A/N: Just really wanted to write something with these three together as I wanted Mon El to meet both of them at some point.
Warnings: There is the occasional swear word. Also this story is unbeta'd so future apologies for any grammatical mistakes.
Disclaimer: I do not own Arrow, Flash, or Supergirl and make no money from writing this.
Living in Starling city and being part of the Green Arrow's team Felicity had seen a lot of monsters both human and super-powered alike. But every time when it came to torture and murder done by the regular non-powered humans, it was always more unsettling then if done by a shark or gorilla hybrid.
"So it's just us then?" Iris asked loading up her car for their brief day trip to Opal city to get away for a bit. Both Oliver and Barry were working with the other paragons dealing with an off world threat from another earth.
"Yeah it looks like. I mean Tommy was interested but of course ultimately busy, same with Julian, Lena, Lyra, and Camille. I haven't heard back from Mon El. Roy and Thea are still hunting down and destroying the Lazarus pits. Everyone else is on patrol or standby hero detail, so it looks like it'll just be us." Felicity answered distractedly searching for her phone before getting in the passenger seat. Iris slid behind the wheel and started her car shooting the other girl with an easy smile.
"Well it looks like we get a girls day to ourselves. I haven't had one of those in forever especially, since Caitlin's been working on mastering her control of Killer Frost."
"And how is that Banner/Hulk situation going? Last time I saw her was facing off against Miss metal controller and then briefly at your wedding. Did you ever have that talk to her about boundaries?"
Huffing in amusement Iris reassured her. "She's good. Official member and all that even saved us a few times. Her and Ralph have a weird relationship kinda like a fre-enemies thing. It can be entertaining most days."
"That sounds like Black Siren and just about anyone on my team." Felicity opened a bag of licorice sitting next to her to take a big bite. Iris must have stolen these from Cisco. He was always eating them and did have the best candy stash. After she swallowed she asked her next question. "So how's things going with The Citizen?"
"Pretty good." She was happy to admit. "I mean we don't have that many followers yet. But we all gotta start somewhere right? Hopefully in time I can become better established and make it a success."
"Man starting a business from scratch sucks." Felicity couldn't help but lament. "I know it can be really great in the end, and it's a process but still the beginning part is the worst especially marketing and networking."
Iris shook her head. "You ain't wrong, but it is nice having the freedom to print what I want and not have everything so micromanaged. I'm not sure how Kara still manages it. I hated getting pushed to write articles I didn't care about. Plus hiring Camille and Allegra has really helped. Camille takes great photos and Allegra learns quickly. She may be stubborn and mouthy, but she always gets the jobs done in the end."
"That's nice." Felicity agreed knowing despite it was great working with Curtis. They did often clash with different ideas and creative differences. "Working in the IT dept then being CEO both have their pros and cons but you're right it is nice working in something you love and getting to call the shots."
It was a few moments before the radio station changed. "Ooh! Turn this song up, this is my jam."
Rolling her eyes, Iris increased the volume at 'Hit me baby one more time.'
From there they took turns driving, singing to the radio, or swapping stories about what they'd been up to making sure to steer clear of the topic of their future kids as that was a sensitive one especially for Iris having lost Nora. Nor their weddings either as that was a mess from middle to finish, and Felicity later regretted the impulsive decision to crash their park vows. For once it was nice not even thinking about criminal or crime-solving related. They didn't anticipate the bomb until it was too late.
Consciousness was a slow thing. Felicity thought she felt someone pull her from the passenger seat, but was pulled back under before she could see. Eventually the registering of pain forced her to open her eyes and she blinked while taking the situation in. The first thing she noticed was her body seeing the multitude of bruises and cuts. There was also pain in her head, left wrist, but particularly her right leg which looked to be bleeding and not quite angled right.
The second thing she noticed was she was strapped down to a medical gurney much like Kara had been with the nazis and evil doppelgangers. And yeah that wasn't an image she wanted to remember right now thanks brain. Her ankles, wrists, stomach, and chest were secured to the bed with thick leather straps. Her breathing started speeding up and heart sinking, as she took in each strange medical tool or machinery stationed around the room.
