"You've been working for Oliver since he got back from the island, haven't you?"

Felicity just sat there. Merlyn had her tied to a chair and so far, she'd been successfully ignoring all of his questions. The room she was in was bare and it was possible that it could have been the room she and Thea had been in originally. All she knew was that it was just her and Merlyn and he seemed to be wearing a hole into the floor. Question after question…Felicity just sat there quietly.

"How did he recruit you?"

Silence.

His voice suddenly escalated to full on yelling and with how close he leaned to her, she actually thought about it affecting her hearing for a moment. "How did he recruit you?!"

She closed her eyes and moved her head as far away from him as she could, but she didn't answer.

"You think you're being smart?" Merlyn asked, suddenly calm. He went and opened the door and peeked out into the hall. "Bring me a chair." He stood by the open door waiting and within a couple of minutes, he was handed a sturdy chair. He placed it a few feet from her and sat down. "I'm sure that you're upset with me," he said and his voice suddenly was so full of concern. "I mean, I know that you're surprised…shocked…by finding out that I'm your father…and of course, you still don't have hard proof. You're one who I think appreciates the hard scientific proof…" He shrugged. "I could supply it, but I don't think you'd believe it was real. You'd think I doctored it."

He was right.

He was absolutely right.

She just stared at him for a few minutes. "What do you want?" she asked quietly and calmly.

"Answers."

"I can't give them."

"Felicity, like it or not, you're my daughter… I do have proof…" Merlyn told her. He reached into his suit jacket and pulled out photographs. It was obvious that they were older the instant she saw them because they didn't appear to be standard size and they had signs of wearing even from where she was sitting. "I have pictures with all of you… Obviously, we all know Tommy is mine…and Thea, well, you found that out… Smart girl."

Felicity just waited.

He showed her a picture of him with Tommy and his mother. Tommy looked about the right age for it to be from right before Tommy's mother died…and Merlyn left. The next picture made her feel like she was going to pass out. It was a picture of them together and her mother. It was right before he left, she remembered that. He'd bought her a yellow dress…it was just a sundress, but it had a full skirt and she remembered thinking it was as pretty as Belle's dress from 'Beauty and the Beast'. He turned around a picture of him with Thea and Moira. He held them all together, side by side.

"Your hair was a different color then…I think you looked more like Tommy and Thea with it that color…and me."

Panic was rising inside of her. Why did he have to make it so much more real? "You left…right after that picture was taken," she finally said. Her voice broke here and there, but she managed to get it out. She realized as she stared at the pictures that she remembered her mother going through the house and taking all of the pictures with him in it. She remembered crying and begging her to stop. She either burned them or cut him out of them.

"That's right."

"I cried…for days…" Felicity admitted. "Last week, I could have told you that that was one of the worst days in my life…"

"Now it's not?"

"Well, you holding me hostage…and hurting me…"

"I LOVE you!" he yelled at her as he leaned forward in the chair.

"You've hurt me!"

"Felicity, I want us to be a family… I do. Tommy and Thea know that. They've cooperated… I'm asking you to do the same. I need to know things…about Oliver Queen and about Queen Consolidated… You're going to be a good girl, like this little girl…" he said as he held up only her picture.

Felicity shook her head, the tears still flooding her face. She was so angry at him. She knew that he had to have lost it, but at this moment, that didn't excuse anything in her mind. "I'm not that little girl anymore…"

"You are!"

"You killed her," she said sadly. "After that, I didn't watch anymore princess movies…and I didn't dress up or play princess… Mom blamed me at one point for your leaving—"

"It wasn't your fault… Later, when I was better, I just hoped that you thought that something had happened to me…"

Felicity shook her head. "That doesn't make it better!"

"It wasn't your fault!"

"I. WAS. FOUR."

Merlyn just stared at her for a very long time. They were just quiet and Felicity eventually calmed down enough to stop crying. The crying wasn't helping, it wasn't like he actually cared if he was hurting her…or upsetting her. She knew that. She was just hoping that maybe he'd feel guilt over leaving her.

"You need to answer my questions," Merlyn finally said. His tone was even and quiet and calm.

"No," she responded simply, her eyes not leaving his.

"There will be consequences for your choices," Merlyn warned. "I thought I'd taught you to obey me when you were little… I know you're smart. I've looked into everything you've accomplished," he said. "I couldn't be prouder…" He paused. "But I need these answers, Felicity… Be a good girl for Daddy…"

Silence.

