The Greatest Bowman
Chapter 4: The Other Side
What was she thinking?! Perhaps that was just it: she wasn't really thinking.
It had been a spur of the moment decision, more like an involuntary response to the Green Arrow's open invitation. Felicity attributed her impulsive reaction to the excitement and exhilaration of Barnum's show that evening, which was just about to culminate in the hooded archer's thrilling final act.
Why had she volunteered for this? Why had he let her step into the ring and onto the platform at all?
The Green Arrow needed a volunteer from the audience to stand in as a human target. Well, she was not exactly the target. They were going to tie her wrists with ropes, with her arms extended upwards and outwards above her head, and the archer was going to shoot the ropes with his arrows to free her. Felicity was fairly confident that the man could do it, for she had seen him do this act before; except, that night he had asked for a willing volunteer from the audience instead of one of the cast members, and he was going to shoot the ropes with two arrows simultaneously… with a blindfold… from more than thirty feet away. If she had known that he had tweaked the act and made it even more daring this way, she might not have been so eager to be his volunteer. Yet still, she had stood up on impulse with head held high and cried out, "I'll do it." Everyone in the theater had been astonished, including the evening's ringmaster, Tommy Merlyn. She did not know if the crowd's bewilderment was because they had thought her insane, or because it had taken a woman to volunteer (finally) for the act when no gentleman had been brave enough to try.
Felicity now stood on the platform, her arms raised. Her wrists were bound separately with ropes tied to two separate beams high up in the trusses of the edifice that housed the theater. Her heart was pounding like the hoofs of a thousand stallions galloping on hardened soil. She hoped that the hooded archer standing in front of her did not notice how suddenly anxious she was. The heaving of her chest was no longer veiled underneath her woolen coat, which she had taken off with the assistance of the stagehand who had bound her wrists with the ropes. Both her hands held on to the ropes tied around her wrists, as if that could help ground her. She tugged at them to see if they were secure. They were.
She wondered if the hooded archer could see how her hands trembled, like her lips did. After all, he was close enough for her to see him grinding his teeth and clenching his jaw. He wasn't close enough for her to see his face though, for he still wore his hood over his head such that a dark shadow concealed the upper half of his face.
Nevertheless, he was near enough for her to hear him speak with a low, well-modulated voice, which she thought was not really his normal speaking voice. He said to her softly, "Keep still, and please, don't be afraid."
"I'm not," Felicity replied, just as softly. She wasn't afraid. In all honesty, she was more anxious to find out firsthand how good of a bowman he truly was. Her very life – or the normal use of her hands, at least – now depended on it.
Felicity nodded several times in response, biting her lower lip to keep it from quivering further. She did not want him to think that she was afraid of him or of what might happen if he faltered. Sensing even a tinge of panic in her might distract him and cause him to… No, she preferred not to venture anywhere near that thought at all. Instead, she looked at him with a resolute expression of trust on her face. Even if she could not really see his eyes beneath that hood, she could feel his gaze fixed on her, reciprocating the same resolute trust. The exchange made her heart flutter. Did he know the effect his gaze had on her? Watching him from afar had already been an exhilarating adventure for Felicity, but standing so close to him now was… indescribable.
Felicity had always tried to live her life circumspectly. She believed there was no other way for her to realize her dreams except to avoid complications, to remain in the fringes of society in order to skirt the perils in this troubled world. She and her mother Donna had always made it a point to live simply. Americans had an expression for this, and Felicity had lived by that motto of "playing it safe" ever since they had settled in Starling City. The only risk she had ever taken was pursuing the job at the Herald, for which she had applied under slightly false pretenses. However, ever since she first came to Barnum's show and stepped into the little world that the popular showman had created, she had developed a stronger motivation to explore the novel, the uncertain, the unlikely. Even more so when she had encountered the mysterious Green Arrow. There was just something about this mysterious person, something that dared her to start taking more calculated risks. She had begun to discover another side of her – a different side of her – which she had been reining in all her life. Perhaps she had already had it in her since she was born, and the current circumstances in her previously monotonous life had simply allowed it to emerge. In the past month or so, Felicity felt as if a door had been unlocked that would lead her to brand new challenges. Just like the one she was in at the moment.
Felicity angled her head so that she could see the archer's face better, but he stepped back and moved to turn away. She dropped her gaze in frustration as he walked away, to assume his position at the far end of the ring.
Clutching his bow tightly, the Green Arrow suddenly stopped. He turned towards her and asked, "Do you trust me?"
