Chapter Text
A/N: Just a quick note-- This is Volume 3 of the Wake Verse. You may want to turn back now if you haven't read Before the World Wakes and In The Wake of Yesterday. (Or at least the synopses? But who are we to judge... do as you will.) And without further ado....
---
Oliver crept toward the corner of the house, careful not to make a sound. He peered around the corner, but everything seemed quiet, not a soul to be seen. He took a step forward, eyes scanning the perimeter as he went.
A twig snapped behind him and Oliver flattened to the side of the building, pulling his gun up defensively. He waited a beat and then glanced around, checking the area again. But there was nothing there. Oliver extended the gun once more, aiming into the backyard. Trees lined the perimeter with a fence visible between them. Narrowing his eyes, Oliver scanned the area again.
“I know you’re here,” he called into the empty space. At the very least, Oliver thought he was there. There wasn’t another way out, and scaling the fence wasn’t an option.
Another rustling behind him and Oliver turned, just in time to hear the target on his chest beep at him.
“Gotcha!” Will said, climbing out from the bushes before dissolving into a fit of giggles.
Oliver laughed, pulling the infrared sensitive target off over his head. “I’ll have to make a mental note to practice my laser tag skills,” he said, ruffling William’s hair as they moved to the porch.
“Little secret?” Samantha said, grinning widely at them. “He cheats.” She gave Oliver a wink.
“Do not!” Will exclaimed, pulling off his own sensor and setting it down on the porch along with his laser tag gun.
“Oh no?” she countered. “Then what do you call hiding under the porch?”
“Good strategy,” the boy said, matter-of-factly.
Oliver and Samantha both laughed at that. “You’ve got that right,” Oliver said, setting his equipment down beside Will’s. They’d spent nearly an hour out there in the yard, while Samantha was fixing dinner, and Oliver had lost to Will almost every time. And only about half of it was on purpose. Under the porch . No wonder Oliver hadn’t figured out where the boy disappeared to every time. He laughed a little again. Leave it to his son to strategize laser tag.
William darted for the kitchen table, claiming his seat and gulping down long swallows of water. He paused, mid-sip, to find Samantha giving him a hard glare.
“Oops,” he said with a sheepish smile, setting his glass back down. “C’mon Oliver. We need to wash up before we eat.”
Oliver glanced at Samantha. “What?” she said with a shrug. “You heard the rules.” He nodded, but didn’t make an attempt to move. “What?” she asked again, almost self-conscious this time.
He smiled softly. “Just… you’ve done so good with him.” He sighed. “Not that I had any doubts about that. I remember how compassionate you were. Strong when you needed to be, but always full of warmth. But I can’t imagine how hard it’s been to do this alone.”
Samantha nodded, her eyes turning a little glassy. She moved to the small hutch at the far end of the kitchen and pulled something from the drawer, holding it up for him to see. “You have no idea how much easier cashing this would have made things.” She blinked back tears, offering him the check that his mother had given her all those years ago to disappear from Oliver’s life. “But I knew if it was just going to be Will and I, that I was going to make it work on my own. I needed to prove that to myself, to everyone else. So I kept it, and every time things got tough, I pulled it out and looked at it, and laughed at myself for being so stupid and not cashing it when I had the chance. And somehow, once I got to the point where I could laugh about it and not be upset or worried, I knew that everything really would be okay.” She paused, glancing at the doorway where Will still hadn’t returned from the bathroom. “Sorry, I didn’t plan on telling you all that. And I didn’t do it so you’d pity us or whatever. I guess I just wanted you to know, it was never about the money.”
“I never thought it was,” he answered.
“Mooom,” Will called. “We have a situation!”
Samantha’s eyes went wide. “I… I’ll be right back.”
Oliver nodded, grateful for the interruption. He swallowed hard once she was gone, thinking about all the time he’d missed with Will, all the help he could have offered to Samantha. He should have been there, pulling his own weight, and no one had ever given him the chance. Anger flared hot in him again, thinking about what his mother had done. Even having forgiven her, it was clear that it would be a long while before things between them were good again.
“Sorry about that,” Samantha said, coming back into the room with William in tow. “He decided he needed to refill the soap dispenser. And… well, let’s just say the bathroom is very clean.”
Oliver smiled and they all took their seats at the table. As they ate, Will regaled Oliver with stories of all of his favorite superheroes. Oliver sat at rapt attention, enjoying every bit of the time he was able to spend with his son. He knew that too soon, he would have to return back to Starling, back to his life, and time with William would be at a premium.
