A/N: Thank you so much for all your feedback and comments! I'm sorry this took a while to get out - the week got away from me and this was the first night I had the chance to sit down and do some editing. I hope you enjoy this next chapter! Please let me know what you think! :)
Felicity hadn't realize they'd reached the club until suddenly Oliver's hand slid from her grasp. Looking up, she saw the familiar back parking lot of Verdant and quickly undid her seatbelt. Oliver had the door open before she could reach for the handle and she grabbed his offered hand as she stepped from the car.
She practically ran to the back entrance, but her fingers shook as she tried to punch in the code. After the third try, Oliver caught her trembling hand with his own and gave it a reassuring squeeze as he quickly typed in the code.
He held the door open and she hurried down the stairs, the warmth of his touch lingering on her skin long after she settled at her computers.
Once she was in her chair, she felt some of the fear and trepidation melt away. This was her realm. She found people who didn't want to be found every day for Oliver. She would find Ellie too. In order to keep her emotions under control, she knew she had to keep telling herself that this was no different than any of the other missions she helped Oliver with every night.
Except it was different. It was her family. Her goddaughter. Her Ellie.
With one more deep, centering breath, she let her fingers begin to fly over the keys, pulling up searches, facial recognition scans, police records and scanners. She quickly compiled as much information as she could, including the abducted child report that had already been filed by the SCPD.
She swallowed hard as the picture of Ellie popped up on her screen and she read over the document.
Her eyes slammed shut, her fingers freezing over the keys as she found the 911 call and listened to the frantic sounds of Kylie's voice pleading for help.
A warm hand landed on her shoulder, and instead of jumping, she found herself sinking back in her chair. Oliver's silent presence behind her allowed her to focus as the rest of the recording played out. Towards the end of the call, she felt the tears stinging at her eyes and she quickly swiped it away. Her head tilted to the side as his fingers tightened reassuringly on her shoulder. With her eyes closed, she let her chin rest on the top of his fingers and let out a soft puff of air.
His lips pressed against the side of her head as his voice spoke softly near her ear. "We'll find her, Felicity."
She nodded, blinking back more tears before opening her eyes and turning her head to look at the other screens as they ran their various searches.
The beeping of the door made her jump causing Oliver to step back and to the side as they heard Diggle's heavy footsteps on the metal stairs.
The moment he came into view, Felicity sprang to her feet and rushed to him, wrapping him in a tight hug.
"Thank you for coming," she whispered against his solid form, his large arms engulfing her.
When she stepped back, he held her gaze, brown eyes locking with hers. "Of course."
One of her computer's beeped and she whirled, running back to the desk as she heard Oliver step up to Diggle to fill him in on what had happened.
She let out a frustrated noise when the facial recognition searches of the nearby street cameras came up empty.
She was halfway through starting another search when her cell phone rang. Her eyes widened as she glanced around trying to remember where she'd put her phone only to remember Oliver had taken it from her in the car.
Whirling, she saw him reaching into his back pocket and holding it out to her as he regarded her with a worried expression.
Grabbing the phone, her stomach dropped when she saw the caller ID.
"Ky?" she answered without hesitating, and she could feel both men's steady gazes on her.
"Lis...Ben's out of surgery. He should be okay...but," her cousin trailed off and drew in a ragged breath.
Felicity stilled, straightening as she gripped the phone tightly. 'What? Kylie, what is it?"
She saw Digg and Oliver move closer, reacting immediately to her voice and body language.
"I got a ransom call…" her cousin cried, gasping softly, and Felicity knew she was crying.
Felicity felt her mouth go dry and had to force the next words out, afraid of the answer to her next question.
"What do they want? Is she...Is she okay?" Felicity asked hesitantly, almost jumping when she felt Oliver beside her once more, the heat of his hand hovering over her lower back.
"They want money," Kylie whispered, and she could tell her cousin was fighting to control her emotions as she spoke, "The man...Carter Lowen...he says Ben owes him money, and that this is what happens when people fail to pay him back on time…"
"So Ben borrowed money from him?" Felicity sighed, brows pinching together in confusion.
She heard the tell-tale hitch in Kylie's voice. "I don't know, Lis. Ben never said anything. Why...Why wouldn't he say anything? Or come to me? If things were this bad, we would have figured something out. But now he has our baby…and I don't know what to do..."
Felicity gripped the back of her chair with her free hand, knuckles turning white as she realized for the first time she couldn't hear any of the normal sounds of the hospital in the background.
"Kylie, where are you?" she suddenly asked, fearful of what her cousin might be doing.
"I'm in the parking lot," She answered after a beat, her voice hushed.
"Please tell me you told Officer Lance about the call…" Felicity begged, already knowing she hadn't.
