Note:There is some minor violence and strong language in this chapter.
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The first thing she was aware of was how cold she was. She was laying on something hard, cold and damp. Her eyes felt heavy and it took a minute for her to will them open. A lone dim light bulb hung from the ceiling providing minimal illumination. Her vision was blurry but she was able to determine that she was in a small room with concrete floors and cinderblock walls. She could hear water dripping somewhere behind her and she attempted to roll over. Her ankles were taped together with electrician's tape. Her wrists were similarly bound behind her back. She gasped in pain as her weight was distributed across her wrists. Felicity was pretty sure her right wrist was broken. She managed to roll onto her side. There was a tiny rectangular window high up the wall. There was so much dirt on the window she was unable to determine if it was night or day. She shimmied along the floor until she was directly underneath the window. Using the wall for leverage she was able to pull herself into a semi seated position. She waited for a momentary wave of panic and nausea to pass. Her wrist was definitely broken, she could feel bone moving against bone. Her left eye was swollen shut. She probably had a big bump on her head too, but she was alive and needed to come up with a plan.
Felicity hadn't recognized her attacker and she didn't know which of the Arrow's enemies had taken her. Surely, Oliver would realize something was amiss when she didn't show up for dinner. She needed to stay calm and wait for her opportunity. She needed to stay alive until her captors screwed up or her guys came to rescue her. They would come for her, of this she had no doubt. The certainty of her conviction soothed her and she could feel her fear lessen. As long as there was breath in their bodies, Oliver and Dig would always come for her.
The sound of a door unlocking brought her attention to the far side of the room. A large metal door slowly opened and a woman was pushed into the room, falling onto her hands and knees. The man who had attacked her, entered the room and closed the door behind him. The woman lifted her head and Felicity gasped in surprise. "Mom?"
Her mom crawled on her hands and knees towards Felicity. "Baby, baby. I'm so sorry, did he hurt you?"
Felicity tried to absorb the presence of her mom being here with her. She had thought this was about the Arrow. Her mom was the last person she expected to see. Felicity's mom was only forty two and was in excellent shape for someone who lived life hard. She'd always taken pride in her appearance. Her hair was always big, red and perfectly styled. Her mom never left the house without her make-up. She wore tight fitting clothing that showed off her slim figure, artificial tan and her large fake breasts. The woman she was looking at now, was a mess. She was disheveled in a pair of blue jeans and a stained tank top. Her hair was dirty and her elaborate eye make-up had run with streaks of mascara running down her face. She gently touched Felicity's cheek, causing her to flinch. Her mom straightened Felicity's frames. "Your eye is cut, you're bleeding." Her mom pressed the edge of her tank top against the side of Felicity's face. When she removed it, the shirt came back stained with blood.
"Mom, what's going on?" Felicity asked confused.
"I'll tell you what's going on." The man said as he moved to loom over them. "Your no good whore of a mother is into my boss for two hundred and fifty." At this, her mom burst into tears.
"I don't understand. What do you want?" Felicity asked.
"I thought your kid was supposed to be a genius. We want," he said slowly, "the mo-ney."
"I don't have that much money." Felicity shouted. She could feel anger towards her mother bubbling dangerously close to the surface. Her mom loved to gamble but two hundred and fifty thousand dollars of debt was insane, even for her mom.
"We know you don't, but your boyfriend does." He sneered.
"Vic? You're asking Vic for ransom money?" Felicity didn't think Vic had that much money. He was only on the local news.
The man squatted down next to her mom and lifted her head up by the hair. "How many boyfriends does she have? I guess the kid doesn't fall far from the tree, does she Donna?" He released her mom and grabbed Felicity's shoulder. " I don't know who this Vic is, but I'm talking about your other boyfriend, Oliver Queen."
"Oliver Queen isn't my boyfriend." She said tersely. The pounding in her head intensified. No matter what they did to show they weren't together, everyone insisted that they were. Maybe if we get together, people will stop believing that we are together.
"Well, you better hope he thinks he is." The man pushed Felicity and she fell back onto her side. The bones moving in her wrist made her cry out in pain. The man took a picture of her with his phone and turned away from them.
Her mom moved towards her and tried to lift her back into a sitting position. "Mom, who are these people? What did you do?"
Her mom started to stroke Felicity's head. "I'm sorry, honey. I had some bad luck."