He found himself, not for the first time that day, thinking about Tommy. After the phone call from Felicity the day before, Oliver found himself wondering more and more about his friend. He knew why Tommy had left, but he didn’t know where he’d gone, or what was driving him home now. Oliver hoped that his friend was better, although he wasn’t sure how Tommy could have possibly recovered from whatever the water had done to him, when Nyssa had healed him.
And then there was Amanda Waller. The ARGUS director had been on the tarmac at the airport when Tommy had disappeared, and none of them, not even Lyla, had been able to get information out of her. Had Waller sent him on a mission? Oliver didn’t think so, especially not looking back on the funeral. It was clear that Tommy was saying goodbye- Oliver just wished he’d seen the signs earlier. Felicity had, and even that hadn’t been enough to stop Tommy from going.
Samantha cleared her throat, pulling Oliver’s attention back to the table. “Everything okay?”
Oliver blinked, focusing on her and the small boy who was giving him a curious head-tilted look. “Sorry, yeah. I was just thinking about a friend of mine.”
“What’s your friend’s name?” Will asked.
“Tommy,” Oliver answered with a smile. “He’s been my best friend since I was your age. And he’s been away for a little while. I just found out he’s coming home soon.”
“Why did he go away?”
“William,” Samantha scolded. “It’s not nice to ask things like that.”
“It’s okay. He…” Oliver paused and met William’s intent gaze. “You know buddy, I’m actually not sure why he went away. I do know that he was sad because he lost his dad.”
The boy’s brow knit into a furrow. “Can’t he find him?”
Oliver smiled softly. “It’s not that kind of lost. I wish it was, but his dad isn’t coming back.” He glanced over at Samantha, whose brow mimicked her son’s. Oliver could see the battle raging within her and it didn’t take him long to determine why.
“My dad is lost too,” Will said quietly.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Oliver said, working hard to swallow the lump that suddenly arose in his throat. “Do you think you’ll find him?”
“I don’t know,” Will frowned. He turned in his seat to face his mother. “Mom? Do you think I will?”
Samantha cleared her throat. “Actually baby, Oliver and I have to tell you something.”
Oliver’s phone rang in his pocket, piercing through the moment they were on the verge of having with their son. “I’m sorry,” he said, silencing it and pulling it out. He frowned when his mother’s name appeared on the screen. It wasn’t like her to call him, at least not since she’d told him about Samantha. “It’s my mother. I’ll call her back.”
Something dark fell across Samantha’s face at the mention of Moira. Whatever openness had been present a moment ago was gone, leaving only hard lines and resolve in its place.
“What did you want to tell me, Mom?” Will asked, a mouthful of eggplant parmesan in his mouth.
She cleared her throat, glancing between him and Oliver before finally saying, “Nothing Will.” She met Oliver’s eyes again, still speaking to her son. Their son. “We’ll tell you another time.”
Oliver frowned. He hadn’t expected to tell William so early about who his father really was, but if ever an opportunity could present itself, that would have been it. But he didn’t argue. If Samantha wanted to wait to tell him the truth, Oliver could give her that.
The remainder of the meal was filled with tension, at least between the adults. William still chatted amiably, asking and answering questions with a lightness that could only come from being seven years old. Oliver put the paternal conversation out of his mind, enjoying his time with his son while he could.
Afterward, Samantha and William walked him to the door.
“Are you going to come back and see us soon?” Will asked, leaning into his mother’s side. The boy yawned wide, but tried to hide it.
“I’d love to,” Oliver said, ruffling his hair. “Maybe next time we can go to a ball game or something. What do you think?”
Will wrinkled his nose. “Mom likes baseball. But not me.”
Oliver laughed. “Well, we will find something else to do then. I promise.”
“Tell Oliver bye, kiddo, and then go upstairs and get your jammies on.”
“Bye!” Will nodded, and then bounded up the stairs.
“Bye,” Oliver called back, before focusing back on Samantha. “I’m sorry about the phone call earlier. I didn’t mean to interrupt dinner.”
She shook her head. “I just…” she wrung her hands together, flustered. “Thinking about your mother just brought it all back and freaked me out. I’m sorry we didn’t get a chance to tell him tonight. It was sooner than I wanted to, but it seemed like a pretty good segue.”
