Chapter 14
My life, my choice
Felicity was not happy.
She was finally being released after two weeks of not stepping into the outside world, but what made her mad was Oliver's actions. After leaving that night he never returned to visit her. Oh, she knew he was right outside of her window guarding her, she could feel his eyes following her every move, which she was still trying to understand if was sweet or creepy.
She was so going to kick his ass! Or ask Diggle to do it, since her side still ached, and she really didn't want to go back to the hospital in the near future.
It made her furious that after the things he said to her, he had the nerve to disappear from sight. Oh, he wouldn't see what was coming his way.
She stopped in front of the car waiting for her and rolled her eyes.
"Ma'am..." Diggle said with a mock serious tone, opening her door. She noticed his lips trembling to stop from grinning and she rolled her eyes.
"Take me to QC or Verdant, wherever Oliver is!" Felicity demanded in front of the open door, without entering the car.
"No, I'm taking you home! You were just released." he said and Felicity scoffed.
"Looks like I was in prison or something." she said, with her arms crossed in front of her chest.
"Please, Felicity!" Diggle said and shook his head like he was trying to get rid of a bug.
"He is in the comm? Good!" Felicity said, recognizing the signs of someone that just had a full string of yelled curses delivered directly to their ear, especially by Oliver Queen, and closing the distance between her and Diggle she said so only he and Oliver could hear. "You are going to be in my apartment in two hours top!" she didn't have to say or else, her threat was implied, her voice was low and hard. She just hoped his fear of what she might do was enough to make him quit his Houdini act. Felicity Smoak was not a patient woman, and not even the Arrow had the courage to really cross her.
When she entered the car, she turned around to see Diggle sending her a smug smile and pointing towards a motorcycle speeding through the street.
Felicity Smoak 1 - Oliver Queen 0
When she entered her house it was filled with her favorite movies and series neatly packed in rows after rows of future entertainment, beside a group of well taken care of old books. She could also smell roses and something that smelled like cotton candy.
For a moment she feared the things came from Slade.
His inactivity left her fearful.
Now that Oliver knew he was in town he didn't have to hide anymore.
What would he be waiting for? For them to fall into a sense of false security? If that was it he didn't know Oliver as well as he thought.
Was he trying to tire them, to make them waste time and lose their minds trying to find him? Well, if that was the case, he was right. She could feel her fingers twitching to touch her keyboard once again. She wanted to know how he was able of creating such a facade, so pristine not even her computers found a fault in it. Maybe he had help, it wouldn't pass her, someone as good as her...
He even created a fake death certificate for her father, just to trick her. Just to lurk her into his web. And she would have fallen in it. However, she wondered why he showed at the hospital. Was he trying to rub it in Oliver's face that he couldn't protect her? If that was it, well done, but now was her time to play. And everyone knows the queen reigns in chess.
And then, looking around once again she was sure it was all Oliver's. She even found a neatly arranged midnight blue leather jacket with a post-it note, the words "Blue looks good on you" were written in Sara's handwriting. And besides, Oliver probably had her home under surveillance or he wouldn't let her come back here. He probably even put cameras inside. She looked towards her teddy dragon of Mushuu from Mulan and tried to see if his eyes looked different. She laughed at herself when a movement behind her made her turn around.
Yup, she needed to train that part if she wanted to convince Oliver and Diggle to let her out of the lair.
Turning around she saw Oliver walking from her kitchen, a coffee mug in his hand. Her coffee mug actually, the one with the drawing of Lupin and Tonks from Harry Potter, the one no one touches.
"What are you doing with my mug?" she asked, like she caught him stealing her newborn baby.
"Drinking coffee, since I know you won't make me one." he said, confused at her outburst.
"That's my no-one-touches-it-unless-they-want-to-die mug." she said too sweetly and Oliver deposited it into her open hands carefully, stepping back slowly.
"Oh, you did that mistake too." Diggle said from the doorway, carrying Felicity's bag and eyeing the mug.
"When did you...?" Oliver asked, choosing to ignore the little twinge of jealousy that bloomed into his chest.
"While you were on the island for five months, the girl needed someone to carry her new shelves upstairs while the elevator was broken." Dig said, smirking at his friend's behavior. "Well, my work here is done, so, have fun guys, but not too much, Felicity is still in rehab." he said, and before the woman could sputter an excuse, and probably make things worse, he closed the door.
