Caught In The Riptide
Oliver/Felicity
Author's notes: Okay, this is my first Oliver/Felicity story I'm posting and I'm maybe just a little nervous but I hope you all like it. It's slightly AU but slightly recognizable, maybe some new characters thrown in. It's just the start but I'm curious to see the reaction from it. The title comes from the song "Here With Me" by Susie Suh. The prologue title comes from Avril Lavigne's "Everybody Hurts".
Prologue: Everybody Hurts Some Days
Sometimes life really throws one for a loop. Tragedies happen that threaten to shatter the very world around us. People underestimate the strength within them to survive those tragedies. Life feels unbearable when things get hard. Just getting through from one moment to the next is all anyone can handle – the future being a subject that doesn't appear to be attainable when the present has completely shattered your psyche to its core.
Two people, two tragic pasts, two worlds, one story. One pair of human beings whose lives altogether disintegrate around them but they find their way to each other anyway. He a playboy turned CEO and vigilante and she an IT tech turned CEO's widow, the two of them were in for quite the change.
Their stories begin separately, both of them dealing with this crazy little thing called life on their own.
OFOFOFOFOFOFOFOFOFOFOFOFO
Felicity Smoak-Palmer wasn't having the best of days. Like at all, really. In fact, she really should've stayed in bed this morning. Seriously.
"Mrs. Palmer?"
Though in retrospect the last few months hadn't exactly been ideal either. Not that she'd ever had much luck in her life. Being the only child in a single-parent household was hard enough and now—
"Mrs. Palmer!"
"Don't call me that!" She snapped out of her mind rant, growling at the man – sorry, officer – in front of her. Was it the smartest idea to snap at a cop? Not exactly, but considering the day – month? year? - she'd been having . . . "It's Felicity, okay?"
The cop seemed to pity her, nodding. Something about it aggravated and relieved her at the same time. "Of course, Miss Felicity." He cleared his throat. "As I was saying, my name is Detective Quentin Lance. We just need some information about your hus – about Mr. Palmer. We've ruled you out as a suspect and we're not charging you, however . . ."
"Do I really need to hear this?" She let out a breath. Detective Lance just stared at her. "I mean, clearly I didn't have any clue what kind of man my so-called husband really was. All he ever told me were lies so I don't really see what kind of help I can be finding his killer or figuring what kind of mess he was involved with."
Detective Lance took a deep breath, closing his notebook and putting it into the breast pocket on his suit jacket. "You're right. I'm very sorry, Miss Felicity. If you think of anything or have any questions, please don't hesitate to give me a call." He rested his hand on her shoulder. "I am very sorry that you are going through this. It's never easy to lose anyone – whether through death or otherwise or . . . you . . ." He cleared his throat. "My daughter disappeared a few years ago – she went on a boat trip with a friend and was never found when the ship sank. I don't know what your relationship with Mr. Palmer was, but one way or another you did lose a husband and the father of your child."
Felicity swallowed, resting her hand on the swell of her stomach. Her throat tightened.
"You will get through this, Felicity. I know you will."
"Thanks, Detective Lance." Felicity sniffled, releasing a breath.
He pulled a card out of his front pocket. "Here's my card. If you think of anything or need anything – just give me a call. Okay?"
Felicity nodded. "Will do."
"If you don't mind me asking, when are you due?" He asked.
"About four months or so." She told him.
"Savor each moment." Lance sighed. "Trust me, the time will fly. My Laurel is about your age and Sara . . ."
Felicity nodded, figuring Sara was the missing daughter. She hadn't met her child yet – in fact she didn't even know if it was a girl or a boy – but she couldn't imagine losing him or her like the Detective lost his daughter.
The Detective left, leaving Felicity to contemplate what her future was going to be from now on. Widow – check. Single mom – check. No clue what she was going to do next? Priceless.
Okay, sure, technically since she was a "widow" (even though her marriage was essentially a fraud because her "husband" had not been what or who he'd told her he really was) and therefore was the acting CEO of Palmer Technologies though the company was also a fraud and probably a front for all sorts of things she most certainly didn't want to know about –
A swift pop in her abdomen interrupted her thoughts (run ons, as usual). Hmm, either her unborn child was telling her to calm down or he or she was just as anxious as she was.
