And I'm back! Moving has been super crazy, but I'm so glad I had some downtime to post this chapter for you all. If you skipped 10, Danny beat Felicity up, and she called Oliver to help her out. I got a lot of comments saying that that chapter was too intense, and I'm sorry if you thought so...I did warn you.
Any who, let's get on with the show!
"Felicity…hey Felicity wake up. Come on, girlie, you need to wake now," Oliver's voice penetrates her mind and suddenly she jolts awake, gasping for air as phantom hands choke her, "Hey, hey, lovie, you're okay. Calm down. It's just me," Felicity looks into Oliver's blue eyes and instantly falls back.
"Oliver…thank you…" she rasps, her throat dry from abuse and dehydration. He immediately hands her a cup of water, which she chugs down in a matter of seconds, "Where am I?"
"You're at my home. It's safe here," Oliver mumbles as Felicity panics.
"Oliver, you can't have me in your home in glitter lingerie and all beat up! Jeez, what if your mother comes over or something!"
"My mother has no reason to be at my home at one in the morning, and no one saw me carry you up here. I figured I could get you patched up and then you could tell me where you live, and I'll take you there. I would've done that first, but you were out cold when I found you,"
"Danny…this was Danny…" she mumbles, "I'm sorry I called you…I know we aren't much more than fuck buddies, but I needed someone and—"
"Hey, girlie, you can call me anytime. Really, there is no reason to apologize," Oliver counters, though he is shocked that she would categorize their friendship as fuck buddies…though he couldn't label it either. They were definitely not a traditional couple.
"Thank you…god my head hurts,"
"Just rest, Felicity. You can stay as long as you need. You can even shower if you want. I'll try to find something for you to wear besides sequins…why the hell did they make you look like you were in a cabaret?" Oliver mumbles and she laughs before gasping in pain.
"Seriously though. Oliver…I need to—" she stops talking when his phone rings. He looks at the ID and rolls his eyes.
"It's Laurel…do you mind if I answer this?"
"No. No, go ahead," she stammers, hiding her inner turmoil from him. Laurel would call when she was about to ask where she stood with him...Oliver wanders off and Felicity leans back against the pillow again. A few minutes later, he comes back.
"I'm sorry. She—" he pauses, noticing his blonde friend has fallen asleep. He goes to adjust the blanket on her and freezes. She has hand prints dug into her neck, bruises and cuts all over her torso, a black eye, fat lip, and boot marks all along her thighs. His anger has him seeing red, yet instead of picking a fight with the sleazy pimp, Oliver is going to do everything in his power to get Felicity out of that club, and everyone knows the Queen family has a lot of power. He strokes his fingers through her hair, brushing it away from her face as she sleeps a pain-induced-sleep. He has come to admire her as much as he desires her, and that could cause some issues later down the line. But for now, he is going to get her out. Of that he is damn sure.
...
Felicity wakes up the next morning showered and dressed in her own pajamas in her own apartment. She even had bandages wrapped around her waist where Danny carved in. Only issue is she doesn't quite remember how she got there. She glances at the clock with blurry eyes. 8:00AM. She was supposed to be at Queen Consolidated an hour ago.
"Crap, crap, crap!" she cries as she scurries around her apartment, brushing her hair and teeth before throwing her closet open. She picks tights to cover her bruised legs, a pencil skirt, long sleeved top, and a light decorative scarf to hide the garishly purple marks on her throat. A high ponytail, glasses, and thick makeup cover the rest of the bruises before she throws on a pair of pumps and hurries out the door. She drives at record speed to Queen Consolidated, squeals into a spot, and runs inside. She reaches her office right as Walter Steele knocks on the door.
"Felicity, I am glad to see you in here," he greets, his voice holding that subtle disapproving tone he uses when she doesn't quite meet his standards.
"Mr. Steele, I am so sorry. I was having car troubles this morning, and couldn't get here any sooner. I apologize for missing that meeting, but I do have all the specs Mr. Black was looking for right here. And here are the documents that Mr. Blade and Mr. Stevens were interested in. All of them have separate folders for their data as well," Felicity explains, handing him the work she put together yesterday before the whole Tommy Merlyn fiasco.
"Well thank you, Miss Smoak. As always, you have impressed me. I do hope you got your car fixed?"
"Yeah it luckily was a computer issue. Just my specialty," she lies with a smile and Mr. Steele laughs.
"Indeed it is. Keep up the good work," he says before he exits her office. She flops in her chair, slowly logging into her system to do more work for other Execs, but mostly digging into Merlyn's business to find some dirt on them to retaliate with. Especially on Tommy. He would be the easiest target for Mr. Steele, but Felicity knows that he is expecting more from her. And she will always give them more than they expect.