"I can't!" her cousin cried. "He said I had to come alone - that if I told the cops, he'd...he'd…"
Felicity's mouth went dry as her stomach sank and she inhaled sharply. Oliver's hand landed on her elbow and it wasn't until she opened her eyes that she realized he had guided her into her chair.
"I don't know how to even get the money he wants, Lis. It's everything we have left in our saving plus a little more. $20,000. The only thing I can think to do is pawn my wedding ring...I have until 8:30 tonight…"
Her cousin's voice had become more and more frantic and Felicity knew she needed to talk her down and out of what she was planning on doing. At best, it was dangerous; at worst, it was a trap.
"Kylie, I need you to listen to me," she said as calmly as she could, "You need to tell the police. I know what Lowen said, but it's too dangerous…"
She didn't get any farther before the other woman cut her off. "No, he'll kill her, Felicity! I can't! I have to do this by myself. I can't take the risk...she's my baby!"
Hearing the actual words momentarily took her breath away and it was only the feeling of Oliver's hand on her arm that pulled her away from her spiraling thoughts.
"Okay, okay," Felicity soothed, knowing her next idea would draw immediate resistance from both men standing near her, but she didn't have any other choice. "Then let me go with you. I'm not the cops. I'm not letting you do this alone. And I'll help with the money…"
Her eyes flew to Oliver's as she spoke and she saw the immediate tick in his jaw, the fire that flashed through his gaze at her suggestion. Silently, she asked him to back her, pleaded with him to understand that she was doing this under the assumption that he would be there and she trusted him to keep them safe.
With a long exhale, he gave a short nod of his head, and she mouthed a silent thank you.
She heard her cousin begin to protest but she cut her off. "I'm not letting you do this alone, Ky. Let me help."
"Okay," came the soft reply and Felicity sagged in relief.
"Where are you meeting him?" Felicity asked, knowing they would need as much information as possible.
"I don't know," her cousin replied. "He's supposed to call back in an hour to make sure I have the money...I told him I needed a chance to get that much cash together."
Swallowing, Felicity nodded, "Okay. Call me after he contacts you. I'll get the money together…"
"Felicity…" Kylie began, and she heard the absolute fear in her cousin's voice.
"We'll get her back, Ky," she whispered hoarsely. "We will…"
"Thank you, Lis," she replied and then she hung up.
Ending the call, Felicity sank back into the chair, trembling hands covering her face as she tried to suppress the sob caught in her throat.
A moment later, she felt her chair being turned and then a gentle pressure on her jean-clad knee. When she moved her hands, she blinked open her eyes to find Oliver kneeling in front of her, blue eyes filled with concern.
"Hey," he murmured, his fingers moving back and forth over the top of her knee and she focused on the warmth of his touch to offset the cold dread that had spread through her body while she talked to her cousin. "It's going to be okay."
She nodded her head as he repeated the words she'd just spoken to her cousin only this time she believed them a bit more. Taking a deep breath, she wiped away a few of the tears that had spilled down her cheeks.
"How much do you need?" he asked, and Felicity looked at him in confusion.
"The ransom," he explained, and her eyes widened.
"Oh, no, Oliver. I have money in the bank…" Her voice trailed off, moving to look at her computer screens and briefly began to calculate the amount she knew she had in savings trying to figure out if she needed to make any transactions within her stock portfolio.
Oliver's hands came to lay over hers on her keyboard and she looked up into slightly annoyed eyes. He opened his mouth, but she shook her head.
"I may not be a billionaire, but I can handle this," she ground out, her eyes flashing in indignation.
That quick flare of emotion broke down the small wall she'd put up to keep herself in check since she and Oliver had left the Queen mansion. She felt the tightness ease into her chest, a ball in her throat making her swallow thickly. Tears pricked at her eyes and she quickly turned back to look at her screens although they blurred in front of her.
She pulled in a deep, ragged breath, her eyes falling shut when Oliver's forefinger grazed under her chin directing her gaze back to him.
"Hey," he whispered softly, and the soft tone of his voice made her open her eyes. "He's not going to get his hands on it anyway. Let me help with this."
Seeing the determination in his eyes, she knew she wasn't going to win this battle. Nodding, she sighed and gave him a small smile in thanks.
"We're going to get her back," Oliver whispered vehemently, his face closer than it had been moments prior. His eyes held a promise and it made a rush of warmth pass through her.
"$20,000" she said hoarsely, and watched as Oliver nodded, looking over her shoulder to Digg.
The other man nodded and grabbed his coat, heading for the stairs. She didn't have to ask to know he was going after the money.
"What else do we know?" Oliver asked after returning his gaze to her, his forefinger moving up to catch an errant tear on her cheek and wipe it away.
