'cause I followed my star (and that's what you are)
Author: dettiot
Rating: T
Summary: When Christmas Eve and the last night of Hanukkah align, something special could happen for Felicity and Oliver-with some help from a couple of strangers in a blue box.
Timelines: Pre-The Climb for Arrow; post-Doomsday but several years after Rose and Ten's reunion for Doctor Who. It's all wibbly-wobbly, so just go with it, folks.
Author's Note: This is for ivydoor, who pointed out the similarities between Rose & the Doctor and Oliver & Felicity. (She also made an amazing graphic that you can see on my Tumblr.) I hope this is what you imagined it would be! Title from Song for Ten; section headings from The Stowaway, My Angel Put the Devil in Me, Love Don't Roam and Song for Ten; all songs written for Doctor Who by Murray Gold.
XXX
that stranger with the haunting face
Normally at this hour of the night, the Foundry wouldn't be quite so silent. Diggle would be checking over his weapons, he and Roy would be sparring, and Felicity would be tapping away at her computers.
But tonight was Christmas Eve. And the last night of Hanukkah. So Oliver was alone, killing time before he would meet Thea and they would head over to her loft. There hadn't been any elaborate parties and mountains of gifts for the Queen siblings this year, but he had to admit, he was looking forward to just spending the next twenty-four hours with his sister.
At least that was one relationship that didn't seem utterly doomed.
For months, he had been carrying the weight of not being with Felicity. Of being close to her physically but so far from her emotionally. Because . . . because it wasn't safe for her to be with him. It wasn't right. She deserved so much more than him. And just because she once had been attracted to him didn't mean she still was. Felicity was his partner, invaluable to his work as the Arrow. There was no way he could convince her to stop working with him, stop her from helping him save Starling City. So he hadn't even tried.
But he could save her from Oliver Queen. Could keep her from a relationship with a broken former playboy, a man who had never had a successful loving relationship with a woman. It was for the best. And Felicity seemed to agree, since all they had lately was work.
So he'd just ignore the smiles and the staring, the shared jokes and the all-too-infrequent touches. Eventually, she'd fall for someone else, if she hadn't already started with-
Blowing out a breath, Oliver looked at his phone and saw he still had too much time before he could even think about leaving. Sharpening arrowheads wasn't keeping his mind off his problems, and he didn't want to work out since he wouldn't have enough time to burn away his thoughts and shower before meeting Thea.
He had just picked up another arrowhead, for lack of anything else to do, when a strange noise filled the Foundry. It sounded like some kind of machine, the odd vwoop-vwoop-vwoop setting him on edge. Moving quickly, his bow and an arrow were in his hands as he spun around-just in time to see a large blue box appear by the stairs.
What the hell? Oliver lowered his bow but kept the arrow nocked as he tried to figure out what he was seeing.
The box was at least nine feet tall, painted an aged blue with windows filling the top third of each side. A light on the top slowly pulsed, illuminating the words POLICE PUBLIC CALL BOX above the windows. It looked a bit like an old full-length phone booth, but nothing like one Oliver had ever seen.
When nothing happened and the light stopped pulsing, Oliver moved a bit closer. Close enough to see a lock, in the middle of what he guessed was the door. A door? But how-
A creak worthy of a horror movie escaped as the door swung open, revealing a man stepping out with his back to him. About the same height as Oliver but much thinner, he had brown hair and wore a long coat and was calling back inside the box to someone . . . but the box wasn't big enough for two people . . .
"Yes, Rose, I know what to get," the man said in a British accent. "Back in a mo!"
Oliver raised his bow, steadying himself as the man closed the door and turned around. When his eyes landed on Oliver, the man's face contorted into a frown. "What are you doing with a bow and arrow?"
"Who are you and how did you get in here?" Oliver rasped in his Arrow voice.
The man looked around, then groaned. "Oh, she'll never let me live this one down. This isn't the Albert Road Marks & Spencer's in Nottingham and it's not 2008, is it?"
It shouldn't be possible to feel more confused than he already was, but then, Oliver had a lot of first-hand knowledge in the unbelievable and the unthinkable. So even though this man didn't seem threatening, Oliver didn't lower his bow.
Not waiting for an answer to his question, the man ambled forward, his hands in the pockets of his coat. "All I ask is that you don't shoot the TARDIS. She's still sore at me for the last time an arrow hit her. Not that it was my fault Queen Elizabeth's guards have such bad aim. Frankly troubling that Gloriana Regina had archers that couldn't hit the broad side of a barn, but eh, it all worked out, you know. I'm the Doctor, by the way, and if you think you're going to put an arrow in my heart, you're one short."
Somehow while he was talking, the man had come close enough that the arrow was only inches away from his chest. Blinking, Oliver tried to figure out what the hell was going on and why he had let the man babble away like that while getting so close.
The door creaked again, and a woman popped out, dressed in jeans and a pink hooded sweatshirt. "Oi, I hear you talking, you're supposed to be-" She stopped mid-sentence, taking in the scene before her, then sighed. "Again?"
