Jinxed
An: I don't own Arrow.
Summary: Some missions run smoothly, some missions have little bumps in the road and some missions no matter what you do, are just jinxed. AU, Olicity on a tropical island.
Chapter 1 – The Mission
Day 1
The mission was supposed to be relatively easy. There was an international arms dealer who had recently gotten married and was having his honeymoon at a tropical island resort in the Caribbean. It was an opportunity to get close to the dealer and place bugs on his electronic items. He was a major player in the trade and they knew that a large arms deal was coming up. They wanted to know the location and the players involved. It seemed like a good idea to use the honeymoon to their advantage and headquarters agreed with their assessment.
Felicity Smoak jumped at the chance to go to a tropical island paradise. Her missions always had her in the back of trucks running tech support while the team breached buildings, or attended fancy cocktail parties. She had always wanted to do one of those missions where you got to visit an island paradise to track down a target. She had missed out on Bali, Fiji, Mauritius and the Seychelles. Now she had her opportunity.
The mission required her to have a partner and Oliver Queen volunteered to go with her which prompted the usual underhanded comments from the rest of the team about the exact nature of their relationship. It didn't helped that he had glared any other volunteers into submission.
Officially Oliver Queen was the Captain of their team and Felicity Smoak was the Tech Specialist on their team. They worked for a global organization that worked to keep the balance of power among nations even. Illegal arms flowing from one country to another could easily upheave the balance that their headquarters was trying to keep. Officially they were teammates, unofficially they were seeing each other but they hadn't informed the other members of the team, though from recent comments not a single team member objected to their relationship. In fact it seemed like they were trying to set them up.
While Oliver and Felicity packed for the mission, the rest of their team took care of developing their false identities, making hotel reservations, booking flights, booking the rental car and other logistical plans. Oliver was to be Kevin Garringer, and Felicity was Alice Scott. That was all Felicity paid attention to. She was more interested in information about the island and what the internet connectivity was like there.
The mission looked simple on paper but the reality was a different story. The first hitch in the road happened when a storm blew in and all flights out of LAX were cancelled. They waited 8 hours before they could get a plane across to Miami. When they arrived in Miami, they discovered that their flight to the island had already left and they would have to wait for the flight the next afternoon since there was only one flight per day. The good hotels in Miami were fully booked due to a series of conventions and they ended up at a very suspicious looking motel.
Felicity walked to a nearby seven eleven and purchased Lysol disinfectant spray. She was not sleeping on that bed without making sure it was clean. Oliver thought she was being a tad bit ridiculous. He was even more upset when she kept on her long sleeved shirt from the plane and a long pair of pajamas to sleep in. That was not how he liked to sleep next to his unofficial girlfriend. The noises from the rooms on either side of them was becoming unbearable and Felicity had to put ear plugs in. Oliver suggested they add their own noises but Felicity just glared at him. She was not exposing any skin in that flea ridden hotel. Her suitcase was on top the sink in the bathroom because she didn't want to get bed bugs in it and afflict her own apartment with the creatures. Oliver didn't seem to care.
The next morning she had a dog nose cold shower and she may have had to accept Oliver's invitation to warm her up in the shower. She had washed her clothes in the sink and used an old blow dryer in the room to clean them. She may have had to rewire the thing to get it to work. When they checked out of the motel, Felicity threw the manager a very nasty glare. They arrived at MIA with hours to spare. Felicity's electronics off course got flagged by TSA and she had to present each piece to the guy that swabs it looking for explosives. She had learned from her last brush with the TSA to never mention the word bomb in a sarcastic sentence in an airport ever! She was not spending another 12 hours in a small room waiting to get cleared again.
After the wait they finally got on the plane only to find someone in her aisle seat. She had to argue with the person which eventually drew the attention of the flight attendant who asked the person to move. Eventually the person complied and Felicity got to sit down. She had plans of sleeping against Oliver's shoulder but the turbulence on the plane was bad.
