To Embrace


Disclaimer: I don't own Arrow.


Chapter 8: Ice


Felicity Smoak was in denial as she hid behind the fake fern (who did they think they were kidding with this thing), trying not to be seen by anybody but still acting as if she belonged. Which she did not. At all. She wondered at the unexpected turns in her life that brought her to this place of unbelonging.

Not that she was complaining about where her life was headed, because let's be clear, she was not complaining. At all. She was just wondering if this was the moment the universe decided her sudden good fortune was too much. Like it was saying 'Sorry dear, no one deserves this much good luck and you know it,' and then screwing her over.

Because so far that was how Felicity's life had gone. She had a rather ideal childhood until her father decided he wasn't about that life and up and left. But Felicity wasn't going to complain because being a computer genius who was raised by a single mother and having ovaries looked really great on a college application. She got as close as possible to a full ride as you could to MIT. She was doing well in school and then along came Cooper.

Her job at Queen Consolidated sounded great and it was to a point. After graduating she shed her past life and persona as best she could and it was what she needed at the time, new job, new city, new life. Bonus, she made decent if not good money. But it wasn't what she wanted anymore.

Then Thea Queen came crashing into, well not really crashing because Thea Queen was the epitome of grace, so she gracefully walked into Felicity's life and suddenly Felicity Meghan Smoak was being recommended for the new Applied Science's Division. It was currently in the final stages of being approved by the board of directors but all signs were pointing at it being a go.

If she got the position she would be working on acquiring cutting edge technology for the company. Though her passion was writing code she recognized she didn't want anything she created to be property of QC. When she created ground breaking software it was going to be her company that sold it and eventually she would rule the world! Or just become one of the greatest women in technology. That was cool too.

Usually Ms. Smoak would be against nepotism. She was brilliant and could make it on her own thank you very much. But if it got her out of her tiny cubicle next to cheeto finger Ben and his goddamn PSA post its she was going for it.

Thea Queen wasn't anything like she expected. Not that she was really expected much of anything given she never thought she would meet her. After being a wardrobe fairy Felicity never expected to see the Queen princess again despite her words about friendship.

But not even a week later Thea showed up just as Felicity began untangling a problem that was going to take her whole lunch hour and afternoon to complete. It was already a crap day. She woke up late and was banking on being able to run out and grab some form of sustenance which wasn't going to happen. In came Thea Queen her fairy godfriend (she was so not anything like her mother) again with salad and coffee in hand.

Felicity profusely apologized for not having time to properly eat and visit but Thea just smiled and asked for a rain check. The bottle blonde being an unbeliever thought that was the last time she would see the brunette. Three days later she was sitting across the table eating the most amazing curry she ever put in her mouth and arguing about whether Jason Mamoa was hotter as Khal Drogo or Ronon Dex. It wasn't really a good argument because Thea had never seen Stargate Atlantis but it was fun all the same.

Long story short, Thea Queen was great but this was a horrible horrible idea the brunette had talked her into. A bare chested man with arms thicker than her thighs walked by and Felicity decided enough was enough. Taking her phone out of her gym bag she started typing her go to excuse.

"Felicity!"

Flinching at the loud call of her name the blonde slowly turned, coming face to face with a sweaty Thea. Felicity wanted to curse because of course the younger woman looked fabulous despite it. Life really wasn't fair. "Are you ready for this?" Thea asked excitedly.

"Um, I don't think ready is the word I would use," she replied, twisting her ponytail. Thea's face fell and the tech genius felt like she just kicked a puppy. "I mean, I guess I'm just a little intimidated. You're totally right self-defense is important, especially after that terrible man was all over the news, but I just, the groupon said this was a beginner's class." Felicity pointed to the space where the class was going to be held and a fairly sizable group was already stretching and warming up. "Do those look like beginners to you!" They were mostly men, which she thought odd as she expected more women in a self-defense class. They were also pretty much all built, like really built.

Thea took in the view and raised an eyebrow. "Huh, I thought there would be more women."

"Right?!"

Shaking her head Thea tried to be encouraging. "Look we're here. It can't hurt to stay. Plus, Krav Maga is supposed to be a really amazing workout!"

"Which it appears you've already had today. Thea look at me," Felicity demanded. "I am a zumba girl who can't actually dance. My favorite yoga position is child's pose. The only form of exercise I really excel at is cycling. I don't think this is for me."

Thea grabbed both her hands and held them up looking her dead in the eye. "We are doing this. It's going to be a new experience and if we don't like it we can always try something else or go somewhere else." The brunette finished her short pep talk by clapping Felicity's shoulder and walking into the class. Felicity wasn't proud of it but she definitely let out a small whimper. Swallowing her fear she put on her big girl panties and followed Thea into the class.

