Chapter 11 – Robert Queen
An: I do not own Arrow. Thank you to my beta missmeagan666 at Ao3.
Roy's arrest had introduced Felicity to the famous Laurel Lance. The woman was every bit as beautiful and as fabulous as the papers made her out to be. Her outfits were prefect, her hair, nails and make-up flawless but most importantly of all, she didn't babble like Felicity. She was the perfect woman to compliment a man like Oliver Queen. The media went into a frenzy whenever the two appeared together. Felicity remembered when she first moved to Star City, the magazines at the grocery checkout line were plastered with news that the golden couple had broken up again. On paper it looked perfect but in reality it didn't seem to work. Oliver always seemed to stray away from her. She had no doubt that he cared deeply for Laurel but he was reckless with her love.
Felicity used to think he was just a spoilt rich kid that took his loyal girlfriend for granted but having met him, she didn't believe that any more. The truth was that Oliver was a very complicated man. There were so many contradictions within Oliver's personality. He had a caring heart but at the same time he could easily put an arrow in you. She had seen him walk in and command a room with his presence but she had also seen him shrink into himself, unsure of his next course of action. He could commit to his vigilante cause but not a relationship. She wasn't even sure if Oliver even understood himself.
From what she could tell his relationship with his mother and sister were good but his relationship with his father was strained. His father wanted Oliver to follow the yellow brick road he had paved for him but Oliver kept wandering onto the lush green grass to play. If his father ever found out he was playing with bows and arrows in the Glades every night, the man might have a heart attack.
Sometimes Oliver drove her mad, she wanted him miles away from her and sometimes she wanted to rip off his clothes and ravish him. To be honest, it was mostly the latter but she really couldn't blame herself for feeling that way. She worked closely with the most eligible bachelor in Star City and he was shirtless all the time! Whoever Oliver finally decided to settle down with was going to be one lucky woman.
She had done it again. She was thinking about Laurel and her thoughts went straight to Oliver again. She was fairly sure Laurel and Oliver didn't meet up after the party. Based on police reports, Oliver had spent most of the night beating up thugs in The Glades trying to find Eobard Thawne. She pieced together his movements that night based on police reports and there was no time for him to meet up with Laurel for a private date. So if Laurel didn't meet up with him, who did she meet up with? Felicity hated mysteries and this was bugging her. She was determined to figure out what it was Laurel was doing on the down low but she didn't have much time to devote to this particular extra-curricular activity.
Business was booming because of Roy's frame-up. Quite a few guys that he met in the police station were contacting them for help with their cases. She had to remind them that she was not a defence attorney and inform her prospective clients that if she found evidence that convicted them she would turn it over to the police. She was surprised at how many actually accepted her terms. A guilty person wouldn't want to take the chance that she would find the final nail to put in their coffin but an innocent person would take her offer. It made her wonder if the police wasn't doing their job properly.
Felicity was reviewing her schedule for the day with Roy in her office when the buzzer by the entrance door rang. Both of them looked at the security monitor located on the side wall of her office to see Robert Queen standing in front of their offices.
"Your future father-in-law," Felicity quipped. "Perhaps he's here to lecture you on how to treat his daughter."
Roy pinched her arm in retaliation. "He doesn't even know we're dating!" he told her.
"I doubt that, if Oliver knows, he must know as well," Felicity reasoned.
"Oliver clearly doesn't tell his parents everything," Roy reminded her.
The buzzer rang again and both turned to look at monitor again.
"So should I let him in boss?" Roy asked hand hovering over Felicity's button at the side of her desk that would open the front door.
Felicity chewed on her bottom lip contemplating what Robert Queen wanted. It wasn't like she could hide from him so she nodded her head for Roy to let him in. They both left her office and moved to the reception area to greet the older Queen. Roy sat at his desk and Felicity stood off to the side as he entered the lobby. The Queen Patriarch was tall, he was whom Oliver got his height from. He stood tall and proud as he surveyed the reception area his eyes stopping for a few seconds on the painting Moira had hung.
"Sir, can we help you?" she asked in a professional tone.
His gaze finally landed on her for the first time and he surveyed her from head to toe. "How much?" he asked out of the blue.
