Note: Hey guys! I'm back with another chapter! :D
I'm sorry for the delay on this one, but those of you who follow me on tumblr know that I've had a lot of school work this week that hasn't been letting me write. This chapter might be a little shorter than the last one, but it passed 12k so it's still long in my mind ^^
Either way, I just wanted to say that there's another dream in this chapter that is *cough cough* a little naughty... (Still toying with the idea of raising the rating...)
Now, please enjoy the new chapter of Hunted! =)
Oh and I haven't proof read the chapter as well as I would have liked to, so if you see any HUGE mistakes, feel free to tell me and I apologize for them! =)
P.S. It'll be my birthday tomorrow (24th of October), so please make me extra happy with a nice comment in the end! :)
Thank you for reading and supporting!
Hunted
Supernatural hunter Oliver Queen's latest mission's name is Felicity Smoak; a new born hybrid who has gone rogue and left her master. The new hunt brings unexpected twists and turns and when the young hybrid saves his life, Oliver realizes that there might be more to the girl than meets the eye. The hybrid might not be the biggest monster in Starling City and as their unexplainable bond grows stronger, he learns that you can't plan who you fall in love with.
Chapter 8: The Birthday
The days that followed the Unidac auction were confusing for Oliver, to say the least.
When he had gone home that night after giving Felicity the blood bag, he kept questioning his own sanity. He knew that his walls were slowly breaking when it came to the hybrid, but he was still too proud to admit it to her or Diggle. What she had done that night, for Walter and for Thea...it had been an amazing, albeit slightly horrifying display of power. It terrified him to know that Felicity's powers had been so enhanced by a single bag of blood, but yet, he hadn't been able to stop himself from giving her the bag before he had left her. He had seen her fight Diggle on the training mats several times already and he knew that it wouldn't take much of her effort to overthrow both him and his partner if she wanted to escape. Still, he had given her the one thing that would make her even more powerful against them.
He had tried fighting it, so hard the first few days after the auction. He had tried to remain crass with Felicity and not show her that his resolve was breaking. Neither of them had mentioned the blood bag again and Diggle hadn't tried suggesting that Felicity should take in any more blood since the event.
Instead, Oliver found himself leaving a cup filled with blood every other day on Felicity's desk as she worked on her computers (because he had also began accepting that they were, in fact, hers). She never questioned his decision to give her that little sign of gratitude for saving his sister and his stepfather and every day that Oliver walked down the steps to get her so they could drive to work together, he saw the mug, clean and drying by one of the small cabinets.
He was not ready to start trusting her fully yet though, because a part of him still wasn't sure what had gone down the night of the auction. He remembered swaying with her in his arms as they danced across the floor, right before she tensed and started muttering and whispering under her breath. It bothered him that he didn't know what she and Lawton had talked about and a part of him needed to know what had gone down between her and the lamia vampire when he hadn't been able to hear.
She had tried explaining to him and Diggle that Lawton had literally 'just talked' to her and Diggle had for some reason been happy to drop the conversation, sensing that Felicity was reluctant to let them know more. Oliver has naturally sensed her reluctance too, but that only made him want to know what the conversation had been about even more.
Some nights he wondered if Felicity had told Diggle about her talk with the sniper. It was no secret that his partner and the hybrid were closer to being friends than Oliver and she were. After all, at times, Oliver still tried to make himself believe that he hated her.
A week after the auction, Oliver had had about enough of it. It was a rare thing for him and Felicity to be alone down in the lair, but Diggle had gone to get some burgers and Oliver hadn't been able to help himself when he had asked Felicity why she had told Lawton that she was compelling him.
"Can you do that?" he has asked, his voice worried but at the same time hinting at a bit of annoyance. "Control people's minds and make them do you bidding?"
It was a rare power among the Dark Ones, but he had come across it a time or two during the time that he had worked his way up the ranks of the Solntsevskaya Bratva in Russia during his five years away. There he had seen and learned a lot of things about the People of Darkness and he had seen even the strongest of men crumble when a lamia vampire had forced their minds to cooperate.
"I had to lie to him, Oliver," Felicity had replied. "I swear that I don't have compulsion powers, but I couldn't risk him telling anyone that you were helping me. What if someone connected the dots and figured out you were the vigilante?"
Her explanation had made sense and he had gotten one of the strangest sensations in his stomach when she had once again proceeded to protect him and his secret identity.
"How can I be sure?" he had questioned anyway, and the answer he had needed had been written on her face when she had answered him.
"I would never use that kind of power, Oliver," she had told him, her voice trembling slightly. "The thought of stripping away someones willpower and taking away their choice-"
"Okay," he had interrupted, not needing to hear more. Felicity had only looked at him and nodded gratefully before returning to her computers and the search she had started on one of their targets.
In the back of his mind, Oliver could recall the taunting that the lamia vampire Ashley had done during the night that he had first met Felicity. He remembered the fierceness in her voice when she had yelled at the monster that it was her life and her choice. His mind then flashed to the time he had refused to allow her to step out of the Foundry during the day and the way she had seemed absolutely crestfallen when the two of them ha argued and she had mentioned wanting the freedom that had been deprived from her since she had been turned into a hybrid.
Freedom was important to her and he understood that she really was telling him the truth when it came to the compulsion. She would never willingly take away anybody's ability to choose and he believed her.
He just didn't know whether or not he should be scared about the fact that he did.
-§-
"So?"
Oliver dodged Diggle's swing and punched back with equal force. "So what?" he grunted, jumping over the leg that Diggle swung out at him to make him loose his balance.
"Are we not going to talk about you getting Felicity a company car so that she can drive herself to the office every day?" Diggle asked, throwing another punch at his shoulder. Oliver lost his balance briefly, but didn't say anything as he kept sparring with the older man.
"There's nothing to talk about," Oliver panted, sweat beading on his forehead. "People are starting to suspect there is more going on between us than just co-workers and it's not really helping that she gets a ride to the office with me every morning."
