Finally Time
Sep. 10th, 2023 11:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
madimpossibledreamerMain Points:
Arrow/Assassin's Creed
Summary: Desmond's put off letting the Assassins know he's alive again for long enough.
Word Count: 1194
Rating: Gen
Pairing: Oliver/Tommy, but that's not the focus of the fic
He’s not even really looking for a response, is the thing. Mostly he’s just second-guessing himself and all the precautions he’s putting into place. We’ve all noticed that Mr. Queen isn’t happy about wild cards, and I’m inviting a whole team of them here, into his city, and there’s every chance they’re going to second-guess how he’s doing things. He doesn’t want to have to fight fellow Assassins.
It’s this more than anything that convinces me he’s spent some time in my head, because this ‘is this going to be okay’ but ‘aware this is something I need to do’ is a dance I’ve been doing for weeks. If he hadn’t been in my head, I’m pretty sure he’d be questioning whether I need to do this at all. But I do, and he knows that.
I would’ve been flattered. Really, really weirded out, but flattered, if the whole ‘secret entrance and room’ in Queen Consolidated’s tower had been all for me. Turns out it isn’t, that it’s something Ollie’d been working on before I’d asked him for this favor and he’d just moved up the deadline, which is...not something I’m used to. Don’t get me wrong; I appreciate it. And it’s nice, being part of this weird family, because let’s face it, they have all the markings of modern-day Auditores, while simultaneously using enough gadgets and gear to keep me from Bleeding too much (honestly, I suspect that’s part of why Oliver keeps upgrading his hideout with more tech, not that I’ve said anything). But I miss Shaun and Rebecca, and I even don’t want Dad to feel too guilty, Isu know why, so. Besides, knowing that it’s not just a shadow war, that some famous faces are involved? I don’t want to be the reason Assassins don’t get that flavor of hope.
“I’m sure,” I respond, and just like every previous time he pauses his pacing just long enough to turn and stare at me, because he doesn’t expect a response. “It’ll be fine. Worst-case scenario, you’ll owe John another favor.” That’s if he doesn’t Bleed as me. Again. He’d said it only happened when he’d been lost in the hallucinations, but it’s entirely possible that once unlocked it...kind of never got locked again.
Apparently they’d been working on unlocking a way to just...read DNA, no ancestry needed, and just kind of stepped up their timeline. The Assassins had known about that part, apparently, and I’d gotten the pleasure of seeing Shaun act as a barista thanks to Felicity’s hacking, which was hilarious. The part they hadn’t known, mostly because the mad scientists had been keeping that stuff off reports to the higher-ups maybe as an unauthorized side project, maybe to keep the Assassins from finding out, maybe because they honestly didn’t want to say anything until they had results for sure. They shouldn’t have gotten results about where my body was stored, considering, y’know, I wasn’t actually in the thing at the time, but. Felicity went off on some tangent about the Calculations and a reconstruction of what happened, rather than actually predicting the future. I didn’t get the scientific nuances, because, well, that hadn’t been a focus on the Farm. For some reason. If it was any consolation, it didn’t sound like anyone else was following along either, but as long as someone got it, that’s good enough for me.
Tommy pointed out that keeping us in the dark like this made it a little harder to blend in, and some of it, like understanding more about DNA, might have come in handy. He’d also been clenching his fists at the time. He might be the closest thing to a pacifist we have, here in this Branch, but there are some things that get even him mad. And the fact that my dad, the whole lack of education on my part—“It’s ‘cause it reminds him of his dad,” Thea informs me, sneaking up on me like a proper baby assassin.
Maybe it’s warped to find that touching, but I do.
