As usual, I do not own The Arrow, nor am I in anyway related to CW or DC. I am just part of this fandom. An Olicity shipper (so you know ALL my stories will be Olicitycentric) and an amateur writer expressing my love for the fandom.
Oh, for those following me in tumblr, I posted this story there before..that's why this will probably be familiar. For those who want to check-out all my stories, especially those not posted here in fanfiction, you can follow either of the two for the links:
Twitter: lollipopsays
Tumblr: everythinglollipop
SHADES OF GREEN – It features the varying degrees of friendship between Felicity, Sara, Nyssa and yes Laurel and how that is tested in a highly strung environment. Oliver, Roy and Diggle are also predominantly featured in the story, as if you would expect anything else if you've read at least one of my stories. Oh, and this is an established Olicity story.
Let me warn you however that I have NOT been a happy camper during the last three episodes of The Arrow (3.2 to 3.4), and despite the writers attempt to humanize Laurel, I'm just not nor will I ever be a believer in the character (to separate from the actress playing her), I find all her scenes as trying hard and throw away.
Now why is she in this story, because again if you are familiar with all my stories, I have never deliberately written her in, it's because she is integral to the development of the plot and how the story progresses. Before the Laurel fans go up in arms and boycott this story, I would like to clarify that I am not bashing the actress, in fact I do not HATE the character, I just very obviously do not LOVE her, this is largely due to how the character is written – shallow, self-centered and almost always desperate for attention, a far second to her kickass sister.
Having detailed my exact sentiments, I now live it up to you to decide if you want to read this or not. If you love Olicity, then I implore you to read my other two fics: Exposed and Spotlight, both Chapter 14's posted. If you already have, and are currently following both….much, much love.
In the meantime, here goes this story. Crossing my fingers….
Arrow Short Stories 01: SHADES OF GREEN
Chapter 1
Oliver had raced through the streets of Starling at breakneck speed as soon as Diggle had called him carelessly jumping off his Ducati in front of an official looking police do not cross this line yellow tape meant to keep curious onlookers on the outside to prevent them from interfering with police business.
"I'm sorry sir, you can't do that," a neophyte policeman called out to Oliver which Oliver naturally ignored as he rushed toward the two men talking animatedly beside a police van.
"Diggle!" Oliver screamed as he spotted Diggle. Diggle waved Oliver over to him as Captain Lance placed a tired hand to the bridge of his nose.
"Why am I not surprised. Nice of you to join us Queen," Captain Lance greeted Oliver sarcastically.
Oliver ignored Lance and turned to Diggle, "what happened exactly, are all four of them really inside?"
Lance stepped in and answered Oliver, "both my daughters are inside, as is Ms. Smoak and my daughters' friend Nyssa along with approximately seven to twelve others not counting the hostiles, still undetermined at this time. We got the notice from a 911 call that was placed and cut about twenty minutes ago."
"I was suppose to pick-up Felicity in about," pausing to look at his watch, "fifteen minutes, Roy is off with Thea today. I was twenty minutes early, traffic was light today. Lance and the police where already here cordoning off the area. That's when I called you," Digg continued.
Oliver heaved a breath and rubbed his face with his hand, "Digg…."
"I know Oliver," Diggle answered Oliver squeezing his shoulder.
"What am I missing?" Lance frowned and looked between Oliver and Diggle.
Oliver looked at Diggle who gave him a miniscule nod before he faced Lance fully, "Felicity's pregnant. We just found out a couple of days ago."
Lance's temple creased further, "I didn't know she was seeing anyone? Do you think it's wise to give her baby daddy a call? Are they together?"
Oliver closed his eyes and exhaled, "I'm the father…and yes, Felicity and I are together. It's just not public knowledge."
Lance reacted instantaneously, "what the hell Queen, this is Felicity we are talking about."
Oliver leaned with his back against the Police van, "I know you don't have a very high opinion of me what with my history but, I love her and she loves me, it wasn't planned but it isn't unwanted, the pregnancy I mean."
"This day just keeps getting better," Lance shook his head. He looked up noticing that the sun was still out, it was barely mid-afternoon. He had been through a lot during the year. His near fatal attack had given him time to reflect and analyze a lot of things.
