What Was My Daddy Like?

Chapter 8: Dad & Mia

A/N: I'm really sorry for the delay in posting this final chapter. My laptop conked out and the entire drive where my files are disappeared. I've just gotten it fixed and I'm relieved that the files (including this one) are still there. I was hoping to have this posted before season 7 finale aired, but nope, it didn't happen. The only plus side is that I was able to incorporate a little of what they did on the 7x22 episode. I hope that you find this a satisfying ending to this future spec fic that was meant to take off from Arrow's flashforwards, with several twists, of course.

It was the sweetest, most beautiful thing that Mia had ever seen – her mother in her father's embrace in a chaste yet affectionate lip lock – and hopefully, it was just the beginning of many more from then on. Her mom and dad had finally been reunited after twenty years of separation, of not knowing whether or not they would see each other again. Mia would never forget the blissful sight for the rest of her life, and she made sure to commit to memory every detail of what she was seeing, so that she could tell her future child or children what her daddy was really like, especially when he was in the same space as her mom. Mia was deliriously happy for them, for her family. She was too caught up in the moment that she didn't even notice the tears that were streaming down her face.

After the Green Arrow had safely gotten Mia and John Diggle out of the elevator shaft with the help of Lyla and Connor, John had had the wonderful privilege of introducing Mia to her father, Oliver Queen. There had been no fanfare, just a firm handshake followed in a split second by Oliver's embrace of the daughter he hadn't seen or held since she was a few months old. Holding his Mia close and kissing the crown of her blonde-haired head had said more than mere words could ever express. When he had left twenty years ago at the Monitor's bidding, his baby girl had been so small that she could fit snugly in his arm, but now she was all grown up. And yes, just like he had imagined it countless times, she had grown up to be just as smart and beautiful as her mother. Oliver had cried as he held his beloved Mia close to his chest with his right arm – the only one that he had left.

Mia, on the other hand, had been in an overwhelmed state, neither shedding a tear nor flashing a cheerful smile. To her, it had felt surreal – coming face to face with the father she hadn't known all her life. She hadn't been sure whether she should feel overjoyed that she finally got to meet her dad or angry why he had come back just now if it was possible for him to do so after all. She hadn't known how to feel or what to think. One thing she was sure of, though, was that she wanted so badly to get to know her dad more.

However, there hadn't been time for father and daughter to catch up. Oliver hadn't even had the chance to explain why he suddenly appeared and how. They had hardly pulled away from the hug when Connor had informed them that the Canaries had picked up a distress signal from somewhere inside the Eden Corp. base that Felicity, William, Zoe, and Rene were supposed to have already left an hour or so ago. Oliver, Mia, John, Lyla, and Connor had immediately met up in the secret lair with the rest of the vigilantes – all of which had successfully disarmed the various bombs scattered in Star City that they'd been sent to disarm. They all had reached the consensus that Felicity and the others must have been trapped inside the Eden Corp. facility when the Archer system had gone back online.

Mia knew her mom well. So did Oliver and the other veteran vigilantes that used to be part of Team Arrow. Felicity would have been monitoring the status of all the bombs. She must have noticed that the last bomb that Mia and John were supposed to have prevented from being detonated was still on an active countdown. She must have convinced William, Zoe, and Rene that they should stay and bide some time for Mia and John by overriding Archer before it went back online. Overriding the system after the super-virus had already done its job might have triggered a fail-safe protocol, initiating lockdown and trapping them inside the large, maze-like server room at the Eden Corp. base, which was masquerading as a harmless Galaxy One warehouse. The only good thing that they must have had going for them was the fact that it would take some time before even Kevin Dale's people could breach the server room. The team knew that it was only a matter of time before the enemy did; Felicity and the others were defenseless sitting ducks in there.

While the team had been working on an extraction plan – this time, under the Green Arrow's leadership – Connor had helped Mia calm down. But she couldn't and wouldn't calm down. She couldn't help but blame herself. She had thought that the delay in reaching the last bomb before it remote-detonated had been the reason why this happened. Had she and John neutralized the Deathstroke gangsters that engaged them, her mom and older brother, Zoe and her father, would not be in imminent danger. Worse, she had been ashamed that the first thing her long-lost father had witnessed her doing was to put her mom in harm's way. By the time the team had been ready for briefing five minutes later, Connor had coaxed Mia into calming down and focusing on being part of the solution rather than wallowing in guilt and anger.

The extraction mission had been more than successful. Not only had they been able to rescue Felicity and company, they had also been able to secure incriminating digital evidence against Kevin Dale and the remaining members of the Ninth Circle. Being trapped inside the server room had been a blessing in disguise.

