word count: 13,200
chapter rating: pg-13
summary: (teen wolf AU) Two years ago, Felicity Smoak nearly died in a fire that stole the lives of two of her friends and their entire family. Still recovering, her life changes even more when she's bitten by a strange animal in the woods. Before she knows it, she's got a feud with the full moon; a boy she thought she loved and lost is not-so-dead; and her sleepy town is being terrorized by a bloodthirsty monster.
-1-
Felicity should have been sleeping. It was after eleven and tomorrow was the first day back at school, so she definitely should have been sleeping. She wasn't, though. Instead, she was on her computer, her eyes a little itchy from staring at a screen for so long, while she... Well, hacked was such an ugly word. But, technically, that was what she was doing. Specifically, she was hacking the DMV. More specifically, because her mother's license was expired and, no matter how many times Felicity pointed it out, Donna said she just 'didn't have enough time' to get it updated. Which was code for 'I don't want to stand in line at all, ever.' Felicity was also half sure that she didn't mind having an expired license because that meant that Sheriff Lance, who Donna wasted no opportunity to flirt with, would have to pull her over, again, for the third time this week. But, Felicity had a plan, and that was to make sure her mother's interest in her best friend's dad didn't get her hauled away to jail anytime soon. Sure, Sheriff Lance was a good guy, but he could only ignore the letter of the law so many times. Which is why Felicity had doctored a new ID for her mother and was now hacking the DMV to make it that much more legitimate.
She was just finishing up when she heard a noise outside her house that made her pause. Usually, she was so in the zone that an entire cyclone could take off the roof and she wouldn't notice. But, that wasn't the case. In part because she was basically exiting out of the windows she had open for her hacking, so her head was back on normal things like when the last time the small town of Starling had seen a serial killer... While attempting to recall the crime stats that Sara liked to inform her of on a weekly basis (just for funsies), Felicity heard another noise coming from the trellis that climbed the side of the house, giving prime access to the porch roof sitting right under Felicity's open and vulnerable window.
Backing away from her computer, she stood and shuffled toward her closet. Having never been into sports, it wasn't like she had a baseball bat hidden away for a situation like this. She did, however, have a long, empty, cardboard tube for the schematics on a robot her and Barry were building over the summer, sans said schematics, thankfully. Picking it up, she carefully tip-toed toward her window, her nerves shot and her stomach tied up in knots. Vaguely, she thought that maybe, instead of confronting whatever murderous psychopath was attempting to break into her house and violently kill her, she could have called Sara's dad. But, it was too late for that now.
So, when a hand landed on the window ledge, she gave a war cry, and attacked. She slammed her cardboard tube down against their hands and let out an angry, hopefully scary, shriek.
"Ow! What the freaking hell, Smoaky? Did you just try to break my fingers? Are you crazy?"
Felicity paused. "Sara?" She poked her head out the window to find her best friend crouched on the roof, ringing out her hand and rubbing at her knuckles. Wincing, Felicity dropped the tube. "Sorry! I— I thought you were a serial killer."
"So, you attacked me with a science project?" Sara looked up and tipped her head, looking amused. "You'd have better luck babbling them to death."
"Hey, rude." She frowned. "What're you doing here so late? We have school tomorrow."
Sara lit up. "I heard something on my scanner—"
"You mean your dad's old scanner that you stole and keep in your room and listen to even though he's told you not to like a million times?"
"Yeah, that one." She nodded. "Anyway, there's a body in the woods. So, I guess that whole serial killer thing wasn't totally off the mark."
"A body?" Felicity's gaze jumped past her toward the treeline. "Who was it? Do they know?"
"Not yet." She shrugged. "The whole force was called in and they're bringing in State police to check it out, too. Right now, nobody's allowed to get too close. So, I thought... we should go see for ourselves."
"What?" Felicity's voice squeaked. "You want to go into the dark, creepy woods at night so we can find a dead body? Have you ever watched a horror movie!? Rhetorical, I already know you have because we have a monthly 'scare Felicity' movie-thon."
"That's what you call it, I just call it 'fun.'" Sara smiled. "Anyway, you don't have to come if you don't want to, but I'm definitely going."
"What if your dad catches you?"
"I know where he'll be, so I'll keep out of sight." She moved toward the edge of the porch roof. "Did I mention they only found half the body? That means there's another half just hidden somewhere out there..."
"Sara..." Felicity chewed on her lip, watching her friend grab onto the lattice to start her way down. Worry and uncertainty bubbled up in Felicity's stomach. For as long as she'd known Sara, which was basically kindergarten, she'd always jumped into everything with both feet. She rarely asked questions, content to just let things happen as they did. Felicity was not like that. She didn't like mysteries. She liked planning. But, what kind of plan could she prepare for going into the woods to find half of a dead body? All she knew for sure was that Sara was definitely going to do this and she shouldn't do it alone.
"Wait for me..."
Sara grinned, like she knew it was just inevitable that Felicity would tag along. And, really, it was inevitable. Wherever Sara went, so went Felicity's nation. Turning on her heel, she walked back into her room and traded her Snoopy pajamas for a pair of jeans and a long-sleeve shirt. Grabbing up a jacket, she made her way downstairs, dug around in the kitchen utility drawer for a flashlight, grabbed her boots from the front door, and met Sara on the porch.
Sitting on the railing, swinging her legs, Sara hopped down as soon as the front door closed. "Ready for an adventure, Smoaky-Smoak?"
Felicity rolled her eyes, but she could admit that, on the inside, there was a little bit of excitement starting to build up. Much as she knew this was a bad idea, much like most of Sara's last-minute adventures were, there was a part of her that was glad Sara was exactly who she was, and that she was Felicity's friend. It meant that instead of spending her entire life in front of a computer screen, she had a little more going on. Sara dragged her out of the house and reminded her there was a whole world out there, just waiting for her to greet it. Even if it had a severed body hiding in the woods.
"You know this is crazy, right?" Felicity followed Sara over to her sunflower yellow VW Bug. "Not only is your dad probably going to catch us, but the only way a body ends up in two pieces is if someone else makes it."
"It could be more than two pieces. They found the bottom half, but, who knows how many pieces the top half is in." Sara pulled on her seat belt as she started the car, the stereo coming alive with upbeat pop music.
Felicity reached over to turn it down. "You found out there's a dead body and you thought a little Katy Perry would get you in the mood for searching the woods for a body?"
"My layers have layers." Sara pulled her car out onto the road and started toward the highway. "I hope you're ready for a hike. The body was found pretty deep in the woods."
"Great, just what I wanted to do the night before senior year. I can't wait to fall into a patch of poison ivy; it'll really make my week."
Sara snorted. "I can't be held responsible for your lack of balance."
With a huff, Felicity hunkered down in her seat and crossed her arms over her chest. "We don't even have any weapons. If we run into the murderer, we'll have to rely on our ability to scream."
"I've got a mean scream." She shrugged and then added, "Also, I have mace, a rape whistle, and a stun gun..."
Felicity eyed her. "Your dad gave you a stun gun?"
"I borrowed the stun gun... Mom gave me the mace and rape whistle forever ago."
Felicity had a rape whistle on her key chain, also a gift from her own mother. She didn't trust herself with mace; she had a feeling she'd end up hitting herself with it before any perpetrator. Never mind what she might accidentally do with a stun gun. "Have you ever used it?"
"Nah. But, there's a first time for everything."
Felicity shook her head.
The woods were eerie during the day, but that was nothing compared to night. Gnarled, skeletal branches that blotted out much of the moon; damp earth with clumps of twigs and leaves; the skittering sound of animal feet moving around out of sight. Even with the flashlight in her hand, she felt like she was tripping over everything. Upturned tree roots kept catching on her feet while reaching twigs pulled at her jeans and her shirt. Rustling bushes seemed to follow them as they moved through the trees. Sara didn't seem the least bit put out. Climbing up on fallen trees, using large boulders as jump off points, swinging herself around on low-hanging branches. She was a mini-Tarzan.
"How are you not freaking out right now? There's a killer on the loose. Probably somewhere in these woods. And you're running around like a wood nymph."
