AN: Its pretty much Felicity-centric from here. Hope you enjoy. The next chapter should include the DC character who will be...Lady Shiva.
Felicity leans back in her chair staring at the salmon ladder as she has been for the past few hours since their return from Russia. She can almost hear the clang of metal on metal, remember the pure look of concentration on his face, every grunt as he shifted from one level to the other and his small smirk when he caught her staring at him. She allows herself a small smile, closing her eyes to stay in the moment a little longer but when she opens them he's gone. The pain assaulting her senses once more. "Where are you Oliver?" She can't ease the sense of loss on her heart, she's been clutching at straws for so long and she's right back where she started. With Nothing but the absolute belief that he is alive.
Russia had been a complete bust though Anatolya tried to be a most gracious host. Apparently Oliver disappeared not much longer after he arrived and other than some cash there was little more aid Anatolya provided. He promised to put the word out, but she heard the doubt in his tone and felt the pity in his gaze. She didn't need his pity. Oliver was alive. He was out there somewhere. And he was in trouble….Or something. For some reason he couldn't get back to them. She may have said this in a few selected words, and if they didn't have problems with the Bratva before, they sure did now. She doesn't remember much of it but Diggle's silence on the way back is enough to know she had probably taken things too far. She doesn't care.
They barely spoke on the trip back and she'd been grateful but could have done without his constant looks of concern. She is not crazy. She knows its only a matter of time before he wants to talk. Before he tries to convince her that she's wrong. This only feeds her need to prove Oliver is out there. Somewhere. But she can feel parts of her resolve beginning to crumble with every day that passes.
She glances down at the black dress she wears, pulling on a loose thread at the hem. She had meant to go to the service, only stopping by the foundry to hack a number of systems in Russia, anything to run her facial recognition software against but then she had found herself drifting by every moment she had spent here. How many times she had sat in this seat fearing the worse only for Oliver to show up with a new scar or two. She even pretended for a moment that she was just waiting. Waiting for him to make his way back after a successful mission, moving quietly through the back to greet her with a small smile and a job well done.
This is where Diggle finds her and she avoids his gaze for some time as he takes a seat behind her letting out a long sigh.
"You missed the service." She doesn't think he needs an answer and she doesn't really feel like explaining herself. So she lets the silence envelop them and for a short time she forgets he's there and all she can see is Oliver's face giving her that proud smile when she manages to do the impossible task he sets her.
"Felicity" He's closer now and rests his hand on her shoulder, but she shrugs it off. That was where Oliver used to touch her. Before….Before the date that wasn't and the muttered end of maybes and beginnings of never. She should of done something then. This wasn't easier. She can feel the frustration seeping from him and she tenses for what's to come but is surprised when there's nothing further. When she finally turns to him he's standing with her coat in hand waiting by the stairs. "Come on…Lyla's making dinner."
She wants to say No. To tell him that she just wants to be alone. To continue her search. But his eyes are pleading and she feels the guilt ebbing at her heart. She'd been so wrapped up in everything that she had neglected the only person she had left who understood. So she gives her search one last glance before letting Diggle lead her out.
Diggle has long ago gone to bed , while Lyla and Felicity are well into the second bottle of red wine and Felicity is welcoming the warm buzz through her body. Lyla seems to have had a little more than she has and clearly failed to build back up her defense on alcohol since her pregnancy. Felicity can't help but feel a little more at ease than she has in some time, enjoying the few moments of peace. Lyla tells her tale after tale of some of the crazy things that she has done in her past. Not missing any silly stories about Diggle which Felicity has filed away to tease him about later. Maybe.
"And then he looks up at me with this dopey grin as if he wasn't standing in the middle of the mess tent butt naked" There's a further fit of laughter before they start to settle again, Felicity shakes her head and drinks a little more of the wine closing her eyes and leaning back against the couch. She can feel herself drifting slightly and then Lyla is shifting uneasily.
"So….How are you? Really" Felicity opens her eyes, noting Lyla's pointed stare. She gives her a small smile, her fingers tracing along the stem of her glass. "Are we at that point of the night?"
"John's worried about you.."
"I know." She takes a steadying breath. "How am I suppose to be? Everyone's convinced he's gone."
"You don't think so?" Lyla queries cautiously. Felicity takes a few moments before answering, trying to find some way to convey what she is going through..
"If something happened to John….don't you think you'd know. You'd feel it somehow?" Lyla seems to give her a short nod of understanding. "I can't explain it." She knows she may come off crazy still but now she's started she can't seem to stop herself. "I just know. I know he's out there somewhere and for whatever reason he can't come back. We just have to get him. Like we did when he went to Lian Yu."
"Felicity….He fought the head of the League of Assassins. They aren't exactly known for taking prisoners. And Ra's Al Ghul of all is the worse…The stories…." she trails off with a small sigh.
"We've faced a lot of bad people you know…Slade Wilson, the count…"
"This is different."
"Why? Oliver's always found a way. He was gone for 5 years and he came back even though everyone had written him off for dead."
