironic to go after the person who got you that job," he pointed out, turning to face me.

"You merely directed me, I got myself the job." His eyes dropped to my sai, narrowing before coming back up to my face. "This is me earning my way out of it." He had been packing, so I made my entrance after alerting Talia of my findings. I was told to keep him distracted until everyone could get here, that shouldn't be hard.

"The only way you get out is by making them a promise," Merlyn warned, folding his hands behind his back. I tightened my grip on my sai and ran my eyes over him, lacking a good view from the mirror. "You'd better hope it's a promise you know how to keep."

"Those are the only kinds I make." I snapped forward when his arm twitched, my sai connecting with a small dagger as he took a few steps back. I swung low but met his dagger again, the two blades trembling from the force placed on them. Locking the dagger between one of the prongs and the blade, I swung out with the other sai, missing his leg by an inch before it snapped out and connected with my chest. One of my weapons clattered to the floor as I rolled back a short distance back to my feet, my eyes widening as Merlyn reached behind the mirror.

I pushed myself back to stand as he grabbed a bow and drew back the string, moving just fast enough to avoid the arrow he shot at me to roll and grab my sai, moving out of the way as he got another shot off. "I see they've taught you well," Merlyn observed as I stood behind his mirror, listening to his footsteps. I could hear his bowstring tighten as it was pulled back, my eyes drifting to the window. I had a small glimpse of his reflection, his right arm held at the ready for release. But I wasn't focused on him, I saw three silhouettes just on the rooftop across. Any second now...

"I'm a quick learner when I put my mind to it," I admitted poking my head out one way and waiting for the arrow to release before I came out on the other side, moving quick enough to prevent him from drawing another arrow from his quiver, bending his elbow at an odd angle and removing his supply. I kicked out his knee and kept him there as Talia and two others from the guild broke through the window, pitching the bend further when he tried to move.

"Well done, Al Kahin," Talia praised, the other two coming over to help me bind Merlyn. He struggled against us, glaring hard at our mistress. "Al Sa-her has much to answer for." He went to speak but I secured a humanized muzzle over his face, hooking under his chin and locking behind his head.

⚡

I watched over Merlyn the whole flight home, his harsh, half-hidden glare unwavering for the entire duration. When we landed in Nanda Parbat, I was excused for the remainder of the day, so I spent most of it climbing the mountain, putting enough distance away from myself and the temple to feel safe, and then some more. When I finally felt secure, I sat with my back against the mountain side, hesitantly pulling the phone from my clothes.

I ran my fingers over the buttons, the necessary numbers practially jumping out at me. I took an uneven, wavering breath as my fingers pushed the buttons, almost without my sayso. I held my hand over my mouth as I pressed the reciever to my ear, silently listening as my eyes danced over the rocky landscape around me. I closed my eyes as the phone rang, getting a sick sense of deja vú. "Hello?" My body instantly sagged, instictually relaxing at the sound of Barry's voice. Silence raged between us for a short moment. "Andromeda," he realized a bit breathlessly. "Listen, I--"

I hung up, feeling tears rolling down my cheeks as I brought the phone down to my lap. I didn't want to listen to words, I didn't want to hear anything he had the possibilty of saying to me. But at the same time all I did want to hear was his voice. If there were some way for me to take the words out but leave me with the sound, I'd be living. Unfortunately, that just wasn't how speech worked. I jumped when it began ringing, the sound so foreign in the quiet space around me that I instantly moved to hang up.

I didn't want the sound to carry, I didn't know how far it would, but I was too scared to do much but stare at the device. I silently cried to myself for a moment before the phone buzzed, the screen reading 'One voicemail available.' I was terrified, I wanted to throw the phone off the side of the mountain, but a larger part of me needed his voice, so I held it to my ear and listened.

"God damn you, Andromeda Cane. You listen and you hear me like it's the first time I met you," he growled. It was more pain than anger, but they were both strong in his voice. He was controling me so fluidly without even being here, it was like I could almost taste the anticipation of that next prison visit in that small box. "I love you, and no matter what anyone tells me, I'm not giving up on you."

I closed my eyes tightly, tears freely streaming out. "Even when you stabbed me, I could see your good in there. Bruce finally told me about Nanda Parbat, but he told me not to go. He knew it wouldn't be any good." Well, at least Bats is right about one thing. "He was wrong. I know better than I know myself that you're still in there. I'll wait for you, Dromi, because there's still good in you. I'll give you all the time you need, just as long as you come home to me."

It broke me to know that he still believed in my redemption. "I love you, Andromeda...and I know you love me, too." His last words were spoken in defeat, like he was trying to convince the both of us, before it cut out. I replayed it several times, tuning out the words themselves and just listening to the syllables, before I deleted the message. That was meant for no other ears but mine, and it had served it's purpose.