"And you letting her out of the lair alone in the afternoon to give her new mini a drive? Do you have an excuse for that too?" Diggle smirked his way.
Withing seconds, Oliver had his friend flat on his back on the mats. He walked over to the bottle of water on the desk before starting for the shower. He called out over his shoulder, "We're not talking about it."
Behind him, he heard Diggle let out a low chuckle.
-§-
He doesn't even know where they are.
The only thing he's aware of is Felicity; straddling his lap as she works on the buttons of his shirt while kissing her way up the side of his neck.
Their movements are frantic, his hands tightening on her hips as he pushes her down against him, creating lovely friction where they both need it, before slowly moving under her shirt, spreading across her back as he draws her in closer.
Lips meet and he swallows her moans when her cold hands finally connect with the bare skin under his own shirt. She raises her hands and puts them on his shoulders, tightening her grip, almost painfully as she grinds down on him, her skirt slowly bunching up around her waist. His own hands travel up too, tangling in her blonde curls as he deepens the kiss.
The need he feels for her is shocking and he whispers her name against the hollow of her neck before pressing a lighter kiss to her pulse point.
He needs her.
He wants her.
"Oliver–"
Glass shatters suddenly and Felicity freezes above him. Her eyes are wide and he stares at her face, horrified when a small drop of blood drips from the corner of her mouth. Her eyes flash yellow for a brief second before turning back to the blue that is her and they glaze over.
He looks down and sees the wooden arrow protruding where her heart used to beat. He looks past her, through the window that he hadn't noticed before and sees himself standing there; hood covering half his face, bow still raised.
"No!"
He doesn't recognize his own voice when he cradles her blonde head and gently lays her on the floor, ripping the arrow from her chest. He's shaking her desperately, yelling at her to open her eyes for him, but she doesn't.
She just stares at the ceiling, eyes empty and blood spreading across her shirt.
He feels tears falling from his eyes when he turns around to yell at himself for killing her, but the room is once again empty and the window is nowhere to be seen. Instead, there is a wall of mirrors and he sees himself, fully hooded up, looming over Felicity's dead body.
He doesn't know what to do.
So he screams.
-§-
"No!" Oliver jolted out of his nightmare, trying to get a picture of his surroundings. He is in his room and it's late, he realizes. It's been a week and a half since the Unidac auction and the dreams that he keeps having about Felicity are still there.
However, this time things were different. He wasn't the one who ended up this time and he had to admit, that it was a first. Usually, Felicity was the one who killed him in his nightmares that always started out as a heated moment between the two of them, but this time, he had been the one who had killed her.
What surprised him the most though, was that his dream self had actually shown weakness and feelings for the hybrid that he had put down and actually cried over her dead body.
The dream bothered him throughout the day. He wasn't able to focus in the office at all and whenever he saw Felicity looking out a window, he found himself wanting to stand between her and the framework. Multiple times, he had to force himself to stop thinking about the images that were vividly playing in his mind and he kept questioning why he was so bothered by it.
Sure, he was slowly accepting Felicity's presence and he had acknowledged that she had saved two important people in his life, but that didn't necessarily mean that he had to trust her, did it? And why should he be upset if she died? Hadn't it been like a month and a half since he had wanted to be the one to put an arrow through her? Why would he be so upset over a dream?
"Oliver?" Felicity said his name carefully, bringing him back to reality. "Your one o'clock is here. Should I send him in or do you need a moment?"
He shook his head, "Just send him in."
"Are you sure?" she asked, biting her lip. "You look like you kind of do need a moment. Is everything okay?"
"I'm fine, Felicity," Oliver bit out, almost angrily. He hated that he felt like apologizing when he saw a hint of hurt flash through her face. "Just send him in," he repeated instead of saying he was sorry.
"Okay," she mumbled and backed out of his office. He could see her conversing with the older man that had an appointment scheduled with him and he closed his eyes, trying to clear his mind from the nightmares and thoughts that were still deeply imprinted in his mind.
Later that night, when he was in the Foundry, pounding away relentlessly at a training dummy, he finally decided to ease his mind a little.
"Felicity," he called out as he punched the dummy one final time.
"Yeah?" Felicity called back, not lifting her head to look in his direction. She was deeply concentrated on something on her computer and Oliver decided to just get over himself and go to her. Diggle immediately began preparing for his training session with Felicity when Oliver stepped off the mats. The older man seemed to be determined to at least pin the hybrid to the mat once before the end of this month, because he had been insisting on training with her every single night this past week.
"I've been meaning to ask you something," he said, leaning against the table next to her.
"Ask away," she told him, still not looking at him.
"How do you kill a hybrid?"
Felicity froze and somewhere in the back of the Foundry, Oliver heard Diggle let out a deep sigh. He could tell that his partner wasn't happy with the question that he had asked the hybrid and Felicity herself didn't seem too eager to answer it.
"Actually, you don't have to answer that," Oliver quickly said. "I just wanted to know whether wood can hurt your kind. For scientific purposes..."
It sounded even worse than his first question.
Felicity though looked at him, almost amused and he realized instantly why.
Every single time that Felicity had been willing to share something about the Dark Ones, to teach Oliver and Diggle things that they hadn't known about, Oliver had insisted that he didn't need her lessons. Now though, he was coming to her willingly and asking for her help to understand her species a bit better.
"Uhm..." Felicity trailed off for a moment, humming as she thought about what to say, or perhaps she was wondering whether she should be telling him anything at all. Sure, their dynamic had changed a little and he wasn't as hostile as he had used to be around her, but that didn't necessarily mean that either of them trusted each other yet. Her telling him how wood effected hybrids would surely give him more insight in what he could or couldn't use to kill her and he knew that if he- God forbid- was a hybrid, he wouldn't have wanted anyone to know that.
"Wood isn't very effective," Felicity finally replied. "Although, I guess it also depends on how a hybrid was turned, which is a complicated process all in its own. But, I suppose to answer your question: no, it isn't very effective, as I said."
"So it wouldn't kill you if someone stuck a wooden stake into your heart?" Oliver frowned.