They stored their stuff in the corner where everyone else's crap was piled and blue eyes widened as Thea's jacket was stripped off to reveal only a sports bra underneath. She knew her friend took care of herself and was a bit of an exercise-aholic but damn. Thea Queen was ripped. The other girl took a loose fitting tee from her gym bag and threw it on before turning around. Felicity's determination faltered.

"Hey, stay with me Fe, we can totally do Thai after this as a reward." The unexpected nickname warmed her. It wasn't like she didn't have friends here in Starling. She'd been living here three years though and she couldn't name one person she would ask to pet sit for her if she went on vacation. Not that she had a pet, or ever went on vacation. The point was Felicity Smoak had maybe three people she called friends in the city and none of them ever called her by a nickname.

"All right people come over here to the mats and take a seat. We'll be getting started shortly," a man who appeared to be the lead instructor called.

The pair sat down next to a pair of guys who looked pretty uncomfortable also. One of them leaned over. "You guys new?"

"Yes," Thea answered with a smile as Felicity nodded emphatically.

The guy who hadn't spoken shifted more towards the conversation as his partner continued to talk. "This is only our second time, and we've never had this instructor. They usually make you change up partners halfway through."

Felicity's hand latched onto Thea's arm in a tight grip. "Nope, she's mine."

Both men chuckled. "Well I'm Martin and this is Jesus, he's mine. But maybe we can share for an hour."

Flustered at how she just implied she was dating an underage billionaire Felicity was momentarily speechless so Thea introduced them. "Nice to meet you, I'm Thea and this is Felicity. She's more than a little nervous."

Martin nodded. "I was pretty unsure of all of it myself and some people have really strong reactions their first time."

Thea and Martin made small talk as Felicity focused on not chickening out. She was happy to see two more women slip in right as they began the introduction speech. One of the women looked over in their direction and froze. The blonde couldn't keep her lips from turning down in confusion. She didn't recognize with woman. Understanding filled her when her blue eyes turned to Thea and she saw the younger woman's mouth tighten minutely.

"Find a place, ladies," the instructor called. "So now that you all have an idea of what this class is going to cover let's get warmed up. Remember if you need a break, take it but our goal is to push ourselves. We're starting with jumping jacks."

Comforted by the exercise that she'd been doing since her elementary school days Felicity let herself think everything would be fine.

Everything was so not fine. Her legs shook from a mixture of anxiety and exhaustion and her cheek throbbed. It started out okay, but after the warm up and practice of basic strikes the instructor ran them through a series of real-life scenarios where they used those newly learned techniques. It was amazing how an instructor yelling out a generic description of an attack while Thea or Martin pulled gently on her pony tail from behind caused a very real adrenaline response.

Things took a turn for the worse when they did a drill where they pushed up from the floor and would turn and run as fast as possible to their partner on the other side of the room. She managed it pretty well the first time. The second time…she landed flat on her face after tripping on absolutely nothing. It was horrible and humiliating and she only recovered a bit of her dignity thanks to Thea's urging to get up and finish.

Felicity was currently collapsed against a wall watching Thea help clean up the mats. "Hey, I hope we see you two again," Martin called with a wave. She managed to give him a small wave in return before her attention was pulled to the woman who recognized Thea at the beginning of class. The slender woman walked up to her friend, but Felicity couldn't quite make out what she said.

"Hi! I'm Jo. Mind if I sit?" It was the mystery woman's companion and she gestured to the wall space beside Felicity.

The blonde wants to say no because her misery does not need company but that would be rude. "Oh, of course. I'm Felicity."

The other woman slid down to her butt with a sigh of relief. "That was intense!" The tech genius bit back a snarky reply and realized she needed to eat because hunger was making her bitchy. "So, it looks like our friends know each other."

It was clear Jo was fishing for information and Felicity was just as curious. "Yeah, I noticed when you guys came in. Thea didn't say anything though."

"Thea? As in Thea Queen?"

Jo's tone made her pause before answering. It wasn't exactly negative but there was a touch of alarm there that went beyond surprise at learning there was a minor celebrity in the room. Choosing to ignore it Felicity confirmed the guess. "How does your friend know Thea?"

For a moment Jo didn't acknowledge the follow up question, watching the pair across the room with worry. "Laurel used to date Oliver Queen."

The name clicked in her head as her mind recalled the old news reports she read up on after her first run in with Thea. "Oh." Focusing on her friend's face she came to her feet, ready to come between the two women if she saw any signs of distress. Thea didn't talk about her loss and Felicity didn't ask. But once in a while when the brunette probably thought no one was watching Felicity would catch her with her smile gone and her eyes sad.

The two women parted and when Thea headed towards her gym bag Felicity was right behind her friend. "You, me, Thai food pronto. Look at my face! You owe me big Thea Queen."

