1:13 a.m.
Manager.
The word rang in Oliver's head, it pounded through his thoughts.
He was half certain that the woman who was still clinging to his back was lost. Not lost in the she got loose from the mental asylum, but lost as in she was desperately trying to find herself while putting up a front that she wanted other's to perceive. Felicity wanted to come across as someone wild and free, a stunning woman without a care in the world, someone who dived head first into everything.
She was lost.
Maybe it took him being lost himself to see that in her, and he wanted to protect her. To make sure, that at least while she was trying to lose herself for a night, that there would be someone to look out for her.
She was going to be something else when she figured out exactly who she was. But for now she was a lost girl who pulled a broken man into her orbit, and she was going to damn well explain herself.
Pushing her hands away from where they still clung to him like they were about to go on another ride through the city. Oliver swung off his bike with a natural grace, folding his arms over his chest as he watched her awkwardly remove herself from where she sat. He held back a smile, her jerky movements and shaky legs were such a contrast to the cool women who downed whiskey and played pool.
Yeah, this girl was lost.
Not that he had room to talk.
He'd gone into that dive to try to drown himself. It was a stupid thought. He was grateful now that he was only half a drink in when Felicity joined him at the bar. Oliver needed a night off from his life, from the shit storm that he walked into after leaving the service; between the cluster-fuck that was his personal life to the PTSD he just could not shake, he desperately wanted to find an easy way out. But that wasn't him anymore.
Thank Fuck.
Felicity wobbled around, seeming to try to get a sense of footing once again. All the jewelry she wore catching the dim light of the alley way, drawing in his focus. She was pretty; young and, if what she said about college was true, intelligent. He wouldn't let her affect him, not until he got a few more answers so that he could assess whatever situation they were actually in.
Settling his face into the unreadable mask that he'd spent years perfecting, Oliver let his eyes trail her movements. Watching as she stood several feet from him, still wearing the helmet, as she made faces and hand gestures like she was going to speak.
Only no words came out.
It was kind of cute.
She was on edge. He could almost hear her mind she was thinking so loudly. Her body was coiled with tension, and her right hand kept making a slight movement to the small purse that was slung across her body. There was something in there that she wanted. Her phone? Possibly pepper spray? He didn't think she'd attack him. She didn't do so much when he'd carried her over his shoulder.
Fuck.
The feeling of her weight on him, even in that extremely none sexual way, caused him to stir. The feeling of her smooth thighs against his palm, her hands on his hips. It was torture, though not nearly as much as watching her bed over the pool table to take a shot. He had seven years on her, shouldn't pop wood just because she knew how to handle a stick and balls.
Fuck him. His mind did not need to go there. She didn't want him in that regard.
No. Felicity wanted an adventure in Neverland.
His mouth pulled into a grim line. It had been too long if that was getting to him. He knew better. She was lost and he was broken, he didn't need to be attracted to her.
He'd help her for the night. Maybe get her less lost. Maybe helping her would ease his own pain.
The girl needed to start speaking first.
Felicity still wore the helmet, unable to talk herself into taking it off, just in case her face and the asphalt decided to get better acquainted; the possibility was still high, seeing as her legs were on the shaky side of stable at the moment. She wanted to go through her phone and figure out just how much shit she was in, she was thinking it wouldn't be too high - seeing as there hadn't been an actual fight – but she was mighty thankful that she'd turned the damn thing on silent. As much as she needed her cell, being a slave to technology and all, she wasn't in the mood to deal with it in any way, shape, or form.
Manager.
Manager.
Was there a way to get out of this without bold-face lying to the stoic man who'd saved her ass from the fryer.
Not really.
Looking at Oliver's tightly pressed lips, Felicity fought back a sigh. Might as well tell the man the truth, she owned him that. Plus, she had a feeling that the hashtag FSCyberWatch would be trending in the hour for the city, this wasn't exactly her first rodeo. Fans did like to keep tabs on her, and the video of Oliver running with her through the bar was bound to become viral, she'd felt how high her shorts had ridden up and was five different types of grateful that she had Oliver's flannel tied around her waist. Still, when he'd carried her out of there, his hand had found its way under, and pressed against her thighs.
