The ballroom is decorated beautifully with golden drapes and exquisite floral arrangements in the finest hotel in town. The main attraction is the ten-foot diamond chandelier hanging in the center of the ballroom. This is the place to be, the who's who from Starling's elite and those from neighboring cities like Gotham will be attending. The guest arrived in their million dollar Bentleys, the men and women wore accessories that cost enough to feed a modest family of four for a year. She grew up on the other side of this coin, more likely to be waitress than a host but that is what she is tonight, the host of this extravagant gala. Felicity wished she had Oliver at her side, even if it was past Oliver.
"Mrs. Queen, you look breathtaking." A familiar voice said from behind. Felicity did look breathtaking. When she knew they will be attending this event, she spent days looking for the right dress, classy and sophisticated with a little bit of sex appeal. The dress she chose is floor length emerald green that sparkled in the light. The dress has a slit that ran from her right thigh to the floor. The neckline is a plunging V to showcase the diamond necklace she borrowed for the event. Oliver offered to buy it but she refused stating that no jewelry she owned should cost more than a house. In all honesty she dressed up for him, not to just complement him, because in her opinion no one can fill a tux like Oliver, but to seduce him as well. She imagined this night going so differently.
"Bruce, thank you. You look dapper as always." Felicity turned around to acknowledge the man before placing a kiss on both cheeks. She is glad to see him. Black hair and blue eyes, he towered over her.
"Where is Mr. Queen? He better be careful to not leave you alone or I might just steal you away."
"I might just let you. It's been twenty minutes and I feel like running for the hills. Schmoozing is not my forte." Felicity told him under her breath. "Oliver can't make it this evening, he has come down with a fever and apologizes for his absence."
"The non-official version of that story?"
Felicity took a deep breath before starting. "He woke up this morning, not remembering the past ten years of his life. He freaked, I freaked. It turns out the last thing he remembers did not happen the way I remember it. We tracked down an anomaly that could be a clue with the help of Diggle but ran into Thea, things did not go well, and we are still stuck on clues. That's why I am so glad to see you, has anything like this happen to you before or anyone else?"
"No, the last time I lost my memory was because I got struck in the head. I think your problems just escalated. Thea Queen just walked in."
Felicity turned to look at her sister in-law, brown hair, black dress and blackened heart. " I did not invite her." Felicity felt the anger rise in her. There were very few people that Felicity hates in the world and Thea Queen is on the top of that list. She hates that she kills, but she hates how she manipulates Oliver even more. Oliver would never hurt her, or put her away. He blamed himself for her actions. Every time she straddle the line of unspeakable, she would stop and manipulate him into thinking that she can change. There was once, Oliver nearly did it, he caught her red handed and was about to turn her in, but faltered. So she did it, she got Thea incarcerated. It wasn't even twenty-four hours before Thea was released and there was nothing they could do about it. From then on, Thea has been keeping under their radar, which is why it was so surprising that she would flat out shoot Oliver this afternoon, not to mention murder two men in front of him.
"Listen Felicity, Don't worry about gaining support, I will do as much as I can."
"I just need to make sure that she doesn't ruin it. Got it." Felicity cutting him off.
"You think we would be here if we had stayed together?" He smiled and walked away.
Felicity sighed. Here we go.
"Thea, what an unexpected surprise. I don't remember seeing your name on the invitation." Felicity laid it on thick.
"What's an invitation among family? Besides I enjoyed your unexpected visit this afternoon, I thought how nice it would be to return the favour." Thea replied. "You remember my fiancée, councilman Freddy Dreyfus." The tall bleach blonde hair man that stood next to Thea smirked.
"Yes, the pawn, one night less in a dingy motel room." Felicity mocking him.
"Why you little…" The man face turned red.
"Now now Freddy, don't be a fool, size isn't everything. Why don't you get something to drink at the bar." Thea did not even bother to look at him when she said those words, she was more focused on her sister-in-law.
"Felicity, I know we have never seen eye to eye about some things but I'm sure we can still enjoy an evening together." Thea said as her fiancée left for the bar.
"I'm not playing your games Thea, please leave and take him with you."
"Where is my brother? I heard he was down with a fever. You sure it's a fever and not something else?"
