Felicity couldn't sleep that night after finding the handprints on her back and shoulders. She stayed up all night on the sofa, watching Friends with Jennifer Aniston and David Schwimmer. She drank coffee and laid on the sofa, keeping the TV at the volume where she wouldn't fall asleep. Felicity didn't want to sleep again that night. She didn't want to have the same nightmares and ending up waking up to realize she self-harmed herself again. She never did anything like that before.
She kept dozing off every now and then. She had to close her eyes every now and then but since she feared of having the same nightmare again, she always snapped them open. She was always relieved that she was still in her apartment and not in the old house where her mother died. She wanted to sleep but was too scared to sleep.
It was already morning. Felicity wanted to go back to work but Oliver insisted she took the day off until she felt better. She felt better. I'm just tired, that's all. But there was nothing she could do about it right now. She did just as Ollie is told her. I'm taking a sick-day. She made chicken noodle soup for lunch and had a few movies to watch to keep myself from getting bored.
Felicity sat on the floor and began to do abdominal exercises. 1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10. She did three more sets of it before continuing to do push-ups. Just because Oliver, Roy, Diggle and Sara train, doesn't mean that I can't. I'm part of the team too.
After doing a bit of exercise, Felicity went to brush her teeth when she heard a knock on her door. It was probably her neighbour again looking for Rusty...again.
"Mrs. Fernandes," She walked over to the front door with her toothbrush in hand and unlocked the door, "I've already told you, I haven't seen your caaaaaaat..." When she opened the door, she found herself face to face with Rusty. He was a slightly fat orange cat with green eyes. Felicity wasn't surprised of Rusty, she was surprised of the one who was holding him.
"I thought someone might be looking for him." Slade.
"Holy shit."
Felicity immediately snatched Rusty from his hands and slammed the door in his face. That was a bit rude in her part. But he was a mercenary. Can you blame her?
Felicity petted Rusty's head and held him tightly as she hid behind the kitchen counter. Of course, it didn't guarantee Slade won't bust the door down for slamming it in his face. I'm so going to die...and in my pajamas. Great. She was only wearing her Raggedy Ann pajama pants and a lavender tank top. Also, no bra. I pray he did not see anything behind it.
"Miss Smoak, I suggest you open the door before I tear it open," his calm voice was muffled behind the door but his threats were clear as he knocked on the door.
"Could you please go away?" she asked nicely.
"No."
"How the hell did you find me!?" she snapped.
"Your profile in Queens Consolidated is not very private as many people think it is and quite easy to hack," he said.
"Yeah? Well, I'll be moving soon and I'll change my address. In fact, I'm not going to give out my address at all," she told him, "Can you please leave before I call the cops...or Oliver?"
"He will not even know I was here."
"Are you going to kill me?" she asked, better safe than sorry.
"Not today," he said. Not today, as in one day. "We'll have time for that late. We have other things to discuss."
Felicity cautiously came out of hiding but with one of her kitchen knives in her hand. She put down Rusty and slow went to the door. She opened it. Slade was still standing there. Damn it.
"Slade, what are you doing here? What do you want?" Felicity asked.
"To talk," he brushed pass her and entered her apartment, snatching the kitchen knife from her hand and bending it like paper before throwing it to the floor.
"There's something called a telephone," she reminded him while shutting the door, leaving it unlocked just in case she needed to bolt out of her apartment, "You should try it some time."
"A lovely place you have here. A lot of space" Slade just entered uninvitingly to her apartment and broke one of her kitchen appliances. How rude of him. She immediately went over to the kitchen to wash the toothpaste from her mouth and returned to the living room. He was already sitting on the sofa without her permission. He took notice of the purple foam matt on the floor. "You must be working out a lot in the mornings."
"I - I," she stammered, "I'm going to put on a bra..."
She quickly went to her bedroom and closed the door. She thought of locking the door to keep him from going near her and call Oliver immediately. The phone was right there on her nightstand. She could climb out the window. However, Oliver informed her that the Mirakuru gave Slade enhanced hearing. If Slade heard the clicking sound of her bedroom door being locked, he would come storming through the door. Felicity pulled down her tank top and slipped on her bra, connecting the clasps behind her back.
"I was afraid you might have escaped."
Felicity's eyes widened as she turned around and nearly screamed when she saw him standing there in her bedroom. She quickly crossed her arms over her chest.
