Chapter 7:
Felicity opens her eyes again without difficulty this time. Her body felt sore, probably from pain or from the period of time she spent sleeping. She tries to recognize her surroundings. The room she is in is not her bedroom. It is very well-furnished though. It wasn't dingy or abandon-looking like she would see in movies. It feels warm and the lights from the lamps gave the room a dark orange golden hue. She's lying on a king-sized bed with cream bedsheets and a bedspread covering her body. She's also not wearing her glasses. Oh, that's right, they fell off. She tries to sit up, only to find her good wrist handcuffed to the headboard of the bed. She looks at her other wrist. It's bandaged with a splinter under it. Her wrist felt stiff. She also notices her left shoulder is patched up with taped gauzes. The area where Slade shot her. Where am I? she thought.
The door suddenly opens, making her jump, and her eyes widen in fear when she sees Slade walk into the bedroom. He's carrying a tray in his hands containing medical equipment and a glass of water. When he sees Felicity looking back at him, he smiles and walks towards the bed. She sits up as much as she can and scrambles back till her back is pressing against the headboard. If only she could use her legs for a better job. Maybe kick him in the nuts?
Slade sits down at the edge, looking up and down at her.
"I can see that you're feeling better," he says. He reaches his hand towards her. She immediately turns her head away to avoid his hand but he quickly takes her chin and forces her to look at him. Tears streamed down her pale cheeks. "You were asleep for three days, dear. Do you know that? For a moment, I thought you were in a coma and would never wake up. I'm here to replace your bandages and also manage to bring a glass of water"
"…You killed Oliver…." She whispers.
"I wish I have," he says and gives him a confused look, "Your husband is still alive. He is in observation, as far as I am able to collect. The others don't know if you're alive or dead. I want them to know that you still live, for now."
"What do you want with me?" she asks.
"You will be providing entertainment for me, Felicity. Your husband is worried about you and I would hate to see him think that you're dead so soon." He cups her cheek, causing for the Overwatch to tremble. "I want him to know you still live."
"For what? What are you planning to do?"
His hand went from her face to her neck and Felicity is suddenly forced down on the bed, his hand wrapping around her throat in a tight grasp. It was not enough to suffocate her but it was enough to hurt and make her breathing uncomfortable. She cries and tries to use her good hand to pry his fingers away from her neck without success.
"I'm going to make Oliver suffer," he whispers in her ear calmly, "And I will inflict his pain and suffering upon you all while he's still watching before ending you."
He removes his hand from her throat and she gasps and coughs for air. "Oliver won't comply." Me and my big mouth, she thought.
"Of course he will," he says confidently and gave her another smile. "Because I have what he wants most, and that's you, my dear girl."
"Please don't hurt him," she kept begging. She feels like Oliver now when he was unsuccessfully begging for her life.
"Oh, but he's not the one I'll be hurting, Felicity," he chuckles before wiping away her tears with the back of his hands. Her eyes were watery, her face is white as a sheet and her lips quivered. Just exactly how Slade liked seeing her. Vulnerable and cooperative. She didn't try fighting him off. She had tried to shoot him at the loft but she now knew she couldn't fight him off. Felicity knows that the only way to stay alive is try not to fight him back, cooperate and stay on his good side. She would find an escape route soon, if she could know where she is.
"I'll find a way out of here, you know," she threatens which clearly is not the best idea she had.
"Doubt it," he laughs out loud.
His hands move to remove the bedsheets from. She's still clothed with the same black sweater and her pants she was wearing three days ago. She watches in horror as his hand moves to her right inner thigh, just and inch away from her most private area.
"You are in no position of fighting back, Felicity Queen," he whispers in her ear again, his nose now pressing against her cheek and his breath tickling her face. "Like it or not, you're stuck here with me until I decide to let you live or die. I will do whatever I please with you, rip you out from body and soul and you won't be able to do anything to top. And best of all…I'm going to enjoy it."
She wouldn't stop shaking and she gasps when Slade planted a kiss on her cheek. It simply caught her off guard. He stands up straight and takes out something from his coat. A key. Felicity frowns, thinking why he needs a key for. Then, he unlocks the cuff that bound her wrist to the headboard. She looks down at the red thin mark decorating her wrist like a bracelet before looking up at the madman who's holding her prisoner.
"You'll be bathed and then fed since you have not eaten anything for three days. I do expect for you to behave though while you're staying here."
