This is another companion piece to "Because You're Worth It" that follows "Black Meets Green." It gets into the current season of Arrow. Obviously, since this is a crossover story with Avengers, there will be differences.
Disclaimer: I do not own any Arrow or Marvel characters. Only this story is mine.
Chapter 1: A Makeover
Steve had been in Starling City three months. When his ninety-day probation period with the police force was up, he was allowed to get rid of the police uniform and dress like Captain America. After the turmoil of Slade and his supersoldiers' rampage, Captain Lance and the mayor decided his presence would bring comfort to the citizens of Starling as well as make them feel safer. So in the day time, he walked the streets. At night, the Arrow and his new red sidekick were doing much to keep the criminal element on the ropes. Steve, of course, was the only one in the police department that knew the identity of both the Green and Red Arrows. Although the team called Roy Arsenal, the public referred to him as the Red Arrow.
Steve was enjoying Starling City. The people in the town were fighters, and he grew to admire the people more every day. They weren't about to let yet another catastrophe keep them down for long. Steve got why Felicity and her friends were so determined to fight and protect the city.
Felicity, though, was what made the city home for him. Steve hadn't been so happy since he was a boy with both parents alive. Two months after Natasha's visit, they went house hunting for their own place—one to buy. They wanted a bigger place they could one day start a family in. She'd taken a temporary job at some computer store—a job that was so beneath her skill level—since she'd lost her job at Queen's Consolidated. Steve had more than enough money for them both—the army had back paid him his time on ice. However, she wanted to pay her share. Steve knew that modern women were more independent, so he didn't argue.
Picking out furniture they both liked had been an adventure. They kept his larger bed, but they couldn't agree on living room furniture. He found hers uncomfortable. She found his too mannish and unattractive—those were her words. So they spent time at estate sales. Felicity decided antique furniture would be a good compromise. Her desire for color lit up every room in the house. For the first time since his mother died, he felt like he had a real home. It was a perfect blend of both of them.
They threw a party when they were done decorating. His new friends from the precinct came, but Natasha and Clint were unable to attend. However, Tony and Pepper arrived, surprising the guests.
Roy had been more than a bit freaked to meet Tony Stark.
"Iron Man is in your house!" he exclaimed to Felicity when he spotted the man talking to Captain Lance. He said it with barely repressed excitement.
"You knew that he's sort of related to me. I mean, Pepper is my cousin," Felicity reminded him.
"Yeah, well, he never comes to visit!" Roy pointed out. "But there he is! In your house!"
"Would you like to meet him?" Felicity asked, smiling. She laughed when Roy's eyes lit up.
She thought Roy was going to faint when Tony's first words were, "So Arrow 2.0. Getting pretty good with that bow, huh?"
Felicity looked around to see who overheard his remark as Pepper scolded him. Luckily, no one who wasn't already in the know was listening.
When Roy sputtered a response, Tony laughed and slapped him on the back. "Relax, kid. I was teasing you. I think it's great. Red is so much cooler than green anyway!" Tony told him with a smirk.
Roy smiled, trying to relax. He tried and failed to appear calm. Felicity bit back a smile while Tony grilled him. Finally, Roy started asking Tony his own questions, forcing Tony to answer.
"Remember, this house is full of cops," Pepper whispered to Tony, who just grinned unabashedly.
Felicity looked around for Oliver, and she found him on their terrace on the phone. She listened as he left another message for Thea.
"Still no answer?" Felicity asked.
"She left me a message saying she was in Italy, and she was fine," Oliver said, clearly frustrated.
"You're not so sure?" Felicity inquired.
"I don't know. I guess," Oliver said. "It's just been months. I've not seen my only remaining family in months. I hate it!"
"Why don't you let me track her down?" Felicity suggested. "Then you can go to her."
Oliver looked relieved. "I'd appreciate that. Thanks, Felicity," Oliver said. He reached out and put his hand on her shoulder, giving it a squeeze.
