Emma

Chapter 5

A/N: Because she's Felicity Smoak, it doesn't take much for her to figure things out. Here's how she does.

This chapter is told from three POVs. I thought this scene would be best told that way. I know some of you wanted this update already, so without further ado...

"Ollie?" Emma's grin quickly turned into a frown. She wondered what had gotten into her older brother. All she had done was call him over and introduce him to the remarkable woman she'd just met.

Emma hoped that he would like her. She happened to think that Ms. Felicity was not only a genius but also a very pretty lady. At some point during their conversation about facial recognition software, they had started talking about her brother, and when she was sharing how much she wanted him to be happy, the thought had suddenly crossed her mind that her loving (yet boring) brother could use an interesting (and attractive) friend. When Emma tugged at Felicity's wrist a second time, she had turned around to meet her brother. And that's when the inexplicable silence had begun.

Emma shifted her gaze from Ollie to Felicity and found that the exact same expression was written all over her face. They both looked like they had seen a ghost or something. Emma would have called it "shock" if she had known exactly what that meant from experience. The little girl did not know what to do or say next. It was a good thing Oliver broke the silence when he did, or Emma would have used her loud voice on both of them.

"Felicity…" Oliver swallowed hard. "Hi." His voice was lower than usual, but reverent and sincere. He couldn't say more just yet.

Felicity let out a deep breath that she realized she'd been holding. Her lips parted as she groped for something to say, but then she closed her mouth, opting to steady her breathing before she spoke. A few seconds later, she softly greeted back, "Hello, Oliver."

After all these years, she didn't think she was still capable of staring into those beautiful blue eyes of his. She had no idea that he was thinking the exact same thing about her.

"How are you?" he asked, looking at her with earnest longing. She wore her hair in a high ponytail and had a pair of dark-rimmed glasses on her face; she even wore a sleeveless blouse and a pencil skirt – a far cry from her signature look of denim jeans and a plaid long-sleeved over a plain-colored tank top, growing up in the ranch together. But to him, she was just as beautiful as she was back then. Her new look suited her smarts.

"Better," she replied with the slightest hesitation. She hoped that he no longer possessed the ability to read her like an open book; otherwise, he'd know that she wasn't exactly being truthful. Despite her best efforts, she had been haunted by her past in the last seven years. She couldn't bear to linger on the half-truth, so she turned her attention away from herself and focused on him. With a half-hearted interest in his well-being, she asked, "And you?"

Oliver blinked, then dropped his gaze. He couldn't look her in the eye as he answered, "We… get by."

A small, unintentional smile formed on his lips as he looked up again. It was more like an attempt to cover up the ache of missing her all these years, especially in the last few months since he'd learned the truth about Emma. But even though they hadn't seen each other in a very long time, he still couldn't lie to her. She had asked how he was doing, but he had told her how they were doing. If he spoke for himself, he'd have to tell her that he had been merely existing ever since the day he'd last seen her and walked away. He'd regretted how that last encounter had gone down. And if Emma hadn't become a part of his life, he would have been utterly miserable. He wouldn't say it out loud, but he still loved Felicity. To him, she had always been the one that got away.

Emma, on the other hand, was a bit confused about what was going on. She didn't know how, but it seemed to her that Ollie and Felicity already knew each other. With her hands on her hips, she asked, "You two know each other?"

Oliver nodded and told her, "Yeah. We were… good friends."

Emma's eyes narrowed a bit more as she tried to recall something. Looking at her brother, "You never mentioned you knew someone named Felicity. I would have remembered. I know all your friends, Ollie. And that's cuz you don't have too many of them."

He let out a soft chuckle to lighten the obvious tension of their situation. His little sister's antics wasn't helping. He didn't know where this conversation was going to lead. What was he supposed to say now? That he never mentioned Felicity because doing so would only break his heart all over again?

Fortunately, Felicity intervened in time. But her intended save did little to make Oliver feel any better. "Oh, I'm sure your brother has enough friends. Maybe there just wasn't the right opportunity to mention someone he wasn't likely to miss. We knew each other, but that was a long time ago."

That couldn't be farther than the truth. If only she knew. Oliver missed her so much. And now that he knew that Emma was hers, he missed her even more. He would have fought her over that remark, whether or not it was an intentional snide remark. But he chose not to. Not in front of his little girl.

Truth be told, Felicity would have taken her words back as soon as she'd said them. She didn't mean to hurt him, but she feared that she might have. She could see it in his eyes, in the way he gritted his teeth, and in the way his thumbs rubbed against his forefingers. After all this time, she could still read him fairly well.

Oliver realized that he had been wrong. He had thought that Central City was too huge for him to run into Felicity Smoak, but he had. And Emma had been instrumental in making that happen. Was that a sign? He hoped not. Clearly, Felicity still resented him. To what extent, he didn't know for certain. What he was certain about was that, one, he was grateful for the chance to see her again, and two, she didn't look happy to see him. Not wanting to prolong the agony for either of them, Oliver decided it was best for them to leave her be.

He told Emma, "Well, I think we've taken up too much of Ms. Smoak's time. I guess it's time to move on to the next exhibit." Turning to Felicity, he said, "It was good to see you, Felicity. Thank you for taking the time to help my little sister learn. She can be a handful sometimes."

"No problem. It was my pleasure," Felicity replied. She smiled down on the little girl, mildly ruffling her hair. Then she looked back up at Oliver and said, "Give my regards to Thea."

"I will."

"And to your mom, too. She must be so proud of this little one," Felicity added, referring to his little sister. She was wondering if Moira Queen had remarried after she had skipped town.

"She was," Oliver answered, "but she… Mom passed away when Emma was two."

Emma. Oliver couldn't believe he had let it slip. This was neither the time nor the place for complicated revelations. Felicity had always been the one with a dysfunctional brain-to-mouth filter, not him. With widened eyes he waited for her to react.

Emma. Felicity couldn't believe her ears. Had Oliver just called his little sister Emma? What was going on here? Her heart skipped a beat as she shifted her gaze from him to the little girl standing between them. There were just too many coincidences for one day, and this one in particular was really impossible to ignore.

"What did you say her name was?" She voiced her thoughts out loud, but her words came out almost like a whisper, as her eyes became glassy with tears.

Oliver just stood there speechless, so the little girl took it upon herself to give her an answer. "Emma. My name is Emma," she said with a cute, toothy smile. She truly liked her name, and she'd always been proud of it.

"That's… That's a beautiful name." Felicity couldn't find it in her heart to say the name. Her daughter's name. How could she forget? As soon as the nurse at the hospital had placed her baby in her arms back then, she knew she wanted her daughter to be called Emma.

"Uhm… you'll have to… excuse me now," she said in between soft sniffles. Her voice trembled, and she was clearly falling apart right in front of them. The poignant encounter was just too much for her to handle. "I… I have to go. Dr. Wells needs me. It was nice to meet you… Emma. Oliver. Enjoy the rest of your tour."

And with that, Felicity turned and walked away to the nearest exit, leaving a confused Emma and a heartbroken Oliver behind.

A/N: Please do not hate me for this. Things won't get better for a while, but I promise they will.

Thank you that you are still reading this. I am also grateful to those who have left comments and reviews. Means a lot!