WHAT WAS MY DADDY LIKE?


A/N: It's been quite some time since I've written or posted anything, because I wasn't planning to anymore. But after it was announced that Arrow will be ending after Season 8x10, I thought it was fitting to write a farewell fic - dedicated to our beloved show, ship, and characters, and also to everyone who had taken the time to read anything I've posted in here, especially those that had become virtual friends. I really hope you like this. Thank you in advance for reading. I am grateful.

In this first chapter, Mia is a little child and Felicity is raising her alone in the cabin in the woods in the rural town of Bloomfield.


Chapter 1: MOM & MIA

Felicity thought her little girl was much too young to be watching crime fighting videos of her father. Rare footages of the Green Arrow and his team, which she had managed to save in an encrypted file from the bunker before their family had to flee Star City almost five years ago, were certainly not of the rated-G type of shows that Mia was ordinarily allowed to watch. But her daughter had been fussing all day because she'd somehow caught the flu bug even if they hardly ever left their safe house in the woods - the one that John and Lyla Diggle had found for them somewhere between Star City and Central City. Felicity knew that letting Mia watch her daddy in action was the only thing she hadn't tried that day that would surely calm down her child from her incessant whining in between sneezes and sniffles.

Seeing Oliver. That was Mia's go-to place each time she was upset or anxious or annoyed. When Mia turned four recently and discovered how to read, she had learned how to get into the files in her mother's tablet, including the ones that were password protected. Felicity couldn't figure out how, but considering her daughter had been able to open files just by memorizing what certain icons looked like at age two, she had resigned herself that it must have been the genes - her intelligence and Oliver's persistence. And oh, how Mia loved watching her daddy on screen. Felicity often found it funny how she'd catch Mia staring at the tablet with wide-eyed attention, with a red pen stuck in between her teeth, only for the pen to fall as the little girl screamed with glee and clapped her hands when the Green Arrow finally puts down and knocks out an opponent. Sometimes Felicity thought it wasn't a good idea to expose her daughter to violence this early, but the ache she felt for her daughter growing up without her father always got the better of her, so she obliged each time Mia asked for it.

She knew that one of these days her little girl would be ready to be trained to fight and fend for herself, and she wanted this for her daughter's safety. Even if she didn't do the pep talk with Mia soon, her daughter would ask for it anyway, what with all the action she'd seen her daddy do in the videos. At four, Mia did a pretty good job of imitating her father's posture and stance, including his broody, serious face.

Felicity approached her daughter who was lying down on their bed, propped up on pillows, leaning back against the headboard. Mia was much too engrossed with watching Oliver giving a speech to the people of Star City, dressed in green leather with his hood on and his quiver strapped to his back. The little girl's lips were moving, as if mimicking what her father was saying on screen. It wasn't until Felicity sat down on their bed that Mia noticed she had company and her viewing was about to end.

"How's my little Mia Star?" Felicity asked, using the pet name that she and Oliver had come up with when their daughter was just a few days old. Since the day Mia was born, she and Oliver had felt that their daughter had become their new source of hope and light to keep fighting for a better life, a better future.

"Feeling better?"

"Uh-huh," Mia replied with her tiny voice, as she looked up at her mother for a second.

Mia then went back to looking at the screen. The Green Arrow's speech was over. She had clicked on another video, the one that showed Oliver Queen admitting to the city that he was the green-hooded vigilante. That was his well-kept secret for six years, but Felicity had never kept Oliver's dual identity from Mia ever since the little girl was old enough to understand. Felicity knew that Mia had to know, so that she would understand why they had to live this kind of life.

"Well, kiddo, I think that's enough for tonight. It's way past your bedtime. You need to rest if you're going to get well soon."

"Just one more vid, please?" the little blonde girl pleaded. Her puppy dog eyes were watery, not from the begging but from the eye strain.

"Okay, just one more. But maybe not that one," Felicity said, closing the current video. She picked a video of Oliver's television interview with Earth-2 Laurel. She wanted Mia to know that her father had not always been on the wrong side of the law. "This one," she said, clicking on the file.

They watched the video together. Mia was engaged in it, listening to every word her father spoke. Felicity was getting teary-eyed, as she reminisced those days gone by. She really missed her husband.