Sara came to an abrupt stop next to Felicity and hip-bumped her, sending her careening a few inches to the left. "Lighten up. With all the sirens and the lights, whoever killed them took off. Besides, it could've been an animal. Or it was something dumb, like they fell in the river, drowned, and were swept right over Star Falls. They were probably severed in half by all the rocks at the bottom."
"Or some psychopath is out here cutting people in half in some kind of crazy, ritualistic murdering spree and this is just the first we're hearing about it."
"That's a possibility, too." Sara grinned. "Look, we're better in numbers, right? So, as long as we stick together—"
"Who's out there?"
A flashlight beam turned in their direction and both girls darted in opposite directions, hiding behind the nearest tree. Felicity turned her own flashward inward, pressing the light against her stomach to block it, and then reached up to cover her mouth, trying her hardest not to make a sound. The flashlight moved around slowly, searchingly, but never landed on either of them. Eventually, it moved on, and she turned her head toward Sara, who was grinning.
Felicity shook her head, but Sara started moving. "Come on. We have to be close to the body."
"Which part?" Still, Felicity followed after her, moving through the trees, her eyes darting around worriedly. In the distance, she could hear dogs barking and the din of multiple voices.
"It can't be that far from the bottom half, right?" Sara shrugged.
"We don't know that. It could be on the other side of the forest for all we know..." Felicity hurried her steps to catch up, but her foot down on a branch and she tumbled forward. She hit the wet ground, hard, her knees radiating a jolt of pain up her legs and her glasses falling from her face. In the same instance, her flashlight hit a rock and broke, leaving them in the dark.
"Frack," Felicity muttered and started feeling around, finding cold, wet dirt and soggy leaves. "Sara? I lost my glasses..."
There was no answer.
Felicity lifted her head and squinted around, but all she was blurry tree trunks. "Sara?" she called out, her voice still a little hushed.
Suddenly, barking caught her attention, and Felicity's head swivelled to the right.
"Dad!" she heard in a familiar voice, and her heart sunk into her stomach. She ducked down, hiding as best she could.
"Sara, what the hell are you doing out here?" Sheriff Lance demanded.
"Uh..."
"You were listening on that old scanner again, weren't you? Do you have any idea how dangerous it is that you're out here right now?"
"It's not that big a deal. It's just a body. Or, half a body."
"Uh-huh. Well, fun's over. You need to get home, and take your little sidekick, too..." He paused. "Where is she?"
"Felicity? Back home sleeping, I'd guess. It's the first day of school tomorrow. You think she'd let me talk her into coming out here? You know how she is about school."
Unconvinced, Sheriff Lance started shouting, "Felicity...? If you're out there, it's time to come out... Felicity?"
Felicity bit down on her lip. On the one hand, she absolutely wanted to step out, apologize, and catch a ride home. On the other hand, if she stepped out now, Sara's dad would know she lied, and the last thing she wanted to do was get her friend in trouble. Sure, it was mostly Sara's fault she was out there in the first place. But, well, she didn't have to go with her. So, she didn't come out. She figured, at worst, she'd just find her way back to where Sara parked her car and catch a ride back home.
"All right, come on. We're gonna take a walk to your car and talk about this danger streak of yours. 'Cause seriously, honey, you're gonna give me an early heart attack, you keep this stuff up..."
As their voices faded, Felicity let out a slow breath. She turned herself over and started feeling around the ground again, searching for her glasses with gentle but worried hands, patting at the ground for any sign of where they might be. She moved forward on her knees, still looking, when she felt it, the distinct crunch under her knee.
"No... No, no, no..." She sat back and dug under her knee, pulling out her now mangled pair of glasses. She held them up to her face, but it was pointless. They were wrecked. Sighing, long and loud, she pushed herself up from the ground, and looked around.
The flashlights that hadn't looked that far away were now nowhere to be seen. They must've changed direction, meaning she was officially alone. Except, not alone. Because there were definitely animals out there, and possibly a bloodthirsty killer. Well, she assumed bloodthirsty. Somebody didn't sever someone in half for no reason. Not that any reason was a good reason. But, she supposed whoever did it was probably convinced there was a why, a good why, for what they'd done. She couldn't even begin to get into the head of a killer. Her pet gold fish died when she was eight and she'd blamed herself for overfeeding it. She wouldn't even look at another fish for at least a year. Sara gave her a pet rock when she was nine because she couldn't kill it, but then Felicity went and lost it, which she'd apologized for profusely. So yeah, killing someone was just not in her range of abilities.
Neither, apparently, was navigating the dark woods without glasses.
The very eerie woods, that seemed to echo with hooting and howling, a burst of cold wind rustling branches and leaves all around her. Her heart pounded hard in her chest, her clammy hands shaking, and her legs feeling like jelly under her. Felicity picked up her pace, moving in what she hoped was the direction of the highway. Maybe Sara was waiting for her. She seriously hoped so, because there was no way she was going to find her way home like this.
Coming to a stop in a clearing, she took a second, squinting all around her. There was a weird fog beginning to roll in and, for a second, it almost felt the ground was shaking underneath her. But, that was weird. Why would—
Suddenly, deer were running toward her, maneuvering through the trees, hooves pounding the ground beneath them. Terrified, they were leaping and bounding, knocking into each other as they ran. Felicity shrieked and darted to the side, but was clipped in the hip. She fell to the ground and rolled, coming to a stop as she hit a tree. Groaning, she stayed there, pushing herself as close to the tree trunk as she could get, pulling her knees up to her chest to make herself as small as possible. The deer ran past her, one after the other, until finally, they were gone, and she was left alone once more. Her heart in her throat and her hip throbbing with pain.
"Never again," she said. "I am never letting Sara talk me into going anywhere. Not even to Big Belly. Nope. She is cut off. Our friendship is going to strictly be school only. In fact..." She stood up, dusting off her knees as she went, "I'm never leaving the house again. I'll become a hermit. Just me and my computers. I can get groceries delivered, right? There's an app for that. There's an app for everything! And I can just work online. Or hack into some questionable billionaire's bank account somewhere, just take what I need to live off of. That's barely a crime. It's not like a billionaire needs to worry about what I'll be spending on take out. And I'll pick a really bad one, too. Like, kicks puppies and hates orphans. There's gotta be a few of those out there, right?"
Her voice seemed to echo between the trees and a shiver ran down her spine, wariness bubbling up inside her. Hugging her arms around herself, she started walking again, her vision too fuzzy to make out much more than large, ominous blobs everywhere. Digging around in her jeans, she pulled out her phone. Sara had to be back at her car by now, right? Would it be weird if she called? Sara had told the Sheriff she was at home, sleeping. It'd look suspicious if she called now, right? Her thumb was hovering over the phone emblem next to Sara's name when her leg hit something. Felicity stumbled forward but caught herself before she could fall. She turned her phone back, the screen lit up enough to show her—
A body.
Or half of a body.
A ghoulish face stuck mid-scream, mouth open and eyes a glassy white.
Felicity yelped and jumped backwards, only to realize she was standing next to a hill. Losing her balance, she fell, tumbling feet over her head and rolling until she hit the ground in a heap. Moaning, she laid there a moment, feeling a throbbing pain in her shoulder and her hip, and closing her eyes against how her mind felt like it was spinning. "Worst. Night. Ever."
Sighing, she reached around, digging through the brush for her phone. She sat up and realized the screen was still lit up, the phone a good ten feet up the hill, laying in the leaves. Rolling over onto her knees, she pushed herself up and winced as her body protested any movement. "Hermit," she muttered to herself. "A nice, safe hermit. No hills, no trees, no rabid deer. Just a nice, friendly computer and..."
Growling.
That was definitely growling. Felicity went completely still, her heart rate picking up. She turned her head slowly, searching out the sound. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the screen on her phone turn off. Everything was still so fuzzy. Maybe it was just a racoon. Then again, raccoons were kind of violent, weren't they? Not the friendliest of animals. But then, what animal might be out in the woods that growled but wouldn't chew her face off? None were coming to mind.
