Arrow is not mine, but god do I ever wish it was.
AN: So, this one shot is now two? I think maybe the mom thing was a bit of a surprise so I kind of wanted to give it some sort of closure and tie it back into the series. I don't really know if this should turn into its own story. I've kind of left it open. Also Mr. Smoak's name is a nod to one of the creators of the character (if I did my research right). I live for reviews so please tell me your thoughts. Thanks for all the love btw.
Felicity grabbed her mug of tea and placed it on the small the wooden dining table that took up a considerable portion of the breakfast nook in her parents' kitchen. The room wasn't very spacious; the warm yellow paint had started to chip around the edges of the window and doorframe, the wooden furniture had seen at least two decades of wear and tear, and almost every bit of shelf space was covered pictures of family vacations, souvenirs, and knickknacks. The kitchen really was a microcosm of the Smoak household.
Falling into a chair Felicity grabbed the stack of bills she had already opened and began the arduous task of sorting through it all. It wasn't long before her mind was a blank slate and she simply watched the stray bits of tealeaves being picked up and whirled around as she stirred her tea.
"Felicity, sweetheart, it's nearly a quarter past one in the morning. What are you still doing up?"
Felicity was shocked to find her father standing right beside her, one hand placed on her shoulder. She pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose and took in the sight before her.
He stood hovering above her, his tall stature shrouded in his plaid robe, his stubble flecked with silver, and his eyes sunken. His slightly bulbous nose and shock of silver hair gave Mr. Smoak a slightly humorous look about him, but it was his sparkling green eyes that let the average onlooker correctly induce that he was a handsome man in his youth; nerdy, but handsome nonetheless.
Felicity's father was a good man, a hero by almost any person's standards given his years a medical doctor, but that wasn't what made him a hero to Felicity. There was no gallivanting on the mean streets of Starling City for Mr. Smoak; he wasn't a hero in the same sense as Oliver Queen. The heroic decisions that befell Mr. Smoak were the ones that he made in the quiet moments of his everyday, ordinary, mundane life.
He was Felicity's sole personal hero up until the day she met Oliver Queen. On that day, she had two.
Looking at him now, Felicity's heart broke a little. For as much as she had lost her mother, Gerry Smoak had lost the love of his life. Felicity had never been in love. There was one time in college that she thought it might have been, but looking at her father now, there wasn't a doubt in her mind; Felicity Smoak had never been in love and she wasn't quite sure she ever wanted it to be. Her father, her hero, had become a shell of a human being in the days since her mother's passing.
"Felicity?" Mr. Smoak called again.
"Oh, just wanted to take care of some things before I returned to Starling in the morning.
"It's so late honey. I can take care of it."
"It's fine dad, Oliver keeps me up much later."
A sigh and the scraping of a chair across the wooden floor let Felicity know that her father had taken the seat across from her. He knew Felicity well enough and took pity on her lack of forethought, deciding not to dwell on her comment.
"Uh, oh god, no. Not like that." Felicity quickly clarified.
"So, this Oliver. He was the one at the funeral?"
"Yeah, that's him."
"It was nice of him to come. I didn't realize you were close," Mr. Smoak said, the question in the statement obvious.
"We're not. The job is …" Felicity paused before continuing, "demanding. Lots of hours so we know each other well. I wouldn't say we're close."
Felicity pushed her mug of tea towards her father with the back of her hand and poured another cup for herself. This was the most her father had said since he gave her the news. She knew what he was doing; he wanted her to believe he was going to be okay when she left. He didn't want her to worry about him; he didn't want to be selfish. Moments like these were when Gerry Smoak proved he was an everyday hero.
"He's good looking."
Felicity choked on her tea, partly due to the comment in general and partly due to the fact that this was a conversation she would have had with her mother. "Dad, are we really going to do this?"
When she saw that her father made no plans of backing down, she sighed deeply and decided to offer his curiosity some closure.
