Felicity stood outside the door to the backstage room, twisting and tangling her fingers together as she debated whether or not she should enter. She hadn't given much thought about leaving her key card and purse in the room before she had left to tell Tommy about Oliver's dad. But now, with Tommy's quick exit after she had told him, she was wondering if maybe having to stand in line at the hotel for a new key card would be worth it. She could always send the three of them a text message about her purse.
She sighed, shaking her head as she placed her hand on the doorknob, she was being ridiculous. She would walk in, grab her stuff, and leave. The unsettledness that had her stomach turning was just her overamplifying Tommy's reaction. And the way John had sounded when he told her to go tell Tommy. Something was off about Robert Queen, she could sense that, but that didn't explain or excuse her wariness of being in the same room as him.
Taking one last deep breath, Felicity pushed the door open, walking into the room and letting the door swing shut behind her.
"What did you expect Oliver, for Dad to show up suddenly approving of my life deci-"
Felicity flinched slightly at the abrupt pause of Thea's words as everyone in the room turned their attention to her. Her stomach twisted slightly as her mind confirmed that coming in here was a bad idea. She resisted the urge to close her eyes, to open the door and walk right back out. To mumble some apology and just exit, leave the family drama to those it belonged to and keep her nose out of it.
But she was already there and leaving wasn't going to make the situation any less awkward. And it didn't help that she was still unsure why any of this was setting off as many uncomfortable alarms as it was. Robert Queen was a mystery. One that she wanted to solve.
"Management wasn't lying about how soundproof the room was," Felicity said, the joke falling flat as she shifted forward, swaying slightly as she remained still. She waited for some kind of response, from any of them, as she shifted her weight again, uncertainty bubbling inside of her as everyone continued to remain silent. "I probably could have knocked."
Oliver finally moved forward, away from the back wall he and Tommy had been leaning against. He gave her a small, almost relieved, smile as he stopped next to Thea, who was sitting on a stool next to counter that had the video monitor and, concidently, her purse and key card.
"What do you need?" Oliver asked, the tone of his voice tight and tense as he began tapping his fingers against the side of the counter.
"Key card," she answered, tilting her head toward where she had left the card next to the video monitor. "I forgot my key card. And my purse," she added, moving closer to him and Thea. "Things I probably, well actually, things I do need. If I want to sleep or eat, and it's almost two, and I should probably do both of those things," she paused, closing her eyes as she shook her head. "I should also probably stop talking."
Oliver laughed, the sound echoing around the room while he grabbed the card from the counter, holding it out to Felicity. "I know better than to keep you from food," he teased.
Felicity looked at him, her eyes narrowing as she took the card from him. "You guys want to join?" She offered, making sure to look at both Tommy and Thea as she did, clearly trying to provide each of them an out.
"So is that how you do it?" Robert asked, surprising Felicity with not only his words, but the venom behind them.
"I'm sorry?" She asked, her eyes narrowing in confusion as she turned to look at him.
He looked different in person. She had seen numerous pictures of of him over the years in a few of her textbooks for business classes and her mother had always watched the press conferences he released for major Queen Consolidated news. He had always managed to appear as the epitome of control: hair in place, suit tailored to make him look more powerful, his voice calm and strong as he provided the press with just enough details to make them want more.
It seemed to be a Queen trait to leave everyone waiting for more.
But as she looked at him now, she realized just how much he must rely on a PR team to maintain that image of him. Because the man sitting in front of her looked nothing like the man her textbooks had described. Instead, she was faced with someone whose image looked like he belonged more on a magazine advertisement for what not to do with your life and not the CEO of a massive, international corporation.
Gone were the impressive suits, replaced with jeans and a rather wrinkled black button down shirt. His hair was far from the perfect, polished look he was known for, instead it was sticking out in certain places.
"What exactly is it that you think I do?" Felicity asked, ignoring the look Oliver was giving her, the one she knew was him asking her to stop.
Robert laughed then, placing his glass of scotch on the edge of the barstool in front of him. Felicity shuddered at the sound, overcome with a sensation of disgust as he looked at her, almost studying her.
"Don't try and pretend that you aren't the airhead that convinced my daughter that fashion was a good career choice."