No! Now was not the time to start fantasying.
Now was about the time that if it was trending that she was wandering about the city that it would all just be a giant game of hide and seek, or cats and mouse. With the odds not in their favor. Not at all.
It would be the polite thing to do - giving him some sort of warning. He was now her partner in crime, or side kick? Robin to her Batman, but he was more Batman than she'd ever be. Maybe Red Arrow to her Green Arrow.
Fuck she was letting her mind rant.
"Are you a fan of music?" Frack. Apparently she was channeling a late night infomercial host, Oliver's eyes narrowed and she pulled in her bottom lip. Letting out a sigh, she gave herself a mental shake, and attempted a small smile. This wasn't the time to put on a show. This also wasn't the time to try and get a smile, no matter how badly she wanted a smile.
"Okay – I may or may not be the lead singer of an alternative band who is on the major up and up. I also may or may not be trending on twitter for the city; honestly I don't know, I have this nagging feeling that won't go away, but if I check my phone then the shit storm will be real – and I'm so not ready for the shit storm to be real, just going to bury my head in the sand for a couple more hours. I also, also, might need your help in a giant game of hide and seek where the odds will be stacked against us. Think 'Hunger Games' only people aren't out to kill us; in theory."
Silence.
He just stared at her.
She fiddled with the helmet she wore, before pulling it off and not fully meeting his gaze as she took a step forward with it out stretched in her hands as though it was an offering.
"You're telling me that you are a math whiz, who just also happens to be a rock star?" There was a bite to his tone that made her cringe. She knew how it sounded, it was ridiculous, but she had wanted a different response from him.
She had kinda hoped he'd come to her rescue of sorts.
Which was stupid. She needed to rescue herself, never depend on anyone else. It was her against the world. Against everyone telling her who she needed to be, how she needed to be perceived.
Felicity straightened her spine.
"I can tell you one thing, I'm not a fan of your tone." She also wasn't a fan of the way his face contorted into anger, it made his handsome features ugly. That's a lie, it made him look dangerous and he thought she was just a little girl who was a head case.
He gave a bark of laughter that held no amusement, it caused ice to permeate through her. The way he so easily dismissed the idea that anything she was saying was true, hurt more than she'd admit. The fact that he seemed truly angry at her, cut deeper that she'd expected. It was all stupid.
Felicity didn't know him and he didn't know her. She was not about to let all that was Sir Stoic Oliver get her down.
This was the night she had taken for herself. She'd thought he'd be a good song, that he would enjoy loosening up a bit. So, she'd been wrong. Wasn't the first time, and it wouldn't be the last.
Felicity all but thrust the helmet into his chest, her face set to bitch mode, she didn't need this.
She was Felicity fucking Smoak.
She had the world in her hand.
What one guy thought of her was not going to ruin her night.
Her lone credit card had been left at the dive bar, which was a headache she'd deal with in the morning, but she did still have her purse and ID. Felicity would make it work. Running a hand through her disastrous hair, which was knotted, windblown, and doing whatever the hell it wanted for the first time in a year.
Fuck, had she not been her for a year?
Had it really been that short of time? Had it really been that long?
She was five seconds away from having a panic attack over her hair. Felicity needed to get away. She needed to run.
"Thanks for the ride. Have a nice night Oliver." And with that her body instinctively move toward the feel and sound of the heavy bass; this night could be salvaged. She wasn't going to dwell on why it had cut her so deeply that he didn't believe her. He had no right to. She'd dragged him into playing pool and then he'd been the one to save them. Now, she was on radar, and Felicity really didn't know how much longer she had. She was going to need to ditch the clothes, and by ditch she meant putting them in a bag to carry around so that Sherry from wardrobe wouldn't kill her.
To get new clothes she needed money. She could just use her phone to pay for everything, as long as she ended up in shops that provided that option. Felicity had this. She could do this. She was going to have the most epic night of her life.
"Felicity wait." Oliver's hand wrapped around her bicep causing her to come to a dead stop.
