Disclaimer: As always, I own nothing Arrow related. All the credit is to DC comics, Warner Bro's and the CW! :)
A/N: WARNING on this chapter. There are some not so awesome flashbacks (I had to re-read Chapter 4 a time or two for a memory refresher myself). I hope I do this chapter justice.
Again, thanks to all ya'll who read and review! It makes my soul happy which is always awesome. Enjoy!
Chapter Eleven
Felicity couldn't speak, she couldn't move. It was like her feet had grown roots and planted themselves into the floor of the basement.
How?
It was the only thing her mind could grasp. How had he gotten into her system? It was... Un-hackable. After William Tockman scrambled their hardware Felicity took EVERY precaution possible to ensure that it wouldn't happen again.
"How?" Felicity heard the words escape her mouth before she had a chance to rein them in. Having a conversation with Slade Wilson was not on her list of things she wanted to do, but she had to know.
She watched as he leaned back into his chair, a smug smile playing across his features as he looked at her.
"Felicity, Felicity, Felicity." She could feel Oliver move closer to her, shielding her from Slade's gaze. "It is so good to hear you speak," his eyes closed as he continued, "I was a little upset that you didn't talk to me at the party tonight. I've missed your voice." He purred the last statement making Felicity avert her eyes at the look of delight on his face.
Oliver's head quirked towards her and she knew he had questions - he thought tonight was the first time that she'd met Slade. Guilt overrode Felicity's fear in that moment as she took a step closer to him. She was so close she could feel the heat from his body as she whispered, "I'm sorry."
She could hear his intake of breath as he turned towards her. In that moment she would have preferred death to the look that he gave her; betrayal, hurt, anger all flooded his features as he searched her eyes. She wanted to cry, she needed to cry, but she wouldn't - not with Slade's omniscient eye watching them. Oliver ground his teeth for what seemed like an eternity before he spat, "What's going on?"
Felicity was stuck, unsure of what to say. She knew that she had betrayed him and Diggle and their whole team by withholding the location of the warehouse where Slade attacked her. She could have made up a story, something, anything to led them to that warehouse, but she didn't. She fisted the sweater harder beneath her chest, bracing herself as she stuttered, "I...I didn't know how to tell you," her voice broke as tears trailed down her cheeks. Never had she felt the shame she encountered in that moment as Oliver stared at her with broken trust in his eyes.
"This is going better than I had hoped," Felicity felt hollow as she turned to look at the monitors once more. Oliver stared at her for a moment more before turning his attention back to Slade. "You see, I've been watching you all for some time now." Slade's image disappeared momentarily before an aerial image of her and Oliver flitted across the screen. She gasped as she took in the footage: one was from weeks ago, before the attack, of her and Oliver laughing at something that Diggle had said. Another one was of them frantically discussing the plan for Felicity to put the tracker on Slade at Moira's benefit party. The last one was of them now, staring back at themselves in horror as they realized how Slade had one-upped them.
The screen blacked out for a moment before Slade appeared again. "You're not the only one with an IT expert on their side, kid," he paused "Although, mine isn't as appealing as your Felicity." She shuddered as his eye slithered across her body. Even when he wasn't here he still felt too close.
Oliver paced to the weapons table, near his bow, before slamming his fist down hard. "Goddamitt Slade, what do you want!?" Felicity flinched at the sound. Never in her nearly two years with Oliver had she heard him that angry. Never.
She was staring at the ground now, defeat dominating her in every possible way. Everything they'd done, everything they discussed and shared, and hoped to accomplish, was all for nothing. They'd been on the Slade Show for months without having a single clue or indication that he was watching them the whole time. Her body trembled in disgust.
"Come on now, kid. You know why I'm here," Felicity could almost hear the smirk in his voice. "I made you a promise, and I intend on keeping it."
The sound of footsteps made Felicity's head snap up from the floor as she watched Diggle join them. His face was tight and guarded as she locked him in her view. He must have been standing there for a while. "Ah, Mr. Diggle! So glad you could come out and join us. The fun is just about to begin." Slade smacked his hand against the table before she heard silence once more.
Fear laced through her bones as she looked up at the blank screens. What's happening?
Oliver grabbed his bow fast and Diggle went for his gun, both preparing for Slade and his companions to emerge from the shadows to attack. Felicity stood still in anticipation as the monitors flickered to life once more.
Her gasp was sharp and loud as she took in the footage that displayed across every screen around them. She knew that room, that dress, those shoes - she saw them every day and every night in her head; everything was the same save for the perspective.