She gasped as she looked up at him. All she could see were his stubbly jaw and his lips, slightly parted as he waited for her response. Taking a deep breath, she answered, "I do." He nodded once to acknowledge her answer.
Felicity watched as the Green Arrow took his position more than thirty feet in front of her. He bowed his head and pulled back his hood as one of the stagehands approached him from behind. She squinted to get a clearer view of his face as he looked up again, but to her disappointment, she still could not make out his face from the distance, especially with the dim lighting from the torches and candles inside the theater. The areas around his eyes were smeared with what appeared to be dark-colored grease paint, which formed a mask-like shape on his face. The man sure knew how to conceal his identity, she thought.
After the stagehand blindfolded the archer, Felicity watched him raise his bow, pointing two sharp arrows straight at her. Her chest tightened as she felt her stomach churn. When the drum roll began, she shut her eyes. Holding her breath, she uttered a short prayer for her life and for the archer not to fail, and from then on, everything was a blur. It felt like hours as she waited for the arrows to fly towards her. The next thing she knew, her arms dropped to her sides. The crowd was on their feet, cheering and applauding wildly. Only then did she let out the breath she was holding.
Another short, stocky stagehand came to her to remove the ropes from her wrists, but she did not mind the midget at all. Her attention was focused on the hooded archer that had already removed his blindfold, pulled his hood back on, and was now walking straight towards her. She observed from his gait that he was just as relieved and pleased as she was that it was all over.
"You did it," she said to him proudly. She was not sure if he could hear her clearly because of the loud shouts and avid clapping of hands around them. But he must have read her lips right, for he replied with a shy smile and a courteous nod that made her eyes light up.
"Thank you for believing in me."
That was all he said to her, but she would never forget those words, or the calming way that he had said them. Clearly, the faith that she had put in him – to the extent that she'd trusted him with her life – had meant the world to the man that stood tall and proud before her.
The Green Arrow then turned to face the audience and bowed to acknowledge their praise and appreciation of his feat. Then, he walked towards the giant red curtains that separated the main theater from the backstage and disappeared behind them. If before Felicity had not been sure whether or not it was worth crossing the line with him to where the braver, bolder side of her could be unleashed, now she was.
Felicity was impressed. The cast and crew of Barnum's circus were phenomenal. They were an amazing group of people that had learned to use their physical challenges to their advantage and to transcend their various limitations, working hard in order to earn an honest living in the midst of a cruel, unforgiving society that prejudged them as lesser people. Having met them personally through Tommy Merlyn's backstage tour after the show, she realized that this odd group of misfits deserved more than what most people in Starling City gave them credit for. They had gone through tough times in life. They had been mocked and laughed at. They had been marginalized and denied certain freedoms. They deserved more than applause or mere awe and admiration. They needed more than a decent wage. They were social outcasts that deserved respect and acceptance.
Felicity was anxious to head home and begin writing. She wanted to write that the bearded woman's name was Josephine, and that her facial hair was just as real as the hair on every person's head. She wanted to write about Charles Stratton, better known in the circus as General Tom Thumb, and challenge physicians and biologists to look into "dwarfism" as a possible genetic explanation for why the man, who was just an inch taller than two feet, had stopped growing when he was just about two years of age. She wanted to write about the others, too; in fact, she was too excited and did not know where to begin.
She also wanted to write about the Green Arrow. She planned to showcase his archery skills and to relate them with the laws of physics so that readers can better appreciate the virtuosity behind an archer's prowess. She barely had anything to write about the man himself, nonetheless. Tommy Merlyn had wanted to introduce her to him, but the hooded archer for whom she had volunteered earlier was nowhere to be found. Members of the cast said that he had already left. Tommy had noticed her disappointment and had apologized for it. Without knowing about her job-related intentions, Tommy promised that he would try to arrange a personal interview with the Green Arrow at her most convenient time, telling her that he would send her word regarding the day and time. Felicity was not so sure if Tommy could deliver on his promise, but she was courteous enough not to press her new friend any further.
Tommy Merlyn had sent her home on his carriage, and she thanked him for his kindness. Her mother was very pleased that she had come home safely even if it was late at night. Donna had her supper warmed and had kept her company while she ate at their small dinner table, telling the incredible stories of the people whom she had met in the circus. Donna could hardly contain her emotions when she narrated her experience of volunteering for the Green Arrow's act. Her mother did not know whether she should scold her for her recklessness or admire her for her courage. Donna did ask if the archer was handsome, and Felicity candidly told her mother than she could neither confirm nor deny it, for the man obviously hid his identity from the public on purpose. Felicity was relieved that her mother had not asked any more questions after that. She then kissed her mother good night and retreated to her bedroom with a gas lamp in hand.