Irritated Felicity grabbed Thea's wrist and pulled her to the side. "What is wrong with you? You are the opposition, you are not allowed to be here and I will call security on you if you don't leave."
"And how do you think that would make Oliver look? Dragging the opposition out like dogs. You would eliminate any chance for support. It takes finesse to woe people sister dear, which you clearly do not have."
"That's why I'm not the one running for office."
"Then where is he? Skipping his own coming out party-"
Just then a sharp sound coming from the speakers cut through the ballroom. A scrawny kid came up to the microphone "ehem, sorry. A word from our host."
Felicity could not believe it. It is Oliver dressed in his tux standing on the stage with a smile.
"Hello everyone, I would like to apologize for my tardiness I'm sure my lovely wife told you that I came down with a fever. And you know what, I still have it but it doesn't matter. What matters is you and this city. I have called you here today to celebrate you. I spent my whole life here, well except for five years that I'm sure you would forgive me for, and I love this place. But loving it is only the first step, rebuilding it was the other, now we are at sustaining the good life and striving for an even better one. We saw it fall and we were all there to rebuild it. Every single one of you made the contribution, through your funding and business you brought us. Today all this is for you, to thank you with the hopes that you continue to do so. It's not the first time that a bother and sister have competed against each other in this race, and I assure you it won't be the last. I guarantee it doesn't matter which Queen takes the office because this city will not fall again, not with people like you backing it. Thank you."
The whole room erupted in applause. Oliver made his way down the stage. He was shaking their hands smiling and talking. He looked like her Oliver, just for second she believed that he was back. Felicity walked up to him, searching for his eye, waiting for recognition, for a signal, for anything to let her know that he was back, the man she married, the man she loved. . She caught his eyes with hers; she looked at him, straight down into his soul and it wasn't him. He wasn't hers.
Felicity looked down shaking her head just for a moment before looking back at him, trying to shake away the lump in her throat. "Nice speech" She offered a smile. "But how did you-"
Oliver handed her a piece of paper. "I found it in the jacket, looks like I prepare speeches before hand now. Good idea. It was longer but I chose the highlights."
"Interesting speech big brother, doubt you believe half of what you said." Thea walked up to them.
"I don't know who you are but you are not my sister. I suggest you leave on your own accord. Now." Oliver threatened her through clenched teeth."
"Come on Ollie, your not still sore about that are you? I had to do it." Thea tried to explain to him but Oliver didn't flinch. "Okay fine, but you will want to talk to me soon, so when you do call me." Thea turned collected her fiancée and left.
"Wanna dance?" Felicity asked
They didn't dance as close as she was used to but this way at least this would stop the guest from asking about the policies and things they plan to change. They stopped dancing when dinner was served and after that she made excuses for Oliver to leave early and she stayed to talk to the guest for couple more hours. By the time she reached home, she was exhausted. Felicity found Oliver in the kitchen eating ice cream as he talked on the computer with their children.
"That's great. Keep it safe until you get home. I want to frame it. Hey mama is back you guys wanna talk to her?" Oliver motioned for her to come. "They waited up to see you." He told her.
Felicity smiled and stood next to him.
Later that night in their bedroom, Felicity was already in bed typing on her tablet. She was wearing the same nightgown she wore in the morning. He remembered what happened and cloud not help but blush.
"I can sleep on the floor or in another room if you prefer." Oliver said sheepishly.
"I'm not the one who is uncomfortable, I having been sleeping with you for years now. Remember" Felicity teased.
"Right." Oliver climbed into bed. "What are you doing?" he asked.
"Going through the anomaly signature and security camera from the mall. Thea was there the night before" Felicity gestured towards Oliver. "you woke up like this."
"I thought the mall isn't open yet, how come you have camera footage?"
"Digg got it for me. That was why he called earlier. It's not the mall's security camera, it's ARGUS. He said they were monitoring abandoned buildings incase fugitives try to hide out there. We only have footage of the basement door, no cameras in the basement."
"What was she doing there?"
"Watch"
Felicity showed him the footage. She first showed him Thea and her goons entering the basement, then fast forwarded about ten minutes, there was a bright light coming from the basement. She forwarded again about five minutes, Thea came out with her goons again looking for something frantically.
