Author's Note: Wow, Chapter 50, and when I started I thought it'd be a dozen, maybe a dozen and a half chapters. I like writing these two, so much potential there for fun. Unfortunately we have Season 3 starting soon and I have no doubt that the writers will continue to handle some of these characters, in particular Laurel, badly. Ah well, until then it's my chance to wrap this up and we only have a few chapters to go.
Felicity and Laurel 50
Felicity emerged from the bathroom in costume in record time, just getting her braid and cowl settled as Laurel took the chance to admire her friend. The form-fitting costume highlighted her friend's slim figure, legs and ass entirely too well in Laurel's opinion, while she loved how she looked in it, it was also a touch wistful, to see her friend like that but being unable to do anything about it. She sighed then smiled as Felicity turned to her.
"All ready" Laurel nodded, her grin breaking through to match Felicity's.
"Then let's go" Twenty minutes later they were dismounting from Laurel's bike on the western side of the Glades, leaving it stashed in a dark alley, before climbing a fire escape to the roof to find Roy waiting for them.
"Hey blondie, decided to come play?" Felicity's grin at his teasing was infectious.
"A girl's gotta take her chances when they come and we both know you know who isn't going to let me out unless it's life or death…" He grinned.
"Well c'mon then, let's play" Not long after they were watching over the crowd leaving the theatres facing the old performing arts square, Roy explaining it was a favourite place for criminals to mingle with the crowds, looking for an easy mark for pickpockets, muggers and the occasional rapist. They stood there for a few minutes, each on a different rooftop covering three sides of the square as the crowds thronged out, heading home from a night out, when she heard Laurel's voice though the comm.
"Male, dark hair, wearing a Rockets jersey, over near the fountain" Felicity scanned the crowd, spotting him as she heard Roy's voice responding.
"Got him" Laurel's voice was certain.
"I've seen him before, he's a bag snatcher, keep an eye on him" The young guy, unaware he was under surveillance, made his way through the crowd before pausing, watching a couple with a small child in a stroller. The baby must have cried as they stopped to let the woman bend over to look in on the baby, just the opportunity the guy was waiting for. Felicity didn't realise she'd muttered to herself.
"Uh oh" Roy's voice came through.
"Yeah, he's getting ready" Laurel's voice was firm.
"Can you take him or should I head to ground level?" Roy's response was quiet but sure.
"Nah, I got him" Seconds later the guy suddenly broke into a sprint, his hand ripping the purse from the mother's shoulder, the impact knocking her to the ground and tipping the stroller onto her, the baby spilling out onto the cold concrete. Laurel's directive was equally cold and clear.
"Take him down" The snatcher had barely taken ten steps when Roy's arrow skewered his calf, sending him sprawling face first into the concrete and dropping the purse to roll away as he grabbed at his leg. There was a sudden hush, before the twin screams of the terrified baby and the injured man broke out. A security guard was already rushing that way and collared the would-be bag snatcher, even while the mother gathered the baby into her embrace and the father wrapped them in his arms as a bystander moved over to retrieve the purse.
"Nice work" Felicity was impressed, it hadn't been an easy target but Roy had made it look simple, Roy though was cool about it.
"He made it easy, didn't even jink about, ran in a straight line" As they watched two SCPD officers made it through the growing crowd to the scene before the trio moved on, there were other parts of the city to watch over.
Felicity, while finding it a little difficult to keep up with the superfit Laurel and Roy, still felt the rush and the exhilaration, leaping and running from place to place, the feeling of daring and challenge, the accomplishment as she leapt from roof to roof and learned more and more about her city.
From where she sat back in the lair she had a god's eye view of Starling City, she could call up plans and cameras and satellite images and even hack into Pentagon drones if she wanted to, but out with Huntress and Arsenal, she was getting a new appreciation for the view they had of their city.
Roy's quiet observation about a derelict snuggled in a doorway, commenting that 'Old Rob' wasn't in his usual haunt and getting a confirming nod from Laurel, speaking to their close knowledge of the street life of Starling. Laurel's comment that the staff at The Manor, Starling's top brothel, were about to start shift change and they should head over there just to keep an eye on things suggesting an intimate level of knowledge that she still didn't possess. As they stood on the edge of a small building looking over the back of an elegant townhouse Laurel explained.
"The Manor is the top brothel in Starling, lots of really beautiful girls work there, including models looking to make some money between jobs, college students making ends meet and lots of others" Felicity nodded, marveling that the excitement of what they were doing was keeping her normal fear of heights at bay even as Laurel continued. "There's been a few incidents in the last two months, the girls leaving at the late night shift change being hassled, two of them were attacked, so we keep an eye on it, nothing so far but we'll make sure everything's ok"
They stood and watched as a group of women exited, mostly wearing jeans and jackets, the silks and satins left behind as they returned from the land of fantasy to reality. All three observed the careful looks around as several made it to their cars, while the rest waited for the cabs that had been called. They also noticed the ones with cars waited until all the ones taking cabs had been collected before driving off themselves, unaware of their guardians above.
"Nothing tonight" It was Roy. Laurel nodded.
"Good" With that they turned and made their way back across rooftops, heading west towards The Strip, the unofficial name for a street running parallel to the Glades that was home to a collection of late night bars, café's, fast food joints and other businesses catering for the insomniacs and the night owls.
Two blocks short of The Strip they suddenly halted at the sounds of male voices yelling and cries; turning towards the sounds, finding a small rumble between two gangs, the Wolves and the Red Knives, half a dozen of each.
Felicity watched from above as Huntress and Arsenal dealt with them quickly and efficiently while she kept watch from her vantage point, letting them know of anything happening. She was surprised that several got away; basically they ran the moment they saw the heroes but Roy smiled when she pointed that out.
"They'll spread the word, let them know there's no where safe from us" Felicity nodded and called in an anonymous tip to the SCPD to collect the tied-up gangers before they moved on.
For a while they sat on the rooftop patio of an apartment complex, enjoying the view out over the city as they talked, about the rush, the excitement that comes with what they do, the knowledge that people's lives were better for them being there. Felicity nodded to herself, it was nice sitting there, hearing two people she really cared about being so open with her about what they did. They chatted quietly, in deference to the family sleeping unaware in the penthouse behind them, as they discussed the good and the bad of their chosen career on the wrong edge of the law.
Roy shrugged in answer to her question, obviously the injury part of it's bad, but the good we do outweighs the bad parts, a sentiment Felicity found herself agreeing with. Laurel's flippant comment that you couldn't make an omelet without breaking eggs disturbed her though, Laurel was too important to her to risk her life so cavalierly but she kept her own counsel, tabling that discussion for another, more private time. Finally they agreed it was time to make a move; as they stood up to head back out, Laurel suddenly stilled.
"No quick moves guys, but we have an audience" They slowly turned to see a little girl at the window of the penthouse, eyes wide as saucers. They grinned at each other before Roy waved as Laurel held her finger up to her lips, asking the girl to be quiet. At her wide-eyed nod Felicity mimed laying her head on her hands, the universal 'go to sleep' message.
The girl nodded solemnly and waved goodbye, getting stifled snickers from both women before they headed out once more into the night.
