"Memory is a way of holding on to the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose." ~ Kevin Arnold
. . .
"Felicity?"
Her eyes fluttered open and she cringed in pain almost immediately. She was lying on her back, rain falling down on her from above, and a little afraid of moving for fear of a sudden jolt of pain. Everything was fuzzy, but quickly came into focus when a pair of glasses were set on her nose. She straightened them so that they were comfortable. The face of the person who had said 'Felicity' came into focus. She looked concerned and was wearing a black mask. She frowned and wasn't sure what to say.
"Are you okay?" she asked. "Don't move. The police will be here soon…with an ambulance."
"What…happened?" she questioned.
"You don't remember?" the woman in the mask asked.
She sat up and let out a slight yelp as pain radiated up her back. The fact was, she suddenly realized that she didn't remember ANYTHING. Not her name, whoever seemed to know her, where she was, or even what had happened to her. "No," she whispered as she stared up at the other woman.
"The important thing is that you're going to be okay," the woman in the mask told her.
As she sat there, she looked the woman in the mask over. She was clad in black leather, which included a corset that more than further defined her curves. She had blonde hair and blue eyes. The mask hid part of her face, but it couldn't hide her eyes. She also was holding a weapon, which she realized she knew was called a bo staff. How did she know that? Her studying of the woman in the mask came to an end as sirens and lights lit the end of the alleyway they seemed to be in.
"Time for me to go," the woman in the mask told her.
Canary.
She didn't know why, but she wanted to say that was her name, but Canary didn't sound like a real name. Maybe it was her secret masked name? She didn't know, but the masked woman…Canary…she'd called her Felicity. Was that her name?
"Ms. Smoak, are you okay?" a police officer asked as he approached her. It was obvious that he knew her.
Was her name Felicity Smoak?
"I…I don't remember what happened," she blurted out.
There was something that told her that she could trust him. He crouched down next to her and she saw his nameplate read: OFF. Lance. She didn't know why it was familiar, but it was. It was hard to figure out what to know was really true or not, but some things just seemed to ring true with her head and her heart.
"Are you hurt anywhere else?" Lance asked. His hand brushed hair away from her eyes and she realized that she seemed to have a cut or something along her hairline.
Nodding, she noticed another police car and an ambulance pull up near where Lance had left his police car. "My back hurts…"
"Well, then I don't want you to move, do you understand me?"
She nodded slowly and watched as he moved towards the small group of people heading towards her. Some of them were police and two of them were medics moving a stretcher towards her with equipment slung over their shoulders. She watched as Lance talked to all of them, even though she didn't remember him she knew that she could trust him and that he really seemed to be concerned about her.
"What's her name?" the medic asked as they got closer.
"Felicity Smoak," Lance answered.
The medics were now crouching down and looking her over. "Felicity, we're here to help… Can you tell us what happened?"
"I don't remember," she admitted. Her name really was Felicity Smoak. She wondered if she was somehow connected to Officer Lance in some way. She considered for a moment that he could be her father, but then had decided that it was unlikely because they had different last names and she would have thought he would have been more physical with her when he'd arrived. There hadn't been any hugging, but then he knew she was hurt… He definitely SEEMED like he was acting like he was a concerned parent…
Could she be Officer Lance's daughter?
Was she married?
Was that why her last name was different?
Or was there another reason?
. . .
Felicity had been left alone at the hospital. She didn't know WHY, but they'd moved her to her own room and had put security outside of her door. Officer Lance had stayed with her up until the extra security had arrived. Given that she didn't know what had happened, she didn't know WHY he would order extra security for her. He had to be her dad, right? He was just over protective?
The door opened and two men walked in along with Lance again. They were both absurdly tall and both were not only in excellent shape, but were also good looking. They both seemed familiar to her, but she didn't know their names. One was fair, yet tanned, with close cut dirty blonde hair, facial hair to match, and steely blue eyes. There was something about how he was looking at her…or maybe it was just trying not to let on that she couldn't NOT look at him. The other man had close cut black hair, dark eyes, and dark skin. He was dressed in a suit compared to the other man's jeans, shirt, and jacket. She thought he'd left, but apparently he was back now. "How are you feeling?" he asked. He looked
"Do you two want to explain to me what happened? Why she was an alleyway?" Lance asked and seemed extremely irritated with them. His hands were on his hips and he was looking back and forth between her and the two men.
"Diggle's going to tell you," the one man said as he pointed to the guy in the suit. This didn't seem to please Lance at all, if anything…he seemed more pissed off.
Diggle was an odd name, Felicity thought. It had to be a last name. She studied them and could tell that the two of them were familiar with Lance, but that they obviously weren't all best buddies. Of course, Lance was older than the two men. He could definitely be the other guy's father. Diggle, though, seemed older than his friend.