She couldn't see it, whatever it, was but she did make out two distinct glowing red bulbs. Its eyes? Maybe. What had red eyes and growled? Great, now she sounded like she was asking herself a riddle. Well, whatever it was, she did not want to make its acquaintance...
Felicity turned on her heel and ran. No particular direction in mind, she just ran as quickly as her feet would take her, all the while hoping that any trees might do her a favor and get out of her way.
Much like when she'd first entered the woods, every tree branch and bush in the vicinity seemed to cling to her and her clothes, pulling and tearing at her. Tree branches and rocks covered the forest floor, throwing her balance off, forcing her to trip and tumble, but Felicity kept running. Her heart pounded so loud it was all she could hear. Was a zig-zag formation good here? Or was that just for avoiding bullets or like, arrows back in medieval times? Air-born projectiles? Would it throw animals off in any way, or would it just slow her down? With her already poor eyesight in tow, she wasn't sure how effective it would be. What if she just ended up running head-first into another hill or a tree or right off some cliff? How far away were the falls? The last thing she needed was to run her blind butt right over the top of a waterfall. And, given her luck tonight, that was exactly what would happen...
Except, that didn't happen.
No, whatever crazy animal had been chasing her caught up.
One minute she was running, and the next she was on the ground, teeth or nails or something tearing into her side. Screaming, she kicked her legs out, trying to get whatever it was off her. She reached down, digging her fingers into thick fur, and scraped her nails across what she assumed was its neck or shoulders. Tears scored down her cheeks as she scrambled to get free. And then, she was.
It picked her up and threw her aside. She bounced as she hit ground again and rolled hard, stray rocks and twigs scraping at her skin. Felicity whimpered in pain and pulled her legs up underneath her. The last thing she wanted to do was start running again; every inch of her body hurt. But, she had to, or she'd end up dead here in the woods. And as much as she complained that all she wanted to do was spend the rest of her life cooped up in her very safe bedroom, she did not want to die. She was only seventeen years old; she had her whole life ahead of her. She wanted to go to MIT, build her own company up from scratch, revolutionize the entire tech world. She wanted to get out of small town Starling. She wanted to kiss a boy. Or a girl. Or just someone.
So, Felicity ran.
Her feet dragged, her side throbbed, her body screamed in pain, but she ran.
Right out into the middle of the road, where the flash of headlights hit her at the same time that a horn honked, long and loud. Felicity fell to her knees, in pain and crying, and then the driver's side door opened and—
"Felicity? Oh my God..." Sara ran around her car and hurried toward her. "Are you bleeding? I left you alone for like, thirty minutes!"
"Never again!" Felicity leaned into her best friend as she helped her stand. "I'm never going anywhere with you ever again."
"Oh, please..."
"Get in the car, Sara. There's a freaking wolf out there or something. Maybe it was a bear, I don't know!" She hobbled toward the passenger side door and let Sara help her inside before she quickly yanked the door shut and tracked Sara's movements as she circled the car and hopped in on the other side.
"A bear?" Sara raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Are you sure...?"
Felicity pulled her shirt up to show the wound on her side. "Whatever it was, it had teeth. A lot of them."
Sara frowned, and then put the car in gear. "We need to take you to the hospital."
"No!" Felicity shook her head quickly. "No, they'll keep me overnight. They might not let me go to school tomorrow..."
"Do you hear yourself? Felicity, you were basically mauled. We can't just put a band-aid on it."
"So... We can stop at the pharmacy, get some bandages and iodine or something."
Sara snorted. "Not happening."
"Okay, you're right. It's bigger than that. So, what about Doctor Wells?"
"You want to go see a vet?" Sara pursed her lips. "I don't know..."
"Even if he's not there, Barry's working tonight. He'll know what to do!"
Sighing, Sara seemed to mull it over, before eventually taking the turn off that would lead her toward Wells Veterinarian Clinic instead of Starling General. Breathing a sigh of relief, Felicity slumped down in her seat, only to cringe when her side lit up with pain.
"Can I have your phone?" Felicity asked.
Sara dug it out of her pocket, all the while asking, "Where's your phone?"
"I lost it, back in the woods... I'm gonna have to go back for it tomorrow."
"Not when some crazy animal is running around."
"Oh sure, you'll go into the woods when a murderer's on the loose, but not a wolf? What kind of logic is that?"
"It wasn't a wolf. We haven't had wolves around here for like, years."
"Comforting." Felicity plugged in Barry's phone number and waited for him to pick up. Four rings passed before a cheery, "Hello?" answered.
"Barry! Hey, um, listen, are you still at the clinic?"
"Felicity? Uh, yeah, I'm just closing up. I didn't realize how late it was. Why? What's up?"
"I need your help. Stay there, I'll be there soon."
"Okay. Are you all right? Should I be worried right now?"
"No, it's fine. I just... I got bit my something."
"What? You were bit?"
"Yeah, I'll explain everything when I get there." She chewed her lip and shifted around in her seat. "We'll be there in like, five minutes, okay?"
"Sure. I'll meet you in the back, okay? Just park in the alley."
"Okay."
Hanging up, Felicity handed the phone back to Sara and grunted.
Sara eyed her worriedly and dropped the phone into her cup holder. "Are you sure this is smart? I mean, what if it had rabies or something?"
"It was probably just some spooked fox or something and we're both completely overreacting." Felicity nodded, even as her side continued to burn.
"If you say so..."
Sara focused on the road ahead, but her mouth was set in a frown.
"You should really get this checked out by a doctor," Barry said, even as he smoothed down the edges of the bandage.
"It'll be okay, though, right?"
"I mean, I cleaned it out as best I could. I still think it needs stitches. At least staples."
"No!" Felicity pointed at him. "One needle was enough."
"You'd feel worse about bleeding to death," Sara muttered, sitting on a counter and swinging her legs back and forth.
"Nobody asked the peanut gallery." Felicity propped her head up on her hand and looked down at the bandage covering her hip. "So, what are the chances it had rabies?"
"Can't really say." Barry pulled off the gloves he was wearing and disposed of them. "You didn't really get a good look at it. You were running around in the woods, so it could've been just about anything."
"Except a wolf," Sara chimed in.
"Just because nobody's seen a wolf, doesn't mean they aren't out there." Barry shrugged. "It's true that the wolf population has gone down so much that we basically thought they'd left the area, but they could still be around."
Sara's brow furrowed "I thought wolves were pack animals."
"Depends on the wolf." He shrugged, and then looked back at Felicity. "How're you feeling? Sick? Hot? Cold?"
"Tired," she said. "But, that's probably because I was running for my life."
"And adrenaline." He helped her sit up. "It's wearing off now that you're not in danger, so you're going to feel a bit of a crash. My advice? Drink lots of water, take a couple Tylenol, and get some sleep. I still think you should drop by a clinic, the human kind, tomorrow. And keep an eye on the wound. If they start to change color or you see pus or anything, it could be getting infected. You want to be careful, okay?"
"What about a rabies shot?" Sara asked.
"I already gave her a shot for that. We keep some on hand, just in case we're bit." To Felicity, he said, "You'll need another one in three days."
Felicity nodded and then pushed off the metal bed to land on her feet, grimacing when the shock ran through her bed. "I feel gross."
"If you're going to shower, keep your wound covered. Wrap the bandages with plastic so you don't get them wet, okay?"
"Thanks, Doc." Sara handed Felicity her shirt back and she grimaced as she pulled it on.
"Think I'm gonna have to throw this out..."
"Nah. Blood is the new black." Sara winked at her and then clapped a hand down on Barry's shoulder. "You're a peach, Allen. See you at school tomorrow."
"Yeah, sure. Get home safe, guys."
"Seriously, thank you," Felicity told him, half-smiling. "I know I kind of sprung it on you and your boss probably won't be too happy."
"Yeah, he's probably not going to like this too much. But, it was for a good cause." He smiled at her. "Feel better and here." He reached over and grabbed up a few unopened bandages. "Make sure you replace them when you wake up."
"Will do. Thanks." She took the extra bandages and then made her way out, following Sara through the building.