The small apartment they were renting was on the third floor of their building. It was certainly not fancy or garbed with unnecessary embellishments (although Felicity was sure that her mother would redecorate to her heart's content if only they could afford it), but she was grateful that her room had the better view of the city compared to her mother's. She had developed the habit of staring out her window before going to bed, gazing at the stars to wish for her dreams, and admiring the city's skyline under the moonlit sky.
She had already finished her nighttime rituals and was just about ready to burn the midnight oil writing her article for the paper. She was in the middle of buttoning up her white, long-sleeved, cotton nightgown when she heard a light tapping on her window. Slowly, she picked up the lamp and moved from the bathroom into her bedroom. As her eyes adjusted to the dimly lit room, she noticed a shadowy figure just outside the window closest to the fire escape. At first, she felt frightened that there was a stranger outside her window, yet when she recognized who the hooded figure was, she darted across the room and headed straight for the window. Putting down the gas lamp on a nearby table, she unlatched the window and pushed it open.
"Good evening," the hooded archer greeted her, still with his low, growly voice.
"Hello," she greeted back.
She noticed him avoiding looking directly at her, her chest area more specifically. She suddenly clutched the material of the front part of her nightgown when she realized that she had not finished doing all the buttons on her evening wear. "Oh, forgive me. Your… visit has come as a… surprise… a shock, really. I must confess, you have caught me unawares. Your stealth is impeccable."
The corners of his lips turn up, and Felicity noticed him holding back a smile. There was something vaguely familiar about that particular expression on the archer's face. It kind of reminded her of someone else's amusement of her peculiarly endearing trait, but she immediately dismissed the thought.
"Thank you."
"Uhm… I was brought up to never let strangers in. I do hope you understand. But then again it's quite chilly out there tonight. And I guess you aren't really a stranger to me anymore, seeing we did indirectly meet under potentially life-threatening circumstances, so…"
"It's fine. I'll be fine out here, Ms. Smoak," he told her, gently interrupting her ramble. "I won't stay long. I just came by to meet you. Mr. Merlyn… he said you wanted to meet me."
"Yes!" she replied enthusiastically. "I mean, who wouldn't want to get to know the person aiming really pointed things at you, right?"
He was smiling now, albeit shyly. "Like I said earlier, thank you for volunteering, for trusting me like that."
"You're welcome," she responded with a shy smile of her own. "Thank you for not missing," she told him with a wink that made him widen his smile.
"Could you, maybe, do without the hood? I'd really like to see the face of the person I'm talking to."
His smile fell. He neither nodded nor shook his head. It seemed he did not know how to respond to her kind request. He was obviously unwilling to humor her this time. When he did not move or speak for several seconds, Felicity decided not to oblige him further.
"I guess not, then. But… wait here," she told him.
She left him by the window, standing on the fire escape. When she returned a minute later, she handed him a blanket. "Here, use this. You don't want to catch a cold. Sneezing while shooting arrows at innocent volunteers may not be good for your career," she teased him. For a moment there, she thought she heard him chuckle a little bit. She then used a nearby stool to climb onto the window, and then she sat on the sill with her legs dangling out the open window. She had also brought a blanket, which she used to protect herself from the cold, evening autumn air.
The archer sat down on the fire escape. He spread the blanket over him and leaned back against the wall. That way, they were sitting almost side by side, except that Felicity was slightly higher than he was where he sat. The angle, however, allowed him to observe her profile, like a smooth silhouette against the backdrop of the moonlit, starry sky. Unbeknownst to her, the Green Arrow secretly admired the view.
They talked for an hour, mostly about Barnum's show and why he had joined the circus. She told him a little about herself, the orphanage she worked in, and a little about her mother.
The same thing happened again the weekend after, and the weekend after that. The Green Arrow was making a habit of climbing the fire escape outside her window and spending quality time on friendly nocturnal conversations with Felicity Smoak after his performance on Barnum's shows. She, in turn, was more than happy that she had found a new friend in this very intriguing, masked bowman.
A/N: I've read many Arrow and Olicity fics where Oliver goes to see Felicity in her apartment via the fire escape. Some of these were very nicely written, others... I did not like so much. I thought this trope was perfect for this AU, and at this point in the story, Oliver isn't ready to reveal his true self to Felicity just yet.
In the next chapter, Felicity encounters Oliver Queen as himself once again. How do you think that will turn out, considering how their last encounter had ended? ;-)