"And if I try to escape? Will you kill me?" she asks. That was a stupid question, she realizes.
"I believe you know the answer to that question," he says as he walks out of the room. "I'll be back with your meal." And he slams the door shut.
Felicity continues looking around the bedroom, trying to find any exists that could help her escape. An air duct but it's screwed tightly to the wall. Anyone got a screwdriver, I didn't think so. The window seems like a best way to escape. To her misfortunate, how the fuck is she going to climb down a window? She's probably on the second or third floor wherever the hell they are. She can't walk. Oh, and there are bars on the windows. What a lovely touch! She thought sarcastically as she continues to rub the uncomfortable feeling she's having on her wrist were the handcuff was.
She sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose. She simply wants to go home. She wants to get out of this hell hole and see if Oliver is okay. Her plan of shooting Slade went shit. No gun. No weapon. No wheelchair. No glasses. No way out of here. And dragging her body out of the place she is trapped is not the brightest idea. I have to find a way out of here.
"We have to find Felicity," Oliver kept insisting as he rose up from the medical bed, groaning in pain. He has at least five layers of gauzes taped down on his wounded shoulder where Slade shot him. Felicity, he kept thinking. The thought that she might be alive and in Slade's hands made his heart stop cold. What the hell is he doing to her right now?
"You need to rest, Oliver," Laurel tells him.
"We'll find her," Diggle assured him, "Felicity is going to be okay. She's a smart girl. She knows better. Slade may be ruthless but he's not going to kill her."
"Slade is trying to use her to make me suffer," he says, "He's going to hurt her to hurt me. If we don't find her soon, Slade might end up sending her back to me piece by piece in a mailbox."
"That's not going to happen, man. We'll find her. We already have Thea and Lance scouring the city looking for any suspicious activity."
"They won't find Slade."
Slade doesn't want to be found. He's keeping himself well-hidden. He doesn't want anyone to find him, except for Oliver. This is just a fight between him and Slade. And he's using Felicity as collateral to lure him in.
"We know but we're trying to get a lead to where Slade took Felicity."
They won't get any leads, Oliver realizes. He understands that Diggle and Laurel are trying to help find Felicity but they still don't understand how Slade's games work. He is stealthy. He doesn't leave any leads or trails behind. He appears and disappears whenever he wants without leaving any tracks for them to find. He vanished into thin air. When he took away Felicity, he did not leave any fingerprints or any trails of blood. It's as if he was never there. Even the gun disappeared.
He knows Felicity is brave. She is not stupid enough to fight off Slade, especially in her condition. Not to mention that Slade is pumped up on Mirakuru again. He was supposed to punish me, he keeps blaming himself. He didn't need to take her. It's my fault Shado is dead. He can't simply punish her for something she was not responsible for. Unfortunately, Slade can and he will in order to keep the Green Arrow in line. Also, he's probably enjoying a bit of payback for what Felicity did to him when she stabbed him with the syringe that contained the cure. But is he really going to kill Felicity in order to make him suffer?
He doesn't want to sit around and find out.
"We need to do everything we can for her," Oliver says, "We're going to find her, before something terrible happens to her."
We're going to find you, Overwatch, he thinks. I promise.
Slade returns to the bedroom with a bowl of oatmeal in his hands. He knew that Felicity Smoak (or Queen; it didn't matter) would be hungry but he wasn't going to shove a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon down her throat since she was asleep for three days. The last thing he would want is for her to have a bad digestion and throw up everywhere. One thing is torturing Felicity, causing her to be sick is another story. That is not how he works.
He was surprise to find Felicity still sitting on the bed. Her head had been dipping at the side as if she was about to fall asleep or fall into unconsciousness. Sleep is more likely. Even after waking up from a three-day sleep, she may still be tired. He can't let her sleep right now though.
"I brought you something to eat," he said.
Felicity nearly jumps when she heard the door close loudly. She sits up straight and stares at him with a startled look. She's probably not used to being woken up like that. The thought of scaring her witlessly every time he had to wake her up just gave him the urge to laugh right in her face. Slade simply smirked though as he walks over to the bedroom and sets down the bowl on the nightstand, giving Felicity an easy access to her food.
Slade notices how pale she is right now. How her skin is now glowing in the faint orange light. How her lips quivered every time she saw him coming and how eyes watered every time he would try to touch her. He knew her glasses were her shield. Without them, she looks exposed and vulnerable. It made him smile at the thought.
