Felicity wasn't sure she belonged at this party. Strike that. Felicity was positive that she didn't belong at this party. The Queen Manor had been done up very nicely for the party meant to attract more investors.
And Isabel Rochev was glaring at her.
"Where is he?" She demanded. Felicity gulped. She really deserved hazard pay.
"Mr. Queen is just running a little late. I'll go and call him to make sure he's on his way." Felicity rushed out before turning on her heels and finding a corner to hide in. She took a couple calming breaths before turning on her comms to suddenly hear gunshots.
Felicity waited till Oliver had finished telling Dig about the guns before speaking.
"Are you on your way to the investor party now? Because if you aren't, I think Isabel might actually kill me." Felicity pleaded. Oliver made a sound that vaguely sounded like a chuckle. Which was rude.
"Yeah, I'm almost to the foundry now. I'll be there in 15 minutes." Oliver told her.
"Make it 10." Felicity mumbled back before turning around to see Isabel still glaring at her. She quickly made her way over to her. "He'll be here in 15."
Isabel just narrowed her eyes and continued to glare at Felicity until 11 minutes later (who's counting?) when Oliver came into the door. Then Isabel glared at him.
"Nice of you to finally join us, Mr. Queen." Isabel said through a clenched jaw before turning on her heels and swiftly entering the ballroom.
Oliver followed Isabel into the party with no words towards her. Before he could walk more than a few feet, Sebastian Blood with Laurel by his side stopped Oliver to talk.
"Mr. Queen. It's nice to know that you are late to everything, not just my functions." Blood sarcastically said to Oliver, completely ignoring her standing only a few feet behind him.
"I don't think you need me at your functions, Mr. Blood. You don't seem to need any help cleaning up the streets."
"Actually he does." Laurel butted in. felicity watched as the bombshell beauty captured the attention of both Oliver and Blood. "The mayor is ruining the city."
Felicity was surprised Laurel would be so blunt about insulting a city official. Oliver's face suggested he was surprised as well.
"Well…since Mr. Blood here is the number on candidate for the next term. I don't think he'll have a problem fixing it." Oliver said confused. His eyes flicking back and forth between Laurel and Blood. Blood shook his head.
"Not the real mayor. He's a guns dealer in the Glades that goes by the Mayor. Thanks to your mother, people think they can do whatever they want in the Glades." Before Oliver could respond, Sebastian turned and left. Laurel shot Oliver an apologetic smile before walking into the hall.
Felicity walked forward to talk to Oliver, but he disappeared down the hall the Laurel had just went down.
It seemed like Felicity couldn't catch a break. Everywhere she turned, there Laurel was. It was just like the masked woman and Oliver, being at the same places with—with Laurel.
At Felicity's realization, she darted forward into the hallway where Oliver and Laurel were talking.
"Oliver?" Felicity called out, getting Laurel and Oliver's attention. "I have to talk to you."
Oliver nodded and said his goodbyes to Laurel, who just smiled and gave her a confused look.
"What is it?" Oliver asked. He had a small smile on his face, and he had placed a hand on her shoulder.
"I was thinking about the masked woman, and how she seems to be stalking you." Felicity informed him. "What if she wasn't following you? Both times you saw her, there was another person there."
"Laurel." Oliver breathed out. Before Felicity could say anything else, Oliver grabbed her forearm and started to drag her to the door. Seems like the party was over.
Later, after Oliver had broken many speed laws, Felicity and Dig silently sat and listened on the comms as Oliver drove to Laurel's apartment and got to a rooftop.
"I see her." Oliver whispered. The whoosh of an arrow being let go sounded through the comms.
"Who are you?" Oliver's hood voice gruffed out. The comms crackled.
"I shouldn't be surprised you're following her. You two always did have a way of circling around each other." A voice that Felicity assumed was the masked woman's rang out. Boy even masked killers could tell Oliver and Laurel were connected.
"One last time. Who are you?" This time Oliver yelled. Felicity could mentally see him furrowing his eyebrows.
"Don't you remember me Ollie?" The woman asked sweetly. Felicity gasped. How did this woman know Oliver was the Hood.
For a couple of seconds everything was quiet. Felicity and Dig waited with baited breath as a shuffling sound came through the comms. This time Oliver gasped.
"Sara?" Oliver sounded confused. The masked woman who was stalking Laurel Lance was Sara Lance?
Before the notion of Sara Lance being alive could sink in, there was an explosion.
"Oliver!" Felicity yelled through the comms. Dig was standing beside her listening just as intently as she was. After a couple of tense seconds, Oliver answered.
"I'm here. But she's not." Oliver turned off his comms, suggesting the conversation was over.
That is until he returned 15 minutes later, making no eye contact with either of them before slumping down in Felicity's chair which had vacated to pace. Oliver placed his head in his hands. It was obvious to Felicity that Oliver wasn't going to offer up any information willingly.