"It's not my fault! It's the-"
"Do not blame the TARDIS," the woman said, holding her hand up. She turned to Oliver and gave him a big, sunny smile. "Hello, and I don't suppose you'd put that down so we could talk a little bit? I'm Rose, and this is the Doctor, and you are?"
Something about this woman reminded him of Felicity. Not just how she also clearly wasn't a natural blonde, but in their personalities and their smiles lighting up any room. Hesitantly, Oliver slowly lowered the bow and took a step back. "Oliver."
"Oliver! I had the maddest crush on a boy named Oliver in primary school," Rose said, her accent similar to the Doctor's. What kind of person went around calling himself 'the Doctor'?
The Doctor snorted and Rose casually elbowed him. Their easy intimacy made him think that they were together, but . . . but maybe he was wrong. "So, Oliver! I'm sorry about us just dropping in like this. Would you mind telling us what year it is?"
"Yes?" Oliver said slowly. He shook his head and gripped his bow tighter. "Yes, I do mind, because how in the hell did you just show up here and then come out of that phone booth, asking what year it is, and what's a TARDIS?"
Honestly, there was a lot more he needed to know-like what the Doctor meant about him being an arrow short, and all that stuff about Queen Elizabeth, and just what the relationship was between these two-but for now, Oliver would stick with the basics.
"That's the TARDIS," Rose said, pointing to the phone booth.
"Time and Relative Dimension in Space, when she's feeling formal," the Doctor said, sweeping his eyes around the Foundry.
"We travel in it, but we didn't mean to end up here, disturbing you like this . . ." Rose said, tilting her head as she looked at him. "You look a bit familiar to me." She turned to the Doctor. "Why's he so familiar?"
The Doctor let out a bored sigh. "He's Oliver Queen, one of those playboy blokes. The one that was on a deserted island for five years."
Rose snapped her fingers and looked back at Oliver. "Of course, now I recognize you! I didn't before, with the short hair and the stubble." She grinned at him, running her eyes over him in a way that seemed . . . a bit flirtatious?
Oliver had passed confused several minutes ago. And the longer he didn't have answers-or kept getting answers that only led to more questions-the less he liked this feeling. He was ready to order them both out of here, get them to leave and just pretend this was some kind of strange hallucination, when a soft beeping from the top of the stairs made him look up. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the Doctor react as well, turning his head.
And when the door to the Foundry opened and Felicity stepped inside, Oliver felt his bow rising again, pinning the two strangers in its path.
"Oliver, are you here? I left that adaptor here, again, and normally I'd just leave it but I really need it for tomorrow and-
Felicity drew up short halfway down the stairs, staring at the blue box in front of her. Her head whipped over towards Oliver, her eyes meeting his for a split second before she looked at the Doctor and Rose. Then, the biggest, happiest smile he had ever seen appeared on her face, along with wide, sparkling eyes.
"Oh my God, I knew you were real!"
And Oliver realized that it was going to be a long time before anything made sense.
XXX
your simple smile and your bewitching lies
When she was a small girl, Felicity Smoak was always looking for something magical to happen to her. As she grew up, she realized that magic often meant danger, heartbreak, turmoil. And slowly, she stopped wishing for magic to happen to her. She settled into a quiet IT girl life, and she was . . . content.
But then, Oliver Queen showed up in her cubicle with a shot-up laptop and the Vigilante appeared in her car, bleeding to death. It was the first stirrings of real magic in her life. Because they were the same man, and what was more, he needed her help to be as magical as he was. She was never sure if his magic rubbed off on her, or if he inspired Felicity to find the magic inside her.
This-this was real magic, though. Because the Doctor was real!
"I've read all about you in the ARGUS files I-um, well, I've read a lot about you and there was a lot of doubt about whether you really existed, but I just had this feeling that you had to exist, and you do!" Felicity said, finally pausing for breath and to smile. "Hi, I'm Felicity."
"What is going on, Felicity?"
Oliver's voice was a murmur practically in her ear, making her realize that he had moved very close to her. Closer than he had been in a long time, close enough that she could feel the heat of his body and-
Swallowing, she looked up at him. "This is the Doctor. ARGUS has a file on him."
His eyebrows went up, but he didn't ask how she knew that. She couldn't help a tiny grin at him not mentioning the danger of hacking ARGUS, then she turned back to the Doctor and the blonde woman standing beside him. "I'm sorry, I get like this."
"It's like having another Doctor around a bit," the woman said, wrinkling her nose but smiling at the same time.
"Oh, no, I'm not a genius like he is-" Felicity started to protest, only for Oliver to interrupt.
"You're always telling us you're the brains of this outfit. You shouldn't knock yourself," he said quietly.
Her mouth fell open a little as she stared at him, blinking, before she pushed aside all those emotions that Oliver and Oliver alone could stir in her. "It's . . . it's the Doctor!" she said, pointing at the man who looked very amused right now.
