Shades of Grey
A/N: I have wanted to do a lady-like "showdown" between Laurel and Felicity in my head. I think I have finally done it. One shot. Laurel is a nice character, but she isn't for Him. Oliver and Felicity all the way. This is generally outside the show timeline (except for Tommy being dead) and is not connected to my other fics which are typically set within the context of the show
The fall night was cool with a hint of Indian summer, even in the city. It was Thursday and Verdant was busy, but not terribly crowded like the weekend. Despite this, Laurel was forced to park her car a bit further from the club than she preferred, but she knew this town and was not afraid. She was Detective Lance's daughter after all.
She wanted to speak to Oliver about strictly business; how the Hood was cleaning up town and how it was affecting her charity law office. Not that that was a bad thing, but her mind was roiling about several points, like how the Hood may put her out of business and perhaps he could give her some grant money to stretch her work elsewhere. Her secondary motive was purely personal because it seemed ever time she saw him, he was still taking her breath away. Pulling her coat closer to her in the soft, cool breeze she walked confidently towards the club.
"Lady. Give me your purse." A gruff male voice said behind her and she felt vise like fingers grip her elbow just yards from the front door of the club.
Laurel whipped around, fist balled for a strike but the man anticipated it and grabbed the other wrist, "Let me go!" Lance knew her pistol was under her coat, exactly where she couldn't reach it.
"Gimme your purse!" The man demanded again, his eyes wild now that she could see them and a weeks worth of salt and pepper stubble on his face.
"Hey! Let her go!" Oliver's voice carried out into the night. Laurel was simultaneously terrified and elated at the same time.
The mugger twirled Laurel around, wedging her throat into his right elbow for a chokehold. Lance was bent backwards off balance but her left hand slid free and grabbed her pistol awkwardly. Oliver was running at them now.
As her hand pulled upward out of her jacket with the gun, the mugger seized her left wrist, which was her weaker hand and disarmed her. Oliver stopped suddenly and spoke in calm, reassuring tones, "Hey. Just put the gun down and you can have anything you want."
"Ollie…"Laurel gasped as his hold on her throat got tighter and the pistol began to be turned toward her head.
"I just want some money. Ok?" the mugger replied but Oliver could see he was high on drugs.
"Ok, let's be calm here." Oliver approached slowly, hands up, trying not to startle the mugger. The man shifted uneasily with his human burden.
Laurel quickly decided to take this into her own hands because what could Oliver do? He couldn't even kill a small spider with his shoe. In a flash, Lance stomped on the mugger's foot as hard as she could. He yelled in pain, releasing her but keeping the gun in his hand. Laurel bolted and Oliver tackled him after the flash of unexpected surprised passed over his face.
Laurel ran with no particular direction but ended up at the back door of Verdant. She fully expected Oliver to be right behind her. But he wasn't.
Stopping, her sides heaving and her high heels broken off, she watched Oliver attempt to disarm the man with surprisingly quick movements. Diving into her purse for her phone, suddenly something went wrong. A crack of a pistol report reached her ears and she looked up to see Oliver clutching his abdomen and the mugger scrambling up from the ground and staggering off.
" Oliver!" she screamed and ran back to him. He looked at her, a red stain leaking from under his hand as he fell to his knees with a shocked expression.
Felicity was debugging a new program for Oliver's surveillance arrows when she heard a distinctive sound she was oddly familiar with now: a gunshot. Her eyes flashed instantly to the security camera screens and saw Oliver falling to the ground, holding his torso. Blood chilled in her veins and her heart just about stopped but her muscles made her fly like the wind up the stairs and out the back door to the parking lot. Laurel was crouched over Oliver, her hands fluttering above him as if she would hurt him further if she touched him.
Felicity skidded to a halt at Oliver's side, bending down opposite Laurel, the voices of bystanders muted in her ears, as she took in the scene. Diggle's military medical training that he gave her kicked in immediately. " Call 911. NOW." She barked at Laurel, not bothering to look at her.
"Okay. Okay." Laurel barely breathed, not wondering why Felicity would show up at this moment. Her nerveless fingers dialed the number and began to recant what had occurred to the operator. The red puddle kept drawing her eyes to his wound.