"I'm sorry sir, how much is what?" Felicity asked hoping he wasn't propositioning her for sex because if he was, regardless of him being Oliver's father, she was going to introduce him to her brand new baseball bat.
He continued to stare at her with a steely gaze, a gaze she had seen Oliver use from time to time when he was determined to do something. The longer he stared the more unnerved she became.
She supposed that was the point of the stare, to unarm your opponent.
"If you want to know how much for my services, I need to know exactly what you require," Felicity said as the drawn out silence got to her. Realising that her statement could imply that she was offering something else, Felicity opened her mouth to clarify herself, "And by services I mean, detective work."
"Don't play coy Ms. Smoak. I know you work for my wife," he said sternly. "How much does she pay you?"
"I'm sorry sir but I do not reveal who my clients are. I take their confidentiality very serious," Felicity responded.
"Despite what you may think, I know my wife very well. I know when she's figured out who my new lover is. She has some very obvious tells, just like that painting tells me she's been here," he revealed pointing to the painting on the wall. "It's just her style. She likes these landscape portraits. Something about the untouched look attracts her to them. Maybe it makes her feel as if her soul is pure which is the exact opposite of what it is. There is no point in pretending Ms. Smoak that you don't work for my wife," he insisted. "I can pay you twice what she's offering you."
Felicity didn't see any point in denying it any longer. Robert Queen must have used his ring of investigators to find her and he wouldn't be here without solid proof. "Mr. Queen, my policy is to work for one spouse not both," Felicity responded smoothly.
She glanced at Roy out of the corner of her eye and he looked like a teenager avidly watching the latest thriller. The only thing missing was a bag of popcorn.
"I'm not paying you to work for me," he scoffed. "I have real investigators to do that. I'm paying you not to work for my wife," he informed her brusquely.
Felicity was very offended, "I am a real investigator. If I wasn't, you wouldn't have to pay me not to work for your wife, which for the record I'm not going to do. Please leave my office."
Mr. Queen stepped forward till he was inches in front of her. Roy rose immediately from the desk but Felicity held her hand out to stop him. The last thing she needed was him beating up Oliver's and Thea's father. Robert Queen's height towered over her but she didn't let that intimidate her.
"Let me clarify this for you Ms. Smoak. Either you give me a figure or I make your life a living hell. It's your choice. I'll give you 24 hours to decide," he stated before walking out of her office.
Felicity put her hand on Roy's shoulder, "You have some father-in-law you're going to have to put up with," she teased him.
Roy looked at her astonished, "Seriously? That man just threatened to shut you down and you're teasing me."
"I'm not worried," Felicity said confidently.
"Well I am," Roy admitted picking up his pone off the desk and starting to type away a message.
"What are you doing?" Felicity asked suspiciously.
"Sending Oliver a message," Roy answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Felicity snatched his phone away. "No, Oliver is not a part of Smoak Detective Agency and you are not to involve him in our business matters. You don't see me messing with how Verdant is run!"
"But Felicity," Roy tried to plead.
"No! Do not get Oliver involved. This is Oliver's father and the last thing we want to do is drive the wedge between them even deeper," Felicity said.
Roy crossed his arms angrily over his chest. "Fine but if things get out of control. I will be telling Oliver."
"Everything will be fine," Felicity declared confidently. "Now get the Summer file. I have an idea to prove his innocence."
Forty eight hours later found Felicity's on her way to get lunch. It was her turn to get lunch and she was in desperate need of a Big Belly Burger. She was well aware that saying no to a man like Robert Queen would have serious consequences but she was confident that she could handle whatever he threw at her. What she couldn't handle was the wait. She thought as soon as the twenty four hour period was up he would return but there had been no sign of Robert Queen and it was driving her stress levels up.
Felicity was the definition of a stress eater. During the day it was burgers and at night it was mint chip ice cream. She's sure she put on two pounds yesterday and today might be three since she's the one placing the orders. She might just eat a burger there and then have another one with the team. She couldn't wait to sink her teeth into the juicy burger. She imagined it clearly and her stomach rumbled in anticipation of the meal that was to come.
Blue and red lights appeared in her rear-view mirror accompanied with a few beeps of the siren.
She glanced at her speedometer and she was well within the speed limit. She pulled over and wound down her window while two police officers approached her car. She recognised Officer Carrie Cutter, Robert Queen's mistress, so this was his move.
