Chapter 3 – Resolution
An: I do not own Arrow. Here it is the last chapter in this mini-series. This was supposed to be out last week but work has been hectic. Sorry.
Felicity woke up on the floor of the living room in her old apartment. She still owned it. She was supposed to be working on subletting it but Palmer Technologies and the Green Arrow kept her very busy. It was probably a good thing. It gave her a place to crash and think. All of the furniture in the apartment was still covered with the white sheets she and Oliver had put over them to protect them from dust. When she arrived late last night after her time in lair 3.0, she hadn't had the heart to remove the sheets and instead settled onto the rug in front of her sofa to cry her heart out.
Thea had called somewhere in the midst of her break down. She can't remember how long they spoke for but she knows she fell asleep at some point. Thea had told Felicity last night that she had lectured her brother properly. She encouraged her to talk to Oliver and she promised that Oliver could satisfactorily explain why he kept it a secret. The young Queen practically begged her to give Oliver another chance.
As she sat up she realised that both her back and neck were hurting her and there was no Oliver to massage the pain away. She had been plagued the entire night by the recurring dream of Samantha laughing at her, saying she could never be a Queen. The light was pouring in through her window telling her it was late in the morning. She had gone to work the previous day after she had packed her suitcase. She was a responsible CEO. Hundreds of people relied on her to protect their jobs and turn the company around. They wouldn't expect her to be taking a day off just because she had a disagreement with her boyfriend. Suspecting that today was going to be a difficult day, Felicity had arranged her schedule at work to allow her to work from home. She had several reports to read and she was going to focus on doing that today but first she would have to make a quick dash out for coffee and breakfast.
She dragged herself to the bathroom. Her toiletry items were on the counter by themselves. She had gotten very accustomed to having Oliver's stuff intermingle with hers. She liked that his green toothbrush was always next to her red one, that his shaving kit somehow ended up close to her moisturisers hell she even missed his wet towel that she always had to pick up off the counter and put on the shower railing. Felicity knew she was going to forgive Oliver in the end. She loved him too much to leave him. Her clothes were actually still in the loft, she had just trans-located them from her closet to the storage room downstairs. She figured Oliver needed to be taught a lesson. When she opened her closet yesterday she had had every intention of leaving. The more clothes she put in the suitcase the heavier her heart got. She was leaving her home. They had made the loft their home. How could she leave their home? He had never given any signs of wanting to break up with her. Outside of the trips to Central City, everything else in their life was perfect. Was his latest lie worth giving all of that up? He had deceived her for weeks but Thea assured her that in Oliver's head, he had no choice. She should hear him out but how could she be with someone who didn't trust her?
Felicity knew Oliver wasn't perfect. He had his flaws. His past was something that couldn't be changed or altered. He had a son with this woman and that could not be changed. Perhaps there were others out there. Ollie Queen slept around. How Laurel even tolerated that type of behaviour in that relationship Felicity would never understand. The younger version of herself would have stayed far away from Ollie. She's thankful that her Oliver now does not have any STDs.
When she stepped out the shower she half expected to smell the coffee he usually had waiting for her on her bedside table. Since he was up first, he would prepare her coffee from freshly ground beans and bring it up for her while she was in the shower. It hurt so much to be without him. Just because he had been lying to her didn't mean her love for him had dulled. This distance between them was killing her. She didn't want to be one of those women who used love as a justification to get caught in an abusive cycle but Oliver never mistreated her. He treated her like a Queen.
S-2
It was early afternoon and she had already finished commenting on four reports, sending them back to the Departments right away. The latest report from the accounts department showed a small growth in profits. The Board was pleased which was good because it gave her a bit more leeway for her other ideas for improvement. Curtis was one month away from his deadline to present the prototype of the new technology that was going to really turn things around for the company but he had nothing working yet! She had to make sure she had other eggs in the basket to impress the board.