Felicity and William had immediately uploaded the most pertinent proofs to the Internet sites of both the Glades P.D. and the official online news network of the city. Everyone watching had witnessed never-before-seen video footage of the meeting between Emiko Queen and the top-ranking leaders of the terrorist group that used to run Eden Corp. but were now posing as board members of Galaxy One. It showed how the hit on former mayor Pollard and the plot to murder thousands of civilians in Star City using poison gas all those years ago had been unanimously decided by all those present. Another digital file showed how Dante, who turned out to be the father of Kevin Dale, had murdered Emiko some years ago in front of the fellow leaders of the Ninth Circle after she had dismally reported that, although she had succeeded in locating and killing Noah Kuttler a.k.a. "The Calculator," she had failed to locate and kill the veteran cyber-vigilante's partner and daughter, Felicity Smoak-Queen. The other leaders of the Ninth Circle had been terribly displeased at Emiko's dismal failure to eliminate the Oliver Queen's wife and get the other cyber-vigilante off their back, for it also meant that their goal of abducting Queen's daughter and raising the child as one of them had still been beyond reach. There had also been other evidences obtained, including a comprehensive list of all remaining Ninth Circle members, assets, and assassins in the country and overseas.

Coupled with Mayor Rene Ramirez's testimony, all of these proofs had prompted the Glades P.D. to make arrests in the days that followed, aided by the vigilantes, of course – and not just in Star City, but also in Central City, Gotham City, and in other places. Even retired General Stewart had pulled some strings in order to get the DIA to help in rounding up the suspects and in organizing manhunts for the known terrorists and assets in the country and abroad. The Glades P.D. and the DIA had assured the team that the evidences they had obtained were more than sufficient to convince a jury of the crimes of the members of the terrorist organization and their accomplices, as well as to clear the charges against the crime-fighting vigilantes that had gone underground for nearly two decades. Rene had seen this as his chance at redemption and was willing to testify and go to prison for allying himself with Emiko and Eden Corp. (which later became Galaxy One) all those years ago. Zoe had been somewhat devastated that her father was going to serve time, but she'd expressed pride in her father for finally choosing to do the right thing.

As for the extraction mission, Connor, Mia, and Roy had been the ones sent to retrieve Felicity and the others from the server room that night while Oliver and the others kept all of Kevin Dale's goons at bay. It was a good thing Felicity had taken control of the army of soldiers with advanced scanning helmets from inside the server room, because Oliver, John, Dinah, and the others would not have stood a chance against those if they had been released. Roy had had no trouble locating Alena Whitlock inside the building, and he had aggressively and immediately forced her to hack the system and lift the lockdown on the server room. As soon as the two-feet-thick metal and concrete door, which separated Connor and Mia from Felicity and the others had opened, Mia had rushed into her mother's arms in relief.

"Mom!" Mia had cried out, crashing into her mother's arms. "You're okay. I'm so glad to see you," she had said, as William had joined in the group hug.

"That's a first," Felicity had responded with a relieved chuckle, earning a glare from her daughter. "I was just kidding," she had said, smiling at Mia. "Thanks for getting us out."

Mia had smiled back at Felicity. "Come on, we have to go." With a twinkle in her eye, she had added, "And it's not just because we don't have much time before Kevin Dale's goons get here. There's something… actually someone waiting for you that I'm sure you'd really love to meet."

Felicity had had no time to question her daughter, even though she had been curious as to whom Mia had been referring to. She and the others had followed Mia's lead until they had safely fled from the huge building, the zip-tied Alena Whitlock in tow. They all had gotten into the van and proceeded to the secret lair to meet up with the rest of the team where it was safe.

Down in the lair, Felicity, Mia, William, and the others who had arrived there first had waited for the other members of the team to turn up. Mia had told William in private that their dad had mysteriously reappeared and rescued her and John Diggle earlier, and that he was on his way back there with the rest of the team. They had agreed not to tell Felicity, wanting for their mom to be pleasantly surprised (if not shocked) to see him.

Shocked did not even begin to describe Felicity's reaction to seeing Oliver come down the stairs in his emerald green splendor. The moment she had recognized who the older man with cropped silver-gray hair and handsome stubble was, her knees had buckled; William and Mia had made sure to steady her, for she looked like she'd been ready to faint on the spot. Locking eyes with her beloved husband as tears welled up in her eyes and love flooded her heart, time had stood still.

Felicity had remained rooted on the spot and unable to move, her children flanking her. As the team of vigilantes that had congregated in the lair retreated to the sides to clear a path for Oliver, he had made his way towards her, tears pooling in his eyes as well. When he had stood just a couple of feet in front of her, Felicity had finally found the words. With trembling voice, she whispered, "Oliver, hi."

It hadn't mattered that her husband had only one arm to pick her up and hold her close; she hadn't even noticed it until later. It hadn't mattered that they now both had wrinkled faces, their skin and hair bearing witness of how much they had aged with the passing of time and the troubles of life taking their toll on them both. It hadn't mattered that twenty years and the demands of the multiverse had kept them apart. The only thing that had mattered at that moment was that the love of her life was alive, and he was now within her reach.

