Chapter Text
The Siege of Starling City
By Kylia
Chapter 18: Mayor Queen?
Susan Williams: Your partner had some very harsh words for the SCPD in her recent interview with Perry White, Arrow. Do you share her sentiment?
Arrow: I agree with Black Canary on the subject of the SCPD's conduct since the Undertaking, yes. They've chosen to prioritize protecting their own image and the well-off of this city, rather than protect the average citizen. But that was always their problem, even from the start.
Susan Williams: You did make it your mission to target one percenters who had evaded punishment for their offenses, but along the way, you killed more than one, and you killed their bodyguards in more than a few cases. You may have turned around since the Undertaking, but murder is still murder. How can you stand and judge the SCPD when you refuse to be judged yourself?
Arrow, after a momentary pause: The SCPD doesn't have a good history of judging themselves for their own killings. But I don't refuse to be judged. What I did was wrong. I can offer excuses - the bodyguards I killed were rarely free of innocent blood on their hands, they were often in the heat of a fight - but that's all they are: excuses. I shouldn't have killed those people, in most cases.
Susan Williams: In most cases? So there are some killings you stand by?
Arrow: Malcolm Meryn was not going to let a prison cell hold him. There was no way the fight with him ended in anything but death, for us, or for him. And as for the others I killed - their blood is on my hands, whatever my justifications, and I'll have to live with that.
Susan Williams: I think that's cold comfort to their families. Merlyn's son may have little love lost for his father, but Merlyn wasn't the only man you killed that had surviving loved ones, and some of them want justice for their deaths.
Arrow, after another pause: I can never say anything, or do anything, to ease the pain of those families. I can't bring the people I killed back. But I can try to atone for those mistakes, and make sure I don't add to the list of families mourning - both by not killing, and by saving as many lives as I can.
-Excerpt from the transcript of Susan Williams interview with the Arrow on February 8th, 2014. The interview didn't air until the evening news hour on February 16th, due to Channel 52's lawyers being concerned about liability.
February 5th, 2014
CEO's Office, Queen Consolidated, Starling City
"Thank you for meeting with me here," Oliver said, standing up when his secretary let Sebastian Blood into his office. He came around the desk, giving Sebastian a firm handshake. "I know you're busy with the campaign."
"Not as busy as I might have been. All but one of my primary opponents has stood down, and the Republicans haven't put forward anyone to be worried about." Sebastian took a seat after Oliver pulled one out for him, and then Oliver sat down as well. "But... I'm guessing that's about to change?"
Oliver held back a grimace, but nodded. "You've heard?"
"I've heard rumors about your mother meeting with state and local Republican Party bigwigs, big-ticket donors. Experienced professionals getting snapped. I didn't say anything last time we talked because I wasn't sure if she was just trying to help someone else run... or if she was going to run herself." Sebastian explained. "And I didn't know if you knew." He settled back into his chair.
"I didn't know at first," Oliver admitted. "But once she started considering it seriously, she told us a little over a week ago that assuming everything went ahead with the local party, she'd be running for Mayor. She's making a formal announcement tomorrow, but I didn't you to be taken by surprise about it tomorrow, or at least after hearing nothing from me." Oliver clenched his jaw a moment. "Because - well, I've been pretty publicly supportive of you, but now that my mother is running..."
"You have to pull support from my campaign and people will ask both of us about that." Sebastian finished, and Oliver nodded.
"I supported you for Mayor because I believe you're the best man for the job. You care about the people of this city, and I think your ideas are good." Sebastian could be the man who helped the city in a way the Arrow could. Even in ways the Black Canary couldn't - he could be a hero in the open, serving to rally the people of the city to fix the underlying problems that a vigilante could never touch.
Sebastian could fix the damage his family did to Starling City.
"But, I don't - I don't think my mother would be such a horrible disaster for the city that I would be willing to publicly oppose her by continuing to back your campaign." Oliver finished. "I think she'd even be a good Mayor, in a lot of ways, even if I don't agree with most of her priorities." And that was true. His mother was smart, capable, driven, and had done well as CEO after Walter's disappearance. She was very good at talking people around to her way of thinking - at least people who were in certain social or economic circles.
