Disclaimer: Arrow and all of its amazing characters etc. do not belong to me, I'm simply the puppet master who moves them in another direction. ;)
A/N: This story takes place shortly after the season 2 finale.
A Love Like This
Chapter Three
Finishing up at the lair Felicity said a quick goodbye to Oliver and Diggle, whom were now unpacking and setting up the last of the equipment they had managed to bring with them from the old lair.
"Alright boys, I'm out, see you guys tomorrow?"
"You're out of here early today," said Diggle, after a quick look at his watch. "Big plans tonight?" he asked.
"Not really, I'm just going to meet some friends, we're going out for drinks tonight."
"Oh, and what friends would these be?"
"Just some old friends from work Diggle, no need to worry." Said Felicity, smiling fondly at Diggle, whom would often slip into the role of big brother, "I'll be fine."
"Just be careful Felicity," said Oliver, from where he had been silently observing the conversation, while unpacking a box. "And remember, you can always call us if you need us." "I know, thanks, I'll see you both tomorrow." She said as she gathered her belongings and headed toward the door. "You guys don't work too hard."
"Bye Felicity."
"Bye"
Arriving at her townhouse on the outskirts of the Glades, Felicity hurried inside, making her way toward her bedroom she paused briefly in the kitchen to check the time on the clock above her stove. 7:15, she murmured to herself, she had left the lair later than she had hoped to. Allison, a former co-worker was coming by to pick her up at eight, she had to hurry if she was going to be ready on time. Opening the door to her walk-in closet she tried to find something appropriate to wear, finally settling on a mulberry-purple silk dress that reached to just above her knees and had a metallic gold belt that accentuated her figure and pairing that with a gold cropped bolero wrap that was satiny smooth and had a ruffled collar with smocked trim all around the edge and a pair of strappy heels she placed her selected outfit on her bed and went to take a shower, putting her hair up in a bun so it wouldn't get wet she took a quick shower. Not even fifteen minutes later she was out, taking another quick peek at the clock she worked on placing curlers in her hair before working on her makeup, as soon as she was done in the bathroom she retrieved her outfit from her bed and put it on, looking around she found a small clutch purse, that matched her outfit, sitting on her dresser, placing her wallet, cellphone and keys inside, she quickly finished getting ready as her phone buzzed with a text. Pausing briefly to read the text she smiled before responding to Quentin who was wishing her luck on her first night back out with her old friends, and reminding her to call him if she needed a designated driver. By the time she had finished getting ready and had an entire conversation via text message with Quentin it was nearly eight o'clock, realizing that her ride would be there at any minute, she rushed back into the bathroom and removed the curlers from her hair, trying to put her hair into some semblance of order.
Felicity had just finished fixing her hair when she heard a knock on the door, heading in that direction she paused briefly in front of the mirror that hung in the hallway to put her earrings on before she opened the front door.
"Felicity, hey girl." Said Allison, giving Felicity a brief hug.
"Hi, Allison," Said Felicity, returning the hug with a smile, "How are you? You look great by the way."
"In this old thing," said Allison with a wink to Felicity, "And don't you just look smashing tonight." She said as she stepped back to allow Felicity to exit the house and lock the door behind her. "and thank you." She said as they headed toward her car, a light blue ford focus, "So you ready for tonight?" she asked once they were inside the car and heading to their destination, "everyone is really excited to see you, they're all meeting us at the restaurant, I figured we could start with a light dinner and then maybe go hit a few clubs, what do you think?"
"Sounds good to me."
The night started out well enough, Felicity and Allison met up with the rest of the group at a small bistro style restaurant where they enjoyed a simple meal and some light conversation before they headed out to the first club on their list. They were only at the second club on their list when Felicity, who was coming back from using the restroom, overheard her so-called friends talking about her and laughing as they made horrible insinuations about her relationship with Oliver, and her sudden switch from IT to the CEO's Assistant. Coming up behind the group, who were seated at a booth, she turned to Allison, who was seated on the edge.
"So is that really what you all think of me?" she asked, "That I'm just a pretty face who slept with her boss?"
Allison and everyone else seated at the booth just looked at each other awkwardly, completely willing to talk about someone when they weren't there, but not knowing what to say when confronted. In that moment of silence Felicity thought of several different things she wanted to say to defend not only herself but also Oliver, but as she looked around the table at the people who had once been her friends she realized that sitting there and arguing would be pointless and moreover not worth her time. Instead she just turned around and headed toward the nearest exit. Seeing this, Allison jumped out of the booth and hurried after Felicity.
"Hey, Felicity wait up."
Felicity paused near the exit and waited for Allison to catch up.
"Look Felicity, I'm sorry you had to hear all that but-"
"But what?" asked Felicity turning to face Allison, "It's not like I didn't know what people were saying about me at QC, but for people who claimed to be friends to act like that-"
"That's just it Felicity, this is the first time in months that you've come to hang out with your "friends" if we were really your friends you wouldn't of ditched us as soon as you and Queen became all buddy buddy, what, did you dump him when he lost his company and now you want to come and act like everything is going be like it used to."
"First off," said Felicity, placing one hand on her hip and using the other to emphasize her words, "You are way off base with your cracks about Oliver and I and second that is none of your business and this, this is so not worth it. I'm leaving, I'll see you around Allison." And with that Felicity turned and headed out the door leaving Allison spluttering in her wake.
Unfortunately, the nearest exit lead into a poorly lit alley. Aside from one of the bouncers taking what appeared to be a smoke break the alley was empty. Felicity quickly reached into her purse and pulled out her cellphone she scrolled down her list of contacts until she reached the Q's.
"Hello."
"Hey, Quentin, I know It's 'kinda late but do you think you could give me a ride?"
"Felicity? Where are you? Are you okay?" asked Quentin, knowing that Felicity had been planning to spend the evening out with friends, his phone tucked in between his ear and shoulder as he got up from the couch where he had been laying, watching T.V., and picked up his keys and headed toward the door.
"I'm fine," said Felicity as she gave Quentin directions to where she was. "don't worry, It's just been a crazy night."
"Okay, well I'm on my way I'll be there in about ten minutes, why don't you go back inside and wait for me." Suggested Quentin, after Felicity had told him where she was.
"Will do call me when you get here." Said Felicity, before hanging up the phone.
Turning to head back inside she saw that the alley was now empty, the employee whom had previously been there having gone back inside. Quickening her pace, she hurried to the door, not wanting to be outside alone. She had just reached the door when she felt something heavy collide against the back of her head, the last thing she saw before losing consciousness was the ground rushing up to meet her and then darkness.