"Hi," Oliver had whispered back. He temporarily dropped his perfectly fixed gaze on his lovely wife to look at her left hand. A delightful little smile appeared on his gorgeously aged face as he'd remarked, "You still wear it."

"Never left my finger," Felicity had replied sweetly.

Oliver had taken the last two steps to close their gap as he reached up with his hand to cup her cheek. "You haven't changed a bit. Still as beautiful as I remember."

Felicity had leaned into his calloused palm as her eyes closed for a second to relish the touch she'd missed for far too long. A tear had fallen from her cheek to his palm, just as she had sighed and said, "You came back."

"Always… A promise is a promise," Oliver had replied, remembering the promise he'd made to her a few months after they were married.

When the Monitor had come to collect on the deal he'd struck to save Barry Allen's and Kara Danvers' lives, he hadn't been as certain as he used to be that he'd come back to her safe and sound. The stranger had not given him any assurance that he would live through the battle and return to his family. So, Oliver hadn't wanted to give his wife false hopes. The best thing he could leave her was the promise that he would do everything in his power to come back to her and their children. The battle had been won, and the next one after that, and every other battle in the last twenty years (on Earth's time) that he'd been obliged to fight as a selfless hero (including the one when he'd lost his left arm).

When the Monitor had informed him that he'd won his fair share of battles to help restore the balance of the multiverse and that it was an opportune time to return to his world, Oliver had had mixed emotions. Surely he had wanted nothing more than to return to his family; nevertheless, he'd also feared that Felicity might have already moved on with her life. He'd feared that if and when he returned, it would be too late for them. But like he'd learned in several occasions in the past, he could be wrong.

And he was. For quite the contrary, Felicity had kept her vow. Now that he'd come back to her, and seeing how she'd remained faithful to the love they shared, as well as kept her promise to do everything she could to protect their children, Oliver's heart had soared with so much joy and pride.

And just like that, as if twenty years had been merely a second, Oliver's lips had captured Felicity's in the most affectionate, passionate kiss. Unlike William, who had reminisced the many times he'd witnessed his parents' public displays of affection as a boy, Mia had been in complete awe as she watched her parents' ardor-filled reunion, witnessing for the very first time the beauty of a love bigger than the multiverse that could not permanently keep them apart.

Three months later, on the front porch of their house in the woods just outside Bloomfield…

"Are you sure there is nothing we can do to convince you to go back to Star City with us?" William asked Oliver.

"Absolutely nothing," Felicity quickly responded in her husband's behalf.

"Are you sure?" Mia asked this time.

"I've been trying to talk Mom into helping me design and engineer a digitally enhanced prosthetic limb especially for you. My company can help, maybe even use the innovation to get Smoak Tech back on its feet," William suggested.

Oliver answered definitively, "Thank you, but yes, we're sure about this. I believe our vigilante days are over and it's time to hang up the hood. You and your brother, Zoe, Connor, and the Canaries… you are the new generation of heroes that the city needs. Our time as vigilantes has come to an end." He smiled at his daughter and son as he pulled Felicity closer to his right side.

"Your dad and I are perfectly content right here. Retirement has been long overdue… and very much needed. The effects of menopause are starting to take its toll on this old lady," Felicity added with a chuckle, wrapping her arm around her husband's middle. Oliver gave her a gentle squeeze to reassure her that the symptoms she spoke about did not bother him at all.

"Be careful out there, and watch each other's backs," Oliver reminded their children. He looked straight into William's eyes to make sure his son understood his responsibility as the older sibling.

"I don't need him to babysit me," Mia retorted, rolling her eyes at her dad's suggestion.

William was quick to comment, side-eyeing his younger sibling, "Of course you don't. You've already got 'Agent' Hawke on that detail."

"Hey!" Mia exclaimed, digging an elbow into his brother's side. William winced even though the calculated gesture of protest was not that painful.

"Alright, knock it off!" Felicity said, raising her voice as if she were breaking up a fight between two kids.

"Seriously, you two make a great team," Oliver remarked, reaching for his daughter and laying his hand on her shoulder.

"Partners," Felicity affirmed them, giddy with excitement, "like Green Arrow and Overwatch, version 2.0, but better."

Oliver and Felicity gave each of their children a warm hug and a kiss on the cheek.

Mia lingered in her father's embrace a little longer. She cherished the past few months that she had spent getting to know her dad and her older brother more. They'd spent most days either working out and sparring or making meals together, and most nights playing virtual games and binge-watching old movies and cable TV series from their parents' era. Mia had had a blast, finally letting her guard down and enjoying the reunited family that she had been deprived of for the past two decades.