Oliver smiled, but he knew it was only half-hearted. He’d been excited at the thought of telling Will the truth. “There will be others,” he said finally. “I have some business to take care of in Starling. And from what I understand, Tommy really is coming back. But if it’s okay with you, I’d like to come back to Central City and spend time with William again. Soon.”
Samantha cleared her throat. “Honestly, I never thought I’d get the chance to say this, but yes. I’d love for you spend some time with your son.”
---
It had been a long week with Oliver gone, and the hours seemed to drag since she got word about Tommy. But Felicity knew better than to shut herself in her apartment alone. The loneliness was only going to spread if she did that. She had to be around people. And it just so happened that she had already been talked into something that night.
She pulled the door open and smiled as Thea stood on the other side.
“I’m late, I know. But the distributor wouldn’t leave the delivery at first because I don’t look eighteen. And then when I showed him my license he asked me out for drinks on Saturday. Which was another headache on top of the one I already had.”
“Wow,” Felicity took the bags from her hands and rolled her eyes. “Is there food in these?”
“Yes. Four kinds of pasta, all courtesy of Raisa.”
“Then your tardiness is forgiven,” she laughed, motioning the younger Queen inside. “Honestly Laurel and Sara just got here themselves. Though they both looked ravenous when they arrived.”
“No Lyla?”
“She’s in Blüdhaven,” she said as they made their way into the kitchen. “Apparently tracking down some mob killer. Though that info came thanks to Digg, so I think it’s on a strict need to know basis. Meaning if she asks we didn’t know.”
“Wait not the Bertinelli mob killer?” Laurel asked as she set the food down. “Because the way I heard it, no one had a lead on that guy.”
“All I know is she couldn’t come,” Felicity held up her hands. “And that’s as much as I asked.”
“Besides,” Sara cut in. “I believe the deal was each of us had to leave work related things outside the confines of Girl’s Night. And you are borderlining there counselor.”
“So sue me for being curious.”
“Ooh she just used lawyer jargon,” Thea teased. “Should we penalize her for it?”
“You three are being ridiculous,” Laurel said, earning her an eye roll from Sara. “But you’re right, shop talk is done. And to prove it, I’m turning off my phone.”
“See let’s not get too crazy.”
“Come on Gig, you can go one night without your phone on.”
“Thea, you call me that again, and you will live to regret it,” Felicity warned.
Sara took one of the food containers from the bag, but she looked up with a mischievous grin. “Gig?”
“Felicity’s old nickname.”
“It was not a nickname, it’s not a name and Thea is going to be quiet now.”
“Wait,” Laurel poured herself a glass of water as she walked back over. “Is this the pet name, Mr. Perfect gave her?”
“The one and only.”
“I hate both of you right now,” she took the tortellini from Thea’s hands. “And I’m not sharing this.”
“Well Mr. Perfect sounds boring as hell.”
“He was,” Thea added.
“Enough about exes,” Felicity cut them off as she groaned. “What happened to no boy talk either? These were your rules, Thea.”
“No, I said no Ollie talk. I never said I wouldn’t bring up how you used to date Carter Bowen.”
“Maybe all relationship talk should be tabled,” Laurel said, and Felicity couldn’t help but flash to Tommy as her friend spoke.
She could see it in the woman’s eyes. And she wondered, not for the first time, if maybe she should tell Laurel that Tommy was coming back. If that grain of truth would help more than it could hurt.
But she couldn’t help the pull of loyalty that kept her from speaking up. Tommy was her best friend. And it’s not that he asked her not to tell Laurel, but she didn’t think he wanted her to know. At least not yet. She could hold off until she talked to him at least. Hopefully.
Sara and Thea had taken the food and made their way to the living room, debating which movie to start the festivities off with.
“Apparently it’s marathon night,” Laurel mused. “Sadly I probably can only do one or two.” Then she leaned in with a whisper. “I have court in the morning.”
“It’s okay, once Thea’s in movie mode she tunes out other convos. Feel free to talk about work all you want in here.”
Laurel nodded. “Tommy’s like that too.”
So much for not talking about him. “Yeah.”
“Sorry, I shouldn’t have brought him up. I just,” she took a container of food and shrugged. “I wish I knew where he is, what he’s doing. If he’s okay. If he needs anything.”
“Laurel…”
“I shouldn’t bug you with this,” she added. “I know you’re missing him too. And so is Oliver, and Thea. And I’m not trying to pull the mood down by bringing him up. It’s just no one else really gets it. I mean my dad’s convinced he left because Malcolm ruined his name. And Sara’s been great, but she didn’t know the Tommy we did.”
