Chapter One

The sounds were soothing, the gentle beep of the monitors, the quiet clacking of keys. Absorbed in her task, Felicity Smoak pushed her glasses up on her nose and let her fingers fly over the keyboard.

"Earth to Felicity!" A hand slapped down on her desk, startling her out of her zone.

She looked up to see her colleague and friend standing in front of her. "What's up?"

Natalie shook her head in amusement, her short, brown curls bouncing around her face. "You didn't hear a word I just said, did you?"

Felicity smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. I'm on a deadline."

"Yeah, I can see the steam coming out of your ears." She laughed, sitting back in the chair opposite.

Felicity returned her attention to her computer. "What do you want, Nat?"

"Can't a girl just swing by to check in on her friend?"

"Sure, but your check-ins usually come with a little side project for me."

Natalie rolled her eyes. "Whatever, I brighten your day just by being in the room, Smoak. Don't deny it."

"I don't." She laughed. "But in the one month that you've been working in finance, you've come to me with more problems than my boss has in a year."

Felicity really hadn't known her that long, but she felt comfortable enough to call her a friend. They didn't really socialise much outside of work, other than meeting for the occasional coffee. But it was nice having another woman her own age around the offices.

Natalie pouted. "Well, I'm still finding my feet. Anyway, it's not my fault the IT department set the computers up to be impossible to navigate in this place."

"Hey!" Felicity threw her a mock glare. "I set those computers up."

"I rest my case. You're like…freaky level genius, Felicity."

"Flattery will get you everywhere. Fine, I'll come to your office in about half an hour."

"Excellent, you're the best." She said, standing up and heading for the door. Turning back for a moment, she grinned. "Oh, and bring coffee."

Natalie ducked out of the office before Felicity could even respond. Glancing at the clock on the wall, she smiled. It was almost nine am. Speaking of coffee. Snatching her purse off the back of her chair, she walked out the door with a spring in her step.

The coffee break room was empty when she arrived, which was unusual for the time of day. Most of the employees on her floor were just starting their workday and this was usually their first destination.

She shrugged and headed over to the coffeemaker. As the machine poured the silky liquid into her favourite mug, Felicity looked around the room. The festive cheer was in full swing today, with decorations strewn everywhere she looked.

Keeping an eye on the time, she sat down at one of the large tables, and took out her tablet. This was the best part of her day. The subject of her thoughts walked into the room and headed straight for the coffee machine.

She sighed, watching him over the rim of her mug. Tommy Merlyn. Stepson to the C.E.O of Queen Consolidated, Walter Steele. Every day he came in at nine am on the dot, and every day she found herself there too. The man was ridiculously good looking it almost wasn't fair. But that was as far as it went. She never spoke to him; she never introduced herself, she just didn't have the nerve. He was a complete stranger to her.

That was okay, because he never even so much as glanced her way, let alone spoke to her. She was always content to just sit back and watch as he poured himself a coffee, checked his phone, and then left to begin his day.

But today, something changed.

As if sensing her stare, Tommy glanced up at her and smiled. Oh boy, look at those eyes, she thought to herself. Quickly averting her gaze, Felicity cursed as she slammed her mug down a little too hard and her coffee sloshed over the pristine, white table.

She heard a chuckle and then something white appeared under her nose. Silently cringing, Felicity looked up to see Tommy standing next to the table, holding a napkin out for her.

"Uh…thanks." She muttered, avoiding eye contact as she reached out and took it, and then set about cleaning up her mess.

"No problem." He replied and she was sure that if she'd been standing up, her legs would've buckled from hearing the deep, rich tone of his voice. Was there anything about the man that wasn't perfect? Highly doubtful, she thought.

She smiled again and he started to move back towards the door. But before he left, he nodded at her. "Merry Christmas."

She opened her mouth to reply, to tell him that she was Jewish, but nothing came out. Her vocal chords locked up and before she could clear her throat, he smiled and walked out of the room.

"You're beautiful. Would you like to have dinner with me sometime? I love you." She groaned as she banged her forehead against the table, mortified.

"Well, that went well." She said to herself, feeling her cheeks heat up as she gathered her belongings and stood up. "Not embarrassing at all, Felicity."