"Ra's al Ghul isn't some average man." Lyla lets out a frustrated breath, hesitant to continue but wanting desperately for Felicity to understand.
"What?"
"We don't know much….but the things we do know." Felicity waits for her to continue "We…Our database…the information we have spans decades almost over 100 years."
"…On the League?" Felicity narrows her eyes, trying to follow Lyla's line of thoughts.
"No…Ra's Al Ghul."
"You're telling me you all think Oliver was killed by an 100 year old man with a walking stick?" in her slightly drunken state the image it conjures brings a weird smile to her face. Imaging Oliver's reaction, but she shakes it off. Focusing on Lyla's words.
"No…Felicity …This is crazy. He doesn't look a day over 40 or so it goes. The legend is…he has access to these…pools. They're called Lazarus Pits. The idea is …it could keeps someone alive for decades maybe even centuries. They say he's been using it and….A.R.G.U.S has been searching for them for years. it's a myth but….I mean the things we see. Look at your friend in Central city"
"You know about Barry" Lyla gives her a "well duh" look. "Of course we do. There's little we don't know Felicity."
"Except where Oliver is?" Lyla lets out a deep sigh, pulling herself to her feet feeling her eyes getting heavy.
"Believe me …If I knew he was out there somewhere. You and Johnny would be the first to know."
"Lazarus….Like the guy who rose from the dead" She can feel her mind ticking over. What if Oliver had managed to find this? To heal himself. That could be why the league thought he was dead. Or Ra's al Ghul might have brought him back….to make him join them like Sara…or…something. This was proof wasn't it? Or a lead to it. She can hear Lyla continuing listing deaths and stories of great defeats at the hands of Ra's Al Ghul. The fear held by all who follow him. She must have gotten lost in her thoughts because suddenly Lyla's nudging her and holding out a blanket and pillow.
"Think you'd be better staying here tonight" Felicity nods, taking the items but her mind still needed to know more. She needed to know what exactly A.R.G.U.S knew.
Lyla mumbles a good night and heads to bed and Felicity lies there for a while. A million scenarios racing through her head and then she sees it. Over at the desk corner = a laptop. She doesn't think she's that lucky but then why would Lyla feel the need to hide it in her home and the encryption on it is probably out of this world. She hears Oliver's voice in her head 'Lucky your hacking skills are out of this universe', She stuffs down the guilt and moves quietly booting up the computer and getting to work.
Felicity leaves quite early the next morning having uploaded a ton of information to her own Servers at the foundry, bouncing through a number of proxies and servers to cover her tracks. She pops back to the office to make an appearance and Ray is determined to show off his latest device. Some form of handheld weapon that he can't quite program to fire on demand with out sending a shock through the user. She promises to take a look and get back to him and heads to the Foundry.
She can't help how much better she feels when she's there and knows its because she feels closer to him in his lair. And her images of him are so much more vivid when she's there. She readies herself to review all the data she'd compiled from A.R.G.U.S a slight thrill at the idea of being just a little closer. She's sure they know more than they've said. Likely even Lyla isn't completely in the loop.
She compiles a number of searches, taking time to cross reference and read as much as she can. She finds a file on Oliver and skims it briefly not wanting to delve to deeply on what they have on him. But it is clear they believe he is dead and have spent no time searching for him. The data on the pits spans a lot more than she thought but reads mostly like fiction and hearsay. Anyone thought to have found them has either never returned or been found to be completely insane. Others could never prove or know where it is. But the League of Assassins are known to have at least one in their possession which suggests the idea that there are more out there. Resting unknown. There are links to tales of the fountain of youth and a number of legends and myths but nothing seems to provide anything substantial.
She thinks about Sara. Did she know about this? Is that how she joined the league. Had Oliver been right. Maybe she had died on the Island and they'd found her and brought her back. Maybe if that had got word to Nyssa she would be alive now. She feels a deep pain in her chest. Sara had been a good friend to her. It had annoyed her at first, the way she had talked to her as if she were some naïve child, always telling her how cute she was. Sara had told her afterwards that Felicity made her feel good, happy to be around. The innocence made her believe she could be better.
Felicity closes her eyes against the images of Sara's Body. The three Arrows sticking from her chest. She doesn't want to think of that. Not now. She has to focus. She can feel the beginnings of a headache and tries to re-read the data in front of her. After some time she turns her thoughts to Malcolm Merlyn and his time with the League. Maybe he knew something that could help. Something that could lead her to answers. He had been them much longer she's sure. A brief thought runs through her head that she would probably be better of running through the streets of Nanda Parbat calling out the league of assassins than considering seeking the help of the Dark Archer.
"Desperate times…" She sets to work on the material she will need to persuade Malcolm Merlyn for his help. Its not much longer before Laurel arrives with Roy following shortly behind as they ready for a patrol. Felicity decides to wait for Diggle to let him know what she's found to show him that there is a chance Oliver is out there. If Barry Allen can be hit by lighting and come back faster than light. Then Oliver could survive a duel with Ra's al Ghul. Because there really wasn't any other option. And she wasn't even going to contemplate how much crazier her thought processes are becoming.