"I'm ok." Oliver said feebly trying to smile at both of them. He looked like he was trying to get up from the pavement.
" Stay still." Felicity ordered him with steel in her voice. She locked eyes with his blue ones and he stopped moving, surprised at her tone. "Listen to me. You're going to be ok but I need you to relax and stay still. This is going to hurt." she said next trying to believe her own words and pulled off her dark rose-colored cardigan, folding it into a pad placing it over his wound. With two hands, she applied firm pressure to the gunshot and he hissed and groaned in pain, pulling his legs upward reflexively. It just about killed her to make him hurt more but if she didn't stop this bleeding, he'd be dead in a few moments.
Laurel finished on the phone, "They will be here soon." Her voice was unsteady and she touched Oliver's hand. He gripped it frailly and his color paled.
"You ok?" he asked Laurel and she could barely hear his voice.
"Yeah. You are my hero. As always." she responded with a halfhearted nervous laugh, trying not to cry out loud. Tears did leak over her lids and slid silently down her cheeks.
The cardigan was quickly getting saturated and Felicity didn't like his coloring. Where is the friggen ambulance! she yelled in her head trying to keep her mind off the fact that Oliver's supermodel-esque ex-girlfriend was inches from her and his life was literally in her hands.
"Felicity." The sound was barely her name.
The agony in his eyes was almost more than she could handle, but there was something… else in that sapphire gaze. "Yes." she replied softly holding her sweater still in place.
"I… " He exhaled as his eyes rolled up in his head and he stopped breathing.
" Oliver!?" Laurel asked urgently as his hand slipped from hers.
Felicity felt for a pulse at his neck. It was still there but barely. He must have lost too much blood and the damn ambulance was still not there. " I'm doing CPR. Get Diggle!" Felicity ordered Laurel who was barely hanging on. Staggering to her feet, she pressed through the crowd of gawkers to find the bodyguard, her mind a whirlwind of thoughts, feelings and memories.
Elevating Oliver's chin like Diggle taught her, she opened his mouth and paused briefly before sealing his with hers. "This is so not the way I wanted our first kiss." she whispered to him, surprised she finally admitted to herself that she had feelings for him beyond friendship.
Breathing for someone else and yourself was not easy and Felicity exhaled with all her might to make his chest inflate. It didn't help that he was larger than her but she kept on; inhale, seal, and exhale, ribs rising and count. She kept working, not thinking about the options if she failed. Imagining what she looked like from above, she bet the paparazzi would have a field day with the IT girl making out on the ground with her boss, the Oliver Queen.
Diggle and Laurel pounded up and pushed through the crowd to see Felicity kneeling, mouth to mouth on Oliver and a small lake of red pooling beneath him. Laurel pulled up short in astonishment to see what CPR looked like especially from a cute woman that now she just noticed was hanging about a lot more often.
"How long have you been doing the breathing?" Diggle asked. He had been settling a dispute in the bar area and the loud music had obscured the gunshot.
Felicity paused between breaths, " At least 30 counts." She kept working on Queen. Diggle checked his pulse; thready and weak.
Sirens were distant but drawing closer. Diggle knew there was nothing else they could do at this point.
Felicity felt Queen stir beneath her mid breath and she sat up suddenly. Oliver gasped involuntarily, taking in his own air making Felicity smile a small smile. She still felt the pressure of her lips on hers and was sure she was blushing. His eyes flickered and briefly looked in her direction, although she couldn't tell if he was lucid enough to realize where he was. She watched him carefully and his chest rose and fell rhythmically, but not deeply.
A few seconds later, the EMT's shouldered their way into the mob, stretcher in tow. Red and white lights flickered like fireworks from the ambulance casting harsh shadows on every one. Felicity backed away towards Dig and Laurel as they watched them stabilize Oliver with fluids and oxygen. They took over the compress over his abdomen and whisked him away into the dark. Diggle, Laurel and Felicity silently watched the ambulance depart together and the crowd of bystanders melted away. All that was left was a slick of blood that looked like oil from the streetlights on the sidewalk in front of Verdant.