"Is there a problem officer?" Felicity asked addressing Officer Cutter.
"You were going over the speed limit," she stated confrontationally.
"With all due respect I was not Officer. I was going 25mph in a 30mph zone," Felicity defended herself.
"You also have a broken tail light," Cutter said ignoring Felicity.
At that moment her car shook and she heard shattering glass behind her. She tried to turn around to see what had happened but Cutter drew her gun.
"Do not turn around, hands on the wheel or else I'll shoot you," she said.
It was a good thing Felicity had been in situations with guns before or she would be having a meltdown now. She calmly placed her hands on the wheel and glanced in her rear-view mirror. Cutter's partner was behind her car. She glanced around to see if she saw any street cameras, ATMs or business with security cameras and she found none. Officer Cutter was surprisingly smart enough to choose a camera free zone.
"Get out of the car," Cutter demanded.
"How am I supposed to get out of the car with my hands on the steering wheel?" Felicity asked.
Cutter called out to her partner, "We have a person resisting arrest!" Cutter then opened the car door, dragged Felicity out by her hair, tossed her on the ground and then using her full weight dropped on to Felicity's back with her knee. She twisted both of Felicity's arms around to handcuff her before she dragged her roughly from the ground and pushed her forcefully into the car.
Felicity was in pain. Her bare knees hurt from landing on the ground, the small of her back was throbbing and she was sure she had a bruise on her face from colliding with the car. To make matters worse, Felicity liked to drive bare foot and the pitch road was hot under her feet. Cutter then started dragging her towards the police cruiser.
"What about my car and my things?" Felicity said glancing back at her open car.
"A police impound vehicle will come and collect it," Cutter's partner advised her.
"But it's open. Anyone can just take it," Felicity said horrified.
"Not my concern," Cutter remarked opening the back of the police cruiser and making sure Felicity hit her head on the way in.
On arrival at the police station they took her straight to booking. She had her picture and finger prints taken and was then thrown in a holding cell with two very large women.
"Give her hell!" Cutter ordered before walking away.
Felicity should have been worried but she recognised one as Big Maddie, the matriarch of a family of thieves in the Glades. She had helped Maddie get her daughter into a good school so that her daughter wouldn't have a life of crime. Maddie would never hurt her.
"Ms. Felicity," Maddie said in shock. "What are you doing here?"
"A traffic misunderstanding," Felicity said limping towards the bed. She needed to sit down and take a look at her knees.
"There've been a lot of misunderstandings with the police lately," Maddie commented.
The other large woman nodded her head.
"Did they let you call a lawyer?" Maddie asked.
"Nope but I don't need a lawyer, I need Detective Lance. How long before an officer comes to check on us?" Felicity asked as she examined her knees. Both were bleeding.
"One passes every half an hour."
"Great as long as it's not Cutter I should be fine."
A young officer soon came and Felicity begged him to ask Detective Lance to meet with her. She hoped she could meet with Lance quickly because Oliver must have realised by now that she was missing. After she didn't pick up her phone on the second call, Oliver would call Carly and find out that she never arrived at Big Belly Burger. He, Roy and Diggle would start searching for her along the route to Big Belly Burger before they started branching out.
Half an hour later another Officer made his rounds and Felicity asked him as well to speak with Lance. A total of five more rounds passed before someone came to take her to an interrogation room. The tiles were cold under bare feet. She was hand cuffed to the interrogation table and left waiting in the room alone She stared at her reflection in the two-way mirror. She looked terrible.
Her face was bruised and her dress was ripped in a few places.
The door opened and Detective Lance walked in staring at his phone, "So this is where you are," he muttered. "Your boyfriend is ready to call in the National Guard to look for you."
"I do not have a boyfriend," Felicity answered with a heavy sigh. She knew Oliver was going to go all out looking for her.
"Well, tell that to Queen because he obviously didn't get that memo. Now why did you ask to speak with me?" Lance asked looking up from his phone for the first time. He visibly stepped back in shock when he saw her.
"What happened to you?" he asked.
"Officer Cutter," she replied dryly.
Lance opened the file in his hands, "It says here that you resisted arrest."