"Okay...I'd really like to wake up now. This nightmare sucks, and I'd rather have the being at school in my underwear one."
The room was strangely lit and almost looked as if it was a cross between a bomb shelter and operating room. So many questions and thoughts were overlapping in her brain running into each other and threatening to jump out. She was so distracted that she barely noticed the third thing on her observation list. Iris strapped down across from her and out cold.
"Iris!" She whispered yelled at the girl next half in terror. "Wake up please I think we're in a serial killer's basement, and I don't want to be alone if that's true. Iris, hey!"
It was no use. Felicity tried several more times, but Iris remained unconscious. If needed anymore reason to further freak out, it would be this. She could see that there was a lot of blood on the side of Iris' head, and she couldn't even check to see how serious the head injury was. She was no doctor but even she was pretty sure not waking up was definitely not a good sign.
More than anything in this moment, Felicity wished she had powers. Some super strength or heat vision would come in handy right about now. And she wasn't like her husband who could Houdini out of restraints and handcuffs. She struggled with the leather before begrudgingly accepting with frustration they weren't budging. With Iris down and being unable to move or call for help Felicity could admit that she wasn't doing so well at calming herself down. In fact she wanted to do nothing more than freak the frak out.
"Alright well this is bad. This is...really bad in fact I'm really tempted to say this can't get worse. How the frak did this happen? You know forget everything else. I'm getting on this nanite idea. Winn, Cisco, and I were thinking about injecting all of us with nanites. So not only would we always be able to track each other, but we'd also figure out other ways to use them. And one way would be that they'd form some base of self defense protection for situations like these. Unfortunately we really need to consult with Ray Palmer as he's kinda an expert in that field and Oh my God is that a human head in that jar!"
It definitely was. And she couldn't even properly freak out over that, as the heavy door finally opened causing her to flinch with the flooding of light and new presence. A rail thin heavily scarred man with thinning gray hair stepped in wearing a surgeon's mask over his face and covered in blue scrubs. He walked over to her bed. His eyes formed upward crescents as he smiled.
"Finally awake I see." He slowly trailed his fingers through her hair in a pretense of comfort. She subtly tried to shift her head away from his hand, swallowing to steady her voice and inject some steel into it she asked.
"What do you want?"
He turned from her to pick up a scalpel and examine it. "It's always the same questions isn't it? Who are you, what do you want, no you can't do this, before the bribes, threats, and eventually begging break out." He answered idly, setting the scalpel back down. "But you see the screams." He continued with a wide smile. "Those are perhaps my favorite parts. There's something so exquisite about human pain and endurance being pushed to the utter brink of it's limits before fading out."
Not finding it in herself to say anything to that horrifying monologue Felicity remained silent. Leaning in closer and over her he further explained.
"I was a brilliant surgeon, so many years with a near flawless record despite being rarely thanked and the doctors and attendings taking credit for my success. But one mistake, one incident had my license taken away unable to find work again." His hands seemed to shake at the memory of that before stilling. "So I decided I was done trying to save people. If I couldn't be paid for saving lives, why not be paid for taking them? The lucrative trade on the black market of organ selling on the dark web is enough to keep me in business for a very long time, and it's not as if I run out for a shortage of victims."
'So they really were in a serial killer's basement yet another thing she didn't want to be right about.' "How long have you been Jack the Ripper-ing?"
He looked amused at her question. "Going on nearly 30 years now I managed it because I'm careful and I'm smart. I can only take one or two victims per year and only travelers so as not to raise suspicions or establish a pattern. I dispose of the evidence or make it appear as accidents."
"Well clearly you're not that smart."
For the first time he frowned at her. "What do you mean?"
He didn't even know who they were? Weird. For the first time this had nothing to do with the Green Arrow or the Flash. "My husband was the former mayor of Star City and hers works at the CCPD. You obviously picked people who are going to be noticed, if we don't turn up."
That didn't concern him as much as she thought it should. Someone was clearly confident. A small voice in her head told her 'well duh Felicity he's been serial killing for 3 decades and never been caught. He's going to be pretty confident.'
"I can merely go with the tragic accidents for your deaths.
