The next morning Oliver and come to Felicity's room to tell her of his new plan, he had found her sitting on the window seat bathed in morning sunlight, her hair in a messy bun and still in her pyjamas from the night before. He smiled at her when he came in and was surprised when she stood up and went straight to him and hugged him quickly "The power supply is going well Oliver!" she said excitedly and showed him a graph on her tablet "look here…" she pointed to the screen "…the power being shared with Starling has almost put Arkham's power back to normal"
Oliver smiled as his fiancé beamed at her tablet and then turned to face him "I'm happy to help" he smiled back "…you'll be able to check the power yourself soon" he said mysteriously and wiggled his eyebrows at her "we're going to Arkham, so pack a bag we're leaving tonight" he said excitedly and felt his heart swell as Felicity gasped excitedly too and jumped up and down
"We're going to Arkham?!" Felicity squealed
"Well, given that I said it was my home because it was your home I thought it would be a good idea to explore it a little more, you being a local and all will be able to show me the sights and fully introduce me to your mother" he reasoned and laughed when she squealed again and held his arms as she did her little jumpy thing again
The Princess immediately started to make a list of all the things she would need on her trip home, all her tech gadgets, some clothes and dresses for formal occasions if there were any. Oliver left her to her packing and couldn't keep the smile off his face as he watched her race around the room packing her bags. Felicity ripped open her draws to pull out a few t-shirts when she noticed The Arrow's black phone, she took it in her hands and looked at it. Should she tell the green vigilante that she was going home? He said he would be her shadow but if he was in Arkham now then he wouldn't know where she was or what she was doing. Felicity suddenly felt very vulnerable and pressed his number on the phone and waited.
"Princess" The Arrow's voice caused a slight shiver to go down her spine
"Uhh, hey Arrow" she said awkwardly and tried to search for something to say "umm I have something to tell you"
"You're going home" The Arrow finished for her "do you know for how long?"
"Just a few days I think, Oliver wants to officially meet my mum and the people of Arkham given his speech yesterday" Felicity finished saying and then asked how he knew she was going home
"I'm your shadow remember? See you soon" somehow she knew The Arrow had been smiling, she could hear it in his voice and wondered if he knew she had been smiling?
Felicity looked out the window of the plane even though it was dark and she could hardly see anything. She had butterflies in her stomach, first they were excited ones when her mother said she would be waiting at the airport but then her mother said that Slade would be there to welcome the Princess home "He is a dear and loyal friend and he missed you so much" was her mother's reasoning; now the butterflies were making her feel sick.
Oliver grasped her hand in his when he saw her face "Are you alright?" he asked with a concerned look. The piolet announced over the speakers that they would be landing soon, he thought her worried look was due to fear of a bumpy landing and gave her a warm smile "Don't worry" Oliver gave her hand a reassuring squeeze "if the landing is rough you can squeeze my hand until it turns blue"
Felicity almost giggled and thanked him for the gesture "I just missed my mum is all" she held his hand tightly anyway as they came in for the landing, all her thoughts were on her mother, her kingdom and Slade. The Arrow was meant to be here already and she wanted to know how far he had come in helping her kingdom with its power supply and wondered when or even if she would see him while she was home.
Oliver put a protective arm around her while they went to get their bags as the flashing of the cameras and endless questions from the reporters started. Oliver smiled to Felicity as she quickly left him to go and hug her mother, seeing the two women hold each other made him happy but then his smile faded when he noticed Slade next to them; eyeing off the Princess and looking for him.
Diggle helped Oliver with the bags and noticed Slade too "What's the plan tonight?" he asked
"We check the power supply first, Felicity might be able to help us but I don't want to put her in any danger whatsoever, we only include her if we get stuck" Oliver knew that Diggle knew his word was final and nodded along with the plan "We also need to check out Slade now that he is back, I don't like the look of him"
Diggle nodded and took the bags over with Oliver as he greeted Queen Donna, they hugged and went straight to the limo.
Felicity held Oliver's hand so tight whenever Slade looked her way on the ride to the palace, The Arrow wasn't here and without him, even though Oliver was there for her he didn't know what was going on. Without The Arrow, the Princess felt vulnerable and like she needed to hide from Slade.