"Look, you don't owe me anything." Fixing a glamorous smile on her face, she turned her torso towards him. With an upbeat tone she continued on, "I'm sorry for snapping. This is my one night away from everything in a year, so I'm going to take advantage of it. You need to let me go Oliver. I am sorry for ruining your night."
She should have her manager look into acting gigs, like spots on tv shows.
"Don't do that." His tone was hard and biting as he ran a hand through his closely cropped hair, the muscle in his jaw jumped.
Felicity fixed a wide eyed innocent expression that she'd mastered over the years.
No one took a wide-eyed blonde as a serious threat, and she was hoping the same could be said about her now with pink hair, "Do what?"
"Mask everything."
The fuck did he just say?
"Yeah well, you didn't seem to like it when my mask slipped a bit now did you?" He was infuriating! They were standing at a cross roads wanting to go in opposite directions but neither of them seemed to be moving.
She really needed to get out of her performance outfit or wardrobe would skin her alive. Iris was a scary when pissed. Felicity really didn't want her pissed at her.
"Fuck. Look, we're near the pier. It should still be going strong, the places along there don't close till three. There are street performers. It's nice." Oliver tried a soothing tone, she could almost see the vast amount of effort he put into the words.
Giving her head a jerk she said in an equally soothing tone, "I was going to go where the heavy bass was coming from."
"That would be a strip joint."
"Do you think they have all you can eat wings for $5?"
They did have all you can eat wings for $5, plus excellent music, and gorgeous girls. The only major downside was the sticky floors, but Felicity had never been to a strip club before and she was loving it.
It was dark, with a deep base that made your heart beat in time with the music.
She could see the appeal.
Also, she decided she needed her own strip pole, because the abs on the dancers were insane. Yes, dancers. They may take off their clothes for money, but those ladies had killer moves the Felicity could only dream about.
"I'm going to be a stripper."
"Thought you were a rock star."
The man did not believe her.
She could just have him Google her, and that would be that, but no. No, that's not where her brain went. Her brain was on let's make rash decisions mode.
Her brain was on stupid and reckless and 'if you're already in trouble, might as well make it the most epic shit storm that you can' mode.
It was the only way to explain what she did next.
It was legit the only way she could rationalize her actions in her mind.
Because she found her way on stage. And by found her way on stage she meant told Oliver she was going to use the rest room and made instead made a beeline straight for the DJ who had a rather impressive security guard standing in between him and the stage.
"I'm Felicity Smoak, you may know me from the band Cyber Hack. If you need proof I have ID, but I need to really prove a point to the grumpy guy I'm with who's sitting in the booth by the entrance. Is there any way I can maybe sing a quick song? You'd be doing me a huge huge favor." She watched as his face quickly fell into the 'O' face, and she wasn't certain if it was because she had talked too fast or if it was because he was about to flip out because he actually knew who she was.
Turned out he knew who she was – and was a fan and quickly got the manager's approval for her to get on stage.
The manager – Elwin - was super sweet, a bit on the large and scary side, but really polite when he asked for a picture and autograph. It was a nice heartwarming moment to have in a strip club.
The lights dimmed, the music faded, Felicity made her way on stage, then she sang.
It was loud and messy and raw. She sang to the patrons and danced around with the dancers who quickly joined her on stage. Felicity lost herself. It was all a blur of sound and lights, then it was silence and she came back to herself. To what she just done.
Fuck she'd felt free.
"Thank you, now back to the normally programmed show." There would be videos galore, and she no longer cared, because she was high off the freedom. Turing to the blonde on her right she gave her best smile, "Do you think there is a spare set of clothes I could borrow? I came straight from my show and wardrobe will kill me if I fuck up this outfit."
The girl was stunning, and Felicity had half a mid to ask her if she was real; this all was feeling like a dream or like she was out of her body and floating.
"Holy shit! You're from Cyber Hack." Oh, a fan! She might get a spare set of clothes after all!
"I am. Clothes? We don't want wardrobe to murder me."
And that was the story of how she made seven new friends including the DJ and Elwin. The girls had found a red gauze skirt and a black crop top that fit her well enough to wear out, plus had given her a bag to put her stage clothing in. It was all going great till she got word that Oliver was about ready to fight his way through security to get to her.
