Arrow: Fracture Part 3

Maelstrom

A steady clicking noise from the overhead fan granted Thea a calming tone to follow and anticipate, assisting in her ability to recover from the most recent mission. Thankfully everyone had walked away unharmed from the events that took place earlier that day, but Thea still felt that being blown out of a window required a calming technique she had learned from her father. A sense of meditation was ideal for healing both mental and physical wounds, even if they hadn't manifested yet. Thea learned early in her vigilante career that injuries weren't always apparent and would sometimes takes days to fully become noticeable. Malcolm's meditation method seemed to halt many of these possible injuries however, strangely enough several sessions of calm breathing and peaceful focused thoughts were enough to actually make a difference. The knock at the door broke her concentration as she moved to answer it, expecting a surprise visit from her brother checking on her condition or Sin wanting to go out. Thea opened the door while angling herself in case of an attack, but dropped her defensive guard at the sight of Riley standing in her doorway. The smile on his face only added to the awkward silence quickly filling the room.

"To what do I owe this pleasure?" Thea sarcastically asked, keeping one hand on the doorknob.

"Well I was just dropping off the Men's Fitness magazines I borrowed from Roy...he said he really wanted them back." Riley jokingly responded, smirking as he hoped humor would ease the uncomfortable situation. Thea laughed, enjoying the joke but still not lowering her guard.

"Can I come in?" Riley asked, unsure how Thea woukd respond or if she would simply use physical force instead of her words.

"Sure." Thea said, turning and moving over to the couch. Riley closed the door behind himself and cautiously moved beside Thea, making sure to leave enough room between them.

"So I take it you heard about tonight?" Thea asked, wondering if her old friend was actually going to try and check up on her.

"Yes I did. Even your little unannounced swan dive through the window." Riley replied, studying his friend's body language for any signs of distress or discomfort.

"Kinda hard to announce when a grenade goes off." Thea snapped, letting Riley know that his humor would only get him so far in the conversation.

"Fair enough, but I just wanted to check on how you were doing." Riley stated, detecting that Thea wasn't in a mood for dancing around subjects. Thea sighed as she held back her instinctive response of attacking Riley and what he had did to the team before and how he forfeited the right to check up on her. Instead she decided to treat the conversation as if she were speaking with her brother.

"Yes I'm fine, thank you for checking. Now if that's all you need." She quickly answered as she gestured toward the door. Riley paused as he searched for the most gentle way of continuing, fearing what might happen when he spoke of Thea's time with her father.

"Don't forget Thea I spent a lot of time with your father, and his training methods, and I actually know you pretty well so if you wanna try the brooding hero approach go ahead but your brother could tell you from experience that it's not healthy. So why don't we drop the act and talk." Riley forcibly stated, making sure his words were clearly heard. Thea looked away as she pieced together that Riley might have more insight on what Malcolm did to her than anyone else, slightly angering her.

"I'm guessing the others don't know the full story with you and Malcolm?" Riley asked, already knowing the answer. Thea shook her head, refusing to look at him.

"Well I do. In particular Malcolm's rock climbing techniques." Riley added, catching Thea's warning gaze.

"Lets not pretend this about you nearly dying...this is about Merlyn." Riley plainly announced, hoping that cutting through to the heart of the problem would help Thea get past her recent string of issues all revolving around her father.