As the interview came to a close, Mia suddenly clicked pause, much to Felicity's surprise. She looked up at her mother and asked, "Mom, what was my daddy like?"

Stunned by her daughter's sudden interest, Felicity was unable to respond at first. Mia had watched videos of Oliver before, but this was the first time she had ever asked such a question after viewing. "What do you mean?" was all she could say.

"Well… I know what daddy looked like. He was big. And strong. And brave. And very handsome. Specially without a mask," Mia said enthusiastically. "But what kind of person was he?"

Felicity took a deep breath to ground herself. She wasn't expecting to have this conversation with Mia at the time. She had had a long day, upgrading the security protocols of the safe house while taking care of her sick child. All day long she had been thinking about whether or not there was still a chance that Oliver might still be alive after all these years. She had already cried a few times, especially after chatting with John on a secure channel. She also missed their family; she hadn't seen him, Lyla, and JJ for almost a year, hadn't seen the rest of Team Arrow for longer than that. But most of all, she really missed Oliver; she hadn't seen her husband since Mia had learned to crawl. Oliver had missed so much of Mia's beautiful, albeit secluded, growing years.

Clearing her throat and holding her tears at bay, Felicity answered, "Your daddy was a wonderful person, Mia. He suffered a lot during his younger years, and that made him very lonely. But through the years since I'd known him, he changed. Little by little. He became someone different. Someone better. He learned to use his amazing abilities to save people's lives, to right his family's wrongs, to fight for what was right. A lot of people couldn't understand why he did what he did. And yes, he wasn't perfect. He'd made some mistakes, but that didn't keep him from doing everything he could to protect the people of our city, and of the world. Your daddy was a real hero, Mia."

"A hero…" Mia whispered, followed by a sigh. "What's a hero?"

Felicity smiled at her daughter and answered, "A hero is someone who is willing to sacrifice an awful lot for the good of other people. A hero always thinks of others first. A hero will do everything to protect the ones he loves."

"Is that why daddy had to go away?" Mia asked, this time with a tinge of sadness in her eyes.

"Yes," Felicity replied just as sadly. "Daddy and I agreed that he had to say goodbye to us to keep us safe."

"Is he ever coming back?"

"…"

"Mom?"

"I don't know, sweetheart. He had to leave, knowing that he might never be able to come back to us."

"But why?" Mia asked again. This time, tears were pooling in her eyes.

"Cause that's what heroes do," was her mother's reply, "for the sake of the ones they love."

Mia remained quiet for a while as she snuggled closer to her mother's side, letting the tablet slide off her lap onto the bed. Then she said, "Are you going to leave me, too, Mom?"

Felicity gasped at the question that her little girl had just raised. She had never thought that their situation might worsen and she would one day have to do what Oliver had done years ago. She swallowed hard and asked, "Why would you ask that, my star? You know I'll always be there for you."

"You love me, don't you?" Mia asked.

"Of course. With all my heart."

"Then one day, you might have to do what daddy did… because you love me."

"Mia," Felicity said, looking her daughter straight in the eye, "I love you so much. You are the most important person in my life. You're all I have left. But I have to think about what's best for you. So, if it comes to that, and you and I have to be separated for a time, I won't think twice about doing it, if it's the only choice I have to keep you safe. Do you understand?"

Mia nodded in understanding, but her face was downcast. She didn't like what he mother said, but she knew in her tiny, tender heart that her mother loved her, however strange the ways she showed it were. She also didn't quite like how a hero, like her dad, had to make sacrifices like leaving their family. She wasn't sure what to make of it yet. She'd think about that later. She, however, had to be sure of one thing.

"Mom?"

"Yes?"

"Did my daddy love me?"

Felicity smiled as a tear finally escaped her eye and rolled down her cheek. She nodded and said, "More than you can ever know, Mia. More than you can ever know. You were his world, and mine, too. We both love you, very, very much."

Mother and daughter hugged and slid down on the bed. Felicity kissed her child's forehead and stroked her hair. Within minutes, they both fell asleep.


A/N: Your thoughts on this? The next chapter, which I will post the day after next, will be about Mia and Nyssa.