Chapter 1 "Good morning Ms Stark." a polite yet electronic voice woke Felicity.
"J.A.R.V.I.S.! I was sleeping." she grumbled "I'm sorry miss, but Mr Stark insisted that he needed to speak to you.
"Tell my dad I'm busy doing what normal people do at this hour: sleeping"
Felicity blinked in irritation at the tablet from which J.A.R.V.I.S. spoke. grabbing her glasses she squinted at her alarm clock: 4:26 am.
"Here's another idea tell him if he wants to have a serious conversation he should at least approach me when the sun is up."
"The sun is up in New York Lissie and I got tired of waiting for J.A.R.V.I.S. to respond so I hacked in to talk to you directly...Sorry J.A.R.V.I.S.
"Quite alright sir."
Felicity groaned "what is it this time dad?"
"Can't a father call his beloved daughter because he misses her?" The skeptical look on Felicity's face coupled with the silence that followed his words caused Tony's smirk to deflate. "Alright I figured I'd call you to give you a head's up about some company business. Queen Consolidated contacted Stark Industries about our alternate energy research programs. There's talk of them converting their entire company to Arc Reactor power like Stark tower. Since you're chummy with the friendly local Robin Hood cosplayer/CEO, i wanted to ask you to keep your ears open. I don't trust the Queens and I need to know anything you might hear."
"I'm not committing corporate espionage for you dad. We agreed after I graduated college that I would find my own way. We also agreed when I started working at QC that you wouldn't interfere." "Espionage is such a loaded word. I'm asking you to report gossip, not team up with Widow to plant bugs and rappel down elevator shafts. Is it unreasonable for me to make sure that my tech isn't used to create another earthquake machine? Once Moira gets her hands on it who knows what she'll do?"
"Dad.
"She's like the evil queen from snow white and what kind of last name is Queen anyway. We overthrew the monarchy, frankly it's unpatriotic. I bet she poisons bald eagles in her spare time."
"DAD!"
"Sorry sweetie, Natasha says hi by the way."
'Tell her I say hi back."
"I miss you Lissie. We all do. I wish you didn't work so far away. Why did you turn down Bruce's offer?"
"We've been over this before." She and Bruce had grown up together. She was born a few months after he lost his parents. From the moment they met, the two had a connection. Alfred always credited Felicity for being able to make Bruce smile again. When ever she needed to escape the craziness of her father or her mother being...her mother she could always count on Bruce to let her stay at Wayne Manor. Gotham was more home than anywhere else...at it used to be. Bruce came with his own set of issues and when he had disappeared for 3 years it had been difficult to accept. She hadn't wanted the job at Wayne Enterprises. It was too much inside her comfort zone. She had wanted a life outside of her bubble. Outside of Felicity Stark.
"I know Lissie, but you can't blame a father for trying. I worry about you in Starling...are you sure it isn't built on a hellmouth?
"Dad!" Felicity giggled "Sorry baby. Cap decided to take your suggestion and watch Buffy. Fumble fingers pressed to wrong button and the entire tower played nothing else for two days." "Say hi to Steve and Pepper and Banner and..." 'Got it Lis. Oh by the way, Barton found out about your Legolas wannabe...he's not too happy about someone stepping on his turf. Apparently there's some kind of Medieval weapons pecking order. He says you've betrayed him."
"Tell Clint he's the archer of my heart." "Uh huh...I don't like you working for him either baby. I know" Tony held up a hand cutting off the well practiced rant Felicity used to defend Oliver. "He's still killed people and forgive me if I don't appreciate my baby girl caught up in his world. I don't want you hurt." "Good night dad." Felicity's exasperated expression was underscored by her smile. "Technically it's good morning since New York is 3 hours ahead of Califor-"
Felicity cut the transmission and sighed. She knew her father had her best interests at heart, but he could be stifling sometimes. Tony Stark tended to have a blind spot when it came to his daughter. She hadn't even told him about her current job demotion because she knew he would have flown to Starling, guns ablaze, to take Oliver down. For all his skills, no one, not even Oliver Queen could stand up to the wrath of Iron Man when it came to Felicity. With a grown she contemplated what her father had told her. Arc Reactor power was great in terms of green energy, but the thought of a company partially owned by Isabel Rochev gaining access to it was frightening. Plus it meant that her secret was in danger. Oliver didn't know about her family. He'd never cared enough to ask, but something told her that he'd be less than pleased to discover that the daughter of Tony Stark, heir to one of the top companies in the world was his overqualified secretary.
As she drifted off to sleep she thought about Steve inadvertently forcing the entirety of Stark Tower to watch Buffy. She hoped there was video footage. Maybe she'd hack the tower security feeds in the morning to find out.