The action caused her breath to stutter, her mouth opening into an o shape as she gasped. She saw his eyes flick down to her lips and then back up to her eyes and watched in surprise as they darkened minutely.
Swallowing, she tried to focus on his question and not the sudden warmth spreading throughout her body. "The man's name is Carter Lowen. Ben apparently borrowed money from him and didn't pay it back on time. Kylie had no idea they were in that much financial trouble…Apparently this guy doesn't like people to be late with their payments."
Oliver frowned at the name, his eyes narrowing and Felicity watched him as he tried to place it.
Pulling away from him, Felicity turned her computers and typed the name into one of her searches.
The information that popped up on her screen made her stomach churn. She felt the waves of tension coming from Oliver as he read over her shoulder and tried to keep her composure.
"She's not even two, Oliver," she said, her voice cracking with effort. "If anything happens to her…"
She swallowed around a sob and was surprised when she felt him press a kiss against her temple.
Somehow his touch centered her, giving her comfort and strength all at once. Taking a deep breath, she reached her hand up, covering his where it lay on her shoulder and squeezed it tightly in silent thanks.
Oliver froze behind her, his hand releasing her shoulder to wrap around her fingers.
A fluttering erupted in her chest as she tried to tamp down on the feelings that rose within her.
The ringing of her phone interrupted the charged moment between them, and she fumbled, reaching for where she'd set her phone on the desk.
Answering it with trembling fingers, she felt Oliver step back, but his hand never left her shoulder.
Her cousin sounded just as terrified as she had earlier. She put the phone on speaker so Oliver could hear the location and details.
With a shaky voice, Kylie told Felicity the directions Lowen had given her. Time and place, along with another warning about no police and coming alone.
Oliver's jaw ticked as he heard the location - a warehouse by the docks - and she could see his mind already sifting through any information he knew about the area.
"Kylie," she said after a moment of hesitation, "I really think you should tell Officer Lance about this. They've dealt with things like this before, and…"
"No!" Came the instant reply, and she could hear her cousin's hysteria. "Lis, I can't take that chance. You said you'd help me but if you're backing out…"
It was Felicity turn to shake her head, "No, Ky, I'm not going anywhere. I just thought that maybe he could help."
"Lis, please, this is Ellie," she cried into the phone, "If anything happened to her because I didn't do what he asked, I'd never forgive myself."
Felicity sighed heavily, rubbing her hands over her face, but she softly agreed.
After reassuring her cousin once more and telling her she'd meet her a few blocks away from the hospital just before 8 PM, she hung up.
Felicity wasted no time in pulling up the schematics of the warehouse and the surrounding area. Oliver rolled over another chair and together they looked over every layout Felicity could get her hands on.
She didn't realize how much time had passed until the door beeping alerted them to the fact that Diggle had returned.
Oliver quickly filled him in on what they knew and he immediately shook his head, not liking the set up.
When her phone rang again, she turned it over to see Quentin Lance's name appear on her screen. With a sharp breath, she answered it on the third ring, Diggle and Oliver coming to stand behind her.
"Detective Lance?" she greeted, her voice shakier than she would have liked, still unable to address him as anything else but the title he deserved.
"Ms. Smoak," he greeted. "From the sound of your voice, I would say you already know why I'm calling."
Felicity swallowed , nodding her head until she realized she needed to actually speak. "Yes. My cousin..."
"So how long ago did she get the ransom call?" he asked without preamble, and she couldn't say she was shocked that he'd figured it out.
"About two hours ago," she replied, without hesitation. "A man by the name of Carter Lowen."
At the name, Lance let out a soft curse. "He's a scumbag we were trying to track down before half the city fell," he explained, with an edge to his voice. "Now, he has even more opportunities to find the most needy people, and we don't have an extra man or unit to go after him. He's gotten even more ruthless knowing that we haven't moved on him in and his operations since the events in the Glades."
Felicity let out a shuddering breath and bit her bottom lip. Everything seemed to come back to the Undertaking, and the guilt inside her intensified. If she had just been able to find that second device…
"Ms. Smoak?" Lance's voice in her ear made her jump, and she quickly continued with her story, pulling on all the mental reserves she had to not let her emotions get the better of her.
"Apparently my cousin-in-law borrowed some money from him and didn't pay it back on time. He wants the money in exchange for Ellie."
While she managed to get through all of that with more confidence than she felt, Oliver's eyes bored into her and a shiver ran down her spine.
"I'm honestly a little surprised our mutual friend hasn't already taken care of this - that it even got to this point," Lance said pointedly.
His words stung, her eyes slamming shut. Her stomach churned with the knowledge that she'd known something was wrong and hadn't done enough to help.
