Helloooo! Thanks for the lovely reviews! Dianitachiva, I'm not so sure that this is going to be an Olicity thing... I did add a few more names but they didn't come up. Lolanae, more thanks than you could ever know, and bjq, an update for you!
Also a hello to Remarc69, forbiddenlove09, ntb1974 and singerzrule for favo(u)riting this story. I appreciate it all.
I wasn't expecting it to go in this direction, but after a little nudge from a certain someone, I'm pretty happy with it. I hope you are, too...
"Pippa Mason," Felicity sat back in her chair, hitting a key that brought up everything she could find on Oliver's mystery woman. "Graduated from CIT four years ago with Dean's Honors. Moved to Sydney and worked as a CSI and tech at Green's, ha, Private Forensics up until two weeks ago when she sold her inner city apartment, her very nice car and most of her belongings after an offer to work with the SCPD."
"Huh," Oliver sounded surprised.
"Seems legit," Diggle added.
"Except, Starling City? Really?" Felicity raised an eyebrow as she chewed on the end of her pen.
"You don't think that she just jumped at the chance to work in Starling City forensics?" Diggle asked.
"Well, I've been inside the lab here, don't ask," she caught the look from both men, "and it's not exactly the most technologically advanced of its kind. I mean, they don't even test their own ballistics there, it gets done a few cities over," she paused and then lent forward, continuing in a whisper, "And they often rely on their backup generator for their body fridges because the main one usually fails."
Diggle scrunched his face up, but Oliver looked unperturbed.
"Where are we on the latest with the Charlotte Jensen stuff?" Oliver changed the subject, unfolding his arms and hitting a key to close the windows.
"Parents are being interviewed, they're convinced that she's been kidnapped, but her house was locked up and everything undisturbed when the police searched it, so..."
"She hasn't used her phone or her bankcards, nothing?" Oliver asked.
"Nope, nada," Felicity blew a bit of hair off her face.
"Alright, I promised Thea that I'd have lunch with her today, can you two keep going with this," he gestured at the computers, "let me know if she pops up anywhere, I think that she's gone off the radar with this Smith guy, keep an eye on his bank accounts and phone too."
Felicity nodded with her lips pursed.
"Something wrong, Felicity?" Oliver asked in a tone that dared her to challenge him.
She shook her head and Oliver nodded at her and Diggle, leaving them to their own devices in the basement.
Once they heard the big heavy door close, Felicity hit a few keys at lightning speed and brought up everything that Oliver thought he had closed.
Diggle was by her side in an instant, one hand on the desk, one hand on the back of Felicity's chair.
"You don't like this?" Diggle asked.
Felicity didn't answer, she just kept reading, furiously striking the keys.
Pippa Louise Mason was born in a small country town in the middle of nowhere. She grew up on a farm on the outskirts of the town that was in the middle of nowhere. She went to an elite boarding school in Sydney for her high school years. She was accepted early, before her leaving exam results, into the Forensics course at a not so elite Institute of Technology in the country's capital. She topped the course and accepted the first job offer that came her way. She bought a modest apartment in the middle of Sydney and plugged away at her job in a private lab, often being contracted out to work with state and federal police. Aside from a speeding fine (the police report stated she had been on her way to a crime scene) she had flown under the radar in 26 years of life.
As far as Felicity could tell, Pippa had no living relatives, and not a single social media account, which made the voyeur in her a little bit annoyed.
"She doesn't even have Facebook!" she exclaimed out loud, after nearly two hours of research.
"Is that a crime?" Diggle asked.
"It is these days. We could have SO much more information on her if she did. Do you know how hard it is to find someone who isn't on the World Wide Web these days? Well, it's hard if you aren't me. Lucky for you and Oliver, I'm a techspert," Diggle raised an eyebrow at her, "Technology expert?"
Diggle shook his head.
"Oh, come on, I'm a little bit funny," Felicity argued.
She watched as Diggle walked away muttering "techspert" to himself and then turned back to her computer.
Oliver needed an alterior a motive to be this interested in me, why is he so interested in another bumbling idiot with the coordination of a sloth? Surely one of me is enough of a headache for him.
Felicity tried to remain calm, slowing her rhythmic typing to try and slow her heartbeat and mind.
Alright. Dead parents. No siblings. No aunts. No uncles. I've checked births and deaths. Marriages. Surely a marriage would have come up in the initial search?
Still, Felicity checked, typing variations of Pippa's name into the search engine, finally happening on a marriage of a Pippa Lewis Masen. She copy and pasted her listed spouse's name but came up with nothing.
"Ooooh," Felicity whistled, drawing Diggle's attention. He came striding across the basement floor to read over her shoulder.
"What is it? Something on Jensen or Smith?"
"Nope, better," she smiled, "A little more on Oliver's mystery red head."
"Is that a marriage certificate?" Diggle asked, disbelieving what he was he seeing.
"Yep, slightly different name, and birth date, but surely," Felicity pointed at the date the marriage was registered, "I mean, she got married young, but, kids these days."
"So, a nineteen year old Pippa Louisa Masen marries and presumably divorces and then changes her name by a few letters. Smoak, I think you were right," Diggle straightened and put his hands on his hips, "there is something a little off with this one."
"Question is what?"
"You run her mystery husband's name?" Diggle asked.
Felicity nodded, looking back at a few of the search programs that were still running.
"Not much to go on, I mean, it's a ridiculous name to start with. Australians, man, they give their kids some odd names," Felicity shook her head.
"What was his name again?" Diggle questioned.
The sound of the code being punched in and the door opening had them both looking over Diggle's shoulder. Oliver was as flamboyant as ever as he came into view at the bottom of the stairs. Felicity scrambled around in her chair, switching the screens back to her research on Jensen and Smith.
"Who's name?" Oliver questioned.
"Oliver!" Felicity exclaimed, turning back to face him.
"How are we doing?" Oliver asked, his knowing gaze making Felicity bite her lip.
"My long lost twin is looking more and more likely to be my evil twin," Felicity blurted out.
"I thought I asked you to drop it and continue with Charlotte Jensen?" Oliver looked between his two friends, who were both looking guilty.
"Yes, but Oliver, she was married. And she changed her name after the marriage, well, after the marriage went gosh knows where, I can't find anything on the husband. Who, by the by, has the most outlandish name I have ever heard, which is certainly saying something because I went to a Montessori school for a year and there were some weird names floating around the classrooms there. Hippies, you know, all Lavender Rose and Chestnut Thunder," she looked up from her fidgeting hands and realized that Oliver was staring at her with the exasperated look her reserved for times she babbled.
"What was the supposed husband's name?" Oliver asked.
Felicity spun in her chair, checking the name once more.
"Wilson" Felicity started, "Slade Wilson."
"Pfft, Slade," Diggle scoffed.
Oliver's relaxed demeanor changed in an instant. His face clouded over, eyebrows drew together, mouth set in a straight line.
"What did you just say?" Oliver demanded.
*cue dramatic music* Like I said before, I'm still fiddling with the next chapter. I was with this one right up until I posted it. There may be a little bit of time between now and the next one, just until I get it right as rain. Thanks guys...