(no subject)

[have_no_mercy]

"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.

Comments

[have_no_mercy]

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

[bit_awkward]

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."

[have_no_mercy]

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."

[bit_awkward]

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."

[have_no_mercy]

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."

[bit_awkward]

"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."

[have_no_mercy]

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

[bit_awkward]

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."

[have_no_mercy]

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

[bit_awkward]

"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."

[have_no_mercy]

"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."

[bit_awkward]

"Sitting around eating some of my favourite kinds of food with my favourite person? That sounds terrible. On second thought..." He teases playfully. When she mimicks his words he frowns slightly. He wants to argue with her, to be honest he doesn't think that at all, but he'd also promise he'd argue less about things like that so instead he just nods quietly and says nothing at all on it.

[have_no_mercy]

"You deserve good things, Gabe, much, much more than I do. Even if it's just hanging out together quietly and eating Chinese food, I want to do those things for you. With you."