3302/Not throwing away her shot

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Not throwing away her shot
Date of Scene: 09 September 2020
Location: Arrowcave
Synopsis: Thea checks in at the Arrow cave to catch up and discuss Lian Yu with Ollie and Vanessa.
Cast of Characters: Thea Queen, Oliver Queen, Vanessa Carlysle




Thea Queen has posed:
Home?

No, not really. The bed isn't slept in. Mother has been seen, however, spoken to, and vague excuses and not-promises made to 'be around more' have been made.

Now, Thea's back in the Arrow cave, looking at her red suit but not touching it. Looking at her bow in the stand, but again, not reaching out to touch it. Her head is rolled back as if she's looking up slightly. Blue eyes rise a little more and look as if they're rolling briefly, in a very little sisterly way. "I can hear you." Turning about, the youngest Queen leans on the 'display' that holds her red suit and tilts her head to the side.

"So.." she begins, "when do we leave?"

There's something that seems a little different about her. While she's still got her waifishness, and her style, there's something that is a touch.. harder. She's healthier, more toned; that can be seen in her arms and her belly that shows from her midriff shirt.

Oliver Queen has posed:
Having the team back, all together in the cave, felt like old times. When things were simpler and old secrets didn't have to be weighing on everyone's mind..

Oliver had come down just a few moments ago, eyes that mirrored Thea's watched the woman's form, taking in the change in her. For the better? One would hope so. Perhaps more determined, at least to his eyes.

"Soon." Comes the response, arms folded together and he looking again towards the computer area. "I am going to reach to some old contacts I got to see if they get me more info on this Hydra. I don't want us to go unprepared, this will not be an easy mission."

A glance is given to the entrance door, "Vanessa should join us soon.."

His attention then back to Thea and asking. "Have you been well?" the words appear as if they were casual, even if the tone is anything BUT casual, clearly asking about what her training and ..., everything else.

Vanessa Carlysle has posed:
Vanessa Carlysle takes the steps down to the cave two at a time. She'd had to make a stop on the way, running into Moira Queen as well. Vanessa had gotten on well with the woman, better by far than most of the women Oliver had dated. A fact that seemed to surprise Moira from time to time when she thought of it. Yet Vanessa seemed so often to know the right things to say, engaging Moira on topics that interested the woman, and showing knowledge of them herself, but never so much that Moira's insights weren't welcomed.

Vanessa gives a soft smile as she reaches the secure door. Never would she have believed she would find her life where it has taken her. She pauses a moment to reflect how much those around her have come to mean. She enters, wearing the jogging outfit still as she'd just returned from finally getting her run in.

She walks in, glancing about and seeing where Oliver and Thea are. "Hey. Hey Thea," Vanessa says, flashing the other young woman a warm grin. "Wow, you're looking dynamite. What's the secret?" Vanessa says more overtly.

Thea Queen has posed:
More determined, yes. Thea moves as she used to when she was 'top' of her form, but with what is probably her new training regime? Nowhere near what could be her top-top. She definitely moves a little differently, though only someone who truly knows her would even think there's something there.

Running a hand through short bobbed hair, she nods her acknowledgment, though her tones take a questioning tone, "Old contacts?" Thea wanders from 'her' display towards one of the vaguely emptier table in order to sit on the edge of it. Her attention remains on her brother for a few more moments before, "I could ask ..." there's that hesitation, a consideration for her brother in even the mentioning of a name before, "... him."

Thea offers a bemused smile, and her voice lowers to something more .. amused. "I'm fine, Ollie. You know how much I hate getting up early and exercising. And training," on that one, she rolls her eyes. "But I think for the moment, I'll be okay. I'm not drin-"

Vanessa's entrance brings Thea's head up and around, her words cut off in the middle, followed by a wave of her hand. "Hey.." There's a laugh that sounds, something a touch self-deprecating before, "You're looking good yourself. Mother has been raving," and her voice drops to that tone of a put-upon daughter before she finishes, "and she doesn't do that."

There's a glance towards Ollie and back before she finishes up with, "Exercise and a diet that doesn't include cheese fries and whatever someone can pour into a glass." To her benefit, she finishes that off with a bemused grin that lights her face.

Oliver Queen has posed:
"From the area." Which, really, could range from the bratva to the criminal syndicates of southern China.. But at least -that- he had mentioned as having had contact with back then. He did what he had to survive afterall.

Oliver makes his way closer to the screens but doesn't sit on the chair, instead settling on the table. "Yes, I am quite aware." habits that he hadn't been able to ingrain as deeply as he wanted on his sister in the past, much to his regret.

