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Felicity is out of Darhk's clutches and back with Team Arrow. Everything's going to be ok, right? Sure.

Chapter 6

Felicity turned around slowly, as if in a dream. Or nightmare.

She'd finally got through to Curtis, which was harder than she'd expected. Also, weirder. She'd never thought that reminiscing about an evening spent drinking margaritas and non-stop Adele karaoke would be the thing to prove her identity, but giving him an exact tracklist did the trick. She'd told him when she was supposed to join in on the attack on ARGUS, and he'd promised her he'd get the team on it.

Curtis promised! So why was Oliver in full Hood mode? He'd just killed both of Darhk's ghosts and was preparing to shoot her, and Felicity really wanted to pinch herself, except she was sure that any sudden moves would get her an arrow to the gut. Where was the hope-filled Green Arrow who wanted to help the city in the daylight, too? It occurred to her that maybe she'd underestimated the effect finding her dead body would have on Oliver.

She turned around slowly, and carefully put her tablet on the ground, holding her hands out to show how empty they were. She could feel a sweat drop trickling down her back, and wished they hadn't made her wear that stupid ski mask thing. Oliver hadn't moved. He was still standing in front of her, arrow ready. She swallowed, and made her move, carefully taking the ski mask off, and hoped that when he saw her face, he'd believe it was her. But his expression didn't change, not until she said his name.

Then he lowered his bow, and put the arrow back in the quiver. She couldn't hold back the relief she felt at that, and when he started walking towards her, really thought that it was over, that she was safe, at last. She really wasn't expecting the punch to the jaw. Her last thought was regret that she'd asked Curtis to involve the team at all. Clearly they'd all gone insane since she'd been gone.

Waking up in a cage, Felicity didn't know what hurt more – her aching jaw or the memory of the look of hatred on Oliver's face, which she'd never seen directed at her. That's ridiculous, she thought. That's just bad movie dialogue. Of course my jaw hurts more.

She moved her mouth carefully, and regretted it. Diggle and the others had noticed she was awake, and she sat up, just as Oliver turned towards her. She wasn't even sure what she said, through the screaming rage in her head. He'd hit her! He couldn't tell it was really her! She'd never once doubted him, and it took one little event for him to completely give up on her.

Now, that's not fair, she thought. She had doubted him, in Nanda Parbat, when they'd all been infected with the Alpha/Omega virus. Also, Oliver had been confronted with her doppelganger's dead body, which was undoubtedly traumatizing and – she was doing it again. So pathetic, she thought. You see him for a few seconds and you're his little pet, all over again. Well, this is where you lose, Felicity. Because he clearly doesn't want you.

She tossed her head, refusing to even look like she was begging, and his eyes narrowed. "What do I have to do to persuade you that I'm me? That I'm Felicity?"

It wasn't fair to say only Oliver thought she wasn't the real thing. Of the team, only Curtis seemed convinced. Laurel wanted to be convinced, she could tell. Thea wouldn't meet her eyes, Diggle wasn't buying it, and Oliver . . . oh, lord. Oliver's eyes were dead.

"You're not going to persuade us." Oliver's voice wasn't much warmer than the look in his eyes. "I held my Felicity's dead body for hours. I know who's dead and who isn't."

Felicity couldn't decide whether she felt terrified or angry. She decided to pick one. So, anger, right? Anger was good. "Why the hell didn't you kill me then, back at ARGUS? Why am I here?"

"You have information that we need. You're going to give it to us, one way or another." Even though Oliver's words were horrifying, Felicity was reassured by the way the others turned to look at him, in various expressions of denial.

"That wasn't part of the plan, Ollie!" Laurel sounded disgusted.

Oliver ignored her. "How about you start by telling us what Darhk's endgame is, and where he gets his power from?" He walked closer to the cage, exuding an air of menace which she'd never seen aimed at her, never.

Felicity just wanted to ask him if he remembered that morning in Bali, which they'd spent in their hotel room – morning had turned to evening and night, and they hadn't even felt the time passing. She wanted to remind him of their first kiss, when he'd dumped her, and their first date, when their restaurant exploded. She thought of all of these things, and opened her mouth to say them, when a wave of exhaustion passed over her. She closed her mouth again, and folded her arms. Screw them all.

Why were they making her do this? Didn't they know what she'd been through? The weeks after she'd lost the brainwashing had been the hardest of her life. She slept rigidly, hardly daring to move, for fear even her stance would give her away. Every morning, she'd palm the capsule, and then flush it, hoping that Darhk didn't have men in the sewers, or checking the septic tank, whatever kind of plumbing setup the bunker had. She had to replicate her happy, cult-like demeanour with men who hated her, and were just waiting for her to slip up. This was not the reception she'd expected.

