When they arrived at the club, Tommy signaled the DJ to change the song. Freddy Mercury's voice filled the space, as he sang: We Are the Champions. When the applause died down, they made their way to the bar. They had just made their orders, when Oliver spotted someone, and a feeling of unease settled on his stomach.
Laurel was there.
"Laurel is here." Oliver said simply to his companions.
"Well, good time as any to talk to her, right?" Thea asked, though from her body language it was clear that she didn't like the fact that the older woman was there.
"I smell trouble." Felicity said, shaking her head.
"I'm sure she won't make a scene. She is a civilized and educated woman." Tommy said, though he did not sound so sure.
"I wouldn't hold my breath." Thea said.
Felicity's posture stiffened, as she watched the brunette looking around the club, searching for someone. She had faced guns and knives, but she dreaded the confrontation with Laurel, because she knew it was going to hurt Oliver. And she hated it.
Laurel's eyes finally landed on them, and more specifically, on Oliver.
"Here she comes" Felicity sighed, as she saw her coming towards them with a hard look on her face. 'Oh, goodie' she thought sarcastically.
"Hello, Laurel. How are you?" Oliver said politely.
"Ollie Queen" she said, her voice dripping poison, making Oliver shiver at his old nickname. "Ever the charmer." She cocked her head. "You know, I had hoped that you'd rot in hell for longer than two years."
"Lovely to see you, too." Oliver clenched his jaw and gave her a fake smile.
"I'm sure." She returned an equally fake smile. "You should know, Ollie, that this time I will not get you back, however much you beg. You went too far this time."
"Why would he want you back?" Thea asked, raising an eyebrow. She really did not like her, and more so now.
"Because he loves me and always comes back to me. He begs and begs until I forgive him and take him back." She replied. "It was always Olli and Laurel"
"Have it crossed your mind that maybe he doesn't want you back?" Felicity couldn't help but say.
"Is she your flavor of the week? How cute, you think you're special. You aren't." she said in a tone that clearly stated how low she thought of Felicity.
"Laurel!" Tommy exclaims the same time Thea says: "Bitch!"
"That is enough!" Oliver says angrily. "Laurel, you might have known me five years I ago, but you do not know me now. You have no idea what happened on that island, but it changed me. Ollie died the moment I stepped foot there. You and I shouldn't have ever got together. We were toxic. And rest assured that I will never make the same mistake again. I am very sorry for everything I have ever done to you and for the grief I have caused you. However, that gives you absolutely no right to treat Felicity like that and I will not stand for it!"
"I think it is time for you to go, Laurel." Tommy said, disappointment evident in his face.
"I didn't plan on staying and celebrating this asshole." She turned and left, and Felicity relaxed instantly.
"She is wrong, you that, right?" Felicity asked. "You are not an asshole, not any more, and I know that you will never cheat on me or anything like that. I know you love me, and you know that I love you too. And that is all that matters." She said looking in to his eyes.
"I know." He said.
"Good. Now, we will forget all about what just happened, and we will enjoy our night." She said determinedly.
"Amen, sister." Thea said from Oliver's other side.
The next few hours were spent mingling around the club, dancing and very modestly drinking.
A few minutes after eleven o'clock, Felicity 'accidently' spilled her red wine on her dress, so she had to change. "Thank god you brought a second one. Go change and we will send it for dry cleaning in the morning." Thea said when she saw.
"Thank god for small favors." The blond grinned sheepishly. She hated lying to Thea but for now, it was necessary. "Oliver, I need your help to change. I can't do the fastenings behind my back."
"Of course. Thea can you tell Mr. Diggle where we are going?" her brother asked.
"Sure. If you are not back in forty-five minutes, I will come looking." The younger woman grinned and went to find Digg.
The couple went to the car making sure to be seen by both people and the security cameras, they picked up the bag and made their way to the storage room of the club. Oliver put on his suit and snuck in to Adam Hunt's office, where he planted a very special bug. Meanwhile, Felicity switched in to a black lace dress with ¾ sleeves that reached a couple inches above her knees. Oliver changed clothes, too, and after making sure that everything was in order, they had a mini make out session, before rejoining the party.