The camera must have been positioned in the corner of the warehouse, giving them a clear view of Felicity cowering on the floor in front of Slade while he sat in a chair. She could see her glasses lying beside the chair. The air collectively left her body as familiar words came from the speakers, "Try to stay put this time, Ms. Smoak. Next time I won't be so gentle."
"No. No." She whispered as she watched the worst moment of her life play out before her.
Oliver and Diggle had yet to take their eyes off the screen, watching as the Felicity from before asked, "Why am I here?"
The video skipped forward, cutting to Slade kneeling before her, "I figured out what Oliver Queen loves the most," Felicity watches as Slade grabs her chin and she could almost feel the shadow of pain as he continued, "You," her body trembled, both on the screen and in memory, "And now I will take that away."
Felicity's body was heavy, unable to hold up her weight any longer. She slid to the floor quietly, taking in John and Oliver from her peripheral. Oliver was frozen in place, unable to take his eyes away from the screen. Diggle, however, was looking at her, but she didn't acknowledge him - not while she could hear herself screaming in the background.
"Please," she was crying, begging, "Don't do this".
She watched as Slade forced himself closer to her and growled, "Too late."
Again, the video flashed forward - Slade was now grabbing her hair, his body on top of her own, "It must have killed Oliver to keep his hands off of you for so long. He was never any good at control..." Slade's hands then moved to push her knees apart as he continued to taunt her, "Oh, he'll regret that now. Because once I have you, he won't be able to look at you."
Felicity forced her eyes to stay on the screen, on herself, as that Felicity fought against Slade - clawing, scratching, and screaming to no avail. He had restrained her hands and Felicity knew what happened next as she saw herself dig her black heels into his back. She watched as Slade grasped her breast in his bruising fist, her screaming getting progressively louder in the background as she begged. She heard him say "The Kid is going to love this," before the sound that seemed to echo through the foundry rang out.
Riiip.
The perspective was different but the feelings were the same as she watched Slade discard the shredded cotton material of her underwear behind his back. She was vaguely aware of the sound of Oliver's bow hitting the ground and Diggle turning to leave the room, but Felicity was still staring, still watching something she already knew the outcome to.
She watched as Slade entered her and it was like it was happening all over again. She threw her hands over her ears, her eyes wide as she watched herself stop fighting on the monitor. Nevertheless, Slade still abused her limp body, bucking into her wildly as she lied dormant on the warehouse floor. His grunting and growling grew louder, breaking through the barriers of her hands covering her ears. Soon enough, however, it was over and he was sliding out of her, zipping up his pants. She could see blood on her thighs and on the floor as she lay unmoving on the screen, refusing to open her eyes.
"Now you're both ruined," Slade's words mimicked how she felt as he exited off camera. She watched as the girl turned over and vomited before she laid back down, bringing her knees to her chest as she whimpered. The video played for a few more minutes before flashing back to the desktop icons.
Felicity's eyes flashed to Oliver, his bow still resting at his feet as he continued to stare at the screen.
She couldn't stop the scream that tore through her chest as she tightened her hold over her ears. Everything inside of her threatened to burst out of every pore in her body as her cry kept rising. Slade had taken everything from her; her comfort, her self-esteem, her privacy, her safety... Oliver. She couldn't hold it all in anymore. Rationally, she knew that she needed to calm down, breathe and talk to Oliver and Diggle about this. She needed to tell them that she was sorry, that she didn't know what to say; that she was afraid.
But nothing came out except the scream.
A/N: Where to start? Well, first of all, I hope this chapter was written clearly enough. We know Slade is camera savvy from 'The Promise' episode where he sets up all the camera's in Oliver's house. So why wouldn't he do that in the Foundry? With that said, why wouldn't he set up a camera to record the rape? He wanted Oliver to find out and what better way to do that they stream that to him in the place they all thought they were safe? (Sorry for all the rhetorical questions). Also, if you haven't figured it out yet, everything in bold is what was said on the warehouse footage. :)
I hope everything seemed believable. I know many of you may think "Why didn't Felicity/Oliver/Diggle try to shut the computer's off or unplug them to stop the from seeing the rape?" Well, in my opinion, I feel like they were so shocked by what they were seeing, by what had happened, that that possibility to shut it down never occured to them. That's why Diggle walked away before he could see more. Oliver, on the other hand, seems to be like the type of person who has to see everything to believe it. In this case, to believe someone he trusted like Slade could actually do something like that.
As always, review! I love feedback, positive or negative (preferably positive, but I'll take what I can get). Also, any questions you can PM to me. I'll answer any and everyone. Thank you lovelies for sticking with me.
