Disclaimer:The characters are not mine, but the story is. I make no claims on the CW or DC's Arrow intellectual property.
Behind The Darkness and The Light
"And life is veiled and hidden, even as your greater self is hidden and veiled. Yet when Life speaks, all the winds become words; and when she speaks again, the smiles upon your lips and the tears in your eyes turn also into words. When she sings, the deaf hear and are held; and when she comes walking, the sightless behold her and are amazed and follow her in wonder and astonishment."
― Khalil Gibran, The Garden of The Prophet
The sunlight hit Felicity's bed mercilessly, the unusual heat waking her up; desperately needing more sleep, she remedied the situation by throwing her blankets off and on to the floor. She snuggled back into the pillow and tried to go back to sleep when she heard her text message notification go off.
Groaning, she rolled over to the bedside table where her charger was, realizing as she blindly smacked the wood that it wasn't there. Her glasses were, though, so she slipped those on and against her better judgment, climbed out of bed to find her phone. She knew clearly it was no longer morning as her bedroom window only got direct sunlight during the middle of the day, but the rest of her existence was narrowed to finding her cellphone.
Of course, as she climbed out of bed she realized finally that she was exceptionally naked - not "I'm going to bed in my underwear" naked, but naked - and she shook her head, which was cloudy and pounding currently.
She looked around, but didn't see her new dress anywhere so she went into the living room, spotting it on the couch, with her clutch laying on one of the cushions. She snatched it and took her phone out, squinting even with her glasses on, to read it.
13 new texts
4 missed calls
"Oh crap," she said out loud, wondering what happened. Opening up the messages, Felicity saw that they were all from Caitlin and groaned, remembering they had apparently gone out last night for New Year's Eve.
Ronnie was a-mazing.
Hangover breakfast?
Where are you?
FELICITY
Did you go home with Mr. Hottie last night?
We didn't go to the party btw.
I bet you knew that.
WAKE UP.
Answer or I'm coming over
I don't want to disturb the sexcapades, but you have one hour
30 minutes!
Okay I'm coming over.
You better not be dead.
"Shoot snickers," Felicity exclaimed, knowing Caitlin would be there at any moment as she lived close by. She fired off a quick text letting her know she was fine and would talk to her soon, that she had just woken up.
Sounds like a fun night. Call soon. Xoxo.
Felicity sighed, thankful that she hadn't asked too many questions because, quite frankly, she had no idea how to answer them. She walked back into her bedroom and pulled on a camisole and shorts so she wouldn't be giving her neighbors anymore free shows and walked back to the bed to sit down.
As she looked around, though, she noticed a piece of paper on the other bedstand, with a bottle of water and a travel pack of aspirin. A feeling of dread hit her stomach, realizing what Caitlin was most definitely referring to.
She picked up the note and unfolded it.
Felicity,
Sorry I had to run, I had an emergency I had to take care of. You are and were lovely, Felicity Smoak.
Thank you,
Oliver Queen
Felicity scoffed at the emergency excuse and threw down the piece of paper. Oliver Queen. God, even his signature was elegant; at least he left her easy access to post-hangover fluids and aspirin. Who even carries travel packs of aspirin though? Oliver Queen, apparently.
She shouldn't be too surprised, he did this type of thing all the time - this was nothing unusual to him.
Sighing, she set the water down and padded into the bathroom to start a shower, hoping it would both wake her up and take away the haze of post-drunkenness.
Felicity was in the middle of washing her hair when she yelped out in horror, "Oh no. Oh god oh god."
Oliver Queen. Oliver Queen. Of Queen Consolidated. Her new job. In one week.
She hadn't put it together before, but standing there with the warm water hitting her back she had and was horrified by it. How could she have been so stupid? Sure he didn't work there yet, but it was only a matter of time. What if he saw her? What would he think? She wasn't trying to get any special treatment, but if anyone found out…
She rinsed off the soap and conditioner and started getting ready for her meet up with Caitlin, hoping that she would have answers for her before she started asking the questions.
"So? Tell me! I'm dying to hear how the Oliver Queen is in bed," Caitlin asked eagerly. They were in the middle of lunch and Felicity had successfully evaded questions about her night thus far by asking questions about Ronnie and Caitlin was oh-so-happy to oblige. Unfortunately, it couldn't last forever.
"There's not much to tell," Felicity sighed. "I only really remember bits and pieces about it." She shifted uncomfortably in her seat, because while she did remember a lot of it now that the haze was gone, she felt strangely protective of Oliver.
"Hmph. Well, he sure was locked in on you for most of the night," Caitlin said, shocking her friend.
"What do you mean? I hardly saw him in the few hours we were there, at least until he found me a little before midnight." Felicity was confused, wondering if she had missed something as she pieced together memories of the evening.
Caitlin wagged her eyebrows, "Well I saw him sometimes, mostly he was talking to Tommy - the guy that owns the club, but every other time he was just staring up at you in the VIP booth. I guess he finally decided just to go find you since you weren't coming down." She said the last part with slight accusation as she stared at her friend.
