Unravel Me | Arrow [ COMPLETED ]

chapter twenty four

NOTE: I do not claim to be part of the Deaf community. I do not intend for the content of this chapter to be offensive. If I've written something incorrectly and it offends you, please send me a message and I will fix it. I am not here to attack your community. Teach me, and I will learn to know better.

Potential trigger warning for gun mentions and intended violence, which is canon-typical.

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"Look inside my heart and find a perilous ravine

Carved within the beauty, the darkness in between

Standing in the balance of complete and incomplete

I identify the echo of what is and what will be"

HALF.ALIVE - 'Creature'

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Of all the people to barge into his office and raise a gun to his chest, Malcolm did not expect it to be his own daughter.

To her credit, Cali's hand didn't shake, the gun didn't dip or sway, her focus never waivered. She just stood there, watching Malcolm watch her, the gun a stagnant threat between them. Something in his chest tightened - an emotion that he was unfamiliar with crept in and twisted around his heart.

Ah, perhaps an emotion that wasn't his at all then.

"Daughter," he greeted calmly, barely glancing at the weapon that could so easily end him. Cali's eyes glinted dangerously. "Are we sure the gun is necessary? I've just had the carpets cleaned, and I would hate to get blood on them."

"You know why I'm here."

He sighed, shuffling his papers nonchalantly and setting them off the side. "If you're here to kill me, please allow me the courtesy of getting my affairs in order first. I have several meetings scheduled for today, and I would prefer to cancel them politely instead of condemning my business partners to seeing my dead body."

His keen eyes picked up on the finest tremor travelling up Cali's arm as his casual attitude threw her off balance. Just as he'd known it would. She might try to play the tough girl, but she was too gentle for it really.

Michael had beaten any cruelty right out of her.

Not that Malcolm approved of the man's methods, but there had been several advantages to Michael's training that he'd taken shameless advantage of.

"I have to stop you," Cali said, and the gun lifted until it wasn't pointing at Malcolm's heart, but rather his head. He barely even blinked. Cali licked her lips nervously. "You have to pay for-for killing Robert and Sara. For almost killing Oliver. You have to pay."

"Really," Malcolm pointed out mildly, "I don't have to do anything. It's ultimately up to you, daughter mine, You're in control of the situation right now." A calculated assessment, worded specifically to ease doubt into Cali's mind.

The gun tilted away. If she pulled the trigger now, she'd probably shoot his ear off, but that was all. He'd known from the beginning that there was no real danger. She was too soft-hearted, too caught up in family and love.

Plus, the serum that was zinging around her bloodstream connected them. She couldn't kill him without killing a large part of herself.

Malcolm settled back in his chair and raised an eyebrow.