Felicity bit down on the inside of her cheek to keep herself from yelling at her mom. Her mom always blamed bad luck when she was trying to distance herself from any responsibility for her own actions. "You're making a huge mistake." Felicity said to the man.
"I don't think so. Look." He said smugly, holding the phone out towards her. "Lover boy is calling, say hello." When she didn't say anything, he exploded. "Say, hello."
"Hello." Felicity said.
"Felicity? Are you okay?" Oliver asked.
"Oliver." Felicity said, unable to stop the sob that followed.
"Oh, god. Felicity. Are you okay?" Oliver asked sounding panicked. He must have an audience, because there was so no evidence of the Arrow in his voice.
The man answered." She's alive, but she won't stay that way unless you do exactly what I tell you."
"Whatever you want, just don't hurt her." Oliver said with a hollow voice.
"How sweet. She said you weren't her boyfriend. Let's see if she's right. You're to transfer five million dollars to the account number I send you after I hang up. You have two hours to comply or she's dead. Call me back when it's done." The man disconnected the call and yanked her mom up by the arm. "Let's go Donna. You better hope he pays, because otherwise I'll kill you first." He dragged her mom from the room, locking the door behind them.
Five million dollars. Oliver didn't have five million dollars, Felicity thought to herself. How was he going to transfer any money without her there to make it happen? Even if he found a way to transfer the money, there was nothing to keep this guy from killing her or her mom. He wasn't hiding his face, that was never a good sign. She needed to get out of this room. Ignoring the pain, she slid her arms behind her bottom and pulled her legs through. The pain was so intense she feared she'd lose consciousness. With her arms now in front of her, she removed her glasses. The lens in the right eye was cracked and Felicity was able to snap the glass. She used the jagged edge to cut her ankles free. She then put the blade between her knees and rubbed the tape across the glass until her hands were free. She flexed her arms and legs in order to get her circulation flowing. She stood up, the room lurched and Felicity vomited. When the room stopped moving she examined the door. It was locked and she didn't see any way to open the door from the inside. She moved back to the window. Even if she had the ability to pull herself up, the window was too small to squeeze through. She sank to the ground, despairing she'd ever leave the room alive. She didn't notice the glass digging into the palm of her hand.
When the man returned to the room, Felicity was waiting for him. She had tucked her legs underneath her and held her arms behind her back - the shard of glass in her left hand. "Lover boy followed directions. Say, hello, lover boy."
"Felicity?" He asked gently.
"Oliver." She responded, trying to sound strong.
"You have your money, just tell me where she is." Oliver's voice had been replaced with his Arrow voice. Hearing it gave Felicity comfort.
"I would, but I've become so attached to my pretty guest. I don't see how I can let her go for less than ten million." The man's face was contorted in a self satisfied sneer.
Felicity gasped. "Don't Oliver, he's going to kill me anyway."
"Stupid, bitch." The man said striking her.
Felicity lashed out at the man, the glass sinking into his cheek. Felicity moved past him and out the door. She took a second to get her bearings, without her glasses everything was an indistinct blur. She navigated the narrow corridor towards a flight of wooden stairs. Her mom must be somewhere else. She ran up the stairs two at a time, her injured wrist pressed against her chest. She opened the door and stopped dead in her tracks, completely disoriented by what she was seeing. She had opened the door into what appeared to be a suburban living room. The television was set to the reality show, the Real Housewives of Coast City. Sitting on the sofa, with a beer in her hand, was her mother. She was flipping through a magazine, perfectly relaxed and at home. All the distress from earlier was gone. Her hair and make-up were flawless and she was neatly dressed in a banana yellow mini dress. "Mom?" Startled, her mom dropped her drink. Felicity didn't understand what she was seeing. Why is she watching television? Had she been let go when Oliver made the first payment? Felicity cringed thinking her mom had secured some freedom by agreeing to sleep with their captor. Felicity shook off her shock and grabbed her mom's arm. "We've got to get out of here."
Her mom wrenched her hand free and wiped the alcohol that was beading on her dress. "Now, look what you've done." Her mom looked up. "Aren't you going to do something about this?"
Felicity realized her mom wasn't speaking to her. She turned and saw her captor holding a towel to his face with one hand and a truncheon with the other. As he raised it to strike her she couldn't help but turn to face her mom. The look on her mom's face was a combination of boredom and annoyance. When the blow hit the back of her head, Felicity slowly dropped to her knees. As the darkness began to surround her she realized that she'd been kidnapped by her own mother.