Channeling more confidence then she felt Felicity retorted. "All that money and not a dime spent on therapy wow what a waste."
He moved, as if he had super-speed to right in front of her. "I know I shouldn't be bothered considering you'll both be dead in a few minutes. But," re-picking up the nearest scalpel to press against her thundering pulse and carotid artery. "don't tempt me to start removing your vocal cords first."
"W-well that seems contradictory since you said the screaming was your favorite part. You seem to be a paradox which is why I recommended the therapy. But shouldn't we get a last request? I mean what kinda killer doesn't give it's victims a last request?"
He petted her pony tail once more, and she shifted her head as if to say 'stop it, your hand feels like a skeleton'. "Very well what would you like?"
Felicity took her precious time to consider. He tightened his hand in her hair.
"My time is not limitless."
"Can you give me a minute at least?!" Could she think of something to save them in a minute? Probably not unless he bought that she needed a computer to do final will things on.
"You have 10 seconds."
"Big Belly Burger!" She screamed out being the first thing that popped into her head. "I want a last meal from there. If you're going to kill us anyways, then what's the harm in waiting an hour or two?"
"Well that's true. However I'm not inclined to venture outside right now. So my dear if food is your request, I have some nice cold deer meat upstairs."
"Oh um, you know I actually think I might be allergic to deer meat. So maybe we could just order a pizza and wait for it to arrive or there's some great delivery options. I have the door dash app on my phone, if you lend it to me or there's grub hub. Though personally I'm not really a fan because of that one time-"
"Enough! God you talk too much" Rubbing at his temple. "It's deer meat or nothing."
"Sounds great." With struggling enthusiasm she didn't have. "I can't wait."
"I'll be right back. Don't go anywhere." Before chuckling at the idea.
'Wow hilarious can't imagine that's the first time he's said that before.' Felicity turned her head toward Iris feeling a strong urge to cry.
"Well I bought us a little more time but not much though. I'm so sorry." Letting out a deep breath she shifted to stare back up at the ceiling. She was sorry. Sorry this had been her idea sorry Iris would never see Barry, her dad, Cecile or her friends again. Sorry she would never see Oliver, her mom, William, or her friends again. Sorry they were about to die in one of the worst ways getting their organs cut out. Sorry she couldn't think or talk her way out of this. Sorry for all of it.
"Anyone listening out there could really use an express miracle right now." She whispered, though she wasn't that hopeful for receiving one. This was going to gut both Oliver and Barry who had already lost enough people in their lives, and the worst part was they might never know the truth of what happened. She had been in difficult situations before Iris too, but this really felt like their luck had run out.
With not nearly enough time left to herself Felicity found herself once again in her captor's company sluggishly eating cold deer meat chunks. When she finished the bowl, he didn't want to delay any longer starting and completing his washing ritual before cutting through her shirt then grabbing a long knife.
"Now most medical professionals tell you that this won't hurt a bit. But you're going to have a quite different experience I assure you." Once more smiling with barely held back sadistic glee. "Let's see how your kidneys are looking."
She braced her eyes shut, nails digging into the bed expecting pain but not expecting a large explosion that shook the very foundations of the bunker. Keeping her eyes closed they flew open, when she heard a familiar voice. Relief hit her like a train and Felicity held in the hysterical giggle threatening to bubble out.
"Knock knock or well I knocked but nobody answered so I just let myself in. I figured at this point your broken floorboards were a trade off for making me wait." He took in the scene, his face tightening slightly.
"Who- What are you?!" The man demanded raising his blade higher and moving closer to the newcomer, since obviously whoever had just come in clearly wasn't human.
"Oh we're doing introductions? Okay well my name is Mon El and I hail from what once was planet Daxam. I was on my way to meet my friends and wouldn't you know they weren't there. Seems like you have something to do with that. So I'll just be taking them out of your...thinning hair and then I can promise you I'll be coming back for you."
"YOU'RE NOT TAKING THEM ANYWHERE!" Came the shrill scream for the first time it seemed like their captor was losing any and all trace of his composure.
