A/N: Well, this got a little bit angstier than I originally intended. But it happened!
Dean's chapter is next and brings back some laughs.
Thank you for the favs and reviews guys! Keep them coming, it's keeping me motivated:)
Nerd on!
Chapter 5: Felicity
Felicity couldn't stop staring at Dean. Obvious reason? Sure, he was handsome. Stupid Greek God handsome, but so was Oliver. Heck, even Digg and Roy were fun to look at, and not to mention Sam. Tall, dark and handsome. . . But there was something she just couldn't put her finger on about Dean. And that was really starting to bother her because she hated mysteries. She was starting to think that even her I.T. superpowers wouldn't be able to solve the mystery that was Dean Winchester.
A hand touched her shoulder and on reflex she turned to it. She lifted her face and saw Oliver. "Felicity?" he asked, his eyebrows pulled together in question. "Did you hear Sam?"
"Huh? What?" She looked over to Sam and found him sitting up, looking at her with a one-sided smile on his face. "Sorry, what did you say?" She glanced over at Dean, he was looking down, with an almost frown on his face, before returning her full attention to Sam.
"I said, could you maybe look something up for me? There's been something nagging me about this lone vampire tonight."
Felicity's eyebrows shot up, but Dean spoke before she could answer. "Sam, there was no evidence of more than one vampire in Starling. We went over this."
"You think there could be more vampires in the city?" Oliver butted in.
"Well, historically-" Sam started but got cut off by Dean.
"Historically-shmorically, Sam. We went over all the evidence a hundred times. Hell, even Count Bad-One-Liners admitted to all the kills right before he threw you into the trash!"
"Yeah, since the Bad Guys never lie, Dean! You know as well as I do the unlikelihood that vampire was a loner."
"Sam, we'll talk about this later."
Felicity's eyes began to hurt, ping-ponging as they were, watching the brothers argue back and forth.
"Sam, if you think there is a possibility that there are more vampires in Starling, we need look into it," Oliver interrupted, a little louder this time.
"Hey, why don't you stay out of this Captain Tight Pants? Vampires or anything else supernatural doesn't involve you or your silly little team," Dean said without even looking at Oliver.
Felicity felt like she'd been slapped, so when she looked at Oliver, she understood the anger that was now permeating off him. His jaw clenched, lips went rigid, nostrils flared, his hands balled into fists and he went lethally still and silent. She didn't think anyone had insulted Oliver like that before, at least not while he was in the Arrow suit. And no, it wasn't the dig at his suit that bothered Oliver, or Felicity for that matter. It was the thought that they weren't equipped to take care of their city after all they'd been through. After all the people they've lost and all the people they've saved.
It was a rare occasion that Felicity got well and truly pissed off, but this was one of those times. She stood up out of her chair and with said with her voice shaking in anger, "You do not get to say that. You don't know what he's been through. What I've been though. What our silly little team has been through. This is our city dammit. And this," Felicity held her arms out and looked around the Foundry. "This is what we do. We help people. So you don't get to decide what involves us, supernatural or not. Not here. Not in Starling."
She looked back at Oliver and watched him finally take a breath. "If the supernatural has invaded Starling City," Felicity shrugged. "Bring it on, because we're not going anywhere." She turned back to Dean. He at least had the grace to look a little ashamed, but more than anything he looked sad.
"Felicity," he began, his voice gruff again. He glanced at Oliver and then back to her. He swallowed and pain flashed across his eyes. "People who help me and Sam . . . they end up dead. And, I'm not just saying that to get you guys to back off. It's a fact. Sooner or later, they all die."
Unable to hold Dean's stare, she looked over to Sam and saw him lower his head, unimaginable sadness spread across his features before his long brown hair fell and shielded his face. But she saw it all: Sadness, shame, hurt, even anger. She sucked in a slow breath and felt her heart ache. That wasn't sadness from losing one or two people over a lifetime, but a lot of people.
"You don't think we've lost people?" Oliver said, breaking the silence. His voice was scary calm and the suffering and self loathing in his eyes matched theirs perfectly. "You think that just because I don't fight the supernatural that I've never lost anyone? Because I have. I've lost almost everyone I've gotten close to these past seven years." He took a breath and looked each brother in the eyes. "Look, I can't imagine what you guys have seen or been through. Or who or how many people you've lost. I'm not trying to compare our lives, but I also cannot imagine letting someone or something come into my city and hurt innocent people. I know that there is a chance that I could die every time I put on this hood, and it hasn't stopped me yet. Nor do I plan it to. So you can either help me, and my team best prepare ourselves to fight these. . . things or you can watch as we go out blind and do it anyway."
Felicity had never lost anyone really close to her. But she'd been there with Oliver these past years as he lost people over and over again. She would never claim to know how Oliver's friends and families deaths truly affected him. But she'd been there all the same and felt the blows too. And now, as she looked at Oliver, Sam and Dean, she saw that these three men were one in the same. Fighting a fight that they may never be able to win. Getting stomped on again and again and yet, they always got back up and kept fighting. Because someone had to.
Dean walked over and sat on the medical table next to Sam.
"He's right you know," Sam said peeking over at his brother. "The best way we can keep them alive, is by preparing them." Dean crossed his arms and looked at the ground then nodded twice.