"When did Oliver recruit you?"

"I applied to Queen Consolidated before Oliver even returned from the island," she said. Felicity knew that that wasn't what he was asking, but at least she was saying something.

"When did he recruit you for his night activities…as the Hood?"

"He goes by the Arrow now."

"Felicity…"

"I told you, I'm not going to help you… I won't help you," Felicity told him. "You want me to help you so that you can hurt him… I won't do it."

"Your loyalty should be to ME!" he yelled at her as he got up from his chair.

"I'm being loyal to myself."

Merlyn just eyed her as he started to pace again. He suddenly stopped and drug the chair from the room. The door shut and Felicity hoped that he was going to just leave her there. He was gone for a long time…so long that she was convinced that he wasn't coming back for her.

He came back.

He wasn't empty handed either. He came back with a whole crate of supplies. "You're making me do this, Felicity…" he told her as he set the crate down right next to her chair. With her hands tied behind her and to the chair and her feet tied together and secured to the chair, there just wasn't much she could do, but look at what he brought.

The first thing he pulled out was a length of rope. He tied her tighter to the chair. It was made of metal with a high back and the back of it ended just a pinch above her shoulders. So, when he started to wrap the rope around her upper arms at nearly her shoulders, she knew she wasn't going to be able to move and she wasn't going to like what he had planned.

"What are you doing?" she asked him. The rope was even tight enough to make it difficult to breathe. Not too much, but just enough.

"You won't answer my questions," Merlyn told her. "I'm going to have to force you to answer my questions."

"Why?"

"It's for our family."

Felicity didn't understand his response. It didn't make any sense to her. All she knew was that he could try, but she wasn't going to give up anything and she wasn't going to endanger Oliver or the rest of the team. She had to keep them safe…just as she'd worked to keep Thea safe.

"I am sorry about this," Merlyn said as he pulled out a cloth pillowcase. He shook it open and then was covering her head with it.

"What—stop!" Felicity shouted. She didn't know if this was a scare tactic or what…but she didn't like it. It was bad enough that she was separated from the others; she didn't need to be isolated in this way. He'd tied her up; it wasn't like she could go anywhere.

"You're making me do this," Merlyn said and he sounded honestly sad about it.

"There has to be another way," Felicity said as she shook her head back and forth in an effort to dislodge the pillowslip. It moved, but not in the way she wanted it to.

"There was…you chose this."

In a way, he was right. This wasn't what she wanted though. She thought that he might hit her or throw her around the room or yell…but not whatever he was up to. She listened closely now, since she didn't have the advantage of seeing what was happening.

She didn't hear anything for some time. Not even his movements.

Suddenly, the chair was being pulled backwards. Felicity struggled to try to keep it from happening, but it really wasn't much use. She couldn't use the weight of her upper body at all, so the chair continued to move backwards. She could move her head, but that was pretty much it.

Was he going to kill her?

Felicity forced herself not to panic. Would he do that? She was his daughter. Would he kill his own child? She realized that technically he'd killed Tommy the first time, but it wasn't intentional…she really wasn't sure if that was making her any more confident in what was going on.

The chair was now resting against the floor and she just relaxed her head back against the floor as well. He was moving, she could hear him. He was on her right side and she assumed that he was going through the crate.

"What are you going to do?" she asked, trying to keep fear and panic out of her voice.

"Getting answers."

"Oliver's a good man," Felicity told him. "You know he's the Arrow…he hasn't been killing…not anymore—"

"That's a lie!"

Felicity was quiet. "He killed Count Vertigo," she finally responded. "In order to protect me…he was going to kill me…" She wanted to ask him where he was then, but she knew that she really had to be a bit more careful about making things worse for her.

"That doesn't make him a good man," Merlyn told her. "Though I'm not saying that I don't approve of his actions…or what he's willing to do… I've always thought of Oliver like a son…"

"Then why all the questions about him?"

"I need to know about Oliver… Secrets… About Queen Consolidated…"

"They're not my secrets to tell."

"But you know them."

"Some…maybe…"

The truth was, Oliver had never been completely honest with them. She knew that. Felicity just hoped that Merlyn realized that. They got pieces here and there. Even though she felt like she knew Oliver, he was always surprising her with new things that had happened during those five years on Lian Yu. She wasn't entirely sure that he'd ever give up everything that had happened, but at least he was letting them in… She wouldn't give that away to Merlyn, even if he liked Oliver…and even if he was her father.