"Really, do you think I would resist arrest?" Felicity asked sarcastically as Lance sat opposite her. "I have no upper body strength and I can probably only run five metres before I'm out of breath. Maybe I should start exercising more," Felicity mused.
"So what, I'm supposed to believe that Cutter beat you up for no reason?" Lance said dryly.
"I asked to see you because I believe you are a fair and honest policeman," Felicity said. She really didn't want to tell him about Robert Queen's involvement in this matter. He already held a grudge against the man.
"And what you think I'll believe you over a fellow officer?" he asked.
"Yes, I refute all of their claims. They carry body cams and dash cams, review the footage. It will have evidence of my innocence. They pulled me over just before that diner on sixth street. I'm sure if you go there, you'll find the evidence of my broken tail light on the ground right in front of the sign for the barber shop that never has anyone in it. Officer Cutter's partner broke my light so they would have an excuse to pull me over." Felicity said. "They even left my car open and unattended. Did it reach here safely?"
Lance nodded, "Your car is here and your belongings are in evidence but your phone and laptop have been sent to the FBI for review." Lance said looking at her file. He then frowned, "Your Private Detective license has been revoked, that was quick."
"I had no laptop on me," Felicity stated alarmed. Her laptop was in her office at Smoak Detective Agency.
"According to this report, one Acer laptop was recovered from your car," Lance explained.
"It isn't mine. Your chain of evidence was broken when they left my car unattended. They can't use anything in my car or anything they plant against me," Felicity said. "I hope the SCPD realise they have one hell of a lawsuit coming. I have over a dozen cases of people claiming they were wrongfully arrested and I can prove at least four of them."
Lance's phone started ringing and Felicity saw Oliver's name on the screen. He sighed heavily, "I'll take a look at the evidence only to get Queen to stop calling my phone! I'll get someone to come in and take you to clean yourself up a bit. If Queen sees you like this he'll throw a hissy fit in my station and I don't want that."
While Felicity waited a female officer, Officer Boland, came with a pair of flats, uncuffed her and took her to the bathroom with a first aid kit. She was able to fix her knees and wash her face but her back still throbbed. On the way back to the interrogation room they ran into Officer Cutter.
"What's she doing out of the holding cell?" Officer Cutter asked.
The female officer shrugged and Cutter tried to take Felicity away from her.
"Hey," Officer Boland exclaimed, "I have orders to return her to the interrogation room."
"I can do it," Cutter offered.
"No, I was specifically told to do it myself," she said.
"I'll accompany you," Cutter offered, "This one's a bit slippery."
Boland narrowed her eyes at her, "I'm sure you have some other important duties to attend to. I'm sure I can more than handle Ms. Smoak."
"This is my collar," Cutter said aggressively.
"Fine," Boland relented.
They walked around the bull pen back to the interrogation room. Boland opened the door and told Felicity to sit at the table. As soon as Felicity cleared the doorway Boland closed the door behind her. She couldn't hear what was going on outside but she did hear a thump against the door.
About an hour later Lance walked through the door, "You're free to go."
"I am!" she exclaimed happily.
"I reviewed the evidence or I should say lack thereof. The body cam and dash came were conveniently not working so I drove out to the area you were pulled over. Like you said there were glass shards on the ground to support your version of events but what really sealed it was the video footage a kid in the barber shop took. He started filming the minute they pulled you over. He claimed that the police arrested his brother the other day and he had no proof to support the misuse of force so he started filming in case the same thing happened again. I've submitted the video as evidence and the officers responsible for this will be disciplined. Do you know why they would want to target you?"
"Yes," Felicity answered honestly.
"Care to share?" Lance asked.
"As I said Detective, you're one of the good ones. For the sake of the integrity of the police force, stay out of this," Felicity advised.
Lance sighed heavily and shook his head, "the kids these days. By the way Queen is pacing a hole in the front of my station. Please get him the hell of here," he said pointing at the door.
Felicity smiled for the first time since she had arrived at the station, "Not a problem."
She found Oliver pacing and Diggle quietly seated reading through the day's newspaper. Oliver was the first to see her and in two large strides he was at her side, his large hand resting on her shoulder while his eyes looked her over to ensure she was safe. His gaze grew dark and angry as he saw her knees, the rips in her dress and the bruise on her face.
