The jet ride back to Starling was nerve-wracking and awkward. Sure, Luthor's private plane was extremely luxurious and comfortable, but the presence of the man himself kept Felicity on alert. She internally shuddered every time he looked at her, but forced herself to smile. It was such a strenuous effect that by the time they landed in Starling her face was sore and there was a muscle twitching in the lower left side.
"I'll see you at the office tomorrow." Luthor said matter of factly as he steered her towards one of two parked town cars on the private landing strip. It wasn't a question and that irritated Felicity no end. She nodded, not trusting herself to speak.
"Are you alright?" he asked, frowning slightly.
"I…" She shook her head. "It's been a stressful few days." She admitted forcing herself to look at him and deciding to play the damsel card. "I guess I'm a little shaken. Being held at gun point is an experience I'd rather not repeat." She closed her eyes and looked at the ground, attempting to appear submissive. Luthor seemed to buy it.
"Perhaps you would prefer to take tomorrow off." He suggested, pulling the door to the limo open.
Don't look too eager, Smoak. She thought as she nodded demurely. "Thank you, Mr. Luthor." She said, trying to sound as grateful as possible. Luthor was a narcissist so Felicity knew that he would believe anything that made him appear superior. He would love to fill the role of the benevolent boss.
"Call me Lex." He said, smiling at her. She nodded and entered the van. Luthor shut the door and walked over to the other town car. Felicity sank into the seat and let out a sigh of relief.
"Felicity?"
She jumped and screamed, flailing her arms at the driver's seat.
"It's me." The driver turned around revealing it was Digg. Felicity covered her face in embarrassment. Then she leaned forward and threw her arms around him, comforted by the normalcy of his presence.
"The whole world's gone insane." She said. "And you don't even know the half of it."
"Which is why I bought you some Big Belly Burger." He said. "I'm taking you home and we can talk about it." He cleared his throat. "Can you…" He tapped her arm.
"Sorry." Felicity said, chuckling nervously.
"It's just I need to drive." He said.
When they reached her house, Clark was waiting outside.
"Thank god." He said as he saw Felicity get out of the car. "I was getting ready to send a search party."
Felicity nodded. "This is Digg." She motioned to him as he got out of the car. "Digg this is Clark."
"We met." They said, looking at her in amusement.
"Oh right." She muttered. "The construction site." She winced. "I was trying to forget that. What with the whole almost dying thing. Which it appears I'm making a habit of these days."
Digg held out his hand. "It's good to see you again." He was staring at Clark intensely.
Clark tilted his head looking at him with interest. "You know." He said softly. Felicity looked between them.
"What?"
Digg raised an eyebrow at her. "I may not be as smart as Felicity, but I know a pattern when I see one." He motioned towards Felicity's house. "Should we go inside? I didn't buy enough Big Belly Burger for the three of us, but I'm guessing you can run down there and get yourself some before I can blink."
Clark didn't move. "You aren't going to…freak out?" He said.
Digg snorted. "I am planning a very unmanly screaming session for later, but right now I'm trying to understand."
He was getting ready to walk to the door when Felicity grabbed his arm. 'The car." She said. "It's Luthor's. It could be…bugged or something."
Digg nodded. "Okay, I'll be back, but when I do I want answers." He handed Felicity the food and got into the town car. Clark watched him drive away. Felicity put her hand on his arm.
"You can trust him." she said. "He's a good person and he's capable of keeping a secret."
Clark nodded stiffly. Felicity walked towards her door. "Coming?" She asked. He looked down the street where Digg had disappeared, then turned and followed her. She opened the door and went inside.
"Hungry?" She said, holding up the bag. "I'm offering this because there is no real food in this house and I'm a lousy cook. Something which I feel I should share early on in a relationship. Not that I think this is a relationship, it could be, but-" She shook her head. "Stop me? Please."
Clark smiled and shook his head. "I like that you say what's on your mind." He shrugged. "Honesty is something that I can really share with only a few people." He paused then shook his head, clearing his throat he asked. "So, how was the flight with Luthor?"
She shuddered. "I would rather have my wisdom teeth removed again and they were severely impacted. I even have stitches." She shook her head. "Weird tangent. Any way-"
The doorbell rang. Felicity frowned. "Digg couldn't be back so soon." She said, walking forward.
Clark frowned at the door, then his eyes widened. "It's not Digg." He said.
"Luthor?" Felicity asked. Clark shook his head. Felicity put her hand on the door knob. "Should I open it?" She whispered.
"Ms. Smoak." A deep voice said from the other side of the door. "I would greatly appreciate it if you opened the door.
"No one's here." Felicity said, then facepalmed. "Nevermind." She muttered, opening the door. "Who-" She gasped. There were two men on the other side of the door. One was a tall well-dressed middle aged black man with a bowtie and sweater vest. The other was a tall dark haired man wearing a sharp black suit and piercing blue eyes that Felicity couldn't help but recognize.
"Hello." He smiled, "Ms. Smoak, I presume? I'm Bruce Wayne."
"This…" Felicity said slowly. "Is officially the strangest day ever."
Bruce Wayne gave her an amused look. "May I come in?" He looked over at Clark. "Or are you otherwise occupied?"
"Otherwise…" Felicity frowned, looking at Clark. "Oh. No. No no no. I mean not that it would be a bad thing. He's a great guy and extremely attractive and I think we've technically had 3 dates so- oh god why am I talking to Bruce Wayne about my sex life?" She covered her face. To his credit, Wayne didn't seem so put off by her babbling. Clark was blushing.
"Ms. Smoak." The man next to Bruce Wayne held out his hand. "Allow me to introduce myself. Lucius Fox."
Felicity gaped at him. "It's…an honor to meet you, Mr. Fox." She said, taking his hand. The man was a legend in the technological field and the reason Wayne Enterprises had one of the best R&D departments in the world. "Come in." She said, standing aside. "Not to sound rude, but what do you want?"
Wayne looked at Clark dismissively, but Felicity wasn't fooled. The bored disinterested look was calculated and rang false. She'd seen Oliver use a less polished version of it. Wayne was more practiced than he was, but she could still recognize it; he was assessing Clark to see if he was a threat. She wondered what Wayne could possibly be hiding as she shut the door behind them.
"Can I offer you anything?" She asked. "I've got water or very cheap wine that I should probably never mention in your presence."
Bruce shook his head. "Thank you, but no. As to your earlier question, we're here to talk to you about Lex Luthor."
Felicity crossed her arms. "What about him?"
"By now, I suppose you've heard that my company is being blamed for the attack on the gala." Bruce said. "Despite the fact that the weapons were stolen. I need someone to watch over Luthor and gather intel. My sources tell me that you've gotten close to him."
"Not willingly." Felicity muttered. "Why not ask Mercy Graves? She's way closer to him."
"She's also exceptionally loyal to him." Wayne replied. "I have my suspicions that the same cannot be said for you."
While Wayne's assessment of the situation was accurate, Felicity wasn't inclined to trust him. "Why would you risk coming to talk to me?" She said. "I could tell Luthor about this conversation and make your life very difficult for you."
Wayne let out a small surprised laugh. "You actually believe that." He said, amused. "Well, I don't trust you. This is a gambit that I'm making because all my information tells me that you're a woman of integrity." He looked over at Lucius. "In addition someone I do trust assures me that you can be of service."
Felicity looked at Lucius in confusion. "What? But we've never met before."
Lucius gave her a warm smile. "I have my reasons." He said cryptically.
The doorbell rang. Felicity glanced at Clark who gave her a small nod. She turned and said. "Who is it?"
"Digg." Came the reply.
Felicity reached back and opened the door.
"Alright," Digg said, "I dropped off the car-" He paused, looking at Lucius and Bruce Wayne. "Uncle Lucius?" he said.
Felicity's jaw dropped. Lucius smiled. "You see Ms. Smoak. I know the character of my nephew; which is why I know Bruce was right in coming to you."