"Oliver doesn't tell me everything."

"I think that he talks to you quite a bit," Merlyn replied. "So, one last time… How did he recruit you?"

"He didn't," she responded and in part, that was true. Felicity wasn't sure if you could really count him crawling into the back of her vehicle after being shot and then revealing himself and asking for help to save his life…recruitment. It wasn't exactly a choice. Sure, she had one later…but who would really give up after knowing that secret?

Water hit her face. It soaked the cloth over her mouth and nose and she suddenly struggled to be able to breathe. She closed her mouth after choking on the water going in her mouth, but the water still went into her nostrils. Felicity's thrashed around her head and for a moment, the water stopped. She opened her mouth and sucked in air and shook her head more to try to dislodge any water in or around her nose. She thought he'd decided that he'd made his point, but the moment she breathed in again, he was pouring the water again. She closed her mouth, but it still flooded to her nose. She had to open her mouth and then water started to choke her again. She felt like she was drowning. Felicity thrashed around. Her lungs were starting to burn and the struggling against the ropes around her chest wasn't helping anything either.

He stopped again and she screamed out. "Stop! Stop! Please!"

"Tell me what I want to know," Merlyn told her calmly.

"I'm your daughter!" Felicity told him. She hated that she'd just said that out loud for various reasons. "You're trying to drown your OWN daughter!"

"I'm trying to teach you!" he countered.

He really was screwed up, she thought. Felicity wasn't sure if Tommy could save her from Merlyn right now. How was she going to get out of this? She didn't want to give up what she knew. It wasn't just this he wanted to know; he'd asked other questions…questions that would endanger Oliver and the others. She wouldn't do that. She couldn't betray them. They were her family. Her real, true family. They weren't perfect, but they were still hers.

"You're going to kill me!" she spat.

Felicity figured that he took that as a cue because he was pouring water on her again. Even with her face to the side, he seemed to be able to pour it just at the right angle that it still managed to make her choke and feel like she was drowning. The struggling and flailing didn't even help. Did he really want to teach her a lesson? Or was it something else? Did he even care if he hurt her? Did he care if he killed her? She was fairly sure that this was considered a type of torture…something terrorists did… She knew that Merlyn had disappeared for a time after Tommy's mother's death and during that time had trained with the League of Assassins…he obviously learned this somewhere…

This time, he wasn't stopping and she felt like she was really going to drown. Her lungs hurt and she felt like she was going to vomit. Felicity tried to shake the water out of her nose and mouth and instead started to really gag on it, without notice, the chair was thrown upward and tilted forward until settling back into its original position. Felicity found herself throwing up and then pushing as much water out of her mouth and nose and lungs as she could.

He was going to kill her.

"You're stubborn! That's not a good thing!" Merlyn screamed.

He was pouring water over the top of her, but she could tuck her chin in at least. Felicity closed her eyes and wanted to scream so badly, though she had a feeling that that he'd enjoy that too much. Merlyn didn't seem to be having a problem with hurting her or seeing her suffer. She bit her lip in order to stay quiet. The sobs bubbled up whether she liked it or not… He pulled the pillowslip off of her head and more water was being poured over her. Felicity didn't know if this was another part of his plan or if he was simply trying to wash her clean of the vomit. All she knew was that she just wanted him to stop…and she wanted to be untied so she could breathe. Panic was setting in once again and she couldn't concentrate on anything else to distract herself…

After a few minutes of sobbing and the anxiety tightening her chest, she started to gasp for breath. She couldn't breathe. Her lungs burned with every breath…and the ropes tightened against them…plus the pressure from the anxiety. She just couldn't take it and Felicity couldn't get enough air in.

"What—What's wrong?" Merlyn asked with concern.

Felicity tried to force out that she couldn't breathe, but she couldn't. Her mouth just hung open and then she tried to suck in breath again. It didn't work.

Apparently he had a knife because he pulled it out from somewhere and was cutting the ropes that held her in place. "Breathe," he coached.

It wasn't that easy though. Felicity's stress level was through the roof and she was terrified that he'd start up again. She knew that she wouldn't be able to last through another round. She just couldn't… Now she was soaking wet and cold and unable to breathe…

She was going to die there.

Once all the bounds were cut, she fell from her chair and onto the floor. It took a beat, but she managed to suck in air. Tears still fell from her eyes as she slowly filled her lungs with the precious air.

What was she going to do?