Felicity moved to put her arms around his waist, hugging him. Since she'd gotten with Steve, she found it easier and easier to be openly affectionate with Oliver. There wasn't anything sexual about it, but she loved him. It made her happy to give him what was missing from his life. In the absence of his mother and sister, he was starving for affection. The happiness she was finding in her personal life made her want to share it with others she cared about whenever a chance arose.
Steve stood in the doorway. It had taken a while, but he and Oliver had slowly become friends. They weren't close, but Oliver no longer looked so guarded around him.
"There you are!" Steve said, smiling at them. "Got your hands around another man already?"
Felicity laughed and hugged Oliver to her side. "I can't help it! He's just so huggable!"
Oliver squirmed. "So not what a guy wants to hear!" he said, stepping away.
Laughing at his discomfort, Steve held out his hand to Felicity. "Well, I'm not sure I can measure up to that, but I'll do my best!" he proclaimed.
Felicity went willingly into his arms. "You're huggable, but I'd rather you be kissable," she said, stepping on her tip toes to kiss him.
Oliver smiled and moved away from their affectionate display. If he sometimes felt a pang for what he could've had with Felicity, he was able to ignore it. She was happier than he'd ever seen her. Things were going great with their night job. Now if he could just get back his company and bring his sister home.
He went out to mingle with the crowd. Diggle and Roy were laughing at whatever Tony Stark was saying. Pepper caught his eye and smiled warmly at him, so he walked over toward her.
"Oliver, I was wondering if we could talk business," Pepper said.
Tony, proving once again his awareness of Pepper was absolute, turned to her. "Business? What business?" he asked with a wink.
"Business I want to discuss with Oliver," Pepper said pointedly.
"But your business is my business," Tony reminded her.
"Actually, you handed your company over to me, remember? You play with your toys, I make the money. That was our agreement," she said with a smile.
When he opened his mouth to argue, she turned away, effectively dismissing him. Roy and Diggle's surprise at the couple's interaction was apparent. Oliver, however, just grinned.
"I see strong willed women run in the family," Oliver said with admiration.
"It's necessary when working with equally strong-willed men," Pepper replied.
"So what did you want to discuss? You know I lost control of my company," he said.
"Signing it over to the woman who was trying to take it from you to begin with was really stupid," Tony interjected with a smirk.
"Tony," Pepper said, throwing him a warning look. Then she reached for Oliver's arm. "Let's go somewhere a bit quieter."
Oliver gave Tony his own smirk as he followed Pepper to the kitchen. She pulled out a chair, and he sat down next to her.
"There's a few people who are putting their hands in the hat to be the new CEO of Queen Consolidated," Pepper shared. "If you want your company back, I can help."
"Really? What did you have in mind?" Oliver asked.
"Tony has tracked the shares that Isabel Rochev owned in the company. Her death didn't automatically make them viable for purchase. She had them revert to Stellmoor, a company that Stark Industry owns some interest in. We can sign over what was originally yours," Pepper said.
"You'd do that?" Oliver asked in surprise.
"What she did was sneaky and underhanded. Her part in Slade's plan for the city has been uncovered thanks to Felicity. I convinced Stellmoor's CEO that it was in their best interest to do this," Pepper said. "Then I bought their stake, and I'm signing that over to Felicity."
Oliver blinked. "Does she know?"
"Not yet. She'll freak at first. But she'll do great as your VP," Pepper said with a smile.
A genuine smile broke out on Oliver's face. "I have no doubt," he said. "When are you going to tell her?"
"Before we leave tonight," Pepper said.
Oliver held out his hand. "I don't know how I can ever thank you," he said to her. He never thought it would be so easy and without effort on his part. Rarely did things work out for him.
Pepper shook his hand. "Just keep watching out for Felicity like you already do," Pepper said.
"I can do that," Oliver said with an easy smile.