But... she cared more about the wealthy as an idea. She didn't trust the average citizen of the city.
"I don't disagree with you she'd be a capable Mayor in some respects... and on not being fond of her priorities." Sebastian smiled for a moment. "But I also understand why you don't want to publicly oppose her. Blood is thicker than politics, and it should be. I appreciate you giving me the heads up."
"I just hope this doesn't jeopardize our friendship. I do value it," Oliver added.
"Not at all. But, in the spirit of that friendship, there is one thing to consider," Sebastian added. He leaned forward in his chair. "Politics is a dirty business. Too dirty. But I owe it to the people who've supported me to run the best campaign I can. I've always tried to run as clean a campaign as possible, running on the issues, not the candidate. But it doesn't always work out like that."
Oliver grimaced, clenching his jaw. He understood what Sebastian was saying. He'd barely paid attention to politics before the Island, apathetic about it as he had a lot of things, but he did know about attack ads and mudslinging and all that.
"I will promise that I'll give as good as I get. If your mother runs a clean, issues-focused campaign, then that's what I'll run on too. And I'll only ever go as far as she goes. But I can't just unilaterally disarm, politically."
Oliver inhaled slowly. He didn't really like the idea of Sebastian playing dirty politics against his mother, but... she knew what she was getting into when she decided to run? And if he did promise to match clean with clean and all that -
I mean, Mom probably wouldn't want to run some sort of horrible attack-ridden campaig either. She understands we need to build something together in Starling. Her whole problem with Sebastian is she thinks he's too divisive.
"I can't speak for my mother, but... I can at least pass that message on?" Oliver offered. "And at the very least, I appreciate you being willing to respect our friendship enough to make the offer at all."
"Always, Oliver. You're a good man. I hope we'll have plenty of chances to work together to make this city better in the future." He stood, and Oliver stood as well, nodding. "Unfortunately, a candidate's time is always in demand."
A few more quick pleasantries later, and Sebastian was gone.
February 7th, 2014
Queen Mansion, Starling City
Tommy hadn't been out here in a year? A little under. He wasn't sure of the exact last time. Not that there'd been much need to, at first, even if he'd been able to leave his place at all without risking being lynched.
He hadn't exactly been interested in talking to Oliver and Laurel, and they'd moved out of the Mansion anyway. Thea too. Neither had moved back in, even after Moira Queen was released from prison. Tommy could only imagine Mrs. Queen wasn't happy about that, but Thea hadn't said anything about her mom trying to pressure her to move back in or anything, so... maybe she knew she couldn't and shouldn't force the issue?
So as he drove down the long driveway and parked out in front of the mansion, Tommy found himself looking at the mansion for the first time in a long time. It was maintained, sure, but it did just... feel emptier.
Or maybe it was the fact that all his memories of this place were tainted. Things could never be the same with Oliver and Laurel as they had been. He didn't even know how and where to reach out, how to rebuild something, but even if they became friends again... it wouldn't be the same.
The friends I knew before the yacht just.., aren't there. Laurel was closer to her old self, but even then...
And then there was the knowledge his own father had been the one to kill Robert Queen. The man that had been more of a father to him than his own biological one.
And -
Tommy shook his head and took a breath. There was a reason he was here, and it wasn't to walk down memory lane, or let him reflect on how awful his father was.
He knocked on the front door after a moment. There was a man at the front gate, and there would be more security, but Tommy doubted there were like, as many staff as the place had had before. He waited a minute, and sure enough, it was Mrs. Queen who answered the door.
She looked... the same as ever, really. Well put together, carefully presented. Wielding the clothes and the makeup and the hair and the earrings and all that as a weapon. Moira Queen, socialite extraoordinaire. He hadn't realized how that all worked until recently, but it was hard to unsee.
How much of it is an act? Or is it even an act anymore? If Tommy kept acting like 'CEO Merlyn' as he tried to keep what was left of Merlyn Global afloat - for now - would he turn into that? Would it stop being an act?