Felicity felt her chest expand as she took a deep breath, anger boiling in her stomach, and quickly spreading throughout the rest of her body as she maintained eye contact with him. "I'm the one who told her that she should do what she wants, what she is passionate about," Felicity clarified, her voice demanding, leaving no room for question as she stepped toward Robert.
"Don't," Thea whispered, reaching out to grab on to Felicity's hand. "Felicity, you should get out of here."
Felicity turned around, shaking her head at Thea. "No, I don't think so." She squeezed Thea's hand in a reassuring manner. "Not without you."
"Did you really think I wouldn't find out?" Robert accused as he glared at Thea, interrupting her and Felicity's conversation. He raised his eyebrow as he looked at Thea, his eyes daring her to argue with him. He tilted his head, breath coming out in a short huff, satisfaction rolling off of him as Thea remained silent. "That's what I thought."
"More like hoping." Thea finally answered in defiance, her head tilting upward as she spoke, the small shake in her voice barely noticeable as she fixed her gaze on a small splotch of orange paint near the bottom of the wall behind Robert. "It's not like you've the most observant father."
"Thea," Robert warned, his voice dropping. "Do you have any idea how much this little dalliance of yours is costing me?"
Thea laughed bitterly, shaking her head in disappointment. "Of course. That's what this is about. Heaven forbid I do something that costs you money."
"You are destroying your future, Thea," Robert's voice boomed, echoing around the room. He stood quickly, the drink he had carelessly placed on the barstool next to him sloshing slightly from the momentum of his movement.
Felicity flinched inwardly at the sound, thankful that she somehow had been able to maintain her poker face, as Robert took another step toward Thea.
"Why," Thea questioned, her hands pushing against the air in front of her chest as she backed away from her father. "Because I don't want to be you? Because I don't want to take over Queen Consolidated? There are worse things, Dad."
"I will never understand how I managed to raise two of the most ungrateful children. That company is the only reason either of you have anything. Neither of you has ever had to work for anything."
"Hey," Oliver shouted, turning around to face his father again. He stepped in between him and Thea, his hands lifting up to put distance between his father. "You don't get to talk to her that way."
"I'm her father, Oliver. I can talk to my daughter however the hell I want," Robert's voice came out like a boom as he stepped forward, pushing against Oliver's hands. Oliver stiffened as Robert came closer, the stench of alcohol rolling off him as he continued speaking, "I'm yours as well."
"Yeah, you are. And you can talk to me however you want to. But not her." Oliver looked over at Tommy, who was standing against the back of the room, arms folded as he looked between Robert and Thea. "Can you get her out of here man?" Oliver asked, directing the question toward Tommy, ignoring Thea protesting behind him.
Moving away from the wall, Tommy nodded as he walked over to Thea. "Come on, Thea," Tommy started, his hand circling around her wrist. "We both know you don't need to see this."
"Oliver," Thea cried. "I'm not five anymore, you can't keep fighting my fights."
"You're my sister Thea," Oliver said as if it was the most simple answer. He glanced behind him briefly, thankful to see Tommy leading her toward the door. "Your fights are my fights."
Felicity remained frozen where she was as she watched Tommy lead Thea out of the room. It wasn't until the door was already swinging shut that she realized she probably should have gone with them. She took a small step toward the door, avoiding looking at Oliver or Robert as she did. She didn't make it much further when Robert began talking again, the venom in his voice twisting at Felicity's stomach as she stopped and turned back around to look at them.
"Always trying to be the hero," Robert started, placing his hands flat on Oliver's shoulder, pressing hard against him. "Protecting Thea from the company, from me. When are you going to realize that you aren't the hero in that story Oliver? But the villain."
Oliver remained still, his body tense underneath his father's hands as he gave a small nod. "I don't know what-"
"You don't know," Robert laughed dryly. "Hasn't it occurred to you Oliver that I wouldn't have to be so hard on her, if you hadn't been such a disappointment to begin with? If you would have just given up on this dream of being a…. well whatever this is, I wouldn't need Thea. She would have been free to follow her dreams."
"Why should either of us have to give up on our dreams? Just to continue some legacy that means fucking nothing-"
The sound of Robert hitting Oliver echoed around the room. Felicity's eyes widened as she watched Robert shove Oliver against the wall. Her pulse rushed, the sound of her heart racing booming throughout her ears, leaving her unable to hear what Robert was saying.