Pepper knew Oliver had more than business on his mind at any given moment. However, he had a legacy from his parents that she knew he wanted to hold onto. It was all he had of his family. Tony understood that more than anyone.
"He'll never admit it, but Tony was the one that suggested this," Pepper shared, surprising Oliver.
"Really?" he asked.
She nodded. "He had very big shoes to fill when he took over for his father," she said. "He alienated everyone when he announced that his company wasn't going to make weapons anymore. That was his father's legacy—one he'd been happy to mirror for years. But then something happened to him that changed him forever." She paused and gave Oliver a meaningful look as she put her hand on his. "Don't be afraid, Oliver, to take experiences you learned the five years you were kept away from your home and apply them to the way you run your company. You'd be surprised how effective it can be." She gave his hand a squeeze and let go, waiting for him to process all she said.
"I don't know what to say," he finally said.
"Say you won't sign over the company to an enemy when you're distracted," she teased.
Oliver gave her a wry smile. "I can definitely promise you that," he said.
Oliver thanked her again before leaving the kitchen, his mind full. He couldn't believe he was going to get back his company. Although running it had been hard to balance with his night activities, the shame he had over so carelessly losing it ran deep. Pepper had not only given him another chance to rebuild his family's legacy, but she'd given him a lot to think about.
*****Later That Night*****
Steve was saying goodnight to the rest of their guests while Felicity sat on the sofa still trying to wrap her mind around the bombshell Tony and Pepper had dropped on her before they left.
"Well, I think that was a success," Steve said as he joined her on the couch, his arm going around her automatically.
"I can't believe it," Felicity said, her mind not on the success of the night but the new development. "I'm going to be Vice-President of Queen Consolidated!" She stood up and a look of panic came over. "Oh, God, Steve! How am I going to do that? I'll be, like, in charge and have my own assistant and everything! What if they hate me? What if I become like power hungry and the worse boss ever? What if I ruin Oliver's company? Oh God! What was Pepper thinking?"
Steve stood up and pulled her into his arms. "Honey, relax! You are not going to ruin anything. You will be a wonderful, caring boss because that's who you are," he assured her. He gave her a light kiss. "Oliver can barely function without you anyway, so this is perfect."
She brightened at that reminder. "That's true. He can't keep up with anything work related—only criminals—without me," she said, pushing up her glasses.
"I think he's even more shocked than you," Steve said, smiling.
As he expected, thinking of Oliver's reaction was enough to calm her down. "We have so much to do! There's two more VP positions to fill. Then we have to get a meeting with our PR department ASAP!" she began. "Oh, and I have to quit my job at the computer store. I'm so happy!" If she had to tell one more person how reboot a locked computer, she was going to scream.
"Are you going to call your mom?" Steve asked. He'd met Donna Smoak a month ago when she'd come to town after reading an article about Felicity's new superhero boyfriend. She made Steve blush like every day she'd been in town, but they'd had a nice visit. Steve wanted to encourage Felicity to stay close to her mom. Her mother was all the family she had.
Felicity hadn't been happy to see her mom at first. However, they ended up having a good time. It'd been too long since she'd been around someone who knew her the way her mother did. They'd reconnected and promised to stay in touch more.
"She'll be so excited!" Felicity said happily. She went to her phone and made the call.
Steve's phone rang. It was Clint.
"Hello," Steve said.
"I thought you'd want to know that I tracked down Oliver's sister," Clint said.
At Felicity's suggestion, Steve had put out some feelers to try and track Thea. Oliver hadn't asked Felicity to do so yet because he believed what Thea was saying. Felicity, however, had her doubts. Thea was staying off the grid too long. Felicity couldn't even find credit card evidence of where she was.
"Is she in Italy?" Steve asked. That was the last place Thea claimed to be.
"No. She's in Corto Maltese," Clint said.
"Huh," Steve said in surprise. It seems that Oliver's sister wasn't being very honest with him.