There was a knock on her door. She glanced at the clock. It was too early for Oliver. The person knocked again. Maybe they had the wrong apartment. She walked to the door and looked out the peephole but saw no one. The person knocked again. After working with Team Arrow for years, Felicity wasn't going to answer her door unless she could see the person.
"Hello," a young voice called from outside. That got Felicity's attention.
She opened her door carefully and was speechless when she came face to face with the boy from the photograph. He was the son of the woman that had been mocking her in her dreams.
"Hi, I'm William," he said sticking out his hands. "I'm Oliver's son that nobody knew about,"
"Uh, hi," she said shaking his hand. "I'm Felicity, where is your mom?"
"Oh she's in the car with Oliver and Aunt Thea. I asked them to wait there while we talked."
Felicity stepped outside and looked at the car. "It's ok," Thea called out to her.
She looked back at the young boy, "You want to talk to me,"
"Yes," the boy said. "I'm here to officially induct you into the 'I didn't know Oliver was William's father' Club or as Aunt Thea is suggesting the 'Oliver is an idiot' club."
Felicity laughed, she was already a member of the club that Diggle formed, 'The Oliver needs to stop keeping secrets' Club.
"Come inside," Felicity said. "I would offer you something to drink but I have nothing here,"
"You live here with nothing to drink,"
"No I really live with Oliver, I just needed a little space,"
"You're angry with him?" William asked.
"Yes," Felicity responded honestly pointing to the sofa.
"I am too but more with my mom," he revealed taking a seat on the sofa.
Felicity nodded and stared at the boy, looking for bits of Oliver in him.
"Oliver and Aunt Thea said you know The Flash as well,"
Felicity grinned at him, "I know the Flash quite well better than both of them."
"Oliver says the Green Arrow is cooler but I think shooting arrows is lame,"
Felicity laughed, "I originally thought it was lame too but the Green Arrow saved my life."
"He did?" William asked intrigued.
"Yeap, so to me, the Green Arrow is much cooler but don't tell Oliver I said that."
"Aunt Thea says Speedy is the coolest,"
Felicity snorted. Of course Thea would think that. "Hmm, I don't know. I kind of think in a fair fight, the Green Arrow would beat her."
"It doesn't matter; the Flash can totally beat both of them hands down at the same time!" William gushed about his super hero.
"Do you want to meet the Flash?" Felicity asked.
"Are you serious? I can meet the Flash," the boy asked in awe.
"Yes but you can't tell anyone how you met him. It's dangerous for persons to know that we know the Flash. You wouldn't want Captain Cold trying to take Oliver or I would you?"
"No I wouldn't," he shook his head.
"Good the next time we are in Central City we'll take you to meet him."
S-3
William emerged from the apartment with a large smile on his face. He walked over to the car where Oliver had opened the door to let him in.
"She's really nice Oliver. Don't screw this up. She wants to talk to you. Aunt Thea, Felicity says there's a nice park down the road, she'll call when they're finished and then we all get to go for ice cream!"
Thea smiled, "Sound like an excellent plan," she said as she jumped into the driver's seat Oliver had vacated earlier. Before she started the engine she threw her brother a look that clearly said, don't screw up this chance."
He watched the car drive off. This was his chance. He was going to get his girl back. He collected himself before walking up to her door and knocking softly.
"Come in," Felicity's voice floated out to him.
He opened the door and found her seated on the sofa in her apartment. Everything looked as it had been the last time he was there. It made his heart sore that she hadn't made any effort to get comfortable in her apartment again.
"You know you could have been letting in a crazy serial killer?" he commented to break the ice.
"No, instead I let in a crazy serial secret keeper," she said dryly.
"Felicity," Oliver sighed.
"Come sit Oliver," she said motioning to the space next to her. "I'm not having this conversation craning my neck to look up at you."
They both sat facing each other but there was space between them. A space neither was accustomed to. It hurt him that he couldn't reach out and touch her. He couldn't place his hand on the small of her back or hold her close to him.
"I'm sorry," Oliver said.
"You're always sorry yet you still do it Oliver," Felicity said.