Felicity's senses began to come back slowly, allowing her to hear Robert laughing, honestly laughing, as he released Oliver. Stepping away from Oliver, picking his almost empty glass back up from where he had left it. Finishing it as if nothing had just happened, as if Oliver wasn't slouched against the wall,a small trail of blood running down his face.
Tommy walked back into the room then, watching as Oliver reached up to hold his face. He flinched instinctively at the sight of his best friend, before stopping and standing behind Felicity. He reached his hand out, wrapping his fingers around her elbow tightly, tugging her back as she went to move toward Robert and Oliver, trying to tell her to stay.
Felicity turned her head to look at Tommy, her eyes gleaming with unshed tears as she shook her head, pulling against his grasp.
"And you actually wonder why Thea and I want nothing to do with the company? Why we don't want to become you," Oliver asked his father, lowering his hands as he shook his head sadly. "Isn't it obvious?"
Robert huffed, his nostrils flaring as he took another step forward, another step back toward Oliver.
"You need to leave," Felicity spoke up from the corner, pulling free from Tommy's grip as he tried to stop her from walking closer to Oliver and Robert. "Unless you want the world to know how the CEO of Queen Consolidated treats his children, you need to leave."
"And who's going to believe you," Robert questioned, laughing at Felicity's threat.
"No one would believe me," Felicity said honestly, her eyes narrowing. "But I imagine a lot of people would believe the video footage."
"The what?"
"Video footage. I'm making a documentary of Oliver. There's numerous cameras here, recording all of this."
"You're bluffing."
"No, I'm not," Felicity said forcefully, lifting her shirt up slightly to show the wire from her microphone pack. "I don't wear these willingly, rather uncomfortable. And like I said, you need to leave."
Robert glanced at Oliver, shaking his head slowly, disappointment clearly etched on his face. "Letting a girl fight your-"
"Leave," Felicity interrupted, her voice more forceful than it had been before as she stepped in front of Oliver. "Now."
Robert's eyes drifted over Felicity, as if he was sizing up her ability to carry out her threat. His eyes hardened briefly, the lines on his face becoming over emphasised as he let out a low sigh. And just like that, Felicity watched as his whole body seemed to change. The lines smoothed out of his face, his eyes softened and for a second he almost seemed friendly.
It was a horrifying process to watch. Instead of being in a room with Oliver's father, Felicity became very aware that she was now in the room with the CEO of Queen Consolidated. The ever friendly, always willing to lend a hand, business man that the textbooks had him portrayed as.
"You don't want to deal with the kind of lawsuits that will come your way if any of that so called footage gets out."
"And you don't want to deal with the public backlash that you'll face if it does. So leave."
Robert didn't say anything else, just continued to look at Felicity, until finally, surprising Felicity, he walked away. He didn't look back, he didn't say anything else, he simply walked out of the room without offering anything else.
Felicity let out a deep sigh as soon as the door was shut, her posture slipping as her nerves began to settle. She turned around, placing her hand on Oliver's elbow, her eyes scanning over him to see where he was hurt.
"Are you okay?" She asked, her thumb rubbing small circles against his elbow.
He didn't answer right away, giving Felicity enough time to see that the blood on his face was actually from a small cut across his cheekbone. Not from his nose, which was what Felicity had feared when she had first saw the blood. The cut was no longer bleeding and most of the blood was already drying against his skin. The side of his face was red, Felicity was pretty sure she could already see the beginning formation of a few bruises.
"You didn't have to do that," Oliver said, finally, his voice low, defeated. He moved away from her then, heading toward the door.
"Oliver," Felicity turned toward him, shaking her head as he opened the door. "Oliver, where are you going?"
The only response she received was the door shutting as Oliver left the room.
Felicity turned to Tommy then, watching as he leaned back against the wall. "He likes to be alone after these things," he tried to explain, his voice tired
"But he shouldn't have to be," Felicity responded. "And I'm going to go make sure he knows that."
Felicity stood outside of the door of the closet that Oliver had locked himself in. It had taken longer than she had expected to find him. The venue hadn't seemed overly large, but it had a lot of random small rooms that he could have slipped into. She had ended up in the security room, asking the relatively unenthusiastic security guard if he had seen where Oliver had ended up. It took five minutes of explaining that she was a part of the band's crew, and really, truly, not a random girl trying to get five minutes with Oliver Queen before he gave up the location.
She really needed a business card if she was going to have to keep asking for things that involved Oliver.