"Yes, I did get that much from him," Oliver said tartly, and Felicity noticed for the first time that he's holding his bow with an arrow nocked.
"Put that away-the Doctor's no threat," she said, pushing at his shoulder.
"Oi!" the Doctor said, now looking offended.
The other woman, who looked at least five years older than Felicity, grinned at him with her tongue caught between her teeth. Then she turned to Felicity. "I'm Rose. It's nice to meet you, Felicity."
"Rose Tyler?! Oh, this is the best Hanukkah ever!" Felicity said, then slapped her hand over her mouth. "Um . . ." she said slowly, dropping her hand. "I read about you, too."
"Then would you mind filling me in?" Oliver asked, sounding testy. Although he had set the bow down on the metal table beside him, so that was something.
Felicity turned to Oliver, drawing him back a little from the other pair. "The Doctor pops up all over time, as far back as records go," she explained, keeping her voice low. "No one really knows how or why, although the most common theory is that he's some kind of alien."
"An alien?" Oliver asked, his voice full of disbelief.
"We just got a visit from our friend Barry the metahuman," Felicity pointed out, looking up at him. Oliver blew out a breath and gestured for her to continue.
"He usually travels with a companion, and he seems to change his appearance over time, and he's British, obviously," Felicity said, glancing over at the Doctor before looking back at Oliver.
Oliver nodded, processing all this. "What about Rose?"
"There's hardly anything about her, really."
"Then why did you act like you knew her?" Oliver said, his eyebrows raised.
Felicity shrugged, glancing over at Rose, who was deep in conversation with the Doctor. She looked back at Oliver and smiled a little. "She's just . . . I feel like I've known her for years."
He let out a small huff of almost-laughter and nodded again. "Yeah, me, too."
Smiling at him, Felicity found herself feeling really happy that she had forgotten the adapter for her tablet. She had been a little sad when she realized she wouldn't be seeing Oliver today. So okay, maybe she had on purpose forgotten the adapter, so she'd have a reason to come by and check up on Oliver. She was trying to live her life and find something more, yes-but Oliver, no matter how he kept her at arm's length, was still part of her life.
Even if it was in a way that wasn't nearly enough. Would never be enough.
"Ahem."
The sound of a throat clearing made Felicity startle, realizing she had been gazing up at Oliver for who-knew-how-long. Turning quickly, she pasted a smile on her face.
"While we're here-whenever that is-you wouldn't mind me just popping out for a few minutes to the nearest shop, would you?" Rose asked. "I need hair dye and as long as we're here . . ."
"I can take you," Felicity said quickly, stepping away from Oliver. "There's a drugstore two blocks away that should still be open, even if it's Christmas Eve."
A smile lit up Rose's face and she shot the Doctor a look that Felicity would call 'needling'. "Christmas Eve, huh? Sounds perfect."
The Doctor frowned slightly at Rose but nodded. "I'll just . . . stay here."
Felicity looked at Oliver, who looked like he was ready to put on his Grumpy Arrow face. But he just pressed his lips together for a moment. "That's fine." He looked at Felicity. "Be careful," he said quietly.
"We'll be fine," Felicity said, hefting her bag on her shoulder. Then she turned to Rose and gestured to the stairs. "This way."
"Thanks!" Rose said, pausing to squeeze the Doctor's hand before she headed for the stairs. "So what year is this?" she asked, looking back at Felicity.
"2014," Felicity said, marveling at what it must be like to travel in time. "I would have thought you already knew that, though."
Rose laughed as Felicity pulled open the door of the Foundry for them. "Nah, the Doctor likes to be surprised. Me, too, really."
"Did you really come here for hair dye?" Felicity asked, unable to hold back her curiosity any longer.
"Yep," Rose said. "My color got discontinued, so we just pop back when I need to do my roots." She gestured to the inch of dark-brown growth. "The Doctor keeps asking why I couldn't just buy out a store and keep it in the TARDIS, but-"
"But the dye loses potency," Felicity finished. She grinned. "I dye my hair, too."
Holding up a hand, Rose gestured for Felicity to lean down a little, then closely examined her hair. "I never woulda guessed. You do good work, and my mum's a hairdresser."
"Thank you," Felicity said, adjusting her glasses and trying not to squee at the compliment.
"So tell me about you and Oliver," Rose said casually once they were outside of Verdant.
Felicity stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. "What?" she said, blinking at Rose.
"You and Oliver," Rose repeated, giving Felicity a look. "Even the Doctor agreed that there's something going on with you two, and for a genius he's really thick when it comes to romance."
"Oh-oh, there's-there's not . . . there's not anything with me and Oliver. Not now. I mean . . ." Felicity let her voice trail off, feeling hesitant. Because Rose seemed very nice, and friendly, and it had been so long since Felicity had an opportunity to talk to a woman about something like this. Someone who seemed like she would understand. Because clearly Rose and the Doctor were involved, and-and it had to be something similar, being in love with an ancient, mysterious alien, right?
