A.N.: Hello again! I got FOUR reviews for chapter eight and I feel successful, YES! Thank you to those who reviewed and also to those who didn't review but are following the story!
mjf2468: I'm glad you like it! I also love the Olicity moments, though there's gonna be some Olicity angst before we have more cuteness, since there's a lot to happen. Bear with me if you can!
bdbouchra: Je ne parle pas couramment le français, mais j'ai étudié le français pendant un an et je suis heureuse parce que je vous comprends! Felicity ne va pas leur pardonner facilement, elle sera colère pendant un certain temps! Did I say that right? Sorry if my french sucks, LOL! Don't worry, Felicity won't forgive Oliver and Dig right away, they hurt her feelings and she will be mad for a while, which will lead her to distance herself from them and make some choices on her own. I can't say anything else! I hope you enjoy the rest, I'll try my best!
Carfa: You're awesome for reading it!
misschristy: Oliver will open his eyes soon, though there's angst to be had before it, beware! Also, I hadn't heard anything about a new love interest for Felicity until you said it, but I'm NOT amused. I'm excited that Oliver's gonna ask her on a date, though! I've listened to Pentatonix's version of Say Something and it was SO AWESOME, I CAN'T EVEN! You were right, it changed my life and I'm obsessed with them and I blame you!
On other notes, this chapter has taken forever and it's long and it might be boring. It was gonna be even longer, but I've decided to split it.
In which Felicity is having a crappy day. It's all about her, by the way, since I said we'd see how she's feeling. I got carried away writing Felicity being Felicity! Also in this chapter: Barry Allen! I love him, if you don't love him, I'm sorry. Next chapter will feature the rest of this day and stuff will happen, so don't give up on me, folks!
Enjoy!
Disclaimer: These characters are not mine, but I do love them.
Confusion: lack of understanding; uncertainty.
Felicity woke up with a start when her alarm clock started ringing loudly. She groaned and reached blindly for it, turning the offending thing off. She sighed and silently debated the pros and cons of staying in bed a few more minutes. In the end, her guilty conscience didn't let her sleep and she got up. She put on her glasses and checked her phone; thankfully she hadn't missed any phone calls or texts from Oliver or Digg. She checked her tablet next, monitoring the foundry's security system.
Satisfied that everything was in order, she headed to the kitchen and got started on a pot of coffee. Leaving the pot brewing, she opted for a quick shower, washing away the last traces of sleepiness. By the time she got out of the shower, she was feeling a lot less sluggish, though she knew she'd only feel like herself after a cup of coffee.
As she got dressed for the day, Felicity let her mind wander to yesterday's discoveries. They finally had proof that Isabel was working against QC. Isabel's days as queen of the high horse parade were numbered and Felicity couldn't wait for it to happen. She chuckled, imagining herself dramatically entering a board meeting and uncovering Isabel in front of everyone, throwing files at the table and yelling AHA. Oliver would probably be the one doing that, in a less theatrical and totally boring manner, obviously, but a girl could dream.
Thinking about Oliver made her feel all kinds of things she shouldn't be feeling. Something had shifted yesterday, though she he was not sure what. She could no longer deny the charged energy that ran between them. Before, she would've chalked it all up to sexual tension, but, after last night, it would be a lie. Their connection had intensified. Scratch that, her Oliver awareness radar had gone completely nuts.
He had opened up to her in a way he had never done before and it had warmed her heart to know he trusted her enough to tell her about his insecurities. And she had actually been able to comfort him, which she was incredibly proud of, considering how much she had struggled to stay coherent, and to focus on his words, when they were sitting in such close proximity on that couch.
Then he had taken her hand in his large, warm, ones and thanked her for helping him become a better person. Felicity didn't want to take credit for that, but she wouldn't deny how moved she had been by his words. And the look he gave her... it was so intense she thought she would drown in it; his gaze was pulling her in and she wanted to kiss him, to find out if his lips were as warm as his hands. Her pulse had sky rocketed and her breathing had become heavy. It was like there wasn't enough air around them...
She had put on her favorite gray pencil skirt and was halfway through buttoning her pink blouse when it occurred to her: did I imagine everything? Last night, she could've sworn Oliver wanted to kiss her, but now she wasn't sure. Could her ever confusing feelings for him be clouding her judgment of the whole situation?