Pushing through the door leading outside, Sara turned on her heel to face Felicity with a grin. "Well, nobody can ever accuse you of not being dedicated to your education."
Felicity rolled her eyes. "Shut up. You know I don't like hospitals..."
Sara's gaze fell and her good humor faded. "It's been two years..."
Her heart squeezed. "Yeah, well, I don't think there's a time limit for getting over something like that."
"Hey, I didn't mean it like that." Sara stepped toward her. "You almost died. You probably would have if—"
"Don't."
Sara stared at her. "It's not your fault..."
Felicity felt tears spring to her eyes and shook her head. "I don't want to talk about this."
"You never do." At Felicity's sharp look, she held up her hands. "I'm not saying that like an accusation, I'm just..." She sighed. "I think it would help. Talking to someone about what happened and... what you saw."
Felicity shook her head as her heart climbed up into her throat. She quickly walked toward the car. "Take me home."
"Felicity..."
"Now," she demanded. Her whole body was vibrating with anger and hurt and the leftover remnants of fear. Blowing out a sigh, she turned back to her friend. In a much softer tone, she asked, "Please, Sara."
Sara stared at her a beat, and then nodded. She circled around to the driver's side and climbed in.
The drive back to Felicity's was spent in tense silence. No lighthearted conversation or over-cheery music. Just the hum of the car and their steady breathing. Once they reached her driveway, Felicity already had her hand on the door handle.
"You know I'm just worried about you, right?" Sara said quietly.
Felicity stilled.
"I know you still have nightmares... I know you still think about it. That you blame yourself for getting out when they couldn't... I know you feel guilty about surviving that fire."
Felicity closed her eyes as tears burned them, her breath caught in her throat. She could still hear their screams, smell the smoke and the scent of burnt flesh, feel the heat burning against her, eating up her clothes, searing at her skin. She could remember that all-consuming fear that she wouldn't get out. The way everything faded from her vision, going dark and fuzzy around the edges. How she could feel her lungs giving up, her throat raw from breathing in smoke. And then... freedom. Cool air on her face, soft earth under her back, the brush of fingers against her tear-streak cheek before—
"It wasn't your fault. You tried to get them out. You did everything you could..."
Felicity swallowed down her pain and reached up, swiping at her face. "I have to go."
"Felicity—"
"It's late, I'm in pain, and I really just... I want to forget this whole night, okay?" Felicity pushed the car door open. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"Okay..." Sara leaned over the center console to see her, staring at her searchingly. "I'll pick you, all right? 8 am, like usual."
"Yeah. See you then."
Felicity pushed the door closed and hurried toward her house, still just as dark and empty as it was when she left. Her mom was working a late shift and probably wouldn't be home for another hour or so. Making her way inside, she kicked off her shoes and climbed the stairs, wincing as every muscle in her body seemed to whine.
Walking into her room, she started undressing, tossing everything but her shirt into her laundry basket. The shirt she threw in the garbage. Grabbing out a pair of pajamas, she made her way into her bathroom. She covered her bandages like Barry told her to and took the hottest shower her skin could stand. The heat was both a relief and a reminder. With Sara's not-so-gentle prodding, her mind was elsewhere. For the most part, Felicity tried to forget what happened two years ago. Despite her mom sending her to every counselor in the phone book, Felicity had never talked about what happened that night. She did write it down; a few thousand times, in fact. Sometimes, she thought if she could just get it down in black and white, all the facts, it would make more sense. But, it never did. That night would live on, forever etched in her mind, framed in death and fire and mired in questions that nobody could answer. Because there was no one left to answer them.
She didn't realize she was crying until a sob tore itself out of her chest and echoed in her hollow bathroom. Sara always said shower-singing was great for acoustics; apparently, it boosted the sound of crying, too. Felicity closed her eyes and covered her mouth. She tried to breathe through it, to block out the memories and the sounds and the smells. But, it swamped her. Like a blanket of the worst possible variety. Scratchy and itchy, it coiled itself around her and wouldn't let her loose. Until finally, she just sunk down to the bottom of the tub, pulled her legs up to her chest, and let it out. She stayed like that until the water grew cold and her crying subsided. She felt tired and empty when she was done.
Pulling her aching body up from the bathtub, she turned off the water flow and climbed out, dripping on the fucsia bath rug. She wiggled her toes against it and wrapped herself in a towel. Walking to the mirror, she wiped away the fog covering the glass and stared at herself. She had to squint, but it wasn't as bad this close. She could make out a few scrapes across her cheeks and a bruise forming on her neck, but it could be worse. She could be worm food right now, like whoever was laid out in the woods.
With a sigh, she plucked up her tooth brush and told herself to focus on other things. Her senior year started tomorrow. Just one more year to graduation, and then she could head off to MIT and never look back. The sooner, the better.
Felicity was feeling much better when she walked out the door the next morning. As much as she wanted senior year to already be over, she couldn't help but be a little excited for what it had to offer. After all, school was where she excelled. Toast in hand, she made her way outside, hopping off the porch and walking toward the car idling in the driveway, Sara sitting inside.
As soon as she pulled the door open, Sara was on her. "I'm sorry! I was an asshole! Not just for dragging you into the woods, but for the whole 'talk about your feelings' thing. I know how much the fire affected you. I mean, yeah, you don't really talk about it, and I do think you should. But, I shouldn't push you. Especially last night, after how intense everything was. I'm a crappy friend, can you forgive me?"
"It's fine." Felicity took her seat and handed her one of her slices of toast. "Marmalade, your favorite."
"Oooh." Sara popped it in her mouth and tore off a large corner with her teeth. "So, this is you forgiving me, right?"
"This is me saying that we should just forget last night. All of it."
"How about 'most' of it?" Sara put her car in drive and pulled away from the house. "We still need to go back for your phone, remember?"
"Oh." Felicity frowned. "Frack. I totally forgot."
"Unless you've got enough to replace it, then I think we're gonna have to head back in and hope your furry friend doesn't show again."
Felicity shuddered. "Yeah. Guess so."
"What are the odds we run into the same animal, right? It'll be fine." Sara shrugged and pulled the car out onto the main road. "Onto happier things, we're in senior year! Are you excited?"
A slow smile spread across Felicity's mouth. "A little."
"Come on, this is going to be great. We're at the top of the food chain." Sara grinned. "It's going to be great, just you wait. You're going to be valedictorian, I can feel it. And I'm going to dominate basketball."
Felicity snorted. "You always dominate basketball."
"Sure, but now I'm going to do it as a senior. A milestone is a milestone."
Rolling her eyes, Felicity reached for the dial on the radio. "Whatever. I'll be there with my pom-poms cheering you on the whole time."
"Don't get too cheerful or Laurel might take personal offense."
"Since when does Laurel's squad cheer for the girls' basketball team? I thought they were strictly boys football."
"Apparently, according to her rant last night, Coach Wilson told her that the cheerleaders were required at all the sports events, otherwise they're showing a bias. She was apoplectic at the dinner table. It was great."
"Apoplectic? I'm impressed. Are you using that word-a-day calendar Iris got you?"
"Whenever it catches my eye." Sara snorted. "She said she was going to quiz me... Remind me again why we're friends with editor of the newspaper?"
"Because we've known her since kindergarten and she's still one of the coolest people we've ever met?"
"All right, fine, don't rub it in." Sara sighed. "It's a tragedy that the three best people in this town found each other in kindergarten. It leaves literally no cool left for anyone else."
"Yeah, it's a wonder we've survived this long."
They glanced at each other and laughed.
Getting excited, Sara reached for Felicity's hand. "Seriously though, this year is our year. I can feel it."
"Sara, I love you, but literally every year is your year. You've been captain of the basketball team since forever. You're always MVP in every sport you play, including archery, which is like... Who even does that anymore? And you're a black belt at karate. If I didn't know you, I'd envy you. Actually, I do know you and I envy you."
"What's to envy?" Sara scrunched up her nose. "I'm just good at sports. So what? I've been playing them since I could walk. I'm bound to get good with practice. And hey, I'm terrible with technology. You could cripple the entire economy with a few taps of your finger. If anybody should want to be like anybody, it's me wanting to be you."