Her only saving grace, she thought as she returned to her office, was that he had no idea who she was and wouldn't even remember her blunder. Besides, he was probably used to girls falling all over themselves around him. Not that she was doing that, exactly. She had a little more pride in herself than that. But oh, he was so handsome and she was only human.

Felicity threw her hands over her face and moaned. She really needed to get a life. Pushing all thoughts of her boss' boss' boss out of her head, she returned her attention to her very important deadline.

She managed to get two sentences typed before her supervisor breezed into the room, holding some paperwork in his hand.

"Good morning, Felicity."

I should just install a revolving door to this office, she thought.

"Morning, Alex. What have you got for me today?"

"I am nominating you for Employee of the Month." He said enthusiastically.

"Wow, really? Took you long enough." She laughed. She liked that she could do that with Alex. He was her boss, but he was also a great friend and had been there for her a lot in the past when she'd needed someone.

Alex opened the letter and began reading. "I, Alex Whitmore, hereby nominate Felicity Smoak for Employee of the Month. Felicity is hard working, always arrives early, and is never tardy. She is also willing to work holidays, even if she did work the previous one."

Felicity narrowed her eyes. "Alex, I'm not working tomorrow."

He put the paper down on her desk and leaned forward in his chair. "Felicity, I really need someone to monitor the servers tomorrow. The office is going to be closed and I need someone here."

"So get Celeste to do it. I'm not working Christmas Day."

Alex ran a hand through his thick, black hair. Though at forty-six years old, there was a slight peppering of grey coming in at the sides. "She can't, she has a family thing, Greg is out sick, and I promised my wife that I would actually be at home this year."

Felicity knew that he'd been having problems with his marriage lately but that didn't excuse him for this. She knew where he was heading and it left an unpleasant feeling in her chest. "So you came in here trying to bribe me with an Employee of the Month title that, quite frankly, I deserved a year ago?"

"No, the nomination is real and I would've given it to you whether you said yes or no."

"This stinks, Alex."

Alex sighed and covered her hand with his. "I know and believe me; I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important. But Felicity you're the only one…"

"Who's alone." She finished for him. The fact that it was true didn't mean that it didn't hurt.

"I know you and your mom are-"

Felicity held up a hand, unwilling to go down that road. "I will come in for a couple of hours but that's it."

Alex smiled at her, a hint of sadness in his eyes. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet."

He chuckled as he walked over to the door. "This is going to cost me a lot of donuts, isn't it?"

"You always were a smart man." She replied, getting back to work.


Felicity woke early the next morning, intent on getting to the office so that she wouldn't have to stay late. After an evening of comfort food and old movies, she was feeling a little better, but she couldn't deny that she wished she could just stay home. To lock herself inside her apartment and not come out until this holiday was over.

Since that wasn't an option, for today at least, she wrapped up warm and prepared to do battle with the elements. December in Starling City meant snow, and lots of it. She hated driving in it so most of the time, she walked to and from work.

"Hey, Felicity!"

Felicity groaned, and turned around to face her landlord's son, Cooper. She really didn't have the energy to deal with him this morning. "Hi."

"Where are you off to so early?" He asked, walking up to her. He was a year younger than she was and about the same height with curly, brown hair. Harmless enough, but she knew that he had a huge crush on her, and sometimes his definition of personal space was a little different to others.

"I'm going to work."

He looked puzzled. "On Christmas Day? Pop said that you could come over for lunch if you wanted to."

Cooper was a sweetheart really, and sometimes Felicity felt a little sorry for him. She reached out and rubbed his upper arm. "Thanks for the offer, but I have to go to work now."

"You want me to give you a ride?" He asked, pointing across the courtyard to his car. "I got her working now, she only backfires a little."

Felicity chuckled as she started walking. "I'm good thanks. Maybe you should keep working on it."

"Maybe we should go on a date?" He yelled after her.

She smiled and kept walking.

By the time she arrived at Queen Consolidated, the sun was out and reflecting brightly off the snow covered pavements. Since hardly anyone was working today, the main doors were locked, which meant she had to buzz through to security to let her in.

