A/N: Hi guys!
Sorry I took so long to upload the third - and last - chapter of this fic, but I've had some problems with my internet connection, so I couldn't work with my beta (luvtheheaven, thank you very much! Only you know how much you've helped me) for a while. This is the reason for my delay, and I apologize for that.
Once again, I want to thank you for all the favorites, follows and reviews, and I feel that I don't have enough words to really convey how much it means to me.
As I said before, here you have the final chapter. I really enjoyed writing it, because it's the first time I've had a chance to explore the Diggle/Felicity friendship. I hope you enjoy it too!
And do you want to know a little secret? The last three paragraphs are my favorite thing I've written, at least in this chapter.
Oh! I almost forgot... I hope all of you have had nice holidays. And maybe, I'm a little late but I wish you a Happy New Year!
I don't know when we'll "see" each other again, but meanwhile, be happy! And don't forget, when you're bored, take some paper and your favorite pen and enjoy writing!
Chapter 3: The Second Option
Felicity was heading toward Verdant later than usual this evening. A last minute server crash had forced her to stay late at Queen Consolidated. She was glad to finally be on her way.
Although she knew that the lair would be empty, in her heart she'd had hope that she'd find Oliver there. So, when she arrived and noticed that she was alone, her heart sank once again.
She was too used to that feeling; it had become part of her daily routine for more than four months, now. That was how long it had been since Oliver's disappearance.
After Tommy's funeral, nobody had seen him. He hadn't answered her calls nor messages. He'd gone to Europe, or at least that was what he'd written in the short note he'd left on the desk in the lair, which she'd found, beside a check with many zeros.
During the first couple weeks, Felicity hadn't had any trouble following his trail from one European capital to another by tracking his credit card payments and some gossip websites. She would follow his movements and verify that he hadn't gotten in trouble - that had become into her main job while in the lair. She also had been tracking some names from the list, but that was only a bad excuse that she'd come up with so that Diggle would allow her to spend more time in the basement than she should.
But one day, everything changed. She couldn't find him. His phone's GPS locator, using facial recognition software on security cameras... Everything was useless. None of her hacking skills helped. He disappeared without a trace, and although she tried all she could, she knew that if Oliver didn't want to be found, he never would be. Even so, she didn't give up. All the time she had spent with him, the missions, the people they had helped... She couldn't forget all that. Her life had changed drastically after knowing Oliver Queen, and though it was a dangerous life, with a lot of secrets, it was what she'd chosen. She'd had the opportunity to leave them when they found Walter, but Felicity trusted in Oliver and in his mission, and she knew that he needed her. Diggle and Felicity were the only people with whom Oliver could be himself. They were the people who tied him to the world and helped him keep his sanity. They reminded him that he wasn't only the Vigilante. She'd stayed for him... And now he was gone.
She somehow understood him. He felt responsible for a lot of awful outcomes, and guilt is a devastating feeling that gradually consumes you. She knew that too well... That is how she'd felt for the first few weeks after the earthquake until Diggle had made her realize how wrong she was. It was then when she decided to use the check Oliver had left for her. She hadn't wanted to spend that money on herself, and she'd put the check in the drawer. However, she now had a good purpose for it: Restore the lair.
She started with little things: Patch up the Hood costume, make small orders of arrows at several stores (a huge order could be suspect), investigate the construction of a bow and its characteristics... They were things she could do without Diggle's knowledge.
But a few nights later, Felicity called him to ask if he could meet her in the lair. When he arrived, she explained to him that she wanted to restore the place before Oliver's return, and confessed that she had already started by herself.
"I'm sorry John. I know I should have told you before, and I'm sorry, but I wasn't sure what would you think, and if you would join me or just try to convince me to give up. So I started by myself, but I couldn't continue without telling you, because I felt really bad, as if I was betraying you... And I know that's really silly, but I couldn't help feeling like that and... I'm sorry."
"Hey, you don't need to apologize. You started on your own, and it's okay, but you don't have to go on alone. You can count on me, but not right now. It's too late tonight, and you have a job to attend tomorrow. So now go home and get some sleep. I promise we'll do it tomorrow and we'll work very hard on it."
So the next evening, when Felicity went to Verdant, she was truly hopeful for the first time in ages. If Diggle was going to help her, it only could mean one thing: He also believed that Oliver was going to return.
She left her coat and purse on the desk and checked to see if the searches she had programmed the night before had produced any results. Nothing. There wasn't the slightest sign of Oliver. She sighed and changed some of the search parameters. That little setback wasn't going to ruin the day. She glanced around and then looked down at herself. If they were going to rebuild the lair, the clothes she was wearing (a tight skirt and blouse) weren't the most suitable, so she took the yoga pants and tank top she kept there for when she would train with Diggle and went to the bathroom to change.
She looked at the time. It was after eight and Diggle hadn't arrived yet. Although it was strange, she didn't give it much thought. She started working until she heard his voice:
"Sorry I'm late."
"Don't worry. Um, what you're carrying – is that what I think it is?" she asked, surprised.
"Yeah, your Big Belly's favorite burger."
"Oh, it wasn't necessary," she added, worried. She knew that Dig and Carly weren't at their best, and visiting her workplace would perhaps have been uncomfortable for him.