“Laurel it’s okay to miss him,” if ever there was a time to tell her. But she couldn’t bring the words to the surface. “It’s also okay to be upset with him. He did leave without telling anyone.”
“Except his boss, apparently.”
“Trust me, I don’t think any of us saw that coming,” she thought back to that day. To finding Waller standing there as Tommy’s plane took off. She didn’t know who’s anger rose more, hers, Lyla’s, or Oliver’s.
“Yeah I remember Oliver looking pretty pissed.”
To her credit Laurel hadn’t asked much about that day. She hadn’t wondered why Oliver looked ready to take Waller’s head off. She didn’t seem to have questions as to why the pair of them squared off in a tension filled glaring match.
But Lyla had stepped in, had threatened to quit on the spot if Waller didn’t tell her what was going on right then.
“Agent Merlyn, is taking a sabbatical.” is what she told them. She also showed Lyla the letter Tommy left at ARGUS. Each of them recalled the feeling of goodbye in his words at the funeral. It all fit, except it didn’t.
She should have pressed him harder, tried to get him to open up and talk to her. But she hadn’t. She let herself believe it was just the grief and the weight of what happened on the roof that kept Tommy distant. But it had been so much more. And she wished she could go back and help him somehow.
“He’s protective of the ones he cares about,” she added when she realized Laurel was looking at her. “I mean we should probably get in there before Sara and Thea lock us into like a 4 movie marathon and guilt you into staying.”
“Oh god, you’re right.”
But before she could follow her phone buzzed in her pocket.
“I’ll distract them so you can take that,” Laurel winked and made her way out of the kitchen.
She pulled out her phone, expecting Oliver’s name to flash across her screen. But instead it was Alena.
“Hey,” she greeted, trying to keep her voice down. Thea Queen was not above taking one’s phone and shutting it off mid-call. “Now’s kinda a bad time.”
“You’re at home?”
“Or in a highly detailed simulation,” she teased. “Why did you not expect me to be?”
“No it’s just,” Alena paused. “There was this weird code out of Pennytown, and it kinda looked similar to yours. So I called to see if you needed some help with a hack. But you’re not in Pennytown.”
“Nope,” she replied. “Was the hack dangerous? Should I be worried?”
“Not really,” Alena replied and she could already sense her losing the hacker to her keyboard. “Sorry to bug you on your night off.”
“I’m just hanging with friends,” then she winced. “I should have invited you.”
“Do not even worry about me. I’m much better alone with my Netflix queue.”
“Alena seriously, you’re making me feel worse,” she couldn’t help but laugh a little. “Come over. We have plenty of food, and my friend Thea is probably about to pick out some 90s romcom classics. You could use a night away from your computer screen.”
“You don’t have to include me in your friend things Felicity.”
“The offer is disappearing in, three, two--”
“Okay, I’ll be over in twenty minutes,” Alena cut in with a laugh. “I could use a decompress from all this coding.”
“And tomorrow we can look over that hack you saw.”
“I’m sure I was overreacting. But if you insist,” she paused and Felicity heard the laptop close. “I’ll see you soon.”
“Bye.”
“That better not have been Ollie.”
Thea’s voice made her jump as she turned to face her. “Don’t sneak up on people.”
“We said no phones.”
“That was my friend Alena, she’s coming over,” Felicity said as she powered down her phone and set it on the table. “See?”
“Fair enough,” Thea linked their arms. “But are you telling me you have friends outside of me?”
“Only one or two.”
“Good, you know how jealous us Queen’s get.”
“Don’t I know it.”
But as they walked into the living room Felicity couldn’t help but focus on her call with Alena. There’s no way someone was out there using her code, that’s for sure. But how could Alena mistake the two. She knew the math on it being a coincidence was slim, too slim to chance. And Felicity could feel the mystery begin to rise. She knew this would only end with her following it down whatever rabbit hole it took her to until she learned the truth. But that would be tomorrow’s problem, along with Tommy. She had a feeling things were about to pick back up in her life.
---
Tommy was uneasy as he packed up the few belongings he’d brought with him to Nanda Parbat. The kill from the day before had already settled into his system. Tommy could feel it like a wall going up between his head and the bloodlust. He hated the last co- the way his focus drifted until all he could think about was killing, the anger that rose and flared making his veins feel like they were filled with venom, the blind rage that gripped him, making him feel like he was no longer in control of his own body.