Mon El gave an 'aren't I?' face before speaking casually and walking closer. "Yeah, see it's interesting. On Daxam my parents were King and Queen, and they ruled with absolute authority. They didn't tolerate criminals or anyone who challenged their authority. So for someone like you? You would be made an example of, and it would definitely be much worse than this especially considering they hated ordinary humans." Now standing before him Mon El looked in his eyes. "So you're lucky we're not on Daxam, and I'm not my parents."
The man swung his knife trying to go for Mon El's heart. However Mon El simply caught his wrist with one hand and used his other to grab the back of his neck and swung the man's head to smash against the end of Felicity's gurney knocking him out cold.
"Also my girlfriend has a strict no killing rule."
He started to run to Felicity first, but she however shook her head. "Iris first please I-I don't even know if she's still alive. Her head got bashed in, and she hasn't woken up since."
Nodding Mon El then moved over to her gurney bracing both hands on either side of Iris' head. "Okay Kara taught me how to do this." Using his X-Ray vision in an attempt to scan her brain. "Let's see, I don't see any fractures in her skull, and it doesn't look like she's bleeding into her brain. I think she should be fine to move." He ripped off all of Iris's restraints before doing the same to Felicity's. He peered at her seriously looking concerned, but trying to come off as confident.
"I'm going to drop Iris off at the nearest hospital before coming back for you and then him okay? It shouldn't take more than a few minutes."
Felicity who at this point had started crying found herself near hyperventilating at the thought of being alone with their captor. She desperately tried to push it down, but she didn't think she was very successful since Mon El came back around.
"Hey easy shh it will be super quick and look." He took a pair of handcuffs and cuffed the unconscious man to one of the morgue handles. "He won't be able to get to you. It's just a few minutes."
"Okay alright that's fine I-I can do a few minutes. Tttotally can do this."
He gave her a reassuring smile. "I believe in you. I'll be back in a few." With that he gently gathered Iris up in his arms before flying back up the way he came.
Trembling somewhat she armed herself with the knife he dropped. Felicity felt a small urge to plunge it into the prone man on the floor. It was certainly the type of thing Oliver she had first met would have done. Back when he viewed monsters as things that could only be put down and not worth imprisoning.
"You're fine. You're okay. Nothing happened. You're fine." She muttered to herself, closing her eyes. That she didn't have to look at the killer on the floor, the head in the jar, or any of the other creepy disturbing things about this room. She was so caught up in her thoughts that she jumped at Mon El's reappearance holding out his arms. "Whoa easy! It's just me ready to get out of here?"
"Yeah like yesterday let's go." He gently scooped her up with one arm under her back and another under the back of her knees. Holding in the whimper as the pain in her bad leg came back with a vengeance. She held on tight, as he flew her out of there. She kept her tight grip face turned away from the view, until she felt Mon El land before walking into the same hospital that he dropped Iris off at.
"Hi, yes, can I please get another doctor and room for my other friend?"
Felicity took the opportunity to move back away from his chest and vomit on the other side, splattering the floor and his shoes and pants. Her last meal returning barely digested.
'Clean up aisle 12.' Felicity thought blearily curling back around.
Mon El fought the urge to grimace both at the smell and foul liquid seeping in and tried for a smile instead.
"And maybe a mop while we're at it?"
"Gerald! Go fetch a mop and cleaning supplies from the janitor's closet. Oh Lord someone grab another wheelchair and a bucket! What happened to her?"
"She was kidnapped by someone with a very large knife, which I actually need to go take care of." Mon El said after he had lowered Felicity in a newly brought in wheelchair. He walked off ignoring the desk receptionist and closest nurse yelling questions after him. Felicity interjected hoarsely after wiping her mouth.
"No he's right he has to go. I can help. What do you need to know?"
A few days later Felicity was curled up in Iris' bed eating the deluxe yogurt Joe had bought for them. Since Felicity didn't really like to be alone at the moment, and both guys had stepped out briefly to get lunch together in the cafeteria.
Iris had finally woken up and been horrified, disturbed, and pissed at hearing what had happened. Oliver and Barry weren't much better when they returned and heard the story. Felicity was so relieved and happy to see him. She kissed him and held him tight in her arms feeling a sense of security return, as they murmured reassurances to each other.
