Judy Martin (boston_bitch) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2013-06-03 12:16:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, oliver queen (green arrow), sister jude martin, thea queen |
Who: Judy Martin, Oliver & Thea Queen
What: Oliver's back to normal.
Where: Jude's house, then a hospital wing of a mysterious government building.
When: 6/1
Warnings/Rating: PG-13 for subject matter
Status: Complete
After the facts of...everything, Ollie was pretty sure he’d fucked himself over as far as most of humanity was concerned. He should have known to stop himself, and he HAD tried to resist the voice in his head that had urged him to do stuff, but some of it? It’d felt GOOD. He was horrified by that, and the fact that he had been so horrible to Thea of all people, and probably caused Judy a lot of panic and...
He didn’t know anymore, but as soon as he had a phone, he was calling Judy to let her know what had gone on. He had a LOT of stuff to start making up for.
Thea was asleep for the moment, and Jude had spent most of the day with Candy and Remy to stave off the desperate whispers for something vodka flavored. Candy had been a saint, in particular, but both of them had helped her forget, at least temporarily, that things were extremely fucked. She hadn’t heard anything more about Oliver, which she was figuring was a good thing, at least for now.
Then, however, the phone rang.
Jude went over to look at the caller ID and froze. It was just her and Thea in the house for now - Candy and Remy had gone home to get clothes and a few other things - and she’d be damned if whatever this was controlling her boyfriend would get to her.
She grabbed the receiver and just reacted. “I don’t know who you are, but you are not Oliver Queen. Okay? My Oliver wouldn’t do the shit that people say he’s done. Whoever put you in there, whoever’s controlling him, we will find you and make sure you get fucked just as hard as you’ve hurt him.”
“They, HE is fucked, actually.” Ollie answered, and his voice was different from how it had been during his time possessed, not that she would have known that. “I’m kind of in the hospital after they got rid of him. It’s a really long story. I don’t know how much I’m allowed to tell, but there were several of us this happened to. I’m here recovering now, but it’s me. It’s really me.” And then he paused, as the other part occurred to him. “Oh god, I blew stuff up, I killed people...Oh GOD. And Thea...I am so glad I had the sense to stay away from you. I could have hurt you. Oh God.”
It was hard to even process that, after days of quietly freaking out. Jude felt the color drain from her face. “I ... Oliver? It - ” She cut herself off. She didn’t trust it. Not yet. But Thea might be able to tell the difference. “Do you remember,” she managed, wetting her lips, “calling Thea?”
“Not a lot of what I said.” He admitted. “It was...part me, part...the guy in my head. It was stuff I was..that I had in the back of my head and he was just overcome with being pissed off. His girlfriend had died and he hated the world and nobody’d meant us to get possessed but the combination? It led to a lot of shit all around. And I probably traumatized her for life. I didn’t do anything to you I’m COMPLETELY blanking on, did I?” He hoped not.
“No.” Judy shook her head, feeling the tears coming to her eyes and willing her voice to be calm. She wanted to see him, or she wanted to see if Thea could tell her it was him, but she didn’t want to scare Thea, and she didn’t want to risk herself. “I heard on the news that someone in a hood had shot three people with arrows, and I grabbed Thea and told her to come here.” Her voice got quieter. “When I heard that John Deleon had been murdered with poison arrows, I had Candy and her man come over to keep an eye out.”
“That was probably the best idea.” Ollie agreed with a nod. “Candy and Remy are...well between the three of you, you’re some of the people I most trust to kick my ass when I need it. Even when I’m just physically being me and mentally being a fucked up teenager with weird OC inspired issues.” He sighed then. “I should be relieved that whole thing happened, the Deleon at least, but I’m more...I don’t know. Guilt comes into it, sure, and more when it kicks in, I bet, but just basically...numb I guess. And I can’t imagine what I caused all of you.”
“I don’t think you should be relieved someone died.” Jude said, maybe with a touch of harshness. She sighed. “Fuck, Oliver. I want to believe this is you so bad. I’m really not sure I want you around Thea until I’m satisfied. She ... well. She might be afraid of you.” She didn’t want to hurt him, but she wanted to be honest. “You told me so much about all the good stuff she’s been doing, but after that phone call it all went out the window. She was saying she’d be better off dead.”