But Nyssa had found the Lotus. Could he finally rid himself of the effects of the Pit? Could he finally go home for good?
Heaving a sigh, Tommy pulled his bag up onto his shoulder and glanced around the room. He wouldn’t be sorry to put this place in his rearview, even if he appreciated them teaching him how to control the bloodlust. He reminded himself again who he was doing this for- Laurel and Thea, Ollie and Felicity and Lyla. He needed the people he cared for to be safe, even around him. Especially around him. And learning how to control the bloodlust was helpful, but it wasn’t what he was looking for. What Tommy needed was the Lotus, the cure.
A knock sounded on the door and Tommy turned, pulling it open to reveal Nyssa on the other side.
“Are you ready to depart?” she asked, a bag of her own hoisted on her shoulder. She was out of her gear, but no less menacing in her black leather pants, the black top criss crossed with leather straps and buckles.
“I am,” Tommy answered, raising a brow. “You sure you don’t want to wear something a little less… conspicuous?”
Nyssa rolled her eyes. “I do not appreciate the fashion advice,” she said flatly. “Besides, it was this or my uniform.”
“Yeah, you don’t get out much, do you?”
When she glanced at him again, it was with veiled contempt, but there was something hidden beneath it. Something that made Tommy wonder if he’d hit a nerve, either because she resented being stuck at Nanda Parbat all her life, or because the woman she loved was half a world away. He almost mentioned Sara, almost called Nyssa out on the fact that she could see Sara when they got back to Starling if she wanted. But he’d seen the way Nyssa fought, and he wasn’t ready for that kind of smackdown right in that moment, so he kept his mouth firmly shut.
“The Demonshead has requested your presence before we leave,” Nyssa answered.
“So glad that’s not ominous,” Tommy said with a wavering grin.
“I shall bring you to him.” She spun on her heel and headed out of the room.
Tommy gave the small chamber a final glance over for anything he may have missed. His eyes snagged on the bedside table, where a framed picture of Laurel sat, and he strode across to retrieve it, placing it into his bag and zipping it closed before rushing to catch up to Nyssa.
Ra’s al Ghul sat at the head of a long table in a room Tommy hadn’t been in before. Every other seat was empty and Nyssa moved to stand at her father’s side, leaving Tommy standing awkwardly in the doorway.
“Come,” Ra’s said, gesturing to the seat on his left.
He’d been alone with the head of the League before, and under far more dire circumstances, considering Ra’s wanted to kill him the moment he’d stepped in the door, but somehow Tommy felt like the further he got into the room, the less likely he was to come back out again.
But Tommy tamped down the fear humming through his brain and did as he was instructed. He still hadn’t figured out the man that sat before him, and Waller wouldn’t be pleased with the miniscule intel he’d gathered over the last several weeks. Even if he’d told her that wasn’t why he was there, he’d still hoped to at least have something to bring back, something worth her efforts of getting him there.
“Nyssa has told me of your plans to seek out the Lotus. A fool’s errand if I ever heard one,” Ra’s scoffed. “The Crescent Order was exterminated decades ago. But she will speak of nothing else, and I can not have word of this falsehood spreading throughout Nanda Parbat.”
“Father, it is not--”
“Enough, Nyssa!” Ra’s bellowed, slamming his fist down onto the table. “I have given you the time you requested. But I will hear not another word about it.”
Tommy swallowed hard, eyes shifting from Nyssa to her father and back again. At his side, Tommy’s hands balled into fists, almost of their own volition. But he didn’t dare speak up on her behalf, he knew she’d probably kill him if he tried. She’d tried to kill him for less. Half of Tommy’s mouth ticked up in an almost imperceptible smirk at the memory of their first meeting in the airport of Hub City. But then he sobered again, finding Ra’s’ eyes on him.
“ Wahid Airtafae, you have much still to learn,” Ra’s said, steepling his hands in front of him on the table. “And I will not deny the promise I see in you. So much like your--”
“Don’t,” Tommy said, eyes falling closed. “I’m nothing like him.”
“You are,” the man confirmed. “The less you fight it, the further you will go.”
“I’m assuming this isn’t a going away party,” Tommy said, ire clawing its way up from inside him. “So am I free to go or did you find another deadbeat since the last one I killed?”
“Do not mock the ways of the League, boy.”