"Is this still purely for scientific reasons?" Felicity questioned, her eyebrow raised.
"Of course," Oliver easily replied, surprised by the earnest in his tone.
"As I said, it would depend on how the hybrid was turned," she repeated, "but generally, wood wouldn't kill a hybrid. A stake through the heart might temporarily incapacitate them, but not necessarily kill them. Wood anywhere else just hurts like a bitch, as does silver, which you use for werewolves, but neither kills them because the two mixed species sort of work against it inside the body."
Her answer was a little confusing, but Oliver seemed to get the main points. "You mean that the werewolf side of the hybrid would stop the wood from hurting the vampire side and the vampire side would respectively render the silver useless against the werewolf side?"
"Pretty much, yeah," Felicity nodded. "Although, as I said, it would still hurt if we were stabbed with a weapon in general, because our bodies would try to heal themselves with the weapon still inside."
Oliver nodded slowly as he looked down at her. She was still watching him curiously through her lashes and his gut tightened when he once again remembered the dream he had had.
"Why are you really asking me this, Oliver?" Felicity asked, but he didn't know what to say in response.
Thankfully, Diggle decided to interrupt, "Felicity, I've set everything up." Felicity tore her eyes away from Oliver's and looked over at Diggle who was standing on the training mat, hands already raised for a fight against the hybrid.
The little monster looked back at Oliver and tilted her head in question before sighing deeply. When she turned to walk away from him, Oliver reacted without thinking. He reached for her hand and stopped her from walking away and she turned around to look at him, a thousand questions burning in her eyes.
"Why did you tell me all that?" he asked her gently. "You know you didn't have to."
Felicity watched him for another moment before smiling lightly and shrugging. Then she pulled out of his grasp and walked over to Diggle and started sparring.
Oliver watched them, amusement setting in the more frustrated Diggle got. Felicity was quick, especially with the little extra help from the blood that Oliver kept giving her every other night. She managed to dodge Diggle every time and get in a light punch every here and there, but Oliver could tell that she wasn't using her full strength.
If anyone asked him how he had felt when Felicity had proceeded to jump up on Diggle, swing her legs around his waist while using her hybrid strength tho flip them both over on the mat a second before pinning him to the mat, Oliver would deny with every fiber of his being that he had been absolutely awed by her.
Also, when the hybrid had then looked up at him with a bright grin on her face, eyes shining golden as she met his gaze, he would most likely also deny the fluttering feeling he had gotten in his chest.
-§-
Thea's birthday bash was approaching and Oliver found himself once again worrying. He hadn't been thrilled when Thea had insisted that Felicity needed to come to the party, and he knew that Felicity too had been reluctant to agree to come. Thea though, was still her stubborn self and refused to take no for an answer and in the end, Felicity had been basically forced to accept the invitation.
Despite allowing himself to accept Felicity a little more, a part of him still liked to remind him that Felicity was still a hybrid. Deep inside he might not still believe that she would attack him at any moment, but the part of his brain that still kept him on alert around her was concerned about what a big crowd would to to her.
The Unidac Industries auction had had quite a few guests, but Thea's birthday parties usually consisted of at least two hundred of her closest friends. This year, his sister would be celebrating her nineteenth birthday and the venue of the party would be Oliver's own club. Since Oliver was so busy with Queen Consolidated, Tommy had volunteered to organize the party for Thea.
His younger sister was well aware of the fact that Tommy was in charge, but she hadn't been able to stay away from the planning completely, like she had been instructed to. She tried to look through Tommy's check list a few times, but both Oliver and Tommy had worked hard to keep her eyes off of it.
Oliver really didn't care whether or not Thea found out about the plans Tommy had made, but his best friend wanted it to be the best surprise Thea had ever received ("Besides you coming back from the dead," Tommy had clarified.), so he was determined not to let Thea see anything beforehand.
Oliver's biggest concern was the hybrid that was staying in the lair beneath the club. He was afraid that such a big crowd would make Felicity lose the control she seemed to have on herself around them and succumb to the darkness that might be inside of her.
Might be.
Oliver wondered when he had began questioning whether there was a darkness inside of her at all.
His worries didn't exactly ease up when Thea started randomly showing up at the office, just to spend time with Felicity. At times Oliver found himself lingering close to the door so that he could overhear what the two girls were talking about and every time that Thea caught him listening, she accused him of being a sneaky older brother that never minded his own business. He couldn't tell her that he was simply keeping watch so that she wouldn't accidentally anger Felicity so that the blonde would feel like ripping out her jugular and instead, he tried to politely tell Felicity not to get too attached to his younger sister.
Felicity had apologized but promised him that she would never hurt Thea and that if she ever did, she would personally tell him how to kill her so that he could fulfill his wish to put her down. Oliver had sustained from telling her that he actually no longer held any wish to kill her and he had once again been surprised by his own realization.
It was two days before Thea's birthday party that Oliver sat down on a chair next to Felicity in the Foundry. Instead of keeping up her work on her computers this time, like she usually did whenever he walked up to her, she sighed deeply and turned to face him.
"Is everything okay, Oliver?" she inquired.
"Are you absolutely sure that being at Thea's party will be good for you?" he asked bluntly, deciding that it was time he shared his worries with her. Maybe she would see sense in what he was saying and refrain from going to the party.
"First of all, since when do you care if something is 'good' for me?" she asked, eyebrow raised and lips quirked up in a curious half-smile. "And secondly, is that what's been bothering you these last few days?"
"I just don't know if it's a good idea," Oliver deflected the question. "I mean, what if a bigger crowd makes you all blood-crazed? What if you start killing everyone in the club?"
"Okay, now I'm a little offended," Felicity frowned.
Oliver was thankful that Diggle wasn't in the Foundry yet, because he knew that the older man would most likely be rolling his eyes at him and ganging up with Felicity against him on the matter. But still, he was genuinely concerned about what the outcome of this party might become and he felt like it was better that he shares his thoughts now instead of being on alert all night long during the event.