"What the fuck!?" she snapped, "What are you doing!?"
Slade ignored her as he looked around her bedroom. "I'm becoming impatient. Besides, it's not like I haven't seen a woman's breast before, Miss Smoak."
"I don't care if you've seen your mother's vagina! You can't just enter my room like that!" she snapped angrily though she was more surprised than angry. Surprised that Slade entered her room without making any noise. When Slade didn't move, Felicity marched over to him and tried pushing him out of her bedroom. "Get out of my room!"
Chuckling in amusement, Slade walked out of her bedroom.
Felicity place a hand to her forehead, taking deep breaths. Slade just entered her room and saw her in her bra. That was invasive and made her feel violated. If she wore a bikini at the beach, she wouldn't mind men staring at her body because she was giving consent of looking. But if she was in her bedroom putting on a bra in private, it was because she didn't want anyone seeing her, especially when she was halfway putting on her bra. She did not give Slade any consent to enter her room while she was putting on a bra. What Slade did was invasive and disrespectful.
Once she had her tank top back in place, she left her bedroom and went back to the living room where Slade remained sitting on the couch.
She pointed a finger at him. "You...will never do that again. Ever."
"Unless I feel like it," he said.
"No, absolutely not!" she snapped. "That was my room. My privacy. And you invaded it. That is not okay! Whatever the hell is you want to tell me, tell me now and get your ass out of my house."
Slade shook his head in disappointment. "Temper, Miss Smoak. I rather if you don't test my patience. You wouldn't want me to paint the walls of your lovely home with the cat's blood now do you?"
"...You're so leaving after this," she said.
Felicity sat on the opposite side with her knees up to her chest, practically shielding herself from him even though he wasn't really looking at her chest. He was grabbing the TV remote and turned on the television. "What channel is the news?"
"Channel 4. Can you pass me my jacket?" she asked. Her red jacket was on the coffee table. "I feel violated."
"It's a bit warm in here, is it not?" he asked skeptically.
"Yeah, but technically, I'm not properly dressed and I already had someone see me half naked," she hissed. Slade chuckled at her response before handing over the red jacket to her. Felicity quickly put it on.
"Have you watched the news this morning?" he asked.
"...I haven't even looked at a cup of coffee yet."
Slade was looking up and down at her again before he turned his attention to the television. Felicity really wished he would stop looking at her like that. Rusty jumped onto her lap and rubbed his head against her chin and Felicity petted him in return.
The television was on Channel 4. The news. A woman with red hair speaking through the TV in front of QC. A reporter. Reporters were sometimes liars to the public media. When they can't get a good story, they just have to make up their own which is kind of stupid and it can risk getting lawsuits on them. The CEO's have accepted Slade's offer and decided to invest on Queens Consolidated. Oh my God. He did it. Slade actually did it. He actually got what he wanted.
"Impressive, isn't it?" Slade smiled amusingly at Felicity's shocked face as he turned off the TV. Felicity caught a glimpse of Oliver coming out of the building with photographs taking pictures of him and reporters harassing him about how he felt about Slade's decision of selling the company to separate investors. He didn't respond but Felicity could tell he was not happy about this.
"Your scheme actually worked," Felicity said in utter shock. "...Why did you come here? Not that I don't want you here. Well, technically, yeah I don't want you here, at all. So, why are you here? What do you want with me? Do you want me to congratulate you on your plans of taking the Queen's company because I'll assure you I won't, not even if you torture me to death, which I hope you don't do to me right now."
Slade chuckled. That made her nervous. And it was kind of scary since she lived by myself and the only thing Felicity had to defend herself with was Rusty. What am I going to do? Throw the cat at his face? Nah. That will just make him angrier.
"I came here to see if you were feeling better," he said. Felicity frowned at him.
"Why?"
"You took a very bad injury yesterday at Queens Consolidated," he said, "I came here to make sure you were feeling all right."
"Why should you care? I mean, I work for Oliver who's also the Arrow. I think you already know that right now. Technically, everyone associated or related to Oliver Queen is an enemy to you."
He chuckled again. Why does he find me amusing? "You are a very smart girl. No wonder Oliver keeps you around. I was warned that you spoke too much but I never expected a chatterbox."
"Is that bad?" Felicity asked. She didn't know people were complaining about her talking too much. I think I know why my teachers used to send me to the corner of the classroom in kindergarten. They must have thought I was bothering the entire classroom with my constant chatter. But was it really that annoying to everyone, including Oliver?