Sara and Nyssa that was one thing he took some time to reflect on. His Sara being alive, being the expert fighter she became, being a member of the League of Assassins, a scary thought he didn't want to dwell on. Just the name itself should put the fear of God in all its targets. Sara, his youngest daughter leaving just when he got her back to rejoin the League and last but not the least, Sara and Nyssa, what was up with that? Lance had known Sara had hooked up with Oliver when she first got back but apparently she was with Nyssa first then got back together with her girlfriend in the end. Sara with Nyssa had visited him twice in the span of a year in between assignments or whatever they were called when the League gave them missions. This was supposed to be the third visit. Well, third time was a charm, or so they said.
Laurel Lance, his older daughter, the same one Oliver Queen was originally supposed to marry and live happily ever after with before everything had happened. According to Laurel, Oliver and she had finally made peace and had both moved on, she as ADA for Starling City, fighting crime from the comfort of her office and he apparently moving on with Felicity Smoak, what was up with that?
Felicity Smoak, every time the name of the young lady was mentioned, it brought an unconscious smile to his lips. The girl had brought out protective feelings in him, she was like a third daughter to him and wasn't it just a coincidence that the girl who brought out fatherly emotions in him ended up with Oliver Queen too.
And finally Oliver Queen, ladies man extraordinaire, billionaire and heir, who would have thought that boy would do a complete 180 and turn into the man even he had come to admire and respect. Because despite what Oliver Queen thought, his alter ego wasn't as veiled. Sure one had to have inside information and an inquisitive mind plus there were just too many coincidences, too many to be ignored. If the man chose to believe that he was clueless about realizing who the Arrow's real identity was, then so be it. He had repeatedly called on the Arrow during the year for help in crimes that had shades of grey in them when it came to keeping within the boundary of the law. He had always using the pre-agreed method of contact. Never had he hinted that he knew that Oliver Queen and the Arrow where one and the same person.
And finally, here they were all now, the man he had immediately wanted to reach out too when he first realized it was his daughters and Felicity inside with a few others was standing just a few feet away from him with no inkling that he knew what he knew about his identity. So he decided to test the boundaries of how Oliver Queen would react.
He eyed Oliver for a few seconds then trained his sight on Diggle for a few more before saying, "look, we will do everything we can to make sure everyone comes out of this unscathed, hell I have motivation to make sure that everyone makes it out in one piece, I have both my daughters inside," pointing in the direction of the coffee shop, "but, I'm not going to turn down help from the outside if it's volunteered."
Oliver locked his jaw, "are you referring to the Arrow and his team? I know Felicity is part of his team and I think he would be more than willing to help but from what I know he works best under the cover of darkness. I…." Oliver exhaled, "I'm sorry Captain Lance, I'm just a bit," Oliver started to pace up and down before he continued, "I can't lose….you and me both, we have so much to lose if this goes south. Laurel and Sara are also important to me. I've met Nyssa too," quickly looking at Diggle making sure he was listening so they would have consistent cover stories, "Sara introduced her to me a few months back. And did I mention Felicity is pregnant," rubbing a hand to his face again.
Lance saw how distraught Oliver was as he took three steps forward to pat Oliver in the back, "why don't you have the police and our friend handle this. You being here, it's already attracting more than enough attention, it might work against us if the hostile inside put two and two together and this quickly escalates into a ransom demand. As of yet, they haven't gotten in touch with us. Why don't you take your bodyman with you and either park yourselves inside the police van or step back over the police barrier. I promise to get in touch with you when we have updates."
Oliver exhaled again and weighed Lance's suggestion. If Lance was going to call the Arrow, it would be in their best interest to not be within seeing distance of Lance. But then, he couldn't not be here at this moment, the stakes were pretty high for him not to be close by. Eyeing Diggle he made his decision, "I will stay inside the van, your right about attracting attention," he told Lance. "Diggle, I was suppose to meet a friend in a few minutes, can you take care of that for me," the silent message between them for Diggle to get in touch with Roy and bring him up to speed on what was happening since they will definitely need him for later.
Diggle picked on the silent message right away knowing that Oliver wouldn't leave his spot any time soon considering where Felicity was.