We set up some ground rules. Ollie only agrees to it after making sure about five times that I know I’m not going anywhere I don’t want to. He doesn’t say it directly, but he’s serious about burning the entire Brotherhood to the ground to get me back if they dare kidnap me. In return, I make him promise that he’s not going to vulture in on the whole conversation and I will tell him. He’s still absolutely going to be listening in, of course, and I have the feeling Thea’s going to station herself somewhere ridiculous like outside the window or in the vents, but mostly it’s a precaution to keep the Assassins from panicking and getting trigger-happy. I’m not telling him that directly, because he’d probably smirk and be more than happy to make them nervous, but really, I don’t want him hurting whoever shows up or vice versa.
The thing is, I know they’re feeling guilty. Maybe Dad not so much, but Rebecca and Shaun are totally beating themselves up about my death right now, and in any case, I miss them. Shaun is probably being really British about the whole thing, stiff upper lip and all that, probably said something about how they’re better off without me or how I was just a liability or a tiny baby or something, but that’s to cover up the fact that he’s feeling even more guilty, rather than less, about the whole ‘being mean to me and then I died’ thing. Rebecca’s probably more open about it, but then, she’s probably the most well-adjusted Assassin I’ve ever met.
Maybe we can even work together again. I’m not sure how I feel about field work—yeah, I kind of signed up for it, and the fact that Templars are probably kidnapping people and torturing them and I could do something about it makes my blood boil a little, but just because the Bleeding Effect has gotten better doesn’t mean it’s gone away and I still feel like I need to catch my breath a little. That being said, I do a mean Rafiq imitation, only with a little more alcohol involved. I know the Queens would be fine if I never step into the field again, but it’s not that I don’t want to. I just don’t feel ready yet. Like I still haven’t fully gotten over my death. I’ll figure it out eventually, and in the meantime I just want to see them more than I’m feeling awkward or stressed out about the fact that I died and it’s going to be an awkward conversation. (Let’s face it, most of the conversations I’ve had with them are awkward in some way or another. I got used to it.)
I’m feeling restless, but climbing towers is still a thing I can do and it’s more an excess of energy than actually feeling nervous. Thea distracts me with ‘races’ on the ‘jungle gym’. She’s good at that.
Arrow/Assassin's Creed
Summary: Desmond's put off letting the Assassins know he's alive again for long enough.
Word Count: 1194
Rating: Gen
Pairing: Oliver/Tommy, but that's not the focus of the fic
“You’re sure,” Oliver asks for the eighth time, pacing, and Tommy makes a point to meet my eyes and shake his head, mock-disappointed.
He’s not even really looking for a response, is the thing. Mostly he’s just second-guessing himself and all the precautions he’s putting into place. We’ve all noticed that Mr. Queen isn’t happy about wild cards, and I’m inviting a whole team of them here, into his city, and there’s every chance they’re going to second-guess how he’s doing things. He doesn’t want to have to fight fellow Assassins.
It’s this more than anything that convinces me he’s spent some time in my head, because this ‘is this going to be okay’ but ‘aware this is something I need to do’ is a dance I’ve been doing for weeks. If he hadn’t been in my head, I’m pretty sure he’d be questioning whether I need to do this at all. But I do, and he knows that.
I would’ve been flattered. Really, really weirded out, but flattered, if the whole ‘secret entrance and room’ in Queen Consolidated’s tower had been all for me. Turns out it isn’t, that it’s something Ollie’d been working on before I’d asked him for this favor and he’d just moved up the deadline, which is...not something I’m used to. Don’t get me wrong; I appreciate it. And it’s nice, being part of this weird family, because let’s face it, they have all the markings of modern-day Auditores, while simultaneously using enough gadgets and gear to keep me from Bleeding too much (honestly, I suspect that’s part of why Oliver keeps upgrading his hideout with more tech, not that I’ve said anything). But I miss Shaun and Rebecca, and I even don’t want Dad to feel too guilty, Isu know why, so. Besides, knowing that it’s not just a shadow war, that some famous faces are involved? I don’t want to be the reason Assassins don’t get that flavor of hope.