"Some people simply do not have the patience to put up with your chatter," he said. The way he said it made Felicity feel offended. Putting Rusty down on the floor, she got up from the couch and headed for the kitchen. The soup was already boiling on the stove. Besides, she wanted to keep a good distance from Slade as much as possible.
"The cat seems to like you, Miss Smoak," he said.
Felicity didn't respond to him. She ignored him and turned off the stove. He should know that the cat liked her more than he liked his owner.
"Miss Smoak," he called her.
"I thought you didn't have the patience to put up with my talkative self, so, I decide not to speak till you leave," Felicity said sternly.
"Have I offended you, Miss Smoak?" he asked.
"Jeez, what do you think? You know, this is the second time you asked me that when you already know the damn answer to it. You just called me a non-stop chatterbox," She said sternly, turning to face him. She realized he was standing a bit too near the kitchen. He could easily grab the knives to kill her. Why isn't he making a move then? "...Believe me, Rusty likes me more than he likes Mrs. Fernandez. I don't overfeed him nor do I give him baths."
"Does your neighbor overfeed him?" he asks.
"More than five times a day," Felicity told him, "She also gives him too many baths. Mrs. Fernandez has Alzheimer. She can't really remember the things she does. Every time she gives him another meal he already ate, he would hiss at her or simply hides from her."
"Interesting. Would you be placing her in a home then?"
"I am not responsible for what happens to her to be honest. I mean, she has a son. Both of them are owners of the building and he should be the one responsible for his mother and her illness."
Why can't you just leave? I have bigger problems right now. She had to go to the police soon and report that her father was in Starling City. She didn't want to deal with Slade right now. Two men harassing me. Not good.
Felicity tried to ignore him and open up some distance but he kept getting closer which was annoying the hell out of her, staring at her intently. But what made her go on red alert was when she felt a hand brush her blonde hair and Slade asked why she had bruises around her neck. Felicity quickly grabbed one of the knives in her hand again and turned to face him, aiming it at his chest. She didn't care if it wouldn't kill him.
"Back off...please," she said to him, almost begging and her voice shaking. He grasped the blade in his hand, twisting and bending it. The sharp edged blade sliced through his flesh and blood began to seep from the wounds. Felicity tried to keep a good hold at the handle but he was too strong and he managed to wrench the knife from her hand and throw it away.
Felicity glanced at the door that was clearly unlocked and she quickly bolted away from the kitchen. She tried to run as fast as she could but her speed was no match for his. He grabbed her by the upper arm and slammed her against the wall. Felicity cried out as he held her there, his fingers digging into her skin. That hurt like hell. Don't scream. Don't scream. Don't scream.
"You're hurting me," she repeatedly, "You're hurting me. Please."
He smirked. "Maybe that's my intention."
"Are you going to kill me now?"
Slade kept staring at her. Felicity was shaking, for the fear of being strangled, adding more bruises to her already bruised neck. She didn't mind though. She would sacrifice her life for Oliver and the others. But simply the idea of being killed so brutally made her want to cry.
"Did you do this to yourself?" he asked, his fingers tracing the bruised skin.
"No," Felicity said, failing to keep her voice from shaking.
"Who did then?"
"I―I don't know. I found them after I took a shower...Please, don't tell anyone. And if you're going to kill me now, get it over with."
"I'm not going to kill you, not yet," he said, "There are few things that need to be adjusted first."
"What adjustments?" she asked. She didn't understand. And this caused him to chuckle again.
Slade smirked as he inched his face towards her. Felicity immediately turned her head flinching. "You'll seen soon enough, love." His hold tightened around her arm. She whimpered in pain and fear. "Don't worry. It will only hurt...a lot. But it will be over before you know it." He said this while tucking his hand beneath her pajama pants and began to tug them down. Felicity knew what Slade was planning to do while at her apartment and she immediately shut her eyes tightly, waiting desperately for him to get it over with.
They heard a knock on the door. It must be Mrs. Fernandez asking for her cat again. Rusty's right here so I can use him as an excuse to get away from Slade. Felicity looked at Slade in warning. Would he kill me if I tried to answer the door?
He nodded in approval and he released her. She could tell he was a bit disappointed over the interruption. Thank God.
"I'm guessing Mrs. Fernandez would like her cat back," he said.