After speaking a few more minutes, Steve hung up and told Felicity what Clint had discovered. Felicity frowned.
"I'm not sure if we should tell Oliver this right now. In the next few weeks, things will move quickly at QC. If Thea is okay, there's no reason for Oliver to start obsessing over why she's lying to him," Felicity said.
"But what if something's wrong? Why would she be telling him she's somewhere she's not?" Steve asked.
"She's always been high strung. Maybe she likes the drama of it. She had a rough time before leaving Starling. It's obvious she needed some space," Felicity. "Can Clint get close enough to confirm that she's okay?"
"I'm sure he can. I'll ask," Steve said. "Will Oliver be upset at you for not telling him?"
She shrugged. "Probably," she acknowledged. "But he'll get over it as long as she's okay. I'd never keep him in the dark if anything was actually wrong."
"I'll call Clint back," Steve said.
"Thanks. Oliver and I have a lot to do if we want the transition to go smoothly," Felicity said, her mind already working on details. Things were finally on track for Oliver. Her personal life had been going so perfectly that she'd felt more than a stab a guilt that Oliver couldn't find the same peace. This would be the first step in giving him back some of what was stolen from him.
*****Two Weeks Later*****
The transition at QC went smoothly. A week after she and Oliver took over the reins, she hired her first VP, Ray Palmer, a very brilliant and charismatic man, full of ideas and a vision for the company. Oliver, however, wasn't as impressed.
"Oliver, I think his idea to change the name of Starling to Star City is a good one," Felicity said. "There's so much bad press associated with Starling City that a new name signals a new beginning."
"So we might as well change the name of Queen Consolidated as well," Oliver said sourly.
"I know you're being sarcastic, but that's not a bad idea. A new name will help with the investors and the overall make-over we're trying to achieve," Felicity pointed out.
"Queen Consolidated was the name of the company my father established," Oliver reminded her.
"The company that funded and developed the earthquake machine that destroyed half the Glades," Felicity said flatly, causing him to glare. "Hey, I'm on your side, Oliver. You know this. I just think Ray's got a good point."
"You just like him because he speaks geek!" Oliver said crossly.
Instead of getting offended, Felicity laughed. It was true. Ray was able to keep up with her techno babble in a way few people ever could. It was a refreshing change, but annoyed Oliver to no end. He hated feeling left out. "What about Queen Industry? Your family's name is still on it, but it's a minor change," she asked.
Oliver sighed and rubbed his eyes. As much as it galled him, he knew that Ray had a point. Too much had happened since he returned from the island. Starling City had been put through too much. Finally, he resigned himself to the inevitable. "A Queen is at the helm. I guess that's all that matters," he mused. He thought about it a moment. "Why don't we go with SQ Industry?"
"Huh?" she asked in confusion.
"Smoak-Queen," he said with a wink.
"What?" she asked in surprise.
"Well, QS sounds a bit weird," he said with a smirk.
"You want your company to have my name?" she asked.
"I think it's fitting. Thanks to Pepper, you own almost as much shares as I do," he said. "It'll be a way to rebrand the company and present a united front."
Felicity stared at him in amazement. Finally, she closed her mouth and smiled. "If you're sure, then okay. SQ Industry it is!"
"I think the board will be happy," Oliver remarked.
"Yes," Felicity said, grinning. "A party, though, will most definitely be in order!"
Oliver smiled. "I think that can be arranged," he said. "I wish we could get Thea here. She'd plan a great one!"
A pang of guilt hit Felicity. It was time to tell him what Steve find out. "Uh, Oliver, there's something I need to tell you," she said slowly. "Something Steve found out about Thea."
"What?"
"She's not in Italy. She's been lying to you," Felicity said, bracing herself for his reaction.
*****To Be Continued*****
I hope you're liking the changes in season 3 that must exist within the crossover world. Thanks for reading. Reviews are very nice!