"I can't make out what she is saying. Can you?" Felicity asked.
"Where is he. That's what she's saying." Oliver answered. "It was her, she brought me back here but for what?"
"Wait there's more."
Felicity fast-forwarded one last time. They saw the men in black drag a man from the basement.
"Look familiar?" Felicity asked.
"it's him Peter Degaton." Oliver sighed. "It is her. What happened to her Felicity? I know my sister, she's the best of us all." Oliver looked at Felicity with sad tired eyes.
"She was. It started the night Slade wanted to level the city. We taught she had gotten out but she didn't. She was there in the train station when a convict high on Mirakura tried to destroy the place. Malcolm Merlyn saved her and after that she joined him. He twisted her, he taught her to fight, to kill, to show no remorse for her enemies. When she came back you taught she was the same Thea you grew up with. You gave her the company to run because she was always the better businesswoman. For sometime it was going great but by the time Merlyn came back, it was too late. She changed so drastically, we barely recognized her. She started using murder, extortion and blackmail to further her plans." Felicity sympathetically answered him.
Oliver's throat became so dry. "Merlyn is alive? What is her plan?"
"Yes and we don't know. But the authorities won't touch her. Recently, her activities have trickled down."
"What about ARGUS? They have a prison."
"You won't let them. You still believe that she can be saved."
"What do you think?"
"I think that something big is coming, I trust that you know her better than anyone and you believe you can save. I will stand by you no matter what." Felicity hesitated for a moment then continued. " But no I don't believe she will go back to being the person you want her to be."
Oliver stopped talking for an hour after that conversation. He was trying to summaries everything he learned since he got here. He wasn't scared to be here anymore. It worked, detaching himself from everything let him see the life that Oliver Queen could have someday. He snooped through the house, that's how he found the tux and the speech. The more things he found, the more attached he got. He found the doorframe where they measured the children's height among other things. And later, he spoke to his children, they are smart and funny. The boy preferred to be called Conner, he inherited his mother eyes and babbling while Ellie looks more like him, she is smart, genius smart. By no means does this mean his ready to be their dad but if he had to, if he were stuck here, he won't be unhappy about it. He doesn't know much about his friends and plans to ask Felicity about it tomorrow. He is glad that Digg is doing great but they needed to keep in contact more often. Felicity introduced him to man named Bruce, he can't remember his last name, she said they are good friends. Bruce oozed charm but there was a part of him that he is not showing, like a mask he is wearing.
Then there is Felicity, his wife, oddly it doesn't seem weird calling her that. They fit so well, she loves him or least Oliver Queen in the future, she doesn't ask him to slow down instead she is right there beside him when things get rough, she accepts him for all he is, like she always has. He hurt her today, it wasn't intentional but he did, that has always been his fear when he is with Felicity, not wanting to hurt her but doing it anyway even if it is unintentional. But he is here with her and there are happy, at least it seems like there are happy. There was a moment in the party tonight, when she walked up to him after he gave his speech, she looked straight into his eyes searching for something he couldn't tell what but he felt so raw that the wall he built wasn't there anymore, the words "I'm here" popped into his head but before he could tell her she broke eye contact, that was when he realized it wasn't him she was looking for, she was looking for her husband, the Oliver Queen who put his heart in her hands and trusted her. When she looked away it hurt more than he ever thought possible. Like having something he didn't know he had, but when it's gone, it like there is a hole that can't be filled.
The one thing he would want to stay for is her and their family, which brings him to the one thing he needed to go back for, Thea. Merlyn is alive, he put an arrow in him and he still lives. He managed to take the best person in the Queen family and corrupt her. Just thinking about it made Oliver enraged, but she's not lost. Tonight when he told her she wasn't his sister, he saw that she was hurt by the comment. Maybe that is what future Oliver saw, that she could still be saved. He needed to speak to her, he needed to know if she regrets it, he needed to know why she brought him here and how to stop her from every becoming this.
Just as Felicity was about to drift off to sleep Oliver asked one last question.
"Felicity, Are you happy with this life… are we happy?"
"Despite everything else. Yes I am and we are."