Oliver's eyes narrow at the mention of that 'him', and being stubborn as he is he doesn't verbalize an acceptance or even a need to reach out for that particular man.. For those that know him though, that's pretty much a reluctant 'fine'. But at least he is not communicating in gruntese right now. Just in brooding silences..

Vanessa's entrance appears to save Oliver from the silence he was falling into, eyes going to her, "Hey, Vee." then he gestures towards Thea, "I think it also means you will be starting to wake up at 6am starting tomorrow, got to get you in top shape." a faint grin to his expression.

Thea Queen has posed:
Thea's attention floats back to her brother as Ollie goes on the move, only to settle on a table near her. Brother and sister with more than a passing resemblance, if only in the eyes and manner/mien. She knows about those contacts; he's called on one, two in the years since he's been home.

Whatever it takes to survive.

The real problem with training family? One never gets down to the 'I hate you's' that always comes before the epiphany, the success.. and the realization that one can progress from there. Slade? He's got absolutely no problem with that; and once he's got the promise of dedication, those words are just a hint that they're on the right track. Buttons are pushed, skills are pushed. And Thea fails.. more often than succeeds, but there's a lesson in that, too.

"Right," and Thea takes the brooding silence for acquiescence. "No one knows the island better than he does." From what she understands, anyway. 'He' that will not be named, apparently.

Blue eyes travel towards Vanessa's direction again, and the smile rekindles, though it's decidedly sympathetic. "Six am sucks. It seriously does. But, the city's," New York, where she's staying for the moment, "really pretty in that moment before sunrise," before six, "when the lights are fading and the sun is peeking out. Best time to be on rooftops." Running...

Oliver Queen has posed:
"I wouldn't go as far as that." Oliver says with a raised brow at the 'No one knows it better..'. Hey, five years there! He knows it! Not that actually knowing the damn place should make anyone proud but there you have it!

"You are taking it seriously then." Oliver says about the 'before 6am wake ups', his expression turning to one of study. There's a curious mix of both being proud but at the same time wary. Something he cannot have control on. It can be scary enough.

But then a shift on the subject, or well, perhaps just a natural evolution of it. "What about the club? Giving up on it?" no judgement in his tone, just a question apparently.

Thea Queen has posed:
Thea grins as she verbally pokes at her brother, following it up with a physical one aimed for the side of his ribs. "Uh huh..." and for a moment, there's that lightness before she settles back in. Great comeback there, kid!

The smile turns rueful as she nods her head, her gaze turning first to the floor, then up and to the side to Ollie. "Yeah, I am. And he's not someone that you can just say, 'Oh, can you go a little less on leg day today, please?'. He gave me the chance to back out," and her tones drop, but not for privacy; more for the gravity of what she knows she's saying. "But I need this. I need to understand, and I just can't see any other way out." She chuffs a breath, and that rueful expression remains as she shakes her head,

"I'm not sure I'm strong enough for the club yet. It'd be too easy to fall back into things," and continue to self-destruct.

Oliver Queen has posed:
The poking gets a brief smile out of Oliver. Both attempts! The man does lift an amused brow right after though, watching his sister. He falls into a silence again, a more comfortable one at least than before, listening to what she says, mulling it over.

"You are stronger than you think." Is what he eventually says to Thea, shaking his head at her. "That you still need to realize. And I don't think it will be what you will find on that island, but I have been wrong before." lets not enumerate all those time he has been wrong!

For Ollie that island means death, and the survival of it. But at what cost? It is not what he wants for his family or those close to him. They -should- not need to go through it.

"I can keep the lease running on it at least." He says, "Until you are ready to continue your work with the club."

Vanessa Carlysle has posed:
Vanessa Carlysle was distracted, her phone buzzing and leading her to step off away from the others for the moment. It doesn't last too long though and she comes back into the room quietly, shaking her head slightly as she peers down at the phone. "Now that was impressive. How'd you get my number, Ellis?" she says towards the communication device before slipping it back into a pocket and pushing the matter out of mind.

She apparently missed any conversation, as she flashes a smile at the brother and sister that probably would have instead been a gentle look and keeping her distance if she'd heard what was being discussed. "So...?" she says, smiling to them both and looking from one to the other.

Thea Queen has posed:
"No, no I'm not," Thea returns. "I'm still fighting, though," which is a positive!

There's a deep breath taken, and she looks fully at her brother and offers a quick smirk to underscore her words, "You're wrong." There, she said it! "I have to go. I want to find you." It sounds strange, and there's a chuffed breath as she mutters, "That sounded better in my head."

"I need to see where you've been, and where dad is." Closure. "Because while you were there," and she thought he was DEAD, "It was mother and Walter.." there's that beat, then, "...and me."