"As compared to a brooding, conflicted human man? Yeah, it's kinda similar," Rose said with a smile.
Stepping forward, Felicity walked with Rose for a few moments, deliberating over what to say. If she should say anything, really. Then with a sigh, she looked at the older woman. "It might take a while."
"No worries," Rose said. "We'll get my dye, then we can stop somewhere and talk. Anyplace with good chips around here? I'll text the Doctor." And with that, Rose whipped out a cell phone and started moving her thumbs over the keys.
And Felicity felt a little bit of the weight lift off her shoulders.
XXX
oh my girl my girl my precious girl
"Don't touch that."
The Doctor paused, his fingertips a few inches from one of the bows on display. Oliver Queen's voice was tense, not unlike his shoulders. Not unlike his arms either, which were currently folded across his chest and were frankly rather over-muscled.
But muscles didn't intimidate him. Not when he had the biggest, best, strongest muscle of all: his brain. And clearly, the one muscle Oliver Queen didn't use very often was his brain.
"Why? Think I can't use it?" the Doctor asked, eyeing the other man. "Dead simple physics behind the bow and arrow, you know."
"No, I just don't want you touching anything."
"Aren't you a ball of sunshine," the Doctor muttered, wondering why he had let Rose talk him into this. She'd taken one look at Mr. Broody and Felicity and started chattering softly in his ear about how cute they were and how in love and how they clearly needed a helping hand.
It's not that he doesn't see it, too. It's obvious: this Oliver bloke is in love with Felicity, and it seems pretty clear that Felicity loves him back. But they're not together, and the Doctor was fairly sure it has something to do with Oliver Queen's predilection for prehistoric weapons and justice. What with him being a costumed superhero. Although something was a bit . . . off, though. Looking at his timeline, there seemed to be moments that had gone differently than planned, ones that meant this wasn't the canon timeline. And the biggest divergences were centered around Felicity Smoak.
Although really, why was Oliver Queen's love life his problem?
His phone vibrated in the pocket of his coat, and he pulled it out to see a message from Rose. when you're done talking to oliver, meet us at big belly burger for chips. x
Well, there was why it was his problem. Rose wanted him to talk to Oliver, so . . . it looked like he was going to talk to Oliver.
Sighing a little, he slid the phone back into his coat pocket and looked at the other man, whose face was screwed up in the most grumpy of expressions he'd ever seen. And that was taking into consideration his last incarnation.
"Right," the Doctor said, his voice bouncing around in the echoing confines of the room. "Rose wants me to talk to you, and I'm sure she's pumping Felicity for all the details right now. So you might as well start talking."
Oliver looked confused, his eyebrows drawing together-blimey, was he a slow thinker-and straightened up. "Start talking about what?"
Momentarily distracted by the incongruity of a fern in this place, the Doctor took a moment to reply. "You and Felicity. This fern needs more light."
"What?" Oliver said, taking a few steps over to him.
"See how the fronds are drooping? Clear sign it needs more light," the Doctor said, looking around and then pointing towards a table by one of the glass display cases. "There would be better. It'd catch some light from those windows."
He expected Oliver to pick up the fern and move it, not to stand there like a bump on a log with a sad, despairing look on his face.
So maybe Rose was right. These two clearly needed help.
"Can I guess from your attitude, which I would describe as 'morose', that Felicity gave you this fern?"
A small nod is his only answer. "And it has some kind of special significance to you?" the Doctor asked, hoping he's not going to have to keep pulling answers out of Oliver like this, because Rose always orders him chips at places while she waits, and at the rate they're going, she'll have eaten hers and his by the time they get there.
"For me, there is," Oliver said. "Even though . . ."
"Even though?" the Doctor prodded, leaning back against the desk with his hands in his coat pockets.
Instead of saying anything, Oliver lifted his eyes and searched the Doctor's face. The Doctor let him, because while Oliver might not be very bright, he's certainly an emotional one. And he's so tied up in knots that something needs to give. Hard to break a lifetime of emotional reticence, the Doctor knew, but Oliver Queen appeared to be at his breaking point.
"So you're the Green Arrow, yes?" the Doctor asked, gesturing around the room.
"Huh?" Oliver shook his head. "Um-just the Arrow."
"The Arrow?" Hm. The Doctor shrugged, some pieces falling into place. "I wondered why you were so clearly in love with the charming Ms. Smoak, instead of Dinah Lance. Other timeline, I guess."
When Oliver just stared back at him, the Doctor merely shrugged his shoulders. "Time Lord. So, you and Felicity."
The Doctor had to give Oliver Queen this much: he adjusted well for a man without a lot of natural inclination towards introspection. Because he just leaned against the desk, on the other side of the spinny chair from the Doctor, and started talking about Felicity. About how they met, thanks to a laptop and a bad lie. About how they slowly became friends and allies. About how she encouraged him to be better, to be a hero (the Doctor noticed a mention of killing and made a note to circle back around to that). About how he suddenly realized he loved her, in the middle of the worst circumstances, and he had let his feelings slip out before he was ready to tell her.