She shook her head. “I don’t think I have a choice except to go get her, though. And for the record? If you remember why regular Oliver was so mad at her? I got your vikes back.” Jude got up, walking with shaky legs through her apartment to the bedroom, where Thea was asleep. She shook Thea’s shoulder. “Thea? Honey, I’m sorry, but can you wake up?”
Thank fuck. that was at least a good thing. Ollie had been pissed more because he didn’t want to start things up again for her. He’d heard about how bad withdrawal was, had watched addiction, and followed up with how things were going there. “Jesus.” he answered Judy. “Yeah, I was pissed, but more because...I didn’t want things going that way for her again than anything else. And cause apparently my locks aren’t good enough.” Actually, that, in and of itself? Kind of interesting. It was the sort of skill that might be useful in the life. Not that he was recruiting her for Team Arrow right away or anything but it WAS a thought since Mia had seemed to have gotten busier with school lately and he wasn’t sure he trusted Roy not to do something stupid. “I’m glad she’s okay there.” he said, and then fell silent as Judy went to get her.
“Hey..” Thea had had a hard time falling asleep so she was a little drowsy now, but blinked a little anyway, and gave Judy a little smile since she did appreciate, well, all of this, even if she had a hard time showing that most of the time. “Geez, I must have been asleep for ages. What’s going on?”
Judy chose her words carefully. “I wondered. There’s someone on the phone, and I kind of need you to tell me. Um. If it’s ...” This was stupid. “Someone who sounds like the real Oliver is on the phone. I know you had a bad time when you talked to him last, but we need to know if it’s him. You’re the only one who talked to him when he’s himself and when he wasn’t.” She sighed. “It sounds like it’s really him, but I can’t be sure.”
“Ouch.” Thea cringed a little inside but on the other hand. “I’m the one who’d know.” she agreed, making a little face. “This could get intensely depressing in a few minutes though, just so we’re all aware of that little factoid.” It wasn’t Judy’s fault though, so she kept her tone casual enough. “Well. I guess I’d better go and see what’s going on with that.” She pulled herself up, tried to steal her courage the same way she tossed her hair over her shoulder and went toward the phone.
“So, is this psycho Ollie or are you seriously back to normal? Cause I’ve gotta tell you, going off on me and getting all threatening? So not the way to win friends and influence people. And for the record? Your padlock code’s pretty easy to figure out. Cause someone as motivated by guilt as you are choosing your last dream sidekick’s name? That wasn’t hard to figure out.”
And she wasn’t supposed to know about a lot of aspects of the dreams, but it wasn’t hard to figure this crap out either. It wasn’t like she didn’t talk to Roy, and like they hadn’t all been high that time to get information so...
“Yeah, yeah I’m sorry about...all of that.” Ollie’s sigh on the other end WAS genuine there. “I didn’t mean to...Jeez I was gonna ask you because I was worried and you’d quit therapy but I didn’t mean to go off on you or...anything. I mean we really do need to talk about that , but we’ve also gotta talk about me and all the stuff I’ve been fucking up with, especially right now.”
“No kidding.” Thea shook her head a little, but flashed Judy a grin. “Your guilt thing’s out of control here, so it’s GOT to be you. Not that I’m sure I’m looking forward to walking in, considering what I just heard but I can cope. I’ve missed you.”
Judy smiled a little bit. She was able to read Thea a little better now than she had been before, and she was kinda proud of how strong she was sounding. She knew better than anyone that Thea wasn’t a hundred percent, by a long shot, but she was trying. “Thank you,” she told the girl. “Can’t have been too easy.” She rested one hand on Thea’s shoulder, but just for a second. If Thea wanted to be touched, usually she’d ask for it.
She turned back to take the phone again. “I trust Thea’s judgment,” Judy said, hoping the girl heard. “If she thinks it’s you, I’ll take that. Now get your ass over to my place before I have you arrested and brought.” She swallowed the lump in her throat.