Oliver kept his eyes on Felicity, even though she was excitedly talking with her mother about all the charity events and galas that she missed, he could feel the tension between Slade and his fiancé, the Prince tried to play along and it was all he could do to not rip him apart when Slade reached over and placed a hand on her knee "We're so happy you're back, Princess" Slade smiled "we missed you terribly"
Felicity nodded and smiled to him, her hand never leaving Oliver's.
After the ride to the palace the Queen and Princess sent some maids to take care of all the bags and sat down in the sun room to talk. Oliver and Diggle nodded their thanks and made the excuse that they wanted to get settled and left the girls and headed for their rooms.
Just when they began to talk of their nightly activities, Slade rushed after them "Prince Oliver, let me escort you to your chambers and show your advisor where he'll be sleeping"
Oliver didn't want this man near him but out on a smile and thanked him "Slade Wilson, right?" he asked
"Royal advisor to Her Majesty Queen Donna and Her Royal Highness Princess Felicity" Slade nodded to the Prince "advisor, confidant and friend" he added
"I heard you were injured in the explosion when we last met, glad to see you're alright now" Oliver hid his emotions well behind a relieved smile as they walked and talked about the Queen and Princess, a subject Oliver was uncomfortable discussing with Slade.
They came to their rooms and Oliver said bluntly that he wanted to get settled, Slade met Oliver's eyes and there was energy between them, Slade was the one to break eye contact first and bid the Prince goodbye and hoped he settled in quickly and left Oliver and Diggle alone.
Felicity and her mother jumped right into planning a dinner to welcome the couple home, there would be good food, music and dancing and everyone the Princess had ever known would be there – royal and common alike. The Princess's heart swelled at the thought, celebrating her engagement with Oliver and, hopefully, not needing The Arrow to constantly watch over her. Vigilantes need a night off once in a while.
"…seems nice"
Felicity was snapped out of her thoughts and only caught the tail end of what her mother was saying "I'm sorry, what mother?"
"I said Oliver seems nice, this engagement must have made him grow up a little and you both look so happy" Donna smiled "I mean, the way he had his arm around you so protective it was like he would take a bullet for you!"
"Yes, the Princess is very lucky and so are we as a kingdom for Starlings involvement in sharing their power with us" Slade had come back into the room and Felicity felt her skin crawl as he sat down next to the Queen
"Prince Oliver loves my people nearly as much as I do and we are lucky his kingdom had the energy to share" Felicity said with a lump rising in her throat as Slade eyed her like a snake stalking a mouse
"Ahh yes, but the power won't last forever" Slade said in a smooth voice "you will have to find..." something in his eyes flashed "…some other way to get the power back" like marrying me Slade thought menacingly to himself
"There are many options out there" Felicity shot back knowingly "I'm sure we could find a solution before we are completely in the dark" suddenly the Princess felt like she couldn't stand Slade's eyes on her any longer and stood up, taking out her phone and saying that she needed to make a very important call.
It had been hours since they had landed in Arkham and Oliver and Diggle were already hard at work in the Princes chambers, setting up cameras all around the palace to keep an eye on the Queen, Slade and most of all the Princess.
Oliver and tried to find everything he could on Slade and so far had not found out how he had shut down Arkham's power supply. Diggle told Oliver again about how the Royal Advisor had chased away all of Felicity's previous suitors
"Looks like someone doesn't want the Princess to marry" Diggle looked at the screen showing pictures of the men "you think he's going to chase you away?"
"Slade can try" Oliver said determinedly "he doesn't scare me" a buzzing sound came from his pocket and he looked at who was calling him: Felicity. He gestured for Diggle to be quiet while he answered through the voice modulator on the phone "Princess?"
I'm sorry to bother you came Felicity's sweet voice through the phone, Oliver noted that it was laced with fear but I need to talk to you
"Are you alright?" Oliver put the phone on loudspeaker so Diggle could hear too
It's my advisor…I want to help you get rid of him Felicity said determinedly I want to know what you've found so far…can we meet?
"We can meet tonight and talk" Oliver fought the urge to tell her to stay safe and alert before he hung up and addressed Diggle "Slade must have spoken to her again" he growled lightly and put the phone down on his bed "we have to get this settled as soon as possible" he said more to himself than to Diggle who nodded in reply and searched on his laptop for more information on what they needed to do.