"Oliver," Felicity finally sighed. "Listen, you know that I've been drinking blood since the incident at the auction, so don't worry about me becoming 'blood-crazed' in a tight space with a big crowd."
"Are you sure that you'll be able to handle it?" he wondered, meeting her gaze.
"Don't worry about it," she repeated. "Besides, you'll be there, right? If you're really that worried, you can stay close to me all night to make sure I don't get myself in trouble." She closed her eyes briefly and shook her head, "And by 'close to me', I obviously mean 'at a respectable distance.'"
Oliver fought the small smirk that was threatening to appear on his face and bit back a comment about wanting to stay close to her.
"Okay then," he nodded anyway. "But I want you to know that I'll be keeping my eyes on you...from a respectable distance." He hadn't been able to help himself from the playful tone and his chest felt strangely warm when he saw a light blush creep up on Felicity's cheeks at his words.
Although if anyone ever asked him about it, he would most likely deny that too.
-§-
Felicity was well aware of the fact that things between her and Oliver were slowly changing. Despite being aware of it, she had refused to talk about it when Diggle had asked, because to be honest, she didn't want to jinx anything.
Oliver seemed to be more relaxed in her presence, even though he might not realize it himself. When he had once again given her a cup of blood, two days after he had given her the blood bag, she had been quite surprised. She had thought the blood bag was a one-time-deal, but apparently, it was Oliver's way of showing her something that he wasn't ready to say yet. He was thankful because she had saved Thea and Walter, but he was still too proud to actually say the words to her himself.
Felicity didn't mind it though, because she was willing to wait until he was ready. They seemed to have an unspoken agreement about not speaking about the change that had occurred between them, but at times, Felicity wanted him to just spit out whatever it was that he was thinking about when she caught him staring at her.
She had been shocked when he had put a pair of car keys on her desk one day, to a red mini that was registered under Queen Consolidated. He reminded her that the car had a built in GPS-system and that she shouldn't get any ideas, but that the car was essentially hers. She had been thrilled and asked him if she could go for a ride before meeting up with him and Diggle in the lair and she had been even happier when he had told her that it was fine.
No matter how much things were changing between her and Oliver though, the biggest change in her life seemed to be the younger Queen sibling.
Thea was insistent on showing up at Queen Consolidated whenever she could, just to have a good conversation with Felicity before leaving. Felicity still recalled the day that Moira had walked up to them and asked Thea what she was doing at the office, because apparently, Thea was supposed to be heading over to CNRI to work with Laurel on something. Thea had simply dismissed her mother by telling her that whatever she had had planned with Laurel had been postponed, because the lawyer was apparently busy with some other case. Moira had shot Felicity a glare before telling Thea that she might learn more if she hung around Oliver, but Thea insisted that Felicity was fun and that she could learn much more from a MIT-graduate than a four-time college drop out like her brother. Her mother hadn't seemed pleased about that, but nodded nevertheless.
"You shouldn't talk like that about your brother, Thea," Felicity had said when Moira had left.
"Well, it's true isn't it?" Thea had shrugged. "Besides, I don't mean anything by it, but it's a fact. You're smarter than Oliver."
"There are several kinds of smart, Thea," Felicity had shook her head. "Oliver is one of the brightest, most kind men I have ever met."
Thea had looked amused by Felicity's admission, but she hadn't said anything else on the matter.
Oliver had been letting her walk around and explore Queen Consolidated on her own from time to time, mainly whenever he was stuck in a meeting. Felicity enjoyed going down to the IT-department the most, but she knew she couldn't hang around there all day long. Usually, she went to the cafeteria and got herself something to eat while Oliver was busy and she always brought back a bagel for him, but no coffee.
That was where Thea had found her this day, in the cafeteria, buying Oliver a bagel.
"Oh, hey, Felicity!" Thea exclaimed, happily embracing her. "I was just looking for you upstairs."
"Oliver is in a meeting with the chief of finance without Walter today," Felicity shrugged. "I know the numbers give him a head ache and a bagel usually cheers him up."
"Really?" Thea quirked an eyebrow. "You sure know my brother..."
"It's my job to know him," Felicity pointed out, holding up the paper plate with the bagel for Thea to see. "You were looking for me?" she asked then and Thea raised two bags in reply.
"I got us Chinese for lunch," she smiled. "No nuts, right?"
Felicity remembered the little lie she had spun about being allergic to nuts, all so that she would seem more human. "Yeah," she nodded, a smile covering her own face.
They settled around Felicity's desk after Felicity put Oliver's bagel in his office and Thea immediately started talking about what was going on in her life. The most recent subject was apparently a guy that she had 'met'.
"Does it really count as a meeting when he stole your purse?" Felicity asked once Thea had finished telling her the story about this Roy person.
"He gave it back," Thea protested, laughing when Felicity simply raised an eyebrow at her. "And then he saved me from being mugged and most likely raped by some other guys. He got stabbed while doing so!"
"And then you took him to the doctor and he was all cutely afraid of needles- which I completely understand by the way, because I've never liked them either- and you kissed him to make him forget about the sting," Felicity rolled her eyes. "I was listening to you, you know," she said, waving her hand dismissively. "I just feel like this might be something similar to the Stockholm Syndrome."
"Stockholm Syndrome?" Thea asked. "Isn't that the one where the victim falls in love with his or her kidnapper?"
"Or in your case, purse-stealer," Felicity grinned teasingly.
"I'm not in love with Roy," Thea objected. "I just think he's cute!"
"He's a criminal, Thea," Felicity stated. "I don't think your brother would approve."
"It's a good thing that I don't answer to my brother then, isn't it?" Thea said. "Besides, I might have sort of invited him to Verdant tomorrow."
Felicity gaped at her with wide eyes, "You invited the guy who stole your purse to your birthday party?"
"He gave it back!"
"Definitively the Stockholm Syndrome," Felicity laughed just as Oliver walked in. He sent her a curious look before greeting Thea, but Felicity gently shook her head and he didn't even try asking. Instead, he walked into his office to give the two of them some privacy.