As she pressed the button, she spotted someone across the street getting out of a car. It was Tommy Merlyn, looking as fine as ever. Her mouth went dry when she realised that he was heading her way, and an instant replay of her embarrassment the day before flashed into her mind.

She relaxed a little when she saw that he was speaking to someone on his cell phone. Well, arguing seemed to be a better way of putting it. Good, at least she wouldn't have to talk to him this morning.

He was halfway across the road when she saw it. A red SUV had hit a patch of black ice and the driver was struggling to gain control. Oh God, she thought, her entire body freezing.

"Tommy!" She screamed, and before he had even looked up, Felicity was moving. She didn't allow herself any time to think, she just reacted. She ran faster than she knew she could and crashed into him, knocking him out of the way, as the SUV careened past them and smashed into a nearby-parked car.

Winded by the impact, Felicity tried to force some air into her lungs. "Are you okay?"

He didn't answer. She looked down to see that he was unconscious and blood was coming from the back of his head where he'd struck the concrete. "Tommy?"

The security guard came running out of the building as she frantically checked for a pulse. It was there, but weak. With numb fingers, she reached into her purse for her phone and dialled nine-one-one.


"Ma'am you can't go in there." A male nurse stopped Felicity from following any further as a team of nurses and doctors rushed Tommy through to the emergency room.

"Is he okay? Please I just-"

"Are you family?" He interrupted firmly. The expression on his face told Felicity that he wasn't going to believe anything she said.

"No, but I-"

"Then you need to take a seat over there."

As he ran off to help the rest of the team, Felicity stood in the middle of the waiting room wringing her hands. Beyond the two glass doors, she kept her eyes glued to Tommy's face until they pushed him out of sight.

She sighed. "Oh, I was gonna marry him."

Blinking tears away, Felicity took a seat in the waiting room, elbows resting on her knees as she dropped her head into her hands.

"Excuse me, Miss?" She glanced up to see a young nurse with a friendly smile standing in front of her.

"Yeah?"

"If you come with me, I can take you to him."

Immediately, she stood and followed her. She led her through the glass doors and down the hallway. After turning a few more corners and more hallways, she eventually pointed to another waiting room. At least this one's empty, Felicity thought.

"Take a seat, hun. As soon as they have him settled, I'll take you in to see him."

"Thank you," Felicity squinted at her nametag. "Joanne."

She was about to sit down when the nurse's eyes dropped to her arm. "Did you hurt yourself?"

"What? No I…" She glanced down and winced when she saw the blood around a small tear in her sleeve.

"Here, let me look at it."

She guided Felicity into a seat and then removed her jacket. There was a small gash, about an inch long, on her elbow and it was still bleeding.

"Wow, I didn't even feel that."

"Adrenalin can do that. It's going to need a couple of stitches, I'm afraid."

Felicity cringed. "Really? Can't you just put a band-aid on it?"

"I'm sensing you don't like needles." Joanne chuckled and shook her head. "It'll be okay. Come on, I'll make it painless, I promise."


It was a full hour before they finally allowed Felicity to see Tommy, and as soon as she stepped into the room, she felt sadness wash over her. He was just lying there, unconscious.

"Let him hear your voice, hun." Joanne said, gently squeezing her arm as she passed by to exit the room.

But once she was alone with him, Felicity had no idea what to say. She knew that there were conflicting theories about whether or not coma patients could hear voices, but she figured it was worth a try.

"Um…hi." She folded her jacket over her arms and took a few deep breaths. "I don't know if you can hear me, you probably can't. I prefer to think of…this as you being in a deep sleep, because you know, coma sounds…not fun."

She closed her eyes and sighed. "Sorry, I tend to ramble when I'm nervous. But everything's going to be okay, Tommy. I know it."

"Miss Smoak?" A doctor stood to her left, holding out his hand for her to shake. "I'm Doctor Rubin, the Queen family's personal physician."

"Please, call me Felicity. Is he going to be okay?"

"Well, Felicity-"

"Where is he? Where is my son?" A voice yelled and all eyes shot to the doorway. Felicity shrank back as Tommy's mom, stepfather, and younger sister, all barged into the room and headed straight for his bed. It was no secret that Moira and Robert Queen had adopted Tommy when he was younger. But as a mark of respect to Tommy's mother, who had died when he was only five years old, they never changed his surname.