"Who did this?" he asked in a low tone very reminiscent of his Arrow voice.
"I'm fine. Let's go. I've been here long enough," Felicity pleaded. "I really want to go home and take a shower but first I need to swing by the office and get my laptop." She used her best puppy dog face to get Oliver to drop it but it didn't work.
"What happened?" he asked. "No one would tell me anything."
"It was just a traffic misunderstanding," Felicity said nonchalantly.
Oliver was opening his mouth to demand an answer when Diggle gratefully intervened. "You know Felicity you need to teach us how to use that tracker programme of yours because Oliver threw a huge fit when he couldn't find you."
"If did not throw a fit. I was merely concerned for Felicity's safety," Oliver defended himself.
"Hmm," Diggle mumbled shaking his head and walking away from them to go for the car.
Oliver tried to say something again but Felicity quickly followed behind Diggle.
Felicity had successfully ducked Oliver's questioning in the car and was hoping to continue her success in the office. Roy was still in the office actually doing work in her absence. She was hoping Oliver would wait in the car with Diggle but she had no such luck.
"You know it's kind of ironic that you were in a police station while we were looking for you but from the way you look maybe the police station wasn't as safe as I first thought," Roy quipped.
"I'm fine Roy, just a traffic misunderstanding," Felicity repeated as she headed to her office to get her laptop.
The buzzer rang, "What now!" Felicity exclaimed.
Roy used his computer to pull up the security camera feed, "Agent Kallis."
"The laptop," Felicity blurted out.
"What laptop, you said your laptop was here," Oliver said. "Felicity, what's going on? First the police and now the FBI."
"Oliver it's nothing," Felicity told him.
"Bullshit," Oliver said angrily before turning to Roy for answers, "Roy?"
"Leave Roy alone," Felicity said.
"Roy," he repeated seriously.
The buzzer rang again.
Roy looked apologetically at Felicity, "He can beat the shit out of me."
"And I can tell Thea all sorts of things about you," Felicity countered.
Roy turned to Oliver, "Sorry Oliver."
"I can talk to Thea too," Oliver said.
"But she won't listen to you," Roy responded.
The buzzer rang again.
"Ok, you don't want to tell me, I'll find out," Oliver promised. He looked at Roy before he left,
"Don't leave her alone," and he walked out letting Agent Kallis and his team of agents in.
"Agent Kallis to what do I owe this honour?" Felicity asked pleasantly
"We received a very interesting laptop from the SCPD today," he informed her.
"It wasn't mine," she said.
"An Agent Lance called to say that chain of evidence was broken but I thought it was worth a search to see if you have been hacking," Agent Kallis explained.
"I haven't hacked a thing unless you count that pumpkin that I hacked up for Halloween?" she said innocently.
"I heard your license was revoked," he said glancing at the spot on the wall where her portrait used to hand.
"Not for long," she assured him. "Search away. We're just going to order Chinese food. I haven't eaten all day."
The FBI search took four hours and it was well past midnight by the time they were finished. Felicity didn't want to go home to then return to the lair so she just went straight to the lair. There was a shower she could use and she borrowed one of Oliver's jerseys to wear. It floated on her and was just as long as the dress she was wearing. A check on Oliver's tracker showed he was at the Queen Mansion. She was thankful he hadn't gone out into the field without her. She hated when he did that.
It was good that he was home so he didn't have to see her hacking into the Queen Consolidated servers. They had good security and she soon got absorbed in her work.
"It was my father," Oliver's voice said behind her.
She jumped straight out of the chair in fright and held her hand to her chest.
"Don't ever do that again Oliver," Felicity said.
"It was my father's fault," Oliver said guiltily.
"How did you find out?" Felicity asked.
This time it was Oliver's turn to be coy, "I have my sources. You could have told me," Oliver said his index finger rubbing furiously against his thumb.
Felicity grabbed a hold of his hand, "Oliver I didn't tell you because I didn't want you involved.
He is your father. I think you should take a step back and let me deal with this," she said.
"A step back? Felicity this is my father doing this to you. I can't take a step back," Oliver insisted. "I'll talk to him. I'll get him to stop. He won't pay another officer to hurt you."