"But we can't be together," Oliver said quietly. "Not if I'm going to keep being the Arrow, not when being Oliver Queen can get her hurt."
"Poppycock-oooh, been a while since I've used that one. It's nice. Poppycock! All soft with the little pops from the Ps, then hard Cs. It's a smorgasbord of a word."
Oliver blinked. "And I thought Felicity didn't make sense sometimes."
"What did Felicity have to say about all this? Your heroic martyr act?" the Doctor said, straightening up and walking around slowly. They were getting to the heart of the matter-it shouldn't be too long before they could go meet Rose and Felicity. That was good. He was feeling peckish for some chips.
"She . . ." Oliver took a breath. "She said she knew if we talked, it'd be over."
"Really?" the Doctor asked, throwing a look back at Oliver before glancing over some computer monitors. "Just like that, she gave up? Doesn't much sound like the woman you described."
Oliver nodded slowly, but in a distracted kind of way. His lips were pursed and his eyes were narrowed, and the Doctor turned away to hide his grin. Looked like he was starting to figure it out. Or at least stop suffering and start thinking.
"Do you like chips?" The Doctor turned to face Oliver. "Rose and Felicity are at some place called Big Belly Burger-ooh, nice, those Bs-and they're waiting for us, and Rose and I, we like to get chips. You Americans call them 'French fries', of course. Silly name."
It's very tempting to really shake up Oliver and take him on the TARDIS, but the bloke seemed to be in the midst of an epiphany, so the Doctor just waited for his words to sink in. After a moment, Oliver's face cleared and he lifted up his bow, settling it into another one of the display cases-they do like those around here-and picking up a leather jacket. "Okay."
"Brilliant! Allons-y!" The Doctor heads over to the stairs that Felicity and Rose exited the lair from, hearing Oliver's footsteps behind him. Glancing back, he can see the big lug is still thinking.
He's still not sure about helping like this. Love was dangerous. This Oliver might not be a killer anymore, but who's to say he wouldn't return to those ways if Felicity rejects him? Or if she doesn't reject him but he loses her anyway?
Those years without Rose . . . he had come oh-so-close to breaking his own vows. Still doesn't know how he managed. So he doesn't have very high hopes.
But that's humans for you: they kept doing the unexpected, going in directions he had never anticipated. Maybe Oliver Queen had it in him to surprise a Time Lord.
XXX
make me so proud/like you want me to be
"So there's my mom, in this blue, tight, cocktail dress, no sleeves, really short skirt, and we're in Verdant at ten in the morning, and she says, 'I'm not wearing anything appropriate for a nightclub'!"
Felicity's hands waved around in the air as she told her story, pretending to be exasperated, but Rose can hear the love in her voice. Laughing, she took a sip of milkshake. "That's my mum all over."
The time they had spent waiting for the Doctor and Oliver had passed swimmingly. Rose had her hair dye, and the chips at Big Belly had been a bit of all right. But even better was talking to Felicity. They had a lot in common, with their backgrounds and their mothers and now being in really extraordinary circumstances.
And there was also the whole being madly in love with someone they thought couldn't or wouldn't ever love them back.
Felicity laughed a little and finished the last bite of her burger. "This has been really great, Rose. Although I'm a bit worried, leaving the Doctor with Oliver . . ." Felicity's lips are puckered and her forehead is wrinkled. "Oliver . . . he takes time to warm up to people, sometimes."
"That's the Doctor all over," Rose said, eyeing the container of chips she had ordered for him, then returning her eyes to Felicity. "But I'm sure it's fine. And besides, I think you needed someone to talk to."
"I did," Felicity said with a sigh, her chipper attitude fading into something more muted. And very sad. "I . . . I'm just surrounded by boys, and they just-they think everything is so simple, you know?"
Rose reached out to rest a hand over one of Felicity's. "I know. My best mate, Mickey, he never understood how I acted with the Doctor. Why I kept traveling with him, why I couldn't ever give up on him." Gently, she smiled at the younger woman. "Love isn't ever simple."
"Yeah," Felicity said, lifting her free hand to swipe her fingers underneath her glasses.
Before Rose could say anything else, she caught sight of the Doctor through the window. He waved at her, then jerked his head back towards Oliver, who looked extremely lost in thought. Maybe the Doctor had gotten through to the poor boy, Rose thought as she waved back at the Doctor.
"Here they come," Rose said, warning Felicity. She straightened up on her side of the booth, making room for the Doctor to slide in next to her.
"Hello!" the Doctor said, his smile wide and beaming. "Oooh, are these for me?" Without waiting for her answer, he picked up the container of chips and dug in. "Mmm, they're good."
"I thought so, too," Rose said, leaning against him a little. "Definitely worth the trip."
Across from them, Felicity and Oliver were talking without opening their mouths. First Oliver had hesitated before sitting next to her, leaving plenty of space between them. Felicity had looked at him, her eyebrows slightly drawn together and her lower lip caught between her teeth. But when Oliver gave her a small half-smile, the relief was obvious on Felicity's face-and Oliver's whole body relaxed.