"He didn't know," she gasped, and through the stirrings of panic and absolute guilt that spread like wildfire through her, she felt a hand land reassuringly on her knee. "I didn't say anything. It has been a long week and there just never seemed to be a good time. It's all my fault…"
The man sighed on the other end of the line, "Ms. Smoak, I didn't mean to imply...this is not your fault. If it's your fault, it's also the Police Department's fault for not having more men to put out there and it's Malcolm Merlyn's fault for destroying half the city in the first place. So let's not start placing blame. Let's focus on getting the little girl back safely…"
Swallowing thickly, she managed a stronger, "Thank you," Opening her eyes to find a glaring Oliver in front of her looking as if he was about to take the phone away from her and give the Detective a piece of his own mind.
Her murmured thanks seemed to quell some of that anger, but she could still see the tell-tale tick of his jaw, and reached down to cover his hand on her knee with her own.
"So where does Lowen want the drop to be made?' Lance asked and Felicity immediately bristled.
"My cousin doesn't want the police involved," she said fiercely. "He said he'd kill Ellie if she didn't come without them. I talked her into letting me go with her."
"And I suppose he'll be there as well," Lance questioned and Felicity immediately knew he was talking about the Arrow.
"Yes," she stated, looking up at Oliver through her lashes and giving him a thankful smile.
The former detective let out a grunt of acknowledgement. "What if it's just me? I'll come, park a few blocks away, just in case you need some back up. I can call in the rest of the cavalry when the girl has been secured."
Listening to his proposal, Felicity worried her bottom lip between her teeth and felt Oliver's fingers dig into her skin slightly. She glanced up and found dark eyes watching her with concern mixed with something else that she couldn't quite define but it sent sparks of heat tumbling through her.
After a few moments, Lance spoke again. "Just so you know, I'm not giving you a choice here. I'll be there regardless. This is my case, Ms. Smoak...I'm legally responsible for getting that little girl back to her parents."
Her lips pulled up at his obvious concern for her goddaughter and she agreed.
When she looked back at Oliver, he even seemed to be okay with the idea of Lance nearby which only furthered her belief that they had reached some form of understanding in the months since Oliver had been back. She knew their tolerance for each other stemmed mostly from Sara Lance's sudden arrival back in Starling City a few month ago, but Felicity knew it had been growing before then. Slowly, Lance was coming to see that Oliver just might be the hero she kept telling him he was.
Agreeing to call him when it was closer to the drop off time, or if anything else came up, Felicity thumbed off her phone and sagged back into her chair.
She heard Diggle mention something about coffee and being right back before the door beeped and then it was just her and Oliver in the Foundry again.
Oliver was still hovering in front of her, his hand was still clasped tightly in hers, but she didn't notice until she felt the sensation of his thumb trailing over the underside of her knee. Her body reacted to the sensation, eyes flying open and landing on him, head tilting to the side as she tried to read the myriad of emotions running through his dark blue eyes.
"Thank you," she finally whispered, breaking the silent moment between them.
"For what?" he asked, forehead wrinkling with confusion, and it recalled to mind another moment with the same words spoken after The Count had taken her hostage.
"For helping me with this. For helping Kylie and Ellie…" Her voice trembled and his eyes softened, his hand releasing her knee and landing on her cheek.
The pad of his thumb brushed over her cheekbone, swiping back and forth with gentle strokes until she began to lean into his touch, her body yearning to be closer to him and the safety and security he gave to her.
"I wish you would have come to me earlier," he admitted, voice low and gravelly, causing her own breath to catch in her throat. "I don't care what we were in the middle of, I would have found the time to help you. I'd do anything…"
His words trailed off and she pulled in a deep breath as his thumb stilled on her cheek.
"All you ever have to do is ask, Felicity…"
His words ghosted over her skin, his face closer than it had been moments prior. Her eyes fell to his lips, and not for the first time, she imagined what they would feel like pressed against her own.
Snapping her eyes shut, she tried to regain control of her wandering thoughts - her mind having seemingly run wild with the constant worry coursing through her.
"Thank you," she murmured again, this time, closing her hand around his wrist and gently rubbing a finger over his pulse point.
He pulled away a few minutes later, and she reluctantly let him go, knowing it was a good decision for both of them. Her emotions were raised and fraying at the edges with everything going on, and she was starting to let herself believe there was more to Oliver's concern and touches than that of a friend.
While Oliver wandered over to the table with his arrows, Felicity began a facial recognition search on Carter Lowen. She knew it would probably be fruitless, but she had to do something. A glance at the clock on her screen told her it was only a little after ten in the morning.
Ten more hours. Ten hours to wait and hope and pray that little Ellie was okay.
The ball of anxiety in her stomach continued to grow and nothing she seemed to do helped to settle it. Even when Digg returned with coffee from her favorite shop and donuts - the filled ones that were her favorite - she barely tasted any of it.