A/N: Another post 2x18 drabble. I had some Thea feels as well, poor kid.

Felicity sat nervously in the lobby of the Plaza, eyes fixed on the elevator that led to the uppermost floors. With no official day job, and Oliver still sleeping off his all night training marathon she had nothing better to do than drink her third cup of coffee and wait for Thea Queen to emerge.

She wasn't even sure the girl was planning on leaving. Felicity wasn't sure she would if she was in her shoes. She'd just been dumped, kidnapped, and found out her mother and brother had been keeping a life altering secret from her. If she chose to curl up in a ball on her bed and order in room service for a week no one would blame her.

If nothing else though Felicity thought she could at least keep an eye on her. With Roy missing and Thea ignoring any contact from her family she was on her own and Felicity knew that wasn't a good place to be, especially just then.

But she'd always been impressed by Thea's resilience, and when she walked off the elevator half an hour later Felicity wasn't that surprised.

She jumped to her feet and grabbed the now lukewarm coffee she'd brought for the girl and headed her direction.

Thea's head was down, arms wrapped tight around her body like she was trying to physically hold herself together. She still wore the blue coat she'd been wearing the night before and Felicity knew she hadn't even been home to change or grab her things.

"Thea," she called out carefully, but the girl still jumped, wide red rimmed eyes looking at her in fear as she skittered sideways.

"I'm sorry! I didn't want to scare you!" Felicity said quickly as the frightened look slid off her face and turned to one of confusion and anger,

"Why are you here?"

"I'm...Felicity, I'm Ol…"

"I know who you are," Thea interrupted harshly, "But it doesn't explain why you're here. I want nothing to do with him. So go fetch him his coffee or whatever else you do for him. I'm done."

Felicity felt her face go red at the unspoken implication and it took her a moment to recover before she could run after Thea's retreating form.

"No! Thea, please!"

"Look! I've had a really bad day, okay." she spat as she whirled, "I don't know why you think you can be here but you need to leave." she looked like she was on the verge of tears and Felicity's heart went out to her,

They were standing in the middle of the lavishly decorated lobby, and while no one was currently paying them any attention she didn't think that would hold for long.

"This is for you. It's probably not hot anymore because I've been waiting for a while for you to come down but...take it, you look like you could use something. And just so you know I don't get your brother coffee like, ever. He usually gets it for me. I also don't do any other things that aren't, you know, business related." she'd forced the cup into Thea's hands until she didn't have a choice but to take it. Noticing she looked a bit dazed Felicity took the opportunity to start walking towards a small seating area that was mostly private, and Thea actually followed along with her.

They sank into a plush high backed couch with high sides that provided even more privacy and Thea sat carefully on the edge, glancing between Felicity and the coffee. "He doesn't know you're here?"

"No! He was sleeping when I left." the words were out of her mouth before she could realize what it might sound like and Thea's eyebrows lifted into her hair,

"That's not...we're not." she started frantically, "He's my boss and my friend and that's it. He's with Sara Lance not me. Never me." her mouth fell shut with a snap and she felt Thea's eyes boring into her.

"He didn't sleep while you were missing. He was worried sick about you. I know…I know finding out Malcolm Merlyn was your father was a shock-"

Thea looked at her in horror and was halfway to her feet, forgotten coffee cup almost spilling from her hand before Felicity caught it and sat it on the table.

"How? How could you…? You knew and I didn't…"

Felicity grasped Thea by the arm and pulled her back down to the couch before she could topple over. All the blood had drained from her face and she looked like she might be sick.

"I knew because I'm the one who told Oliver,"

When Thea looked as if she could actually hear what Felicity was saying she continued.

"Last year Walter had asked me to look into some things, some things about your mother. I didn't know that's what it was at the time, of course. That intel resurfaced a few months ago and when I looked into it further...I found out about Malcolm."

Thea looked numb, as if she wasn't even processing everything she was being told,

"I went to see your mother first. I thought...I thought she deserved the chance to tell you and Oliver on her own."

Thea scoffed at this, "Obviously she disagreed. She's ruthless and manipulative...you're lucky you walked out of there alive."

A chill went through Felicity as a memory of that encounter flashed through her mind, "Yeah, she's uh...she can be scary lets just leave it at that." swallowing hard she pushed on, "But you're right, she did disagree. I had no choice, I had to tell Oliver."

A long beat of silence stretched between them, "And then he did exactly what she did and kept it from me too." Thea said with a shake of her head, "I knew there was something going on between him and mom but he kept assuring me it was nothing. What a hypocrite."

Felicity couldn't disagree with her, she hadn't truly understood Oliver's decision but she'd supported him, until now when all they could hope to run was damage control.