Felicity glanced over at him and saw him take a bite out of the bagel she had bought him before he turned to some reports on his desk. She couldn't help but smile lightly and once again think about the changes that were happening between them.
They had started out roughly and violently, with him hating her and her being annoyed at him for refusing to give her a chance. She had been calling him a prison guard in her mind for a while when he had been extra grumpy about her staying locked up, but things between them were surely looking up. Now, the only thing that seemed to cross her mind when she saw him was how cute he looked whenever Thea made some remark and he actually pouted at his younger sister.
Cute?
She almost scolded herself for thinking it, but she had never really tried to deny the fact that she found Oliver incredibly attractive. To be quite frank, she would have to actually be blind not to see it, and even then his smooth-as-silk voice would probably be enough for her to still find him charming.
So she had gone from feeling like a captive in Oliver's prison, to actually kind of finding him so attractive that it made her insides tingle every time he was near her...
Stockholm Syndrome, her brain reminded her, but she chose to ignore it just like she ignored how her heart always seemed to beat a little bit faster when Oliver was close to her.
-§-
The party is in full swing when Oliver arrives after a quick patrol. Diggle had decided to head home earlier and Oliver had changed quickly into his suit before giving Felicity some privacy to get ready. It had been a slow night for some reason and Felicity had tried to explain it by saying that a full moon was coming up soon enough and that the Dark Ones usually gathered strength for those so that they would be able to run around more during those nights.
As Oliver made his way through the throngs of people, pressed tightly together on the dance floor, he couldn't help but wonder whether it was safe for all of them to be there. If something were to happen, he was sure that people would get injured, but he had to trust Tommy's judgment on it.
Tommy had really outdone himself with this party.
Oliver and his best friend used to throw a lot of them during their younger years, especially before Oliver went missing. He could recall 'the good old days' but they didn't really look so 'good' when he thought back at them. Oliver had been a complete asshole and he had had a drinking and partying problem. He had never been serious about anything and the few things he had tried to be serious about (mainly Laurel) he had ended up ruining sooner or later.
Oliver liked to believe that he was a changed man since returning from his five year exile and the people around him pointed out the change in him enough times to confirm his thoughts. Still, he couldn't deny that the beat of the music and the strobe lights didn't make his heart race somewhat. Perhaps it was time he took a minute to actually relax and enjoy himself, and what better place to do so, than at his younger sister's birthday party?
He found Tommy by the bar, giving the bartender strict instructions on checking people's ID before serving them.
"Tommy!" Oliver said, clapping his friend on the back before leaning closer to his ear so that he could hear him over the loud music. "Great party! Thea is going to love it when she gets here!"
"You think so?" Tommy grinned back, slinging his arm around Oliver's shoulder. "She texted me earlier and told me that she'll be here in just a few minutes! She also mentioned yesterday that she invited your Felicity!"
Oliver frowned at his choice of words, "Felicity isn't mine!" He had to keep his voice loud so that Tommy would hear him, but his best friend merely grinned at him.
"I'm pretty sure she used the words 'Oliver's Felicity' when she told me," Tommy insisted. "Either way, if that is the case, I'll finally get to meet the person Thea has been going on and on about."
"She'll be here," Oliver nodded. "But she isn't anything special. She's just...a friend."
Before he could think about his choice of words for referring to Felicity, a bubbly and grinning Thea ran up to him and Tommy, jumping into Tommy's arms as she embraced him.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you, Tommy!" she squealed, loud enough to be heard over the music. "This is the best party ever!"
Tommy laughed and Oliver grinned at Thea. "The night is still young, Thea!" Tommy said. "I just hope it'll be memorable for you. Happy Birthday!" Tommy hugged Thea back before letting go of her so that she could turn to Oliver.
"Where's Felicity?" Thea pouted.
"Good to see you too, Speedy," Oliver rolled his eyes at his sister. "Felicity will be here soon enough. She just had to change."
"She's changing here?" Thea asked with a quirked eyebrow.
Oliver immediately realized that he shouldn't have mentioned that, because now Thea was probably questioning why Felicity would need to change at the club instead of going home to change. "We got held up at the office and she asked one of her friends to bring her change of clothes for her here. I suggested she change in the office," he lied on the spot.
"Okay," Thea drawled, but she didn't seem fully convinced. On her face Oliver could tell what she was really thinking.
Since meeting Felicity, Thea had several times teased him about supposedly having a thing for his blonde Executive Assistant. When Oliver had denied it, she had told him that he should 'totally get together with her because the girl is a blast' and that hadn't exactly made it easier for Oliver to not think about the dreams he was having about the hybrid.
"Whoa," Tommy suddenly gaped. "Is that her?"
Thea turned toward the stairs and nodded, a bright smile spreading across her face. Oliver actually rolled his eyes at Tommy's reaction as he turned to get a look at Felicity himself.
Except, it wasn't Felicity.
It couldn't be her.
The blonde that was nervously walking down the stairs toward the dancing crowd could impossibly be the hybrid that he was so used to seeing casually dressed in the Foundry and professionally dressed at the office.
Her blonde tresses were lose over her shoulders, curls framing her face in a way that he had never actually seen before. From his view point, her make up was light and she wasn't wearing much jewelery besides her earrings and a golden bracelet. What took his breath away completely though, was the short golden dress that went to her mid-thigh, a small slit on her right side, revealing even more of her creamy, long legs that seemed to be miles long, ending in a pair of black high heels.
She was looking over the crowd, looking a little confused for some reason before she closed her eyes. When she re-opened them again, her eyes settled on him- or maybe on Thea?- and she smiled widely before once again starting her descent down the stairs.
"Holy shit," Tommy spoke beside him. "Your secretary is hot, Oliver!"
Something inside of Oliver rumbled at Tommy's words. He didn't feel comfortable with Tommy looking at Felicity that way. There was something twitching inside of him as he watched Felicity approach them, making men around her turn their heads her way, but she seemed happily oblivious about the attention she was getting. Oliver hated himself for the feeling that made him itch to just walk up to her and grab her, showing everyone around them that she wasn't available...