Felicity, still not taking her frightened blue eyes from the psychotic madman, reached for the bowl and took it in her shaky hands. There's a spoon in the bowl. How lovely, she thought. He didn't let her eat the bowl of oatmeal like an animal. But she was still skeptical about eating the oatmeal, thinking that it might be poisoned or full of drugs to put her to sleep.
"Don't be concerned, girl," he chuckles, "You were already falling asleep again when I got here. If I really wanted to drug you, I would have done it by now. In fact, I wouldn't have allowed you to wake up in the first place…Eat."
She nods and hesitantly eats her oatmeal. She was glad Slade didn't give her anything heavy to eat. She might be hungry after sleeping for so long but she wasn't so desperate and she also knew the consequences of eating too much too fast. She has seen documentaries of people getting badly ill for eating too much too fast after so many days of empty stomach. She didn't want to become the next victim.
After she ate her fill, she puts the bowl back down on the nightstand. Slade looks down at the empty bowl. Well, she left a bit of it but it was probably enough for her not to starve.
Felicity simply wanted to rest. She wanted to close her eyes in order to avoid looking at him. But as soon as she blinked, the bedsheets were removed from her and she was immediately lifted up from the bed. She gasps and cries as she tries to struggle away from him. Slade simply growls in annoyance and throws her over his shoulder like a sack. Felicity kept punching him in the back to no avail. It was simply a failed attempt.
"Would you stop that!?" he snaps as he carries her away from the bedroom.
"Where are you taking me?" she asks in panic. She figures he might be taking her to a torture chamber.
"You need to be cleaned up," he states airily, "You have an odd unpleasant smell."
"You'd stink too if you haven't taken a bath for three days ― Hey, hands off the ass!"
Slade didn't notice his hand was on her hide till she said it out loud, and immediately removes his hand. He was trying to hold her so she wouldn't fall off his shoulder even though he was holding her thighs. It took a few moments before Felicity finally stopped punching him in the back. She's a feisty one, he thought. She's more of a fighter than Thea was when he captured her. And the fact that this girl can't walk and still manages to hit him is what surprises and intrigues him.
He finally brings her into the bathroom.
Felicity noticed that the bathroom is a lot bigger than what she and Oliver have back at the loft. The bathroom is brightly lit with white tiled floors, a double vanity, a massive mirror and an ivory bathtub. Slade finally puts Felicity on a Windsor chair before going over to set the water up. Felicity examines the bathtub Slade is preparing for her. It looks like it can fit more than three people in it. She can easily drown in it.
Slade has been testing for the water to be warm. Of course, he would have preferred to bathe her in cold water but he is more ethical than that. When he finally noticed the tub almost filling up to the rim and the water was nearly hot, he turns off the nuzzles and proceeds to pour bath salts in it. They smell like lavender, Felicity realizes.
"You might want to start removing your clothing, dear," he suggests.
Felicity's eyes widen when he said.
"You want me to take off my clothes…in front of you? Are you nuts?" she asks though it was more of a rhetorical question than an actual question. "…I'm not doing it. I think I rather if you left me to bathe myself."
"Either you take them off or I will remove them myself by force," he threatens, "And I think you should be wise not to consider the second option. Besides, it's not like I haven't seen a woman naked before."
I'm guessing he has…seen a lot of naked woman before, she thought as she held herself, how many women has he had sex with? She even wonders why Slade didn't strip her from her clothing while she was still asleep. She tugged at her sleeves but she was so afraid of what Slade might do to her that she couldn't bring herself to remove her sweater.
The villain sighs impatiently and walks over to her. "No," she cries out when he tries to forcefully remove her sweater. He finds this fight ridiculous and tiresome. She then scratches his left forearm, drawing blood. Slade hisses and draws back his hand from her.
She scratched me, he thought as he watched his own blood trickled down the cuts she made with her nails. The wounds immediately healed in seconds. He realizes now that Felicity is going to be a lot more trouble than he thought.
Felicity mentally smiled to herself at her small victory. It goes to show that she may be blonde but she's not that blonde. She's not that dumb chick that simply dyes her hair blonde and has her nails perfectly cleansed. Felicity had always bitten her nails every time she worked at the computers. She didn't care if they look crooked or unpainted but these weeks, she allowed her nails to grow a few more inches, knowing that if she had a weapon of choice, her nails would do the trick and she didn't care if she might break one of them. And today was that day her nails became of good news.