"I just wanted to teach you a lesson," Merlyn said as he sat down next to her. Her back was to him and she was glad that she didn't have to stare at him. She was just barely hanging on. He was calm and…normal, if you could call him normal. "You need to listen to me, Felicity. You always were Daddy's little girl when you were younger… You would have never thought to cross me then."

Felicity just closed her eyes, the tears were still coming, and the sobs had renewed. Her chest still hurt, but she was breathing. That was the main thing. She was alive. At least for now. He started to sing and she wasn't really paying attention to the song, she couldn't place it. It was haunting and beautiful…and sad… Eventually, she just couldn't cry anymore and she just lay there…utterly exhausted both mentally and physically.

Malcolm's song hit her ears and she could actually comprehend the words. So, she just lay there listening and hoping for the blackness of unconsciousness to take her.

"Is this home?

Am I here for a day or forever?

Shut away

From the world until who knows when

Oh, but then

As my life has been altered once

It can change again

Build higher walls around me

Change ev'ry lock and key

Nothing lasts, nothing holds

All of me

My heart's far, far away

Home and free!"

. . .

She remembered his singing, but she didn't remember passing out. Felicity knew that she must have, she'd even wished for it, but she had no conscious memory of it. Her lungs burned, her chest ached, her eyes stung, and tears fell from her eyes on their own accord as the memories of what Malcolm Merlyn had done to her flooded back in a heap. They hit her hard and Felicity just hadn't been prepared for it. Felicity didn't know if she could endure any more. She didn't think she was strong enough…willed or physically.

Merlyn already knew a lot about Queen Consolidated and Oliver, so Felicity KNEW that keeping secrets wasn't the smartest… Felicity just didn't want to betray Oliver or the others. She didn't want to be the reason or the cause to someone getting hurt…or worse.

Her eyes searched for any light, but there wasn't any. Felicity stretched out a little and found she couldn't move far from the fetal position she'd fallen asleep in. She was cold and wet and she didn't realize it until she was running her hands along the surface of whatever she was in that she was shaking and shivering. Felicity closed her eyes and tried to push away the panic. She'd never been one to be afraid of small cramped spaces, but she'd never had a reason to before.

"Hello?!" she called out.

No answer.

The only sound she could hear was the water. Felicity was trying to stay calm, but panic was rising in her chest and making it hard to breathe. She pounded and kicked on the walls of whatever she was in. She could feel small holes along each side, which was likely keeping her from suffocating. At least she hoped that's why they were there.

"Please!" she screamed and was on the verge of sobbing. Was he just going to leave her there? Was this supposed to be part of her punishment? Did he think that she'd learn to obey him? Or was he just trying to break down her will?

Thea.

Tommy.

She tried to focus on them for a minute. She wondered if they were okay. Felicity felt a little guilty for not being there to make sure that Thea was safe. In all honesty, though, she didn't see Merlyn doing what he was doing to her to Thea. Merlyn wanted information and Thea had none of it. The only information that Thea had was on Verdant. Merlyn didn't need any of that. Thea Queen, even though she'd had her out of control years, she really was an innocent. Even at nineteen, Thea was still a little girl afraid of things. Felicity just hoped Merlyn continued to see that…and that Tommy kept Thea safe when Felicity couldn't.

Her fingers and toes were starting to feel numb. Felicity tried to move them in order to warm them, but it really wasn't working well. It was really only reminding her that she was somewhere dark and confining. Panic was starting to hit her again. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to concentrate on something else.

Oliver.

Diggle.

Sara.

Roy.

Were they okay? What had happened? Had everyone made it out? Did they KNOW that Isabel was Talia al Ghul? What about Queen Consolidated? Was Oliver doing what he needed to do on that front? Was he protecting things?

It was hard to think that Team Arrow had more than just Slade Wilson to worry about, especially because she didn't know if Sara had told the team about Isabel or if she'd shown her face. It was weighing on her so heavily that she had no idea if they knew about Isabel or not. She'd never been a fan of Isabel Rochev, except when it came to the company's numbers, but as a person? No, Felicity had never liked her… Felicity was fairly sure that Isabel didn't like her either.

Felicity wanted so much for them to all be okay… They were her family…especially Oliver and Diggle. They'd been through a lot together and her life had changed so much because of it. As hard as it was for her to think about it, she didn't want any of them to die…but she didn't want to live or die in the nightmare she was in at the moment. If Merlyn decided that they needed to talk again like they had before, then she wasn't going to be able to hold back. She'd have to tell him everything and just hope that Merlyn didn't hurt the family that she loved and held so dear.