“I bet you would.” Ollie told her, quite seriously. “But I’m kinda stuck here at the moment. THEY want to be double sure everything’s on track. I’ve got a monitor and stuff. I kinda...had to die to get the spirit out.” He paused a second, letting that sink in. “Which sounds completely nuts but actually DID happen. I don’t even know here anymore. I really don’t. You’re allowed to come though. I mean...if that was okay and stuff.”
“I’m coming.” Judy turned to Thea and told her what he’d said. “Do you want to go to him? If you don’t, I understand.”
Thea considered for a second. “I think I’d better.” she decided, “It’ll be easier now than when he’s home for good and if I can’t handle it, I can hang out outside for a while. I mean this is the more gradual way and everything.” It was probably better, right? She figured she could handle it, and if not, pop in, say hi, and head out. It was the thought that counted here, right?
Judy nodded. “Smart,” she told Thea. Even from Oliver, she wasn’t sure if Thea got enough praise when she deserved it. “We’re both coming, then,” she told Oliver over the phone. “Give me an address.” He did so, and she hung up the phone, wrangling both herself and Thea in a matter of minutes.
They got to the building he’d pointed them to, and after a lot of pointed discussion at a downstairs desk, an armed guard took them upstairs. Jude was shaking by then, and when the elevator stopped on what looked like a hospital floor, it was all she could do not to run down the hall. The guard unlocked the door to one of the rooms and took a seat outside. Jude swallowed the lump in her throat again and pushed the door open. “Oliver?”
“Hey!” Oliver had been fumbling, for the most part, with the heart monitor around his neck , trying to situate it, or read what had been going down. So far, not a lot of dice there. “Oh my GOD it’s so good to see you.” He was such a fuck up but here she was, and there was Thea giving them a little wave from the doorway and mouthing the words ‘alone time’ at them, and he was kind of grateful for that; he wasn’t gonna lie. “Oh Christ, I love you so much and all of this...I could have hurt you. I probably freaked you out a lot. Oh my god and I killed people.”
Shit. Shit. Shit. He didn’t deserve her here like this.
She’d been so ready to yell or quiz him or make absolutely sure it was really him, but then he looked up at her and she could see how lost he looked. Judy sighed, just running over and throwing her arms around his neck. It smelled like him, and he was breathing unevenly, and he’d actually had to fucking die. “You are so lucky I love you,” she said into his ear, eyes closed.
“Yeah.” Ollie had to agree with that, nuzzling his nose against her neck. “Yeah I really AM.” He hadn’t even been sure, positively, that he hadn’t hurt her when he’d been, not himself and right now was a whole lot better than what’d he’d believed might happen when they saw each other again. “I just... I don’t deserve you, you know that?”
Jude kissed him firmly, hand on his jaw, until she could barely breathe. “Maybe,” she said, “but you still have me.” She pulled up a chair, sitting down, scooting it close enough to lean against his shoulder. “I’m not going to bullshit you, Oliver. When I didn’t know if it was you or not, I was losing my mind, never mind worrying about Thea. I’m used to planning for worst-case scenarios. So the fact that you aren’t fucking dead” - at least not anymore - “is something I’m counting as a victory.” She sighed, closing her eyes. “At least I think I got Thea to get some sleep, and fed her something edible.”
“That IS good.” He agreed to that last bit, and then focused on the first of it. “When I woke up here, after wondering what the fuck had happened, and they explained it to me...I...If I had hurt you. They said that it hadn’t been reported but I’d still worried that I might have and it didn’t get noticed. The thought of that...I can’t handle it well. That I might do that. I never would as me, and I was just...so terrified I’d made it happen. I don’t think I could get back from that. Any of it. I’m in too deep now.”
“What do you mean, too deep?” Judy lifted her head, looking him in the eye. “Because if you think you’re going to break up with me to keep me safe or some shit, I will not be held responsible for my language.” She didn’t think he meant that, but the thought of it made her stomach start to tap dance. Someone had once told her the Queens all needed an adult, and yeah, maybe, but she wanted to be there. She’d never met anyone like Oliver before.