Even after everything that happened with Diaz and telling herself that she couldn't live in fear or always rely on others to protect her (hence the gun.) It still didn't negate the fact that she felt safest with Oliver. There was just something about his presence that always acted like a balm for her fear.
It was only after a few days spent together and several long talks did the four finally begin to separate for bits at a time. Both of their teams had visited and sent bundles of gifts and recovery wishes. Even a few of their Earth 38 friends had stopped by including Winn (who was even more on board with her nanite idea now) and...
"Good morning!" Mon El announced before knocking on the open door then striding right on in. "I've been told I can finally visit some of my favorite Earth 1 ladies. Kara told me it's customary to get gifts from the hospital's gift shop. But they were all tragically lame not a dance cube in sight, so we went to Build-A-Bear which on our Earth is ironically called Create-A-Cuddle-Friend. So these are from the both of us, though Kara really picked out most of the outfits."
He handed Iris a chocolate brown bear with pink bow between her ears, jeans, pink shoes, a black blazer, complete with red flash shirt.
"Aww. Iris murmured, taking the bear. "This is so cute. Who's idea was it for the Flash T-shirt?"
"That was me." He replied beaming proudly. "I've been thinking about getting one myself with Kara's crest. And here's yours Felicity."
Handing her a golden blonde bear with a purple bow, jeans, purple shoes, silver blazer, complete with green arrow shirt. Felicity couldn't help smiling a little, finally beginning to feel like herself after such an exhausting and terrifying last few days.
"They're perfect, thanks Mon El and thank Kara for us."
"Yeah of course after all I never got the chance to thank either of you for what you did for her at the Nazi invasion, and I'm sure next time I'll need you to swoop in and save me so we're more then even." He paused giving a nervous scratch to his neck. "So...how are you feeling?"
Iris looked to Felicity unsure if the other girl wanted to talk about it before answering. "Physically almost recovered though I never interacted with Prawn." Whom they learned was the name of their captor Augustus Prawn resident serial killer now thankfully locked up.
"Not exactly the first time someone's time someone's tried to kill me and probably won't be the last. And wow sorry that's depressing." Shaking her head as if to shake off the morose memories and losing the blank stare Felicity smiled at him. "We're really glad you got my text and decided to show up."
"Yeah even more so because had the decision been left up to me. I probably would have decided to just call it a girl's day and not invited anyone else. How did you even find us?" Iris asked, setting both bears down in the center of the bed.
"Ah well when you weren't responding back to my texts, I decided to meet you in the city only weren't there or at least you didn't seem to be. So I thought I'd retrace your route in case you got a flat tire and your phone died, but I got this really weird visual when I did an X-ray vision scope from the air. I noticed this secluded house a ways off from the road." His voice changed, shifting to become slightly more serious. "When I found your car at the back of the house I knew something was wrong, and therefore I flew through the house to where I could see three bodies underneath."
Iris shuddered. "Did you really have to word it like that? The last part sounds so creepy."
"Yeah that's enough story time." Felicity announced before changing the subject. "Want to watch a movie with us? We're just about to start Legally Blonde."
"Is it a musical? Because if so I'm going to have to pass. Don't tell Kara but we've been nonstop marathoning them just finished Hamilton the other night and I need a break." He glanced around to make sure she couldn't overhear him committing the sacrilege. "Still love you hun!"
Iris and Felicity couldn't help a giggle. "No it's about a sorority girl who gets dumped then follows her boyfriend to Harvard in order to win him back and in the process becomes a lawyer."
Mon El took a seat propping his feet up on the bed relaxing causally. "Sure why not I don't have to be back until dinner and after all I do kinda have a thing for blondes." Shooting Felicity a wink she rolled her eyes turning back to the screen.
Sometimes it was scary how much he reminded her of Tommy, the only difference being Mon El still so vastly new to the planet. Still she and Iris owed him a lot, so the beginning of an idea began to hatch its way into her mind as a way to make it up to him.
"Hey Mon El, have you ever been to Vegas before or Mardi Gras in New Orleans?"