Jesus Christ I need to have a legitimate party again. I'm spending way too much time reflecting.
"Tommy." Mrs. Queen said, her voice sounding just a little surprised, but there was a bit of the affection she used to have when she'd greeted him. And a hint of stiffness.
"Mrs. Queen," Tommy nodded. "It's been a while."
"It has." She stepped aside. "Please, come in."
Tommy went inside. "I have a meeting related to the campaign in the city in a little over an hour," she said as she closed the door behind them. "I'm sorry about that." She chuckled softly, "I'm going from having almost nothing occupying my time, to having a very full schedule."
"I do know the feeling," Tommy agreed, smiling ruefully a moment. "Taking over Merlyn Global, compared even to managing Oliver's club...." He shook his head. "Big transition."
"How is that going?" She asked, as they stepped into the living room. Tommy looked around - there had to be more guards onsite, but there didn't seem to be any around them, which was good. No one could overhear what he wanted to talk to Mrs. Queen about. "I know it can't have been easy to try to salvage the company. Or even to make the decision to keep it going at all."
"It wasn't. I was tempted to just let it all collapse, but..." Tommy trailed off, shaking his head. "Too many people worldwide depended on the company. But as for how it's going... I mean, all I feel like I've really done is turned the tailspin into a controlled landing." He gave a small, half-hollow chuckle.
"Under the circumstances, Tommy, that's hardly nothing," Mrs. Queen praised. She sat down in one of the chairs, and Tommy sat down on one of the couches. "I'd ask how things are going with your girlfriend, but you look like you have something important to discuss."
"I do." Tommy nodded, saying the words quickly and firmly. He looked around. "There's no one around who can hear us, right?" Things with Joanna were going... well, but he could tell she was feeling the strain. Not only did she have a lot of work - though less so in recent months, at least - but being cooped up in the penthouse or the office was taking it's toll on her as much as it was on him.
She'd never been as much of a party animal as he had, but she wasn't built for shutting out the entire world either.
Before he'd heard about Mrs. Queen's mayor announcement, he'd been working on arranging taking her on a date out of the city - maybe go down to National City for a weekend, or L.A. or something. They'd get less attention, they could spare the time, just that much.
And he still wanted to do that, but he did have to deal with this first. And with Sara out of the city and saying she didn't feel like she could come back yet... it was just him handling it.
She told me. She told me we needed to tell Thea. And I said it didn't matter. And then Mrs. Queen decides to run for Mayor! She had to assume the information was safe, but... was it? Was it really?
He knew. As far as Tommy knew, the lawyer who'd given him the drive didn't know what was on it, but...
"No." Mrs. Queen looked at him carefully. "Tommy, I don't think I've ever seen you this worried about anything in your life."
"...You're probably right. I haven't been." Tommy inhaled. Damnit Sara. I know you said you were worried if you came back now, you'd have some kind of... breakdown, that you'd start second guessing yourself over quitting and all that but -
Sara hadn't been expecting Mrs. Queen to run for Mayor either. She'd just... wanted to tell Thea. Worried about the secret getting loose.
"As part of my... my father's will, I was given a flash drive from him. It had a video message... and DNA test results." He watched Mrs. Queen's expression, but apart from a momentary widening of her eyes, she didn't let anything show on her face.
She's good.
"And you believed the message? The results?"
"I don't really see why he'd lie about them." Tommy snorted. "He actually asked me to not 'think less of him' for what he was talking about in it." He shook his head. "The prosecution wasn't wrong about you and my dad."
"The prosecution thought I'd had an ongoing affair with your father less than ten years ago. That I was sleeping with him after Robert's death. They were very wrong about both." Mrs. Queen countered calmly.
"I know Thea's my half-sister, biologically, Mrs. Queen." Tommy cut in flatly, before she could keep dancing around it. "Fine, it wasn't an affair, and it wasn't when the prosecutors tried to say it was, but it happened. There's proof out there. A paper trail." He didn't pause for more than the shallowest breath, pushing ahead. "As far as I'm concerned, Thea's father is Robert Queen, in every way that matters. I'm not really her brother in any way that matters either. I don't want Thea to find out about this. But you're running for Mayor now. People are going to be picking over every inch of your life. Even worse than in court."