It was all Rose could do not to roll her eyes at the two idiots. No wonder all the men in Felicity's life didn't understand why she wasn't with Oliver: it was clear that they were already together, they just didn't realize it.
Well, she had an idea or two about that. And just in case Oliver hadn't been convinced by the Doctor . . . Rose smiled brightly at the Doctor. "So I think Felicity would love a little tour of the TARDIS."
Felicity's blue eyes went wide. "You-you'd let me see inside?!" She turned her beseeching eyes towards the Doctor, even as she spluttered. "I would be so honored, but of course I understand if you and Rose need to go . . . but ever since I read about you in the ARGUS files, I just-I knew if I got the chance, I was going to ask if I could see the TARDIS."
"Breathe, Felicity," Oliver said softly, his hand moving to rest lightly on her back. The way Felicity immediately sucked in air made Rose grin.
"Of course!" the Doctor said, through a mouthful of chips. "Let's go and do that now!" He stood up, still holding his half-full chip box. "So what exactly is in those files about me? And how can we get rid of them?"
As Felicity and the Doctor began chattering away, Rose smiled at Oliver. "Walk a girl back to your super-secret lair?"
Oliver laughed quietly, ducking his head before nodding at Rose. The smile on his face made Rose smile back-it was pretty devastating.
They fell in behind Felicity and the Doctor, walking quietly. Rose was fine with that. She could see that Oliver was back to mulling over whatever he had been thinking about when he had arrived at Big Belly Burger. And from the way his eyes never strayed far from Felicity, it was hard to hold her tongue and not talk to Oliver about Felicity.
But she wanted him to simmer a little. And plus, what she wanted to say, she didn't want Felicity to overhear it.
Glancing around, Rose thought that Starling City seemed all right. A bit gloom and doom, yeah, but . . . you could sense that it was trying to be something better, something-
Was that Jack?!
Rose came to a dead stop in front of a set of newspaper boxes, peering closely at the front page of the Starling City Examiner. At the photo of a man who was a dead ringer for Captain Jack Harkness, although the caption said he was Malcolm Merlyn.
"Rose?"
Looking up at Oliver, who looked concerned, Rose tried to smile. If the Doctor had said it once, he had said it a million times-timelines were delicate things and you couldn't muck about with them. Unless it was him doing the mucking, and half the time he made a bigger mess before he cleaned it all up. "Oh, nothing. So tell me more about Starling City! Have you lived here long?"
He eyed her for a moment, then spoke slowly. "All my life. Well, except for five years."
Easily drawing Oliver into conversation, Rose made a note to ask the Doctor if they could pop over to Cardiff and see Jack after he gave Felicity her tour of the TARDIS.
With the head start they had built up, Felicity and the Doctor were already inside the TARDIS when Rose and Oliver reached his base. Rose lifted herself up onto one of the metal tables, letting her legs swing a bit. "They might be a while-the Doctor does love talking about the TARDIS. She's amazing, though."
Oliver nodded, leaning against the table. "Yeah, she is," he said quietly, looking over at the TARDIS.
Who did he think he was fooling? Rose smiled and gently pushed at Oliver's shoulder. "You're being an idiot, you know. Pushing away Felicity."
He stiffened before sighing and looking over at her. "It has been pointed out to me."
"So what are you gonna do about it, Oliver?"
XXX
borrow or steal/I'll find a way/to be with my lover upon Christmas Day
If the question wasn't so obvious, Oliver would groan. Because that was what he kept coming back to: what was he going to do?
Because this situation with Felicity . . . it couldn't go on like this. It wasn't fair to her, and he couldn't keep his feelings under control. Not with what the Doctor and Rose had shown him.
The paranoid, suspicious part of him, which usually sounded like Digg in these moments, prodded him that this was all so strange. That he shouldn't accept the two strangers at face value like this. But that would be ignoring his instincts. And they said Rose and the Doctor could be trusted. Or at least, they weren't a threat.
Those instincts had kept him alive for five years in hell. He wasn't about to discount them now. Especially not when they were also telling him it was time to stop running from Felicity.
He didn't know that much about her past. Even meeting her mother hadn't filled in all the blanks that Felicity had very carefully never explained: what happened to her father, why she wanted to be more than a cocktail waitress or an IT girl, how she was so damn strong.
But something had made her accept him drawing a line in the sand about their relationship. When she had argued with him every single other time he tried to make decisions for her. Oliver didn't know why-but he was going to find out, by telling her he was wrong. That he had probably screwed up any chance he had with her, but that if she was willing to give him another chance . . . he'd make sure she never regretted giving it to him.
It might take everything he had, but Oliver knew that Felicity was worth it.
Now he just had to wait for her to leave the TARDIS.
"Oliver?"