Felicity remembered how her heart had skipped a beat at the thought that he wanted to kiss her. Her mind had started working furiously, forming one question after another: Does he wanna kiss me? Do I want him to want to kiss me? Do I wanna kiss him? Realizing the answer was yes to all those questions, she had involuntarily licked her lips and his gaze had flitted to her mouth; she had looked at his mouth in return... then her laptop had pinged. Damn that thing, she had been so ready to smash it with her heel.
Felicity shook her head to disperse those images and finished applying her make-up, heading to the kitchen afterwards. She poured her coffee in a to-go flask and took the donuts she had bought yesterday out of the fridge, taking a bite to test if they were still okay to eat. They were a little hard, but she wouldn't have time to make something else for breakfast or buy fresh baked goods, so she just put them in a little bag to eat it at work with her coffee.
Looking at the clock, she cursed. She wasn't late; she just wanted to arrive earlier. If they finished their work for the day early at QC, they'd have more time to prepare for their mission at Levesque Enterprises tonight. And something told hear they could use the preparation.
She went into her bedroom to get her purse and electronics, returning to the kitchen to pick up her food before leaving her apartment. She mentally checked if she had everything while she walked down the street to her car.
Felicity knew Oliver and Dig would happily pick her up if she let them, but she preferred driving herself. Spending all of her time around stubborn men was too much sometimes. She liked the small freedom of driving; it gave her more time alone with her thoughts. Besides, her car held sentimental value, signifying the first step into the creation of Team Arrow and all that.
The thought of her first days after knowing Oliver's secret made her reminisce on their time together. All their experiences fighting crime and the obstacles they faced, it all made their team stronger and brought them closer. But the kind of closeness she had with Oliver was entirely different from the closeness she had with Dig, she couldn't help but compare.
John had always been a good friend; they had just clicked together that way. He was like a big brother: she knew he would always look out for her in every way and he wasn't scared to call her bullshit when needed. Oliver though… Oliver was something else. There had always been something unsaid between them; both knew this unidentifiable connection existed, yet neither ever mentioned it.
She couldn't explain it, it was just natural. Oliver made her feel safe and cared for, something she had always secretly craved. She had always acted tough, like her mother's carelessness and her father's abandonment couldn't bring her down. The truth was: it nearly did.
There was a point in her life where she believed her life in Vegas was all she'd ever have; she had been ready to give up MIT to live a pasty little life she had never wanted, all because of her fears and insecurities. It took her a long time to build up walls high enough to shield her from herself; to learn how to believe that her parents' mistakes were their own and that the fault was no one's but theirs.
Once she started believing in herself, though… Felicity took the world by storm. MIT was a huge part of that. Being constantly challenged and recognized for her brilliance helped build back the confidence her parents had destroyed. Some would say that she was a little too confident, but she didn't care. She embraced her own awesomeness and everyone else would just have to suck it.
That didn't mean that her insecurities weren't there, though. The suspicion that her father was actually an evil scientist right out of a comic book story didn't help with that. Thinking about her father made her confused. Where had he been all this time? Why did he leave? Was he even alive? Was he one of the bad guys? What was his connection with Anthony Ivo and the mirakuru? She didn't know any of that. She had so many questions and, yet, she was terrified of the answers.
She had been searching for him. She didn't mention it to Oliver and Dig, because they had too much to worry about already, but she wanted to find her father. She needed to know everything. The weirdest part: there was little to none to be found about him. It was like he had vanished of the face of the earth; there were no records of him after his time at S.T.A.R. Labs.
Felicity had started to think that this whole thing ran deeper than she ever imagined. The way her father's records had been scrubbed from every database she could find, it had professional written all over it. The question was: why? Better yet, one of the questions. Some of the others were: was he working for someone powerful or was he running from someone powerful? If so, why was he running? What had he done? Or what hadn't he done?
As she arrived at QC, she stopped that train of thought. She didn't want to get a headache so early in the day. She parked her car and walked the few steps to the elevator, getting in and pressing the button to the top floor. Having a parking space closer to the elevator: one of the perks of being Oliver's EA. On the down side, there was the gossip. Felicity was well aware of what was said about her in the hallways; she knew they thought she had slept her way up to the top.
