To Life Being Full (Book Three of The Unmatched Records)

Arrow ~ The Thanatos Guild ~ Part One

I honestly had so much fun writing this episode that I'm actually happy I waited until I completed the entire episode before uploading it, partly because I was on a roll and didn't want to stop . . . and also because I realized I hadn't even mentioned Talia until I went to sleep. Oops. XD Hopefully this rewrite to incorporate Malcolm and company will be just as satisfactory as the original episode.

But hey, Nyssa's back! :D A happy occasion gets interrupted by unwelcome familiar faces, two former foes team up, and Curtis and Dinah continue investigating the SCPD.

***

William took a quick look around the bunker, then quickly stuck his finger in the frosting at the bottom of Thea's cake. "Ah ah ah!" Kara hastily hurried over, and William stared at her with wide eyes. "You do not get to do that without me," she declared, swiping some frosting of her own.

William snickered as she stuck the frosting in her mouth. "You are so lucky you are my brother's fiancée," Thea chuckled as she walked up.

"Mmm," Kara licked her lips, turning to Thea. "I'm lucky I'm going to have such a cool sister-in-law who hopefully isn't going to tell him this."

Thea sighed dramatically, winking at William. "You're lucky you have such a cool aunt who approves of bad behavior."

Kara giggled as she took a sip of her punch, and William beamed up at Thea. "I'm gonna miss you."

"And I'm gonna miss you, too," Thea smiled, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Just promise me that you're gonna watch over your dad, OK?"

William frowned. "But he's the Green Arrow."

Thea got a devilish smirk on her lips and beckoned Kara closer. "You know," she whispered conspiratorially, making Oliver poke his head around where he, Quentin, J'onn, and Alex were speaking with Roy, and he quickly hurried over. "Before he was the Green Arrow, he actually used to be really afraid of the dark, and he needed a nightlight in his room till he was, like, what . . . six . . . " She grinned when she saw her brother walk over. "Sixteen?"

"It was not a nightlight," Oliver immediately went on the defensive, even as Kara laughed giddily. "I couldn't sleep with it being pitch black. By the way, I did see that, both of you," he looked between his fiancée and son. "Go get a fork and a plate and get yourselves reasonable slices of cake." He was about to say more when Kara gave him a pouty look, and he groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Only because I know you have high metabolism, angel."

"Yes!" Kara whooped, taking William's hand and dragging him off to where the eating utensils were.

"You are a child!" Alex yelled as they passed her by.

"That's these two!" Laurel countered from nearby.

Slade snorted and started choking on his drink as Malcolm immediately started protesting, starting new rounds of laughter from all around the bunker. Oliver rolled his eyes fondly, and Thea smiled up at him. "Thank you for doing this," she said. "It's . . . actually pretty cool."

"Why do you sound surprised?" Oliver raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I – I don't know," Thea scratched the back of her head. "I just thought that maybe you would . . . you'd be a little more anti me going."

"I'm the one who encouraged you to go follow your heart," Oliver reminded her. "Malcolm's the one you're probably gonna need to keep buttering up to convince him."

"I heard that!" Malcolm barked.

"You were meant to!" Oliver shouted back.

Thea chuckled. "I know, I know," she told him. "It's just that now that it's all real, I just . . . I thought that maybe you would be, like, a tad less supportive."