"There's two meta humans running around Starling." Felicity announced as Oliver came into the Arrow Cave.
He sighed. "Can't Barry keep them in line?" He came over to stand behind Felicity. "What happened?"
Felicity brought up the footage. "There was a fire at the Child Protective Services Offices. Several witnesses say it was started by one of the kids brought into the facility" She pulled up one of the files. "Amara Aquila. Orphaned in the fall of the glares and bouncing from foster home to foster home ever since." She winced before opening the second file. "And this is Roberto Da Costa. He and Amara have been in the same foster home together twice in a row. They're good kids, but both got unlucky in terms of foster families. When CPS tried to separate them…well." She turned on the security footage. "See for yourself."
A young girl with brown skin and dark hair was pleading and crying while clutching the arm of a young boy of about 13. As the CPS worker tried to pull them apart the girl lost it and began producing lava from her fingertips.
"How did she get here from Central City?" Oliver asked.
"That's the thing." Felicity said. "She wasn't even near the particle accelerator when it exploded. She's always lived in Starling." She looked at the footage where the face of the young girl looked terrified at the destruction she was causing.
"I'm calling Cisco." Oliver said. "Maybe he can come up with some type of freeze arrow that can neutralize-"
"Freeze arrow?" Felicity turned and glared at him. "She's a kid who got scared. Shouldn't you just talk to her before you start planning on arrowing her?"
"It's a back-up plan." Oliver said. "She's a meta-human who's burned down a government building."
"I'm pretty sure that was an accident." Felicity said. "She's a kid."
"A kid who can produce molten rock with her bare hands." Oliver countered. He walked away, pulling out his phone to call Cisco.
When Felicity found a location 3 days later, the only other person in the lair at the time was Laurel, who was pouring over some case files.
"Laurel," Felicity said. "Can I talk to you?" Laurel looked up and nodded, walking over to look at her screens.
"You found them." She said, looking at the footage Felicity was steaming. "And you don't want me to tell Oliver."
"You saw the freeze arsenal that Cisco sent over." Felicity said. "I just think he's not really willing to talk them down."
"Ollie is pretty terrible with handling angry confrontation." Laurel agreed.
"Can you be my back up?" Felicity asked. Laurel looked at her in surprise. "I know you've been taking boxing lessons since…" she broke off, not wanting to mention Sara's death, but Laurel took her meaning. "I could use someone who looks non-threatening, but can actually kick ass."
Laurel pursed her lips. "Oliver never finds out?"
"He never finds out." Felicity agreed, grabbing her tablet and jacket. "Let's go."
They'd made it to the warehouse where Felicity had tracked the kids, when Oliver called.
"Felicity, where are you?"
"Ummmm." She looked around at Laurel trying to find an excuse. "Girl's night?"
Girl's night? Laurel mouthed disbelievingly, shaking her head. Oliver obviously wasn't buying it.
"Where are you?" He repeated.
"First rule of girl's night is that we don't talk about girl's night." Felicity said. "Stripper's here, gotta go." She hung up.
"Stripper?" Laurel asked.
"It was the only thing I could think of." Felicity said defensively as Laurel laughed.
"Okay, but the next time we go on a super-secret mission, I make the cover story." Laurel shook her head, before pushing open the door of the abandoned warehouse.
"Ever notice how many abandoned warehouses there are in Starling?" Felicity asked. "It's like we're begging for criminal activity." Going in she looked around. "Hello?" She called. "Anyone there? We're not here to hurt you, we just want to talk. We know you're scared, but one of my friends is the Flash and I'm sure he can help you through what's happening to you right now."
"We brought food." Laurel added. "Do you guys like Big Belly Burger?"
"Go away." A young girl's voice shouted.
"Leave the food." A boy said after. Felicity and Laurel looked at each other in amusement as the two children began whispering frantically. After about a minute they emerged from a dark corner.
"You promise you won't take us back to CPS?" Amara said.
"Of course." Felicity said as Laurel held out the bag of junk food. Roberto took it and smiled shyly. "You guys can stay at my apartment while I call Flash and see if he can take care of you."
Amara frowned, suspiciously as Roberto began stuffing his face.. "Do you really know the Flash?"
Felicity nodded. "I promise I'm telling the truth. I'm Felicity."
"Yup, she's a terrible liar." Laurel said. Feli". ffing his I call Flash and see if he can take care of you." her fingertips. city frowned, but nodded.
"I guess that's kinda true." She mumbled. "Ms. Comedy over here is named Laurel."
The two kids looked at each other. "I'm Amara." Amara said finally. "And this is Roberto."
Laurel smiled. "It's nice to meet the two of you." She said.
"How would you guys feel about not sleeping in a rat infested warehouse tonight?" Felicity asked. "I've got a pull out couch."
The two of them looked at her with a mixture of eagerness and nervousness, almost as if they were afraid that showing too much enthusiasm would take away their chance of a warm bed.
They piled Amara and Roberto into the car. Luckily they had chosen to take Laurel's which had more backseat space than Felicity's mini cooper. They'd just gotten the kids inside when there was an angry knock at the door. Laurel ushered the kids to hide in Felicity's bed room while Felicity turned on the TV and answered the door. Laurel dove onto the couch as Oliver burst in, glaring at them.
"Where were you?" he growled.
"Here." Felicity said. "With Laurel. We figured we needed to get to know each other better, so we are having a TV hangout…thing." Behind her, she heard Laurel facepalm.
"Really." Oliver said, glancing at the screen. "By watching Antiques Roadshow?"
Felicity looked at the TV, where the show was playing. "It's a surprisingly interesting show." She squeaked.
"We were looking for a Law and Order marathon." Laurel said. "Now, if you're quite done stalking us," she stood. "You can leave." She pushed him out the door and slammed it in his face. "That felt good." She grinned. Felicity exhaled.
