DISCLAIMER: – see previous chapter –

TIMELINE: – see previous chapter –

SUMMARY: – see previous chapter –

II. Do I Know You?

FELICITY WAS STARTING TO STIR. It has been over a week since the incident at the mayor's office, and although the chaos from that night hasn't quite settled yet, SCPD was tracking down leads on where the vigilante might be hiding. Felicity was put on an induced coma after complications during her operation bumped her survival rate to less than desirable.

Between worrying about her daughter and her two male admirers (Oliver and Ray) who wouldn't stop bickering on who gets to stand guard while Felicity lies in a coma, Donna Smoak, Felicity's mother, hardly had any time to spend on her daughter's bedside. Thankfully today both men in her daughter's life decided to take a break (after Laurel threatened to lock the both of them up if they won't quit their squabbling). It was very soap operatic to watch two handsome billionaires pining for her daughter. Under regular circumstances (like when Felicity wasn't fighting for her life) Donna would be thrilled to bits; she'd probably start daydreaming about Felicity's future wedding to either man. But right now all Donna could think about was seeing her daughter's sparkling blue eyes look into hers and tell her she was fine, then start talking about her techno babble stuff once again.

"Baby?" Donna said hopefully, her eyes glistening with unshed tears of glee when she finally saw movement from her otherwise comatose daughter.

Felicity took her time from completely stirring awake. Her mouth tasted funny and her lips felt cracked. She felt achy too in places she didn't know she'd ache, but she was feeling it. Also...was that her mother's voice she just heard? She was pretty sure her mother was still in Vegas last time she checked, what was she doing back in Starling City?

Cracking her left eye open first, Felicity zeroed in on the direction she thought she heard her mother's voice came from. As soon as her one open eye focused and realized that Donna Smoak was indeed in the room with her, both of her eyes opened wide.

"Mom?" she gasped and tried to sit up, but as soon as she moved her arms and put some weight on them, she found herself flat on her back on this uncomfortable bed which she now realized wasn't her own bed but rather a hospital bed. "W-what am I doing here?" Felicity gave her mother a confused look, lifting her hands up and following the tubes attached to her forearms to where it connected to.

"Oh baby, you don't remember?" Donna moved closer to her daughter's bedside, silent tears of joy cascading down her cheeks as she looked down at her daughter who was finally awake after making her age twenty years since she heard from Ray Palmer (he was the one who booked her a business class direct red-eye flight out from Vegas to Starling City) that Felicity was shot was clinging for her life at the hospital. She ran her hand gently over her daughter's head, sliding it down her temple until it cradled her cheek. "You were shot by the vigilante," she deadpanned.

"What? Why?"

"I don't know, sweetheart. You were in a meeting with the mayor, the DA, the captain of SCPD and your boss-slash-boyfriend when—"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down," Felicity raised her hands to stop her mother mid-explanation. "I was in a meeting with my boss-slash-what?"

Donna stopped from continuing whatever it was she was going to say and gave her daughter a confused look.

"What do you mean 'boss-slash-what'?" Donna asked carefully, studying her daughter's facial reaction.

"Mom, I don't have a boyfriend," Felicity deadpanned.

# # # # #

WHY CAN'T I SEE HER?" demanded an agitated Ray Palmer.

"She's resting right now," Donna fibbed, which wasn't exactly a fib at all. Felicity got worn out after a series of tests conducted to her by the doctor was over. Donna explained to her daughter's attending physician Felicity's odd behavior, and he conducted a series of tests to fully assess what has happened to her.

Ray didn't like that answer, but he didn't press on the matter after Donna gave him a stern look. Even though he was oozing with boyish charm and his girlfriend's mother seemed to like him a lot, right now she wouldn't give a damn even if he showered her with a gazillion of his boyish charms.

"What's wrong?" Oliver Queen, the other man in Felicity's life, stepped up and asked her directly. Donna mentally applauded the billionaire playboy for his observation skills.

"Nothing to worry about...much," Donna answered Oliver's question carefully, avoiding any eye contacts with either men as she did so.

"That doesn't sound good," Laurel Lance, Starling City's DA and apparently a close friend of her daughter's too (Donna's head was still swimming after finding out her daughter was connected to such people), joined the line-up of Ray and Oliver in front of her.

"Well, it is and it isn't good," Donna tried to make light of what was probably a not-so-light problem. "Felicity's suffering from dissociative amnesia."

A chorus of "What?" from everyone gathered around the waiting area almost drowned out both Oliver and Ray's "What doesn't she remember?" but Donna heard them and gave both men a sad smile.

Oliver didn't need to have Palmer's high IQ to deduce what that smile meant.

"She doesn't remember me," Ray and Oliver said in unison.

"Well...sorta," Donna hated being the messenger of such bad news. Clearly both men cared for her Felicity, but what she was about to tell them won't be an easy pill to swallow.

"Explain. Please," it was Ray who demanded it, but he sounded less curt than Oliver had he asked Donna to explain.

"She remembers you both," Donna made sure to reassure them first and foremost that Felicity still remembers them.

"But?" it was Oliver who sensed there was more to what Donna Smoak was telling them.

"She doesn't remember how close she is to either one of you," Donna answered after a few seconds of tense silence as she tried to figure out how to word what she just said another way.

Ray and Oliver's reaction to what Donna just told them differed like night and day. Ray clearly was taken aback and showed his true emotions, why as for Oliver...his face remained devoid of any reaction, but Laurel – as well as Donna – noticed the sudden tightening of his jaw and his blank stare at a spot over Donna's shoulder.