Felicity rolled her eyes, but warmth filled her at her friend's casual support. "Well, maybe we balance each other out then. I'm balanced impaired and you're super balanced."
"Speaking of, are those new glasses? You broke yours last night, right?"
"Yeah." Felicity sighed. "These are an old pair. I don't think they're helping though. Must be a really old prescription, because my vision actually seems better when I'm not wearing them." Plucking them off her nose, she folded them up. "I'm gonna have to make a trip to my optometrist soon, pick up some contacts while I wait for a new pair of glasses."
"Right after we find wherever you dropped your phone. Hey, do you have that location app? Maybe we can track it that way."
"I do, but I doubt it'll have enough battery by the end of the day. It's probably already dead."
Sara shrugged "Well, we can hope, right?"
"Yeah."
The school loomed ahead and Felicity felt a mix of excitement and resignation. It wasn't like she was picked on or anything. A lot of kids had it worse than her. It was more like she was just, well, ignored for the most part. Sara was semi-popular, due to being so good at sports. But, it was really her twin sister Laurel that teetered at the top of the hierarchy. Head cheerleader and yearbook editor, she was Queen Bee of Starling High School and the only other person who might come close to stealing the title of valedictorian out from under Felicity. Laurel was at the top of her class and a familiar face in all of Felicity's AP classes. They were, grade for grade, almost equal. That almost always fell in Felicity's favor, especially when it came to anything computer-related. But, Laurel was smart. Headed to Harvard Law School smart.
After parking, Felicity and Sara made their way inside the school, absently taking note of familiar faces. It wasn't often that someone new moved to town, but the summer had been good to a lot of people. They'd grown and changed and come back looking taller or tanner or more confident.
"Hey!" Iris fell into step with them with a wide smile. "I tried texting you but you never answered."
"I lost my phone," Felicity said.
"And I haven't checked mine yet." Sara shrugged. "Why? What's up?"
"New people." Iris wiggled her eyebrows. "Two, to be exact. Talia and Nyssa Raatko. Sisters, obvs. Talia's a junior and Nyssa's our age. Laurel's already been tasked with showing them around. I think she's trying to recruit them to the cheerleading squad." She rolled her eyes. "I'm gonna corner one of them and scoop them for the paper, just you watch."
Sara grinned. "Wanna make a bet? Once Laurel sets her sights on someone, it's hard to turn her head."
"You're on, Lance."
As they talked figures, Felicity's mind wandered elsewhere. Raatko. She knew that name. Or she knew someone with that name. Once upon a time... Two years ago, she'd met a girl. A woman, basically. Isabel Raatko was nineteen, practically twenty. Felicity had taken one look at her and felt alarm bells scream in her head. There was something... off about her. Something that made her skin crawl and her stomach twist. She'd written it off back then. Thought she was just being overprotective, maybe even jealous. She'd only met her three times, and never saw her again after the fire. Sometimes, in the dark of her bedroom, when she had only her worst memories to keep her company, she wondered if maybe, somehow, it all led back to her. It didn't make sense. But then, nothing about that fire ever did.
"Felicity? Hey, are you with us?"
Felicity blinked out of her head and looked between the two girls. "Yeah, sorry, just... thinking."
Iris frowned. "Sara said you got hurt last night. That you guys were out in the woods and you got bit by something. Are you okay?"
She nodded. "Yeah, fine." The truth was, she did feel fine. A lot better than she expected to. She thought she'd wake up feeling achy from head to toe. But, for the most part, she couldn't feel anything from last night. Her side was a little tender, but it didn't feel infected. Without her glasses, she couldn't make out much. She'd replaced her bandages and dressed, but she wasn't feeling sick or dizzy, so she took it as a good sign.
"Still, maybe we should see the nurse," Iris said, chewing on her lip. "I mean, I trust Barry and I'm sure the rabies shot helped, but, he's a vet's intern. What do you even call that?" She shook her head. "Anyway, all I'm saying is that he's not a doctor, and you should see one. I mean, what if it gets infected or something?"
"I know, and I'll go to the clinic later. Probably."
Iris frowned at her, her eyes narrowed. "If you think I won't drag you there myself—"
"No, I definitely think you will." Felicity held her hands up. "Seriously, I think I'm okay. But, I'll still drop by the clinic and get someone to take a look at it, okay?"
Still uncertain, Iris nodded slowly. "Okay."
They turned a corner then, en route to their lockers, when Felicity spotted Laurel Lance standing down the hallway. She was chatting animatedly at two girls, both of whom were rather blank-faced. They nodded along, but didn't look particularly invested in anything Laurel was saying. And then one, with long, dark hair falling in thick waves around her shoulders, turned sharp brown eyes in their direction.
"Whoa," Sara murmured.
"That one's Nyssa," Iris said.
Next to Nyssa was a girl about her same height, her hair a dark brown with bangs and choppy layers. Unfamiliar to Felicity, she guessed the girl was Talia.
"We should say hello," Sara suggested, looking Nyssa up and down with obvious appreciation. "At the very least, we should save them from my sister."
Iris snorted. "Yeah, I'm sure you have their best interests at heart."
Sara grinned at her. "Always."
Just as they were about to approach, the bell rung.
With a sigh, Sara shrugged. "There's always later." As they passed the group, Sara winked at Nyssa, who stared back, a little wide-eyed. It was the first expression Felicity had seen that wasn't bland.
"Sara," Laurel said as they passed.
"Laurel," Sara returned, saluting her lightly.
"Go to class," her sister called after her.
"Will do, mom."
Felicity shook her head. "Somehow, this feels almost exactly like last year."
"Hey, last year was fun!" Sara looked over at her. "Which reminds me... We should have a party."
"What?" Felicity squeaked. "The last time we had a party, I had to keep an eye on both of you. Not easy, by the way."
"You volunteered to be the designated driver," Sara reminded.
"No, you volunteered me after you and Iris lined up Jell-O shots." Felicity rolled her eyes. "Which eventually turned into belly shots. And then real shots, because Mike Haller found your dad's gun safe."
"Okay, that was not my fault. And also, we're never having another party at my place. Or Iris'. Because her dad also has a gun safe."
Felicity looked between them and then shook her head. "No! No way are we having one at my place."
Sara just grinned goofily. "It'll be great. The pool's still set up and everything!" She popped a kiss on Felicity's cheek. "Just you wait and see, Smoaky! You'll love it!" She careened off to the left, stopping at her locker, while Felicity and Iris kept walking.
"If it makes you feel better, I won't drink. That way we can both watch Sara. She probably needs more than one babysitter anyway."
Felicity sighed, but she already knew she'd end up letting the party happen. Her mom worked such late hours anyway. And Donna was always telling her to make more friends, so she might even get away with telling her it was a bonding experience between her and the people at school. It was highly unlikely it would work, but she could still try.
"So, listen, now that I have you alone..." Iris turned a smile on her.
"You aren't going to try and recruit me to the paper again, are you? Because I'm a whiz with computers, but journalistic aptitude I do not have."
Iris waved a hand. "No. Totally not. Actually, I was hoping you might be able to help me upgrade the computers we're using. Shado said we didn't have it in our budget, so I was hoping you might be able to do something." She shrugged. "I don't really know how any of this upgrading stuff works, but I thought I'd ask."
"I can take a look at them, sure. Maybe not today. I have to take a trip back out to the woods to find my phone. But tomorrow, definitely."
Iris frowned. "Are you sure you want to go back in there? Sara said they found a body. Or part of one..."
"Yeah. Uh, actually..." She looked around and then pulled Iris over toward her locker. "I completely forgot to say anything, but, while I was stumbling around in the woods last night, I found it."
"You found...?"
"The other half of the body."
"What!?"
"Shh!" Felicity waved at her to keep it quiet. "I kind of tripped over it."
"Oh my God! Are you sure?"
"I mean, I was kind of blind, but yeah, kind of hard to miss. I didn't get a great look at it. I was kind of freaking out. But, definitely the upper half of a body." She grimaced. "Totally gross, by the way."
