More Than Friends

One

"Why do you keep risking your life? To prove a point?"

"Yes!"

Sara was murdered two weeks ago. Nyssa came to Starling City, to visit her exes grave. There, she found Sara's older sister, Laurel. Despite their past, they felt comfort in each other's company. Nyssa agreed to an alliance with Oliver, at least until they found Sara's killer. Plus, she secretly loved the way team Arrow looked at her whenever she entered the bunker. All of them feared her, at least a little. At nights, she had taken over Sara's role in Starling city's nightlife. Sara had always been a protector of women. Nyssa was just rounding the corner to a dark side street when she saw Laurel. Laurel wearing a ski mask and black gloves, holding the canary's bo staff in her hands as she moved in on the two men Nyssa clocked as her target. Nyssa stayed hidden in the shadows of a nearby dumpster, her hood pulled far over her head. Laurel was not trained, Nyssa knew that. However, this didn't mean she couldn't have picked up some skills from her sister. Two hits later, Nyssa knew Sara hadn't taught Laurel anything.

"Hey! Why don't you try me instead." She stepped into the light, pushing her hood back so the men could see her. Ten seconds later they were unconscious and inside the locked dumpster. Nyssa bit back a smirk and turned to Laurel, who was groaning as she crawled toward a corner of the alley.
"Go away," Laurel coughed, bleeding from a wound on her cheek. Nyssa crouched down before her.
"You are hurt. I will help you get home." With that, Nyssa unceremoniously threw Laurel over her shoulder and walked her past the banging sounds coming from the dumpster. She kicked it for good measure.

Luckily, Laurel's apartment wasn't too far away. Within five minutes, Nyssa stood in front of the locked door. She put Laurel down against it and placed a gloved hand on her cheek.
"Laurel, where's your key? I could break down your door but I am sure you would not prefer that." Laurel's head tilted down but she dug a set of keys out of her pocket. Nyssa unlocked the door with her right, as she repositioned Laurel against her legs with her left. She had enough injuries, hitting her head against the floor would not help. With little effort, Nyssa placed Laurel on the couch. Then she closed and locked the apartment door from the inside.

In the bathroom, Nyssa found some rubbing alcohol, as well as pain killers and a first aid kit. After turning on the lights and closing the curtains, Nyssa returned to Laurel. She aimed one of the standing lamps at her face and started cleaning the blood off her. Laurel was semi-conscious. Only in the way that she showed it when Nyssa was hurting her. Nyssa sewed the cut on Laurel's shoulder. She wrapped Laurel's bleeding knuckles in bandages and disinfected every wound on her body. When she was finished, she sat back, unsure of what to do next. Her relationship with Laurel was complicated. Nyssa tried to kill her. They were connected in their love for Sara, and clearly, they both felt that it was their duty to protect. To protect the women of Starling city. After some thinking, she knew what she should do. She wrote Laurel a note, leaving it on the coffee table. Then she left the apartment.

"Leave the protecting to me until you are trained.
-Nyssa Al Ghul."

Apparently, Laurel didn't care what Nyssa thought. The next night, Laurel got into trouble as she tried to fight for a woman who was being harassed. Nyssa jumped down from the roof and pulled back her hood.
"Hey. Why are you here, again?!" She was careful not to reveal Laurel's identity.
"Little busy right now." Laurel attempted to kick the feet out from under her attacker, but it only caused her to trip. The man laughed and advanced on her.
"I left you that note for your own protection." Nyssa shot the man, who went down in an instant.
"I don't care about my own protection!" Laurel stumbled to her feet and spat out some blood.
"Besides, no one is training me. They all think I can't handle it. They think I'm being stupid. I can't leave Sara's legacy to die." Nyssa moved to the man and pulled her arrow out.
"The Canary's legacy." Nyssa didn't turn to Laurel. She could hear her stumbling toward Nyssa.
"What's the Canary?" Laurel asked. Nyssa felt Laurel's hand on her shoulder, leaning for balance. She stood still as a statue.
"It's not safe here. I will tell you when we are safe."
"Okay but if you carry me like a sack of potatoes again I will scream." Nyssa couldn't help but smile at the threat.

Together, they stumbled back to Laurel's apartment. Nyssa once again helped Laurel to the couch and retrieved the first aid supplies.

"Tell me about the Canary." Laurel blinked and squinted in the light, but she kept looking Nyssa in the eyes. Nyssa attempted to ignore her staring as she pulled Laurel's shirt up. A couple of cuts were bleeding slowly, so Nyssa could fix them without much trouble.
"The Canary was Sara's code name when she joined the League of Assassins. It is the name written on our assassin list. Ta-er al-Sahfer."
"Ta-er al-Sahfer," Laurel repeated it as if she was in awe. Nyssa finished sewing up one cut and continued with the next one.
"Now I need to know. Why do you keep risking your life? To prove a point?"
"Yes!" Nyssa paused, looking Laurel in the eye.
"And what point is that exactly? That you have a death wish?" Laurel sat up enough to match Nyssa's height as she kneeled next to the couch.
"That I need to be the next Canary. I need to honour my sister. And I need to do it this way." Nyssa removed her hands from Laurel's stomach.
"If you didn't want me to do that, you would've locked me up yesterday." Laurel placed her hands on Nyssa's shoulders, ignoring the tensed muscles. She had removed her cape when she sat down. It got in the way of her operating. Laurel's trusting touch was the weirdest thing she had felt in a while. If she admitted the truth, Laurel was the first person to see her without her cape in that same amount of time. She slowly slipped herself off the couch, ignoring the pain in her stomach. Nyssa broke the eye contact and shrugged Laurel's hands off.
"Sara came back to check on her family. I would go against her wishes if I helped you follow her path." From under her eyelashes, Nyssa watched Laurel move closer until her knees were touching Nyssa's.
"Thea told me the dead don't want anything. You've kept me safe for two nights now. If you train me you no longer have to keep running after me like a babysitter."
"What is a babysitter?" Nyssa lifted her head. Laurel smiled at the strangeness of Nyssa's world.
"Someone who looks after those who can't look after themselves." When Nyssa didn't reply to her, Laurel took Nyssa's hands and raised them to her cheeks. She felt Nyssa's cold knuckles twitch against her skin.
"Nyssa, please. Let us honour my sister the way we should. Train me." Nyssa sighed, gently twisting her hands out of Laurel's grip.
"Get back on the couch. You're not fixed yet." She grabbed her supplies and turned back, but Laurel hadn't moved.
"You haven't answered my request."

"I will agree to train you, on one condition. You do not go out into the field until I say that you are ready. Okay?"
"Okay." Nyssa already regretted her decision, but she couldn't take it back.
"Now get on the couch. Or I won't be able to train you tomorrow."