"Just to clarify," Felicity started. Dig shot her a wary look. "When you said Sara, you meant the woman in black was Sara Lance. Also known as the girl who was on the Gambit with you?"
Oliver just nodded.
"I thought she was dead?" Dig asked confused. Oliver finally looked up and glared at Dig.
"So did I." Oliver stated through a clenched jaw, angry about being questioned. He shook his head and looked back down at his hands. "I saw Sara die on the Gambit then about a year later I saw her again. But I swear to you that I thought she was dead."
"What are you going to do?" Felicity asked quietly. She couldn't believe that Sara was alive. Felicity could still remember watching the news coverage of the Gambit sinking, and a week later when it was confirmed that Sara Lance was also on the boat, she could remember thinking Sara and her could've been friends.
"I'm just going to deal with it. I need to think about something else." Oliver said standing up from her chair. "What do we have on the Mayor?"
"Not much yet." Dig told him. "But I'm meeting with my military contact tomorrow afternoon to get some info."
"Then we'll pick up tomorrow night." Oliver said. Dig nodded, gave Felicity a smile, and went up the stairs. Oliver sighed and sat down on one of the other chairs.
"You ok?" Felicity asked startling him. Oliver looked up at her. "Whatever happened on the island, with Sara, you seemed really shook up to see her alive."
During her speech, Felicity had walked over to where Oliver was sitting and laid a hand on his shoulder. He looked into her eyes with a sad smile.
"The island took everything from me. Hope, love, my humanity. When I found Sara, I thought I finally got something back." Oliver's voice broke at the end of his sentence. His eyes filled with tears. "And when she died, it felt my last chance at being ok died too."
Felicity was surprised Oliver had told her so much, but not as surprised as she was when his hands grabbed her waist, and he buried his face in her stomach. For a few seconds, she was too surprised to do anything, but when Oliver's shoulders started shaking with sobs, Felicity put her arms around him. She softly laid her head on top of his and made soothing sounds.
Several minutes passed by spent in the comforts of each other's arms. And for a second, Felicity let herself dream.
Oliver leaning down to give her stomach a kiss while they laid in bed. He would tell their unborn child how the two of them fell in love, and Felicity would fall asleep to Oliver's voice knowing she would be safe.
Oliver was still for a couple minutes, startling her from her daydreams. Then he looked up with dry eyes and made eye contact with her.
Suddenly the air around them got thicker. The hands on her waist had gripped her tighter, and Oliver breathed heavily as his hands started to crawl up her sides. He followed his hands and stood up to face her. His hands stopped their ascent at her face.
The eye contact between the two of them continued, and it felt like time had slowed down. Before Felicity could think about why they shouldn't be doing what they were about to do, Oliver settled his lips on hers.
The kiss was slow and gentle. So much different than the passion that fueled their last encounter. Their lips were having a conversation that the two of them could never say with words. Felicity could feel Oliver's hands moving to hold onto the back of her head and her back. In turn Felicity's hands went to Oliver's leather-clad shoulders. She wanted to stay in this position forever.
At least until the foundry door beeped open. By the time Dig had walked down the stairs, Oliver and Felicity had quickly separated and went back to their own chairs.
"Just forgot my phone." Dig informed them with an awkward smile before grabbing his phone. He turned to look directly at Felicity. "How about I walk you to your car?"
Felicity nodded and swiftly grabbed her purse and coat. As Dig walked her to her car, she hoped that Dig would leave it alone. A hope to far fetch.
"So what was that?" Dig asked smug. They had just gotten to her after weaving through the club-goers.
"I was just comforting him." Felicity mumbled out. Dig raised his eyebrow.
"Really? Because that's not how I comfort friends." Felicity just gave him a sad look, and Dig sighed. "I just don't want you to get hurt."
Felicity shook her head and got in her car. Before shutting her door, she looked back up at him.
"It's too late for that Dig. You can't prevent something that's already happened."
Felicity needed to pee.
Her bladder had always been the size of a walnut, but with an extra human being in her, it seemed to shrink even more.
Felicity had needed to pee for a while now, but Oliver was due back any moment, and she didn't feel like risking it.
Dig's contact had told them about a missing shipment of military guns which fortunately were made at Queen Consolidated. That meant Felicity was able to turn the GPS on the guns back on long enough to get a location.
Unfortunately by the time Oliver had gotten there, the Mayor and his goons were long gone.
Now it was Saturday morning, and Felicity was looking into the Mayor anyway she could look of. Oliver was planning on stopping in to see her progress before he went to the cash for guns rally.
Felicity and Oliver had wisely avoided being alone with each other after Thursday night's thing.
Screw it. Felicity's bladder was about to explode. She would just have to be stealthy.
That plan went out the window, Felicity realized as she walked towards the bathroom. She stopped when she noticed Oliver and Sara speaking. Felicity stood there and watched as a knock on the door made Oliver pause the conversation.
She decided to wait for the bathroom, but when she stepped back, the floorboards made a noise which made Sara whip around to face her.