But he couldn't, because just as he had told Tommy earlier, and Thea several times during this last week: Felicity wasn't his.
Of course, he didn't really want her to be his either, but he couldn't deny that the emotion that was welling inside of him tasted incredibly bitter in his mouth. It was something that he had been familiar with when he was younger, but something that he had tried very hard to suppress, just so that he wouldn't break the facade he had built for years.
Jealousy.
"Thea!" Felicity grinned at his sister when she reached them, holding her arms out so that Thea could step into them. Oliver tensed briefly, but relaxed once he saw that Felicity had only embraced Thea as a friend and wasn't intending on biting her and sucking her dry. It really was difficult to just forget seven years of hunting Dark Ones, no matter how different Felicity claimed to be.
"Happy Birthday," the blonde grinned as she separated from Thea. She turned to Oliver and her smile softened. "Hi, Oliver."
"Felicity," he nodded curtly. Felicity's eyes moved from his face, down his body, to his shoes and then back up again. Was she checking him out?
Tommy cleared his throat loudly, "Well, since Oliver isn't going to introduce me: Hi, I'm Tommy!"
Felicity smiled brightly, "Felicity. Tommy Merlyn, right? Oliver's best friend?"
"Yes, I am," Tommy grinned back. "And I must say, Oliver here has been clearly been trying to keep you all to himself. You look great!"
Oliver rolled his eyes again at his friend's antics, but looked over at Felicity who seemed torn on how to respond. Instead of actually saying anything, she laughed, as sound that seemed to send signals from his brain to his core, warming him.
"What Tommy is trying to say is that he probably expected you to be some nerd, because I mentioned that you're a MIT-graduate," Thea explained. "But less small talk, and more dancing! You promised me a dance, Felicity!"
"When did I do that?" Felicity protested, but her smile remained on her lips.
"Just now," Thea said. "Or at least I'm going to pretend you did, because it's my birthday!"
"Oliver?" Felicity asked, turning to look at him. Oliver tensed and Felicity seemed to realize her slip. She shouldn't be asking his permission like this when Thea and Tommy were around. Actually, she shouldn't ask his permission when anyone he knew was around, unless they were at the office of course, then it would probably be more acceptable. Her asking him now would probably make Thea and Tommy wonder why she needed his permission and Oliver dreaded letting them think that there really was something going on between the two of them.
Oliver moved his head in a tiny nod that was barely visible, but he knew that Felicity would understand. With yet another bright smile, she covered her slip, "I'll see you later maybe."
Thea grabbed her hand and pulled her along with her, into the crowd while Oliver remained standing there, watching them.
"You sure have been holding back with that one," Tommy smirked at him.
"What do you mean?" Oliver asked, looking at Felicity and Thea who started dancing together. Felicity was twirling Thea around from time to time and they were both grinning widely and laughing loudly, even though he wasn't able to hear them over the music.
"How have you been able to keep your hands to yourself? She's hot and smart, and she also seems to care a whole lot about Thea," Tommy pointed out. "Plus, she saved your sister's life. I'd say she's a catch."
"And she's also my Executive Assistant," Oliver said, deciding to use that as an excuse. "It's hardly professional."
"It's the best cliché in the world!" Tommy protested.
"In pornography," Oliver retorted. "But no, trust me when I tell you that I won't be going there with Felicity. And please, leave it at that."
"Whatever you say, man," Tommy shrugged. "But when you two get married and have a bunch of mini Oliver's speeding around, I'll be the one saying 'I told you so.'"
Oliver didn't comment, instead he kept watching his sister and Felicity dancing, but Tommy's words kept ringing in his ears for some reason.
Felicity was a hybrid. There was no possible way for her to have children– Or was there? The blonde had mentioned that there were different ways of turning into a hybrid, which would in turn make hybrids react differently to various weapons. Was it similar when it came to procreation?
Sure, Felicity hadn't been a hybrid for very long, but she had most likely learned a lot during her time with her pack and her Sire. Then again, she had mentioned that she had never actually seen the man that had turned her, but it had been a slip during the night that he had first met her. Nevertheless, it made him wonder and it made him curious. He wanted to know more about her species but he wasn't ready to push his luck just yet. Felicity had already shared some facts about hybrids in general, but maybe this was a too sensitive subject to bring up?
When had he started bothering with what was too sensitive and what wasn't?
He shook his head at himself before his mind decided to remind him that as far as he knew, only made vampires weren't able to procreate. Werewolves, shapeshifters and lamia vampires could all have children. Most werewolf packs in the West and the North consisted of family members, but the wolves in Starling were mostly lone wolves that had started doing the dirty works of vampires. The lamia vampires he had come across in Russia had been a family that went back over a hundred years, so they too had made sure that their family tree was flourishing.
Shapeshifters were the more difficult species in Oliver's book. They too, just like vampires were divided in two groups: The Bellua and the Letalis. The knowledge he held about this particular species was that the bellua shapeshifters were able to transform to an animal form while the letalis morphed into various human shapes. The bellua were, from what he had learned, more spiritual and peaceful than most monsters while the letalis were some of the deadliest, most viscous creatures he had ever come across. Witnessing their transformation from one human form to another was absolutely sickening and once had been enough for Oliver.
It had happened while he had been in Hong Kong and he would never forget the day that his target had began dropping skin and sprouting longer hair while it's teeth dropped out of its mouth. After he had shot it with the iron bullet, straight through the heart, he had effectively killed it and then proceeded to throw up everything he had eaten earlier that day.
Oliver shuddered, not wanting to think about the horrifying memories anymore.
He focused his eyes on Felicity and Thea again. Felicity was moving languidly to the beat, hands raised above her head with her eyes closed. Oliver swallowed thickly when he zeroed in on a bead of sweat making its way down her throat before it disappeared under her dress.