When they arrived, they had to wait forever for their luggage before they made it to the rental car company only to realise that Oliver left his driver's license back at the motel when he gave it to the manager as a form of ID. That left Felicity to make the three hour drive to the south of the island where their hotel was. Though the actual distance was not as far as a three hour drive would imply, it was a long drive because the road was narrow, winding, with the occasional car sized pot holes and more than half of it through some very steep mountains with sharp drop offs.
Felicity was beyond pissed and the soft snores of her teammate next to her was doing nothing to alleviate said anger. If she could hit him she would but she dare not take her eyes off the road, one mistake could mean their death. The locals drove like maniacs, flashing their lights at her to go faster and overtaking aggressively even around corners. She was driving on an unfamiliar road at night, she had a reason to be driving cautiously.
When she saw the sign that she was entering the town her hotel was located it was a huge relief. She knew from research that the area was a wide basin in between the mountains. The beach was five miles long with white sand and beautiful blue sea. Most of the hotels on the strip sat on the beach but because it was high season, they were all full and Felicity and Oliver had to stay in a smaller local establishment. From on top the mountain the lights of the various hotels were pretty. When she finally reached the base it was the first piece of flat straight road she had seen in hours. Felicity took note of everything she passed. The whole area felt completely different from everything she had seen before. It didn't feel like she was in the middle of a deserted jungle anymore. Her hotel was located at the end of the strip as you started to climb the hills again. It was family owned and had been there from almost 100 years.
There was loud music playing at several bars and people partying in the middle of the road. It looked like everyone was having a good time. If it weren't for her stressful journey to get there, Felicity was sure she would have pulled over and started dancing. When she finally spotted the sign for the hotel Oliver started to stir. She supposed she should be flattered that he trusted her enough to drift off to sleep. The entrance to the hotel was narrow and the parking spots were just as narrow. It was a good thing she was a great parker.
"Carry the bags, I'll check us in," she said to Oliver tossing him the keys to the car so he could lock up when he was finished. She grabbed her purse and made her way towards the reception area of the quaint hotel. A few copies of famous pictures hung in the lobby and two solitary chairs occupied the space opposite the check-in desk. There was no one at the desk.
She looked around for a bell to ring but there was no one around. Felicity was ready to scream in frustration. The entire strip was rocking with activity but she was stuck in a hotel were the staff went to sleep early.
"Hello," she called out but there was no response. She pulled out her tablet pulled up the hotel phone number and called it. She heard the phone ringing behind the closed door that she assumed lead to the manager's office. No answer. She was almost ready to pull her hair out when a passing group of frat boys, probably coming from one of the parties she saw on the way in, told her the owner lived in room 2. After getting directions she marched down the corridor to the room and knocked loudly on the door.
"Hello," a dark skinned middle age woman with a grey streak in her dark locks said.
"Hi, I'm here to check-in," Felicity said in a clipped tone.
The woman looked confused, "No one is supposed to check in today."
"Kevin Garringer and Alice Scott, we were supposed to come yesterday? Our company should have called to let you know that we missed the connecting flight here. I also sent you an e-mail."
"Oh, I don't check that thing. Leave it to my grandson to do," the middle age woman said.
"Can we get our rooms?" Felicity asked.
"Rooms? You only booked one," the woman responded.
"That isn't possible we need two," Felicity answered. Mission protocol should have been for them to have separate rooms.
The woman looked confused, "You booked the honeymoon bungalow in the back. Though it wouldn't be the first time I've seen newlyweds demanding two separate rooms. Love seems to be such a fickle thing these days. If I remember correctly, it was your sister-in-law that I spoke with on the phone. She said to give you the royal treatment. Fully paid for everything in advance. It was one of the reasons I didn't let anyone else into the bungalow today."
Felicity was beginning to think that it had been a mistake not reading their backstory properly. Thea had obviously let her imagination run wild. By the time she made it back to the reception desk, with the manager, Oliver was standing there with their luggage looking around like a lost puppy.
