Meeting the Fantastic Four was pretty cool. Felicity had to marvel at the differences between how they were treated compared to Oliver and Team Arrow. Oliver was…had been seen as a criminal. He'd been forced to hide his identity behind a mask and was forced literally underground because of his attempts to save the city. But New York wasn't Starling. The Fantastic Four had a beautiful penthouse in the Baxter Building with a stunning view of the city. They were celebrated as heroes, rather than condemned as criminals. Oliver never had that type of recognition….and now he never would.
"Impressive isn't it?" Ray came to stand beside her. He saw the tears in her eyes. "Well not that impressive, what's wrong?"
"Nothing, I was…" Felicity shook her head. Ray nodded.
"It takes a while to heal." He murmured.
"Does it ever get better?" Felicity asked. Ray tightened his mouth. "I'll be sure to let you know." he said finally
Turning back to Dr. Richards, he plastered on one of his fake smiles. "Well, we're jetlagged and since we've got a whole week for hostage negotiations." He grinned as Felicity muttered "it's just a business transaction." He turned back to Richards, smile in place. "I'm looking forward to seeing more of you."
"Why don't you join us for lunch tomorrow?" Sue suggested.
"Sounds like a plan!" Ray smiled, "Felicity?" he turned and went towards the elevator.
As they left, they ran into Ben who was escorting a beautiful blind woman into the penthouse. "Leaving already?" he asked.
"We have to check into our hotel." Ray smiled.
"You must be Alicia" Felicity smiled, Sue had mentioned the woman earlier. "I'm Felicity Smoak."
"Ben could not stop raving about you." Alicia smiled in Felicity's direction. "He told me how you hurt poor little Johnny's feelings." Her grinned widened and she held out her hands, Felicity took them.
"Do you mind?" Alicia held up one of her hands and put it close to Felicity's face.
"No, go ahead." Felicity gave her a small smile, "just let me take off my glasses."
Alicia began touching her face. "Such a pretty girl." she murmured. "No wonder Johnny's been sulking."
"You just got here, beautiful." Ben chuckled, "How do you know he's been sulking?"
"Because a beautiful woman embarrassed him and beat him at his own game." Alicia tilted her head. "You smile a lot." She said, "You must be a kind person, but lately you haven't been smiling as much."
"How…how did you know?" Felicity looked at her in surprise.
"The muscles around your mouth are tense." Alicia explained. "They're not used to frowning." She reached out for Ben. "It was lovely to meet you, Felicity. And next time you see Johnny…" she gave an impish grin, "Don't let that tough guy exterior fool you, inside he's got a heart of gold."
She and Ben turned and left.
"Well, that was bizarre." Ray commented when the elevator closed. "Does she have super powers too? Like mind reading?"
"You just wanted her to touch your face." Felicity retorted.
"Can you blame me?" Ray smiled. "I just don't want to anger the Thing."
"That's a horrible name," Felicity grimaced. "Who would come up with something that stupid."
"That has Johnny Storm written all over it." Ray said as they got out and caught a cab.
"He sounds like a real winner." Felicity rolled her eyes.
"Says the woman who used to work for Oliver Queen." Ray was looking out the window so he missed the look of pain that crossed Felicity's face at the mention of Oliver's name. "I like New York." He continued. "If this deal with the Fantastic Four pans out, I could definitely see Palmer Tech opening an office building here."
Johnny was perched on the second floor of the Penthouse. He'd hidden after he'd been forced to leave after setting his shirt on fire. Watching Felicity follow Reed around the lab made him even more curious about her. She was clearly a certified genius, just like Palmer had said.
He was about to leave when he caught sight of her looking at the view. It was normal, the Baxter Building had one of the best views in Manhattan, but she appeared to be zoned out, as if her mind was somewhere else. Then a tear rolled down her cheek. Palmer walked over, they had a short conversation. He internally cursed the cosmic rays for not giving him something useful like super hearing. While the fire and flying was cool, occasionally it would be nice to have a power that wasn't based in destruction.
Then Felicity and Ray turned to leave, only to run into Ben and Alicia.
"A beautiful woman embarrassed him and beat him at his own game." Johnny heard Alicia say. He scoffed, he wasn't sulking; he was gathering intell. Yes, Felicity had shut him down; he took that as a challenge. Then he heard what Alicia said as she was mapping out Felicity's features.
"…lately you haven't been smiling as much."
"How…How did you know?" Felicity looked surprised and a little…afraid? Was someone hurting her, was she in danger? And why did he care? He was Johnny Storm, any girl in the country would be falling over herself to get this type of attention from him. He shouldn't waste his time fixating on the only one who wasn't.
"Don't let that tough guy exterior fool you, inside he's got a heart of gold."
Johnny snorted. He turned around and came face to face with Reed, or at least his head. The rest of him was still in the lab.
"Have I ever mentioned how completely disgusting that is." Johnny crossed his arms.
"Is it more or less disgusting then you hanging out up here like a stalker?" Reed's head gave him his disapproving look. "Drop it Johnny."
"I have no idea what you're talking about." Johnny said.
"Felicity Smoak." Reed's frown deepened. "I know you think that her turning you down is some type of signal to annoy her until she finally caves, but that's not the kind of person she is."
Johnny sighed.
"I mean it. She's the VP of a company that is almost certainly going to work with the Fantastic Four. I don't want you compromising that because you wanted to add a notch to your bed post."
"So she's going to be around more often?" Johnny said, hopefully. Reed's nostrils flared.
"Relax stretch." Johnny rolled his eyes. "I promise not to compromise her virtue or whatever."
"Good, because Sue invited her and Palmer for lunch tomorrow." Reed's neck went back to its normal length. Johnny shuddered as he watched it leave.
"That is so gross."