“I’m sure,” I respond, and just like every previous time he pauses his pacing just long enough to turn and stare at me, because he doesn’t expect a response. “It’ll be fine. Worst-case scenario, you’ll owe John another favor.” That’s if he doesn’t Bleed as me. Again. He’d said it only happened when he’d been lost in the hallucinations, but it’s entirely possible that once unlocked it...kind of never got locked again.
Apparently they’d been working on unlocking a way to just...read DNA, no ancestry needed, and just kind of stepped up their timeline. The Assassins had known about that part, apparently, and I’d gotten the pleasure of seeing Shaun act as a barista thanks to Felicity’s hacking, which was hilarious. The part they hadn’t known, mostly because the mad scientists had been keeping that stuff off reports to the higher-ups maybe as an unauthorized side project, maybe to keep the Assassins from finding out, maybe because they honestly didn’t want to say anything until they had results for sure. They shouldn’t have gotten results about where my body was stored, considering, y’know, I wasn’t actually in the thing at the time, but. Felicity went off on some tangent about the Calculations and a reconstruction of what happened, rather than actually predicting the future. I didn’t get the scientific nuances, because, well, that hadn’t been a focus on the Farm. For some reason. If it was any consolation, it didn’t sound like anyone else was following along either, but as long as someone got it, that’s good enough for me.
Tommy pointed out that keeping us in the dark like this made it a little harder to blend in, and some of it, like understanding more about DNA, might have come in handy. He’d also been clenching his fists at the time. He might be the closest thing to a pacifist we have, here in this Branch, but there are some things that get even him mad. And the fact that my dad, the whole lack of education on my part—“It’s ‘cause it reminds him of his dad,” Thea informs me, sneaking up on me like a proper baby assassin.
Maybe it’s warped to find that touching, but I do.
We set up some ground rules. Ollie only agrees to it after making sure about five times that I know I’m not going anywhere I don’t want to. He doesn’t say it directly, but he’s serious about burning the entire Brotherhood to the ground to get me back if they dare kidnap me. In return, I make him promise that he’s not going to vulture in on the whole conversation and I will tell him. He’s still absolutely going to be listening in, of course, and I have the feeling Thea’s going to station herself somewhere ridiculous like outside the window or in the vents, but mostly it’s a precaution to keep the Assassins from panicking and getting trigger-happy. I’m not telling him that directly, because he’d probably smirk and be more than happy to make them nervous, but really, I don’t want him hurting whoever shows up or vice versa.
The thing is, I know they’re feeling guilty. Maybe Dad not so much, but Rebecca and Shaun are totally beating themselves up about my death right now, and in any case, I miss them. Shaun is probably being really British about the whole thing, stiff upper lip and all that, probably said something about how they’re better off without me or how I was just a liability or a tiny baby or something, but that’s to cover up the fact that he’s feeling even more guilty, rather than less, about the whole ‘being mean to me and then I died’ thing. Rebecca’s probably more open about it, but then, she’s probably the most well-adjusted Assassin I’ve ever met.
Maybe we can even work together again. I’m not sure how I feel about field work—yeah, I kind of signed up for it, and the fact that Templars are probably kidnapping people and torturing them and I could do something about it makes my blood boil a little, but just because the Bleeding Effect has gotten better doesn’t mean it’s gone away and I still feel like I need to catch my breath a little. That being said, I do a mean Rafiq imitation, only with a little more alcohol involved. I know the Queens would be fine if I never step into the field again, but it’s not that I don’t want to. I just don’t feel ready yet. Like I still haven’t fully gotten over my death. I’ll figure it out eventually, and in the meantime I just want to see them more than I’m feeling awkward or stressed out about the fact that I died and it’s going to be an awkward conversation. (Let’s face it, most of the conversations I’ve had with them are awkward in some way or another. I got used to it.)
I’m feeling restless, but climbing towers is still a thing I can do and it’s more an excess of energy than actually feeling nervous. Thea distracts me with ‘races’ on the ‘jungle gym’. She’s good at that.
