The hum of the private jet combined with the change in air pressure had Felicity feeling like she was in a sound deprivation chamber, and it made her extremely uncomfortable. "How'd you sleep?" She cringed, realizing she had spoken louder than necessary.
Oliver was sitting across from her and staring out the window. He had been distant these past couple days leading up to the flight to Nevada. He looked at her when she spoke and sent her a small smile, "As well as can be expected."
"Well, that's kinda a non-answer, isn't it? What's to be expected? What could be affecting your sleep? And I am talking too much again aren't I?" She began wringing her hands in front of her. "I know this is silly, being nervous over a short flight. I mean, it's less than two hours in the air and we'll probably spend more time on the tarmac than actively flying. And I have flown before… It's just… I am going home for the first time in years and I've had nothing but radio silence from you since you told me you got this to be ARGUS sanctioned and now I don't know how I'm feeling."
He placed his hands on hers to stop her from giving herself a friction burn. "I was trying to give you some space. After everything that happened, I wanted you to find your new baseline without me."
She gave him a glare, but there wasn't much heat behind it. "I didn't ask for space." She turned her hands in his and held them. "Remember when I said to just explain things to me? I wasn't joking. I probably would have slept better if I had known your reasoning. As it was, with the nightmares and worrying about you –us-, I have gotten a grand total of six hours of sleep in the last three days. I'm not saying that to gain pity or throw blame, merely as a warning for my future behavior." When Oliver got up to sit next to her, she put up her hands in a mock karate defensive position. "I swear, if you knock me out again, I will kick your ass. You know I can do it."
He chuckled. "I was just going to let you use me as a pillow again. It seemed to work well enough in the helicopter." He pulled her onto his lap and tucked her head under his chin, "And I am sorry for making you worry. If it makes you feel any better, I was going crazy because I wanted to see you. I didn't get much sleep either." He kissed her hair and felt her relax in his arms.
She hummed contentedly and asked him the question that had been creeping its way into her mind since the battle at Sara and Nyssa's. "Do you still get nightmares? I mean, I don't want to pry and you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to… I just want to know if they'll ever stop." Tears leaked slowly from her eyes before she could stop them.
"It gets better. They don't disappear completely, at least mine haven't yet, but they do get better. I've found physical exhaustion helps me best. If I work myself to the point of total exhaustion, my brain focuses on repairing my body instead of delving into the darker recesses of my memories." He rubbed circles on her back, trying to soothe both of them. "We've got at least another hour and a half in this tin can, what do you say we rest as much as possible so we can be bright eyed and bushy-tailed when we see your mom."
She sat up and looked at him, her eyes were wide and horrified. "You're coming with me to meet my mom?!"
"You don't want her to meet me?" His eyes showed the shade of pain that caused.
"No! No. It's not that I don't want her to meet you, it's that I don't want you to meet her." When his expression turned to stone, she knew she had chosen the wrong words again. "I am so bad at this." She took a deep breath and tried again. "You have to understand, my mom is… sunny. No, she is a cocktail waitress in Las Vegas, so sunny doesn't even begin to cover it. My mom had to raise me alone, as you know. All she had in her arsenal after Darhk abandoned us was a GED, her charm, her looks, and sheer determination.
Do you know what makes a successful cocktail waitress in my hometown? Working all hours in the high roller area, keeping the rich drunk, happy, and gambling; and they prefer a pretty face to do that. So my mom, this beautiful sunshine of a woman, has learned to dress skimpy, smile pretty, and bring home enough for us to scrape by. This is the woman she has trained herself to be, and she has been that way for so long, she can hardly shut off the façade anymore." Felicity shook her head, "It's not that I am ashamed of her, I just want you to meet the woman who fought tooth and nail to raise a stubborn werewolf genius, too smart for her own good. Not the woman who flirts with the rich to make a living." She searched his eyes to see if he understood, but his expression was still schooled. "Plus, you'd be the first guy I brought home and I'm not sure what that would mean for either of us."
Oliver tried not to show the extent of his relief. In the past he had dated several women, and a lot of them he had to keep secret because he had been a serial cheater; always dating multiple women, but only one publicly. He was almost positive Felicity wasn't that type of woman, but when she was so blatantly against him meeting someone who was so important to her, he began to doubt his judgment. "Felicity. I wouldn't care if she was an ex-prostitute, she raised you to be the woman you are today and I lo- like her already just for that." He cupped her face and looked into her eyes, trying to reassure her.
"You're right." She cuddled back into his chest for a moment before springing back up, "But let's meet up with her after a full night's rest, huh? Well, at least as much as we can manage. Together we wouldn't even have a full night's sleep." She closed her eyes tightly, "I mean, that with the number of hours we manage to sleep in a night- combined- equals less than an average adult's night of sleep. You know what? I am just going to stop talking."
Oliver barely suppressed a chuckle and pressed a soft kiss to her hair. "Never do that, Felicity."
Felicity was standing at the check-in counter of a just-barely-reputable motel fighting off the urge to cry. Who would have thought that there would be a knitting convention that weekend? Better yet, who would have thought that a knitting convention would draw so many attendees that every reasonably priced room within a ten mile radius would be occupied? "C'mon man! This is the bottom of the bucket for me, you have nothing available?"
"Ma'am, no one is more upset about the old and young biddies taking up all my rooms than me. But, I mean if you're desperate, I'm sure we could work something out. " The middle aged meth haggard man leered at her and she had to swallow her vomit.
"Ugh. No, thank you." When she turned to leave the man reached out and grabbed her arm. She was trying not to breathe too deep because the smell of rotted teeth was strong with this one, but when she breathed deep to gather patience, she could smell his anger. She turned to him slowly, "You will let go of me. Now."
