The response to this story has been incredible and I can not thank you all enough! You would not believe how happy it's made me. I mean, seriously; a hundred followers for the first thousand words? That's just ridiculous! Thank you so, so much!
Disclaimer: I do not own Arrow, nor do I own it's characters. This chapter mentions the 'Cosmopolitan Hotel' in Vegas which I have no connection to, nor have I ever been.
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"Okay, so everybody's got their bags; can we go find a cab now, please?" Thea whines, having long since gotten impatient of waiting around in the airport.
Tommy takes the lead, guiding the group towards the large exit doors of McCarran International airport, dragging a large, black, desinger suitcase behind him. He saunters on looking all too pleased with himself, already planning all the outrageous thing's he's going to do with his friends on this trip - whether they like it or not.
Thea bobs along behind him, Roy at her side, with a skip in her step. She doesn't even bother trying to hide her immense excitement; a wide, beaming smile is spread across her face and her fingers are bouncing at her sides impatiently. The handle of the red case she brought is encased in Roy's hand as he pulls along both it and his own, but she carries in her own hand a bright, blue handbag.
Sara and Felicity follow behind them, both with heels clacking against the shining white floors. The Lance sister is the only one of the two women who'd checked in a bag, but still it's small; the trained assassin having become accustomed to packing light and making the most of what she has. Though she conceals it well, Sara, too, feels a profound amount of enthusiasm as she thinks about the next few days.
Too much time she has spent travelling, running, always jumping from one place to the next, always alone. Never before has she made that leap with the people she loves, not since the Gambit went down. Somehow, it makes everything different, better, because she knows that, when it's over, she can return home with these people, with her family.
Oliver and Diggle bring up the rear, neither feeling quite as enthused as the younger members of their group, but there is a certain appeal to the idea of finally taking a break and spending their nights having fun - even if Vegas casinos wouldn't be either's first choice of setting.
Memories from days long gone resurface in Oliver's mind; nights spent drinking and gambling with Tommy at his side, chasing down woman after woman. Days before the island when he was young and carefree and stupid. That Oliver - Ollie - would have jumped at the chance to go to Vegas with his friends, but he's not that man anymore, he's not anything he used to be.
Felicity, though, sweet Felicity feels even worse about this little venture than even he. Ever since Oliver first told her the destination of their little trip, a pool of dread had been forming in her stomach, growing and growing with every passing second as their departure came closer.
Because if Oliver Queen thought he had a lot of history in Las Vegas, well, he had nothing on Felicity Smoak. It hadn't all been bad, of course, but there were certain things she'd rather keep buried; aren't there always? She has a history there, a history she doesn't talk about, doesn't think about. Again, for the thousandth time, Felicity finds herself wondering why the past always insists upon merging with the present.
"We're going to be waiting around for ages." Tommy whines, having finally walked out of the doors and into the open, only to find a huge crowd of people waiting for taxis.
The group disperse to come up on either side of him, forming one long line as they stand on the concrete ground. They shouldn't be surprised by the sheer number of people there, though, as they had flown in to Vegas on a Friday.
"Fantastic. This is just fantastic." Thea grumbles, taking her suitcase from her boyfriend's hand. She pushes down on the handle until it sinks into the bag and then sits down on it. Roy follows her example, turning his own bag into a make shift seat, and grabs her hand.
Just as everyone comes to accept they'l have a long wait ahead of them, a short man climbs out of a large cab and makes his way towards them. He has a full head of dark hair and faint lines on his pale face. The sleeves on his white button down are rolled up to his elbows, the hem of the shirt hanging loose out of a dark pair of jeans. A bright smile adorns his face as he moves.
"Felicity?" He asks, once he's standing a few feet infront of the seven friends.
"Earl? Hi." The blonde responds cheerily, stepping forward to greet the man.
"Look at you, beautiful as ever." Earl pulls her into a tight hug, both arms tight around her middle as her cheeks tinge a dark shade of red, "Why didn't you tell me you were coming to town, sweet heart?"
"I haven't told anyone." She tells him, pulling back from the older mans hold as she does, "But, I'm glad I bumped into you; I've missed you, Earl."
"Well, of course you have, darling, just look at me - no one can stay away for too long." Felicicty lets out a hearty laugh and beams at the taxi driver, "Come on, I've got the minivan today; plenty of room for you and your friends, here."
"Oh, thank gosh!" Thea hollers, lifting herslef quickly onto her feet, "You, sir, are a God send."
Laughter carries through the air from both the Starling City residents and Earl, though Oliver's lips remain sealed as he eyes this new man warily, wondering how Felicity came to know him. Not from school, obviously; the guy must be at least twenty years her senior.
As well as the fact that he's never heard her mention an 'Earl', though, come to think of it, Oliver doesn't think he's heard anything about Felicity's life outside of work - both Arrow and QC related - over the time they'd known each other.
Despite his caution, he follows thee group as they're lead towards a white minivan parked with the row of taxis lined up beside the curb, and throws his bags in the boot when it's open.
Felicity takes the passenger seat up front while everyone else pile into the back, Roy, Thea and Tommy occuping the middle row, whilst Oliver, Digg and Sara take to the back.