"Laurel! Are you ok?" It was Detective Lance. Laurel turned, still stunned, towards her father and embraced him tightly. Felicity wished she had the guts to do that to Diggle because she felt her knees not very steady at that point. As if he read her mind, he placed a well-intentioned arm around her shoulders.
Laurel parted from her dad slightly staring at the ground, "I'm fine. Ollie isn't. He saved my life."
"Oliver Queen?" surprised vibrated in his voice as his eyebrows crept skyward.
"Yes. He… actually fought the mugger. The mugger used my gun to shoot him." Laurel testified, her eyes wide as she relived the moment.
"Fought? Playboy Queen fought someone?" Lance replied thinking to himself, I'd pay money to SEE that!
"That's not fair Dad. He lived for years alone. He had to have some sort of survival skills from necessity." Laurel replied angrily, the semi vacant stare gone from her face.
Felicity thought, You have no idea. She raised her hand to squeeze Dig's on her shoulder and then turned to leave quietly.
"Ms. Smoak, strange to see you here at this hour. I never thought you to be a clubby kind a gal." Detective Lance's purring voice froze her in her tracks. She felt her nervous lack-of-filter rising in her mind.
"Uh, well as a matter of fact, I happened to be working. You know I work for Queen Consolidated and I do lots of work for Mr. Queen. Sometimes too much work. In fact, I am here all the time, doing work on his systems. I mean computer systems…" Felicity felt her tongue getting away from her as John intervened.
"What Ms. Smoak was saying is she does many tasks for Queen Consolidated. Some involve hours that the club is open. Also, Ms. Smoak has been through a traumatic event tonight. Give her a break." John said smoothly.
Lance looked the pair up and down satisfied they didn't have anything to add to the investigation. An officer approached them and reported that they had found the mugger not far away behind a dumpster with some minor injuries. They had taken him in to custody. "Good work. We'll have to see if we need to press more serious charges besides attempted robbery and attempted murder." Lance finished but left the thought of full murder hanging in the now colder night air. Felicity and Laurel exchanged simultaneous horrified looks, but they were brief.
"I'm going to the hospital." Laurel announced as if someone would try to stop her. Lance didn't look surprised but rolled his eyes instead. Lance handed her pistol back to her and she holstered it. Squeezing her father's hand once last time and putting on a brave face, she walked off to her car.
Lance watched her go and said to the air as well as Diggle and Felicity, "What she sees in that boy, I have no idea." Turning on his heel, he retreated to the squad car he came in.
Diggle and Felicity looked at each other. John could see the tears in her eyes threatening and the exhaustion from an adrenaline rush about to overcome her usual perky self, "C'mon. I'll drive you to the hospital too. You are in no shape to drive."
"Thanks, Dig." Felicity said quietly and followed him to the Queen family car.
It was several hours before Oliver was in recovery. The small caliber bullet had, at such a short range, taken the scenic route through Oliver's lower abdomen. As if the projectile was trying out for an episode of House or CSI, where each twist and turn of its path would be shown to an adoring audience, it meandered around his small intestine creating a mess for the micro surgeon to reconnect all the blood vessels severed.
Moira was unfortunately out of the country with Thea on an exploratory business trip and so Laurel and Felicity sat in the waiting room, alone. Diggle was in the cafeteria getting some coffee. The clock on the mauve wall in what must have been a fire sale of pastel abstract wallpaper read 3:20am.
Felicity knew at this moment, if things had been different, she'd be asleep on her warm cotton flannel sheets printed with a Star Trek theme, her alarm clock hours away. Her DVR would have a new recording of Dr. Who to watch at her leisure and work could wait. Laurel felt like her eyes were going to seal shut here in the stiff backed, meagerly upholstered chair. She thought about the stacks of briefs on her desk that would need to be processed and she didn't have time to take a day. But one question did burn in the back of mind; why was Felicity at Verdant tonight.
Laurel, still staring at the wall opposite them in the empty surgical waiting room asked, "So what kind of work do you do for Verdant?" Her voice sounded strange in the quiet space.
