Owner Pose
Ra's al Ghul It's been a very busy day for Mister Oliver Queen. Had to rough up some goons, got to meet Ra's al Ghul, enjoyed a nice car ride with a black bag over his head to an undisclosed location. And then a plane ride to another undisclosed location. And then another car ride, so on and so forth.

His final undisclosed location is a warehouse in Gotham's Chinatown. The warehouse, owned by shell companies owned by other shell companies, has, in the last few days, undergone a quiet renovation into something resembling a decently accommodating hotel room. There are places that Queen is allowed to go and places that draw the attention of the ever-watchful Ubu whenever he gets too close. Still, it's nice enough and even has a TV for him to waste the day away with.

Ra's al Ghul left Oliver before the plane ride, his own path leading him elsewhere. He had informed Queen that other matters required his attention more presently. Other matters located in Africa, no less. Still, he's returned as he said he would, and can now be seen lifting up the gate of the service elevator and moving to approach the almost tv studio approximation of a room, the man still dressed like he's just returned from a safari.

"Mr. Queen," his voice echoes through the largely empty warehouse floor. "My apologies for my absence."
Oliver Queen The first thing that Oliver Queen did upon arrival at the al Ghul waystation was search out to see if there was any way out. Seeing none, the next thing he did was figure out how he could go about maintaining his fitness regimen. It would not due to emerge from captivity, whenever that may be, out of shape. While it is no salmon ladder, he was able to improvise a pull-up bar within his quarters, and was working out at that to pass the time when R'as finally made his return.

Oliver drops down onto bare feet and strides over in the direction of his captor, wearing a pair of grey sweat pants and no shirt. "You could at least have given me the Netflix password." He looks over towards the Demon's Head, considering his attire for the moment. "I assume that perhaps now we can get down to the business of why you brought me here?"
Nyssa al Ghul There was a very good chance that Ra's knew she had returned to Gotham because Ra's had eyes everywhere. It's why he was still the head of the Demon and why Nyssa was only head of a very small, but dangerous, snake. Several of which were slipping through shadows as effortlessly as the daughter of the Dragon. A black hood comes out from beneath a leather jacket worn open over an unzipped hoodie. She wears tactical pants with the cuffs tucked into combat boots and holds the sheath of a combat saber older the America in her left hand.

The trio of Assassins she'd brought with her leave little indication of their passage, but it was a black on black operation. So staying unseen forever was hardly in the realistic. Nyssa was, if anything, a realist.

As one of the Ubu passes a darkened alcove, she swings down from the little junction of wall above him and rolls over her shoulder into the gap between two doorways in this constructed Warehouse Motel. While her own agents take up positions waiting for her word to strike.
Ra's al Ghul "I don't like to labor under assumptions, but your's is correct," Ra's says, nodding to the man and lifting a hand to rest on the hilt of his saber. "Have you ever heard of the ghost lions of the Atlas Mountains?" Ra's asks, stepping past Oliver to look out of one of the windows, the strikingly antiquated man now bathed in bright neon light from the sign across the street advertising pork rolls.

"Beautiful and territorial. Stunning dusky coats that drink in the light, teeth that can snap a man's thigh bone in half with a twitch," Ra's begins, lips twisting into a mournful frown. "And the lot of them hunted to near-extinction. Only a handful of them left. What was their sin, Oliver Queen? Did they upset the natural order? Did their taste for ibex meat grow out of bounds? Or...was it simply that their coats matched silver jewelry better that another animal's?" Ra's looks down to the street for a time and turns to look at Oliver. "You and I are of a similar mind, Mr. Queen. Your company has made great strides towards conservation and sustainability, and I extend my utmost gratitude to you. But what difference does it make when the ground around ACE Chemicals, a long-dead institution, is poisoned beyond repair? What difference does it make when hundreds of other companies forget reason in the face of material appetites?"

Ra's moves to walk towards the man. "I admit that my abduction of you was uncharacteristically shortsighted, but this planet is on a timer. I need your help to save it, Mr. Queen."
Oliver Queen Watching the way Ra's moves with a clinical detachment, Oliver seems to be sizing up the man. Just in case. "I feel likewise, as you no doubt know if you have been following the bend I have been steering our company in since my return from the shipwreck." He turns to follow the movement of the Demon. "And yes, it angers me that despite our best efforts, there are still some which damage faster than we can repair."

As Ra's approaches him, Oliver arches an eyebrow. "But all of this is conversation that could have occurred in a boardroom at my office. Or frankly, the hotel bar where I had nice accomodations for this evening, which even now are being charged to my credit card." He smirks. "Why go through all of ... " He waves his hand around. "This?"
Nyssa al Ghul When the signal comes, it's not some sound or announcement, but the whistling whine of Nyssa's unsheathing sword slicing across the front of one of the patrolling Assassin. Ubu, who definitely wasn't involve (yet, keep reading) and definitely didn't walk past Nyssa because he's just one guy guarding a door and Nyssa definitely knew that despite how it may have seemed from her earlier actions, is doing what Ubu does best.