Ellis? Thea raises her head and looks puzzled, her blue eyes moving towards Vanessa now. "Everything okay? What did Ellis want?" Of //course// she knows the man. She's a Queen! And while she doesn't have much to do with QC, she does have stock in it as it's her family's company. (Which means she used to have to attend //all// the functions.)

Oliver Queen has posed:
"Ellis is a resourceful man." Is what Oliver replies, casting a glance over his shoulder to Vanessa when she comes back. What?! There are reasons for keeping a villainous mind close! Means he compensate with the rest! Most of the times at least.... Still, getting her number -was- surprising. But with Thea asking what business it was he focuses on the rest..

..The closure. That much he can understand. A brief nod is given, as if to confirm that understanding. "I am not dead though." he then says.

"The island has a way to not exactly give us what we want, or at least perhaps not as we imagined it." a pause. "You will understand when you are there."

And that seems to be all the warning he will give about the island!

Vanessa Carlysle has posed:
Vanessa replies with a shake of her head. "Said he was just confirming some employment information, though I didn't think that had even gone through yet. Let alone why he'd have gotten it," she says. More likely? Warning shot fired?

Her eyes go to Thea and she says in explanation, "I volunteered to help wherever would I could be used. Oliver's going to have me work on some restructuring with the IT group," she says.

The talk of the island causes her to glance between the siblings. "I don't imagine it's going to be an easy place for either of you to go to," she says. Her expression for Thea is supportive. Perhaps showing she knows she can't fully understand, but enough to get it anyway.

Thea Queen has posed:
"No, no you're not." And it's a simple statement, but Thea does follow it up with, "I still need to understand you, though." She fully believe that she'll find //something// there. Some hint that she simply wasn't getting before, some revelation. "So, I at least need to try." Because she loves her brother!

Brows rise at the volunteered offer to help at the company, and Thea gives the other woman a supportive smile. "It's a way of getting him up on time to go to work. I love it." Payback for those 6am training sessions! "Remind him that if you have to get up early to go running, he has to get up early and wear a suit and tie." Ha.

It's the Island that comes back, but Thea is good with it. She's seeing it as a possible solution to a decade of simply not feeling 'right'. "It's what I told Ollie here. You couldn't keep me away from going there, from doing this. I'm going to ask..." And again, there's that pause before, "... the person I'm working with to come. Maybe they'll talk." Or not. "He's not so bad."

Oliver Queen has posed:
'Not so bad'. That makes Ollie quirk a brow. "I have followed some of his past work. Not so bad? He is a killer for hire." Well, it's not as if Oliver wasn't in a similar phase shortly after returning from the island! But he did get past it! "An unrepentant one at that." and that seems to make the difference for him.

"Ask him, sure. But do not let your morals become so skewed that you will not know him for what he is." There is a strangely intense, firm manner in which he says that last part. Something rather important, enough to make his jaw tighten. But he slowly shakes his head and eases his tension, looking at Vanessa.

"Seems like your first meeting with Ellis left quite the mark on the man." He comments.

Vanessa Carlysle has posed:
The comments about getting Oliver up for work make Vanessa break out in a fond grin for Thea. "Tiny measure of payback," she says with a warm laugh. "Mainly I just want to help out and... you know. Contribute. With more than arrow here and there hopefully," she says.

Vanessa doesn't offer any thought about Slade Wilson, but then her knowledge of him comes from Oliver and she understands everything of his feelings about the other man. There is definitely concern in her expression though as she looks over to Thea.

The comment about Ellis again gives Vanessa something else to focus on. "I have a feeling he's trying to make sure I understand his reach," she says with a small smile. Vanessa gives a little shrug and tells Thea, "I kind of started working on making sure he didn't... well, do this," she says with a soft chuckle.

Thea Queen has posed:
"He's been honest with me," Thea begins, "Everything I've learned about how you know him has come from him," which isn't a whole lot, honestly. But she's not saying as much. As far as 'killer for hire', the younger Queen nods her head slowly, "I've seen it." Maybe something Ollie knows, maybe not? "He could have taken me out too, but he didn't." How's that for defending Slade Wilson?

Sliding off the table, this isn't a conversation she wants to get in to at the moment, and she has to get back to the City. It's yoga day; a 'day off' that includes stretching and still working out.

Thea moves to give her brother a quick hug before she turns to Vanessa to do the same. "Don't let him get under your skin. I've always killed him with kindness, and pretending I didn't know as much as I did. He won't consider you if he doesn't think you're a threat. He'll let things slip." She's got stuff on the man; after all, Thea has visited the offices before and has also heard stories from her mother.

"I have my phone on again. I'll call, or text. But don't leave without me. If you do, though, I'll know how to get there anyway." And she'll be very grumpy!