She took a deep breath, closing her eyes as she made her decision. Lifting her shirt up, she carefully peeled away the wire that was connected to her microphone, followed by the box that was clipped to the back of her jeans. She knocked on the door. "Oliver, it's Felicity. Open the door."
"Seriously, Oliver. Open the door," she repeated, her knuckles rapping against the door continuously, but with no rhythm or pattern. "You shouldn't be alone right now." Felicity paused, her nose scrunching up at the way those words sounded. "Actually, you shouldn't have to be alone right now. If you want to be, that's your choice. But I'm here if you don't want to be."
"The door isn't locked," Oliver's voice travelled through the closed door.
Felicity glanced down at the handle, shaking her head. Of course the door wasn't locked. She pushed the handle down, opening the door and walking in. Shutting the door behind her, she had to wait for her eyes to adjust to the darkness of the room before she could make out more of Oliver than just an outline against the back wall.
He looked a lot better than the last time she had seen him. He was still wearing his Arrow stage outfit, but the jacket was open, the little amount of moonlight from the small window in the room reflecting against the zippers of the jacket. She stepped closer to him, her hands reaching out to release the wires and microphone box from him.
He looked down at her, his eyes squinting in confusion as she finished removing the equipment. Silently she walked back over to the door, opening it and placing the equipment next to hers on the ground. When she began walking back over to him, she could make out what looked like a small bruise against the side of his face. Her hand reached out to brush against it as she stood in front of him.
"You know, when they say chicks dig bad boys, they really meant chicks dig bad boys in theory." Felicity ran her finger down his jaw, lifting his head up slightly to look for any other visible damage from the fight earlier. "Because let me tell you, you look much better without all the bruising."
Oliver laughed, his head shaking against her fingers. "I knew you thought I was cute," he teased, his voice playful, even if his smile seemed forced.
"Normally I would argue about this, but you look like you could use the ego boost."
"I appreciate it."
They remained silent after Oliver's words. Felicity sat down, leaning back against the wall. She smiled at Oliver as he followed her, sitting down next to her. She bumped her shoulder against his, savoring the small smile he gave her for her efforts.
"So," Oliver said breaking the silence. "Did you draw the short straw?"
"Volunteered," Felicity answered. "You didn't do anything wrong, Oliver. There's no reason you should be alone right now."
"Oh, but everything I do is wrong, Felicity," Oliver said, his voice void of the sarcasm she had expected. He looked away from her then, but not before Felicity could see the seriousness in his eyes. "You heard him. You just haven't known me long enough to know this."
"Stop that," Felicity demanded, her eyes narrowing as she moved to sit in front of him. She placed her hands underneath his head, using her fingers to lift his chin up until he was looking at her. "You are not some all supreme evil being Oliver. You deciding to not run a company does not make you a bad person. You aren't the reason your father is, well, who he is. You may have made mistakes and you'll probably make more," she paused, watching as he tried to duck his head back down, avoiding her eyes. She waited until he stopped fidgeting before she moved her head to line with his, locking her eyes with his again. "You're human. How exactly do you think you are supposed to be?"
"I don't know what I'm supposed to be," Oliver said, huffing slightly as he closed his eyes. "But I know that I don't want to be him," he finished, opening his eyes and looking at her just long enough for Felicity to notice the unshed tears building up before he looked away again.
"Then don't be," Felicity said, as if the answer could actually be something so simple. Her fingers hovered next to his jaw, brushing against the barely-there stubble "You don't have to be anything you don't want to be."
"I don't think it's that simple."
"But what if it is?"
Oliver laughed without humor, his voice dry as he spoke, "Then I've spent a lot of years doing things the hard way."
Felicity's laughter was full of humor and light as she shook her head. "Does that really surprise you? You don't exactly seem like the kind of guy that takes the easy route. Ever."
Oliver smiled, nodding at her in agreement. "Some might say I take the long way."
Felicity returned his smile, her nose scrunching up. She laughed as her stomach made a loud noise, protesting how long it had been since Felicity had eaten.
"Well, as it turns out, I'm still hungry," Felicity said with a shrug, standing up from the floor. "Want to go with me to get food?" She asked, holding her hand out for him.
Oliver looked at her for a moment, considering her offer. He nodded before standing up and taking her hand, letting Felicity lead him out of the room.