In the beginning, it had bothered her, but her reputation wasn't high on her list of concerns these days. They can think whatever they want. She didn't understand how they thought she was at the top, though. In her opinion, being basically a secretary with an MIT degree was a new low. Then, again, she was over it, having more important things to worry about.
Getting to her desk, Felicity started working immediately. She wanted to sort out Oliver's schedule for the day before he got there, so that they could leave early tonight. She sent a few emails and made a few phone calls, using the sweetest voice she could manage to cancel meetings, making sure she didn't ruin business with important people.
She was about to get started on her breakfast when the phone ringed. It was the IT department; they needed her because one of the programs she created had crashed and no one else knew how to fix it. She didn't mind helping the IT department, she was excited whenever they asked for her help, but today was so not the day for this. She needed things to be smoothly on schedule and it didn't look like it was gonna happen.
She went there, deciding that it was better to do it herself than to explain it over the phone. It took her five minutes to fix the problem and twenty minutes to make them understand how she had done it. All the while, her mind was on her day old donut, which sounded like a banquet now that she was starving.
When she finally got back to her desk, she promptly grabbed her coffee and donut, but was interrupted again by the phone. She groaned and put her head on the desk, reaching blindly for the phone and answering it with her forehead still firmly pressed to the glass table.
It was from the Acquisitions department this time, asking about the emails she had sent an hour ago. She was annoyed, having to explain a self-explanatory email in which she asked for copies of contracts that needed to be reviewed by Oliver, how hard is that to understand?
After she was done with the phone call, she took her flask and sipped her coffee, sighing at the taste and not even caring that it was lukewarm. Sweet nectar of the gods, she thought. When she was about to take the first bite off her donut, the elevator pinged, announcing someone's arrival.
"Oh, for the love of-" Felicity said angrily, cutting herself off when she saw that it was Oliver and Dig.
"Good morning to you too, Felicity, I see you're looking cheerful today." Oliver said teasingly.
"Oh, save it. It's been a crappy morning. I'm starving and people keep interrupting when I'm trying to have breakfast, so do not get under my skin." she warned, with a finger pointed in their direction, and took a huge bite off her donut, chewing angrily.
"Good thing we stopped by the bakery, then." Dig said with a smirk on his face, presenting her with a box of warm blueberry muffins and a cup of hot coffee. She eyed her day old donut for a moment and tossed it unceremoniously in the trashcan, putting her flask of lukewarm coffee aside and reaching for the fresh food and coffee they brought.
She took a few bites off the muffin and sipped the coffee. Felicity thanked the boys quietly and sighed, closing her eyes and feeling herself getting back to normal as she ate. She was halfway through the cup of coffee and had two bites left of the muffin when she realized Oliver and Dig were still standing in front of her desk, with identical smirks on their faces. She blushed.
"Not a word." she said and pointed to them again "I'm in coffee heaven right now; your conceited smiles can't reach me here."
"I wasn't gonna say anything." Oliver said with a soft smile and walked towards his office. "Finish your breakfast. I'll get started on reading those balance reports. Just come in whenever you're ready so we can make plans for tonight."
When Oliver went into his office, Dig turned to her. "Oliver filled me in on what happened last night."
Felicity froze and almost choked on the muffin she was eating. Did Oliver tell Dig about the sorta-kinda-almost-kiss-moment they had? She took a sip of her coffee. Felicity, be cool for once in your life, she told herself.
"Did he? What did-" she cleared her throat "What did he say?" she asked, trying for nonchalance and failing miserably.
Dig narrowed his eyes at her. "He told me what you guys found out last night. About Isabel and Duncan embezzling money from QC and the shell company we're gonna check out tonight." he looked at her curiously. "Why? Is there something else I should know?"
"Of course not." she answered nervously and he frowned "What else would he have told you? There's-there's nothing else to tell. I mean, that's all that happened last night, we made a lot of breakthroughs and found out… things. This muffin is really good, by the way." she took another bite and quickly finished her food and coffee, dumping the empty cup and muffin wrapper in the trashcan while ignoring Dig's curious gaze. Crap, he's onto me. "We should start planning for tonight." she said as she took her tablet, got up and crossed her desk, heading to Oliver's office.
"Uh-huh" Dig hummed, he put his hands in his pockets and followed her "You're gonna tell me later."