Felicity sighed and fidgeted with the napkin in her lap, "Caitlin, you know I was only there for you. We both got what we wanted though, a last hurrah before we become working girls."
The waiter was standing next to her and gave her a smirk, and Felicity realized what she had said, "I mean uh, not working girls, you know - like, for money - no! like in an office, ugh nevermind." Her hands implored the waiter to understand as they went towards him, gesturing awkwardly; he just shrugged and walked away after refilling their glasses.
She buried her face in her hands, "Oh god. Why me?"
Caitlin snorted, "That's just who you are baby girl, and from what I saw your Mr. Queen was quite taken with it. Especially when you were wondering about the faces he makes during sex."
Felicity's eyes bulged out and she gasped, "I said that OUT LOUD?"
Her friend just nodded as Felicity buried her head deeper into her arms, mumbling "nonononono" over and over again.
"Listen, you know it only worked in your favor sweetie. I mean, you took him home for goodness sakes. And most likely had hot steamy drunk sex for New Years! No sense in being embarrassed about a bit of word vomit," Caitlin smacked her friend's arm a bit as she talked, trying to get her to snap out of the horrified body language. "Besides, you won't ever meet him again. He doesn't even work at the company. Win-win."
Felicity raised her head and nodded at her, accepting the logic in desperation. "Yeah of course, I mean even if he did go to work there, what are the odds he'd actually be in the IT Department for crying out loud?"
Apparently, the chances were 'extremely likely', Felicity thought bitterly on her third day of her brand new job as she stared with a horrified expression as she saw Queen Consolidated's CEO Walter Steele walking down the hall of the IT floor.
Naturally that surprised everyone, especially Felicity, but what had everyone murmuring was the fact that Oliver Queen followed him, looking distinctly bored as he was introduced to her colleagues. She had spent the last five minutes frantically trying to come up with an escape route, but clearly in a server room all by her lonesome her absence would be missed; she couldn't afford to have her boss thinking she ducks out all the time.
"And this is the server room, home to one of our newest employees - Felicity Smoak," she heard the distinct British tones of the CEO flood in from the hallway outside her room and for a brief moment Felicity was impressed that he knew she was new to the company; but that was quickly shoved away as they entered and her eyes locked onto Oliver's.
His demeanor, which previously had been clearly identifiable as 'bored', shifted once he saw her; clearly he recognized her, but Felicity didn't know what the proper protocol was for meeting your one night stand at work. For once in her life, she decided to remain quiet.
They walked up to her desk and Walter held out his hand; she accepted it and he greeted her kindly, which was unexpected from someone so high up. "I thought it was about time Oliver took the grand tour and met all of the departments of the business, Ms. Smoak."
She nodded and smiled, then turned to Oliver who was holding out his hand with that stoic and bored expression planted firmly on. Felicity stared at his hand for a few moments before she stood up abruptly, "Oh! I'm so sorry, you're supposed to stand when people introduce themselves. I didn't even- I mean what must you all think of me. I'm so sorry." She grabbed Oliver's hand and when he squeezed her hand she felt comfort and reassurance despite his cold expression; Felicity remembered the night they met, how he had squeezed her hand tightly as if gauging her confidence. Now all she felt was warmth and it was as if Oliver was telling her to calm down in a simple handshake.
"It's alright, Ms. Smoak. I doubt either of us are that snobbish," Oliver finally spoke as their hands were still together. He pulled his away as Walter interrupted to ask another question about what brought her to Queen Consolidated.
"Well, money obviously," Felicity said immediately, but her face was shocked at the blasé words, "I mean not money, it's just that I just finished my degree at MIT and QC offered me something right out of the gate with moving expenses, and my best friend Caitlin was coming to Starling as well so we just…"
She trailed off as she caught Oliver smirking at her, closing her mouth abruptly.
"Well Ms. Smoak, I hope you enjoy your time here. Walter, we should get going," Oliver said, his voice soft and oh so surprisingly kind.
"You can call me Felicity!" The words were out of her mouth before Walter could respond to Oliver, whose eyes locked on hers for the first time that day. She gulped, knowing she probably broke the cardinal rule of one night stands, but they hadn't even talked afterward. Felicity deserved to be a little awkward about it!
Oliver gave her one of his genuine smiles, clearly against his better judgment as it was almost immediately replaced by his stoic stone face. "Of course. It was good to meet you, Felicity Smoak."
At that, he and Walter left the room and Felicity's face was bright red as she sunk back into her chair, wondering how on earth she ever got Oliver Queen in her bed. He must really enjoy awkward blondes.
A few weeks later, Felicity found herself at Verdant again - against her better judgment, of course; Caitlin had dragged her again so she could hang out with Ronnie, Caitlin's new beau. Naturally though, that meant that Felicity was alone at the bar while they danced. She didn't really feel like partaking in the scene again, since last time went so well. Felicity groaned loudly; one of the female bartenders heard her and hummed, "What's wrong with you, blondie?"
She looked up and saw Thea Queen staring at her quizzically, "What am I, a magnet for the Queen family or something?" Felicity muttered, hoping Thea didn't hear it. "Aren't you a little young to be bartending?"