But more than that, she had watched her father closely and seen firsthand what kind of person he truly was. All her life she'd wondered what her daddy was really like, and she only got bits and pieces from the family and friends who had known him in the past. Now, she was grateful that she got a second chance to find the answers herself, and the answers keep blowing her mind away day after day. Her mom was right: her dad loved them with all his heart. William was right: her dad was a gentle, caring person even if he could scare and subdue criminals and villains by his strength and skill. Her Aunt Nyssa was right: her dad was an extraordinary and honorable man who has become an inspiration to many despite his very dark past. Her Uncle Roy and Aunt Dinah were right: her dad was a changed man who knew what it meant to put others before himself and who was capable of helping others find their purpose and become better versions of themselves. Her Uncle John was right: her dad was someone who had lived through so much pain and yet has come out victorious and stronger than before. Even Connor, who had only ever had secondhand information about the Green Arrow, was right, too: her dad was a wonderful, loyal friend and a dependable, brilliant leader with a single-minded focus. Every single one of them had known Oliver Queen as a selfless hero, and in the little time Mia had spent with him, she had proven them right. Who said one needed a lifetime to learn to love someone as much as she has now come to love her dad?

Just before Oliver and Felicity sent off Mia and William, they handed their children a loaded mini cassette player.

"What's in it?" Mia asked.

Oliver replied, "Glades P.D. and the DIA crossed out everyone in the list that we got from the Eden Corp. data base. All known terrorists and associates of the Ninth Circle have been arrested…"

"But…? There's a but coming, right?" Mia asked a second time.

Felicity answered, "But some of those who were in police custody have managed to have charges dropped based on either circumstantial evidence or technicalities. And… the Feds offered Alena Whitlock a deal… witness protection in exchange for the names of other Ninth Circle associates and accomplices she knows of, which aren't on the list we got."

"How many more are there?" William asked.

"Enough names to fill about two minutes of recording on that mini cassette tape," Felicity replied.

"Oh…" Mia muttered.

"You might want to start your career of saving the city with that," Oliver challenged them.

Oliver sighed, thinking how his life had come full circle. Many years ago, his father had given him a list and laid upon him the burden of righting the wrongs that he had made, marring the integrity of the Queen name. That legacy had broken and damaged Oliver almost beyond repair. This was a completely different list, though, the one that he was giving their children. He was not passing on a legacy of guilt and shame; he was passing on a legacy of heroism to the next generation that had willingly taken on his mantle and earned it by sheer Courage, Compassion, Selflessness, and Loyalty.

William nodded. Mia replied, "We'll do our best."

After one final group hug, Oliver and Felicity watched as their son and daughter crossed the lawn in front of the house and got into the car that would take them back to Star City. When the vehicle was no longer in sight, Oliver turned to Felicity and looked at her with fondness.

"What?" she asked him with a curious smile on her face.

He pulled her close to him and ran his hand up and down her back. He kissed her forehead, the tip of her nose, and then her lips. With a mischievous gleam in his eyes, he told her, "I was thinking… Kids are gone. Maybe I'd like to challenge that thing you said about you going into menopause this early."

Felicity couldn't believe her ears. "Oliver!" She pushed against his chest to have a good look at his face and make sure he was merely teasing. He was grinning like a lovesick fool.

"You can't be serious," she said, smirking and feigning protest.

"I can do it with one arm," he reassured her with a wink.

Oliver pulled Felicity into him again for a kiss and then enthusiastically led her back into the house to make good on his challenge.

A/N: That's it, folks! I hope you enjoyed this one. If you did, it would REALLY be nice to hear from you and to know why this was a satisfying or even just a fairly satisfying read. Now that it's the end, maybe you could take the time to review or comment.

[spoiler alert, for those who haven't watched 7x22 yet]

Honestly, I loved how Arrow ended Felicity's journey and Olicity's saga. Two reasons - neither of them really died, and they were reunited in the end. They got the happy ending they deserved after all! Yey! The only thing lacking for me was that Oliver and Felicity did not get the chance to be completely reunited and to enjoy their children in the future. How this spec fic ends is my way of rectifying that tiny dissatisfaction. Also, I didn't love the story line of the present-day finale as much. I felt like it was hurried, perhaps because they had to give more time to the lengthy epilogue. Understandable, but not very entertaining that way. The threat to the city did not seem urgent enough, the Team's response lacked resistance from the villains, and Emiko's demise at the hands of very newly introduced or underdeveloped antagonists was too quick. Well, so much for a review of the finale. Sorry about that!

Please let me know how this story was for you. It means a lot. I think this way we can help each other recover faster from the loss of Felicity Smoak and the impending end of one of the most epic television series of our time. Farewell, EBR! Thank you for giving life to our favorite girl. Best wishes to Arrow on its final season!