She suddenly just started to think of what Merlyn did the last time he and Oliver went up against each other…and what Oliver had to do in order to stop him. If they had been normal people, they both would have been dead for sure. Felicity couldn't stop the panic or the fear. She needed to get out. She needed to do SOMETHING. Felicity knew that there had to be something she could do on that boat. There had to be a way that she could help them…to keep them alive.

"Please! Let me out!" she screamed out at the top of her lungs as she started to hit and smack and kick at her confines with all her will and strength. It wasn't much, but she just hoped that someone would come for her. She had to get out of there. She had to! She couldn't handle it anymore.

Eventually though, she was too tired. She couldn't scream and she could kick or hit. She just eventually lulled herself into unconsciousness and just hoped that she woke up somewhere else.

. . .

It smelled like hamburgers and barbeque.

The sun was high over their heads.

A little girl in a yellow sundress spun around her backyard with an imaginary partner. She hummed the tune to a song that seemed so familiar. She studied the little girl, she had bright blue eyes and brown hair that was pulled back and up into a bun.

Felicity just watched from the backdoor of the house. It was odd. Familiar and yet so foreign and odd to her. Felicity didn't understand or know why. She just felt like she was stuck there and couldn't move.

"Look at the princess!"

She looked over and that's when she realized that this was all just a dream. Malcolm Merlyn, the man that she thought was a different person, came out of the house and towards her…little her. He was carrying a large plate and a pair of barbeque tongs. He looked so happy and content. It was all a lie though. She knew that now.

"Daddy!" younger Felicity complained. "Belle isn't a princess YET!"

"Oh?"

"Not until she marries the prince…"

"Smart girl," Merlyn told her as he went to tend to the barbeque.

Felicity didn't know what was worse. Watching the whole thing and knowing that it was all a lie…or knowing how broken her little heart would be soon enough. Merlyn would disappear without any notice or rhyme or reason to them…and she'd have her heart broken into a million pieces. She knew that four was a young age to remember such a thing, but it had been hard on her. She remembered crying at the window and praying to whoever would listen to bring her daddy home to her.

He never came.

"Tale as old as time…" he sang from the barbeque. Occasionally, he'd look back at younger Felicity to watch her as she danced. He seemed so happy, proud even.

Felicity didn't know how someone could keep a secret like this. It was one thing to be like Oliver, where he had a secret life as the Arrow, but quite another to have a whole other family… As she stood there, watching, unable to wake up…she realized that really Merlyn had had three families all along…even if he didn't fully participate in them. He'd been there for Tommy most, and he'd been there in so many ways for Thea because of his friendship with Robert Queen, and he'd been there with her until she was four… But how could he really do that? He said he cared about them now, but did he even care about them then? Had he thought about how his actions could affect anyone else in the future?

She doubted it.

It was just like she remembered.

"True as it can be," he continued to sing. "Barely even friends…then somebody bends…unexpectedly…"

It was odd watching it from the sidelines. Her mother came out and brought Merlyn a large glass of water, kissed his cheek, and then went back inside. She seemed so happy… Felicity had almost forgotten what it looked like when her mother smiled… It had been so long.

Too long.

"Just a little change," Merlyn sang. "Small to say the least…both a little scared…neither one prepared…Beauty and the beast…"

She was about to turn to watch her mother inside. Felicity missed seeing her smile like that and in general, being happy. Her attention was pulled back to Merlyn as he neared her younger self.

"Ever just the same," he sang as he took younger Felicity's hand and started to dance with her around the yard. "Ever a surprise…ever as before…ever just as sure…as the sun will rise…"

Felicity remembered this and it felt like just yesterday that he disappeared as she watched them dance. She used to love dancing around the yard or the house with her dad. She remembered that. He'd say that she was his little princess and that she deserved everything. This wasn't the father who had come back into her life as an adult.

"Tale as old as time," Merlyn continued as he twirled her out. He reached out his hand to pick up the glass of water and drank it while trying to dance. "Tune as old as song…bittersweet and strange…finding you can change…learning you were wrong…"

Then it all changed.

The sunny sky turned dark and ran started to fall. Felicity cringed and then watched as Merlyn held back her younger self's face as he poured the remainder of the water in the glass over her face. She screamed and choked and flailed…and nothing happened.

Then it just went black.

. . .

TBC…