"Upper half. So then, you know more than the cops do. I mean, about who it might be?"
"I know that it's a guy. Short dark hair, white. Or, kind of white. Kind of blue-grey, actually, what with all the... deadness."
"But, you didn't recognize them?"
"I didn't really stop to get a good look. I mean, dead body, freaked out. I basically fell over a hill after that. And then I was being chased by something, and bitten, so yeah, no, didn't retain a lot of details."
"So, it was a guy. White, brown hair, severed in half." Iris nodded, her eyes darting thoughtfully.
"You're not putting that in the paper, right?" Felicity worried. "I wasn't supposed to be out there."
"Anonymous works fine." Iris paused. "Wait, do you think you could find it again?"
"The police still haven't found the other half?"
She shook her head.
"I mean, it wasn't that far from my phone, so... If it's still there and it wasn't like, dragged off by some hungry animal, then, yeah. If I can find my phone, I can find the body."
Interested, Iris perked up. "So then, I'll come with you. Today, after school. When you guys go back for your phone."
"The interest you have in finding a body is kind of creepy, I have to say." Felicity opened her locked and pushed her backpack in, digging out a notebook and her combination lock from a side pocket.
"Not in the body, in the story." Iris nodded. "This could be huge!"
"I don't know about huge. I do know that someone's dead." She closed her locker and slid her combination through the hook to lock it.
"Yeah, of course. I can't change that. I can make sure we all get the scoop on what's happening."
"All right. Fine. Yes, come with us." Felicity shrugged. "Maybe with three of us, there's less chance of being mauled again."
Iris snorted. "Fingers crossed."
Felicity rested her elbows on her desk, her notebook open in front of her, and a pencil tucked between her fingers. Sara sat on her left and Iris on her right. While Sara was doodling in the corner of her book, Iris was texting someone on her phone. If Felicity had to guess, it was Iris' crush. She was adamant that she did not have any kind of feelings for Rene Ramirez, but Iris had spent a lot of last year hanging around the shop classes, where Ramirez frequented. Plus, she insisted Felicity join her at almost all of last year's hockey games, and who happened to play defense for the Starling High Arrowheads? Rene "Wild Dog" Ramirez. As far as Felicity was concerned, the evidence spoke for itself.
At the front of the class room, Mr. Wilson turned to face them, a marker in hand. While Wilson was better known for teaching the girls' basketball and volleyball teams, he was also their history teacher. A gruff man, he was one of Felicity's favorite teachers. No nonsense and serious about his work, he expected the best of his students and let them know when they were falling short of the mark.
"All right," he said, his voice booming. "I'm sure you've all heard that a body was found in the woods last night. And I'm sure you're all caught up in thinking of all the gruesome things that might have led to it. Well, put your fears to rest. The police have a suspect in custody as we speak, which means that whatever happened out there is on its way to being old news. Now, there should a syllabus on your desk outlining my expectations for this semester. Let's get started..."
Felicity plucked the syllabus out from under her notebook and laid it down in front of her. Just as she was reading through the front page, she heard a cell phone ringing. Sharp and high, it felt like it was right against her ear. Frowning, she tilted her head up and looked around. Iris had already put her cell phone away and was reading through the syllabus. Nobody else around her seemed to be fiddling with their phone either.
It rang again and then—
"Father," a voice said, deep and feminine. It wasn't coming from in the classroom. Nobody around her was talking on their phone. And yet, somehow, she was hearing someone's conversation, clear as day.
"Talia and I are already at the school. We're waiting for an escort to our first class... Yes, we've already met someone. Her name was Laurel. You'll be happy to hear she's on the cheerleading squad and thinks Talia and I should try out. I doubt I will, but Talia's thinking about it."
Felicity's gaze moved to the door, her brow furrowed. Was it coming from the hallway? How could she hear someone talking from all the way out there...?
Nyssa hummed in answer to whatever he said in reply. "I never said I was unhappy about the move. I said I wasn't looking forward to starting over. There's a difference... I'm not arguing with you. I'm just tired. It's the first day and I'm not excited about meeting new people... Father, I have to go. The principal is here. He's going to walk us to our first class... I will... I'll see you at home later. Bye."
A few seconds passed before Felicity heard the familiar voice of Principal Steele greeting someone. "Nyssa, isn't it? A pleasure to meet you. And you must be Talia. Welcome, both of you, to Starling High School. We're happy to have you."
"Thank you."
"Nyssa, if you'll follow me, your class is just down here. Mr. Slade is a wonderful teacher. He's been with us for many years. He teaches history and, if you're interested, he also coaches the basketball and volleyball teams. I'm sorry, I can't remember if either of you were on sports teams at your former schools."
"Talia's a gymnast," Nyssa replied. "I prefer archery. But, I've also competed in fencing."
"Wonderful! We have an archery team. Perhaps later, I can introduce you to Sara Lance. She's captain of the archery team."
"Lance? Is she related to Laurel Lance?"
"Yes! They're twin sisters, in fact. It sounds like you've already been making friends, I'm glad to hear it... Ah, here we are. Mr. Wilson's class."
Felicity watched as the door swung open. Principal Steele stepped inside and smiled at the class. "Class, we have a new student. Nyssa Raatko. Please, make her welcome." He turned then and shook Mr. Wilson's hand. "Please, don't let me interrupt. Carry on." As he backed up toward the door, Felicity spotted Talia standing just outside, her arms crossed loose over her chest as she kicked absently at the floor and waited.
Nyssa kept her head high as she walked down the aisle to the only available seat, directly in front of Sara.
Felicity stared at her a moment, confused and surprised, and then turned to Sara, who was wiggling her eyebrows and smiling. Felicity forced a smile back at her but then turned her face forward and sunk down in her seat. What the hell was that?
By lunch, Felicity had a headache. Not only from her hearing randomly picking up things from strangely long distances, but she was also pretty sure her glasses were causing it. Sitting at a table, she rubbed her fingers against her temples and groaned.
"Here. Drink this." Iris placed a water bottle in front of her. "If your headache gets any worse, I think we should go to the nurse's office. This could be from last night. What if you hit your head or something?"
Felicity plucked her glasses off and dropped them down on the table. "It's just the wrong prescription. My eyes are having trouble adjusting. It happens every time I get new glasses. Or, in this case, old glasses."
"Or you're wrong and you have a brain hemorrhage." Sara plucked a fry up from her plate and then looked between her glaring friends. "What? I'm just saying. Worst case scenario..."
"I'm fine, really." Felicity unscrewed the cap from the water bottle and knocked back half of it. "It's a headache, it'll go away." Squinting, she took a look around the room. But, her vision seemed to be going in and out. There were moments where it seemed clearer than it'd ever been. Like, 20/20 focus. Which was something she couldn't honestly say she'd ever remembered it being. Other times, it was beyond fuzzy, making everything a misshapen blur.
"Hey, have either of you guys talked to the new girl?" Sara wondered.
"You mean new girls? I talked to Talia. She already sounds pretty set on joining the cheerleading squad, but I asked her to drop by the paper anyway and check it out. Who knows, I might talk at least one of them into exploring their journalistic side."
Felicity grunted. "Talia used to be a gymnast. Sports are probably more her thing. Actually, Nyssa, too. She's super into archery."
"Archery, really?" Sara grinned. "I can work with that."
"Wait, when did you find that out?" Iris frowned. "Do you and Nyssa have a class together?"
No, they didn't. She was recalling the conversation she'd overheard and honestly had no other excuse for why she would know those things. But, admitting that she'd heard a conversation happening in the hallway would only invite more questions. As much as she loved Iris—both she and Sara were her best friends—she couldn't really deal with questions right now. Not when it felt like someone was poking her brain with a hot metal rod.
"Is anyone sitting here?"
All three girls looked up abruptly, to find Nyssa and Talia Raatko hovering near the table, each tightly gripping a tray of cafeteria food.
"No, definitely not," Sara said, sliding down the bench to make room. "You guys are new, right?"
