10 / a brush with the triad

283 6 4
                                    

The sound of fists colliding with leather filled the Foundry as Sandra worked through her thoughts the way she usually did: with a punching bag. Even over her ragged breathing and the steady thump-thump-thump, her thoughts were infuriatingly loud.

Each strike she dealt only came more aggressively than the one before it, a different thought fueling each one.

Martin Somers. Punch. 

Chien Na Wei. Punch. 

The Triad. Punch, punch. 

Carolyn.

One last blow fell in time with Sandra's shout, causing the punching bag to rattle on it's chain. She stepped away as it swung, her heart refusing to settle. Her mind continued on its warpath: Chien. Somers. Triad. Carolyn. Chien. Somers. Triad-

“Thought I’d find you here,” came Oliver’s voice from the stairway. 

Sandra ignored him, going back to her training. She heard the creak of the metal stairs as he walked down. After a few seconds of watching her, Oliver asked, “How are you?”

In reply, Sandra snatched the nearest throwing star from a table, whirling around and hurling it towards Oliver – not at him, but just past him. The star zipped past his face, hitting a bullseye a few feet behind him with a thunk. 

Oliver glanced at it. “I’ll take that as a ‘not good.’”

Sandra leaned against the table, letting it hold her weight. “The Triad is in Starling City,” she said, her voice like crunching gravel. 

Oliver nodded, avoiding her eyes. “I know.”

She stared at him. “China White is in this city."

He hesitated. “Probably.”

“She is,” Sandra pressed. “I know she is.”

She shook her head, beginning to unwrap the gauze from her knuckles; her hands needed something to do, or she was going to start hitting something again. “You don’t understand, Oliver. I have a chance, now. A chance to get back at them for everything they’ve done.”

“I do understand,” Oliver said, taking a seat on one of the stools. “I do. And that’s why I think you should sit this one out.”

Sandra’s eyes snapped up to his, sharp as knives. “Don’t be funny.”

“I’m not,” Olivers said. “The Triad is a– a pressure point for you–”

“You think I don’t know that?” 

“–and when you get like this, you get angry,” he said, not missing a beat. He met her eyes, and Sandra could see him struggling to stay calm enough for the two of them. “Sandra, you get reckless. Careless. This isn’t Hong Kong, or Russia. If one of us gets caught out there, it’s not just ourselves we’re putting in danger. It’s my family. Tommy. Laurel.”

“I don’t get caught,” Sandra said. “And you won’t make me sit this one out.”

“Sandra–”

Shiva (Arrow - Oliver Queen)Where stories live. Discover now