Title: Felicity's Future
Spoilers: General for mid-season 2
Warnings: Child kidnap, mild peril, perhaps some violence and strong language, gun use.
Rating: T to be on the safer side
Category: Future fic, Olicity, mild Sara/Oliver, children
Summary: Five years ago she walked out of all of their lives to have a life the others could only hope for, a future that Oliver wished he could have deep down, until she walks back into their lives needing what only they can do best: save her. Written during season 2 so AU 5 years after that.
Disclaimer: All characters and the universe they exist in belong to the CW, Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, Andrew Kreisberg and DC Comics. This piece of fan-fiction was created solely for entertainment purposes and no money was exchanged. No copyright infringement was intended and the original characters, situations and plots are property of the author. This piece of fan-fiction must not be archived without the author's consent.
Author's Notes: I desperately wanted my muse to help out with an amnesia or Moira/Felicity/Oliver fic, it refused and came up with this one instead. In short this came from, who would I turn to if anything ever happened to my son? And then I twisted it. Please be assured, no matter how much I want to keep you guessing, I would never harm a child – real or fictional.
It was both remarkable and annoying how easily she could remember her way so well. It had been ten years since the last time she had been, to a place she had often called home. In truth it was a place that felt like home back then. She guessed that it still did and that was how, despite some road changes and new crossings, she knew her way there perfectly. Nothing had really changed, not in all of this time and she remembered back to those days so fondly, she found that it was true – she did miss those days. She missed them more than she cared to admit, but right now she had far greater priorities. Parking up her car in its usual spot, she got out of the car and grabbed her bag, pausing after closing the door quietly. She was nervous. She was scared. She was so much that she had never been before approaching somewhere that she knew so well.
"Suck it up, Felicity, you're a grown woman."
Smoothing down her skirt and straightening her blouse, both items that she still wore on a daily basis, but felt strangely unfamiliar that day. Taking one final deep breath, Felicity followed the old familiar path into Verdant and to the door to the basement. Everything was just assumptions, but she figured that even after all of this time, she still knew Oliver better than anyone should. As she hoped that the door code was still the same, Felicity glanced up at the camera that was always monitoring this area, knowing that somebody downstairs had seen her. Who had taken her old job, she wondered to herself as the security panel blinked green. Her boys were useless really, she shook her head with a slight laugh. Her heels clicked on the stairs just as they always had done. She had always been the only person that everyone would hear coming, with her footwear and lack of ninja skills that the others had.
It was the smell that overwhelmed her first; the old familiar smell that had been a constant back in the old days. Sweat mixed with age and technology. Part of it was unique to Oliver, and so she paused halfway down the stairs at the thought of him. Despite everything over the years she had known these people that still lived in her home, she had not seen most of them in years. She saw them all then as she hesitated on the stairs. Oliver was on the salmon ladder, facing away from her as his back rippled with each jump. Roy and Sara were sparring on the mats and Diggle was sitting at her computers and it was him that looked up first, a huge welcoming smile on his face.
"Felicity," he greeted, giving her the courage to continue down the last few steps. It had been five years since she had seen him, since she had last walked out of the lair and QC.
"Hey, John." It felt good to see him and to have his arms wrap around her as he stepped forward. She relaxed into him for a moment, feeling some of the stress of the day melt away.
Sara and Roy paused in their sparring at the noise and Felicity noticed that Oliver had stopped on his rung, hanging in mid-air. "Fliss," Sara smiled, "You never said you were visiting!" The other woman quickly pushed Diggle out of the way for her own welcome. It had only been a year since the two women had seen each other. Sara had come to her in the dead of night, sharing a new bond together.
"Move over!" Roy joked, pushing Sara and causing both women to stumble as he hugged Felicity into himself. It had been about five years since she had seen him, but slightly longer than when she had seen Diggle. She had never said goodbye to Roy.
"I'm sorry," she whispered against his cheek and he squeezed her a little tighter in forgiveness and then he moved away. In all of the commotion, she had not heard him move and as Roy stepped aside, Felicity came face to face with Oliver, his chest still slick with sweat and his trousers hanging low. He wiped at his face with the towel over his shoulder and she faltered. They all expected her to hug him and they all noticed that neither of them moved any closer. It had been four years since she had last seen Oliver, after she had walked away from everything, they had found each other. She remembered it all.