"It's ok. I work with Oliver in his vigilante business." Felicity said, putting her hands up. "I mean it's not a business. He doesn't make any money, neither do I. I mean I have a reliable income. Just not from being his IT girl."
Sara blinked at her, looking confused. Felicity put out her hand to shake.
"I'm Felicity by the way." Sara took one look at her outstretched hand, turned around, and ran off. Felicity was left utterly confused, before she too was forced to run to hide in the bathroom as Oliver's conversation outside seemed to be dying down.
She went about her business but made sure to take her time in the hope that Oliver would be gone by the time she made it back. Felicity's plan worked, because Oliver was nowhere to be seen when she got back. Dig just shook his head.
For an hour, Felicity tried to get something on the Mayor, but it just left her frustrated. And hungry.
"Ok, I'm starving." Felicity declared as she turned around to face Dig who was cleaning his guns. "I'm going to Big Belly. Want your usual?"
Dig nodded his answer. Felicity smiled. Big Belly could always fix a bad mood. At least that was what she thought until after she had ordered and was sitting waiting only for one Laurel Lance to sit down beside her. Because of course. The way her week was going this shouldn't really be a surprise.
"Felicity right?" Laurel asked her. While Laurel didn't really looked surprised to see her, she did have a Big Belly shake in her hand, so Felicity's paranoia that Laurel tracked her down subsided.
"Yeah." Felicity nodded. Laurel smiled at her, but in a way a wolf would smile at its prey. Like she knew exactly where to bite to make it hurt.
"You and Oliver," Laurel said, eyeing her. "It will never happen. You know that right?"
And she definitely knew how to make it hurt. Felicity had been too surprised at first to notice but now the distinct smell of vodka clouded Laurel's breath. Felicity was surprised, and then she felt sad for the woman.
"Laurel. Me and Oliver's relationship is none of your business." Felicity said with a sad smile. "I know how it feels to lose someone close to you, and wanting everyone to stop looking at you like you're going to break at any second."
Laurel blinked.
"What you're doing to yourself isn't going to make it go away. All you're doing is giving it more power over you. One day you won't be able to run anymore, and I promise you that facing it now, voluntary, will hurt a lot less then later, forcibly." Felicity heard her order number called and rushed to write her phone number on Laurel's shake cup. "This is my number, and if you want to talk to an unbiased person, you can call me."
Felicity then went to the counter, grabbed her food, and walked out of the store without a glance backwards.
Two Lance sisters in one day. Felicity was proud of herself.
Thankfully by the time Felicity had gotten back to the foundry, she had composed herself.
Unfortunately about the time that her and Dig had sat down to eat a ping on her computer alerted her to the Mayor's debut at the cash for guns event which Oliver was attending.
By the time, Oliver made it back to the foundry, Felicity had already ran facial recognition and gotten a match.
"His name is Xavier Reed." Felicity told Oliver and Dig who were standing behind her. "And before you ask, he doesn't have any military background."
"What about his family?" Oliver asked.
"He was in and out of foster homes his whole life. But one of his foster brothers is in the military. And he's stationed at Camp Kurry where the missing guns came from. There's a new shipment coming in tonight."
Felicity turned around to look at Oliver, who was ignoring her. Awesome. They were back to this.
"Write down the time and the address of the drop off. We have to make sure he doesn't get his hands on this guns." Oliver said before turning and leaving to probably go brood in a corner somewhere.
Felicity wished they could just talk. Once upon a time the three of them talked about everything. They were her best friends. Now Felicity had no one to talk to about her massive secret in her stomach. Dig wouldn't understand, and besides the obvious reasons, Oliver and her relationship had drastically changed since the night of the Undertaking. They're conversations were strained and a tension filled the air between them. It was times like these that Felicity wished she had female friends.
She was so desperate, Felicity had started talking to her unborn child. Although that didn't work out too well, because she needed advice and plus telling a child, even an unborn one, about how their father was an idiot seemed like bad form.
The three of them worked in silence till the time came for the mission.
After the Mayor had been subdued, Felicity wasn't sure what to do. Should she stay and risk being alone with Oliver or go home and avoid him altogether. The decision was ultimately made for her.
"The police are on their way. I'm heading straight to the hospital to see Thea. We'll see you on Monday Felicity." Oliver's voice said through the comms.
It seems she was not only dismissed for the night but for the next day also.
That's fine, Felicity thought as she grabbed her stuff and walked to her car, I'll enjoy an actual day off. No one to talk to but myself.
It wasn't till she entered her apartment and slumped onto the couch did Felicity allow herself to admit how alone she felt. No one knew her secret, and she couldn't talk to anyone about the terrible pain she was in because of her relationship with Oliver.
Felicity knew what she had to do. She had to tell someone about her baby, and there was only one person she wanted to tell even if she was dreading it. So Felicity picked up the phone and dialed. After a few seconds, the other side picked up.
"Hi." Felicity said through her tears. "There's something I have to tell you."