That night it was pleasantly warm as the Princess paced her room back and forth still organising the dinner for tomorrow night, with a tap of her finger to the tablet she switched screens and was now looking at the power usage since Starling had shared with Arkham. The supply was still strong but The Arrow was right eventually it would run out and then where would they be? She needed The Arrow.
"Princess" The Arrow's voice graced her ears and she smiled in relief when she saw him and let out a sigh that expressed her tired and fearful emotions where words could not "you wanted to see me?" The Arrow asked gently
"Yes, it's just..." Felicity didn't even bother to try and hide the tears in her eyes "...Slade did this and he won't stop hurting my people until I agree to marry him! He wants me to call off my engagement to Prince Oliver"
"Apparently Slade has chased away all your previous suitors" The Arrow said standing stiff and angry
"I worked that out for myself" Felicity rolled her eyes and brought up her tablet and walked closer to him "I've been looking for information to help you, I've looked at the power usage and it was all normal before this happened obviously but if you-"
"Stop" The Arrow raised a hand to silence her "Stop right there Felicity, please"
Felicity felt her cheeks blush when The Arrow used her real name instead of addressing her as 'Princess'. She liked it.
"I don't want you to get involved in this anymore than you have to" The Arrow came forward protectively and took the tablet from her "I can't have you getting hurt"
"It's my life, my kingdom, my choice" Felicity said defiantly and took her tablet back "I want to help and you obviously need my help otherwise why would you be here? You're not from here so you'll need me to guide you around!"
The Arrow knew that she had a point and actually admitted defeat and accepted her help on the condition that she would do exactly as she was told and ignored her remark that he was bossing around a Princess.
The Arrow had launched right into his plan - with Felicity's help he would break into Arkhams power plant and find out how to put the power back to normal again. Felicity sat safely in her room with an ear piece so she could be on her computer and guide him at the same time.
The Arrow broke through the fence with ease and stalked his way into the building, Felicity flinched when she heard him take out a guard
"The main switch that powers the whole kingdom should be down the hall, up a flight of stairs and then three doors to your left"
"I'm on it" came The Arrow's reply and kicked the door down once he was there and aimed an arrow at the technician's heart "tell my about Arkhams power supply!" He roared
"It should be working fine, has been since even before this shit started with Starling!" The little man whined "I was told to lessen the power outtake and then cut it altogether"
"Fix it now! If it's fully functional then fix it so Arkham can survive!"
"I would but Slade said he'd kill me" the technician explained "he has plans for Arkham and the Princess –"
"If you don't fix this then I will have only one plan for you and it won't end well!"
The Arrow's threat seemed to get through to him, the man turned in his chair pressed a few buttons and turned some dials and listened for something. The lights all over the kingdom started flickering with too much power and they shone brighter and brighter almost blinding anyone who was on the streets. The technician went to a little box on the wall and cut the power that Starling was sharing with Arkham and sighed in relief "Too much power would have overloaded the system and then BOOM!"
The Arrow thanked him silently and left, once he was outside he told Felicity what happened "Are you OK?" she asked
"I'm fine, Arkham is running on its own power again" The Arrow smiled as the lights around him shone on the street, he shut off his ear piece and disappeared into the night.
"The power is back on Sir and it seems to be running on its own now!" Isabel stared at the screens as she alerted her boss who simply shrugged when he saw what had happened
"I knew this would happen my dear so don't worry" he picked up an empty glass and motioned for her to bring him a drink, Isabel went for the wine first "no, no the water will be fine" he smiled to her as she poured him a big glass of water
"Don't you usually have wine, Sir?" Isabel asked "you never drink water"
"Soon my dear, water will be the most valuable liquid in all of Arkham" Slade took a sip and smiled as the water dripped from his lips "I'll drink my fill before we go into phase two of the plan" Slade decided cruelly that he had had enough water and simply dropped the glass and laughed when it shattered, Isabel looked on as if he were mad which made him laugh all the more.
A/N: I wanted this to end differently but i stil like how it turned out. Slade had plans for...water? See what happens in the next chapter with the dinner for the Prince and Princess...Slade's plan with the water will come to light then. Read and review! I love hearing what you guys think!