"Not a chance." she whispered harshly and walked faster into Oliver's office.
"All right, I'm ready." Felicity announced and Oliver looked up from his papers.
"Is mean Felicity gone?" Oliver asked amusedly.
"Mean Felicity?" she asked with frown on her face.
"You get mean when you're hungry." Oliver explained.
"Do not." she scoffed and turned to Dig. "Back me up, Dig."
"When you were hungry last week you used your loud voice to ask if exercising was making our body fat percentage proportional to our number of brain cells." Dig said pointedly and Felicity snorted.
"Yeah, that was great one; my comebacks were on fire that day." she said smiling, and then shook her head. "Anyway, you guys deserved that, you touched my computer and messed up the program I was running."
"You were running a search for a youtube video about a cat." Oliver deadpanned.
"It was a funny video, okay? I saw it once and couldn't find it again later." Felicity said heatedly and blushed at Oliver's and Dig's grinning expressions. "Whatever, we don't have time for this. I sent the building's schematics to your email, Oliver."
He turned serious with the change of topic and opened the file on his computer.
Oliver cursed. "The place is huge, it might get complicated if they have a lot of security."
"They're not using all of it, though." Felicity said. "I saw from the records that their electricity is being used solely on the south side of the building, so we won't need to bother with the rest."
"In that case, we should split, Oliver. I'd take the ground floor and you'd take the roof." Dig said and Oliver nodded.
"Good thing there are only three levels. It'll be easier that way." Oliver commented.
"I can hack their security feed and loop it." Felicity said. "That way I can also keep an eye on you from the van. One of you can put a transmitter on one of the cameras and I'll do my magic." she paused. "If they have cameras, that is. There are no records of it, but I'm willing to bet they do have it."
"I can do it. I'll put the transmitter on one of the outside cameras before I clear the ground floor. I have a feeling we're gonna need the element of surprise." Dig said.
"That settles it, then." Oliver said.
"Hold on, aren't Sara and Roy gonna be there tonight?" Felicity asked.
"No." Oliver answered. "Roy is still unstable because of the mirakuru, I want to keep him out of confrontations. And Sara…" he sighed. "We don't know what we're gonna find tonight, but if we're right and Slade is there, I don't want him near Sara. He thinks I chose her over Shado; he'll kill her in the first opportunity he gets."
"Sara might not like it when she finds out you're trying to protect her." Dig said.
"Oh, she's gonna hate it." Oliver agreed. "But I'm not gonna bring her, Roy or anyone else into this until we have more information or at least some kind of plan on how to take Slade down."
"Anyone else? Who else would you bring into this?" Felicity asked puzzled.
"Right." Oliver said as if remembering something. "Sorry, it completely slipped my mind." he looked at Felicity. "Barry Allen woke up from his coma; he came to see me last night."
"What? Oh my God!" Felicity exclaimed and started pacing the room, her heart beating rapidly "And you just forgot to say anything? What the hell, Oliver, you don't just forget things like that; you forget things like-like to turn off your lights before you leave!" she took a deep breath. "When did he wake up? And why did he come to see you?"
What she really wanted to ask was: why didn't he come to see me? But she thought it would be too awkward after last night. Though she had abandoned all hopes of something happening between her and Barry, due to his apparently complicated feelings for Iris and to her definitely complicated feelings for Oliver, she still cared for Barry.
"He woke up about a week ago. He's been… going through a few changes. He wanted some advice. I really think you should ask him about it, but…" Oliver answered vaguely and trailed off. Felicity crossed her arms and lifted an eyebrow, waiting for him to explain. Oliver sighed. "He woke up with superpowers. He can run incredibly fast."
She exchanged a look with Dig.
"What?" Dig asked skeptically.
Felicity kept quiet as she processed the information. She would think that he was joking, but this was Oliver talking.
"I know how it sounds, but I've seen it. It's like a blur when he's running, you only see it if you look for it. Something about the particle accelerator changed his metabolism." Oliver explained. His voice was normal, but Felicity could see in his eyes how impressed he looked. "He wants to use his powers to help his city. He was insecure about being a hero."
"Well, he came to the right person for help." Felicity said confidently and Oliver smiled at her.
"Wait, you said you wanted to bring him into this?" Dig asked curiously.