"Felicity," he greeted and they all heard the forced lightness in his voice. She knew that he did not like surprises and that there might be some pain for him in seeing her. She could not help that and she could not think about that at the moment.
"Oliver." She tried to keep the same happiness of seeing him as she had for the others, but it all became too much and he was the only one who could see the truth that had momentarily been covered by her joy at seeing everyone again.
"What's wrong?" he asked immediately and Sara thwacked him on the arm.
"Who say's something's got to be wrong to come visit us?" she smiled. The smile left Sara's face as Felicity broke. Quickly moving the few steps keeping them apart Oliver and Felicity both moved at the same time to crush against each other as Felicity released everything she had been feeling, openly sobbing against his chest as her tears mingled with his sweat.
"It's okay," he comforted as the other three stood by, watching in concern and worry. "What's happened?"
She pulled away from him and took a step away, but his hand found hers and kept her in place, unable to run any further away. "I need your help. All of you." She looked at the others briefly and then returned her eyes to Oliver's. "Someone's been kidnapped and you were the only person I thought of. People," she corrected herself quickly.
"Don't tell me it's…" Diggle said and when Felicity nodded, crying again, he cursed out loud.
"What? Who?" Roy questioned.
"My daughter, Jessica. I went to work this morning and she the Nanny was with her. I got a phone call at lunchtime to say that Jess had gone."
"Have you called the police?" Diggle asked.
She nodded. "They sent Detective Lance." He had been promoted again after his help in the Slade Wilson case. It all felt a lifetime ago to Felicity, the life where she had been Felicity Smoak.
"Pause for a sec," Roy interrupted. "You have a kid?"
"Not now," Oliver snapped. "What have they said? Are there any leads?"
"He wouldn't tell me, but he did ask me if I still had links to the Hood. I said no, but I'd already thought of you." Her first thought had been of Oliver.
Oliver nodded sombrely and opened his mouth to speak, but then stopped himself. "Where's Matthew?" Diggle asked, it was a similar question to the one Oliver had considered.
"He's at home." More tears escaped her eyes. "He's not happy that I was coming here."
"You did the right thing," Sara comforted, taking hold of and squeezing her friend's shoulder. "We'll find her."
"Did you guys all know that Felicity had a daughter?" Roy asked, stuck on that revelation.
"Why do you think she had to stop working the night job?" Sara questioned as Diggle headed over to Felicity's computer.
"Let's see if there's any news coverage before I start hacking."
"I'll call Lance." Oliver finally released Felicity's hand moved to the side, using his Arrow phone.
"You hack?" Felicity asked as she tried to ignore the fear that was constantly within her now.
"Still not up to your level." His smile was warm and she tried to take comfort from it.
"Detective Lance," Oliver said in his normal voice but in the tone of the Arrow. "Something happened to a friend of mine. Yes, Mrs Stillman's daughter. I would appreciate everything you have. Thank you, Detective." He turned to the others who were all approaching one of the computer screens where Diggle had pulled up a local news feed. "I've got a meeting with him later to get an update."
"In the local news," the news anchor said, "We have an Amber alert out for a four year old girl. Jessica Stillman." An image of a young blonde with a huge smile appeared on half of the screen. It was one of Felicity's favourite photos that she had given to Lance. More tears threatened to spill down her cheeks, but they halted as Roy spoke.
"She looks just like all those photos Thea hates around the…" He stopped when he realised what he had said and slowly turned to Felicity. "Oh, that's why they all knew."
Her eyes widened as the other three turned to look at her. There was confusion on Sara's face, sympathy still on Diggle's and nothing on Oliver's, but she could see the anger behind his eyes.
"Or they didn't," Roy mumbled.
"Is… Is Jessica Matthew's daughter?" Oliver stuttered out. "Because I have to agree with Roy, she looks an awful lot like Thea did, but that's just a fluke, right? Because you would have told me if she were mine, right?"
Felicity backed away, her eyes wet with tears that she had no idea if they were there out of fear for her daughter or because Oliver truly looked like he could kill her. She watched helplessly as Diggle put a hand on Oliver's arm. "This isn't the time, Oliver."
His jaw clenched and he ground his teeth together for a few moments before he turned away from her and to the computer. "Have you got anything yet?" He demanded of his friend and Diggle began going through what little he had found in the short space of time. Felicity remained standing a few feet away, her body starting to shake. In that moment she hated herself for lying to them all, for hurting Oliver, but worse than that, she hated herself for losing her daughter.