"Thanks, Oliver," Diggle said quickly and then turned to Lance. "Why don't we discuss this in the hallway?"
Oliver.
It sparked something inside of her. She KNEW that they were close, but she didn't know how. Felicity really didn't know what to make of him and doubted that she'd know what to think of him or Diggle until she was allowed any time to really talk to them. So far, she'd somehow avoided people knowing that she didn't remember anything. Lance had taken care of everything once the paramedics had arrived. Everything else anyone needed seemed to be in her purse and then she'd heard the name 'Queen' dropped a couple of times when it came to hospital staff. She didn't know what that meant, but assumed it was a last name. Felicity just kept for more context to be brought up within earshot.
"She can't hear it?" Lance questioned, agitation clear in his voice.
Diggle looked towards her and then back to Lance. His voice was calm and gentle as he spoke. "I think she's been through enough today… Do you really need her to re-live what she's gone through?"
"She doesn't even REMEMBER what happened!"
Felicity frowned and felt her stomach twist. She didn't know why them fighting was upsetting her so much, but it was. "Can you please stop?" she asked and found that tears were running down her face without her really even understanding what was going on.
"Look what you two did!" Lance practically exploded.
Oliver was the one who was the first to move. He grabbed Lance and with Diggle, they both escorted him out of the room. She could still see them through the window in the door, though. Oliver was now arguing with Lance and now Diggle was the quiet one. Felicity really didn't know how to take that…obviously Oliver wasn't her brother…though she hadn't even THOUGHT that when he'd arrived.
She wiped away her tears as she watched them. They'd look in on her here and there, but they were obviously all fiercely protective of her. If Lance was her father, then maybe Oliver was her husband…boyfriend…friend who was just protective? And Diggle…? She wasn't exactly sure how he fit in, definitely a friend. From the looks of it, probably the voice of reason. Diggle finally stepped in between the two of them, still looking calm and collected.
Definitely the voice of reason.
After a few more minutes of them standing outside of the door, Oliver came back in. Diggle and Lance were still out in the hallway talking. "I'm sorry we upset you," Oliver said almost too calmly.
Staring at him for a long moment before she suddenly blurted out something that she hadn't planned on admitting. "I don't know who you are, Oliver."
"You know my name," Oliver pointed out. "What don't you remember?"
"Diggle said it," Felicity said quickly. "PLEASE tell me that's his last name…"
Oliver smiled for just a moment. "It is." His smile slipped away then. "What DO you remember?"
"Basic things, I guess…"
"Do you know your name?"
"Only because I heard it."
"Do you know where you are?"
"A hospital…" she said as she looked around. "The police car said Starling City." Felicity had put together some pieces, but they weren't big pieces…
"Yes, you're in Starling City," Oliver told her. "My name is Oliver Queen…and you're my friend."
"They kept throwing Queen around like you were famous…"
"Kind of am…"
Felicity stared at him. "I know someone famous, huh? And we're friends? That's pretty cool… And Diggle?"
"He's our friend… He doubles as a body guard…and driver."
"Wow…"
"If the doctors knew," Oliver said slowly and seemed concerned. "They'd keep you here…at least longer than they would right now."
"But what if something's wrong with me?" she questioned. "Why was I in that alley?"
"It's complicated."
"How complicated?"
"I can make sure that they run all the head scans they need to make sure you didn't hit your head and they're missing an injury," he said quickly. "But what you want to know…I really should SHOW you."
"Show me?"
Oliver nodded. "I trust you, Felicity… You have to trust me."
She stared at him and for some reason she knew that she could trust him. "I do. I'm not sure why, but I do."
He smiled. "Because deep down, you remember me… You remember the last couple of years…"
. . .
"I thought we were going someplace top secret?" she questioned as she entered what was clearly HER place. She turned around to look at Oliver and Diggle. "This is clearly NOT top secret…"
"It's your—"
"I sort of got that," she said quickly.
"Does that mean that you recognize things?" Oliver asked.
"I don't know," she rambled quickly and looked around again. "Maybe. It's familiar…"
"I'll take familiar," Diggle told her as he shut the door. "As for the top secret location…I veto-ed that plan."
Felicity turned and frowned at Diggle. "Do I spend time there?"
"Yes," Diggle said. "But you spend time here."
"She spends more time at the Foundry," Oliver argued.
"She spends more time with US," Diggle reminded. "You tell her the story…and I'll go get dinner… Hopefully between that and food…they'll be some memories that come to the surface."
Felicity turned her back to them as they wrote down orders and figured out the 'plan' for the night. She decided that her attention was better served on trying to recover her memories, which meant wandering through her home. There were a couple of pictures, but none of them had Diggle or Oliver or even Lance in them. They were all much older though… So far, none looked like they contained parents. She frowned deeply as she stared at an album and wished that it had given her more answers than questions.