"I've considered it briefly. We could use all the help we can get, especially if it comes with superpowers." Oliver said in a serious tone "I won't do it, though. Barry has too much on his plate right now, I couldn't ask him to fight my battles. Besides, he has his own city to protect."
Felicity smiled at Oliver's change of behavior towards Barry. A few months ago, he was adamant about not trusting Barry, now Oliver had considered asking for his help, and it made her proud to see the positive change. It wasn't just about the superpowers, Felicity knew. It was the fact that Barry wanted to protect people, like Oliver does, like they all do. She understood Oliver's reasoning for deciding not to involve Barry, though. She was having difficulties wrapping her head around the idea that Barry had superpowers; she couldn't imagine how he was feeling.
"I'm gonna go call him, if you don't mind me leaving. It looks like my part is done here anyway. You guys can discuss the rest without me, right?" Felicity asked.
"Sure." Oliver answered briefly and turned back to the building's schematics, but she didn't miss the annoyed look that passed his eyes.
She left the room and sat behind her desk, taking a deep breath before grabbing her phone to call Barry. She scrolled down her contacts and hesitated when she found his name. Does he even want to hear from me? It seemed like he had a lot going on at the moment, she didn't want to intrude. Besides, they had left things kind of in the air before his accident.
She shook her head and dialed Barry's number. She'd get over whatever awkwardness there was if it meant she could talk to him again; his friendship was too important to her.
"Hello." Barry said when he picked up and tears formed in her eyes. She couldn't speak.
"Hello? Felicity? Caller ID is a thing, you know." he said jokingly and she laughed.
"I'm sorry, it's just really good to hear your voice." she said between sniffles.
"It's good to hear from you too. I've been told you came to visit." Barry said softly.
"Yeah, we said we'd stay in touch and suddenly you go and get yourself into a coma. You could've just told me you lost my number or something." she joked and immediately hit herself in the forehead. "Oh my God, Barry, I'm sorry. That was terrible and unthoughtful, you almost died. Just forget I said anything." she said in a rush and was relieved when he laughed it off.
"Don't worry, Felicity, I'm not offended. It's refreshing to have someone talking to me without walking on eggshells." he assured her.
"Well, you know me, eggshells don't stand a chance." she said nervously, still embarrassed about her joke. "How are you?" she asked seriously.
"I'm… adapting. Yeah, adapting is the best I can come up with." He said with a sigh. "I assume Oliver told you everything?"
"He did and I have a few things to say about that. First of all: the fact that you didn't come to see me? Rude much?!" she mocked chastised him "But I've decided to forgive you for this little mistake in light of more pressing issues, which brings us to second of all: you have freaking superpowers, how cool is that?! You have to show me." she said excitedly and he laughed.
"I know, it's pretty cool, right? I feel like I'm going crazy." Barry said and proceeded to tell her everything about his new-found powers.
They talked for a while and Felicity had the opportunity to ask all her questions, reveling in the opportunity to get away from her worries. She had never had many friends, and her nightly activities prevented her from letting anyone get too close to her. It was good to have someone else to talk to besides Dig and Oliver, who were definitely not known for their conversational skills.
She hung up with a smile and promises to call again soon and to think about Barry's offer of spending a few days in Central City, though she doubted she would actually go. Felicity put her phone down and looked up to see that Oliver was standing in the doorway to his office staring at her… longingly? She couldn't be sure; the look vanished from his face as soon as she caught his gaze.
"Hey, sorry to interrupt." he said, his voice betraying no emotion. "The first meeting of the day is in ten minutes, we should probably get ready."
"Sure, I'll get the paperwork. The sooner we finish this, the better." Felicity said and stared at him, trying to see if she'd catch a glimpse of that look again and wondering if she had imagined it when all she saw was a blank mask.
"Yes, thank you." he answered and turned around, taking one step into the office before turning back to her and clearing his throat "How's Barry?"
Felicity was surprised by the question, considering that it looked like it pained him to ask it. "He's doing well." she answered, smiling slightly at the fact that Oliver was trying to be nice to Barry for her sake, though she was still puzzled about his behavior.
"Good." Oliver nodded and walked back into his office.
She sighed and grabbed the necessary paperwork. When it was time, they headed to their first meeting. It's gonna be a long day.
A.N.: Reviews mean to me what coffee means to Felicity!