The younger woman tried to smother her laughter. "That is definitely going to bruise. Let's do take out and get some ice on that cheek."

"Sounds perfect to me."

The two grabbed their gym bags and after hitting up Felicity's favorite hole in the wall Thai place arrived at the tech genius' apartment. It was a little awkward at first. Though Felicity had never been to Queen Manor she imagined it to be like a mini version of Hogwarts. Her apartment obviously couldn't compare. Her friend took a good look around the place and smiled. "I love how you it is."

Her cheeks heated from the compliment and she invited Thea to make herself at home while she got some ice for her face. Once she had a cold pack against her cheek she dug into her pad thai. After the two refueled enough to have a conversation Thea spoke. "So that woman, at the end of class was Laurel Lance."

"Yeah, her friend, Jo, told me. Um, Laurel dated your brother right?"

The teenager snorted. "I don't know if you could call what they did dating."

Felicity tried not to be curious but she couldn't help it. "What do you mean?"

Thea sighed and pushed her spicy glass noodle dish away. "My brother was a dog. I can't even believe she started dating him to begin with. They were friends before, she knew what he was and thought their relationship would be different somehow." The brunette shook her head. "Ya know good girl thinks she can tame the bad guy. Taking Sara on the Gambit was not the first time he cheated on her." Her blue eyes widened at the harsh words Thea had for her deceased sibling. "Ollie wasn't a great person. He was exactly what the media portrayed him to be but…" Thea's eyes slid shut and she inhaled sharply. "He was my brother and I loved him."

Felicity understood, her mother's face coming to mind. She set the ice down and reached out for Thea, coming off the kitchen stool to embrace the younger woman.

The brunette cleared her throat once they separated. "I actually had a favor to ask you. So, um how good are you with computers?"

"My dear, I'm the best that's ever been," Felicity proclaimed with a hair flip that would have been much more impressive if her hair wasn't in a ponytail. Thea laughed and it was a good sound after the suddenly serious turn their evening took. "So what can I do for you? Post a bad picture on Facebook you need deleted? Oh or do you need some grades altered? I totally did that for extra cash back in high school."

"No, but I didn't know you were so devious."

Felicity shrugged. "What can I say? I'm a bit of a badass."

Thea chuckled. "Yeah I can see that. Actually I want to move around some of my trust fund money, quietly."

Eyebrows, that were her natural hair color rose. "Oh, well yeah I can do that. How much access do you have to it? I mean being under eighteen are there any restrictions?"

The teenager nodded. "Yes, there are but the amount I want to move is within the limit."

"Then why do you want to do this on the down low?" She thought it was a fair question to ask because she could see this heading into some fuzzy white collar crime area.

"I want to make a few investments that I don't think my mom's broker would agree too." Thea pulled a sheet of paper with the account details from a folder in her bag out and handed it over to Felicity.

"Wow, that is a lot of zeros. Okay how much do you want to take out?" she asked before taking a drink from her water glass.

"About a quarter of it."

Felicity choked as her mind did the calculation almost instantly. She coughed and swallowed more water to clear her throat. "Are you sure? That's a lot of money."

"I'm sure. I know what I'm doing."

She was still unsure, envisioning Moira Queen having her assassinated for letting her daughter lose a huge hunk of her trust fund.

"Fe, I'm not doing anything illegal I just want to use my money the way I want to."

Sighing, Felicity relented. "Fine, I'll do it but if your mom kills me or hires someone to kill me because that is what rich people do, I will haunt you till the end of your days." She was already getting her computer and distracted by the new task so she didn't notice how Thea flinched at the joke.


A/N: I really enjoy doing Felicity's POV. So this chapter practically wrote itself I felt like.

Ok I got a pretty negative reaction that said I pretty much ruined my story with the last chapter and I want to address it and some things that reviewers have pointed out in the past.

So I mentioned in a previous chapter that Thea's past keeps with the show through the third season. I said I would be using bits and pieces of the fourth season but as I haven't been keeping up with it I couldn't work it in accurately. This Thea is from five years in the future from the beginning of the show. So that leaves year four and five a mystery to the reader as well as why and how she has come back to the past. If I don't change my chapter line up this will be addressed in chapter 17.

As far as Thea's bloodlust goes it is not the same as in the show. I wasn't trying to make it the same. I recently watched some clips and saw that Thea was now having other issues besides the bloodlust and I just want to say this will not be a part of my story.

I am being a bit defensive and I realize that. I love comments. I welcome critique. Writing is a hobby for me but I do want to better myself. I guess I really just wasn't thrilled at being told that I ruined my story because of choices that I haven't been able to fully explain because the story isn't there yet.

Sorry for the long author's note. Thank you to those of you who have commented I really appreciate it and I hope you continue to make me ridiculously excited to check my email.