She'd momentarily forgotten about the whole reason for her impromptu performance.
Oops.
Okay, that was a lie.
She wasn't ready to face him because it was make or break if he now believed her. He could have just left, because she was clearly more trouble than she was worth, and for some reason the thought of him coming to that conclusion caused her stomach to tighten.
But he hadn't left her. He'd stayed.
"Oliver?"
His muscles where tense and everything about him read that he was on high alert, he was laser focused on her and she fought not to melt under his gaze. The man was something else. A force of nature.
"We need to get you out of here. Now." He was signaling Elwin over, who was looking less like a teddy bear now and more grizzly.
"What do you mean now?"
"I mean, your fucking Hunger Games shit just got real." Oh dear. Well that could only mean one thing; he believed her now.
"Ah, they found me. Took less time than I thought."
"Felicity," He rumbled her name causing heat to shot through her, "We get moving, or I'm throwing you over my shoulder."
"You know that's not a threat, right?" Because she needed to make sure that if he was willing to pick her up, she'd be game for that any day of the week. It was like telling a kid if you don't eat your vegetables, I'm going to give you candy. Oliver was the candy.
Elwin had joined them in the darkened corner outside of the changing room just in time to hear Oliver's deep throatily growl of partial annoyance. Felicity knew it was partial because she didn't miss how his eyes darkened or the fact that his breathing became deeper, the physical attraction seemed to go both ways. That was good to know.
"You can go out the back way, I'll take you."
Oliver gave a jerk of his head in a silent command while taking Felicity's hand and pulling her along to follow him. She had to marvel where her night was leading her.
This was unexpected and kinda exciting.
"Do you want me to apologize?" She asked in a soft voice. As much as she liked him riled up and on edge, because at least it was some sort of emotion, part of her wanted him to enjoying this as much as she was.
"For what?" Was his gruff reply as they waited in the shadows for Elwin, who had gone ahead to check if the coast was clear.
Hell, there was a ton of ways to answer that question, but she said the first thing that came to mind, "For being me?"
Pulling in her lips she looked up at him as he turned to give her his full attention as his eyes searched her face, she made to give her stage smile, but remembered what he said about her wearing a mask.
"Fuck. You mean that."
She gave a half-hearted shrug, "I'm realizing I haven't been me for a while now, and I'm just starting to find my way back. If you want me to apologize for getting you mixed up in all of this, I understand."
He gave her a slight smile that got her heart racing. It was sad and sweet.
Felicity wanted to know what made him tick, what haunted his eyes, and more than anything she wanted to make him really smile.
Stupid.
"Felicity. You're stuck with me for now."
That sounded really nice coming from him.
"Didn't peg you for the knight in shining armor type."
"Yeah, well, I neither did I." Oliver gave her hand a light squeeze before leading her out the door way into the back alley where his bike was parked. He took the bag with her stage outfit and put it in the locked compartment he had on the back of the bike before handing her the helmet.
He wasn't big on words. Which was fine, Felicity knew she could speak enough for two people, and his movements and actions spoke loud. He was difficult to read but Felicity was starting to understand him.
Oliver was just as lost as she was; maybe even a tad broken. But he was protective and good. Two things which were hard to fake, especially in a situation like this.
He held his hand out to her for support as she swung on to his bike, with a tad more grace, and waited a moment for her to get situated. This was the second time she was escaping on the back of his bike, and the night had really just begun.
"Where to College?"
She was still College to him.
Just the girl who drank whisky in a dive-bar and rattle on about her chickens.
Oh, Felicity was so going to keep this man. Hopefully for more than a night.
Notes:
Sooooo...bit heavier, kinda a rush. Getting to know this verse's Felicity.
She's lost and I really wanted to get that across that she's realizing she actually doesn't know who she is.
Oliver thinks he's broken, and we'll dive more into that later on.
Um, if you haven't been following my lovely life story...me and my laptop are at war. It doesn't believe that my space bar should work, and I think it's pretty key to writing. But, I am making a point to write past that.
Anywho, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
If you want something lighter with a metric shit ton of banter, allow me to pimp out my Swooner series...it's different but fun!
Till next time!