Felicity sat down in her chair and spun to her computer. She took a deep breath, and realized that her life had completely changed, for the second time in only two years. But, like Oliver, like Sam and Dean, someone had to help people. She'd helped many times before, why not help people fend off the supernatural also while she was at it. She closed her eyes and said, "Now that that's settled, what did you want me to look up?" When no one answered she looked over her shoulder and waited, eyebrows raised.
Dean rubbed a hand down his face and Sam pushed his hair out of his own and said, "Start with coroner reports, you know animal bites, neck bites, blood drained, the normal." Felicity started typing.
"Then check missing persons. But start with people who wouldn't be missed. Homeless, prostitutes, runaways . . ." Dean added.
"In the Glades? That's not going to be easy. People go missing everyday," Felicity said, still typing.
Dean chuckled. "Hey, I thought you were good at this stuff."
"I am. Give me a second. I'm trying to get these reports on a map and see if we can find a pattern, or localize the missing people and supposed "animal killings"." She paused and looked at Oliver, "Are there even animals large enough to kill people in Starling? Are there even animals besides rats and birds?"
"No," Oliver said with a smile. "But, I bet some of the rats and birds are pretty large though."
Felicity shivered.
"People will try and rationalize a lot of unexplainable things," Sam said shaking his head.
"Yeah especially if they work for the government," Dean said and laughed at his own joke.
Good. Felicity thought. He's gotten back down off his high horse.
"Hey, look at this," Felicity said. "There's a website listing missing persons from the Glades."
"From after the quake?" Oliver asked.
"No, it was created a month ago, and just updated yesterday."
Felicity opened a new window of a map of the Glades, and started counter referencing. No, that can't be right. She looked at Oliver and said, "Um, just checking, because I might be going crazy. But the warehouse you were at tonight was on Parker, right?"
"Yes. . . that's where you thought a shipment of guns was sent to. Why?"
She spun her chair to face Sam and Dean. "Vampires have no need for guns, right? I mean, I saw how strong that guy was tonight. You don't need guns if you're that strong . . ."
"None of the ones we've ran into have had guns. They're kind up towards the top of the food chain. And, well, guns don't work on them. Why?" Sam asked.
Oliver leaned down and checked the computer screen. "That is definitely the warehouse Digg and I were at earlier. And there were shooters there, but . . ." He trailed off and looked at the brothers. "So vampires are strong, are they fast too? Really fast?"
"Yeah," Dean said and stood up and walked over to the computer. "Why?"
"Digg and I don't get shot," Oliver said shaking his head. "But the shooters tonight came out of nowhere, shot, grazed Digg and then . . . they were just gone. They weren't your run of the mill thugs or gangsters picking up guns."
"I don't get how this relates to vampires," Sam asked looking at Oliver and Felicity.
"Because, the area around that warehouse is where most of this list said the missing people hung out." Dean said looking at the list and map on the computer. "Sam, there must have been more killings we never saw." He pointed to the corner of the map, on the opposite side of the Glades from the warehouse and said, "This is where our vamp got five people. How come we never saw anything about the others?"
"A lot of things get swept under the rug in the Glades," Oliver said and looked at the computer. "The vampire you tracked must have been killing people in the newest part. Yeah, that neighborhood was practically gentrified, that's why it made the papers."
"I still don't understand. You think the vamps are hiding in that warehouse? And what? Picking off picking off people surrounding it for dinner? Yeah, that makes sense. But vampires who use guns? That doesn't," Sam said.
"It would if they were trying to blend in. Hide themselves. Guns and gangs in the Glades are absolutely normal. But there would be talk if a gang moved in and started killing people with their bare hands and teeth," Oliver said quietly.
Felicity nodded, "And we would have heard that talk."
"So what you're saying is that you think there is a nest of vampires in that warehouse, and they are buying guns as what, a front? Pretending to be a gang?" Dean asked, his eyebrows raised in disbelief. He looked back at Sam. "We've heard some pretty crazy stuff, but this . . ."
"Oliver and Digg barely got out of that warehouse tonight. Like Oliver said, that doesn't happen when they're dealing with normal joe criminals. I've tracked at least one other shipment of guns that got delivered there. But there hasn't been any activity with said guns. We thought maybe the warehouse was just a drop point, where gangs could buy from . . ."
Oliver took over and shook his head, "No one was buying guns from that place. There were none of the usual signs."
"If that warehouse really is a nest of vampires, they're doing a great job of hiding in plain sight. Well, until I found them," Felicity said. "But, think about it. They're blending in as a gang, the guns are proving that. But they also aren't attracting the attention of the cops or us, because they aren't using those guns. They aren't leaving bodies drained of blood around, they are just taking people who won't be missed. Or people who they thought won't be missed. Although, your vampire tonight would break that mold."
"He was probably new. He was pretty sloppy, and without a nest to keep him in check . . ." Sam shook his head and laughed a little. "But, I don't know, I'm with Dean. Vampires with guns?"
"Sam, something was bothering you about this. . .hunt. Do you normally trust your instincts?" Oliver asked.
"Yeah."
"Well, your instincts plus a list of that many missing people can't be a coincidence. So, Felicity, keep researching. I'll get Digg back here, and then you two are going to tell us everything you know about Vampires," Oliver said.