Unfortunately, her small victory was immediately taken away when Slade suddenly backhanded her in the face. She cries out at the sudden strike that forced her head to the side. She knew better not make Slade angry and her little act just made things bad for her. Her face throbbed and stung as if she got hit by a volleyball. And she did got hit with a volleyball before back when she was in high school. She was really bad at sports.
"I suck at games," she used to tell her mom a lot. She misses her so much. Tears streamed down her face, not just because she was in pain but because of the loss of her mother.
"You will never do that again, do you understand?" he growls, forcing her to look at her by grabbing the chin. She bites her lower lip and nods.
Once he finally got her under control, he proceeded to remove her sweater, exposing her pale skin and dark bra. Felicity shivered at the sudden exposure and removal of the confinements of her sweater. She did feel stuffy in that sweater after so long but oh how she wanted it back on again! She feels cold, exposed and vulnerable in front of Slade would wouldn't stop staring at her.
"I need you to remove you bra as well, Mrs. Queen," he says as he throws the sweater in a basket-like hamper.
Slowly and almost hesitantly, she did as told and reaches for the hook behind her back. Once she unclasps it, she slowly removes her bra from her chest. It felt more like peeling it off since the bra remained stuck to her skin and the marks it left stung a bit when she was finally able to remove it and puts it down aside.
Slade notices that she is almost flat-chested. Her breasts are small, firm and pale, and her nipples look brown and perked. They were probably perk from the exposure to the coldness. He also notices the marks from the straps marring her smooth skin. She looks a lot smaller and a lot more vulnerable than before.
"My eyes are up here," she says more timidly as she crosses her arms over her chest to cover herself from he gaze.
Slade nods before crouching on his knees in front of her and proceeding to remove her pants, slowly and carefully unbuttoning and unzipping them, aware that his movements would cause her to go into another fit and needed to be prepared for when she strikes again. He removes her pants and then her panties. Felicity was thankful he looked away when he removed her undergarments. She already felt she had been stripped from her dignity enough.
Once she was already unclothed, Slade carries her over to the bathtub and gently put her down in the warm water. Felicity involuntarily sighs at the warmth surrounding her. She had to hold herself upright by the edge of the bathtub to keep herself from sinking into the water.
"Why are you doing this? Why can't you just leave us alone?" she asks even if she already knows the answer to her question.
He chuckles. "You know why. And I can't just let you go now that I have you right where I need you to be and right where it hurts Oliver the most."
"He's going to try to find you, you know that right?"
"My dear, he's not trying to find me. He's trying to find you. There's a difference."
"But you're not going to let him find me, are you? You're going to keep me here captive and torture me," she kept saying.
"That is the plan, anyways. One detail you have left out is that he will be watching the event the entire time," he mentions.
Those words suddenly made her blood run cold. What does he mean that Oliver will be watching the entire event? How is Slade going to torture her in front of Oliver? She doesn't want to know.
"You're kidding, right? Right?"
Slade smirks at Felicity. She's is so cute, he thought as he straightens up and begins to walk out of the bathroom.
"Slade?"
"I'll be back in five minutes to check on you. I do expect to find you already bathed and ready to be dried once I return."
She didn't dare ask what will happen if she was not bathed when he returned. He left her alone. She used a sponge to scrub her body, the soap being formed on the surface of the water. She also pours water over her head and washes her hair. She's already beginning to smell like lavender. It was a lot better than smelling of cold sweat and old blood. She also carefully cleans the wound where Slade had shot her.
She sighs. Looks like I won't be going anywhere for a while. If I'm going to die, might as well not die with bad hygiene. She knew better than to try to fight Slade now. She learned it the hard way now after received a harsh slap in the face. Now she has to stay put, try to talk her way out of this (which is what she does best) and hope for Oliver to find her in time. I have to hold on as much as I can. It's going to be okay.
She hisses when she feels a sharp pain on the right side of his ribcage. It feels like someone is gripping her side forcefully, trying to break her ribs and it's making it difficult for her to breathe. She then notices the water turning red. She puts her hand to the area of her pained ribcage. When she looks at her hand, it's covered in blood. She even coughs up blood and lets out a piercing scream.
Hope you enjoyed the story. Is Felicity going to die? Is Slade going to let her die? Will Oliver find her?
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And please read and follow my other fanfiction Black Smoak.