Thea just shrugged, "I'm eighteen which is apparently old enough around here. I just can't drink." She added with a wink.
Felicity just nodded, accepting it; she wasn't really in the mood for a conversation so she just threw down some money and excused herself. Not bothering to look for Caitlin on the dance floor, she went straight for the side exit of the club. It was definitely a sketchy alleyway entrance, but it was closer to the main street where she could find a cab easily.
Wrapped tightly in her coat, she suddenly regretted her decision when she realized how dark the walkway was, and how long it actually would take to get to the street. "Okay, this is okay Felicity. You can do this."
"What's a pretty girl like you doing all alone out here?" A slithering voice called out nearby; Felicity yelped as an arm wrapped around her neck and waist and a feeling of dread filled her body.
Her immediate reaction was to scream for help, but she was quickly stifled by a hand over her mouth and the stench accosted her, filling her with more panic as he pulled her towards a more hidden area of the alley. Felicity struggled and wiggled, but was apparently light enough to where he just picked her up with her legs flailing in front of her.
"Stop right there, criminal," she felt a deep voice echo throughout the alley and her body, but couldn't see anything until the man who had her turned around, holding her in front of him as a shield.
"Well if it isn't the vigilante, come to deal with a petty criminal like me - I should feel honored," the voice was close to her ear and Felicity grit her teeth at the noise.
She tried to get a good look at the vigilante as she had only heard brief mentions of him since her move to Starling, but it was too dark and she had other things on her mind - like escaping.
"Let the girl go," the voice sounded out with finality and warning.
The hand that had been over her mouth drifted to her neck and started moving lower when Felicity saw her chance and elbowed him in the chest catching him off guard, and she quickly followed up by stomping her heel into his foot and hearing him howl. That wasn't enough for her and she punched his nose and kicked him right in the balls, "I hope the damage is permanent, you pervert."
As she stood there panting from the adrenaline, Felicity felt a hand on her shoulder and jumped erratically away. "Hey! Don't touch me."
She was able to finally get a good look at the guy that they called the Vigilante, decked out in green leather and a hood; he kept his face angled downwards but she noticed dark paint around his eyes and she assumed that functioned as his mask.
"I'm not going to hurt you, Felicity," that voice melted around her body again and she shivered involuntarily.
Still, she couldn't help but ask, "How do you know my name?"
He shifted as if not expecting that question, "You said it earlier in the alley, I was patrolling and heard you."
Felicity just watched him, tentatively accepting the explanation even though it was definitely creepy that this random guy knew her name.
"Those were good moves you pulled there, maybe you didn't need my help after all."
She brushed the hair away that had escaped her ponytail, "Well, I can't take all the credit. I learned it from Miss Congeniality; everyone always hates on that movie, but really It was quite good and clearly the SING method was pretty useful, I'm definitely going to write a letter."
Felicity babbled on about the movie and the sequels and saw his body language shift from uptight to loose and comfortable before he interrupted her, "Do you need a safe ride home?"
She stopped and after a few seconds just nodded yes and he held out his hand and guided her to where his motorcycle was parked in a hideaway in the alley.
"So is this like base of operations or something, why is your bike here?"
The vigilante just squeezed her arm tighter, "It's best if you don't ask a lot of questions."
She just scoffed at him and put her helmet on before climbing behind him. Suddenly Felicity realized what a horrible idea the whole thing was, wrapped tightly around a hard and unknown vigilante on a motorcycle. Honestly, where was her brain this evening? It must be PTSD from the attack, she convinced herself.
The bike started up and she yelped, gripping him tighter and burying her head against his back, holding on for dear life. "This is way cooler in the movies, by the way," she said into the built-in headset and she felt rather than heard him chuckle.
After a few minutes, they pulled up in front of her house and she stares at it without moving, "Hey, how did you know where I lived?"
She felt him shrug and she violently shoves off the motorcycle and rips the helmet off, "Really? You're just going to stand there and shrug when I ask how you creepily know where I live? Who are you?"
The man in green made no attempt to get off the bike or take his dark helmet off, so she couldn't even see his eyes anymore as he spoke, "No one of consequence."
Felicity just scoffed, "Sure. And why are you doing this, rescuing people and fighting bad guys?"
She heard him chuckle finally, "You ask a lot of questions." and he just stared at her from behind the blackened glass of the helmet, tilting his head.
Felicity suddenly felt self-conscious and shifted uncomfortably, "Yes, I do. And that's not an answer by the way."
He just shrugged and after a few moments he started the motorcycle back up, "Stay safe, Felicity Smoak," and with one more look at her he drove off without any other explanation.
Felicity just sighed, accepting the weirdness of the evening, and unlocked the door to her house. Apparently things in Starling City were going to make her thus far very simple life a lot more complicated, if the past month was anything to go by.
Author's Note: Wow! This got out a lot quicker than anticipated, go me! I think it's because the pacing is a lot faster than my other story which makes it faster to write. These are just simple scenes that will build and build in the next few chapters until the conclusion =) Thanks so much those who followed, but especially those who reviewed. They make me incredibly happy. Feel free to message me here or on tumblr - caishakalianah. Til next time!