"Fresh meat," Talia agreed. "We just moved to town like a week ago, actually."
"And of everywhere you could go, Starling is where you landed?" Iris' brows hiked. "Not sure I'd make the same choice."
"We have family roots that tie back here from forever ago." Talia shrugged. "I guess my parents wanted to get back to where we came from. Anyway, we probably won't be here long. We don't stay anywhere for more than a year. How long have you guys lived here?"
"All our lives," Iris said. "Felicity's mom moved her here when she was like, three. They used to live in Las Vegas."
"All sin, all the time," Felicity muttered.
Sara snorted. "Iris and me were born here. The Lance's have a long history with Starling, as I'm sure my sister probably boasted about earlier. Laurel? She's head cheerleader."
"She's your sister?" Nyssa turned to stare at her. "Does that mean you're on the archery team? The principal mentioned something."
"I am." Sara leaned forward a little, grinning. "You're good with a bow?"
"Impeccable."
"I like the confidence. You'll have to show me some time."
Nyssa stared at her, a slow smile upturning her lips. "I will."
Felicity folded her arms and dropped her face down, burying it there, absently listening to Talia and Iris discuss some of the cities the Raatko's had lived in previously, while Sara and Nyssa continued to flirt. Blocking it all out, she focused on her breathing. She inhaled on the count of eight and exhaled to a count of ten. Over and over again, until it all faded away. The sound of her friends' voices and the noise of the cafeteria became distant. It was just her and...
A heartbeat.
Steadily thumping away. Just one heartbeat out of all the rest. It wasn't hers, she could tell because her own picked up when she first noticed it. But, whoever's heart it was, it never paused or slowed or quickened. It was just the same constant rhythm. Felicity focused on it, let it soothe her frayed nerves. After a couple minutes, she felt her own fall in line with it.
Thump... thump... thump...
She breathed out all her worries, all the pain throbbing in her head, even the tenderness on her side. She could almost fall asleep, lulled into a sense of peace she'd never felt before.
And then Iris's hand on her shoulder. "Hey, sleepyhead. The bell's about to ring."
Felicity lifted her head, blinking rapidly, and felt the room zoom back into focus. The noise of before—shuffling feet, banging chairs, criss-crossing voices—it all filled her ears to an overwhelming degree. She groaned and dropped her head back down.
Sara snorted. "I know the feeling." She rubbed Felicity's back. "Come on. We've only got one more class and then we're outta here. Free to roam the creepy woods all we want."
"We're only going to find my phone," she muttered.
"And, if we're lucky, the other half of that body," Iris added.
"Yeah. That reminds me." Sara bumped her shoulder against Felicity's. "Way to leave out a few details. Apparently, you ran across the top half of our missing body."
"I had other things on my mind. Namely, the bloodthirsty animal trying to make me a midnight snack." Sitting back, Felicity dragged herself up from the bench, and only then realized that Talia and Nyssa had left. "Where'd your new friends go?"
Sara shrugged. "Laurel scooped them up to talk cheerleading tryouts." She stared at her searchingly. "Are you sure you're feeling okay?"
"Yeah. Just tired. Anyway, my headache is mostly gone. Small miracles, I guess." Grabbing up her tray, she carried it over to the garbage and recycling bins.
Iris followed after her and separated everything on her tray before putting it aside. Hooking an arm around Felicity's waist, she towed her toward the cafeteria doors. "Personally, I vote that we get Big Belly after we hit the woods. I'm craving a milkshake."
"Yeah?" Felicity bumped Iris' hip with her own. "And that wouldn't have anything to do with Rene being a cook there, right?"
Iris rolled her eyes. "Not everything has to do with cute boys."
"So, you think he's cute?" Sara joined her on the other side and hooked her arm through Iris'. "'Cause I do."
Felicity smiled. "Face wise, he's A+."
"What do you mean 'face wise'?" Iris scoffed. "How about 'everything' wise."
Sara smirked. "Are you saying you've seen everything?"
Iris rolled her eyes. "Are you guys serious?"
"Seriously interested, yes. Share the details." Felicity nodded. "All the details."
"Spare us nothing," Sara agreed.
Iris laughed, but then grinned between them. "All right, fine. If you're really curious..."
"Yes..."
"I will answer all of your very detailed questions after school."
Sara groaned. "I hate waiting."
"I've waited since last year," Felicity said. "I can wait another hour or so."
Iris shrugged. "It's not official or anything. We're just hanging out. I didn't want to say anything until it felt a little more serious."
"So, it's serious then?"
"It's..." She trailed off, staring down the hall as Rene walked in their direction, passing a half-grin toward Iris. "Not not -serious."
Felicity and Sara exchanged a look. "After school," they said.
Iris flushed warmly. "After school."
By the end of the day, Felicity was less interested in finding her phone and more interested in taking a nap and blocking out all sound. She was suffering from a serious case of sensory overload, and it wasn't just her hearing or her vision anymore. She swore she could smell everything. And everyone. The kids coming out of gym class that reeked of perspiration. People wearing too much perfume or axe body spray. Bad breath. A boy three classes down that just farted. It was too much.
She wasn't sure she heard a word of what her teacher said. She was just desperate to get out away from the school. As soon as the bell rang, she felt her head vibrate with the noise, almost too much to take. It lasted three long seconds before it died away and left only the shuffling sound of feet hurrying toward the door, scuffing the linoleum on the way.
"Hey, are you okay?" Iris' hand rubbed her shoulder worriedly. "I told you we should've brought her to the nurse."
Felicity lifted her head, her eyes damp with tears. "Please, I just want to go."
Iris and Sara exchanged a look, but eventually nodded. They helped her up from her desk, wrapping an arm around her each. They made a quick pit stop at their lockers, gathering up their books and bags, and then then they were rushing outside, bee-lining it for Sara's car. While Felicity climbed in the back to lay down, wrapping her arms around her head to block out the noise, Iris and Sara hopped in the front. With a few irritable honks of her horn, she cleared a path through the parking lot and took off, en route to Felicity's house.
Minutes passed. The farther away they got away from people, the less it hurt. Noise dwindled and, slowly, Felicity found she could breathe again. She lifted her head up and looked around. It was weird. She swore she could feel her pupils widening and narrowing as her vision went in and out, clear then blurry then clear again.
"What are the symptoms of rabies?" she wondered.
"But, you got a shot for that," Sara reminded.
"Just look it up, please."
Iris dug her phone out of her bag and started Googling. "Okay. Um, it says there's pain where you were bitten, but duh. General feeling of illness, headache, poor appetite, nausea, vomiting, muscle aches, sore throat, depression..."
"Do you feel sick? I don't think you've thrown up." Sara glanced back at her, her mouth pinched with worry.
"No, not sick. It's like... I don't know. I have a headache, but it's like the volume in my head is turned up to max. And I can see things. I swear, if it was a spider and not some rabid forest animal, I'd think I was pulling a Spider-man right now."
"A what?" Iris turned in her seat to stare at her. "You think you've got superpowers?"
"Super hearing, maybe super sight. Definitely super-smell, which is awful by the way... Like, I know you have a peppermint patty in your bag. I can smell the mint."
Iris stared at her a beat, and then grabbed up her bag, digging around until she came up with the half-mushed candy. "Okay... That was weird."
"But, it's crazy, right? Tell me it's crazy."
"Of course it is!" Sara agreed, but her brow was furrowed. "That was just a lucky guess. I mean, Iris has a sweet tooth. She's a chocolate hoarder."
"Am not!" Iris slapped at her arm, but Sara only grinned.
"Anyway, the last thing Starling needs is a superhero. We're boring central."
Iris rolled her eyes. "This is literally happening because you two went into the woods to find a severed body."
"Not helping," Sara muttered. "And that was an isolated situation. It's not like we get a lot of murder around here."
"No, but it's a little sketch that we get one murder and now Felicity is having some kind of superhero complex. I mean, no offense 'Lis, you know I love you. But, if you start donning leather and a cape, I will disown your extra ass."
Felicity snorted. "I'm not sure leather is really my look."
"Personally," Sara said, "I think I could rock it."