Someone's phone buzzed, almost simultaneously with a red streak of lightning which resolved itself into Barry, who, uncharacteristically almost careened into the wall.

"Oh my God!" Barry's face split into an enormous smile. "You found her! You got her out!"

Oliver just shook his head, and prepared to walk away. The others all glared at Barry, and Digg's eyes narrowed. "How did you know when we were doing this?"

Barry turned to look at Curtis, and the others did the same. Curtis didn't see them, though. He was talking to someone on the phone.

"Look, this isn't Felicity!" Oliver'd had enough, she could tell. "This is some copy Darhk got through a breach, and who he's using to destroy us, to turn us against each other! Can't you see that?"

Barry shook his head. "No, that can't be, and I'll tell you why-"

"Everybody be quiet!" Curtis was brandishing his tablet like a weapon. He then turned it towards the cage, and Felicity's heart skipped a beat. Her mother was looking at her, eyes full of tears, trying to smile with trembling lips.

"Sweetie? I'm going to need you to tell me something, alright, honey? Remember when I couldn't afford to send you to space camp, and I said we could go shopping instead, and you said-"

Felicity blinked hard, trying to stop the tears which were gathering. She ended up knuckling the corner of her eye, hurriedly.

"I asked you who'd take fashion advice from someone who dresses like a color-blind Vegas hooker. And that your corner on Fremont was probably taken by now, better hurry."

Donna shrieked and everyone jumped. They heard the sound of heels clacking to the elevator.

Felicity looked up. Oliver's face was grey. "She tried to wash your mouth out with soap, but couldn't catch you – her heels were too high."

He whispered the words, like he couldn't believe what he was saying. Felicity just nodded. She remembered them giggling about the story when she'd first told him about it, and Oliver trying to imagine what would have happened if he'd tried something like that with Moira.

Thea and the others, who'd first stared at Felicity like she'd lost her mind, already looked happier, like they'd only been waiting for a good reason to believe her. Diggle still looked sceptical, though.

"Didn't we say they might have got all this stuff out of her in the loft?"

Oliver shook his head. "When I found her – when I found the other Felicity – she hadn't been dead for long. And I know when you," he continued, pointing at Felicity, "left Palmer Tech. There wasn't time to extract obscure details from your childhood."

"That's exactly what I've been trying to tell you all," Barry interrupted, clearly having had enough. "And this is just more proof! 'Cause Earth Two Felicity wasn't from Vegas! And her parents . . . uh . . ." Barry chewed on his lower lip before continuing. "They died in a car wreck when she was still a baby. So . . ."

The others turned towards her, clearly wanting to start with the welcoming party, though Felicity wasn't sure she wanted to let go of her resentment just then. They'd punched her – ok, just Oliver – had locked her in a cage (Oliver, again – man, the guy had trust issues out the wazoo), and were talking of torturing her for information. Except – yeah, that was Oliver again. Strike three, buddy. She tried to look at Oliver more closely, but he was refusing to meet her eyes. She opened her mouth to ask him what the hell was wrong with him, when the elevator dinged.

" . . . and then I told her I was going to wash out her mouth with soap, and you know what she said? 'Good luck catching me in those heels, mom!'"

Donna raced out of the elevator, followed by Captain Lance. Oh mom, she thought. Still teetering on ridiculous high heels after all these years. She slammed into the cage, trying to hug Felicity through the bars.

"My baby! I knew you were alive, all along, I knew it! You can ask them, I told them! None of them believed me, only Curtis here!" She waved behind her to indicate Curtis, who wasn't trying very hard to avoid looking smug.

Then she turned to Oliver and the others. "You open this cage right now, mister. This is my daughter in here, and you have no right to lock her up. God knows what she's been through in all this time, she looks terrible."

Felicity sighed. "Mom, they don't provide hair and make-up for drones of supervillains."

"How come that monster's wife always looks like some kind of old-time movie star, then?" Donna sounded like she'd been building up quite a bit of resentment.

Felicity, on the other hand, realised something which had been nagging at her for a while. Her mom was in the lair. Her mom. Oliver was still in his Green Arrow suit, Laurel and Thea were suited up too, and her mom had ignored them and was still ignoring them.

"Mom . . . how? How are you down here?"

Her mother tossed her head and aimed a glare at Oliver. "He told me! And he tried to convince me that you were dead. I never believed it, sweetie, never!"

No-one seemed to want to meet Donna's eyes, except Oliver, who just shook his head.

"Anyway, I didn't mean the make-up, though a little eye-liner would do you a world of good, honey." God, she'd missed her mother so much. "No, your face is all bruised, baby! What have they been doing to you, that horrible Darhk guy?"

