Saturday, September 21st

Felicity sat in the rocking chair, the music box on the nearby shelf open and playing "Hushabye Mountain." She fidgeted with the bracelet her father had given her a few days after the wedding. It wasn't impressive or anything; it was basically a blue friendship bracelet with a gray metal bead in the middle. Once he'd tied it around her wrist, she couldn't get it off without using scissors. He and her grandfather had been strangely adamant about it, insisting she never take it off. So… great. Now she had a tracking device on her. Precautionary and not too invasive, but still.

It was probably vigilante related, which Felicity understood. And even though it seemed Felix also knew the truth, she wasn't worried. Asher Smoak and Felix Hilford were the kind of people you'd want on your side, anyway. She wondered whether Oliver knew their secret as well as they knew his. It seemed only fair.

And maybe Oliver could tell her so she could finally know what the deal was.

"You ready?"

Felicity turned to see Roy standing in the doorway. "You're going to escort me to the baby shower? I still don't see why we need one."

He shrugged. "Free stuff is free stuff. So should I roll you down there or do you want to use the forklift I've got in the hallway?"

Scoffing, she threw a teddy bear at him. "I can walk, Roy." she retorted, trying not to laugh.

He picked up the projectile teddy and tossed it in the crib. "Okay, then I'll play the tuba while I walk behind you."

Felicity hoisted herself out of the rocking chair and closed the music box. Then she shuffled over to her might-as-well-be baby brother. "Has Debbie been leaving you alone?" she asked as he took her arm and led her out.

"Don't worry about it; she just teases." His brows furrowed. "At least I think that's what she does. Anyway, if you're worried about me being sexually harassed you should tell Bobeshi to behave herself."

She knew exactly what he was talking about. She'd seen it all week and made Debbie seem tame in comparison. "Yeah, she did say you looked like a soldier she used to fuck. But she says that to every good-looking guy she meets. She said it to Diggle, too."

"Think she means it?"

Felicity sighed. "She always talks about having made good money during World War II. She never said how."

"Yikes."

"I know,"

Moira and Thea had had way too much fun shopping for the baby, especially since the women in Felicity's family had gone with them. She'd never expected them to blend, and yet they got along just fine. No matter how outrageous the Smoaks or Hilfords got at the dinner table, the Queens were only entertained. Even Walter liked them.

Still, Felicity was looking forward to them leaving. She wanted some peace and quiet.

"Thar she blows!" announced Kyle as he saw Felicity descend the stairs with Roy. When she made it to the last step, he kissed her on the forehead. "You have fun at your baby shower, okay? The guys will be watching the game in the other room."

Roy smiled and let go of her arm before following Kyle. "Later, fattie!" he said before disappearing around the corner.

Felicity walked into the room where the party was being held and saw the mountain of blue presents. Her baby's days of being hopelessly spoiled were only beginning. Blue cupcakes sat on a silver tray, so delicious looking that she felt drool gathering at the corner of her mouth.

"We're keeping it simple, like you wanted." Thea appeared at her side, beaming. "My mom is really proud of those cupcakes; she iced them herself. Raisa baked them and showed her how. And I wrapped all the presents. I would've planned a few games, but I think we're more likely to just sit around and gossip. Kind of regretting not putting up streamers, though."

"All I need are cupcakes and presents." she replied with a smile. "Thanks for everything."

"Thanks for not being a gold digger,"

The party went as expected, Felicity's mess of female friends and relatives around her. They made a game of balancing as many cupcakes as possible on her big round belly, managing a tiny tower of six before they tumbled and everyone grabbed at them before the icing could stain the carpet.

Two hours later, after every gift was opened and they were listening in horror to tales of Bobeshi's glory days, the bell rang. No one assumed it was important until Raisa came in asking for Felicity. The pregnant woman rose from the couch with help from her mother-in-law and Carly and waddled into the foyer.

"Hi, Ed," she greeted curiously. "and Detective Lance. And you other two guys who I don't know."

The two men she actually knew smiled at her, almost as if they were sorry for something they did. In the following silence, Felicity could barely hear the Rockets up to bat in the other living room.

"This is Steve Kelton," introduced Lance, gesturing to a slim, balding guy to his right. Then his tone changed, and she could tell the other guy wasn't well liked. "And this is Arnold Sniegowski. Kelton was the one who caught you hacking the Merlyn mainframe and Arnold is an assistant that helped keep track of you after that."

"Kay," she replied, dragging out the word. "So you brought buddies from work for whatever reason. But why are you here, Ed?"

There was a loud collective shout of disapproval from the other living room. One of the Rockets must've struck out.

"Is Oliver here?"

She blinked. "No, he had work to do at the club." He hadn't worked since before the wedding, and he wanted to get back in the habit. Part of Felicity wished she had gone so she could ogle him on the salmon ladder. "Why do you ask?"

"I'm just wondering if he should be here, that's all."

Before she could properly react to that, Lance interjected. "Raymond, let's get this over with already." He roughly pushed Arnold forward and the I.T. nerd started sweating as if he were on trial.

"But she—"

"Ed, I know, okay? But it's better that we warn her."

"Warn me about what?" Felicity's hands flew to her stomach, her fingers feeling the small smears of blue icing.

Her sweet ex-boyfriend gently took her elbow. "I have a friend from the Herald who said he saw Arnold in a bar talking to a reporter from the Sentinel." He glanced at the nervous SCPD employee. "He was telling him about you."

Felicity was still. "What?"

"It would've happened eventually!" Arnold squeaked, finally speaking. Ed and Lance glared at him.

The two groups had finally grown too curious and were trickling into the foyer.

"Dad?" said Laurel. "What's going on?"