"C'mon now, beautiful. I made you a reasonable offer out of the kindness of my heart. The least you could do is give me a kiss for my thoughtfulness." He tried to yank Felicity closer, but was surprised when he ended up on his back on the opposite side of the counter. Felicity had pulled him toward her instead and threw him to the floor. Oliver, who had been outside on the phone trying to use his family name to get them a room on the strip, rushed in the lobby just in time to see Felicity place her foot on the man's throat.
"Everything alright in here, Felicity?" He asked cautiously.
"Just dandy!" She sounded far too chipper for the events playing out before him. "This man, if you want to call him that -I would rather call him something far less complimentary..." She pressed her new flat into his throat and watched his eyes go wide with fear, "This man decided that because there were no rooms available, he would be so kind as to offer his own. For a price of course. And when I politely declined, he insisted. That insistence likely left a bruise on my arm that I am now going to have to explain to my mother."
The man lying on the floor looked at Oliver, his eyes pleading for assistance. "Don't look at me buddy. I vote for her to crush your throat. But, Felicity, maybe we could hold off on killing him just yet? I don't think Waller would appreciate the need for a clean-up team so early in the mission."
Her eyes narrowed on the man, "You're right." She looked over to Oliver, her anger calming just a little when their eyes met, "You wanna knock him out for me?"
"My pleasure." Oliver walked over as Felicity released the man beneath her. With one swing the sleaze ball was unconscious on the floor. "Are you ok?" His hand ghosted over her injured arm.
"I will be." She rubbed her arm, trying to determine if she would bruise or not. "Guys like that just make me so angry. I don't like being angry."
He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, guiding her out to their rental car, and whispered, "I've managed to get us a suite at Caesar's."
"Thank goodness. How'd you manage that? Wait. Don't tell me. I can figure it out. Mr Queen."
"Mr Queen was my father." He smiled.
"Right. Well… Agent Queen then."
They rented a car and were able to make it to Caesar's Palace, completely circumventing Las Vegas Blvd; which was packed with taxis, limos, and tourists. Inside, Oliver gave his name to the concierge and received a couple key cards and a flirtatious smile. "The Emperor Suite opened up just before you called us, how fortunate is that, Mr Queen?"
"Extremely. Thank you…" He gave her a friendly smile and glanced at her name tag, "Janice. " He turned toward the main doors, looking for Felicity and was surprised to find her finishing up a call on one of the in-house phones.
"Mr Queen? If you need anything, anything at all, you can reach me at the front desk or at this number." Janice handed him a slip of paper with her number scrawled on it. "I'm off at midnight."
"Uh." Oliver looked dumbly at the paper that was now in his hand. He really should be used to the come-ons. Truth was, before the island, he was and he would have jumped at the opportunity with this woman. But now? Now he was dumbfounded and was grasping for a gentle exit strategy that wouldn't make their stay more difficult than necessary. He gave her a sympathetic smile and relief flooded him when he felt Felicity slip her arm through his.
"Thank you, Janet." Felicity smiled sweetly. "We'll be sure to call if we need anything. How great is this customer service, sweetie?" She turned Oliver toward the elevators and laughed.
Oliver tossed the phone number into the trash can, "So great, hun. So great." Each with a bag in tow and ascended to their room, leaving behind a stunned yet mollified concierge.
"You looked like you needed a bit of help back there. What? You've never turned a girl down before?" Felicity asked after the doors closed.
He blushed a bit, "I never used to. Before… Anyway, I have now."
"No you haven't. I gave you an escape which gave her an answer, but that wasn't you turning her down."
"I threw her phone number in the trash, that's about as solid as a no gets, I think."
Felicity pursed her lips in consideration, "Fair enough. I'll give you that one." She shoulder bumped him and smiled shyly at his reflection.
The doors dinged open as they reached their floor. Oliver swiped the key card and opened the door to the Emperor Suite. It wasn't a room he had ever stayed in personally, but it was similar to the other high end suites on the strip. Felicity looked around the room, agog at the view.
"I grew up here, but I've never really seen Vegas like this. It's amazing." She was standing at the window that overlooked the south half of the strip. From her vantage point she would be able to see the Bellagio's water show too. She heard Oliver's feet whisper across the plush carpet and stop next to her.
"Who'd you call while we were downstairs?" He reached down to hold her hand, not ready to take their intimacy too far yet.
"My mom. I figured I should let her know I was here and tell her to prepare for company because I brought someone home with me." She leaned her head on his shoulder as they both gazed out of the window. "Should we order food or just turn in. I can't decide if I am more tired or hungry right now."
"I'll order some room service, we'll eat dinner in our pajamas then go to bed. Sound good?"
"Perfect. I'll have a cheese burger." She grabbed her bag and, stumbling slightly with exhaustion, turned to make her way to the bathroom to shower and get changed while Oliver ordered the food.
The food was being delivered right as she stepped out of the bathroom and they ate in companionable silence. Felicity noticed that Oliver had also taken a shower and changed into a fitted white shirt and basketball shorts. "There are two bathrooms in here?" She gazed around the rather large space.
"Yes, there's also a wet bar, this sitting area, a dining area and a bedroom." He finished off his cheeseburger and looked up at his companion. She was chewing very slowly and her eyes were wide in question.
She swallowed and asked, "Just one bedroom? How many beds?"
"Just the one, but before you freak out, I am going to sleep on the couch. Don't worry. Now let's get to bed. We've got an eventful day tomorrow."