"Where to?" Earl asks, turning his head to adress his passengers.
"The Cosmopolitan, please." Oliver answers.
"Ooh, fancy."
Chatter erupts in the car as they ride smoothly along the tarmac, and Thea lets out an excited squeal as they pass the 'Welcome to the Fabulous Las Vegas' sign, accompanied by Tommy's loud cry of 'Vegas baby!'.
The drive to the hotel is short and within minutes they're pulling up outside the gigantic building. For Tommy and Oliver, seeing a being so close to a place like this is nothing new, but the rest of the car's occupants stare up at the tall structure in awe, mouths hanging agape.
"Thank you." Diggle says to their driver, as he and the other boys extract themselves from the vehicle. Earl follows them out to help with their bags and the girls are left alone in the car.
Thea goes to undo her seatbelt, but Felicity's hand reaching back to touch her arm stops her.
"Are we not staying here, too?" The young woman asks, feeling slightly disappointed at the prospect at not getting to go inside the luxury hotel.
"No, unfortunately, but we're not far from here."
"Text us when you boys get settled in." Sara says, before reaching forward to slide the large door of the cab closed.
"To your place, Smoak?" Earl asks as he climbs back into the drivers seat, already beginning to pull the car away and back into traffic.
"Yeah," Felicity sighs, "to my place."
"Miss Smoak, what a pleasure it is to see you." A skinny man at the front desk greets.
The three women had just walked into a beautiful building just a couple of minutes away from the Cosmopolitan. It didn't have the same bright lights and five star feel to it as the hotel had, but there was something about it that still screamed luxury.
"The pleasure's all mine, Mr. Reeves." She replies, gliding past him on her way to the elevators, Sara and Thea hot on her heels.
She hit's the button for the nineteenth floor as the doors slide closed and they begin their ascent. The lift is in the very corner of th building, two of it's walls made of clear glass, overlooking the city as it rises away from the ground.
"Is this an apartment building?" Sara asks, finally, as they near their destination.
"Yes." Felicity replies, simply, looking out at a view she hasn't seen for a long time.
"Do you- do you have a place here?" Thea turns to stare at the blonde.
"I do." She tells her, just as a ding sounds and the wooden doors slide open.
"Why?" Sara inquires, stepping out of the lift after the other two women.
"I used to live here." Felicity responds, leading them towards a white door at the end of a long hallway with '19D' painted in gold upon it.
From her purse, she pulls a small, rusted bronze key and slips it into the keyhole, unlocking the door with ease. It swings open with a creak to reveal a sight that shocks both women who stand behind her.
"You live here?" Sara gasps, taking her first step onto the beautiful wooden floor.
A glass chandelier hangs from the ceiling, casting light over blue walls adorned with framed photographs. It's elegant but simple, and fits in with Felicity's personality perfectly. Bright colours are splashed over everything in the room and it looks like it shouldn't work, but, somehow, it does.
"So, there's three bedrooms, both down that corridor," She points over to the left corner of the room, "just the one bathroom, though, on the same corridor. That's the kitchen and this is the living room." She motions to the space around them with one hand.
"Wow, it's beautiful," Sara says, her eyes roaming around the surrounding space, "Where should we put our stuff?"
"Come on, I'll show you the bedrooms." Felicity smiles, before making her way towards the back of the room, her guests following close behind.
They stop in the space between two blue doors and Felicity turns back to face the other women.
"Take your pick."
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"This place is huge." Roy says, wandering through the hotel behind the three older men.
"You'll get used to it, kid." Tommy replies, slowing his steps a little so he can throw an arm around the teen's shoulders.
"I disagree. And don't call me kid."
"Whatever you say, kid." Tommy winks, laughing, before moving back to his position on Oliver's left side.
Roy grumbles to himself as he continues to follow them, lugging his small suitcase behind him. He didn't bring much - not that he had all that much to bring, anyway - so he was feeling a little intimidated by the fairly large bags a bell boy had taken from his friends. The same guy offered to take his, but, having lived in the Glades, Roy has learnt to keep his stuff to himself.
When they reach the elevators, Oliver hits the call button, and within seconds the shiny, gold doors are sliding open. All four men step in and turn so they are facing the doors, and, this time, Tommy reaches for the button, hitting the number '29' on the panel.
Silence passes over the group, the hum of the lift being the only sound as they ascends. A loud 'ding' broke through the quiet and the doors are opening again, revealing a corridor with black shiny floor and a long white rug lay down in the centre.
"Alright, Roy, you're with me." Diggle says, clapping the young man on his shoulder once before leading the way thrown the corridor.
Tommy and Oliver do the same, but on the other side of the hallway. They come to a stop outside the door opposite to Digg and Roy's.
With a final nod across the hall, both door's are opened, and their occupants take the first step inside.
"Pretty sweet, huh?" Digg chuckles at the shell shocked look on his roommates face.
Roy walks further into the room, stepping out onto the large balcony before returning a moment later with a confused look on his face.
"I though the Eiffel Tower was in France."
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This was more of a filler chapter than anything just to get something posted, the next one will be better. Thank you again for all of your support with this story, it means the world to me! Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed x