Note: Hey guys! I am so, so sorry for taking so long to write and post this chapter, but I swear, even though I had it all planned out, it just didn't want to be written. I needed to take some time off of this story because that it's kind of massive in it's own way, so I jumped to another fandom and wrote a story there for a while. It's been good taking a break, but now I'm back with a new chapter, FINALLY!
This one is kind of a set up for a future chapter as well as a way for Oliver and Felicity's relationship to start moving forward. There aren't that many chapters left until the Undertaking, but the story is far from finished as it will have 31 chapters in total! ;) I'm very busy with school at the moment though, but I'll do my best to get another chapter out within the next two weeks.
Oh, and while I was taking some time off, I decided that there will be some smut in this story, which is why I've changed the rating to M. It won't be anything too explicit, and I'll put up a warning in the author's note in the beginning of the chapter, but for now, you don't have to worry! :)
Thank you so much for being patient with me and for letting me clear my head! Now, please enjoy the new chapter!
P.S. It's kind of late and I didn't have time to spell check it, but I hope it's okay! Ignore any typos, okay? ;)
Hunted
Supernatural hunter Oliver Queen's latest mission's name is Felicity Smoak; a new born hybrid who has gone rogue and left her master. The new hunt brings unexpected twists and turns and when the young hybrid saves his life, Oliver realizes that there might be more to the girl than meets the eye. The hybrid might not be the biggest monster in Starling City and as their unexplainable bond grows stronger, he learns that you can't plan who you fall in love with.
Chapter 14: The Street Kid
Felicity was tapping her fingers against her desk, her chin popped up on her other hand as she half-leaned against the table with her elbow. Oliver's eyes flickered from her, to Diggle who was standing by his weapons arsenal before finally landing on Tommy who was looking around the Foundry in wonder.
After a lot of discussion, Felicity had convinced both Oliver and Diggle that it was best to let Tommy in on their secrets, so that his friend could see that he really could trust him. She had argued that they needed to start being more honest with the people they knew for sure that they could trust and made a point of telling Oliver that Tommy hadn't once threatened to actually go to the police with the fact that Oliver was the Arrow.
Two weeks had passed since Tommy had found out about Oliver being the vigilante that the police was looking for; two weeks since Felicity had gone to Tommy's old bachelor pad, without Oliver's permission, and told his best friend the truth about the People of Darkness.
"This explains so much," Tommy finally said, looking over at Oliver, who shifted from one foot to the other. "I just can't believe that you've managed to hide it from me for two years."
"Oliver isn't very good at hiding things," Felicity stated, "so it's kind of a miracle that you didn't catch on. Although, maybe that's just with me?" Oliver shot her a glare at that and she winced, "Sorry."
She heard Diggle chuckle at her tiny remark but Tommy didn't look fazed. "As I said, it explains why Oliver's been so damn protective of you," he told her.
"I haven't been-"
"He's not been-"
Felicity stopped talking and looked over at Oliver, who was looking anywhere but at her, glaring his best friend down. "It was never about protecting her-" Oliver began but then cut himself off, shaking his head.
"It was about protecting others from me," Felicity spoke up, taking a few steps forward. She looked over at Oliver again and he met her gaze, "But it's okay now, because we've established that I'm not going to kill anyone any time soon."
Tommy looked at them both before turning to Diggle, "How could I have missed all this? How could I not know that this entire... Dark World existed until Felicity showed up at my doorstep and literally bared her fangs at me?"
"Hey," Diggle shrugged, "I was completely in the dark too until Oliver filled me in."
"Tommy, I don't want to be rude or anything, but what are you doing down here?" Oliver asked then. He was suited up and ready to go out on a hunt when Tommy had given him a call and told him to let him into the lair.
"I invited him," Felicity confessed. "I thought it would be good for him to see how this whole operation works."
Oliver turned to her and looked at her with narrowed eyes. "I don't want him to be involved in any of this, Felicity," he told her and Felicity suppressed the urge to just roll her eyes at him.
"Well, I think it would give him a better idea of what we actually do," Felicity stubbornly said. "It's better than having him think that you just run around in your very tight suit and shoot arrows at monsters, isn't it?"
"And to be honest, I'm kind of curious," Tommy added. "Felicity has tried to explain how it all works and what kind of things there are out there, but I want to see it first hand, what you do."
"If anyone knew that you have been in contact with the Hood-"
"I thought you changed his name to the Arrow?" Tommy wondered, looking at Felicity confusedly while interrupting Oliver who glared them both down.
"I did, but it takes some time for him to catch on," Felicity shrugged. "I swear, he's like the CNN that way..."
"Oh God," Oliver sighed, shaking his head before zipping up his jacket. "Run the case by me again, Felicity. Please."
Felicity grinned at him and then motioned for Tommy to follow her. She wanted to show him her own area of expertise so that maybe she could teach him something too. If he actually got involved in all of this, she might have someone who could stay with her whenever Oliver and Diggle both needed to go out for the hunt and she wouldn't have to be down in the Foundry all alone. Besides, she had always wondered what it would be like to have her own minion.
Not that she wanted a minion, because in her mind, that could actually be accounted for as slavery in one way and she was by no chance a slave-driver. Although, on second thought, it would be nice to have someone at least run errands on her behalf, like, getting her tablet from her bag so that she wouldn't actually have to get up and get it herself. Having a billionaire do that for her would make the whole thing that much more interesting and-
"Felicity, the case?" Oliver groaned exasperatedly, shaking her out of her thoughts.
"Right, sorry! The case," she said quickly, her fingers flying over her keyboard. "You can bring a chair and come and look, Tommy. I won't bite," she teased, sensing in the air how the atmosphere in the room was changing. Her open behavior with Tommy was bothering someone in the room and she would place a fortune on that someone being Oliver. He still didn't appear to be comfortable with the idea of Tommy knowing about the Dark Ones, but Felicity knew that in the long run, this would only serve to make them closer than before. If Oliver kept up with the secrecy, he would eventually lose everyone he loved and Felicity didn't want that for him.
"This is John Nickel," Felicity started, bringing out a picture on the bigger screen. "He's a blood wolf that has been wrecking havoc in the Glades, prowling on women who don't know any better than to watch out for men who have glowing eyes and bloody teeth." She made a clicking noise with her tongue and scrunched up her nose in disgust. "He also isn't very attractive, so I have no clue whatsoever how he's managed to kill so many of them up until now."
"Blood wolf? Those were the rabid ones, right?" Tommy asked and Felicity nodded.
"Golden star for you, Thomas!" she clapped her hands together, but stopped when Oliver shot her another disapproving look.
"Focus, Felicity," John warned as he took as step toward them, but Felicity only smiled.
"Either way, we've caught sight of him near the harbor," Felicity explained. "Which is why the Arrow is going to go and hunt him down."
"And you'll be monitoring from here?" Tommy asked.
"Yes," Felicity nodded. "You, me and Diggle, actually, so I suggest you get comfortable, because it's going to be a long night."
"I run Oliver's nightclub, Felicity," Tommy pointed out. "I think I can handle a late night watching my best friend hunting werewolves with a bow and some arrows."
"Special made arrows," Oliver muttered, so low that Felicity was sure that she was the only one who had actually heard him. It brought another smile to her face. "I'm going out," Oliver said, pulling his hood over his head. "Keep an eye on Nickel so that he doesn't leave the harbor. I'll take the bike."
"You sure you don't need backup?" Diggle asked but Oliver only nodded.
"I'll be back soon," he said, meeting Felicity's eyes. She felt her heart beat just a little bit faster as he gave her a curt nod, as if to reassure her that he really would be back.
When Oliver left, Tommy turned around to look at Felicity. "So, are you guys always like that?" he asked, making her frown.
"Always like what?" Felicity frowned but Tommy just shook his head and turned to look at Diggle instead.
"Are they always like that?" he repeated the question to Diggle, who merely snorted.
"Man, you have no idea," Diggle shook his head. Felicity looked between the two of them, wondering what they were talking about.
Half an hour later, Oliver had reached the harbor, but he had been too late. Felicity had furiously switched from one security camera to the next, but there was no sign of John Nickel anywhere. The last time he had been caught on tape though, the blood wolf had been drugged by someone and dragged off behind a container. Oliver followed the trail on Felicity's instructions, but the only thing he had found, had been darkened asphalt, stained with blood, and Nickel's hat, drenched in blood as well.
-§-
Oliver walked into the Foundry, pulling off his hood.
"Who took him?" he asked Felicity, who was tapping furiously on her keyboard, trying to get a look through every possible angle. Tommy and Diggle were both standing with their arms crossed as they watched the blonde work, a frown etched on both of their faces.
"I can't get a good look at him, but it's clearly a man who knows about the dark ones," Felicity said, showing a video of someone using a bat to hit Nickel on his head. "A hit to the head and then injected him with something, most likely wolfsbane to knock him out properly before tying his hands. It's not a full moon yet so that should have been enough to hold even the strongest blood wolf."
"We have to find him," Oliver stated.
"Wait," Tommy frowned. "An hour ago you were set on going out there to kill this guy, monster, whatever. Now when someone else has taken care of it for you, you want to find him?"
"I don't like the idea of someone else hunting Dark Ones," Oliver confessed. "The person was sloppy, leaving behind a trail of evidence. If anyone analyzed that blood, they would see that there's something different with the person, which would only raise more questions."
"But wouldn't that be a good thing?" Tommy countered. "Letting people know that these things exist?" His best friend turned to Felicity, "No offense."
"None taken," Felicity replied, but she did look a little bit offended if Oliver was reading her expression correctly, which he usually was. "Although, I have to say that not all of us are bad. I know both bellua shapeshifters and pack wolves who are harmless."
Tommy looked at her like he wanted to ask what that exactly meant, but Oliver shook his head. "The supernatural 101 lessons can wait until later. We have to find Nickel," he told Felicity.
"I'll run facial recognition through every camera in Starling City and the surrounding small towns. If he's anywhere in this area, we'll find him, but it might take some time," she told him sheepishly.
"What are we supposed to do in the mean time?" Tommy asked.
"Well, sleep would be nice, wouldn't it?" Felicity offered lightly. Oliver looked over at her and she gave him one of her looks. "You, Mr. Queen are going to get some sleep before you fall over," Felicity told him, her voice getting sterner. "We'll find Nickel tomorrow, but for now, there's nothing else you can do."
"I can patrol the city," Oliver said, but Felicity stood up and sped forward so quickly that Tommy actually let out a gasp when she sent papers flying everywhere.
"You're going to go home, and get to bed, before I take you there and get you there myself," she told him before wincing. Oliver looked down at her, noticing how her cheeks colored with a faint pink, making her look tantalizing. His eyes flickered down to her hand, which was resting over his chest, before moving up to her pink colored lips for a brief moment.
He heard Tommy snicker and looked up, noticing that his best friend was trying his best not to actually laugh.
"I always pick the best way of phrasing things, don't I?" Felicity asked.
Oliver looked down at her again and couldn't help the way the corner of his mouth twitched. "Yeah," he drawled, "you do."
Felicity's own lips quirked up at that and he lifted his hand to where hers was, squeezing it where it lay over his heart. The two of them were friends now, or at least that was what Oliver guessed that they were, so there was no reason for him not to be kind to her... And friends held hands sometimes, didn't they?
"Are they really always like that?" Tommy asked somewhere behind him, but to Oliver it sounded distant as he continued to look at Felicity.
"I told you you had no idea," Diggle replied, as he snorted and Oliver was pretty sure that his friend shook his head, but he couldn't find himself caring since he had other things on his mind.
-§-
Oliver sighed loudly as he stared at the report in front of him. The numbers had stopped making any sense to him about half an hour ago, but he knew that he needed to get through them before the next board meeting where he would be accompanying Walter after a few weeks of not attending at all. His mother had been quite stern earlier that morning when she had told him that people in the company were beginning to question whether or not he should be the one to take over after Walter, and Oliver honestly hadn't had it in him to tell her that he didn't even know whether he would be alive the next day due to his extracurricular activities as the city's protector.
There was a light knock on the door and Oliver looked up, only to see Felicity standing there, leaving against the frame with her arms crossed over her chest. "How is it going in here?" she asked him, a smirk playing on her lips as her fake glasses slid down her nose. Oliver swallowed thickly as he watched her adjust them, trying to tell himself that the look she was giving him didn't have any kind of effect on him whatsoever, even though he was pretty sure that she could hear his hear beat racing.
"Slowly," he admitted. "I just can't seem to get my head straight at all today." He dropped the report on the table and leaned back in his chair. "Any luck with Nickel?" he wondered then as he watched her when she approached him, moving as smoothly across the floor as she always did, her high heels clicking as she did.
"No, not yet," she sighed, rounding his table. She sat at the edge of it and frowned down at the many papers that were spread out on his desk. "You know, you should really start organizing your things better," she stated.
"Well, maybe I should hire an assistant that does it for me?" Oliver said, raising an eyebrow at him.
"Please," Felicity snorted. "We both know that organizing your desk was never in my job description. Although, I wouldn't mind if you got me an assistant. Even Tommy says that you make me work too hard... And I think he meant it in an appropriate way," she mused.
Oliver looked at her, clenching his jaw as he tried not to imagine all the ways he could make her work hard, but then frowned. "You and Tommy have been talking a lot these last few days, haven't you?" he asked.
"Are you jealous, Mr. Queen?" Felicity grinned at him.
"No," he replied, narrowing his eyes at her, but he knew that it wasn't really true.
"Don't worry, Oliver," Felicity laughed. "I'm not going to steal your best friend away from you."
"I'm more worried about losing-"
Oliver cut himself off abruptly, staring at Felicity who blinked down at him curiously. He wondered whether she had known what he had been thinking about; how he had almost said that he was more worried about Tommy stealing her away from him now that they're clearly becoming friends too. He swallowed thickly and shook his head, "Never mind."
Felicity watched him for another moment before shrugging, "I'm going back to the Foundry soon. Diggle told me to tell you to let go of your work and get ready because he's taking you out to Big Belly Burger."
"He did?" Oliver frowned. "When?"
"He called earlier," Felicity replied. "I tried to wave at you and connect the call but you were all focused on your work that I didn't want to disturb you."
Oliver sighed, rubbing his temples with his fingers, "My head is killing me."
"Which is why you need to go out with Diggle and maybe relax a bit," Felicity smiled. "I'll try and locate Nickel as soon as I get out of work and then-"
"Oliver, Felicity!"
Oliver turned toward the door only to see his mother standing there, looking at the two of them curiously. He sensed how Felicity took a small step back from him, coldness instantly rushing over him when she wasn't close anymore.
"Mom," he said with a nod. "Is everything okay?"
"Yes, yes," Moira nodded, looking from Felicity to Oliver and back again. "Everything is fine," she smiled. "I just wanted to come and check on you to see how everything is going."
"Oliver was just giving me his final notes to take to the copy room," Felicity said quickly. She turned and looked at him from under her lashes. "He's been very busy writing them all day, and he hoped that everyone will appreciate his input in the meeting."
He almost grinned at her when he realized that she was telling him that she had done his work for him- again.
"Oh, that sounds absolutely wonderful, Felicity," Moira said, nodding at the blonde who turned her eyes back to Oliver briefly before smiling back at his mother. "Well, then, I suppose I'll leave you two to go back to your work then. I'll see you later tonight, Oliver. Have a nice day, Felicity."
With those words, his mother turned on her heel and walked out of the office. Oliver could pretty much sense Felicity's uneasiness.
"Okay, is it just me, or did your mother just treat me like a normal human being again?" she asked him, eyebrows raised.
"Yeah, she did," Oliver confirmed with a nod.
"It's weird," Felicity noted and this time, Oliver just hummed in reply. Felicity bit her lip and looked as if she wanted to say something else, but refrained from it. Oliver was almost certain that it would be brought back up eventually though since he figured that Felicity would only need some time to get her thoughts together before she came forward with them.
"Thanks for finishing up my notes," he said, bringing her back out of her deep thoughts. She turned to him and once again smiled, but this time, it didn't seem to quite reach her eyes like it usually did.
"What else is an assistant supposed to do?" she asked, sounding a bit sad. She looked down and shifted on her feet. "I should go and you should call Diggle. I'll call you guys if something turns up on Nickel."
"What about Tommy? Is he going to be in the lair tonight?" Oliver wondered, but Felicity shook her head.
"No, he mentioned something about too much drama already going on around him," she said. "Apparently Laurel's mom showed up and she thinks that Laurel's sister is still alive."
Oliver froze, his eyes connecting with Felicity's as he tried to keep his face impassive. "Sara?"
"Yeah," Felicity nodded. "But she can't be, right? I mean, I know it's probably painful for you to talk about, but she isn't, is she?"
He could hear it in Felicity's tone, that she didn't want to pressure him or anything, but Sara had always been a touchy subject for him. Back on Lian Yu, he had found her again after a year and then she had died again; washed away and dragged into the ocean, just like the first time. It was his fault that Laurel would never again see her sister smiling and he would always blame himself for being a jackass, taking Sara with him on that boat trip.
"Yeah," he finally drawled. "She's dead."
A beat passed before Felicity spoke, "I'm sorry, Oliver."
He shook his head looking at her again when he felt her hand on his shoulder. "It's okay," he swallowed. "It was a long time ago."
Felicity shifted a bit closer then and he felt how his heart jumped in his chest for a second before he got himself under control again. He knew that she could hear his heart beat due to her magnified hearing and he didn't want to embarrass himself by revealing the effect she had on him.
"I'm still sorry that you had to go through all that, Oliver," Felicity whispered. "You deserve so much better." Then, she took a step back, her eyes lingering on him for another moment before she finally walked away, looking back once over her shoulder, without saying a word.
Somehow though, Oliver felt as if her silence spoke louder than anything she had ever said before.
-§-
Everything was fine at lunch with Diggle. For the first time in a long time, Oliver relaxed and talked about something other than work and he couldn't help but feel like Felicity had been right about him needing to relax more. It was all going well until Felicity called, telling him to turn on his phone because there was a live video being sent out to everyone in the Glades.
When the video popped up on his screen, Oliver was shocked to see the blood wolf John Nickel tied up in a chair, someone filming him and asking questions, calling himself the Savior.
"It's people like John Nickel who have made me into what I am today," the man spoke into the camera. "I never wanted this! But They will all get what they deserve! These monsters will get what's coming for them if I have anything to say about it!"
"Felicity, get a location, now," Oliver hissed into his phone, looking at the video through Diggle's phone instead.
"I'm trying, but I don't know-"
She was cut off by a shot ringing out. Oliver looked down at Diggle's phone, seeing Nickel's head slumping forward, a bullet hole in his forehead, blood trailing from the wound. He heard Felicity gasp in his ear and he closed his eyes, turning to Diggle, motioning for him to get up so they could get to the Foundry.
"We'll be there soon, Felicity," Oliver said, but she didn't reply. He listened to her breathing for a moment before she finally hung up on the phone and he sighed deeply, pocketing his phone again. He looked over at Diggle, who seemed concerned and shook his head as they both headed for the car.
Half an hour later, they walked down into the Foundry and found Felicity sitting on her chair, tapping away furiously at her keyboard. Oliver exchanged a look with Diggle before approaching her, but before he had the chance to say anything, she turned around and held up her hands.
"I'm not upset over Nickel," she said quickly, "but I think we can all agree that we need to find this self-named Savior."
"Yeah," Diggle nodded. "By the way he was talking, it was kind of obvious that he knows that something is up with the People of Darkness."
"We can't have him walking around spreading the word about these things existing," Oliver agreed. "It would make people panic and then the Dark Ones would be free to come out however they want."
"I don't think it was just about him knowing about the Dark Ones," Felicity said, turning back to her computer, bringing up a screen shot she had made. "Look at his eyes," she said, pointing at the screen. Oliver and Diggle leaned a bit closer, looking at the frame. Felicity had somehow zoomed in on the reflection in John Nickel's eyes, showing the man who was holding the camera. His eyes seemed to be flashing red, and it wasn't just some red-eye mistake that the reflection had caused.
"He's one of them," Oliver realized.
"But I don't think he wanted to be," Felicity concluded. "He kept going on about being 'made' and all that, so I think by the color of his eyes that he's a made vampire, and a new one at that."
"What does that mean for us then?" Diggle asked. "We obviously have to deal with him."
"It means that we're going to find him and kill him," Oliver stated simply. "Being made into a vampire can have different effects on different people, but the ones who reject the change are usually the ones who lose their minds quicker."
"I second that logic," Felicity said. "I'm going to do my best to find him, Oliver," she continued, looking right at him again with those deep blue eyes of hers. "I promise."
"I know you will," Oliver said, putting his hand on her shoulder. "I trust you."
-§-
Felicity sat on the floor of the Foundry, high heels kicked off, fake glasses thrown across the room and knees bent as she glared at her hands that she was resting in her lap.
She had failed again tonight, sending Oliver off in the wrong direction when she thought that she had located the Savior. The vampire had kidnapped the D.A. who had been human, despite the fact that he had been corrupted by the Dark Ones by covering up the truth about them. She had thought that she had pinpointed the place that the Dark One was using to broadcast his latest catch, but it had turned out to be the wrong place and the signal had moved so suddenly that it had completely thrown her off. She knew that the D.A. had been a crook all on his own, but he had been human and he hadn't deserved to just be executed like that by a vampire who had lost his mind. As soon as the gunshot had rung out, Felicity had pushed away from her desk and thrown her glasses off as well as her ear-piece that was still connected to Oliver.
Diggle had tried to approach her, but she had yelled at him to leave her alone and he had walked away, seeing that she was too upset to talk about what had happened just yet. Oliver hadn't come back, but she could already see the anger and disappointment that would be in his eyes once he came to the Foundry and acknowledged the fact that she had failed the mission once again.
She was supposed to work the technical things in the Foundry and she had been supposed to figure out why the other vigilante was able to send them bogus locations with his signals. It might not have been the first time that she had screwed up in her life, but it most certainly was one of the times that she had taken it the hardest.
The door opened and she heard Oliver hurrying down the stairs. His footsteps stopped, but she didn't dare to look up at him, knowing that he was looking at her. She sat with her face buried in her hands as she spoke.
"I know what you're going to say," she told him, voice not wavering despite the turmoil she felt inside of herself.
"Do you?" Oliver asked after a beat passed. "Where's Diggle?"
"He left after I told him to go, using my 'loud voice'," Felicity replied, not being able to help the snark in her tone when she finally looked up at Oliver. He seemed to take her looking at him as a sign that it was okay for him to take a step forward.
"What do you think I'm going to say?" he frowned at her, stepping even closer.
"That I failed," Felicity said. "That I should be better at what I'm supposed to do. That that man died because of my inadequacy."
"You're wrong," Oliver said, closing the space between them before sitting down next to her. She bit her lip to keep herself from saying something about his pants being too tight when he grunted and shifted so that he could get more comfortable on the floor. "What happened tonight isn't on you," he told her then. "It was the Savior who killed that man, not you, Felicity."
"It might as well have been, Oliver!" she exclaimed, shaking her head. "I wasn't able to save him and I've never felt more useless in my entire life. It's almost like I went back in time and had to watch-" She inhaled sharply, breaking off her thought process. She was not going back to that time; she was not going to think about it anymore.
"You're anything but useless and inadequate," Oliver told her, looking at her worriedly. "We'll figure this thing with the Savior out. You'll figure it out. I trust you," he said.
Felicity turned her head and looked him in the eyes, her breath hitching a little when she realized just how close he was sitting to her. Using everything in her power to not look down at his lips, she kept her eyes set on his. "You might be right about the whole 'being alone is better' thing," she whispered to him, feeling how hot tears once again prickled her eyes. Wiping her cheeks furiously, she tore her eyes away from him as she continued. "Maybe it's better that I'm alone," she said. "I have no idea how I would even begin telling someone about what happened tonight."
She stood up from the floor and wiped her cheeks again, not looking at Oliver, but she heard him scramble up to stand as well. His still gloved hand wrapped around her wrist and he forced her to stay where she was, when all she wanted to do was run away and forget about everything that had happened.
"Felicity, it's not on you," he repeated, staring down intently at her. Her eyes teared up again and she absolutely hated the fact that she was once again showing weakness so easily. Oliver held her chin between his thumb and his forefinger, making her look at him again. His blue eyes shimmered with something she didn't recognize, but she knew that she had seen it in them before, like the night that she had told him about how she had been turned into a hybrid against her will. "I'm not blaming you and you shouldn't either," he whispered to her, moving just a little bit closer. Felicity's lips parted as she looked up at him, noticing how dazed and deep in thought Oliver seemed to be as he leaned just a little bit closer. One of her trembling hands reached up and gripped his wrist, making him pause in his movements. A second or two, or maybe a thousand passed before his eyes narrowed slightly and his mouth turned down in a small frown. He looked at her as if he wanted to say something, but Felicity had felt it the moment the connection between them had broken. Oliver took a small step back, his hand dropping away from her chin as if he was just now realizing what he had been close to doing. She could hear his heat beating in his chest and she couldn't help but feel a little sorry for him that she was the only one with the advantage. On the other hand, she was glad that she was though, because she was fairly certain that if Oliver had been able to hear her heart beat, she would have been embarrassed to no end because it felt as if the blood pumping muscle was going to jump out of her chest at any time.
"I'm going to try again," she mumbled, tearing herself away from him, walking back to her computers, already feeling the way her cheeks were heating up. She began re-watching the last video that the Savior had sent out, listening to the audio, hoping to find any kind of clues.
She almost didn't notice when Oliver walked up to her and placed her fake glasses on her desk.
She was almost able to ignore the fact that her heart once again jumped in her chest.
She almost denied that her feelings for the man were growing stronger by the day, but stopped when she felt his comforting hand settle on her shoulder for a moment before he left her and went to change.
-§-
The Savior's real name turned out to be Joseph Falk.
Felicity had been sitting at her computers for three hours decoding everything the man said, every last word that sounded cryptic to her, and she had come to the conclusion that the man had lost his wife in a robbery a few months back, in the Glades and that he had later been taken by vampires when he had had too much to drink at the Black Rose, being turned against his will.
She was in the middle of explaining that she had found something else, when her phone rang. Oliver and Diggle looked at her when she picked up without hesitation.
"Thea? Is everything okay?" Felicity asked, sounding concerned.
Oliver frowned, wondering why his sister was calling Felicity this late. He gave Felicity a questioning look when her eyes widened. She pulled her phone away and put it on speaker, "Could you repeat that, Thea? Please?"
"Someone took Roy!" Thea cried into the phone. "I went to see him because he was acting all weird and someone just attacked and sedated him or something! I don't know what to do!"
"Thea calm down, okay?" Felicity said. "I'll see if I can hack into any security cameras to-"
The call was suddenly cut off when a video started loading on Felicity's phone. The blonde looked up at Oliver and Diggle, who both took a small step closer to be able to see what was happening.
"Ladies and gentlemen! Meet. Roy. Harper," Joseph Falk's voice spoke as a video of the young man that they all knew as Thea's boyfriend appeared. It was a bit grainy and the camera moved around too much so they couldn't get a good read on the surroundings. "Mr. Harper here is a gang banger, aren't you? One of the culprits who terrorize the streets in the Glades at night... But during the day too, Mr. Harper, isn't that right? You're one of those who haven't gone and turned for the worse yet, am I right?"
Roy was glaring defiantly into the camera, but Felicity could see something similar to defeat glimmering there too. She gulped when realization hit her and all the pieces suddenly fell into place.
"If you're going to kill me, just do it already," Roy said, sounding almost bored.
"You have to admit to your crimes first," Joseph countered angrily. "That's how this is supposed to work! You admit that you're one of Them and I kill you to make Starling City a safer place for everyone!"
"One of 'Them'? I don't belong to a gang anymore, if that's what you're talking about," Roy said. "But I have committed crimes... I'm not going to sit here and defend myself or my actions. You do what you have to. I'm just a waste of space and time anyway..."
"Damn it, Roy!" Felicity exclaimed, shoving her phone into Oliver's hand. "How about you try to buy me some time instead of asking a mad man to kill you? God, where had the self-preservation gone in this world?" she muttered to herself as she began tapping away again, faster than she ever had before. "I picked up on a strange ambient sound when I was listening to the last recording, but I couldn't tell what it was," she told Diggle and Oliver, who hurried over to her. She played the sound and they all listened intently.
"It sounds like a train on tracks," Diggle pointed out. "Like the old subway."
"He was underground the entire time," Felicity realized then. "That asshat... He was in all those locations I picked up, but he was moving underground inside one of the old trains!"
"Can you try and pinpoint where he's going to be when he starts moving?" Oliver asked her and she nodded.
"I can and I'll tell you, but you have to get on that bike now if you're going to save Roy," Felicity said. Luckily, Oliver was already dressed up in his suit so he started for the door immediately, grabbing his bow on the way out. Felicity looked at her screen again and then at Roy's defeated face. "Don't give up, Roy," she whispered, more to herself than anything else. "We're going to get there in time and then I'll help you. Just stay alive and don't give up."
-§-
Oliver watched from the rooftop how his baby sister jumped into Roy's arms, holding him closer than he had ever seen her hold anyone. The sight of her happy tears and Roy's shy smile as he hugged her back made Oliver's lips tug up a little against his own will, but he reached up and touched his ear-piece.
"Roy's safe, Felicity," he said. "You did it."
There was static on the other side for a moment before Felicity connected, "Come home, Oliver. We have things to talk about."
Oliver frowned a little then, and turned around, using the emergency stairs of the building to get down to the alley where he had left his bike, thinking about everything that had happened when he had reached Roy and Joseph Falk.
He had gotten into the moving train and taken the vampire aback, but it seemed like no matter how new the vampire was, his strength was still there. Oliver had done his best to fight him off, but there had been no way to do so without Roy seeing and noticing that his captor was moving at an unnatural speed. The younger man had stared wide-eyed at Oliver as he had finally gotten one of his arrows with a wooden tip through the other man's heart, causing him to shrivel up and ashen right in front of Roy. Oliver had only helped Roy by throwing a small arrow to cut his ropes before going off to stop the train from moving. As soon as he had made sure that the train wouldn't move and that Roy was safe, he had told Felicity to send a message to Detective Lance before leaving the scene.
When Oliver reached Verdant, he used the back alley way to enter through the secret entrance they had there that led directly down to the Foundry.
"What's wrong?" he asked, seeing Diggle and Felicity's concerned looks.
"Felicity just revealed that she figured out what Roy is," Diggle stated, rubbing his temples.
Oliver frowned, turning to the blonde. "What?"