Public servants on a low wage were nothing against legions of journalists looking for a big score, opposition researches, PIs... and Tommy really doubted Adlerman Blood was going to just not dig, and not use whatever he found.
"It's already been handled," Mrs. Queen said after a moment. "If you're sincere, you're hardly going to give this information to the press or my opposition."
"God no. But are you really sure that this is secret? That no one knows? Because I know. Sara Lance knows-"
"You told Sara?! Did she -" Mrs. Queen cut herself off. "No. She wouldn't have told Laurel, because Laurel would have told Oliver, and there's no way my son wouldn't have said something to me if he knew." She inhaled slowly.
"I had to tell someone, once I found out." Tommy shook his head. "But no, she hasn't told anyone. And she won't tell anyone either. But do you really think there's no chance this gets out? That no one could possibly figure it out?"
"I suppose that depends on what you did with the drive your father left you." Mrs. Queen said, managing to continue to seem calm. Tommy felt like pulling his hair out.
"Do you really think it's that simple?"
"What exactly are you looking for, Tommy? Who else might know?"
"I don't know! I don't think the lawyer who gave me the drive knew, but what about the person that did the DNA test? My father's track record of killing people who knew too much aside, would he have had any reason to kill this one?"
"I don't pretend to understand who your father deemed worth killing." Mrs. Queen replied cooly. "Thea will never know about this. You won't tell her. You're not going to tell Oliver or Laurel. And neither will Sara."
Maybe Sara will tell Thea, once she gets back. Whenever that was.
"And if someone does find out, and Thea finds out in an attack ad? From the news?" Tommy let out a breath. "If you tell her yourself, it'll be better than if she finds out some other way."
"There's no scenario where Thea finding out about this could possibly be 'better'." Mrs. Queen countered. "She loved Robert. It would destroy her to find out he wasn't her father, and destroy her to find out her father was Malcolm." She said his father's name like it was a slur, and Tommy couldn't even pretend to be bothered by that.
"I understand the feeling. I'm not thrilled about it either." Tommy shook his head. "But if does find out. If someone else knows, or suspects and can put together enough clues - she's going to be even less happy."
"You don't have children, Tommy." Mrs. Queen said firmly, standing up. "You wouldn't understand."
Tommy stood as well, meeting her eyes. "I don't have kids, and God knows if I even want to or ever will," not a discussion he and Joanna had had. They hadn't been dating long enough, yet. "But I do know Thea. And I know what it's like to have people close to you lie and find out the hard way they were probably never going to tell you the truth," It would be so much easier if he could just tell Mrs. Queen about what her son and future daughter in law were up to, but he couldn't do that to him.
I can't even imagine how she'd take it to find out that her son is fucking Robin Hood. He could only guess how annoyed she would have been when Oliver started backing Blood's Mayoral campaign - though he'd pulled back from that since she'd started running.
"By the time you learned about what your father was up to, he was killed by the Arrow and Black Canary a short time after. If Thea finds out, it will be very different." Mrs. Queen replied, her voice now all but icy. "You've said what you've came here to say, Tommy, and I'm sure you believe you're speaking in Thea's best interests, but I know what's best for my family." She gestured towards the door. "Please leave my home."
Tommy clenched his jaw, inhaled, let it out, then nodded. "Fine." He started for the foyer, then turned back halfway, looking at her over his shoulder. "Thinking you knew what was best for your family was what let to 318 people dying, and your children nearly hating you forever, Mrs. Queen." He turned back and continued out, letting out another breath, a long, slow exhale as he closed the front door behind him.
She's not going to tell Thea, is she? He'd said his peace. He'd made his case, or tried to. He'd had more to say, but she clearly wasn't listening.
"Fuck." He muttered under his breath, letting out another long exhale, and then.
I'm going to have to tell her. Sooner or later. Probably sooner.