At three, Felicity stretches her very sore body, and suspends her computer so she can take a much-needed coffee break. She stands, stretches one more time, and exits her office only to run into a very hard man that oophs when her head connects with his chest. Felicity tumbles back against the wall before looking up to see Oliver rubbing his chest and Diggle, the security guy, laughing at their stumble.
"You know you warned me she was clumsy, Oliver, but you never said she was blind," the tall hulking man says as Felicity straightens herself, sliding her glasses back up her nose.
"I'm not blind. I was just not expecting people at my door. This is the Bat Cave. No one goes in the Bat Cave," she retorts, causing the two men to smile.
"A Batman fan. We'll get along just fine then," Diggle replies and now Felicity is confused.
"Why do we need to get along?"
"Be nice, Felicity. He's doing me a favor," Oliver mumbles and the look in his eyes tells her exactly why he is introducing her to the Head of Security.
"Oliver, I'm fine," she whispers, "I just need coffee but besides that I'm totally fine,"
"Let's all get some java then, and we can talk there," Diggle suggests as Sally pops her head out of her office, curious as to what is going on with Felicity in the hall. The blonde nods and slowly follows the two men to the coffee shop across the street. After ordering, they sit in the back corner at a table away from prying eyes and ears.
"Oliver told me a little about your predicament, but he wanted you to tell me the rest…so who beat you up?" Diggle asks and she goes rigid.
"Is it that obvious…?"
"Normally you don't wear scarves," Diggle replies with a light shrug, "I'm trained to spot the unusual. Now please explain to me why Oliver Queen is worried about his IT girl's safety?" Felicity shoots Oliver a look that screams THIS is why we don't tell anyone! Yet all Oliver does is shrug. Felicity sighs, takes a huge gulp of coffee, and decides to trust Diggle. After all, he was in the military. He's held bigger secrets than this before.
"First off, you must promise me you will tell nobody about what I say. Got it?" she starts. Just to be sure he'll swear a vow of silence.
"Of course," he says in all seriousness.
"Okay good…I work as a dancer at the Painted Ladies. Not by choice, mind you, but because I borrowed some money from Danny Moreno a while back, and he's having me pay off my debt that way. I wanted to go to school, you know? I didn't think…anyways he is more than just a club owner, but he is also a pimp. He has 'Date Nights' at his club where he whores out his girls,"
"And you were one of them?" Diggle asks and Felicity nods, "How did Oliver find out about this?" This time Oliver is the one to go rigid.
"Again, you are sworn to secrecy. Not because I'm your boss, though, because I'm your friend," Oliver pleads and Diggle nods, "Felicity was the girl I ended up sleeping with the night Tommy and I went to that club," Diggle's eyes widen and he leans back in his chair.
"Shit, Oliver…that really isn't good,"
"You're telling me. Tommy tried using the video as blackmail for his dad, but Felicity deleted it. No one else knows of her connection to the club or her connection to me. Except you now," Oliver explains. Diggle rests his elbows on the table, silently thinking of all that was said.
"First things first: does your car have a GPS?" Diggle randomly says and both Felicity and Oliver nod, confusion knotting their brows together, "Felicity you need to delete the hard drive. Even if Oliver didn't type the address into the system, it will still track his movements. Stupid rich people. Second: Oliver you are never allowed to go to that club again. Never. The more you go, the deeper involved you are, and the worse it will be if someone puts two and two together. You both will be screwed. Third: When are date nights?"
"Every day except Wednesday and Thursday…why?" Felicity mumbles and Diggle grins a wicked Cheshire Cat grin.
"I've got a buddy in the sex crimes unit who owes me a favor or two. With your help, we will have enough proof to arrest Danny Moreno and the creeps who will be at that club…Oliver you paid in cash, right?"
"Of course, Diggle. I'm not a total idiot,"
"At the moment, that is totally questionable," he mumbles before turning to Felicity, "Will you help us?" she hesitates, worried that if she helps her whole world will come crashing down. And not in a good way.
"Two questions: will I be anonymous, and will I have to go to jail if I help?" she asks and now Diggle hesitates.
"I don't know, but you will be free from him," he replies.
"That is what you want, right?" Oliver interjects, a soft supportive smile on his lips. Her mind whirls over so many different concepts, like whether she is going to lose her job at QC because of Danny, or if she wants to live her life in fear and terror and shame.
"Ask your cop friend if I will be arrested, then get back to me…" Felicity exclaims before standing, "I need to get back to work while I still have a job,"
"Let us walk you back," Oliver suggests but she shakes her head no.
"Thank you, but I'm fine," she says, wandering out of the café.
"Please keep an eye on her, Diggle…from the beating she got last night, I don't think Danny is going to wait until she goes back to the club to try and beat the crap out of her again,"
"I completely agree," Diggle growls, slipping out of the shop incredibly quietly for such a large man. Oliver sighs and gathers his coffee. The ball is in her court now…
And that's all she wrote. I hope you like it! See you next week!