An awkward silence reigned over the place, while Oliver stood rigidly in front of her and Felicity tried to come up with the best words to say what went through her mind during these two weeks.
"You are an asshole!" she yelled. And then, breathing deeply, trying to create some sense of peace inside her mind, she pointed towards her couch.
"We need to talk." she said, and Oliver followed her gesture, sitting in the couch.
"First, how the hell do you have my house keys?" she asked.
"Diggle let me burrow his set, after I promised I wouldn't make a copy for myself." Oliver answered and taking the set from his pocket he put it over the coffee table.
"Okay. We will talk about personal boundaries later, mister! But now, I really need to know what were you thinking during these two weeks? Were you hiding from me? Look, if you think the kiss and all that was a mistake, you can tell me, you were feeling relieved for my recovery and misunderstood your feelings." she said, controlling her voice so it wouldn't show the heartbreak it would bring her if it was indeed the case.
If he said that it was indeed a mistake, she would not cry, she wouldn't say a word, she would pretend for the sake of the city and the work they did for it, that everything was alright. She would be a rock.
Oliver shook his head in contempt. He was not sure if he was happy she thought he kept himself away because he didn't like her or sad because her thoughts showed how frail her confidence was.
"No, Felicity. I don't think it was a mistake, and maybe that is the mistake." he said, his hands fisting his jeans.
"Then why?" she asked.
"I'm selfish. I couldn't bear to see you hate me." Oliver said, his eyes downcast.
Even if her mood was far from happy, Felicity laughed at his words.
"You are so stupid, Oliver Queen. You really think I would hate you for someone else's action? Now hear me, I don't care what that thick head of yours came up with, but it's wrong! I understand what you did, lying about Shado was wrong, we all know that if you told the truth maybe things could have been different, or not. Slade would want to kill him all the same, but probably he had killed you and Sara first. And then, all the good you did wouldn't have happened. I would still be in the IT department and Dig would still be body guard to rich guys, well, his situation wouldn't be so different after all..." Felicity said, cocking her head to the side in that manner that always made Oliver crack a smile. And it did, even if it was still frailer than normal.
"What I'm trying to say is, if we are going to blame each other, then why not blame me for not keeping my father at home?" Felicity asked and Oliver frowned.
"But you were just a kid! You didn't know what was happening." Oliver replied.
"Exactly! You didn't know what was happening either. You were put in the middle of extraordinary circumstances and you had to fight your way out of it. And even if you say that if you had found him you would kill him, we can't know that. Human nature is the most complex thing on earth. You can't be so egotistical and affirm you have the knowledge about what you would do in a situation where you don't know who would be there, what they would say and what you would think. What if he mentioned his daughter? You might feel guilty and let him go. So, please, Oliver don't live under the power of what ifs and maybes, that won't make you or me any good. You have to think about the present, dream about the future and not let the roots of the past keep you from reaching your own happiness." Felicity said wisely and Oliver let go a long and deep breathe.
"Are you sure? I'm broken, I'm moody, I'm wrong. You could find another man to make you happy, Barry for instances..." Oliver said. He knew he was hurting himself saying those things, but worse than hurting himself, would be hurting Felicity. And he vowed to himself to never let that happen.
"Silly man." she said, and closing the distance between them, she kissed his lips lightly.
"I already said it once and I will say it again, since you have dementia or are too pig-headed to understand. It's my life, it's my choice. If you are in, I'm in. Let's fight this together." she said, reaching for his hand and squeezing it.
"Okay." Oliver whispered.
"Okay?" Felicity echoed happily.
"Okay." Oliver replied louder, finally laughing with the silliness of their actions. He felt good like that. Happy. At home.
So, next chapter is going to be the last one per se... I never intendended showing all that happens between the time of Felicity and Oliver ending together and the final battle with Slade, but you will see that last battle through flashbacks since the next chapter will be like the island centric-ones with a time jump into the future. However, since I have some ideas running around my head I will post some outtakes that happen during that time jump and are not mentioned in the flashbacks or are quickly mentioned.
Hopefully you will like it, since I'm really happy with what I'm writing for that one.