"Roy," she said. "Remember when I told you that I got that weird 'zingy' feeling when I touched him? Well, I figured out what it was," she explained, talking quickly. "He's a werewolf. Or, well, he's going to be one pretty soon, depending on when the next full moon comes up."
"What?" Oliver stared. "Are you telling me that my little sister's boyfriend is a Nightcrawler?"
Felicity actually rolled her eyes at him and Oliver couldn't help but glare at her. Why the hell was she downplaying all of this? It could lead to serious complications with their mission, after all, especially if Roy turned out to be on the side of the bad ones and that he had somehow figured out that Oliver was the Hunter. What if Roy was just using Thea all along to get close to the Arrow?
"No, I'm telling you that Roy is a werewolf who hasn't yet finished his transformation," Felicity replied calmly. "Like I was, back in college."
"But isn't Roy twenty years old or something?" Diggle frowned then. "If he was a werewolf, wouldn't he have turned during the first full moon of his eighteenth year?"
"Not necessarily," Felicity shook her head. "Some wolves take longer to evolve to realize their full potential, which is why he's been having rage issues and is generally awkward around new people. He feels as if he doesn't belong in his own skin, which he won't until he turns for the first time, which is most likely very soon."
"How do you know for sure?" Oliver asked.
"I told you that I felt something weird when I touched him, Oliver," Felicity sighed. "It's because I was just like him once. I didn't have a clue about what I was and clearly, Roy doesn't either. Tonight is probably the first time that he encountered another supernatural being, so he probably doesn't know about himself yet."
Oliver thought about it for a moment as he leaned back against one of the tables. He couldn't get Roy's expression from when he had shot Falk through the heart out of his head. Felicity was right; the shock there couldn't have been faked. But if Roy really had no idea of what he was really capable of or the fact that he would be turning into a wolf within the next month, it only made him more dangerous.
"What do you want to do then?" Oliver asked, knowing that Felicity was bringing it all up for a reason.
"I want you to let me approach him," she answered instantly. "I want to help him ease into it and prepare him for what's to come. I'll show him what I am and answer any questions he has, but I'll leave out the Arrow if that's what you want me to do."
Oliver looked at her, "You're not going to deal with this on your own. I'll be there when you decide to tell him."
Felicity's eyes brightened up at that. "You're really going to let me do it? Talk to him and explain everything?"
"I'm going to help you, help him," Oliver clarified. "But how do we know that he isn't dangerous."
"If he hasn't turned until now, I think it's safe to assume that he's a pack wolf," Diggle said. "Or, well, at least that he should be one..."
"So what? We let him join us? Our...group?" Oliver internally cursed himself for almost referring to their team as a 'pack'. Felicity's grin told him that she had caught on to his almost slip-up, but he was thankful when she didn't say anything about it.
"We'll help him the best we can," Felicity said. "Then, depending on how everything goes... Once everything with the Undertaking is over, I'll be free to take him under my wing and teach him more about the things I know. I can help him and the two of us might be able to stick together and if he wants to start a pack with me-"
"'Start a pack with you'?" Oliver interrupted, staring at her with wide eyes. That feeling that he didn't like flared up inside of him again when he imagined Roy and Felicity starting a family of their own and Felicity leaving his team.
"In terms of friendship," Felicity gaped at him, as if she had just realized how wrong her words had sounded. "I am not going to attempt to take Thea's boyfriend from her."
Oliver calmed down a bit, but then thought about his sister. As if she had sensed his worries, Felicity stepped toward him and put her hand on his shoulder, making him look at her. "We've got this," she told him. "Thea will be safe and I'm one hundred percent sure that Roy will understand. Once he completes his first transformation, he should calm down and become harmless... Unless he or those he loves are threatened of course. Wolves are fiercely protective of their own."
"I've noticed," Oliver chuckled, but the worries remained. Still, he trusted Felicity with his life and he knew that if there was anyone who could reach out to Roy and help him before he somehow corrupted himself and became one of the wolves that Oliver hunted, it was Felicity. "Okay," Oliver finally relented. "We'll do this your way."
Felicity smiled brightly at him and Oliver turned toward Diggle, who gave him a confirming nod.
"I have complete faith in Felicity's abilities to tame a non-transformed werewolf," Diggle said. "Never would have expected myself to say that, but I suppose it's getting late, so it might be acceptable. I'm off for tonight," he said, yawning. "You two behave down here, okay?"
"Don't we always?" Felicity smirked, not seeming the least bothered by Diggle's insinuations when she leaned over and pecked the older man on the cheek.
"Mhm," Diggle hummed, sending her a look before pressing his own lips to the top of her head. "You did good tonight," he told her. "I'll see you two tomorrow so we can talk over how we're going to go about Roy in more detail. Good night." Diggle patted Oliver on the shoulder on his way out and Oliver raised his hand in a short wave before crossing his arms over his chest again, looking over at Felicity. She was leaning against her own table, worrying her lower lip between her teeth as she looked at him.
"Thank you for not giving up on me," she suddenly blurted out. "I know I kind of lost it a bit after Falk's second kill, so I'm grateful that you didn't let me give up."
Oliver pushed away from the table he was leaning against and walked a bit closer to her. He stopped in front of her and looked down at her, reaching up to gently touch her cheek, feeling as if he was breaking a thousand of his own rules when Felicity's eyes closed at his touch.