“Speaking of people having things in common with my father,” Tommy deadpanned. “You’re starting to sound an awful lot like him.”
Ra’s inhaled and exhaled slowly, and six guards stepped into the room from the open doorways around it. Tommy felt himself swallow hard.
“All the talent in the world cannot atone for a lack of couth,” Ra’s said, eying Tommy hard again. The man’s jaw was clenched in anger or frustration- perhaps a mix of the two. “You would do well to remember who you are speaking to.” Without so much as a gesture, the guards unsheathed their swords at their sides. “I will not remind you again.”
“Really not a going away party then,” Tommy breathed, almost silently.
“No, it is not,” Ra’s confirmed. “Unruly mouth aside, you have impressed me these last several weeks, Wahid Airtafae.”
Tommy had to keep his mouth clamped shut and closed his eyes to keep from rolling them. The moniker had caught on with many of the League members, and when he’d asked Nyssa about it, she’d explained that it meant the Risen One. For centuries, the Lazarus Pit had been used to heal wounds and turn back the hands of time, but none of that compared to what the water had done to Tommy- literally bringing him back from death. It was why the bloodlust was so strong, why the need to take another life pulsed like his own lifeforce in his veins.
“With Taer al Asfar gone, we have use for someone with knowledge of the Western world. Someone who can slip into situations unnoticed.”
“Not really interested in a job,” Tommy said, attempting to keep his tone neutral. He didn’t want to give those guards any reason to come after him, and although he could take down one or two on his own, six would definitely best him. “But I do appreciate the offer, and everything you’ve done for me here. Even if my lack of couth would lead you to assume otherwise.”
“I shall give you until Nyssa returns to decide. You may return with her if you wish to join us. Otherwise, any attempt you make to return to Nanda Parbat in the future will be seen as an invasion and will be met swiftly and harshly.”
But he didn’t need the time to decide. Tommy had no intentions of returning to Nanda Parbat, even if Ra’s al Ghul did help him get his bloodlust in check. Because once they were done in Japan, Tommy would be cured of the bloodlust forever, and he would have no reason to even think about Nanda Parbat, let alone consider going back.
Laurel’s face flooded his mindseye again, and Tommy found himself steadying into the vision. Even if she hated him, even if it took years for her to forgive him, Tommy would take it all in stride. Because she’d be back in his life. He would wear her down, just like he did before. Into talking to him, into forgiving him. He’d remind her of the love they shared and he’d find a way to make her as happy as she’d always made him.
“Good luck Wahid Airtafae,” Ra’s said, bowing his head slightly.
That was all the invitation Tommy needed. He stood from the table, watching as the guards sheathed their swords again and turned, all in unison, and took their posts on the outsides of the doorways. It was creepy actually, like robots, the way they moved as one.
Nyssa was at his side an instant later, her hand on his elbow, urging him passed the guards, down the hall and toward the door.
“Worried he’s going to change his mind?” Tommy asked.
“Something like that.”
“Hey,” he said, pulling out of her grip. “It’s fine. No one was injured in the making of this incredibly awkward job offer.”
“Your humor may still be the death of you,” Nyssa said, narrowing her eyes at him. “You dared speak to the Demonshead that way?”
Tommy shrugged. “Starting to feel a little more like my old self. What can I say?”
“You can apologize for one.”
“Isn’t that part of the code or something? Not to apologize?”
“You are not a League member,” she hissed back. “The code does not apply to you.”
“I think he was amused. Even if he didn’t want to admit it.”
Nyssa sighed. “Half a dozen swords ready to gut you, and you think he was amused.”
Tommy considered that, but didn’t allow himself to dwell on it. He really was starting to feel like his old self. Whether it was due to what he’d learned during his time in Nanda Parbat, or the giddy feeling inside him at the thought of seeing everyone he loved again. Maybe some combination of the two.
“Oh, hey did you do that thing I asked you to do?” They were at the front doors now, and Tommy pushed through to the outside, vast mountains settled both in the distance, and behind the compound they’d just left.
Nyssa nodded, offering him a slip of paper. It was a receipt from her purchase of an ad in the Paris newspaper. The one he and Felicity had discussed almost three years ago. If he knew Felicity (and of course he did), he knew she’d have an alert set up for the paper, just in case. Which meant it really was time. Nyssa had included the time and place of where they could find him. Tommy just hoped that the people he loved weren’t so mad at him that they didn’t show.