The Assassin, however, falls flat and the trio with Nyssa spring forward with whirling blades to dispatch with an aggressive, but quiet, assault. Each felling a guard and dragging them away into the shadows.

There may, however, come the sound of clashing steel. Clang-clang, cling-clang, slam.

Outside, there is fighting.

The calvery has come to save Oliver?

Nope, just Nyssa being through --through-- the door and rolling like a barrel across the floor. She's still holding her sword though. Her sharp eyes snap over to Ra's, then up at Ubu, decisions to decisions.
Ra's al Ghul "To show you that I could. To show you what I can offer you," Ra's says. "And because I've spent hundreds of years attempting to affect change from inside a boardroom. It's folly, Oliver Queen. Money only goes so far, you know this. You know this well. That's why you strap that quiver to your back every night, isn't it?" Ra's asks, knowingly.

"Those men you fought last night? You could command them, you know? How big is your team, now? Three? Four? Imagine an army. An army that will serve as your eyes and ears everywhere. Your knives in the dark. Ready to strike whenever and at whatever you so desire. That is how you shift the balance. That is how you save the world beyond your beloved Starling City."

The sound of clanging blades draws Ra's' attention to the door for a moment before he's looking back to Oliver. They're not Ollie's people. He knows that beyond a shadow of a doubt. "Excuse me for a moment, Mr. Queen," he says, moving towards the door that Nyssa is rolling through.

"Hello, darling," Ra's offers the newly-arrived woman. "Have you come to apologize for murdering me?" he asks. Ubu, quiet as ever despite his size is slinking backwards, moving to place himself between Nyssa and Oliver.
Oliver Queen There is a thoughtful expression on Oliver's face as Ra's lays out the pitch. An army at his disposal. Doing what needs to be done. He starts to nod. He is clearly at least considering this for a moment, his mind thinking it through to some possible conclusions.

And then Nyssa comes bursting in. He looks to Nyssa, and then Ra's, and then back to Nyssa again. "Seems it is not nearly as easy as you suggest it to be."
Nyssa al Ghul Busting in is a bit of a misunderstanding.

Nyssa was thrown.

By a monster of an Assassin.

She springs to her feet with her saber still in hand and points at the point at her father with a sneer on the revealed portion of her face, "No, I am not here to apologize... I'm here to make certain it sticks this time." Despite the the venom of what she's saying, she doesn't actually sound that angry...

In reality, the fact that she's pointing a sword at him would the only way anyone might realize she is actually intent on murder and.. not a really impressive hug.

Her dark eyes flick over to Oliver, sizing him up with an up and down glance, then back to her father. The weapon slowly lowers to her side, chest heaving with a low sigh, "What is he doing here..."
Ra's al Ghul "I would suggest that you avoid fatherhood at all costs, Mr. Queen," Ra's offers by way of advice. "You try to give them the world, you teach them, you feed them, you hold them close and dry their tears when they fall sick. And what do they give you in return but heartache?" Ra's asks. He didn't even mention the part where he mobilized the entire League against the Axis powers when Nyssa was interred in a concentration camp. Raising children really is a thankless job.

"You've never been a match for me, daughter," Ra's says, turning away from her. "Do not think that those six years I just spent dead has changed that," he adds.

"You don't have any children, do you, Oliver?"
Oliver Queen There is a part of Oliver Queen who thinks that this is a joke, a prank on his behalf. But it is a small part. He has seen enough to know that what is being side is entirely possible. He has seen friends and foe alike claw their way back from the cold embrace of death.

"No, I do not," replies Oliver, fixing his gaze on Nyssa now, the one uncertainty in this situation. "I am not quite sure I would want to bring any into this world, to be honest with you."

When Nyssa asks why he is there, he just shrugs and points at Ra's al Ghul. "You'll have to ask Daddy. He has yet to unfold his master plan to me."
Nyssa al Ghul Nyssa is a complicated woman, to be sure.

She huffs a groan at Ra's description of events as he saw them and she regards Oliver with a narrow gaze. "As if anything were ever so black and white as that." She doesn't play like her intentions are somehow altruistic. The sword remains at her side until Ra's turns his back on her, then it rises above her head, only to have the fire leached out of her when it becomes obvious who Oliver IS...

It's like she was kicked in the gut.

"You're trying to..." The sword drops back down and slaps flat side to her leg. ".. yes, what a terrible child I am, so ruthless and ambitious.. Just like you taught me." The sword slides into the sheath held in her opposite hand, "But never good enough."

She doesn't need Daddy to tell her why Oliver is here.

