Sanctuary Secrets Sacrifice

Two Sides of a Coin

"Though lovers be lost, love shall not."

-Dylan Thomas

Pressure, when handled without breaking, is what make the great ones great. At the moment Oliver seemed to be buried under the pressures of life. He felt stuck, with absolutely no idea where to turn. Right now as the water of the hot shower fell on his face, Oliver found himself mentally searching for a solution. It's how he spent all his free moments to himself lately. He needed to know what to do next, and for the life of him, he just couldn't figure out what that was. The cries of his daughter snapped him from his thoughts, and, Oliver's eyes glanced over to the baby monitor propped against the sink and he sighed before quickly stepping out.

Oliver quickly changed, before rushing into the nursery and pulling the baby into his arms.

"Oh, you're alright sweetie." Oliver cooed, placing a kiss to the top of the baby's head. He gently rocked her in his arms but her cries only got worse. He glanced around the room and sighed before hurrying out of the nursery and down to the kitchen. Oliver headed straight for the refrigerator, before maneuvering the baby in his arms so he could reach into the freezer to grab the teething ring. He slipped it into her mouth, and the baby's cries suddenly changed to a soft whimper. "That feel better, huh?" Oliver continued to rock Robyn in his arms, when he looked up to see Ari who stopped when she saw him. She just shook her head about to turn and leave but he called out to her. "Ari, wait!" she stopped and turned back to him. "I know you're upset about coming back to Star City-"

"You know that's just one thing on the long list of reasons I'm upset, along with my cousin who mysteriously disappeared."

"She didn't-"

"Oliver I'm fifteen, so I'm actually not stupid enough to believe my cousin had to leave town on some work emergency. Especially since her resignation from her company has been on the news for weeks. You're lying."

"Ari, I'm sorry, I just-" Oliver shook his head before looking down to the baby in his arms. "I'm doing my best here." he looked back up to the teenager. "I'm trying to do my best here."

"Then tell me the truth. Where is my cousin? Why did my uncle fake his death? What was that weird light you walked into? Why did we have to come back here?"

"Ari!" Oliver snapped unintentionally causing the girl to jump slightly. He glanced down to the baby who also flinched slightly at this tone and Oliver let out a heavy sigh. "I'm sorry," he looked over to Arianna. "I'm sorry Ari, I know you have a lot of questions, but right now, there's way too much happening. I promise once things have settled I will tell you everything." Ari shook her head before turning to leave. "Ari, tomorrow-"

"Is my first day of school at Star City prep, I remember." she said glancing over to him. "Oliver I'm going to hold you to your promise, and if you don't keep it, I'll never forgive you." Oliver looked at her for a moment before giving her a nod.

"Then I'll keep it." he says and Ari looks at him a moment longer before turning and heading back to her room.

Oliver dropped his eyes back to his daughter who seemed content with the cold teething ring currently soothing her sore gums.

"I'm going to keep my promise to you too. We're going to get through this, and I'm going to get mommy back." he placed a kiss to the top of the baby's head before heading back up to the nursery, hoping to get her back to sleep.

The next morning, Thea stepped inside the Queen residence, stopping the moment she did at the mess. It had been a week since she last saw her brother, a week since he appeared at the house in Blue Hill without his wife standing beside him. She would never forget that look of sadness and failure that was etched in his face. The expression quickly turned to anger the moment he saw Jacob Robins there.