Oh, shit. Felicity exchanged a panicked glance with Oliver, or at least tried to. Oliver was doing the hand to forehead thing which was a sign of incipient nervous breakdown on his part, and which she usually found endearing. Right now, it just pissed her off. Fine. She was on her own.

"It's nothing, mom. When they realised I was just faking being brainwashed, they tried to take me back. It doesn't matter. They're dead now." She stared straight at Oliver, stressing the word 'dead' just a little.

Diggle looked at Oliver, raising an eyebrow and Oliver waved him off, in a 'not now' kind of gesture. Donna's face hardened and she nodded.

"Good." Now it was Felicity's turn to raise her eyebrows, and Donna noticed. "They took my baby. They tried to make me believe you were dead, killing some poor woman who didn't deserve to go out like that, no matter what she did."

Oliver took the opportunity to reach around Donna and punch in the code, and the door locks on the cage disengaged. Felicity couldn't help a sigh of relief. She'd really thought Oliver was going to keep her there for a while. Donna pulled the door open and enveloped her in a hug, and once again Felicity had to hold back tears.

"Now we're going to a hotel for a full make-over, sweetie, and that thing with the hot rocks, you know what I mean-"

Felicity grabbed her shoulders to stop her. "Mom. Mom!" Once Donna got started like this, nothing would stop her, short of a nuke. "I have to stay here. Darhk can't know that I'm not a prisoner. They'll be looking for me – hopefully not in the street outside. As long as Oliver used the van with the Faraday cage built in, and took the bugs out of this jumpsuit, I'll be safe here."

Oliver nodded to everything – she hoped he'd been thorough. Donna's eyes filled with tears, but she seemed to understand, and squeezed her again. Felicity managed to signal the others, and they sprang to life, with Lance urging her mother upstairs, Thea telling her she was going to get an icepack, Barry giving her a quick hug and speeding out, and Laurel trooping off to get changed.

Diggle came up to her, and to her delighted surprise, wrapped her in a bone-crushing hug. "I am so, so sorry, Felicity. I'll never forgive myself for giving up on you like that."

"Come on, Dig," she said, nestling into his chest. Diggle gave the best hugs. He should do it more often. "Finding a body is usually pretty definitive."

He blinked rapidly and nodded, though she wasn't sure he really accepted it. "I need to go and tell Lyla. You'll be ok here?" he asked, not adding 'with Oliver', though his eyes said it for him, shifting to Oliver as he stood aside, arms folded, face blank.

"I'll be fine, Dig."

Diggle walked out, though not before giving Oliver a look which she couldn't decipher. Thea gave her a hug and an icepack, then left too. In a matter of minutes, she was alone with Oliver, who hadn't moved or said a word since he'd opened her cage.

Felicity tried hard to control it, but her rage was still coming out of every pore. Why couldn't he say something? Why was it always up to her?

"Well? Do you believe me now? Or is there still some more proof you need?" She pointed to the empty cage behind her. "Do you want to lock me up again? Maybe you think I'm gonna go all Manchurian candidate on your ass, as soon as you say 'island' or 'five years', or 'darkness', or-"

"I believe you." Oliver's voice was quiet, toneless.

In a way she was glad that he'd interrupted her. She might have gone on forever, otherwise. On the other hand, she was still angry. "Oh really? Now, you believe me?"

He nodded, lips twitching. "Only the real Felicity could be so mad at me."

"For good reason, Oliver." Really? Was there a reason? Sure, he'd punched her, but what – he wasn't supposed to fight the bad guys anymore, when they were women? He should have known it was me, a deep down part of Felicity insisted. Yeah, in the movies, maybe. This is real life. No, the voice insisted mulishly. He should have known.

Felicity walked up to him, getting really close, almost relishing the look of apprehension in his eyes. "Maybe you need proof, Oliver. Real proof."

She got up on tiptoes and pulled his head down to hers and kissed him, nibbling on his lips until he opened his mouth and responded. She knew she had him when he unfolded his arms and grabbed her waist, pulling her up to him, plunging his tongue in her mouth. Then she pulled back, putting both hands on his chest and pushing him away. She'd never admit it out loud, but she relished the hurt look on his face, a look which quickly turned into acceptance.

Oliver seemed to know what she was going to say before she even opened her mouth.

"I'm staying as long as it takes to deal with Darhk, Oliver. After that, I'm done – with the team, with everything. We're done."

Oliver nodded, resigned, even as the rage inside her grew. Do something, Oliver! Fight, for once! But he didn't respond, and she walked away, leaving him next to the empty cage. As she entered the elevator, punching in the number for a higher floor, she listened for any reaction on his part, but there was only silence.

.

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