"Felicity doesn't need an audience right now, sweetheart. I think you all need to leave and let us talk to her." The detective kept his fist curled around the shoulder of Arnold's jacket.

Most of them were backing away slowly, their eyes trained on Felicity in concern. She nodded, signaling it was okay for them to leave.

"Are you sure you're alright, Felicity?"

"It's fine, Walter. Really." She had enjoyed him becoming more fatherly towards her since the wedding. "I need to talk to Ed and Detective Lance alone."

"Am I going to have to kick someone's ass?" asked Bobeshi, noting Lance's hostility towards Arnold. "Du arschgefickter Hurensohn! What have you done to my yiddisher kop, you squirmy little fucker?" She turned her wrinkly scowl on Diggle. "You! Take my cane and beat the living shit out of that sweaty pink Schwanzlutscher. And make sure to brake his fucking legs!"

More than half the room spoke her name admonishingly and she hobbled away, grumbling to herself. The crowd dispersed reluctantly, all except for Diggle, who quietly walked over to stand by Felicity's side.

"What's going on?" he asked calmly, gazing at a terrified Arnold.

"One of my tech guys leaked sensitive information to the press." answered Detective Lance.

Ed crossed his arms. "The Sentinel will out Felicity as the vigilante's accomplice tomorrow."

Diggle looked to Felicity, who was staring at her belly and twisting her engagement ring.

The bodyguard swallowed. "They can't be talked out of it?"

"It's too big a story for them to pass up." Kelton replied, finally speaking. "And the Lieutenant had always been reluctant to keep it under wraps."

"He doesn't care that he's putting a pregnant woman in danger?" Diggle roared.

"Well, he…" The lead tech guy's voice grew quieter, intimidated by the bodyguard. "He also got a lot of grief from the Sentinel for not releasing the information. They said it was unfair or favoritism. Something about it being different had it been a man or someone poor. The Lieutenant doesn't want the SCPD to get more bad press."

"Yes!" Arnold shouted, latching on to Kelton's explanation. "Yes, that's it! It was fair!" He pulled away from Lance and pushed Ed aside to stand in front of Felicity. She wouldn't meet his eyes, but she seemed to be listening. "It would've happened eventually, right? You see that, right? I don't need to be blamed! Someone else would've done it eventually, or the police would've held a press conference, so why does it matter so much that I leaked it? Right? I just—It's so cool, you know? The vigilante's sidekick! And I really, really needed the money. You understand that, right? You're not—"

Her hand flew up and smacked him across his right cheek so hard that he stumbled to the side. There was a long bloody line from his cheekbone to his chin already starting to seep. As he put his hand to his face in surprise, Felicity stared at the palm of her left hand; the engagement ring was turned around, the teardrop-shaped rock facing in and the sharp, gory tip pointing to her palm.

The witnesses stood by in shock.

"Do you have any idea what you've done?" she asked Arnold quietly as she removed her engagement ring and placed it on her right ring finger, stone facing in. "Do you have any idea how many people might come after me?" she shrieked, her stronger right hand lashing out to whack his left cheek. This blow was hard enough to knock him to the ground, the slash deeper and more painful.

"Felicity," Diggle said gently, taking her arm.

She was too enraged to heed him and moved to stand over the man who had thoughtlessly placed her in danger. "The Triad!" she bellowed, kicking Sniegowski in the side. No one moved to stop her, but her family and friends were peeking into the foyer again. "Dominic Alonso!" Another kick. "Every other fucking one percenter he went after but didn't kill!" Another kick. The men had finally snapped out of it and moved to restrain her. "Floyd Lawton!" She got in another mild kick before Ed and Diggle pulled her back, tears streaming down her face.

Kelton helped Arnold off the floor but didn't seem very sympathetic.

"Flick?" Mr. Smoak trotted forward to where his daughter was sobbing into Diggle's broad shoulder. Then he turned his attention to Lance. "Detective, what happened?"

He sighed and glanced at Arnold, who was holding his side by the door. "That guy told the papers about Felicity's connection to the vigilante. Her secret will be out tomorrow."

Asher blinked, struggling to maintain composure. "Well, then. I suppose he should skip town before he gets an arrow in his chest." Mr. Smoak made steady eye contact with Arnold. "Or maybe just a bullet."

Sniegowski quickly hobbled out the door and away from the ensuing madness. Everyone else had rushed in, worried and angry. Bobeshi tottered after Arnold, spewing German curses as she moved her cane in front of her. Lance pushed into the crowd and helped Diggle calm them down enough to get Felicity upstairs.

Forty-five minutes later, she and Diggle were still hidden away in the nursery when Oliver stormed into the room. He fell to the floor beside them and pulled her close without saying a word. Diggle patted his shoulder before getting up and leaving them alone.

"The baby shower was nice," Felicity said with a sniff.

Eyes stinging, Oliver pulled away to look at her. "Yeah?"

She pointed to the smudges of blue icing on the top of her belly. "We made a cupcake tower. We got to six."

He took her left hand. "Where's your engagement ring?"

"It's on my right hand," She showed him her open palms inked with dried blood, the turned-around ring. "I could cause more damage that way."

"Smart girl," he said, kissing her forehead.

"Tomorrow, they're all going to know." she stated in a small voice.

"There's still time." His hand went to her tear-streaked cheek.

"You're going to go talk to them?"

Oliver nodded. "Tonight." Her eyebrows raised in astonishment, realizing he probably wouldn't be going as a Queen. "I can be very persuasive."

Terribly sorry for the wait. My muse has been totally fried because of school!

There's like, two or three chapters after this. I know where I'm going with this; it's just hard hammering down the details. The final chapter is ready to go, so I just have to get there. Then there will be a big, fat, juicy epilogue.