Rose's gentle voice brought him back, out of his thoughts. Her voice, though, also had a teasing note to it, like she knew exactly what had made him ignore her question. It reminded him of Felicity a little.
Giving her a small grin, Oliver straightened up. "Would you mind asking Felicity to come on out, as soon as she's done in there?" He gestured towards the TARDIS.
"You don't wanna go inside?" she asked, hopping off the table with the plastic bag Oliver guessed held her hair dye.
Oliver shook his head. "I . . . I've got to figure out some things I want to say."
Her face lit up with a bright smile and she rested a hand on his arm. "That is really good to hear, Oliver." She tugged on his arm a little as she went up on her tiptoes, and Oliver leaned down, letting her kiss his cheek. "I'm glad the Doctor and me could help out. Merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas, Rose," he said, smiling at her. "And tell the Doctor . . . if he ever wants to practice his archery, he's welcome to come back."
"You might regret that offer," Rose said with a laugh. "But I'll tell him-he's bound to want to do it sometime."
With a quick grin, Rose scampered over to the TARDIS, stepping inside and giving him a small wave before she closed the door behind her.
Which left Oliver alone in the Foundry. Waiting for Felicity. Waiting in hopes that he might get a Christmas miracle.
XXX
Mid-highly technical explanation of the Time Vortex, the Doctor looked up at the familiar creak of the TARDIS door opening, then beamed at Rose. "Hello!"
"Hi," Rose said, coming over and taking his hand before looking at Felicity. "How do you like the TARDIS?"
"It's incredible," Felicity breathed out.
"She was actually struck dumb," the Doctor said proudly. He stroked the console. "That's the TARDIS for you. Very impressive."
Felicity nodded, a big smile on her face. "I can't imagine how amazing it is, going to other planets, visiting the past or the future . . ."
"You could find out," the Doctor said, eyeing the spectacled blonde. "What's your fancy?"
"Really?" Felicity asked, her whole face lighting up.
"No!"
The Doctor whipped his head around as Rose squeezed his hand tightly. "Ow! What is it, Rose?"
She made eyes at Felicity, then nodded towards the doors of the TARDIS. He narrowed his eyes before it clicked.
Oh. Rose's little romance mission for Felicity and Oliver. He leaned down and spoke softly into her ear. "The big galoot finally got it?"
Rose nodded emphatically. "He asked me to say goodbye to you-and to say that if you ever want to come back and play around with the bows and arrows, you're welcome."
The Doctor grinned widely at Rose before turning to Felicity. "I'm brilliant at archery."
"Oliver is, too," Felicity said, stepping forward. "And you should see him on the salmon ladder, he's-" She suddenly snapped her mouth shut, her cheeks going pink.
"Salmon ladder?" Rose asked, sounding entirely too interested.
"Anyway!" the Doctor said, eyeing Rose before turning back to Felicity. "Rose is right-we've got places to go, people to see, et cetera et cetera. Oooh, we should go see The King and I, Rose; it's the best with Gertrude Lawrence and Yul Brynner. And you, Miss Smoak-"
Behind her glasses, Felicity's eyes looked nervous. "Yes?"
"I think you have someone to see, too," he said gently, stepping away from Rose and steering Felicity towards the doors.
"But-but you haven't fully explained the time rotor to me, and-and I'm wondering if you've ever thought about better integrating wireless networking into the TARDIS. If you're worried about security, I have some great only-a-little-bit-illegal methods to lock your network down like it's Fort Knox, and-"
"Felicity," the Doctor interrupted, taking her by both shoulders and leaning down to look into her eyes. He had a whole speech at the ready, about how as someone who had spent ten lifetimes running, she should take his advice by not spending her only one doing the same. That as difficult as it was to be left behind, she couldn't build up walls that prevented anyone from getting close to her, because it was much worse to never risk her heart than to never let someone else take care of it for a while.
But because Felicity was a rather remarkable young woman, he didn't have to give her the speech. He could see that she knew it already. Or at least she had an inkling down deep inside.
So instead, he just said, "Oliver's waiting for you."
She swallowed. "O-okay."
The Doctor gave her an encouraging smile. "Happy Hanukkah, Felicity." Rose came up beside him, and he could tell she was smiling at Felicity, too.
"Happy Hanukkah," she said, managing a tremulous smile back at them and a quick hug for Rose. "I hope to see you both again someday."
"We'll be back," Rose said, taking the Doctor's hand.
Felicity nodded and turned, facing the doors. She straightened her shoulders before sailing out the TARDIS, her head high.
XXX
and i'll run and i'll roam/i'll cover the ground/this Christmas i'll see you
"So I was right."
Rose knew it wasn't nice to gloat, but she felt a little bit giddy right now. Because she had been right. And hopefully, at this very moment, Oliver was telling Felicity he couldn't live without her, and then Felicity would say how much she loved him, and then they'd kiss . . .
It wasn't until the Doctor pulled her up the ramp, away from the doors, that she realized she had been pressing her ear against the doors, trying to eavesdrop. "Now, now, none of that," the Doctor said, sounding grumpy. "You act like you've never seen great romance."
