The Parent Trap AU Prompt:
It was luck that Morgan Smoak and Mackenzie Queen met at summer camp during a fencing match. Neither of them expected to pull off a mask and find a reflection of themselves staring back. But in the days that followed the girls learned that they were sisters– twins, separated by their parents. Morgan had been raised in London with tech genius and blonde bombshell Felicity Smoak, while Mac grew up with their father, Oliver Queen, the owner of Green Arrow Vineyards. When the girls devise a devious plan to switch parents, neither of them expected that what they'd really be fighting for was putting their family back together again.
Author's Note:
I have a rule about kids' names in fanfic. I use the same set of kids' names for pairings. So, for example: for Oliver and Felicity...I use Thomas "Tommy" Robert Queen and Madelyn Meghan Queen. So, I'll be just adjusting this prompt so that the girls' names are Madelyn (instead of Morgan) and Mackenzie. Not a huge adjustment, but otherwise it drives me a bit nuts.
= JUNE =
= London =
"We're certain that this is a girls only camp?"
"You mean like the school I attend?"
Felicity just stared at her daughter and then sighed. "Yes. Am I being too overbearing?"
Madelyn smiled at her mother, "I know you only do it because you worry...and care."
"I LOVE you!" Felicity told her as she grabbed her daughter a bit too quickly and held her a bit too tightly. "Don't forget to text."
"No phones allowed, Mum."
"E-mail."
"Nope."
"God, it sounds like I'm sending you to some far circle of hell," Felicity mumbled quietly, but Madelyn still heard her words. Her mother sighed heavily. When she pulled away she was crinkling up her nose. "I don't think there was anything in the packet about how I needed to send you with paper, pen, envelopes, or stamps."
"Imagine how many I'd need to get the post here?"
"Are you SURE you want to go there? It's not too late to-"
"It's only Maine, Mum," Madelyn told her matter of factly. "I COULD travel all the way to…" She paused and found her face cringing as the words rolled slowly out of her mouth, feeling foreign and almost dirty. "Las...Vegas…"
"Bright side. I'm not torturing you as much as I guess I think I am."
"Nan is all fine and good...but when she's here...in a civilized place," Madelyn said as she checked her appearance in the mirror once more. She attended one of the most prestigious all girls' school in London and she'd found that looking proper got you quite far in the world. Her normally long wavy hair (she got that from her mother) had been tamed with a flat iron, likely the last time that was going to happen until the end of the summer when she returned home. It was pulled out of her face, secured ever so neatly and precisely to one side (you couldn't even see the pin she'd used). She was dressed in a brightly colored floral dress of blues, greens, fuchsia, and spots of yellow and was paired with a fuchsia cardigan. She knew that it wasn't something that was really appropriate for summer camp, but she was trying to take in the freedom of wearing whatever she wanted before she was thrown into another world of uniforms.
Felicity kissed her forehead and then sighed again. Madelyn could tell that this was stressing her mother out a bit too much. "Are you CERTAIN you don't want me to come with you to the airport?"
"No, it'll be fine," Madelyn waved off. "Diggle is driving me. We arranged this when we first made the plans for Camp Walden, remember?"
"Right."
John Diggle was their family's bodyguard. Madelyn wasn't quite sure WHY they needed one, but he brought her mother some comfort with his presence, so she had never questioned it. She knew that her mother did important tech work, she'd even gone and installed...something...at the palace. So, Madelyn supposed that she was just being careful, plus Diggle was always there for her when her mother couldn't be. With how long he'd been with their family, he was more like an uncle than a bodyguard.
"I love you and I'll miss you," Madelyn told her mother. "Don't worry, I'll sort out everything we might have overlooked when I arrive at camp."
"I'll see to it, Ms. Smoak," Diggle said from behind her.
Madelyn spun around. "You're coming with?"
That wasn't part of the plan.