“Too deep as in I’d die if anything happened to you. Emotionally and mentally anyway. I probably would keep on going living but...” Oliver shook his head. “So with that in mind? Of course I’m not going to break up with you. That’d kill me in the same way. It just means I love you a lot. And that I think I need you now, even if that does sound a little clingy and selfish.” Not that he cared too much if it did. It was just...true. “You’re amazing and beautiful and smart and make me laugh and see reality. How can I not want to hold on to that?”
She hadn’t expected to hear it from him so honestly. A little clingy, maybe, but fuck, the guy had just survived being possessed and shooting up a streetcorner. Judy wiped her eyes, leaning her head back down next to his. “I was afraid for a second that you’d try to be all noble, like, ‘I’m a monster, you have to break up with me so you’ll be safe’ or something. I think that when you’re you, you’re pretty safe. You’ve been so good about not drinking and helping me not drink, and I don’t know, you’re so unlike most people. You’re even a pretty good parent.” It was a good thing.
She sighed, blinking away tears. “That said. You should probably talk to Thea, though. Tell her what you’ve told me before. How proud you are of her.” She’d grown to like Thea, despite her tough front. There was a lot of teenage Judy in Thea.
“I think I’ve been...more stable, since I met you.” Ollie admitted. “It’s good to have somebody who gets me on...a different level than the way Barton and I do.” And you know, somebody he could sleep with, or rather, who would sleep with him. Cause he did admit Barton in leather was kind of hot, even if not his usual type. But Barton had had the nerve to be heterosexual and everything so... “I mean, the things I can tell you and have you understand.” he explained, with a little smile. “And I probably SHOULD be all noble but I can’t. It’s probably a weakness somebody would exploit someday but...I’m a superhero. I can handle that.” He wasn’t going to elaborate on WHERE he was one, though he was pretty sure that was obvious by now, the way he kept running off to do stuff, the way he had random costume pieces all over the place, why he didn’t answer phone calls past eleven on some nights, it wasn’t all that hard to add up, really.
“And I probably SHOULD talk to Thea, yeah. I know this can’t have been that easy.” There was a lot of Ollie too. The self destructive tendencies, definitely the tough front. “I think you’re good for her, by the way.” he added. “It...she hasn’t had any women to bond with in a really long time. Thank you for that.” And okay, the pot brownies? Those had helped.
She probably never would have guessed if he hadn’t told her, but now the pattern was clear. About the superhero stuff, that was. Judy just shrugged. “You have friends and then there’s me ... I mean, I think I’m your friend, but you don’t screw your friends. At least I don’t think so.” She grinned a little. “You make me smile, Oliver. When you’re you. And by the way, I like Thea. She kind of started behind the eight-ball, and when you don’t have some kind of vengeful spirit, you’ve been a good parent to her.” Judy looked down at him. “Can I get her in here, even for a second? It might help her relax if I’m here.”
“Definitely.” Oliver agreed with a nod. “Yeah, she’s probably freaked out to all Hell right now. I can’t say I’d blame her considering teen jackass was all angry. It’d be great if you could hang out a little. And hey. I do try with that. I’m not sure I know what I'm doing. Roy was...easier. I was still a LOT taller as opposed to the typical adult height thing. And he thought I was cool. When I met Thea she was trying to freak me out with flirting at me. It’s hilarious now.” he added, grinning. “Just not at the moment. “
“You make me smile too.” he added. “It sounds lame for a guy to say but it’s true. I think I love you a whole lot by the way.”
Jude kissed him once more before going back to the doorway. She opened it, looking around. “Thea? Do you feel up to going in there if I’m around?” She had to ask it. “It’s really him. There’s a lot of reasons I can tell.” Not least of all because if there had still been a spirit in there, it would have done something to her when she kissed Oliver. It would probably be better if Thea did go in there, if only so Oliver could apologize, but she wasn’t about to push the girl.
“Sounds like a good idea then.” Thea flashed her a real grin. “I trust you, you know.” She added, as if that wasn’t obvious already, though it had never actually been a thing she’d said. “Thanks.” she added, then peaked around the door, giving Oliver a little grin. “Hey.” she said. “I should be really really pissed right now, you know but I’m just kind of glad you’re not evil or something.”
