Felicity swiped at the few tears still trailing down her cheeks. Her fingers came up smudged with faint traces of mascara. She chuckled darkly at that; with all the crying she had done in the past 24 hours, Felicity would have thought that all of her make-up would be long gone.
She sighed and rubbed her fingers together to get the black smudges off. Taking a deep breath, Felicity knocked on the door in front of her.
"Thea?" she called, he voice cracking slightly, "Are you in there?"
There was a muffled response, and then silence. Felicity frowned to herself, "What does that mean? Is she in there? Can I go in?"
She waited another few seconds before testing the lock. It gave easily under her touch so she gently nudged the door forward.
"Thea?" she called out quietly, stepping into the spacious loft. Felicity looked around and she could feel Oliver's presence. The loft was not overly decorated, but she could … no. Felicity cut her thoughts off. She couldn't – wouldn't – linger too long on Oliver. Otherwise her tears would be back, full force.
She was here for Thea. To check up on the sister of the man that she loved. Loves.
Thea was sitting on the couch cross-legged, staring at the fireplace. It was relatively warm outside, but the fire was burning brightly.
"Thea?" Felicity said again, stopping at the edge of the couch. She wasn't sure what kind of state she would find the younger woman in.
Thea looked up at Felicity, her big blue eyes glassy with tears.
"Hi," she said, the one syllable broken and scared.
Hi," Felicity said back, and gestured to the couch, "Can I sit?"
Thea nodded, "Yeah. Go ahead."
Felicity shucked her coat and draped it over the arm of the couch. She kicked off her boots and tucked her legs under her butt.
"Where's Malcolm?" she asked, looking around and expecting him to pop up creepily.
Thea blinked and looked around, "Oh. I don't know. Out, I guess."
Felicity raised an eyebrow. Malcolm had already left Thea alone? Jesus, he was a terrible person. Not that they hadn't already known that, Felicity thought, but this was nice confirmation.
"How are you doing?" she reached out to touch Thea's knee, her brain vaguely making the connection that this was something she had done with Oliver just hours before.
Thea didn't have time to answer before Felicity's brain caught up and she let out a little gasp, "Oh. I'm sorry! Obviously, you're not okay since we left your brother in Nanda Parbat to become an assassin and you've just come back from the dead. But what I meant was…" she trailed off as she thought about what she really had meant.
Felicity shrugged, "I guess, I did mean how are you doing? Do you feel…weird or anything?"
The corner of Thea's mouth had shifted up into something resembling a tiny smile as Felicity had babbled on. Now, she said, "I see why Ollie loved you. You make bad stuff…not so bad."
Felicity's eyebrows shot up, and not just at Thea's use of past tense, "My apparently worsening foot-in-mouth babbling disorder? That's helping? Because I never, in a million years thought I'd be told that talking too much would make someone's brother becoming an assassin not so bad. And I'm doing it again."
She smiled sheepishly at Thea.
"No, it's…when you talk so much," Thea started, "I don't have to listen to my thoughts. I can listen to you instead."
Felicity reached out to hold Thea's hand and was only mildly surprised when the other girl let her, "You know, I'm just as good of a listener as I am a babbler. If you want to talk out your thoughts…"
Thea scooted closer to Felicity, "When does it stop?"
"Hmm?" Felicity hummed, waging an internal debate if she should wrap an arm around Thea's shoulders. They weren't that far apart in age and Thea really looked like she could use a hug. But then again, they didn't know each other that well and would a hug be overstepping boundaries?
"This," Thea waved her hand around, "I never…Ollie shouldn't have saved me. He's gone. Mom's gone. Rober—Dad – is gone. Sara. Roy."
Her voice broke as she said her boyfriend's name and Felicity let out a soft, "Oh," as she realized they never got the chance to tell Thea about Roy.
Thea paused and regarded Felicity with a curious look, "'Oh' what?"
Felicity nervously scratched at the side of her nose, "Oliver was coming here to tell you. Roy isn't… it was a plan to get him out of jail. The guard that shanked him was one of Lyla's agents. He's not…dead. Roy wanted to come and tell you, he really did. Lying to you broke his heart."