The three of them had traveled all over the world. The only place, though, that they'd been in the US had been Las Vegas and that trip had been cut short. Her Nan just did better when she wasn't in her own native habitat. They'd been everywhere else, though, it seemed. They'd go on work trips for her mother's job, but for some reason...her mother always refused working in the US. Madelyn had never understood it since that's where her mother was FROM. That didn't matter right now, though, what did...was that she was a pro at knowing where to go in Heathrow and understanding what to do. She might still be a child and young, but that didn't mean that she was stupid and incapable.
"I figured I'd go on vacation while you're gone," Diggle explained. "I have a friend over there."
"A lady friend?"
"Madelyn," Felicity lightly scolded. "We don't pry…"
Madelyn just looked in her mother's direction. "I'm merely asking a friendly question…" She held out her hand to Diggle. "Are we ready to go?"
He smiled and took her hand. "Luggage is already packed in the car."
She was nearly to the door when she released the hold she'd had on Diggle's hand and went running back to her mother, hugging her one last time. Madelyn was really doing this more for her mother than anything else. With her and Diggle gone, her mother was going to be left in London with just her work. She was going to be bored without them.
"Go on," Felicity finally said, obviously reluctantly.
Hurrying back to the door where Diggle was waiting for her, she headed out of the house that she'd grown up in, well for the majority of it. It was old and very English...but she was going to miss it. It wasn't just London or her home...it was Diggle...and her mom. It was her whole world.
= Arrived at Camp Walden =
"What are you looking forward to most?"
"I don't know," Madelyn pondered for a moment. "The list of sports and activities was quite extensive. Of course, the website has glorious pictures of everything...including the massive inflatable obstacle course on the lake."
"I did see that," Diggle said. "I also saw that they have fencing...I better hear stories of you whipping all of their butts."
Madelyn just grinned stupidly at that. Diggle really was great and he was right, she had some superior skills when it came to fencing. "That's the plan!"
"Also, a gift," he said as he pulled out a fresh deck of cards, still wrapped. "I'm hoping you find someone who can beat YOU in poker at this camp."
"Doubt it!" she told him brightly as she took the offered gift before they got out of the car. It only took her a moment to take in the wilderness surrounding them. The cabins looked...rugged to Madelyn. They were made out of large logs and she just hoped the brochure was correct on the whole running water and indoor loos. She hated false advertisement, especially on those comforts.
"You sure you're going to be up for this?"
Madelyn looked back at Diggle. "Just wait...you'll come back and I'll be 'Queen of Camp'."
"Is that a real title?"
She beamed, "You'll just have to see in a few weeks, won't you?" He just seemed amused. "Who ARE you visiting again?"
"Lyla Michaels...someone I knew once...when I was...uh, younger."
"Right."
"Don't forget, your favorite tea is packed," Diggle told her as they exited the vehicle. He pulled out her bags and lined them up beside the vehicle, her not quite knowing how this was going to know and hoping that she had everything she needed packed. It was time to say goodbye, but they had their OWN way of saying it.
It started with shaking hands, like civilized people. It was suddenly all hands in like they were at the end of a game, their hands went down together before springing upwards. Madelyn pressed the palm of her hands together, same as Diggle, and their hands collided for a moment before stilling as the right hand came up. Madelyn high fived his hand before coming down and hitting her own hand and then going below to give Diggle a low five. Their left hands moved down below for another low five before the right one came around to smack their respective right hip. Madelyn turned to the side as her and Diggle's hips bumped against each other which was followed quickly by the right ones meeting for just a moment. Her hands folded under her chin, her elbows extended outwards as she bounced down and back up twice before switching positions with Diggle and shaking his hand once again.
This was tradition.
THEIR tradition.
They were grinning at each other and Diggle pulled her in for a much needed hug. She clung to him for a moment. He really was the closest friend she had in the world and the closest thing she'd ever come to having a father. He'd been there all her life and here she was...leaving him for such an extended period of time. She knew he'd fine, but SHE would miss HIM.
"Make friends," Diggle told her. "Have fun. Stay out of trouble." He kissed her forehead as he pulled back so that she was at arm's length and he was just staring at her for a moment. "Try not to grow any more while you're here…and REMEMBER, I won't be far if you need me."
TBC...