"Oh there you are!" he said with a slight frown on his face. She knew he disliked it when he didn't know where she was during a mission.
She ignored him. She was not talking to him yet. She filled out the forms got their keys and walked out of the reception towards where Martha directed her. She expected Oliver to follow. There were a series of steps that climbed up a hill to a private bungalow set away from the main building. She could hear Oliver's breathing pick up as he carried all of their bags up the hill. It felt like there were fifty freaking steps before she reached the large porch in the front of the bungalow. She opened the French doors, pushed the curtains out of the way and inspected the room. It was clean, with a large king size bed, no tv, a fan and air condition. The trip up the stairs had her sweating so she turned on the AC right away. When she saw the number 16 appear on the AC she panicked thinking that would be way too cold but then remembered that the island measured temperature in centigrade. She used an app on her tablet to double check that that was a suitable temperature for her. When she heard some of the bags drop on the porch she turned to the doorway.
"Come in and don't say a word. This is your sister's fault. We are sharing. I will never let Thea make my arrangements again," Felicity said.
Oliver had the sense to just nod but she knew he was probably extremely happy. He had been hinting a lot lately that he wanted to spend more time with her but Felicity couldn't focus on that now. The king size bed looked very inviting and for some reason her eye lids chose this moment to start to shut. She kicked off her shoes, climbed on the bed and was asleep in less than a minute.
A small pang of guilt hit Oliver as Felicity passed out on the bed. He knew she was tired. She barely slept in the motel, her overactive imagination sending a large bed bug after her in her dreams. She tried to sleep on the plane but every little jolt had her squeezing his hand so hard he thought she would stop the blood flow to his hand completely.
He had learned a long time ago that when Felicity was in hurricane mode it was best to shut up and let her blow past. Tonight she had to be a category 5. He was fairly sure she wanted to kill him at the rental place. He hadn't meant to lose the fake D.P, but he had and that left Felicity to do all the driving. He was going to suggest that after they got out of town they switch, the rental place would never know, but he knew one word and she might shoot him.
She handled their rental really well. She was kind of timid at first but once she got accustomed to the turns and ups and downs it was smooth sailing. She was a true champion. He should have stayed awake in the car but something about the drive lulled him to sleep.
As soon as they arrived at their hotel the punishment immediately began. He had to carry all of their bags and Felicity's bags were always heavy. This was the passive aggressive version of Felicity but fortunately he knew once she started to focus on the mission, all would be forgiven.
Oliver placed the bags on the floor and locked the door to the room. He did a quick sweep of the room, noting all possible entries and exits. He decided to open Felicity's suitcase first. He pulled out her dresses and hung them in the closet for her. He placed her toiletry bag in the bathroom but left her underwear in the suitcase. She was very particular about where she stored those items. He briefly considered setting up her computer gear that was stored in her second bag but he was already in hot water with her, he wasn't going to break the no touching her babies rule. The next suitcase he focused on was his own. He pulled out two small motion sensors that made a lot of noise when tripped and placed them on the porch. They would be alerted if someone tried to sneak up on them. He then took his toiletry bag into the bathroom and set about his business.
After a quick shower he made sure the bathroom was in order, i.e. no water on the tiles for her to slip in case she woke up during the night and the toilet seat down before he tackled the sleeping arrangements. Felicity had moved from one side into the middle of the bed with the sheets firmly wrapped around her. It probably started to get cold for her so she tucked herself under the sheets. He adjusted the temperature up a few degrees. He pressed his lips gently to her temple and moved a few locks of hair that had fallen across her face out of the way. He then adopted his usual role of the big spoon.
Tomorrow was going to be a long day. They had lost a full day already and only had a few more to get the bugs planted. An early morning visit to their target's hotel to get eyes on him was going to be required the next day. Without much ado, Oliver buried his nose in Felicity's neck and let her breathing lull him into sleep.
An: Thanks for reading. This is a short story, only six chapters.