For a moment, his eyes lingered on her form and he once again blamed it all on those pesky dreams he kept having and the fact that he was a man. His body was reacting to Felicity because she was attractive, no matter how much his brain told him that it was wrong because of what she was.
But he was tired and he wanted to actually relax for one night, maybe live a little like Diggle had told him to do.
He turned to Tommy, who had walked off to prepare for the cake apparently, before turning back to look at Felicity. The hybrid opened her eyes and it was as if she had sensed his gaze, because instantly, she looked over at him.
Hey eyes flashed for a mere second and Oliver had swallowed. When he looked past her, he could see another man slowly moving closer to her, dancing along the crowd as he made his way toward the blonde. Oliver moved without thinking, crossing the distance between him and Felicity before his brain could even register what had happened.
"Can I cut in?" Oliver asked Thea, grinning down at his sister as he rested his hand on Felicity's shoulder. The hybrid had stopped moving to the beat when she had seen him approaching and now stood facing his sister as well.
Thea grinned, "Of course! I'm tired anyway!" She put her hands on Felicity's arm and tugged at her a little before pushing her closer to Oliver. "Enjoy yourselves while I go find Tommy!"
She walked off the dance floor before Oliver could say anything else to her and left him alone with the hybrid. He looked down at Felicity, who was still in his arms.
"I know I told you to stay close to me," she hummed as his hands moved to settle on her hips, "but this is almost ridiculous." She wasn't even trying to hide the amusement in her voice as she wrapped her arms around his neck, her body coming up to press flush against his.
"Well, I figured it was better I check in on you to see to that you don't attack anyone," he smirked. "Just one song." He didn't know whether he was just telling her that, or if he was actually trying to convince himself.
Felicity smirked back at him, her eyes glistening mischievously golden for a second, "One."
-§-
One song turned into two, and two turned into four before Oliver could even realize that he had been dancing with Felicity for half an hour straight.
The floor was packed with people and he was forced to keep her close to himself so that she wouldn't slip away. People around them were grinding and jumping and screaming and laughing, but he was only able to focus on the sensation of Felicity's hand playing with the hair on the nape of his neck.
She had been toying with the short strands for five minutes now and Oliver was acutely aware of every time her finger nails scraped over his skin. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, trying to calm his senses, but it wasn't very effective considering that Felicity's intoxicating scent was the only thing that made its way up his nostrils.
"If you're tired, I can always find someone else to dance with," Felicity whispered in his ear. Her curls tickled the side of his face and he fought the urge to turn his head and bury his face in the soft locks.
"I don't want you dancing with anyone else," he told her. "What if you decided to bite them?"
Felicity pulled away a little, but she didn't look offended by his quip. She looked amused. "And what makes you think that I won't bite you?"
At first he had thought that it might have been an accidental innuendo, like the ones she usually dropped around him, but when the teasing look she was sending him didn't fade, he realized that she was being serious.
His mind seemed to decide that that was a good time to flood him with memories of the dreams he had been having about her– Felicity's hands moving across his bare chest, embracing him as her nails dug into his back. Fangs scraping the side of his neck before reaching his pulse point, where she teased his skin with her tongue...
Oliver snapped his eyes open, not even realizing that he had closed them in the first place. Felicity was looking at him, that same look still etched on her face. He wondered whether she really was a mind reader of some sort, because the long in her eyes seemed to say that she knew every little dirty thought he had ever head about her.
He needed to do something, so he grabbed her hand and pushed her a little further away from him. She seemed a little startled at first, but her hybrid senses kicked in and she was able to stabilize her feet almost instantly to stop herself from tripping. He twirled her around two times quickly, the people around them moving away a little at their suddenly large movements before bringing her back to himself.
Her back was now pressed against his chest, his arms crossed over her chest, locking her in his embrace. He leaned down slowly, feeling her tense slightly as he brought his lips to her ear, brushing against the sensitive skin as he whispered, "You wouldn't."
"You sure?" she countered, her voice equally quiet, her breath heavy.
"You won't," he insisted, "because you still want to earn my trust."
His words seemed to relax her a bit and soon they were once again moving against each other. This time though, their movements were slower than the beat, but also more precise. Oliver's blood was rushing through him, straight to places where he really didn't need it at the moment. Luckily, he was able to stop the once again dirty trail of thoughts that his brain had started for him.
Felicity turned her head so that she would be able to look at him, but she stayed in his arms with her hands over his, holding onto him just as he was holding onto her.
"Haven't I already?" she challenged him softly.
He looked down at her and then at their hands that were still clutching each other.
But he didn't reply.
-§-
Felicity knew that whatever she and Oliver were doing on the dance floor was out of line.
Okay, so they might not actually be hurting anyone and they might not be doing anything bad in general...but their situation was bad, and she knew that they needed to stop.
Felicity admired Oliver for the things he had gone through and survived and for the things he did for Starling City. He was a hero in her eyes and she would never deny that if anyone asked her.
However, she knew that he didn't trust her yet, so she couldn't help but suspect that this sudden closeness that he had established between the two of them was anything other than some kind of mind game.
She didn't mind playing games, as long as they were both in on the fun, but somehow, since she had asked him if she had earned his trust, things had turned more serious between them.
He still kept her close as they danced and she reveled in the feeling of having his tall frame pressed against her slimmer one. There was something that felt so incredibly right about being in Oliver's arms, that the logical part of her kept insisting that it must be oh so wrong.
She knew she should be pulling away, not just because she had spotted Tommy and Thea watching them curiously a while ago, but because she didn't know if she would ever be able to let go if she didn't.
As a hybrid, all her human senses were automatically heightened. She had felt the change inside of her the moment she had woken up as a turned hybrid. Her anger had become fury and her sorrow had become so painful, that she had barely been able to keep herself from ripping the people around her to shreds. Of course, those weren't the only emotions that had been magnified. Her strong will became the thing that kept her from giving into the darkness and it had in the end been her salvation as well.
The things she was feeling for Oliver... The attraction. If she didn't get a grip on herself, things could escalate fairly quickly for her and she would without a doubt begin feeling something more for the man.