"I know but I had no choice," he replied.
"I find that hard to believe Oliver," she told him solemnly.
"I cheated on Laurel with Samantha. It was a one night stand that resulted in her getting pregnant. When she told me she was pregnant, I turned to my mother for support. A few days later, she called me to tell me she miscarried. I was relieved. I wasn't ready to be a father. When we arrived in Central City, I saw her with a boy that would have been about the age our child would have been. I confronted Samantha about it. During the conversation she dropped a hat that belonged to William and I took a hair off of it for a DNA test. Samantha denied everything but Barry told me that I had a DNA test done and it confirmed that William was my son."
"Wait what do you mean Barry told you had a DNA test done. Didn't you do a DNA test?"
"I don't know how to explain this but Barry said he came back one day through time and in the previous timeline we had all died because my head wasn't in the game after you and I had a fight about William's DNA test. Barry seemed to think that it was the end of our relationship. When I confronted Samantha with the knowledge that William was my son she revealed that my mother paid her off to lie to me and move away from Starling City. In order for me to see William her terms were that we could not tell anyone the truth, including William. I told her about you but remained firm in her stance," Oliver revealed. "Felicity I didn't know what to do."
"Oliver,"
He held his hand up to stop her tirade, "I know, I know, Thea already told me. I should have consulted with you, with our team. I should have sought advice on how to handle the situation and not agree to something blindly. I just desperately wanted to meet my son Felicity. Once I knew that I had one I couldn't bare another second not getting to know him. I begged Samantha repeatedly to let me tell you but she wouldn't let me and I had given her my word Felicity. I didn't want to lose you or the opportunity to spend time with my son."
Felicity sighed, "Oliver you're not going to lose me because you have a son. For the record, I don't care that you have a son, I care that you have a son that you didn't tell me about. I know you're still learning to rely on your team instead of going off and doing things on your own but we need to come to some sort of agreement. I know there are many things in your past that you don't talk about and I accept that but when they come to rear their ugly little heads, not that I mean that William is ugly, I just mean that when these things pop up into our present now, you tell me. No matter how bad you think it is, you tell me and we'll work through it together. It hurts to know that you had so little faith in the strength of our relationship Oliver. I choose you every day, I choose to fight for us, I choose this life that we have."
"Felicity I promise you that I choose us. I've barely been able to function in the last few hours. If Thea hadn't come to see me, I might still be sitting on the floor in front of your empty closet."
"I know, Thea sent me a picture," she told him.
"She took a picture of me,"
"Yeah you were really out of it," she said.
"I was. I tried to imagine a life without you and I couldn't. Every time I picture my future, it's with you. There's never a scenario where you're not there. After you left, I couldn't even think five minutes into a future without you. There is no option for me Felicity. I need you in my life. I love you, please come back home?"
"I never really left Oliver, I love you too," Felicity said shifting closer to him.
Oliver eagerly drew her into his arms and kissed her.
S-4
They waved goodbye as the train pulled out of the station. Samantha and William were headed back to Central City on the last train of the day. Things had been tense at first. Samantha hadn't liked so many people knowing about William but Felicity had essentially told her that she would just have to deal with it. Oliver was heartened to see how well William and Felicity got along. It was good to know that he didn't have to choose between Felicity or William, he could have Felicity and William.
"There goes our club president!" Thea commented.
"He'll be back," Felicity said confidently. Laurel was going to work out a formal shared custody agreement for them.
"You know I have a better name for that club of yours," Oliver said.
When both women gave him a look, he smiled and said "The Queen Family", he said hugging the two most precious women in his life, Felicity on his left and Thea on his right.
"I think I prefer Team Arrow. It includes the extended part of our family, speaking of which, has anyone given any thought to how we tell John about this?" Felicity asked.
"That's all on you," Thea said pointing at her brother. She was not getting pulled into that drama.
Felicity rested her head on Oliver's should and squeezed his hand, "We'll tell him together,"