"I won't say it again, everyone face down on the floor, bags and all phones and gadgets in front of you. Wouldn't want to put a bullet in any of you this early," the leader of the group repeated.
Felicity turned her head to the right, cheek pressed to the floor, as she made eye contact with Sara who was beside her sister Laurel and Nyssa. The four of them together with at least ten other people were currently hostages of what seemed like a team of four heavily tattooed and heavily armed men inside a nondescript coffee shop in the Glades.
It had been almost a year after The Arrow team had defeated Slade and his army of mirakuru induced soldiers and despite the awkward beginning, Felicity and Laurel had made enough progress in their tentative friendship to consider themselves friends, not in the same league as the tight friendship within Team Arrow where Laurel was still an outsider, but enough so that they didn't need Oliver stepping in every time.
Felicity wasn't as obtuse as Laurel thought she was. In the beginning, after Laurel had discovered Oliver's secret and after the Slade fiasco, she knew Laurel had renewed interest in starting up a relationship with Oliver again. She had give Oliver several hints. And it had been awkward for all of them to say the least.
Felicity was also recovering from having her heart played with, with Oliver's 'I love you' and his hot and cold attitude. She had taken the high road and had given Oliver the space he needed, space for self-assessment as well as the opportunity to kick start his romance with Laurel once again if that was what he wanted. She had been more than obvious in rejecting the little touches Oliver made, the shoulder squeezes, the hand in the small of her back, the playing with the tailend of her ponytail. She had shied away from all these, letting Oliver know that despite her being physically there for the Team, things had changed between them.
Felicity looked once again at Sara. Sara and Nyssa had visited twice already in the span of a year, this being their third. Sara had tried to be there as much as she could for her father who had to undergo a serious operation right after she had first left to rejoin the League of Assassins with her girlfriend Nyssa but the visits had been a couple of days at a time given the schedule the league maintained.
After Slade had been defeated and imprisoned in Lian Yu, crime had hit an all time low in Starling City. Starling's citizens had taken it upon themselves to work across social and geographical boundaries which allowed the City to recover faster allowing for basic services and institutions to be rebuilt just a few months after the siege led by Slade that had almost resulted in the leveling of the City to the ground.
Queen Consolidated, a casualty of the siege was currently undergoing financial restructuring in large part due to Walter Steele stepping in with the backing of Starling Bank which had Walter at the helm.
After a series of Board Meetings and months of backdoor negotiations, Oliver Queen was back on top as CEO of QC with Felicity Smoak once again rejoining QC alongside Oliver but this time as head of IT, a position she now held officially for two months.
It had taken six months after Slade, one month after little Digglet had been born and two weeks after he had a final heart to heart with Laurel about where he stood when Oliver had finally cornered her inside the lair for a talk, as he put it.
And by talk, apparently Oliver meant, being at the receiving end of a mind blowing kiss that was anything but platonic. Only Oliver would forego the foreplay of words to clarify his intention with a deliberate action in the form of slamming his tongue deep into her throat. At the end of it, he had pulled her up the stairs and outside the lair, taken her car keys and brought her to his place to cook dinner for her.
He had said no words but at the same time he said a lot with his actions that night. It had taken him two months to finally say the words again, the same one he had uttered almost carelessly the first time in the foyer of the Queen mansion. His chosen venue to say those meaningful words again didn't help. He was in the middle of a mission and had been shot, again. She had alternated between shock and dread during that hour. By the time Oliver had been cleared by Diggle as out of immediate danger, Felicity's emotions were on overdrive, punching Oliver several times on his chest for scaring here until he had lean in to kiss her and say the words again, this time not breaking eye contact.
Things had finally changed that night. Felicity had finally said the words back. She knew that he knew how she felt, how she had always felt about him. And he had asked her several times to say the words back to him, but she had always held back, until tonight. Tonight was the first time since they were officially together that he had almost died. So tonight was a turning point for both of them. From then on, they had been very vocal about their emotions and very deliberate about their actions.
So yes, when Felicity had found out she was pregnant four days prior and after a day of worrying how to break the news to Oliver, she finally just blurted it out in her typical fashion when Oliver had questioned why she suddenly had an aversion to red wine. They had visited the doctor the next day and gotten the confirmation they needed. Oliver's reaction to the confirmation was all she needed to bring her to a place of sheer bliss and unparalleled contentment.
