Disclaimer: WB/DC own these characters. I'm only borrowing them for a while. I own the original ideas found in this.

AN: Thanks for returning. Oops…sorry for the wait. Not exactly sure if anyone is reading the story anymore, but so far I finish all of my stories, good, bad, or otherwise. Sometimes it takes a while for a story to take off, I suppose. Anyway, here's the next chapter. Enjoy!

Previously:

Without them being aware of it, the two goons had walked behind Laurel and Thea and taken out syringes. They proceeded to inject them into each of the woman's forearms. Felicity turned in alarm in time to watch them both fall unconscious.

"What are you doing?" Felicity watched as her two companions were untied from the chairs and carried out of the room. She uselessly pulled against her ropes. "Where are you taking them?"

"Oh, Ms. Smoak, don't worry. They are going to be returned safely back to Mr. Queen. You, however, are lucky enough to spend the next three weeks with me."

Oliver and Diggle were waiting to hear from Darhk. Suddenly his Oliver Queen phone rang, and Oliver quickly looked at it. He told Diggle, "Lance" and answered it. "Captain, any news? Oh, are they okay? Oh good, yes we will be right down." Snapping his phone off, Oliver told Diggle, "Thea and Laurel were found in a deserted car a block away from the police station. They were unconscious, but unhurt. Let's go!"

Once they had reached the police station, they were brought over to a separate interview room. Thea leaped up and into her brother's arms. "I am so sorry we weren't able to get Felicity out of there."

Oliver looked at Thea with a slightly sideways look to remind her of other ears which might be listening. "What else could you have done. Neither one of you is Black Canary after all."

To cover up her faux pas, Thea hurriedly gave a little laugh. "Of course that's not what I meant, Ollie. I'm sorry Felicity wasn't released with us."

"I know you are. But at least the two of you aren't hurt, right?" Oliver looked at Laurel. "Darhk didn't harm any of you?"

Laurel shook her head. "He didn't even try to do his magic strangle hold on any of us. He just threatened us, but mostly left us alone." Looking sad, she said, "I'm sorry, Oliver, you had to withdraw from the mayoral race."

Oliver shrugged. "Maybe the Green Arrow can still fix things anyway."

Lance shook his head. He of course had to continue the charade as well, due to the officer with them in the room. "Oliver, how can you be so sure? Sometimes I don't know what use the vigilante is?"

Oliver muttered, "Oh, he has his purpose," as he looked at Thea. Turning to Lance, he asked, "Is there anything else, or can I get these two home? They are probably anxious for a meal and a bath."

Lance gave Laurel another hug. "Yes, indeed. I'm just glad you're both safe." Whispering to his daughter, he said, "Don't forget to let me know if you need anything."

"Okay, Dad."

Team Arrow exchanged looks and filed out of the room.

~~OQ~~OQ~~OQ~~

Pain from a massive headache was what Felicity woke up to. She raised a hand to her head. Suddenly remembering the past day, her eyes fly open. Remembering Oliver's advice, even though it may be too late, she laid still. She first looked straight ahead, then as far peripherally as she could. Flowered pastel wallpaper on a wall within a foot of her met her eyes. A matching blue bedspread was beneath her, and the mattress she was lying on was comfortable. Felicity tried to listen for any sounds, but didn't hear any.

Testing her legs, she realized they weren't restrained in any way. Neither were her arms. Even though her head was pounding, she gently sat up and lowered her foot to the floor. She apparently was in a room 10 x 10 feet, and the door was to her back. Felicity stood up and turned around. She decided to test her legs by walking around the bed and observed a window facing the bed. A darkened curtain covered it, and when she pulled it back, she wasn't surprised to find it shuttered tight. She tried to open it anyway, only to find it locked. She walked to the door, and tried it, only to find the same result. Of course. Sparsely furnished with only a bed and a chair, it was a pleasant enough room. For a cell.

The door suddenly opened. Felicity jumped back as Darhk entered the room. "Good evening, Ms. Smoak. Hope you rested well. I would like to invite you to supper with my family and me."

She followed Darhk down several hallways, with a guard following behind them. They walked into a small dining room, with a simple dining room set with Ruve Adams and a young girl with her long dark hair in two braids sitting there. She had a simple light green checkered dress on, and light freckles on her nose.

Darhk indicated an empty chair at one end of the table then took the seat across from her. The little girl sitting to her right smiled at Felicity. "Hello. My name is Alicia. What is your name?"

Darhk answered, "This is Felicity, dear. She is a friend of Daddy's and will be staying here a while."

Darhk bored his eyes into Felicity, almost daring her to start some sort of babble about her not being here of her own volition, or not a friend. Felicity pursed her lips together as a precaution that no such statement should slip through. Instead she gave Darhk a little glare of her own and a small defiant lift of her chin.

"And you know my wife, Mrs. Darhk."

Felicity had to actually bite her tongue to keep from spewing several thoughts to "Mrs. Darhk", who just sat there smiling demurely at Felicity. "Nice to see you again, my dear. Let's start supper, Damien, before it gets cold. I have to return to the city tonight."

"Oh, you do, my dear? I had hoped your business could wait until tomorrow."

"You know it cannot. Especially with the added requests you gave me this morning." The smile disappeared from her face. "Remember?"