The rest of the night was fairly enjoyable, for people that did not like crowds all that much. Felicity made sure that a lot of pictures were taken throughout the entire night.
Then, they returned to the Manor, it only took a few minutes for Felicity to return all the money Hunt had stolen, plus make some generous donations. She also sent enough evidence to the SCPD to arrest him and put him in Iron Heights for a good two decades.
The next day, being a Saturday, had a late rising. After a leisure breakfast, Oliver left to take care of his old cars' selling, with Digg in tow. Felicity spent the morning with Thea. They went through the brunette's wardrobe to sell and donate what she didn't need or want and then Felicity helped her with some homework.
That night was another movie night. Tommy joined them with a huge grin. He told them that he had bought an apartment building in a good neighborhood that already had tenants, and he was going to move to the penthouse. And he also sold all of his cars except for the one he was using. And he was really excited about it all.
"The money from the rents will go to my new account and all the legal stuff will be taken care of next week." He informed them. "And I will need help moving next weekend." He grinned.
The next week went by a blur. A good deal of time was spent looking for buildings and meeting with the crews to renovate the old steel factory and the Foundation building. They chose two crews that employed people from the Glades. The renovations were going to start as soon as possible. They would meet three days later for the designs and then they would start working the coming Monday.
The group had also signed off the last of the paperwork for the Foundation that week, too, and the girls had started talking about the building's interior design before the ink had dried. That Friday, Felicity had gone to the lawyers with the boys to sign her contract with them.
After that, they dropped her off at the Manor for some boy time. Felicity was mentally cataloguing the searches she was going to run for equipment, on her way to her room, when she heard sniffling coming from the library. She quietly entered the room, only to find Thea crying.
"What's wrong, Thea?" she rushed to her side.
"Is it so wrong of me to want to change? I don't want to be a brainless party girl, anymore. I want to do something with my life. You and Ollie coming back gave the push I needed, you know?" she turned to Felicity, "I've been catching up with my homework, I try to do my best at school. I don't want to get drunk and high anymore. I am sick of that life. I want to be a better person. I've been turning down invitations from my friends since you got back, for parties. And I feel better with myself for it. But apparently, they can't get into many clubs without me, because of my name. and today they spent a good thirty minutes accusing me and telling me that if I don't get my head out of my ass, they were not going to be my friends any more. And the thing is, I pulled my head out of my ass the moment I met you at the hospital. And I don't want to return to my old life. I don't want to have fake friends, because I realize now that they were never true friends. And I told them to go screw themselves, and it felt so good. And I m not upset that I lost them. I am upset that I let myself be 'friends' with such fake people. And because I was such an idiot for years." Thea said whipping her tears.
"Well, you didn't have an easy life. You lost your dad and your brother. And it hurt you, a lot. And because of that you made some poor choices. But you made the choice to change, to be better. I think that's what matters. As for your friends, I agree they don't sound all that nice and I can totally put them in the no-fly list if you want." Felicity grinned, making Thea chuckle a little at that comment. "But you really shouldn't have fake people around you. you deserve better, much better."
"Thank you, Felicity" Thea leaned in and pulled the older woman in a hug. "I am so glad I have you."
"Me too." She squeezed her a little more for reassurance.
"Oh, how did it go?" Thea asked pulling back.
"I signed my contract for the club and I will start my research for the equipment that I am going to need. And for the Foundation, obviously." Felicity replied.
"Cool. Do you need any help? Or company?"
"Of course. I can even show you some things so that you'll know the basics for the security systems."
They spent the rest of the day, until dinner time, in Felicity's room in front of her computer. The even took some notes. For the time being she didn't order anything, and she wouldn't until the designs were finalized, but she had a good idea of what she was going to need.
Oliver and Tommy returned for dinner. They had decided to announce their plans now that the paperwork had been completed. So, just to be a little dramatic, the four had dressed up for dinner, in business attire.
"What's the occasion?" Moira asked when she saw them.
"Well, we actually have a couple announcements." Oliver said.