Iris looked up then and frowned. "Uh, you missed the turn off. Felicity's place was back a block."
Sara shrugged. "The woods will be good for her. Some fresh air, a little hiking, it'll clear up whatever Peter Parker complex she's having."
"Or it'll kick her PTSD into action." Iris reached for Felicity and took one of her hands. "Are you up for this?"
"I'm feeling okay. Better, anyway..." Felicity nodded. "I don't know. It was just too much. Too many people at school. But, I can do this. And I really need my phone back. I don't want to tell my mom I lost it."
Iris frowned uncertainly. "I know she's been working late and you guys don't get to see each other much, but I kind of feel like she'd want to know you got hurt."
"And I'll tell her. Just, when it's healed up and she can't go super-mom on me. You know how much she worries." She screwed her mouth up. "She still asks me about that dream journal she got me."
Iris stared at her searchingly. "Did you ever write in it?"
"I tried to. In the beginning, when the nightmares were really bad, but... I gave up after a while. Having it all written down in black and white isn't all that comforting. I'm not sure I even want to remember."
"Flis..." Sara shook her head. "I don't want to sound like a broken record, but trauma like that doesn't just go away. It sticks with you."
Felicity stared at the roof of the car. "One of you could always take up hypnotism, you know? Do me a solid and just wipe it all away."
Iris gave her hand a squeeze and then shook it. "Doesn't work like that, babe."
"A girl can dream."
The car began to slow, before turning down a path. Felicity tipped her head back and realized they were pulling into a parking lot; the same that Sara had parked in that night. "How far from here were you when you almost ran me over?" she wondered.
"Not far." Sara put the car in park and turned it off. "I waited for a while. Hoped you might stumble this way. But, then my dad started to get suspicious so I kind of had to leave. Anyway, I wasn't driving very fast, since I was looking for you. And hey, I found you, didn't I?"
Iris pushed her door open and climbed out, reaching back to push the seat down for Felicity to climb out after her. "Do you remember anything about where you were? What the trees were like or mile markers or anything like that?"
"There were a lot of trees," Felicity said blandly. "Tall, blurry trees."
Sara snorted. "It was like midnight, and she was half-blind. I think we're gonna have to bank on luck for this."
Iris frowned. "Do you have any idea how big these woods are?"
"Super big?" Felicity shrugged and followed after Sara as she started walking up a dirt path. "Anyway, Sara had the bright idea that my phone's tracking software might still work. I'm pretty sure my phone is dead, but I might be able to get a 'last location' on it. Can I use one of your phones to try?"
Iris passed hers over. "I'm so not wearing the right shoes for this," she muttered. Casting an uncertain look around, she frowned. "How did you let her talk you into coming out here at night? It's daylight out and still creepy as hell."
"She's persuasive." Felicity stared down at the phone as she tapped away at the screen. "I was right, my phone's dead... But, it does have a 'last pinged' option..." She looked up, smiling widely. "Looks like I might get a phone and you'll get a body. Or, well, half a body."
"I'm more interested in a story." Still, Iris grinned back at her.
"Speaking of stories, I think we were owed one." Sara was standing atop an overturned, mossy tree, a hand on her hip. "What's going on with you and Ramirez?"
Iris' cheeks warmed up, turning a pretty red shade. "It's like I said. We were just hanging out for a while. Sometimes that meant hanging out his place, just talking, and other times that making out."
"Like, right after hockey practice when he's all sweaty and worked up?" Sara wiggled her eyebrows as she hopped off the log to walk next to them.
"Shut up." Iris bumped her shoulder against Sara's. "He's a lot more than just a hockey player."
"Hey, nothing wrong with hockey." Sara held her hands up. "He's got a future ahead of him if he keeps it up. My dad thinks he could go pro if he wanted to."
Iris shrugged. "I don't know. We don't talk about that, really."
"What do you talk about?" Felicity wondered.
"Life... Family... Just, I don't know, everything. He's smart and sweet and he... makes me feel good. Not like sexy-good, although that, too. But, like, cherished, you know?" She shook her head. "I don't know. It's hard to explain. I just feel like I can be myself when I'm with him. No walls. Just, a hundred percent me. It's hard, feeling exposed like that with someone. Vulnerable in a way."
"But you trust him," Sara said, her voice a little softer. Nodding slowly, she bumped Iris' hip with her own. "Good for you."
"Really?" Iris looked skeptical, like maybe she hadn't expected them to be so accepting of Rene. Felicity couldn't say she knew him well. They'd shared a couple classes over the years, but he was more into shop where she was a computer nerd. So, it was more a passing association through attending the same schools their whole lives. He was a good guy, she knew that much. Not a bully by nature, he went out of his way to stand up for others if he thought they were being picked on. But, he still kept a low profile for the most part. If he wasn't playing hockey, he was in the shop or he was working at Big Belly. Some guys let their status on a team sport go to their head, but he wasn't one of them. And, if Iris said he was a good person, then Felicity trusted her instinct.
"Hey, if you're happy, I'm happy," Sara told her.
"Same," Felicity agreed.
Iris beamed, looking happily between them. "Great."
"Yup. Just as long as this radiant happiness of yours doesn't lead to you trying to play matchmaker for us, we're cool." Sara stared at her knowingly. "I don't need any help in the dating department."
"Are you sure? I saw you making eyes at Nyssa at lunch."
Sara grinned. "It's the first day. I've got time to woo her."
"Woo?" Iris laughed. "What happened to hook 'em and hop?"
"Still a weird way of putting it," Felicity muttered. "Are you a rabbit? Is it a euphemism for sex or are you just saying you're cute?"
Sara shrugged. "A little of both."
Felicity opened her mouth to say more, but paused suddenly. She felt a prickling sensation on the back of her neck; the tiny hairs there standing on end. Her feet stopped moving, but neither Sara nor Iris seemed to notice. Instead, they kept walking, trading lighthearted jabs at each other over their romantic histories. But, Felicity's attention was elsewhere. Someone, or something, was watching her. She could feel it.
Turning on her heel, she cast her gaze around, searching for the source of what was tracking her. She could feel her heartbeat kick up in nervous uncertainty. Suddenly, her hearing kicked in. She could hear Iris and Sara's voices as clearly as if they were right next to her, talking into her ears. More, she could hear their heartbeats, steady but not quite in tune with each other. She could hear Sara's hair, tied up in a ponytail, swinging behind her. She could hear the heel of Iris' shoes sink into the earth, crunching a leaf in the process. The wind whistled through the trees; birds cawed in the distance; and animal feet skittered around the forest floor. Beyond all of that, louder than all the rest, was a heartbeat. Distinct and strangely familiar.
Felicity raised her chin and looked straight ahead, through the criss-crossing trees, to a figure standing stock still. Her vision swam and she reached up, plucking the glasses from her nose and rubbing her fingers over her eyes. When her hand dropped away, she blinked a few times, and then everything was in high definition. She could see every angle of his face, every eye lash, every whisker that made up the stubble covering his cheeks and chin. More than that, however, she could make out with complete accuracy exactly who was staring back at her. Only, it was impossible. Not just her super-vision, but who she was looking at.
"Oliver?" she whispered, her voice little more than a strained croak.
An impossibility for sure. Because if there was one thing Felicity knew it was that Oliver Queen was dead.
Two years ago, he'd died in a fire.
She'd seen it with her own two eyes.
tbc
note: so i recently had this idea to rewrite some of my favorite tv plots with my other otps and this is where that led. clearly, i've changed a lot of details from the original format of teen wolf. i've written a good chunk of this, so it should be about 5-8 chapters after editing. while some of it does follow the original TW plot, a lot of it has been changed. the next chapter is mostly flashbacks to two years ago, and revolves around felicity and oliver. i know he wasn't in this pretty much at all (though the heart she listens to earlier in the chapter is his), but i'll make up for that in coming chapters. :)
i'm still working on updates to 'what's a little history' and other olicity fics, but i needed a break and this provided that. i put a ton of work and detail into this, so please leave some feedback.
thank you for reading!
- Lee | Fina