"Thanks for the save." She said.
"Any time." Laurel said. "You guys can come out now." She said. The door to Felicity's room opened and Amara and Roberto peeked out.
"Is the guy with the attitude problem gone?" Amara asked. Felicity snorted as Laurel nodded. Felicity pulled out her phone.
"I'll try the Flash." She said. "That's…weird." She frowned at her phone. There was no service. "The hell?"
There was another knock at the door. Felicity frowned. "Oliver, what point of leave us alone do-" She wrenched the door open and gaped as she took in two men who were definitely not Oliver. "Um…can I help you?" She asked.
"Just give us the kids, Barbie and no one gets hurt." The man who'd spoken had dark hari and was wearing a leather jacket over a plaid shirt. The other man next to him looked up at the sky.
"Why me?" He asked. Felicity tried to slam the door in their faces, but the other man stopped him. "Look, we're not going to hurt you." He shot a glare at his companion. "My name is Robert Drake, but you can call me Bobby. This is Logan and he's harmless…mostly." He shook his head. "He's just been in a perpetually bad mood since 1803 or whenever he was born."
Felicity glared at them. "You're not taking these kids." Laurel nodded her agreement, putting Amara and Roberto behind her.
Logan laughed. "This one's funny."
Bobby sighed. "We're teachers at a school for gifted individuals. Both Amara and Roberto qualify.
"What?" Roberto looked alarmed. "I'm not gifted. Not like Amara."
"Not yet." Bobby said. "But the professor said you came up as an emerging mutant."
"Is it like Hogwarts?" Amara asked.
Bobby smiled as Logan rolled his eyes. "Sort of." He looked at Laurel and Felicity. "They'll be safe there." Laurel looked at Logan skeptically.
"Teachers?" She said, stepping forward. "And what does he teach? How to Join a Biker Gang 101?"
Bobby smiled at her. "She's got a point, Logan."
"There's a specialized school for Metahumans?" Felicity asked. "How did you set that up so fast? The particle accelerator exploded 9 months ago."
"Not Metahumans," Logan growled. "Mutants. We've been around for a lot longer than mister red tights in Central City." He held out his hand and suddenly 3 large metal claws came out. Felicity jumped back, her eyes wide. Bobby facepalmed. "
"We said we'd go with my powers first." He said through gritted teeth.
"You said, I ignored you." Logan said.
"Which are what?" Laurel said, looking at Logan's hand in horror.
Bobby held out his hand and an ice rose formed in his hand. He handed it to Laurel, smiling shyly. "They call me Iceman." He said.
Felicity was staring at Logan's hand. Reaching out, she ran her fingers along the edge of one of the claws. "Do they hurt? What are they made of? Do they rust? How do you go on airplanes? Do you use them to open things? How about cooking? I bet they make slicing things easier. Is it only the one hand or the other? Does metal come out of anything else? Like your feet I meant not anything else." She broke off, embarrassed. Logan was gaping at her.
"I think this one might be a mutant who doesn't need to breathe." He said. "Got any beer?" he came into the apartment and went straight to Felicity's refrigerator.
"By all means come in and raid my kitchen." Felicity said, following him. Logan looked at her in amusement.
"You're not scared of me." He said.
"Yes I am, which is why I'm supervising you." She crossed her arm and glared at him.
Ms. Smoak a voice, with a crisp British accent said inside her mind. Felicity swayed on her feet, momentarily unstable. Logan grabbed her shoulders to steady her.
"She's not used to having her mind invaded, Chuck." He growled.
My apologies the voice said. I am professor Charles Xavier, headmaster of the Xavier Institute for gifted individuals. Both Amara and Roberto will be perfectly safe.
"So you're a telepath." She said.
Yes the professor sounded amused. You are welcome to visit them as soon as they have settled in to life at the Institute.
Felicity looked over at Laurel who was sitting on the couch with Bobby kneeling in front of her, her face pale. Clearly she was hearing the same voice in her head.
"A week", Felicity said. "We see them in a week."
Agreed the professor replied. I will send someone to fetch you in a week Then his voice and his presence in the back of her mind were gone. Felicity blinked and looked around her, realizing that Logan was still holding her shoulders.
"I'm fine." She said, pulling away from him, only to stumble forward.
"What you are," Logan growled as he picked her up to carry her to the couch, "is stubborn." Bobby snorted. "What?" logan asked.
"Kettle, meet pot." Bobby said. "You'll be okay; it just takes some getting used to." He said gently. Then he turned to Roberto and Amara. "Do you guys want to come with us?"
The two looked unsure.
"You will come visit us," Roberto asked. "Right?' Felicity nodded.
"Of course, honey." Laurel said. "Just try and stop us."
"Sounds like a challenge." Logan said. Felicity got the impression of a wolf looking at his prey. She shivered slightly.
"For fu-" Bobby looked at the ceiling as if asking for support. "Next time I do a pick up, I'm taking Ro."
They stood, and gathered Roberto and Amara and helped them into the pickup truck that was parked outside Felicity's place.
"How long of a drive is it to the institute?" Felicity asked, nonchalantly. Maybe she could get a search radius to find the school.
"About a 20 minute drive to get to the jet." Logan smirked. "Nice try, Barbie."
"So we just trust them?" Laurel asked as they waved at the disappearing van.
"Oh hell no." Felicity said, smirking. Leading Laurel back inside, she pulled out her tablet. "I slipped a tracker in Amara's pocket. All we have to do is follow."
"They have a jet." Laurel pointed out.
"One of the perks of being Palmer Tech Vice President: so do we." Felicity pulled out her phone. "Hey Ray? I need a super huge favor."