"Good things, I hope." Walter said serving wine to his wife.
"They are good things, we just hope that you won't be mad at us for not telling anything sooner." Tommy said.
"When Felicity and I came back, we wanted to help the city. Help the underprivileged. We told Tommy and he wanted in."
"And Speedy wouldn't even hear of not helping, too" Tommy added.
"We founded a Foundation, it's called 'Helping Hands'. And beyond that, Tommy and I decided to open a club at dad's old factory to create jobs for the younger people." Oliver concluded.
"That is very noble of you. I am proud that you want to improve our city and help its people. If you need any help or advise, I am more than happy to help. Congratulations." Moira smiled at her children, because she now had four of them. And she needed to take care of Malcolm, now more than ever. She was not going to let anything happen to her family.
"I will admit that I knew about the club, as I sold them the building, but I am very proud of you for doing this and rest assured that QC will help your foundation in any way that we can. Congratulations." Walter smiled proudly.
"To Helping Hands" Thea raised her glass.
"To Helping Hands." They toasted.
Moira took the girls to brunch the next day. They discussed the Foundation at the beginning. Moira gave them some pointers and the numbers of the companies she uses on her galas. They talked about Thea and Felicity, too. Moira was very happy with the changes in her daughter's lifestyle and she knew that she had Felicity to thank, at least partly.
They had an easy conversation and felicity even told them a few things about her relationship with Oliver, though she was very careful what she said.
They had a very good time and when Moira asked if they could do it once a month, the girls agreed easily.
The next couple if weeks went by in a blur of activity. The renovations had started and were going good, Felicity had started working on the security systems both cyber and electronic. They helped Tommy move to his new house. The news of the Foundation had leaked to the media and they already had some donations. Felicity and Oliver had taken down another three names of the list, donating their money, and now that the city knew about Helping Hands, they had no problem to donate money there, too. They had fixed up the building for the soup kitchen and Felicity and Thea had already ordered the equipment and the furniture they were going to need there. They only needed volunteers and supplies. Thea had drawn their logo, too. It was their four right hands one palm on top of the other, with their arms forming an imaginary circle. The boys would go out once a week to check out the competition, while the girls would have a movie night.
And now it was finally the day that Felicity was going to go to her interview at QC. As per usual, Oliver was awake before her. And used his favorite method of waking her up: kissing every inch of her. and h also liked the morning sex that always followed. And so, he did just that.
"I love waking up like that." She said some time later, fully awake and panting.
"I love waking you up like that, too." He grinned and kissed her head. "And I have something for you" he reached to his night stand and gave her a thin jewellery box.
"Oliver, it's gorgeous!" she gasped when she saw the diamond and sapphire bracelet. "Thank you, I love it." She hugged him tightly.
"You are welcome." He kissed her deeply. "But we should get up. You are heading at QC with Walter this morning."
"Yes, I know. I am going to jump in the shower now."
Twenty minutes later, Felicity was dressed in a navy-blue pencil skirt and a white lace top and was applying her make-up in her own bathroom, when Thea barged in.
"I love the outfit! And I am so excited for you! you are going to charm their socks off!" she bounced on the balls of her feet.
"Thanks, Thea. I am excited to!" Felicity smiled enthusiastically.
"so, I was thinking that you will need something special to sign your contract and then I saw this." Thea said and gave her a leather case.
Inside was a beautiful gold and ivory fountain pen. "Thank you so much, Thea. It's beautiful." She hugged her sister-in-law.
"I'm glad you like it. Now, let me see the bracelet!" she grabbed her hands. "Oh! My brother had good taste. It's gorgeous!"
"I feel like it's mu birthday, with all the gifts." Felicity teased.
"You are a Queen, Felicity, maybe not in the papers yet, but get used to it." Thea winked.
And indeed, just as Thea had said, the board loved her. her interview had gone smoothly and after a five-minute meeting, Walter gave her the contract to sign. She did so, using the fountain pen Thea had given her.
"Welcome to Queen Consolidated, Miss Smoak." Walter said with a big smile.