CHAPTER ONE
A throbbing pain in her head dragged Felicity out of unconsciousness. She forced her eyes open only and tried to move her hands only to discover they had been tied behind her back. Surprisingly, she had no idea how, but her glasses were still perched on her nose. Felicity looked around, trying to see anything around her that could answer some of the questions running through her mind.
'Where am I?' 'How long have I been unconscious?' 'Who has kidnapped me?' 'Does Oliver know I'm missing yet?'
She tries to think back to when she was taken. The last thing she remembers was getting home around 3am after a long night in the Arrow Cave and feeling too energized for sleep. She had put one of her movies on and sat down to enjoy a tub of her mint choc chip ice cream, when everything goes black. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, trying to calm herself down.
From opening her eyes and looking around, it looks like she is in an old abandoned warehouse, probably located in the glades somewhere. The warehouse is small in size and absolutely filthy. Dirt covered the concrete floor and it smelt damp and mouldy. Felicity looks up towards a window and noticed the sun blaring through. She pushed her ear against her shoulder and breathes a sigh of relief when she feels her earring lightly scratch against her skin.
'The tracker in the earring will give Oliver something to follow when he realises I'm missing', Felicity is grateful he insisted she wear the earrings. She looks up towards one of the windows and notices sunlight streaming in through the glass.
'It's morning at least, hopefully Oliver has noticed I'm missing, since I'm never late to work', Felicity knows he will come find her soon, like he always does.
She is startled from her thoughts as she hears a door open behind her, then footsteps echoing throughout the warehouse, growing louder as they get closer.
"Hello Ms. Smoak", a man's spoke from behind her.
His voice is hard, cold. Felicity moves to sit up, but was promptly dragged up onto her knees when the man grabbed her ponytail and yanked her head backwards. Felicity yelped loudly from the pain and her head throbbed harder from the sudden painful movement. "What do you want?" Felicity asked through gritted teeth, trying not to sound scared, but her voice trembled slightly. He laughed loudly, but it sounded forced. He knelt down so he was positioned close to her, an attempt to intimidate her no doubt. It was working, not that Felicity would admit that.
"I want to know who the Arrow is", he spoke close to her ear, causing a shiver of fear to run through her.
"Even if I know who the Arrow is, which I don't, I wouldn't tell you, although I am curious why you would think that I know him since nobody knows who he is", Felicity voiced her thoughts out loud.
The man released her hair as he stood up. Felicity was able to look at him properly now. He was nicely dressed, someone she may have been interested in if he wasn't one of the scum ruining her city. He had a white button up shirt on underneath a black suit and a blue tie. The man had short, scruffy black hair, but his expression was empty, his eyes were cold and detached. He was watching her closely.
"My brother's name was David Williams", he spoke calmly. Felicity managed to swallow the gasp that was making its way up her throat but her eyes had widened slightly at her recognition. She knew he had noticed.
David Williams name was on the list but the Hood killed him last year before the undertaking happened and Oliver's decision to change, to become the Arrow instead. David Williams was involved in a human trafficking ring, kidnapping young woman from Starling and other cities close by and smuggling the girls overseas to be sold to the highest bidder. The Hood tracked down the organisation and took them out. He was left with no choice but to kill David when he threatened the life of one of the kidnapped girls to try and force the Hood to leave.
"So you do know him", the man said, his expression darkening into anger.
"If I do, I won't tell you", Felicity replied, putting on a brave act.
"I have friends in high places Ms. Smoak, they looked into the Arrow's folder at the Starling City Police Department and your name popped up. You were brought in for questioning by a Detective Lance on suspicion of working with the vigilante but was later released. Your reaction to my brother's name confirms my suspicion that you were involved. You will tell me who the Arrow is and believe me when I say I always get what I want, no matter what it takes", the man spoke menacingly as he stalked closer towards her.
She watched in fear as he walked up to her, towering above her, "Last chance".
Felicity swallowed and closed her eyes. "No", she answered firmly, Oliver had trusted her with his secret and she could not break that trust even if it meant her death. She listened as he walked around her, tensed and waiting for him to do something.
'He will find me', Felicity kept saying like a mantra in her head, trying to calm herself down but she couldn't stop her body from shivering from the cold and fear. She concentrated on her breathing. 'Breath in, breath out, he will find me'. Felicity was pulled to her feet and dragged across the room. She barely had time to register the tub of water she was forced in front of before the man gripped her ponytail tightly and submerged her head beneath the water.
Felicity tried to scream, to fight, struggling to get away from the water. She wriggled, sloshing the water over the edges of the tub, drenching the front of her dress. The water was freezing and her throat and lungs burned from lack of air. And then she was yanked back up, coughing and gasping for air. She was cold, wet and sobbing. She only managed to get in one gasp of air before her head was plunged back into icy water. She felt her head being pulled from the water once again. Her body sagged, unable to hold herself up by this point as her lungs sucked in the air it was desperate for a few moments ago.
"TELL ME WHO HE IS", the man yelled angrily. She heard him take a deep breath before continuing on, "If you tell me his name, I will allow you to live".
"No", Felicity said, determined to take Oliver's secret to her grave.
"Are you close with him? Does he care about you?" he whispered quietly into her ear. Felicity stayed quiet.
"Just as I thought. He will come after me to seek revenge for your death, and I will be waiting".
Her head was pushed under the water for a third time, and she knew this was it. She was never going to see Oliver or Diggle again. Felicity squeezed her eyes shut, her thoughts flicking through images and thoughts of her boys. Those nights spent together in the Arrow cave, her hacking on her computer while listening to them sparring. She thinks about Oliver on the salmon ladder. She thinks about how much she loves him and how much she regrets not telling him she loves him. She could feel the darkness consuming her, pulling her under. The fight had left her. She felt water sliding down her throat and filling her lungs as her body attempted to gasp for air and her consciousness slipped away.