Felicity walked over to the front door and opened it but the person at the door was not Mrs. Fernandez.
She squealed in delight and embraced Felicity tightly. She squealed in shock. "I'm so happy to see you! Oh, my beautiful girl!" she squealed. Oh my God. Donna.
"Your neighbors seem very friendly, Miss Smoak," Slade complimented almost mockingly.
"Mom?" Felicity squeaked. And Slade's eye widened in surprise.
Felicity was not surprise. Donna always appeared without calling first. You could never know when she would show up. She was wearing her blue cocktail dress with her breasts lifted up and her skirt at mid-thigh. Oh my God. Why is she dressed this way? Didn't I tell her to dress more appropriate when she comes here? Also, what is she doing here? Why can't she call like a normal person? And the fact that there's a psycho here in my apartment, so...This is certainly not my day, now is it?
"Mom...what are you doing here?" Felicity asked and Donna released her.
"I came to see you, for a visit" Donna smiled before taking out her iPhone from her purse. "Didn't you get my text?" She showed Felicity the text. One problem. She never actually sent it. The message was still on edit.
"Mom, for you to send a text message, you have to press SEND, on the text," she said.
"Oh. No problem. I'll do it right now." she says. Donna pressed the SEND button and Felicity's phone made a ding sound. Donna entered the apartment with her luggage.
Donna didn't notice her injuries until now.
"Oh my God, Felicity, what happened to your face? Oh my God, and your neck!" she gasped in shock as she examined it, turning Felicity's face here and there in her hands.
"It's nothing, Mom," she lie to her, "I'm fine. It was just a small accident."
"You look like you got hit by a bus."
"Bus. Car. Truck. A lot of things. Unfortunately, what hit me was a wall," I tell her.
"And a bunch of windows," Slade intruded in the conversation. Did I say he could talk? No. He had no right to talk. That's when Donna noticed him. Oh God no. Please, earth swallow me whole now.
"Oh, and who is this?" Donna asked as she looked up and down at Slade. No matter how handsome Slade was, Donna would always find a physical flaw that will supposedly determine if that person is good or bad, not that I think he's handsome. Like for example, the eye-patch. Donna is probably assuming him as a pirate or some soap opera villain. If only she knew he's no soap opera villain. "Is he your boyfriend? I didn't know you had someone staying over."
"What? No, no, no, no, no," Felicity stammered, "He's not my boyfriend...I mean, he's not staying over...I mean, we're not...This my boss."
"I'm Slade Wilson," he introduced himself, taking Donna's hand into his. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Donna Smoak," she introduced herself. "Likewise...Oh my God. You're Slade Wilson. You're the new CEO of Queens Consolidated. I've seen you on the news with Oliver Queen. See, Felicity complains that I don't pay attention to her job. "
"It's funny. Miss Smoak's expedient never mentioned she had a mother."
"Well, I'm her aunt, actually. Her mother was my sister. She died when Felicity was four years old. She always calls me Mom since I practically raised her."
"I'm sorry to hear that."
Okay...this is way too far.
"Okay...I think it's time for you to go now, Mr. Wilson. Thank you for stopping by." Felicity guided him to the front door, almost pushing him out.
"We still need to talk business at QC, Miss Smoak," he said calmly as she pushed him out the doorway.
"Yeah, you said it. At QC. Goodbye, Mr. Wilson. I'll be very busy..." And she closed the door and put her back against it, "...planning my funeral after dying from embarrassment."
Felicity and Donna sat on the sofa. They were watching Big Bang Theory and laughing out loud. Donna served the soup Felicity made. She didn't want her doing so much labor after her injury. I think that's why she came here to Starling City. Some bigmouth told her about the incident at QC and he came here to make sure I was okay. Donna Smoak. When she hears that someone tries to hurt her kids, she'll let out Momma Bear in ten seconds flat. Like the time some diva girls at her high school pushed her down outside the premise. Donna saw everything when she came to pick her up and gave the girl a good smack in the face. Of course, Donna got banned from the school premises. She's been with Felicity for so many years. She even had to put up with the idea of Felicity wanting to go the MIT University where she got 4.0 GPA. One of my biggest fears was ending up like a cocktail waitress like her mother or Donna, so, the many years of headaches in MIT were worth it.
"So, what happened to your face? And the bruises on your neck" Donna suddenly asked the same question again.