"It's her day off," he explained, knowing what she was thinking.
They sat down to dinner, and chatted about trivial things. It was nice to put aside everything that had to do with Oliver or the Vigilante. When they finished, Felicity explained what she'd done so far. Then they set to work determinedly until a yawn from her made them realize how late it was.
"I think that's enough for today, Felicity. You still have a job to attend in the morning."
"Yeah. Good night, John," she said with a smile.
"Good night. I'll see you tomorrow."
Since then, they'd done exactly the same every evening. Felicity would go to Verdant after finishing her work in Queen Consolidated, check the searches, and begin working in the lair until Diggle would bring dinner around 8:00 pm, because he soon realized that she preferred to have some time for herself. It had become their routine. It helped them begin to really move forward, and they also were getting to know each other better.
The night when everything changed had started in the same way... The search hadn't given any results and Felicity had then been deciding what they should do over the next hours. She looked around. The lair was practically restored; there were only a few things left to do, one of which was checking and replenishing the medical supplies.
Felicity didn't hesitate. She moved the medicine drawer next to the operation table and began to take everything out, while memories of all those times when Oliver had needed those things came to her mind. The bandages, the needle and the suture...
"Wait a minute!" she exclaimed in surprise when she saw Oliver's medicinal herbs in one of the drawers.
Felicity had never seen him taking any pill for pain or any kind of drug; he always relied on those plants.
Oliver had taken only a few things with him, "just the essentials" they deduced, but then... It didn't make sense. Felicity couldn't understand why he hadn't taken them with him.
She supposed that perhaps he'd thought that he wouldn't need them, but how could it be? And suddenly all the pieces of the puzzle fell into place. She looked at the clock. It was still earlier than when Diggle would bring dinner, so without losing a moment, she phoned Diggle:
"Hey, I need you here. Now," she urged him.
"Felicity, what happened?" he asked, worried about her tone.
"I got him, Dig. I already know where he is."
"Give me twenty minutes."
He only needed fifteen. He arrived to find Felicity going from one computer to another, quickly and decisively.
"How could we have been so stupid? How could we have been so blind? And we call ourselves his friends? Ha! Where else could he be? I don't know how we've taken so long to—"
"Felicity." He stopped her rambling.
"Yes, sorry. I just feel very frustrated right now. We've had the answer under our noses all this time and we didn't notice it!" She let out a long sigh. "We've been using every means in our power to find him... every one but the most important."
"What do you mean?"
"We're supposed to be his friends, and know him well… but if we'd just taken a little time to think, we would had discovered where he is a long time ago. Do you remember how I felt after the incident?" (That was what they now called the night of the earthquake.) "I felt guilty about all those deaths."
"I thought I'd made it clear that that wasn't true."
"Yeah, don't worry. But if I blamed myself, imagine how Oliver must have felt."
"I don't know what you're trying to tell me, Felicity," he said, starting to get impatient.
"We know he has the great defect of blaming himself for all the bad things that happen around him, although they haven't anything to do with him, right? A lot of corrupt people from the list and all the bad guys who crossed his path had to pay for their mistakes. He made sure they did. Every guilty man must be punished. Always. That's how Oliver's mind works. OK, I understand and respect it, not always, because you know I'm not always agree with his way of doing things, but... I know, I'm rambling again," she said, seeing Diggle with a raised eyebrow, as Oliver used to do when he wanted to stop her divagations. "The fact is that sometimes Oliver is too faithful to his convictions, and if he felt as guilty as we think, I'm sure he's found the way to punish himself."
"Like that night," he said, thinking about the night of the quake.
"Uh-huh... And what better place for his penitence than the hell itself?" she asked with great sadness.
"I can't believe it..."
"We're talking about Oliver, John."
"I know, but still-"
"We have to get him back from Lian Yu." Her gaze was full of determination when she added, "he's not going to come back by himself. You know that as well as I do."
"It isn't going to be a pleasant trip."
She shrugged and looked back at the computers.
"I knew that you'd say yes, so I was already looking up the way to get there."
"Felicity?"
"Yes?"
"How did you figure it out? Divine Inspiration? Feminine Intuition?" he asked, extremely curious.
"Of course not!" She laughed lightly before taking the herbs and putting them in Diggle's hands. "He just took the essentials, so there only can be two reasons for why he didn't bring these with him. He thought he wouldn't need them, or he knew that he could get more from wherever he was going to go. And knowing Oliver, I chose the second option."
Diggle looked at her with real affection. That was one of the little things that made Felicity such an amazing woman. She was full of light, and in the beginning, Diggle believed the dangers and secrets in which Oliver had involved Felicity were too dark for her. But Felicity was much stronger than either of the two men had thought at first. She'd shown it to them more than once. And although Diggle admonished Oliver the first night in which he'd gotten her involved with their nocturnal activities, the fact was that Diggle could no longer imagine the team without her.
Over time they'd become good friends, a nice team. Now their group was broken; an important piece was missing, but Diggle and Felicity hoped that piece would be back with them soon.
- THE END -
Thanks for reading... I hope you've enjoyed this fic...