"Pay!," Roy snorted, "I'm sure he didn't have to pay his mistress anything to do that."
"Roy!" Felicity shouted.
"Mistress? What mistress?" Oliver asked confused as he looked to Roy for answers.
"Opps, sorry I thought he knew. When I saw the file I thought it was Oliver that had you look into it," Roy explained.
"Not another word Roy," Felicity said pointing her index finger at him.
Oliver turned to Felicity, "What aren't you telling me?"
"Oliver it is a confidential matter," Felicity said.
"Confidential!" he screamed before going silent. "My mother. That is how you met her and how she knew it was my father that had you arrested. She hired you to investigate my father," Oliver said putting it together.
"Well whoever said you were just a dumb playboy billionaire was clearly wrong," Felicity quipped.
Oliver gave her a look that indicated that he wasn't very pleased with her comment. "I'm going to go talk to my father!"
His tone clearly said that it was not up for discussion so Felicity decided to hold her tongue. What alarmed her though was when Oliver grabbed his suit and bow on the way out.
"Is he going to use that?" Felicity asked Roy.
He shrugged at her. For the first time in her life, Felicity found herself unable to work so she had Roy take her home.
Felicity couldn't sleep so she sat on her couch with a pint of ice cream as she binged her favourite season of Dr. Who. She worried over what Oliver was going to do. Was he going to confront his dad as the Arrow or as himself? If he did it as Oliver would he be able to maintain his composure? She was on her second pint of mint chip when there was a knock at her door. She checked her security system and saw Oliver standing outside the door with his hands in his pockets. She rushed to the door anxious to discover what had happened. She wrenched open the door and looked him over carefully. Instead of looking sullen or angry, like she expected he looked happy.
"I have something for you," he said stepping passed her and into the small living room.
She blinked and stared at the blank space Oliver had occupied, "Sure, come on in Oliver," she said sarcastically before turning to find him already seated on her sofa with the brown manila envelope on the coffee table in front of him. Where had that manila envelope come from? He must have had it tucked inside his coat. Thankfully her mother was a sound sleeper or she would be teasing Felicity about her early morning visitor.
"What's that?" she asked nodding towards the envelope.
He reached forward and pulled a document out of the envelope, "This," he said holding the document out for her to take, "is your freedom."
"My freedom?" she asked confused tilting her head to the side. She didn't understand what Oliver was talking about.
"Yes you no longer have to report to the FBI and your record has been expunged," he explained proudly.
"What!" Felicity exclaimed grabbing the papers from him. She quickly skimmed the documents and it indeed confirmed everything Oliver had just said.
"How?" she asked finding for the first time in her lifetime difficulty in forming words to express herself.
"Lyla. She owed you for Russia. When she heard what was going on with the FBI she thought it was the least she could do," he explained.
"But..." Felicity started to protest when Oliver stood and rested his hands on both of her shoulders.
"Felicity if anyone deserves this, it's you. Just accept it," he insisted. "Lance also got your
Private Detective License reinstated."
She nodded, "What about your dad?"
"I handled my dad," he said tersely.
Felicity watched him suspiciously.
"Not as the other guy," Oliver assured her. "I made him an offer he couldn't refuse."
"Oliver what kind of offer?" Felicity asked concerned.
"Nothing bad. From Monday I start working as the Vice-President of Queen Consolidated," he told her.
"Oliver you didn't have to take a job in the company for me," Felicity said.
"I didn't only do it for you. Your case opened my eyes to my father's behaviour. If he could railroad you like that, how many other people has he done it to? How many times has he abused his power? I can't be fighting crime in the streets and have my own house in disarray. I need to go into the company and straighten things out. I can't let my father abuse his power like that," Oliver said before looking thoughtful. "Besides this is probably better than putting an arrow in my father," he quipped.
Oliver's right hand moved from her shoulder and he cupped the left side of her face. Felicity automatically leaned in to his touch. His thumb started rubbing her cheek and the world started to slowly disappear around her as she focused on Oliver. His eyes flickered down to her lips and she swears he dipped his head towards her before he suddenly stepped away from her.
"I should get going."
As fast as he entered he left.
Felicity was left staring at the door wondering what the hell just happened.
An: I am very sorry for the long wait for this chapter.