Thea's eyes blazed with anger, but Felicity could see the happiness in them too, "He's okay? He's alive? Where is he?"
She practically jumped to her feet, ready to find Roy herself, if she had to. Felicity's grip on her hand kept Thea planted on the couch.
"We don't know," Felicity said slowly, "That's the point of all this. He's in hiding. Starling City thinks he - and by extension the Arrow – are dead. Roy's not coming back. Not right now, at least."
Thea shook her head, "No. No, Roy has to come back. He didn't say good-bye. He can't leave me too!"
Felicity shook her head and tried to calm Thea down, "It's not Roy's fault. He didn't want to leave. He would have come and brought you with him if he could have. We all wanted him to stay. Thea, there was no way, not with Lance still suspicious…"
Felicity trailed off, realizing that Lance's manhunt for Oliver would come to an end now. Now that Oliver wasn't here anymore. There was no Arrow. There was no one to protect Starling City anymore. Suddenly, the enormity of the situation they were facing hit Felicity and her shoulders sagged, as if the weight of Starling City was physically on her shoulders.
Thea noticed the sudden change in Felicity's posture and peered at her, "Felicity? Are you okay?"
Felicity smiled wanly, "I'll figure something out. But Thea, you have to promise not to be mad at Roy. He'll…you'll see him again. I swear and you won't want to spend that time angry with him."
"Speaking from experience?" Thea asked, leaning her head against the back of the couch.
Felicity shook her head slowly, "No, not really."
Thea looked at Felicity and carefully studied her face. Felicity felt, eerily, like Oliver was studying her. The Queen siblings had similar intensity in their gazes.
"Oliver left you too," Thea said finally and there was a note in her delivery that said she recognized Felicity as a kindred spirit. At least when it came to the men they loved leaving them.
"It's not really…" Felicity started to say, but Thea cut her off.
"You love my brother, right?"
Felicity gaped at the Queen sitting in front of her, but then couldn't help the small smile that spread across her face.
"That's what I thought," Thea said, looking proud of herself for figuring out Felicity's feelings.
Felicity sighed, "It doesn't really matter what my feelings for Oliver are, since he's gone now."
Thea's face fell completely and her eyes immediately welled up with tears.
"How could he leave me too?" She sniffed, wiping at her nose. And with that gesture, Felicity got a glimpse into what an 8-year-old Thea might have looked like. Her heart broke. This poor girl had lost her brother so many times.
Felicity impulsively leaned forward and hugged Thea tightly. At first, Thea tensed in the embrace, but eventually she relaxed and even hugged Felicity back.
"No one should have to go through what you've gone through," Felicity said, cradling the back of Thea's head just as Laurel had done to her only hours ago.
Maybe it was the soft tone Felicity used, or the recognition that she had seen so much pain in her short life, but Thea finally lost it. She sobbed into Felicity's shoulder, her body shaking with the effort.
"Shh, it's okay. Let it out," Felicity murmured soothing nonsense into Thea's ear, smoothing her hair back, "It's going to be okay. We're going to get him back."
Felicity let Thea cry for a while. But soon enough, the younger Queen lifted her head and looked at Felicity through red rimmed eyes.
"Thank you," she whispered, "I'm…sorry about your shirt."
Felicity waved her hand and gave Thea a small smile, "It's okay. Are you feeling better?"
Thea shrugged, "I don't know. It's just been a long few days, I guess."
Felicity thought about everything that had happened over the past few days and couldn't help but agree.
"Is he really gone?" Thea asked, wiping at her face.
Felicity's spine stiffened and she slowly said, "No…this is Oliver. He fought for five years to come home Nd he hasn't stopped fighting since. I think we should call up John and Laurel."
"Why?" Thea looked confused.
"Because," Felicity said, a dangerous look in her eyes, "We're getting Oliver out of Nanda Parbat."
A/N: Okay, so the show is probably (read: definitely) not going this route, but the scenes came to me so clearly, I had to write it. So, enjoy the Thea and Felicity bonding and drop me a review :)