“If I was evil, I probably wouldn’t be apologizing for all the stuff I told you.” Ollie said, opening his arms. “Hey, can I get a hug? Cause you’re kind of super amazing and I shouldn’t have thrown all of that at you. You’re doing incredibly well with everything right now, you know. I’m proud of you and I’m so sorry.”
Thea blinked, then went over to hug him back, a little, before pulling away to lightly punch his shoulder. “Don’t get possessed again. You freaked me out.”
Aww. Siblings!
Judy blinked. For Thea to say she trusted her was actually kind of a big deal. But then she was standing at the door when Oliver apologized. She’d give him back the vicodin and other pills when he got home. Still, she felt like she had to say something, or she’d probably just start crying right there. “Aw, you two will make me throw up.”
“I know, right?” Thea shook her head a little, even as she was grinning. “It’s enough to put somebody into a sugar coma, right? We’re cute when we don’t even try to be.”
“It’s a gift.” Oliver agreed, sagely, ruffling Thea’s hair, because it was right THERE, so why the hell not right? “We’ll stop people in their tracks someday with the sheer force of it. Sure we’ll have to coordinate and all but...I think we could manage it.”
“Cute powers, activate? Like some kind of weird Japanese girl superhero?” Judy cracked, feeling relief start to set in. “She’ll hit you if you mess up her hair too much, hospital or no, Oliver.” She came back into the room, closing the door with a sigh. “Shit. You should call Roy. Tell him you’re okay. At some point. I don’t even know if he’s in town right now.”
“Exactly.” Thea grinned. “With magic makeup or...something. Maybe pink hair? Or I’m more of a blue, I think. It had blue streaks in a couple of the dreams because I was out there to freak Ollie out at a nightclub.” She shrugged a little. “And you know. Magic arrows for Ollie. Something like...love bombs? And glitter. Tons of glitter.” She added, smirking.
“Roy, yeah that’s a really good idea. I know he’s been dealing with the Barton thing and playing gopher lately with all of that, but I should make sure.” Really, Ollie should have kept better track of stuff. “Wow confessing to this all if he has NO idea is going to be kind of awkward. But hey. maybe he’ll get it better than most.”
“God. I am not dating fucking Cupid.” Jude laughed. “And whatever the costume, Oliver, please stay relatively clothed.” About Roy, she did agree. “Telling Roy is going to be weird, but you know it’s gotta happen. If only because you know he’ll be a massive drama queen if you don’t.” Mean, maybe, but even Roy admitted he could be a drama queen.
“Yeah, true that.” Ollie had to agree, making a face. “Behind my back but not REALLY behind anybody else’s so it gets around to me in the end. I swear, if you look up passive aggressive in any dictionary? It’d be Roy. And probably not CUPID. The glitter I could do. Like blinding glitter distraction. I don’t know, the men in magical girl stuff never do anything awesome.” The fact he knew that was probably scary.
It was. Judy laughed, sitting down in the chair again. “The men in Japanese girl stuff are either in like, tuxedos, or weird lycra suits. I’d take the tuxedo, myself. And I don’t know about Roy. Just ... be straight up with him, I guess. Then at least he can’t bitch at you that you’re hiding from him.” She understood Roy a bit less than she understood Thea, but she thought he was a fundamentally good kid. Just a little fucked up, but weren’t they all.
Speaking of Thea. “By the way, now that things are getting under control, if you want to go home, nothing’s stopping you,” Judy told her. She wouldn’t mind having Thea around until Oliver was out of this hospital-or-whatever thing, but still. She might go over and change the locks on the cabinets, but there was no reason Thea couldn’t go home if she wanted.
They were definitely all fucked up that was true. Orange County wasn’t making that go away any. And the dreams? Hell. The fact that they were as sane as they WERE was kind of something to marvel at sometimes. God only knew what would have happened if they hadn’t worked out how to function together, but it would probably be...not pretty.
