"Get back here. Now!" Mrs. Queen snapped, Felicity was halfway to the elevator, almost in the clear. She froze in place.
"Now," Mrs. Queen bit out.
Felicity turned, her face burning. But so was her chin where Mr. Queen's rough stubble scrapped and scratched her skin raw. She'd have a really bad rash for sure.
"Mom," Mr. Queen gritted out between clenched teeth, "I'm the one who—" Felicity was surprised Mr. Queen would lie for her. Or, maybe it was lying. Felicity tempted him, yes, but he made the first move.
"Oh, I have no doubt about that!" Mrs. Queen snarled. She rounded on Felicity, "You! Get over here."
Felicity walked timidly toward Mrs. Queen, thinking this woman may even be scarier than Waller.
"How much is enough?"
"What?" Felicity said shocked.
"How much is enough to sweep this little incident under the rug?"
Felicity swallowed the anger rising in her throat, "I wasn't planning on saying anything…"
"Oh, really?"
"Yes," Felicity said defensively.
Mrs. Queen laughed bitterly. "Isn't that what you people do? Tell your conquest stories to your other whore friends? How many points is my idiotic son worth?"
Felicity took a step forward, than thought better of it; words won wars, not fists. "Ten," Felicity spit out.
Mrs. Queen's face contorted; anger turned into rage in a split second. Mrs. Queen wasn't a woman to be trifled with, which Felicity should have acknowledged. "Is this a game to you?"
Felicity smiled despite the hidden threat in Mrs. Queen's words.
"Do you understand the power I hold?"
Felicity knew, she just didn't care.
"I can make it so you never get a job again."
Everything about this woman made Felicity want to rebel; not hide under the radar, Felicity wanted to fight this woman. Tooth and nail. "Good thing you'll compensate well for my silence," Felicity said with a condensing smile.
A choking noise came from Mr. Queen, his lips were pressed in a tight line. Felicity felt empowered.
"Do you think this is funny?" Mrs. Queen barked, turning back to her son. "You degrading our name, Oliver. Your father's name. All his hard work, you're ruining it all. And for what? Your personal whore?"
Felicity bawled her hands into fists at her sides. Apparently, Mrs. Queen didn't care if her son degraded women.
Mrs. Queen continued, "You need to grow up. Take responsibility for once in your life. Your "fun"," she turned, pointing to Felicity before continuing, "is going to ruin this company."
Flatly, Mr. Queen spoke, "I don't care about the company, I never have. It's not something I'm interested in; it's something I was pushed into. But you know what I am interested in?" he paused for effect, "Bars. Strip joints. Nightclubs. Is that more or less embarrassing than sleeping with my assistant?"
His mother looked like she'd been slapped. She turned for Felicity again, and in a low, hostile voice, "You're done. Fired. I wouldn't stay in Starling City if I were you; no one will hire a whore."
"On the contrary, lots of people employ whores, Mrs. Queen," Felicity said softly before strutting off towards the elevator. Once safely inside, her hands begun to shake, as she came to terms with what she'd just done. Waller was going to have her neck for that.
Felicity drove to A.R.G.U.S. headquarters, her hands shaking the hole time, she was going to be fired from there too—or killed—she just knew it. Felicity walked into the building, ripping her blond wig off as she went. She headed straight for Waller's office. She tried finding the confidence she had felt from standing up to Mrs. Queen, but none would come. She rose her hand to knock but hesitated, what could she say?
"Ms. Smoak. What an unexpected pleasure," Waller said flatly from behind her, Felicity turned, Waller walked past her and opened the door. "Have a seat."
Panic flooded Felicity's chest as she took a seat in front of an annoyed Amanda Waller. Waller's eyes were narrowed in on Felicity, ready to skin her alive. "What are you doing here, Ms. Smoak?" she asked in a authoritative voice.
Felicity shrank in the chair and tucked a strand of black hair behind her ear. "You told me if anything critical came up…"
Waller just stared at her, eyes burning holes into Felicity. "Well? What?"
"Mr. Diggle—Mr. Queen's bodyguard— thought I had… other motives in working for Mr. Queen after he had someone from the IT department look into me. So I gave him a different reason and I improvised, not my best idea, and then Mrs. Queen… fired me."
Curiosity passed over her face before returning to impassive, "What did you do?"
"I… Well, me and Mr. Queen… I made a move… And his mom walked in."
Waller smirked.
Felicity winced. "What?" she asked timidly.
"What exactly happened?" Waller looked amused. Something so foreign it made Felicity anxious.
Felicity's face heated up again. "Mr. Queen asked what my intentions were… and I… made my intentions clear. And then… his mom came in. And she tried to buy me off. Until I pissed her off. Then she fired me."
To Felicity's surprise Waller laughed and shook her head. Not her condensing laugh. A real one. Or a fake one; Felicity wouldn't know. "What?" Felicity asked.
"Anything else?"
"No?"
"Then you're free to go."
"Are you not… angry?"
"I'm more entertained than anything, Ms. Smoak."
Felicity wanted to ask why, but thought the answer was probably obvious. Mr. Queen was a man-whore. "Waller, I… I don't think I'm the right person for this job. I'm going to get caught. And how can I go back there and gain his trust? I'm not qualified for this job. He's going to kill me."
"You're not qualified for the job, no."
"Then why did you chose me? Have someone who's good at all this do it."
Waller sighed, like Felicity was clueless, and opened the door, showing Felicity out. "You're good at this, Ms. Smoak."
"No, I'm not." Felicity stood and walked to the door.
"Yes, you are. You just don't know what assets I take into play."
Felicity opened her mouth, then closed it.
"And, Ms. Smoak? Call before you come running to A.R.G.U.S. headquarters."
Felicity nodded then walked out through the door without a backward glance.