"He looks so pale!" Thea cried, holding onto his hand.

"What the hell happened to him?" Walter, Moira's husband, asked. They had married a few years ago, after Robert Queen's ship had gone missing and he was presumed dead.

Moira turned to the doctor. "What's wrong with him?" she asked. Her voice was calm but Felicity could see the fear in her eyes.

Doctor Rubin patted her shoulder gently. "Moira, I'm afraid that Tommy is in a coma."

Thea gasped and started crying and Walter lowered his head. But Moira, she stood strong. "A coma. On Christmas Day?"

"Yes. But his vitals are all strong, his scans came back normal. His brainwaves are good. I believe he'll make a full recovery."

Moira pressed a hand to her mouth, unable to keep the tears from falling any longer. Walter stepped in behind her, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"How did this happen?"

Felicity stepped forward and spoke for the first time since they'd come barging in. "A car hit a patch of black ice outside Queen Consolidated and almost hit him."

Suddenly she felt about two feet tall because every pair of eyes in the room landed on her.

"I'm sorry, who are you?" Moira asked, clearly confused.

"I'm-"

"She's his fiancée." Joanne said from the doorway. The room fell so silent that Felicity would've been able to hear a pin drop.

"Fiancée? Tommy's getting married?" Thea said, letting go of his hand to get a closer look at Felicity.

Feeling a little crowded, Felicity floundered. "No, no you don't understand, I'm-"

Walter frowned. "Why wouldn't he tell us?"

"Maybe he was busy?" Thea said.

"Too busy to tell his own mother he was getting married?"

Thea rolled her eyes. "He's only engaged, Walter, I'm sure he would've said something soon. Maybe he only just proposed."

The room felt smaller and Felicity grew alarmed as Moira pressed a hand to her chest. "Are you okay?"

"She has a heart condition, already had one attack this year." Walter said softly, cupping his wife's elbow.

"It wasn't an attack, Walter, it was an episode."

Oh God, Felicity thought. What is going on?

"Excuse me, doctor what is she doing in here?" The male nurse from earlier appeared, clearly unhappy that she was in the room.

"She saved his life." Joanne said with a dreamy smile on her face.

"What do you mean?" Moira asked.

"She ran into the street and pushed him out of the way."

Felicity groaned and rubbed a hand over her forehead, she was getting a headache.

"But then, how did he…?" Thea gestured to Tommy lying in the bed.

"He struck his head on the concrete when we landed. I'm sorry, I didn't know."

"You don't have to apologise." Moira smiled.

The male nurse glanced from Felicity to the doctor. "It's supposed to be family only."

Walter looked straight into her eyes and smiled. "She is family."

That was enough for Felicity to finally break. "Okay, look I think there's been a-"

"I'm sorry. We haven't seen him for a while and we just didn't know he was seeing anyone." Moira interrupted, walking towards her with misty eyes.

Felicity opened her mouth but when Moira wrapped her arms around her and hugged her so tightly, she quickly closed it again.

"Thank you, dear. You saved my son's life."

"It's actually pretty cool," Thea said, crossing her arms. "I think it's romantic."

"I'm so happy he found a nice girl." Felicity could feel the panic kicking in as she reluctantly hugged Moira back.


When she could finally escape, she ran out of the room and grabbed a hold of Joanne's arm. "Why? Why did you say that?"

Joanne frowned. "Say what?"

Felicity shook her head as she gestured frantically at herself. "I'm not his fiancée!"

"What? Then why did you say you were going to marry him? In the waiting room."

Suddenly Felicity realised her mistake. "Oh jeez, I was talking to myself."

Joanne huffed. "Well next time you talk to yourself, tell yourself you're single and end the conversation."

"What do I do? She hugged me so tight, I…I couldn't tell her."

Joanne offered her a sympathetic smile and shook her head. She didn't have an answer.

Felicity had gotten herself into some real pickles before, but this was a new level even for her. How the heck was she going to get out of this one?

To Be Continued...