"He wants a successor, Mr. Queen. And apparently you are better than I am." She doesn't sound any more angry now than she had before, but there's some fire sapped out of her all the same. If not for the calculated way she keeps glancing around, absently keeping track of where Ubu is against where Ra's is.
Ra's al Ghul "The plan shifts. It ebbs and flows. But the goal remains the same," Ra's begins, looking at Oliver. "Oliver, I am plagued with the knowledge of how this world was six hundred years ago. In my youth. I have tasted food fresh from rich, fertile soil, and I have filled my lungs with untainted air...quenched my thirst with water clear as the first day of creation. This knowledge tears at me every day. That I can't share those experiences with you. Or my daughter. Or anyone," Ra's says, face looking mournful once again as he reaches out to rest a hand on Oliver's solid shoulder, eyes cutting back to Nyssa for a moment. "My daughter is correct, and perhaps she is right in sparing you from my loquaciousness. My time has been long on this earth, but it is finite. I will face a death err long that cannot be reversed. I need to know that someone of suitable stock has taken my place. Someone who can do what has to be done. Someone who won't shirk at spilled blood."

"Ambition and indomitable will I heaped upon you in abundance. I do not remember teaching you to betray your loved ones. I don't remember teaching you how to turn your back on our cause," Ra's answers back to Nyssa, a rare heat in his voice.
Oliver Queen The plan is coming together. Oliver turns to look over at Ra's, and then back at Nyssa. "I would not deem myself worthy to steal anyone's birthright," he says, regarding the female assassin. "And while I appreciate your belief in my ability to achieve your goals, I am not sure that we are aligned on methods." A pause. "I spill blood, yes, but of the guilty only, not the innocent. And I do it when there are no other means." He looks back to Ra's. "I am not sure I am the right man for the task. But why do you not feel that your dawughter is not the right woman for it?"
Nyssa al Ghul Nyssa doesn't look as dejected by this revelation as one might suspect. If anything, she looks more intrigued by it. Tilting her head to regard Oliver from several angles as she side pedals a half circle around him as if a new position might give her a glimmer of information that had previously been hidden. The sword she's holding in one hand slides into the sheath held in the other and then slides back into her grip held down at her side.

"I can see it." She says this to Ra's, inclining her hooded head. She's not taken her eyes off Queen and doesn't do so now. "You should accept. When you are the Demons Head, the methods are whatever you say they are, so long as the ends match the goals."

She's no less calculating, even in her sudden change of mind.
Ra's al Ghul "Innocence is a mirage, Oliver. Who can claim innocence now? Not you, not me, not the rich, nor the poor. This world hasn't known true justice in centuries. None but the justice that my League enacts," Ra's says, ignoring Oliver's question, but gesturing towards Nyssa as she switches sides. That behavior might very well be a part of the answer.

"You and I will go on a trip tomorrow, Oliver, once I've had my rest. I think then you will see my argument in full."
Oliver Queen Once again, Oliver's gaze shifts back and forth between Nyssa and Ra's. It is clear that he is also considering Nyssa's words. Heavily. He looks back to her, and gives the subtlest of nods. "You present a lot to think about." Was this said to Ra'as, or to Nyssa? Or both.

He turns to regard Ra's. "How long do you intend to keep me here?" he asks. "I have been willing to indulge this intrusion upon my life, but I would like to know when I will have the freedom to make my choice." A pause. "Or am I free to choose not to take up your mantle?"
Nyssa al Ghul Nyssa sneers at her father, but doesn't dispute what his gesture implies. Her sudden change of heart has everything to do with this decision, whether good or ill. She's tied into Oliver's decision as much as the League itself. Her weapon remains at her side, watching her father's ''guest'' as he tip toes around the realities of what is being offered.

"With everything in life, you are free to make any decision you wish. So long as you accept that every decision, no matter how big or small, has inherent consequences." Her hand reaches up to brush her hood back from her head, freeing her hair tangled into a tight braid down the back of her scalp, "Mr. Queen.." She dips her head in a reverent bow. The one to her father is lower, but she doesn't speak.

Assuming, correctly no doubt, that she's welcome to stay regardless of her past betrayals.
Ra's al Ghul "We shall make our trip tomorrow, and decide how we move forward from there," is Ra's' answer to Oliver's question.

Ra's stares at Nyssa's bow for a moment, frowning a touch at the gesture, but refraining from comment. There's 240 years of baggage there that Oliver isn't privy to and they don't have the time to unpack it here and now. He turns his eyes back to Oliver and pats the man's shoulder once more. "I will leave you now to your rest and meditations. Our journey will be an enlightening one," Ra's says, moving to head back towards the freight elevator.

"Come, daughter."
Oliver Queen Oliver watches Ra's turn to depart, and then looks back to Nyssa. He gives her another nod. His eyes flicker towards the back of Ra's, and then back to her. A tilt of his head. And a hope that the message is understood.

"I hope to have some answers tomorrow. There are a large number of people who rely upon me, and who are likely not happy about my sudden and prolonged disappearance. There will be questions." But that said, he turns and heads back towards the quarters that he has been given, casting a glance over his shoulder towards the father and daugther team before they depart.
Nyssa al Ghul Nyssa doesn't try to drag dirty laundry out on the line for the neighbors to see, especially not with the weight of such an important decision looming in the distance for Oliver. Her dark eyes stare on the billoinaire, wordlessly inclining her head to his unspoken request a meer moment before she turns on her booted heels and dutifully falls in step behind her father.

She doesn't cast a scornful stare up at Ubu as she passes either.

Whatever happens next is a matter of family.