"Mr. Queen is a good boss," Felicity started, but with a quick glance at the look of skepticism her father was wearing she decided to forego the 'professional' route.
"Oliver is a really good guy and a good friend. I…may… slightly…have this tiny…almost non-existent little blip of a crush on him, but that doesn't matter. He is entirely unattainable and honestly, even if he had the slightest interest it would ruin our working relationship and I like my job. I like it a lot. I feel like I can do some real good by his side. You know?"
Mr. Smoak didn't ask what good she could do as a corporate IT specialist, but he trusted Felicity. He knew her good heart, it was the same as her mother's, and if she believed she could do some good, he knew it was a job truly worth doing. He gave her a small nod to continue knowing there was something else she wanted to say.
A few moments passed by as Felicity fiddled with the honey for her tea.
"He's in love with someone else anyway."
And there it was, the proverbial nail in the coffin of Felicity and Oliver's nonexistent, not a chance in hell, romantic relationship. Saying the words, especially to her father, carried a finality that she wasn't quite expecting. She looked up at her father and with a tilt of her head, she offered him the brightest smile she could.
"I know it may not seem like it, but I know a thing or two about unrequited love Felicity."
"How is that possible? You and mom met when you were practically fetuses."
"And it took me about 20 years of loving her before she decided to love me back," Mr. Smoak said, smiling at a memory he wasn't ready to share.
"That's not how mom told the story," Felicity said mirroring the own skeptical look her father had given her minutes ago.
"No, I suppose not. She told you the version she did because she wanted you to be independent, clever, witty, and brave. That wouldn't happen if you grew up listening to stories about chasing love instead of chasing your dreams."
Felicity rolled her eyes and smiled into her cup as she took a tentative sip of her hot tea.
"You are all those things and more. She was so proud of you Felicity."
Felicity bit back a sob and looked away, fiddling with the bills to stop the tears that began to blur her vision.
"I, on the other hand, spent my life chasing love," Mr. Smoak said and paused, lifting Felicity's chin with his index finger so that he could catch her eye. "I don't regret it for a second. My life is immeasurably better for it."
"Why are you telling me this now? I'm not in love with…"
"No, no I suppose you're not," Mr. Smoak interrupted, "It's just something to keep in mind. It's just I know they say love is a two-way street and that, but I beg to differ. Love can still be love, even if it might not be returned. What's the point of it being unconditional if it exists only on the condition that it be returned?"
Felicity smiled and shook her head, her hair falling across her face. She pushed it back with one hand and leaned back into the chair. "You know dad, I think you're a lot smarter than mom ever gave you credit for."
"Here that Grace?" Mr. Smoak asked looking up at the ceiling, smiling mischievously.
A sudden ping alerted Felicity to check her email. Felicity checked her tablet, but there was only one person would get a hold of her this late at night. A small smile formed on her lips as she opened the message from Oliver. There was a break-in at Queen Consolidated's Applied Sciences Division and Oliver needed her help. She could see from the words he chose how much he hated asking her to leave her father to come back. She sent him a quick email back saying she already had plans to be there in the morning and would meet him there.
"Oliver, I take it?" Mr. Smoak asked, placing his empty cup in the sink.
"Yeah, my work for Queen Consolidated is never done," Felicity replied, placing her tablet back on the table
Mr. Smoak shook his head and began to leave the kitchen.
"Dad?" Felicity asked suddenly. She turned in her chair to face him.
"How did you know? How did you know it was Oliver?"
Mr. Smoak smiled at Felicity and then looked at the ground. It was the same smile he wore when he spoke about his wife.
When he raised his head again, he looked at her thoughtfully and answered. "Just a hunch sweetheart. Don't stay up too late."
"Goodnight dad," Felicity responded.
She watched his figure recede and disappear around the corner. She turned back around and stared at the bills in front of her and quickly got to the task at hand. It had been a long and emotionally draining week, but the prospect of being back in the lair and keeping busy lifted her spirits. She wanted to get back and do some good again. It's what her mother would have wanted.