"Trying to jog your memories?"
"Nothing seems familiar enough," Felicity told Oliver as she turned to him. "And how can I be sure that we're friends? I don't seem to have any pictures of you…"
It only took Oliver a moment before he was showing her his phone. There were definitely pictures of them together and pictures of Diggle with them as well. "We've only been friends for a couple of years…though sometimes it feels like so much longer."
Felicity sat down on the edge of her bed and looked up at him. "So, are you going to tell me the story?"
"I can't tell you your whole story because in all honesty, I don't know it."
"But we're close friends?" she asked slowly as she stared at him in confusion.
He smirked. "We are." He was quiet for a moment and then crouched down in front of her. "I was on an island for five years…shipwrecked. I came back and…I needed some help with…side projects," Oliver told her. It was clear that he was keeping something from her, but Felicity wasn't sure what it was. "You worked in the IT department of my family's company….Queen Consolidated."
"You're leaving things out."
Oliver just beamed at her. "I am."
"But if you don't tell me…"
"At that moment, that was all you knew… You knew that I was lying to you, but apparently somehow you felt like you could trust me."
"So…sort of like now?"
"Exactly like now," he confirmed. "I was shot…by my mother—"
"You were shot by your mother?!"
"At night, I dress up… I wear a green hood… I run around fighting crime with a bow and arrow."
"What are you? Robin Hood?"
"Definitely not Robin Hood," Oliver said quickly. "I used to go by the vigilante or the Hood…but now I go by the Arrow… After I was shot, I climbed into the back of your car and you took me to the secret location to Diggle… You saved my life. You ended up staying on…" He paused for a moment. "Your computer skills were extremely helpful, but it wasn't for several months later that I realized that I needed you so much more… You are my partner, Felicity… You forced me to see that there was another way of doing things… That I didn't have to kill all the bad guys… The island, it taught me survival…but you've taught me how to be human again."
"You make me sound pretty fantastic," she admitted.
"You are," Oliver told her.
They were both quiet for a long while. "What about the woman in the mask?" She paused. "Canary?"
"Sara… You remember Sara?"
"Just Canary…"
"Sometimes she works with us," Oliver told Felicity. "She's on our side."
"She was there in the alley…"
"I know," Oliver responded quietly. "I sent her out looking for you. That's why she called Lance."
"Is he my father?"
Oliver looked suddenly very confused. "No." He paused. "Why did you think that?"
"He was protective… I don't know, I just got this feeling like—"
"He cares about you," Oliver said. "Lance is a good guy even if we fight. He doesn't know that I'm the Arrow, but he DOES know about Sara." He paused. "Sara is his daughter. Sara Lance."
"Oh."
She suddenly felt like something had been taken from her even though it was never really hers. It wasn't only that, there was just something about the way that Oliver looked at her. Felicity was confused because he said that they were friends, but also that they were partners. She felt like there was something more between them. Felicity looked away as she thought about it. She was so jumbled up and confused. She just wanted to KNOW who she was and how she fit into the world. It didn't seem like that much to ask for.
"What?" Oliver asked gently.
"We're friends?" she asked and he nodded. "We're partners?" Oliver nodded again. "But what else are we?"
"What do you mean?"
He seemed confused and she wondered if the feelings that she felt was just HER feelings. What if he didn't feel the same way? What if this was something that she'd been keeping inside? "I just… I thought…" she kept trying to complete sentences, but it wasn't happening.
"Is it something you remember?" Oliver asked. He seemed to be studying her and she suddenly wondered if he was keeping something from her.
As she stared at him, all she could think was that she KNEW that she trusted Oliver Queen. She trusted this man with her life. She knew that deep down. He meant so much to her, but he hadn't said anything. She had to know, though. "It's something that I feel," she admitted.
They were both quiet for a few minutes. Felicity had started to think that he was just processing what she was saying because it was the first time that he'd heard of something so silly when he moved in closer…for a kiss. She froze, she hadn't expected that, for a moment she panicked internally, but then when his lips met hers…all she knew was that it was beyond right. Her eyes slid closed and she felt like she was living in that moment. It was a kiss that felt like the world and every memory she had should come flooding back to her, but they didn't… Once they parted, he pressed his forehead against hers and they just sat like that.
"Did that help?" he asked in a whisper.
Felicity's eyes opened and she stared at him for a moment. "It should have…" she whispered and was a bit frustrated by the fact that she didn't remember anything more. "But I do know something…"
"Oh?"
"It felt RIGHT."
"That's a start, right?" he asked before leaning in for another kiss.
Felicity didn't know how the memories COULDN'T come flooding back with that kind of help. It was just a matter of time.
. . .
The End.