The lunch today was supposed to be the opportunity to share the news of her pregnancy with her friends who she knew would be happy for her. Despite the weirdness of the situation, Laurel and Sara being exes of her baby daddy and boyfriend, she appreciated that fact that this group of girls next to Diggle and probably Thea, who Oliver still had the share the happy news with, would welcome the development with open arms, or at least most of them would.
She had barely been able to share the news with them, just finishing up the embraces and hugs, when the gunmen had stormed the coffee shop.
As she made eye contact with Sara, she knew Sara and Nyssa would help her protect the child that was growing inside of her at all cost. Not only for her or Oliver's sake, but because this child symbolized a new tomorrow for all of them, from out of the darkness and destruction came new life, this child represented everything they had fought for, a better tomorrow for the future generation.
She had noticed that Laurel had froze then stayed quiet for a few minutes before she had mouthed her congratulations stiffly. Felicity had expected that, Laurel had still not recovered from the brush-off she got from Oliver. She was resigned no doubt to the reality of Oliver and Felicity together, but she had been slow in accepting it whole-heartedly. She hoped that when it came to it, she could rely on Laurel if need be.
The gunmen had been wearing ski masks when they first burst into the coffee shop effectively covering their faces. It became apparent that they were all professionals or at least that they had semblance of military training given the discipline they had displayed and the recognition of authority they placed on the one person who was their appointed leader.
Before they had demanded that the occupants of the shop all proceed to the center of the room and divest themselves of all their gadgets, packs and bags, Felicity had been able to press a pre-assigned number on her phone that connected her to 911. While she did not have the time to talk to an operator she hoped the call could connect and the operator would have been alert enough to recognize the reason for the distress call.
It was a split second decision for her to call 911 instead of Oliver Queen or Diggle who were both also on her speed dial list, but given the circumstances and knowing that Diggle would be picking her up in a few minutes as previously arranged, Oliver had all but insisted that if he could not do the chauffer services himself, Diggle or Roy, who now assumed the official function as her driver/bodyguard who was currently on a day-off of his duties to be with Thea, would chauffer her around.
Felicity had argued with Oliver until she was literary red but to no avail. Oliver had not budged from his decision in as so far as her protection was concerned. Now more than ever, with a little Queen on the way, he had put his foot down. Realizing that Oliver's reaction was due to the fact that he wouldn't totally get over his need to ensure the safety of those he loved, Felicity had finally relented. Her motherly instincts had also seen the logic of his position.
Sara had squeezed her hand, shaking Felicity out of her wondering thoughts and brought her back to the present, "ADA Laurel Lance, defender of the weak and upholder of the rule of law. Is the name Fred James familiar to you?"
Felicity could hear Laurel's breath hitch at the statement. She also felt Sara move to her right, presumably to be closer to her sister, as if to protect her from the harsh words of their captors.
"Ah, I see that it is," the leader of the group continued. "You see," increasing the volume of his voice so everyone else could hear, "the reason all of you are here today, your bodies pressed to the floor, is because of one reckless assistant district attorney, an ADA who consistently uses shortcuts rather than good old fashion hardwork to get her job done. The same one who had my little brother, Fred James imprisoned for twenty years for a crime he clearly did not commit. The same one who died in prison, two weeks ago, the kicker of it all was she knowingly knew she had the wrong man but pushed forward anyway."
"No, I didn't know until it was too late. The case was gaining ground. It became a high profile case. The evidence pointed to him. It was too late, too late to back down," Laurel defended.
"So instead you knowingly prosecuted the wrong man, and he wasn't the only one. Every single one of us, pointing to his comrades, they had someone who was wrongly imprisoned too. And guess who they all had in common, you!" the head of the group continued.
"No that's not true. Not all of my cases are the same. I work hard, I work hard," Laurel defended herself.
"Sure you do. In between binges of booze and drugs, you do. Don't think that we didn't check on that, clearly, you haven't been doing a stellar job."