"Not one that I helped make happen!" Rose protested, but not too strongly. "If it wasn't for us, they'd be a right mess."
The Doctor rolled his eyes. "All the traveling you've done with me, all the things you've seen, and you still think you make the difference just by showing up." He shook his head. "So human."
"Yep, that's me," Rose said, grinning at him with her tongue caught between her teeth. "Although I'd say it's me bein' a bit Time Lord." The Doctor looked a bit pained, especially when she pressed him. "And you know I'm right-we really did help Felicity and Oliver."
He sighed and fiddled with the console. "This time line . . . it's not one I was expecting to stumble upon."
"What d'you mean?" she asked, moving over towards him.
"Oliver Queen is supposed to be with Dinah Lance. The Green Arrow and the Black Canary," the Doctor said. "But that doesn't seem to be the case here. Bit strange. Makes me wonder . . ."
"Do not tell me something's going to happen to them!" Rose said, holding a hand up. "Don't wanna know."
The Doctor sighed, his shoulders slumping a bit. "I don't know, either. And that worries me."
"Oi," Rose said, turning him to face her. "It's Christmas. And Hanukkah. I bet everything's gonna be just fine for them. I mean, they reminded me of us a bit, yeah?"
He wrapped his arms around her, drawing her in close. "They did, a little."
"So everything's good, yeah?" Rose said, looking up at him, her hands resting on his chest.
She could see him trying to make the timelines make sense, untangling all those threads his big Time Lord brain kept track of. Then his face cleared. "There it is! Oh, that is clever."
"What is it?" she asked, feeling her hopes rise.
"Pocket universe! A reality inside a reality. Not really sure how it happened-that's not very clear-but it's pretty definitely a pocket universe. Explains why Oliver wants to be with Felicity instead of this Dinah character."
"That's good!" Rose said, beaming up at him. "And very smart of you to figure that out."
As she expected, the praise made him beam at her. "That's me-dead clever."
Nodding, Rose took his tie in hand and tugged him down. "Yes. Why don't you, the clever Time Lord, pop us into the Time Vortex, and then we'll plan our next move?"
Without moving out of her arms, the Doctor reached over to the console and flipped a lever, and the TARDIS began humming. He gave her that cocky grin that she secretly loved. "Like that?"
"Mm, yes, like that," she said, tugging him down for a kiss.
XXX
When she stepped out of the TARDIS, it was to find Oliver leaning against one of the metal tables, his eyes on the floor. He didn't look up until the creak of the closing doors drew his attention, and then he rose to his full height. "Hey."
"Hey," she said, trying not to fidget with her glasses or wring her hands. "So . . . not a normal Wednesday night."
Oliver huffed out a laugh, then nodded. "Yeah. Even before you remember it's Christmas Eve and the last night of Hanukkah."
She nodded, stepping away from the TARDIS. "So . . . I probably should get that adapter-I mean, you're supposed to be meeting Thea, right?"
"Yeah-" Oliver took his phone out to check the time. "In a little while." He slid his phone back into his pocket and looked at her. "But-but I have enough time to do something first."
It was on the tip of her tongue to ask him what it was, but before she could even come up with the right words, he was stepping close to her.
"Felicity," he said quietly, gazing into her eyes. She felt her heart beat faster at having him so close to her, especially now-tonight, after meeting the Doctor and Rose, after having them intervene in her relationship with Oliver or lack thereof. "Are you doing anything tomorrow?"
"What-" Her voice squeaked a little and Felicity swallowed. "What, you mean on Christmas?"
He nodded, not looking away from her. And it had been so long that she let herself look back at him, right into his eyes, that she felt her stomach flip.
"Um . . . I was going to do the traditional Jewish Christmas: Chinese food and a movie." She searched his face. "Why did you want to know?"
She could see the muscles in his jaw and throat work. "I-I was wondering if maybe we could have dinner. And talk."
Gazing at him, Felicity wondered at this whole strange night. But then, perhaps having Christmas and Hanukkah coincide made things that seemed impossible suddenly become possible.
And maybe both she and Oliver were due for some magic.
So she took a step closer to him and rested her hand on his arm. "I'd like that."
His smile was so bright, it made her knees weak. "Yeah?"
Felicity nodded, leaning into him a little. "Uh-huh. If you didn't have plans with Thea, I'd say we shouldn't wait until tomorrow night."
Oliver's throat constricted as he swallowed, the play of muscles making her want to lean in and kiss the hollow at the base of his throat. "Really?"
"Yeah," she said softly, gazing at him. Letting herself take a leap of faith. "But since you do . . . here's something to tide us over."
He looked adorably befuddled until she rose up on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to his. But within a split-second, he was kissing her back, wrapping his arms around her tightly.
In the back of her mind, Felicity recognized a strange noise, one that must mean the TARDIS was leaving. But with how Oliver was kissing her, she couldn't focus on anything else but him right now.
End.