"It was nothing, Mom. I just my face with the wall."
"Yeah right, like I haven't heard that one before. Tell me, was it him?"
"Who was?"
"The guy that was here this morning, with the eye-patch. Mr. Wilson."
"What? No, Mom. He didn't hurt me. He didn't even touch me." Felicity lied. If Donna didn't knock on the door, Slade would have gone too far. Slade Wilson was capable of murder. But if he wanted to kill her, he could and he would have just a few minutes ago. Of course, he had another idea in mind and Felicity was glad it was interrupted. But she knew that the incident at Queens Consolidated was not his doing.
"Sweetie, I need you to tell me the truth," she insisted, "We don't have to call the police if you don't want to. Just tell me the truth. Because if I find out this guy has been hurting my baby, I'll be going full Momma Bear on him."
Felicity didn't want that. Never mess with a guy full on Mirakuru.
"Mom, I promise you. Mr. Wilson didn't hurt me. This happened at Queens Consolidated but he didn't lay a hand on me. I promise."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"...Can't you tell me?"
Felicity sighed. She didn't want to tell Donna about the nightmares that caused to physical harm herself but she didn't have choice. She couldn't lie to her. Donna was practically her mother.
"I fell asleep on the job. I suddenly began to have these nightmares where my mother died. I saw her dead on the floor and then I myself as a little girl. She kept saying 'Mommy is dead' and that 'He killed Mommy. Then we heard footsteps. We both ran up to my old bedroom where we hid inside the closet. But whoever it was. He grabbed me and began smashing me against the walls. When I woke up, I was lying on the floor with a broken nose. I had smashed my face against the windows. Oliver Queen had to slap me to wake me up."
Donna stared at her in shock.
"Oh my God, Felicity."
"Is it supposed to mean something? Dreams always mean something. I don't remember what happened to my mother," Felicity was tearing up, "I simply saw her wrists slit open. I did not see anything else. Mom, if you saw something I didn't see, I'd like to know because I can't sleep just thinking about."
"I don't know, baby," she said and embraced her, "I wasn't there when it happened. I wish I had."
"There's something else, Mom. When I was being attack, I heard Colton's voice yelling at me. He was saying that if he can't have me, no one can."
The name of Felicity's father made Donna's blood run cold. She had every right to be afraid of Colton. He was dangerous. That's why Felicity left Big Belly Burgers as fast as possible, knowing that every second they spent alone would be painful. If Donna found out that Colton's here in Starling City, she would want Felicity to leave and go back with her in Nevada where they would report him for violating the restraining order. But Felicity didn't want to leave. Starling City. It was my home. She already had a life here and didn't want Colton's arrival ruining it for her.
"Mom, could it be possible that Colton killed my mother and she didn't kill herself?" she asked.
"...I don't know."
They both heard a phone buzzing on the coffee table. Felicity picked it and took a look. It's Sara. She needed Felicity at the Clock Tower ASAP. She needed to get dressed then.
"Oh, Mom, I need to go somewhere," Felicity ran to her bedroom to get dressed. Unfortunately, Donna was trying to stop her.
"But I just got here. Besides, aren't you injured?"
"Mom, please, it's just a broken nose," Felicity said, "Oliver was just being over-dramatic. He was even going to send me to a hospital. I'm not invalid. And don't worry. After I'm out, I'm all yours. We can go to the movies. Hang out and do girls stuff. Right now, I really have to go."
Felicity dressed herself in a white V-neck blouse, black pencil skirt and her red jacket. She brushed her hair and tied it in her usual ponytail and put her glasses on.
"Are you staying here?"
"Actually, I already a hotel room. I came here to stop by."
Really? That's odd, even for her.
"But you know, I came here to visit," she said before giving Felicity a kiss on the cheek.
"Okay, well, if you're staying here for a little while, please remember to lock up when you leave. I don't want you leaving the door open like last time you came here," Felicity warned her.
"Sorry I left the door open when I left."
"You let a deer in and I had to call animal control to drag it out of here. It ate the sheets from my bed."
"Hey, that was a one-time thing," she giggled.
"Lock up, please," Felicity said before leaving the apartment. She was a bit concerned about leaving Donna alone. Slade already knew she had a family member and he might plan to use her against her. She needed to warn Oliver. Also, there's the fact that my father is here in Starling City. He could easily hurt her. Felicity couldn't stay silent for long.