Most likely both if the kid was anything like her.
Yep, time to calm down. No time to think about the future. Right now, she needed to focus on the present moment. Just one step at a time, one foot in front of the other . . .
. . . well, as much as she could considering she was just getting to the point where she couldn't see her feet anymore . . .
OFOFOFOFOFOFOFOFOFOFOFOFO
Oliver Queen stumbled into the window of his fourth floor bedroom wincing with each breath that grated on his two or three cracked ribs.
He didn't make a sound, though. He knew if he did, it would wake the whole house and that was the last thing he needed right now.
It had been a hard night out on the streets of Starling City for the Arrow (or Hood, or Robin Hood, or whatever the SCPD were calling him these days.) A new group of thugs were pushing drugs on the down and out that lived in the Glades and Oliver (as the Arrow), his good friend John Diggle, and the punk kid Roy Harper were doing everything they could to stop them. Oh, and Oliver's ex Laurel occasionally popped in to lend a hand as well.
Tonight, though, it had just been Oliver by himself. Dig was at home with his daughter, Roy was nursing a broken leg, and Laurel was out of town working a case for her day job as District Attorney.
Hence the lone mission where Oliver had been royally beat down and outnumbered. Besides the cracked ribs, he had a few slashes on his arms and legs as well as a bruised shoulder. All in all not too bad – not as hard to hide from those in his daytime life.
He trudged across the floor and flopped down on his bed. He groaned, remembering that he still had the hood, mask, and costume still on.
. . . Ten minutes later he managed to peel the suit off and crawl under the covers in his boxers and a white tank top.
Ahh . . . sleep . . . sweet bliss . . .
"Ollie!"
He bolted up from a dead sleep on the defensive, not quite awake but alert just the same.
"Ollie come on!"
It took him a moment to snap of of it, but he finally processed that his younger sister Thea was in his room pushing (luckily) on his un-bruised shoulder.
"Thea, what the—" He tensed, his muscles more awake then he was.
"Ollie, it's Mom!" Thea whimpered, her lip quivering. At her words, Oliver instantly went into high alert. "She can't breathe and the nurse won't be here for hours yet and Raisa left for the night and—"
"Thea, slow down. Did she take her medication at nine?"
"She did, I saw her. Raisa gave it to her with dinner." Thea answered.
"Call 911." Oliver told her.
Thea scrambled out of the room to do just that and Oliver raced behind her to their mother's room a floor below. His heart was racing, the adrenaline was pumping, and honestly in that moment he couldn't even feel the injuries he'd gotten that night or the multiple scars from years past.
Things had been good for a while since his mother had been given her diagnosis. The doctor had given them a good outcome, convinced she'd make a full recovery.
He'd only been back from the island a few months when she'd first started showing symptoms. And now . . .
He burst into his mother's room and went straight to her side.
"Oh my Oliver . . . my sweet boy . . ."
"Stay with us, Mom – you're going to be okay. Okay?"
The monitors on her bedside started beeping frantically. Oliver went into full alert.
"Mom just hold on. They ambulance will be here soon."
"Ollie they're here!" Thea appeared in the doorway.
Four hours later, Oliver and Thea were each sprawled out on the uncomfortable hospital chairs in their mother's private room. The room was quite large – the very best the Queen family could buy. Aside from the few medical stands and instruments, one would think it were a five-star hotel suite or a mansion bedroom.
Moira was asleep in the bed, stable now that the paramedics and doctors had worked on her. Thea was asleep as well but Oliver was wide awake. He went back and forth between watching his mother and sister sleep.
He'd often done that, though, in the last six years since he was stuck on Lian Yu. When Shado and Slade had been his companions on the island, he'd often listened to them sleep – and then Slade and Sara, and finally Tatsu and Maseo. Now he found himself doing it with his sister and mother – more so since his mother got sick.
They'd been lucky this time, the doctor had said. The specifics of the whole thing still confused him but all he needed to know was that she was okay – for now anyway.