Felicity at first didn't register that Laurel was talking to her because she was so sleepy but then she came to, " Um, mostly inventory software. Payroll. Stuff like that."
"And how did you and Ollie meet again?" Laurel queried, still looking vacantly across the room as if they were in a car together and she was keeping her eyes on the road.
"He's asked me to do some odd jobs for him from time to time. Walter recommended me to him." Felicity replied easily. That was not a lie. She was very bad at lying effectively, unlike her boss.
Laurel said nothing for a long time recalling Felicity bent over Oliver doing CPR on him. Except for the wound and mortal peril, it almost seemed natural to her to see Felicity's mouth on his. A little too natural. She recalled the way he looked at Felicity when they were all together. He used to give her those looks, but not any more.
"You love him, too." Laurel objectively put it out there in the room for contemplation. The 800-pound gorilla looked at Felicity for a reply.
Felicity sat absolutely still hoping this was just a figment of over-tired brains and bad neurons firing faulty messages. The seconds ticked by and the gorilla sat there. Felicity imagined it looked like Chewie from Star Wars, which almost gave her exhausted giggles. But the dawning realization of her feelings for him came forward like a herd of mustangs. The warm press of his lips on hers, the taste of him as she breathed life back into his lungs jumped in front of her filling her with a cloud of butterflies. Every time he had complimented her, touched her, even growled at her to act pulled her closer and closer to him. What had he meant to say before he passed out? What was that look in his eyes that was so hard to describe? Detective Lance's words came back to her, "What she sees in that boy, I have no idea." Felicity knew. She knew exactly what Laurel saw.
Laurel looked at Felicity to see if she was asleep because she waited to long to respond. She was not, but lost in reverie. Felicity turned finally to Laurel and leveled her glasses. Inhaling she gathered herself for probably the second hardest thing she'd ever have to say to another person. The first would be admitting to Oliver that she loved him, "Yes. I do. Very much."
Laurel gave a satirical smile, leaning back in her chair, resuming her stare across the room. "Of course. He's so easy to love. And hate."
"Our relationship it purely business. If you think for one moment that-" Felicity stirred herself forward with what little energy she left to confront the brunette.
"No. No. I don't blame you for anything. You're not a home wrecker." Laurel said expressionlessly, "I've been wondering a while."
Felicity sat back again in her chair even more drained than before. Why was she admitting this to Laurel? She had to ask, "So you are both an item again?"
A snort came from Laurel, "I don't know. Not any more. Ask me that question five years ago and I'd say we were inseparable. Today? I don't know."
"But you love him." Felicity pressed, feeling almost drunk with tiredness.
"I will always love him. Should I be with him? That is a good question." Laurel admitted with a bitter tone but Felicity could tell it was not directed at her. "It's like a grey area. It's not black or white." She paused folding her hands across her lap. "But as a lawyer, you'd think I'd like grey areas between the lines, tricks of the wording of a law or circumstance." Felicity let her ramble on, "But I don't see it here. I don't see ME with Oliver. I see you."
Felicity sat up straight as if someone put an ice cube down her spine," WHAT!?"
Laurel fixed her with a firm but gentle look and repeated herself; "I don't see me with Oliver. I see you."
Felicity felt her mouth hang open in astonishment. For once she was speechless.
"The verdict is in. My argument didn't sway the jury and I've been overruled." Laurel commented, "Like my use of legal puns?" A soft smile touched the corner of her lips but there was a universe of sorrow in her eyes.
"I don't know what to say. This has never happened to me before." Felicity admitted. She felt like she just took the crown off the Prom Queen's head in front of the crowd.
"Take care of him. That's all. Make sure you are both happy." Laurel said simply and stood. Diggle was approaching with three cups of coffee.
Laurel took hers from a confused looking John and waved a goodbye to them. Diggle looked at Laurel leaving then back at Felicity and then at the departing Laurel, "What the hell?"
"It's complicated. A very grey area." Felicity said, gratefully taking the cup of steaming coffee.
"Or is it a very green area?" John countered, a knowing expression on his face.
Felicity blushed. Right then she didn't know what to think, feel or believe except that the Prom King was hers. Oliver Queen belonged to her now.
Fine.