Sara and Felicity both gasped at the information. They had talked about it once, during Sara's last visit, they had started to notice little things. Shaking hands, excessive fidgeting, shortened attention spans. But Laurel had camouflaged it all, defending that her work was taking a toll on her. It had not been the first time, she had always reverted back to her bad habits.
You won't get away with this. There are a lot of witnesses," Laurel answered, her voice shaking despite her fighting words.
The leader of the group laughed, "that's what you do best. Hide behind the law. If you think a battalion of ill equipped and poorly trained policemen would stop me, stop us, then Ms. Lance, I assure you, you are not only naïve in believing in your justice system. You also have misplaced trust in the ability of your police force. Oh, I know that your father is the Captain of the force, but even he can only do so much against me and my team. Don't be deceived by our numbers, this is not a spur of the moment operation."
"If she is the only reason that you are all here, then maybe you can let the rest of us go," the brave voice of one of the other hostages called out.
The leader gave a signal to one of the other captors to pull up the man in his early 20's from his prone position before he was pushed to his knees in front of their leader who bent forward before he answered, "one way or another ADA Laurel Lance dies today. Whether she had some company on the other side or not, depends not only on her cooperation but on you and everyone else here following every single thing we will be telling you to do. Now, did I say you could speak?"
"No…" the once brave voice faltered.
"That's what I'm talking about. Now, the next one who moves, talks or makes a noise…well let's just say, you've been warned. Now go back and lie face down again!" the leader told the man.
Without warning, the captor who had originally pulled up the man from his prone position butted the edge of his assault rifle on the side of the head of the man making the man lose consciousness instantaneously, his face bloody as he landed four feet from Felicity.
"Now," the leader of the group continued, "we are unfortunately under time constrain so we have to get this over and done with, "if you will Ms. Lance get up and join me right here," pointing to a spot in front of him.
Sara moved in front of her sister, Laurel for her part did not respond to the command of the leader.
"You really are quite stubborn Ms. Lance. I will ask you one last time. If you do not move, then you will force my hand. I will extract punishment for every time you disobey me on your fellow hostages. Who it will be…well, to everyone else, Ms. Lances' lack of cooperation will be the reason some if not all of you will either die today or be injured. Ms. Lance, how would it feel to have the blood of everyone in this room in your hands, all because you tried to be a girl scout," turning toward Laurel the leader started again, "now Ms. Lance, if you will?"
One of the other captors started to walk toward Laurel again. Felicity felt a hand squeeze again from Sara and then a very subtle nod before all hell broke loose. Sara and Nyssa were suddenly on their feet engaging the captor who had stepped toward Laurel earlier, gaining the upper hands initially by disarming him before gunfire erupted and shouts run out.
It took all of ten maybe fifteen seconds all together, but it felt longer. When the smoke cleared, Felicity and Laurel were surprised to find themselves huddled together sitting down on the floor, one of their captors definitely dead a foot away from them face up. But what both Felicity and Laurel saw almost at the same time was Sara also on the floor clutching her chest which was dripping copious amounts of blood, Nyssa about five feet away clutching on to her stomach and leg, also bloodied.
"Now look what you made us do!" the leader of the group shouted at Laurel.
The two other members of the group secured Nyssa by tying her to a cement post in the middle of the coffee shop with sturdy ropes that they had apparently brought with them unmindful of Nyssa injuries. The leader had stepped heavily into the bloodied chest of Sara further aggravating her injuries and making Sara let out an unguarded cry. The leader was wise enough to read the situation knowing that the two ladies had training and had to be dealt with military precision equal to how they would normally secure and treat their enemies.
As soon as the two were satisfied with how they had secured Nyssa, they went to the aid of their leader this time to secure Sara, again ignoring her injury.
The leader finally stepped toward their fallen comrade to confirm that he was indeed very dead turning once more toward Laurel.
"I warned you," pointing an aggressive finger at Laurel, "you really are self-centered and have no sense of compassion for the lives of others, prepared to risk everyone else's life. Their deaths," pointing to Sara and Nyssa, will be in your hands. From their injuries, that one," gesturing to Nyssa, "has a better chance of living though the day, "that one however," gesturing to Sara, "well let's just say, give or take an hour or two, that's the thing with chest injuries, particularly those very close to the heart, time is of the essence."