His muscles were starting to protest the torture of the uncomfortable chair so he got up. With Thea and his mother still asleep, he decided to take a walk to find some coffee. His ribs still grated from his altercation with the dealers earlier in the night and his shoulder was throbbing – but there'd be time for rest later. Right now he needed to stay strong for his mother, for Thea, for his city . . .
The coffee machine down the hall was broken – as was the other two on this floor – so he found his way down to the cafeteria. His sister needed to eat something anyway and he probably should too.
The cafeteria was only mildly full of people when he found it. It wasn't that early anymore – well past ten in the morning. Besides the few workers behind the counters and a few doctors and nurses in scrubs, there were a little over half a dozen people in plain clothes – patients and their families.
Oliver was instantly struck by a woman off in the corner. Her long, blonde hair was up in a high pony tail, framing her face with adorable black glasses and showcasing gold and red dangling heart earrings. She wore a bright red dress with black, high heeled shoes. From the side of the table, he noticed that her stomach was very extended – she was pregnant. This explained the ethereal glow that radiated off of her skin – she was stunning in every sense of the word.
"Excuse me, sir."
Oliver shook his head and stepped to the side, allowing the elderly gentlemen to move past him. Hmm . . . he hadn't even heard or seen the man come up to him. It had been a long time since he'd lost his focus that much. The thought was unsettling at best – the Arrow should be more in tuned with the world around him than that.
Even so, he found his attention going back to the blonde mother-to-be at the table. He saw no note of rings on her hands – no significant other? She sniffled as she studied the tablet computer in front of her, holding a pen to her mouth as she chewed on it. The pen was red. A pad of paper was also on the table beside a mug of tea, the tea bag hanging over the edge. She looked so sad – he found it unsettled him greatly even though he didn't know her or her name. He found himself wanting to find out what (or who) was making her so unhappy in a time when she should be celebrating the new life she was about to bring into this world. He wanted to eliminate her fears and troubles and make her smile – she was beautiful now, he could only imagine how her beauty must grow when she was happy.
The sound of his phone interrupted him from his thoughts – it was a text from Thea. Their mother was awake and asking for him. Forgetting all thoughts of coffee and food, he stole one last look at the unhappy beauty in front of him and headed back upstairs.
OFOFOFOFOFOFOFOFOFOFOFOFO
Felicity stared down at her table, scrolling aimlessly through pages and pages of data from Palmer Technologies. Every once and awhile their would be a picture of Ray or her and Ray and she'd have to stop and get her hormones back in check. She didn't think she was sad so much about losing Ray as she was her child losing a parent – just like she had.
There were probably a million other places she should be right now but after her doctor's appointment this morning she hadn't felt herself capable of driving. Her doctor was worried about her – the stress and the loss and the anxiety wasn't good for her or the baby. She'd felt fine until after the appointment, she really had – but now she was starting to think the doctor was right.
Accidentally walking past the viewing room for the newborns and seeing so many lucky couples watch their newborns had struck something unexpected in her. She'd been suddenly unable to breathe or stand luckily finding a chair nearby. A nurse noticed her and went and found her doctor. They'd both said it was an anxiety attack and she really shouldn't be alone right now let alone drive.
Since she'd just moved to Starling City from Central City a few weeks ago, she didn't really know anybody here. And since they wouldn't just let her call a cab and had even threatened to admit her, she'd done the one thing she hadn't wanted to.
She called her mother.
Donna Smoak was more than eager to take a sudden flight from Las Vegas to Starling City, California to pick her daughter up from the hospital and stay with her for a few weeks. Felicity, on the other hand, was mortified. Especially since it meant spending hours and hours in the hospital cafeteria waiting for said mother to arrive. Luckily Donna had found a flight right away (thanks to Felicity's extended bank account) and would get there in just a few short hours.
It didn't make the wait any easier, though, to sit in that cafeteria alone with only her thoughts, her cup of caffeine-free tea (something she sorely missed, caffeine) and her tablet to keep her company. At one point she'd felt like someone was staring at her but when she'd looked up there hadn't been anyone there. Just the flash of a green-sweat shirted man walking away . . .
"Lissy, my baby!"
Years of dread and therapy driven anxiety filled her as she looked up to find her mother coming toward her. Hey, didn't the doctors want her to stay away from things that would stress her out?
To Be Continued . . .