have_no_mercy | (no subject)

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"Mercy!"

The name echoed throughout the halls of Luthor mansion, causing Tess to sigh heavily. It'd been months since she'd heard that voice and wasn't something she'd been prepared to hear today.

Oliver Queen was about the last person she'd been expecting. "The merry wanderer returns."

"Apparently, I can say the same thing about you," the blond cracked as he entered her study, all smiles and good humour. "Heard you ran away to New York. Not really your style, Mercy."

"No, it's yours." It's a pointed jab at their past, one Oliver doesn't fail to recognize, the amusement draining from his expression momentarily. "And I didn't 'run away'. I had business."

"Right. Oh, speaking of business," he continued, half-sitting on her desk where she remained seated, "I just gotta thank you for all your help in San Francisco. Rebuilding a pier, handling all the PR, couldn't have done it without you."

Tess rolled her eyes at him, standing and pacing over to the wet bar. "You had things well in hand. I didn't see any need to interfere, besides..." She paused, pouring out a healthy dose of scotch, "I thought it for the best that all things Luthor kept out of it."

Oliver frowned, watching her wrestle her emotions back down with the alcohol. "Okay. I guess I can get that. You could have at least called him."

And just like that, her walls were back up, a glare pointed straight at him. "I don't need your advice on how to deal with Conner. What do you want, Oliver?"

"Yeah, this is going about as well as I should have expected. I'm waving the white flag here, Mercy. I just thought maybe we could--"

"We could what?" Tess interrupted, hands on her hips, the drink long since gulped down. "Have a couple of beers, hang out and pick colours for the nursery?"

He held up a finger, contemplating. "No, I'm pretty sure that's what the cousins Sullivan Lane are doing. Minus the beer. For Chloe, anyway."

"Sullivan-Queen Lane," she corrected. "Is that why you're back in town? Got bored without the little woman?" Oliver merely shrugged in response.

Tess' eyes widened in shock. "Oh my god, you are bored and you actually thought we could just... hang out."

Another shrug. "We're friends and my options are pretty slim these days what with Boy Scout over in Russia."

"We're not those kind of friends, Oliver. It's the same as I have with Chloe and Lois and you don't exactly see us palling around after work, drinking cosmos and gossiping about shoes."

"Okay. Ouch."

"That's the way it has to be. Not to mention that I have company, so if you'll excuse me?" She motioned toward the door, not that he didn't already know where it was.

Oliver lifted his hands in mock resignation. "Say no more. The last thing I need is to catch a repeat of the Tess and Emil show."

"Get out."

He laughed softly, taking his time to walk to the door where he hesitated briefly, looking back at her. "I'll see you around, Mercy." And then he was gone, leaving Tess to sit back at her desk, resting her head in her hands as yet another Queen induced headache began.

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"I needed to confirm that he was who I thought he was. When I did, I sent him off to do what he was supposed to." Which is still pretty vague, but accurate.

"I've often thought about selling it, but who would buy a castle in the middle of nowhere Kansas?"

"I see. Still..." He's quiet as he just absorbs. It's hard to understand, in a lot of ways, but only because he's never experienced anything of the sort. He has a boring quiet life. It's a blessing and a curse.

"A lot of people would I bet you. To escape from life and such. Isn't that a thing people with a decent amount of money do? And this is a lovely place."

"I never know how much to tell you. How much you should know." She looks down at the glass still in her hands. "How much you really want to know."

He seems to take a moment to think about this before answering.

"I want to know as much as I can about you Tess. I want you to know as much about me. I mean... I know our lives are vastly different but I want us to be close. As close as you feel comfortable being."

She turns the glass in her hands. "Even if it involves learning things about me that aren't positive?"

"Not everyone has positive things in their life." He brushes his hand against her cheek and gives a quick kiss to her forehead. "I think you're perfect, even with your imperfections, and I don't think there's much that could change that view."

"I'm not perfect, Gabe. Please don't think I am." She glances over at him. "I've done terrible things and what's worse, I'm not sorry for any of them."

"You are. In the sense that I accept your short comings and your successes." To be honest he's more and more used to that as time goes on. There used to be a time where he'd start in on her but he's starting to realise perhaps the world isn't as black and white as most people are lead to believe. "These things happen. I don't think they're enough to scare me away like you seem to think they are. I mean... You've seen me at a lot of my low points and you're still here aren't you?"

"Our respective low points are very, very different."

Tess downs the last of her drink and decides to soldier on. "I had suspicions he was an alien and I had to make certain of that, so I blew up his car. With him in it. If he came back to life, then I'd know he was who I thought he was. And he did. When he was completely better, I sent him on his way."

"This is true but... well, you know."

He listens quietly as the other speaks, when she is finished he nods in understanding. He can't say he understands, or perhaps agrees, but sometimes extreme measures are taken. "Was there anything else you could have done, to check? I mean if that was the only way then you had to do it right?"

She shrugs. "I'm sure there were other methods, but I was under a time crunch and that was the fastest way. Had I been wrong I would have killed an innocent person and I would have been annoyed at the waste of my time and resources, not at the waste of a life."

"But this is what you do isn't it? I mean, aside from your company you're very involved with this sort of thing." He nods. "And sometimes when you have a job to do then you need to do it. Regardless of the consequences. It's just more intense than most people are used to."

Tess studies his face for a moment before answering. "And that doesn't bother you, that I've killed people and been glad of it?"

"Well it bothers me, a little." He answers in earnest. "But I think it because, when I was younger, things seemed so easily defined. People who did wrong things were wrong. But the older I get, and the more I broaden my horizons, the more I realise not all things are well defined as right and wrong. It's more defined in terms of needs. What needs to be done. Sometimes what needs to be done involves things that don't fit more in the 'wrong' category. But that doesn't necessarily mean they are."

Tess doesn't really have a proper reaction to that, so she just leans over and kisses him.

He's slightly surprised by the kiss but he returns it equally. "I know you're not perfect Tess. I know that. You might not always do things I agree with, you might have done things that I would never do myself, but that doesn't mean I'd ever hate you. Never ever. But you are perfect, to me, because you're willing to share these parts of yourself with me."

She wraps her arms around his neck, pulling him in for a tight hug. "You don't know how much it means to me for you to say that. But I also want you to be able to tell me if there ever is anything you can't abide. I want us to be honest with each other."

He's glad that she's said these things to him, mostly so he can assure her that there isn't anything to fret over. He can imagine that she'd had this weighing on her chest for quite a while. "Okay. I will. I try and see everyones points now, rather than just assume, but I can't promise I'll always be good at it. But I promise I will let you know. But to be honest, I doubt there's anything I wont be able to at least be able to understand."

She nods against his shoulder. "I know. It's a learning process, it is for me, too, but I appreciate your willingness to try. And just so you know, I don't do that anymore. I try to be more constructive in how I help people now."

"I'll always be willing to try." He smooths his hand over the top of her head slowly. "That's good. We learn from our past experiences. That's what counts right? Not the past itself but from what we take away from that past."

She sort of slumps against him then, tired from this entire conversation. "Thank you."

He's just going to keep slowly running his hands through her hair idly. "You're welcome Tess, but you don't need to thank me. I'm all to glad to."

"You're too good to me," she mumbles. "You want to order in Chinese for dinner?"

"Well it is the new year right? I think it's required." He nods, offering a smile. "I think it works the other way around but maybe that's a good thing. Tess you need someone to be good to you. I think."

"You don't mind, then? Sitting here eating take-out for New Year's?"

She lifts her to look up at him. "You need someone to be good to you, too."

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