"I know it wasn't right...but he was doing it because he loves you and he wants you to be safe."

Thea just shook her head, fingers absently playing with the edge of her scarf. "You know I woke up out of a dead sleep and realized that Tommy was my brother too." she said on half a sob, "I've lost both my brothers, the man I thought was my father, and my actual father who turned out to be a psychopath, all my mother does is lie to me, and my boyfriend cheated on me and left town. So who do I have? Who's there for me?"

She sounded desolate and alone and much too old for a girl her age. Without thought Felicity slipped an arm around her shoulders and gave her a gentle tug. There was a moment of resistance and then she gave in, head coming to rest on Felicity's shoulder as she cried softly.

Felicity didn't say a word, she just held her. There was nothing she could say just then. Thea's entire world had been upended and she needed time and space to process that.

Something made her look up and when she did she saw Oliver with Digg right behind him.

Oliver's eyes locked on hers and she shook her head once before he could come any closer. Thea seeing him right then wouldn't be good. She needed a chance to live with what she'd learned before they spoke.

He looked torn as he took in the sight of his obvious upset sister, but she silently asked him to back off and give her space. She could see the turmoil pass over his face before his eyes shut tight and when he opened them she saw him asking her to take care of Thea.

Felicity stroked a hand over the girl's head and gave Oliver a tiny nod before Digg took him by the arm and led him away.

They sat like that for a few more minutes until Thea's shoulders stopped shaking and her sobs turned into occasional sniffles. When she finally made a move to sit up Felicity handed her some napkins she'd grabbed from the coffee shop and slipped into her pocket.

She waited patiently while Thea wiped her eyes and blew her nose, "Thanks, you don't even know me and...just...thanks. I'm sorry I was such a bitch earlier. You're the only person other than my kidnapper whose told me the truth and…"

"You deserved to know. And I'm not going to tell you how to feel or how to handle this but...Oliver would do anything to protect you." if only she could tell that secret so that Thea could truly understand the levels her brother would go to in order to keep her safe.

"I can't…"

"I know. No one expects you to figure it all out right now, but you do need to be careful and I know you're not in a good place with your mother or brother but your family has resources you shouldn't hesitate to use for your protection."

Thea gave her half a smile at that, "I think I've learned my lesson about going anywhere alone. I've already called for one of the drivers to come pick me up, he's probably been waiting outside this entire time."

With that Thea rose to her feet and Felicity followed, "What are you going to do?" she blurted out before she could stop herself,

"Go home even though my mother is the last person I want to see. And then...I have a business to run. It's good, it'll give me something to focus on." the self-assurance didn't reach her eyes and Felicity gave her a sympathetic look as they made their way through the front doors of the hotel and out onto the sidewalk.

"I can come with you if you want, even though I know your mother pretty much hates me, but maybe I could provide a distraction." she offered with a weak shrug, encountering Moira Queen again was not something she wanted to do but she would if she had to.

A black town car was pulled to the curb and the driver had the door open as soon as he had spotted Thea. Felicity looked down the row of parked cars and saw Digg and the Bentley three spaces away.

"Thank you, but I have to do this myself." she said almost sadly as she turned to get into the car, but at the last second she spun back and gave Felicity a quick hug, "You're nothing like I thought. Thanks for telling me the truth,"

Felicity watched as the driver shut the door and then pulled away, she only hoped the road Thea was headed down would work out well for everyone.

She was still standing there when she felt Oliver come up behind her.

"I left you a note, you didn't need to track me." she said without looking, "Sorry, if you think I overstepped but she needed somebody and…"

"No, you were right. She did and I've managed to take everyone away from her," the anger and self-disgust was back in his tone and she turned with a sigh to see him staring after a car that was no longer in sight,

"Oliver…"

"Thank you, for...whatever you said. She needed someone."

"She'll pull through, you'll see,"

"How can you be so sure?" he asked as he finally dropped his eyes to look at her,

She stepped closer and lifted her hand to rest along the lapel of his coat, "Doesn't matter whose blood runs through her veins, she's still a Queen. And in my experience you can withstand just about anything."

His hand came up to cover hers, enveloping it in his large grip, his look and touch conveying the words he couldn't find just then.

"Come on, ride with us," he said, giving her hand a tug as he turned back to where Digg waited,

"But my car…" she protested weakly as he kept walking and she was forced to keep up,

"We'll get it later," there was a timbre in his voice that let her know he didn't want to be alone and she couldn't deny him.

"Okay,"

At her acquiescence his grip loosened, but before she could pull away he stuck his elbow out and she slid her fingers up to rest in the crook of his elbow.

Their ride back to the lair was quiet, but Oliver's hand had found hers again and he didn't let go.