"Yes, my dear. And I thank you for that." Darhk sat down and pulled his chair closer to the table. "Maybe it is a good thing for you to start back tonight, like you said." Taking a bread roll from the nearby basket, Darhk passed it to his daughter. "How were your classes today, Alicia?"

Looking across at Felicity, Alicia said, "I am home schooled. I'm lucky to have a governess who's able to teach me all sorts of wonderful things I wouldn't learn in a classroom." Turning towards her father, Alicia began to discuss her day.

Felicity stared at the plate of food brought to her by a servant and placed in front of her. Roast beef, baby potatoes and carrots. A side salad in a bowl off the side of her plate. A well-balanced meal indeed. Unfortunately, she had lost her appetite.

When Alicia stopped to talk a breath, Ruve asked Felicity, "My dear, is there something wrong with the food? You've hardly eaten a bite."

Yeah, the company. And being held against my will. Felicity wanted to say. Instead, she forced out, "I guess I'm just not very hungry." She swallowed, and added in a falsely sweet voice, "It all looks so lovely."

"Yes, Bernard our chef does an excellent job. He has travelled with us quite extensively over the years."

Felicity felt an inner eye roll at that comment. Suddenly her stomach did give a little growl, despite itself. She sighed quietly picked up her fork and began to nibble at her plate while Ruve and Darhk discussed their family plans over the next week. Felicity thought it interesting what they all had planned, considering the huge responsibilities they each had, her as the Evil Mayor, and him as the Evil Mastermind. It all gave her quite the heebie-jeebies.

Eventually the meal from Hell was over, and Ruve addressed her daughter. "Just enough time for us to get a ride in before you have to do your homework."

"Can Felicity join us?" Alicia gave Felicity a huge smile. "I have the perfect horse to ride. She's sweet, kinda old, but very gentle. In case you've never ridden horses before."

Felicity's heart went out to the little girl. She really appeared to be quite the sweet girl. Sweeter than one would expect from having Evil Incarnate as parents. Before Felicity could answer, Darhk said, "Oh no my dear. She and I have some business to take care of. Perhaps tomorrow, in between your classes, she may join you for recreation time."

Alicia smiled. "Oh, good. I would like that."

Felicity couldn't help but return her smile. "Thank you Alicia. I would like that as well." She watched as the girl skipped out of her room after her mother, who turned back and gave Felicity a last warning glance. Which froze Felicity's smile off her face.

As Darhk finished a snifter of brandy which a servant had brought him (and which Felicity wasn't offered any), he leaned back into his chair and considered Felicity. She leaned back into her chair and met his gaze headlong refusing to be cowed by such a look. However, she was quaking inside, wondering what indeed was going to happen. Darhk had been "nice" for too long for her own comfort.

"I suppose you wonder why I have brought you here, Ms. Smoak."

Several snarky comments percolated up through her brain, but luckily for once her filter stopped them. She swallowed and waited in silence for Darhk to continue.

"Well, it serves two purposes. I know for a fact that neither you nor the Green Arrow ever located this house. I took special pains to keep this hidden. Also, I have other business to attend to, so it's more convenient to keep you here."

"I'm glad you have all your responsibilities wrapped up so nicely."

"You shall see exactly how not nice my business ends up being once my plans are set into motion." Rising, he motioned her to get up as well. "It's time for you to retire to your room for the night. You will not be joining us for all meals, but I wanted to introduce you to my daughter tonight."

"Why? So I can see what a genuinely nice person you are actually?" slipped out of her mouth before she could stop it.

Anger flashed in his eyes before he controlled it. "I do have my moments, wouldn't you agree, Ms. Smoak? This way, please."

Felicity made a mental note to restrain her mouth. Maybe I should wear a gag. Sewing my mouth shut…now that would be an effective but hardly practical, or wise, option in this instance. Felicity stopped her thought babble as she continued to follow him to her room. Seriously, though, it's never smart to make a man angry who can choke you in three seconds flat, should he so desire. A shiver went down her back, as she decided to take a cleansing breath.

They reached her room, and Darhk only wished her a good night. As she entered and heard the door lock behind her, Felicity gave a heavy sigh as she made her way to her bed. As she laid down and began to cry, Felicity wondered if her life would ever be normal again.

~~OQ~~OQ~~OQ~~

"So, let me get this straight. The Green Arrow cannot go out on the streets, and most likely neither can Oliver Queen, but the rest of Team Arrow can?" Laurel asked. "How does that make sense?"

"I don't know. It's like he's trying to handicap us in our efforts, distract us even, but…."

"He's playing us, Oliver," Diggle interrupted. "I wish I knew why."

"Me too. There must be something at City Hall that the Mayor can only get to, that Darhk needs in his plans for Starling City." Picking up his Arrow phone, Oliver dialed Lance's number. "Captain, would you know if there are any hidden rooms or bunkers in the City Hall? Or anything that only the Mayor would have access to? Oh, okay. Let us know when you can."

Hanging up, Oliver sighed. "Nothing came to his mind, but he will somehow check into it and let us know. Dig, maybe you can pull up the City Hall blueprints and take another look. See if anything out of the ordinary jumps out at you."

Dig nodded, turning back to the computer to get to work.

AN: End of yet another chapter. A little bit closer to narrowing down what Darhk is up to. Or is it? Little by little. Please be kind and let me know how you're enjoying this story, and what you enjoyed. Always helps the Muse.