Oliver nodded for now. “He didn’t really tell me everything about his arm, so really. I have the past to throw at him if I need to. Admittedly, this is kinda different but getting directions to a weird lab? That was freaky. So you know. I also think I get some leeway because I was doing other stuff. Hopefully.”
“Actually, if you don’t mind?” Thea asked her, a little awkwardly. “I think maybe I’m still a little too shaken up to head back yet. It’s getting better but. I don’t trust me right now if that makes sense.” ...Wait. Had she just... Wow. Maybe this was a positive kind of sign?
Judy shook her head. “I don’t mind. Just figured I’d offer.” She actually figured it was a good thing that Thea felt she could be honest. She didn’t say anything more about it, if only so Thea wouldn’t feel weird. She turned back to Oliver instead. “Do you have any idea when they’ll let you out of here?”
“Probably tomorrow if I’m okay I think?” Ollie offered. “I don’t have actual injuries so that helps a lot with that kind of thing. And I’m probably not obviously crazy now. I’m not sure when they’re going to send a shrink in to doublecheck that but they would probably have me ziptied if that was an actual thing. “ Hellooo Nurse. Well, if Judy was going to be the nurse anyway. He wondered if he could persuade her somehow.
“You’re not any crazier than usual?” Judy sighed. She took his hand, squeezing it. “They probably would have ziptied you if they thought you were a sincere threat.” She wasn’t thinking about sexy things right now, so it didn’t cross her mind that her boyfriend might get a charge out of being tied up. Maybe when Thea was less fragile, Oliver could bring it up. “Would it be okay if I invited myself over tomorrow? Or would you rather have the time with Thea?”
That was probably not the thing of thing you shared when your little sister was around at all, yeah. You know, Just because. Boundaries and stuff. It was so not what you really wanted to have going on there. “That’d actually be awesome.” he told her, “You’re welcome any time, you know.” And he kind of would like both of them around. And stuff. Possibly Roy once THAT all got worked out.
“Or I mean, I don’t know. If you need help getting home, we can take you.” Jude was feeling frayed, by now. “You want to just call?” She wanted to curl up with him and just be there, but that would have to wait at least a day. And she didn’t want to butt ahead of Thea in the line to be with her own brother.
“That would probably work really well.” Ollie told her, nodding. And as for Thea, she probably wouldn’t really think about that kind of thing TOO much. They only really did the bonding thing during crises so, that point may have been passed by this point or something. But either way? it wasn’t like she was going anywhere soon either. So they’d figure it out.
Judy was about to answer, but then there came a tap at the door. The guard stuck his head inside, telling her that visiting time was over. She wanted to argue, but honestly, it had been too long, and she was too damn tired. “Did you hear?” She told Oliver. “We gotta go.”
“Crap.” Ollie sighed dramatically. “I’ll let you know what’s going on tomorrow then, okay?” he flashed the guard an annoyed look while he was at it. He got it, really, but. It was still a pain. And kind of annoying that he couldn’t do his usual tossing money at a problem until it went away thing here. Oh well. It had to have happened someday, right?
“Just call me. I’ll come get you.” Jude smiled faintly, coming over to Oliver’s bedside. Even though Thea was there, she wrapped her arms gingerly around him, kissing him. “I love you.”
“Love you too.” Ollie grinned, kissing her back. Hey, he didn’t care about Thea at this point. Well, about her seeing. By this point? She’d seen far worse. And the guard? Kinda made him want to do a little more just because. “Thanks so much for...all of this. Coming here after I went nuts and got possessed and everything.” He added with a grin.
“It’s like I told you. You’re lucky I do love you.” Judy smiled right back. “Thea, you’re welcome to come back with me if you want.”
“Thanks.” Thea grinned at her, gave Ollie an actual last hug and turned to head on out, leaving Ollie there by himself for the moment and feeling a little bad she’d been so freaked out over all of this. Then again. It probably was better she HAD been freaked out or...
“Don’t let the guilt trip get you down yet.” She added. “We wanna be here for that. Have to make sure you don’t drown in feels.”
Ollie snorted, waving as Thea turned to leave. This whole could have gone a whole lot worse, really.