"I'm proud of you, Felicity," he admitted quietly. Her eyes snapped open and she stared at him, her mouth falling open, but she didn't move away from him. Just like the last time he had been encouraging her by being honest, telling her that it wasn't her fault that they hadn't been able to save the D.A., Oliver felt the urge to just close the distance between them and claim her lips with his own. He found himself wanting to taste her and see if she really was as sweet as he dreamed that she was and that thought alone scared him more than anything. The attraction he had instantly felt toward Felicity after she had joined them hadn't gone away and there was no longer any point in denying that it was there.
"You're proud of me?" Felicity questioned, blinking up at him.
"I am," he nodded, "and I'm glad that I get to call you my partner."
He watched her as her expression slowly softened and an uncertain smile appeared on her face. "You really mean that?" she asked him. "You're not just saying it to make me feel better, are you?"
"No," he smiled back at her, feeling comfortable enough to do so as he once again brushed the back of his fingers across her cheek. "And I don't want you to ever start doubting your abilities. You've changed my mind about a lot of things in this world, but I know for sure that I'll never doubt that I can trust you again."
"Because I'm your partner," Felicity clarified, a blush creeping up her cheeks, starting at the place that he was caressing her. It made him want to just lean into her further and he knew that he was once again treading in a dangerous territory. He didn't want to ruin this thing- this friendship that he and Felicity had somewhat established today. It wasn't exactly a secret that he always somehow managed to ruin the best things that happened in his life by getting too deeply involved with them. His track record of women wasn't the best either and he didn't want to make the same mistakes he always seemed to be making when the opposite sex was involved.
"Because you're my partner," he echoed, resting his hand on her shoulder again so that he wouldn't do something stupid.
"Well then, partner," Felicity said, emphasizing the word, "I think you should go home and check on your sister and her boyfriend. And get some rest too because you still have that board meeting tomorrow."
Oliver groaned, his head falling back as he shut his eyes, "Damn it, I had forgotten all about that."
"Good thing you have me to remind you then," Felicity quipped.
He opened one of his eyes and looked at her. She was still smiling at him and it made him go all warm inside. "Yeah, good thing," he agreed. Before he could talk himself out of it, or before he could even think about it, he leaned forward and pressed his lips to her forehead lightly. He pulled back when he realized what he had done, but not too far away. Felicity was peering up at him curiously, but she seemed to be just as taken aback as he felt by his own actions.
"I, uh... I guess I should get going then," he said, clearing his throat awkwardly.
"Mhm," Felicity hummed, biting her damn lip again. It was too distracting and he shook his head a little as if it would somehow help to clear his mind. It was obvious that there was nothing clear in his mind when Felicity was involved.
"Uh, good night, I guess," he said letting go of her shoulder when he realized that he was still gripping it tightly. He wondered briefly if he had hurt her or something, but then again, she was a hybrid, so not much could actually hurt her.
He was half-way to the door when he stopped, realizing that he was still wearing his leather suit. Trying hard not to blush like a teenage boy, he glanced over at Felicity who was still nibbling on her lower lip, looking at him in amusement. He was making a fool out of himself, he realized.
"Oliver," Felicity suddenly spoke up. He looked at her again and she moved forward so quickly that he only had time to blink once before she was standing in front of him. Frozen in his place, he could only stare at her as she leaned up on her toes and pressed her soft lips against his cheek. When she pulled back, she lingered there, a mere inch or two from his skin that suddenly felt very hot. He turned his head a little and dared a glance at her, meeting her azure eyes. They flashed golden briefly when she grinned up at him. "Good night, partner," she told him, her delicate hand reaching up to untie the first strap of his suit. "I'll see you at work tomorrow, because tonight I have a date with favorite TV-show on Netflix."
One second she was there and the next, she was already on the other side of the room again, by her computers, logging into her Netflix account, it seemed. He ignored the way his pants suddenly felt just a little bit tighter and how his chest was burning from her touch. Forcing himself to walk away, he grabbed his clothes and went into the bathroom to change. When he came out again, Felicity was tucked under her covers on her cot, already looking at some show that he hadn't seen before.
"Hey, Felicity," he called out, making her turn around toward him. Her hair was up in a messy bun on top of her head and she was wearing gray pajamas with small frogs on them. In Oliver's mind, he allowed himself to admit that she had never looked prettier, but he still couldn't get her little move from earlier out of his head. He hated the fact that she didn't seem the least bothered by the charged moment that had transpired between them and the effect that she continued to have on him. "If you ever need to tell someone about your day...you can tell me."
He didn't expect a reply from her, but the blinding smile he got was enough for him. When he walked out to his other bike that night, the one meant for Oliver Queen and not the Arrow, he couldn't help but smile to himself either, feeling a little lighter than he had felt before.
Note: Soooo? What did you think? Loved it? Hated it? (Please don't hate it!) I would love to know what you thought so please, do share what your favorite part was in a comment. And yes, Roy is a werewolf! What did you think about that? ;)
Also, I think it's worth mentioning that I hadn't planned on letting Oliver and Felicity share those small kisses on the forehead and on the cheek, but I decided that since I've kept you guys waiting for so long, and I really wanted to establish that they are moving forward, I put it in there too... So, I hope you liked it!
Thank you so much for reading and for supporting me! I love you all! xx