If he really was beginning to trust her, she wouldn't want to do anything to compromise the development, but dancing with him right now...it felt too right for some reason. Felicity decided to give herself this one night, before pulling away from him. One night and then she would focus on what she came here for.
She closed her eyes, her face pressed tightly against Oliver's chest now, listening to his thudding heart. The blood that she had drank earlier tonight rushed through her body, heightening her abilities just like it had done at the night of the auction. Mentally, she began counting the various heartbeats in the club, finding their sounds calming despite the way some were beating erratically.
Inhaling deeply, she took in every unique scent in the room, and then she froze, immediately looking up at Oliver.
"Something is wrong," she told him, pushing him a little further away from her as she inhaled through her nose again.
"What's wrong?" he asked, grabbing her arm before she could start walking.
"I can smell 211 different people in the club," she answered, "but I can only hear 206 hearts beating. There are vampires here."
Instantly, Oliver was on alert, looking around. His grip on her arm tightened a little as he leaned closer. "Is there any way you could point them out?" he asked her.
"If I'm high enough to get a good look at everyone, I might be able to recognize them," Felicity nodded. "But there's no way to see them in this crowd."
Oliver grabbed her hand and pulled her with him toward the stairs. They hurried to the second floor and walked toward the ledge so that Felicity could look down at the dance floor. She scanned the floor with her eyes quickly, trying to see anyone she might recognize from the Black Rose or any other gathering she had been to.
"I need to find Thea," Oliver stressed beside her. "I have to make sure she's safe."
"Oliver, be quiet!" Felicity scolded as she looked over the guests again.
On the other side of the room, stood a man, about Oliver's age with broad shoulders and a tall frame. Felicity stared as he met her eyes and smirked at her–
"Turn or we'll kill them all!" the man growled at her. "Turn!"
"Never!" Her defiance was rewarded with a slap across her face before the other two vampires in the room began pulling at the ropes that were drenched in wolfsbane. Not even her screams could drown out the pain.
–Felicity snapped out of the memory, "Oh, shit."
Oliver turned to look at her, his face determined, "Did you see one of them?"
"Go, suit up," Felicity nodded. "I'll see if I can lead them outside."
"How do you know they'll follow you?" Oliver asked before she could walk away.
"Because one of them used to hold me captive before I escaped," Felicity replied calmly, despite the storm of emotions raging inside of her. She pulled her hand away from Oliver's grip and gave him one last shot nod before walking off, eyes set on the man she had seen before. She moved as quickly as she could, stopping just a few meters away from the vampire. With one last look, she sprinted for the door.
She could hear the vampire and two others follow her as she ran out in the cold night. Without thinking twice about it, she led them around the corner of the street, straight into a smaller alley. Calmly, she turned to face the grinning vampire and his two followers.
He approached her, giving her a slow clap. "I almost didn't recognize you," he told her, his British accent making her skin prickle. "I never would have expected to see you here, Ms. Smoak. Especially not after you dropped off the radar four months ago."
The two vampires behind him, a man and a woman, snickered, their eyes shining red.
"Well," Felicity spat, "I guess I slipped up."
The vampire laughed and chills ran through Felicity as she remembered how many times he had done so while stabbing her thigh with his damn silver dagger.
"Imagine my surprise when I saw you having the time of your life at this supposedly private event," the vampire continued. "I might have been able to trick the guards into letting us in, but you must have been invited to the event."
"Or it could just be a coincidence," Felicity pointed out with a shrug.
"That's what Mindy thought," the vampire said, motioning to the female behind him. "Then the birthday girl herself pulled you out on the dance floor and you spent the better half of an hour dancing with none other than Oliver Queen."
Felicity knew she needed to keep stalling until Oliver could get here. Even though she would probably be able to beat them all down with the extra amount of blood she had taken in, she knew that she wouldn't be able to take their lives.
"Coincidence," Felicity repeated. "They mean nothing to me."
The vampire leader grinned, his fangs visible in the moon light, "Are you sure?"
He snapped his fingers together and Felicity watched as two other vampires walked into the alley, dragging an unconscious Thea between them. Felicity watched as Thea's head lolled from side to side as the girl muttered something under her breath.
"What did you do to her?" Felicity growled, taking a step toward the leader.
"Nothing yet," he smirked. "We just put a little something in her drink. Don't worry, it's a human drug so it won't do much damage. Although, your reaction sure says a lot about what the little Queen means to you." He walked to the two vampires that were holding Thea and brushed a finger against Thea's cheek.
"I swear, if you touch her again, I'll kill you," Felicity snarled. Her fangs were elongating, tearing through her gums and every cell in her body seemed to react due to the rage she felt inside of her.
"Come with us and no harm will come to her," the vampire leader replied.
There was no choice to make, so Felicity moved. She had the female vampire knocked out within a second before she moved to the man who had been standing next to her. They must be mates, Felicity realized, when the male attacked with ferocity at seeing Mindy on the ground.
Felicity elbowed him in the face before reaching around him, snapping his neck. It wouldn't kill him, but for the time being, he would be incapacitated.
The two vampires that were holding onto Thea, lowered the girl to the ground before charging at her, fangs bared and snarls loud. Punches were being thrown and one of them managed to get in one hit to Felicity's abdomen before she pushed him away so hard that he knocked against the wall, cracking his head against the bricks.
The fourth vampire took a step back, clearly shocked by her display of strength. His eyes flickered over to his leader and Felicity took the opportunity, speeding forward as she grabbed him by the throat, squeezing until her fingers dug into his skin, drawing blood. The vampire gurgled and stared at her with wide eyes when she crushed his windpipe with her bare hand and then he too fell unconscious. She knew that he too would be getting up later, but for now, she had gotten the upper hand.
She turned to the leader, who was staring at her bloody hands, startled.
"You've been drinking human blood," he realized. "Otherwise you wouldn't have been this strong."
Felicity was about to reply when an arrow whizzed through the air, hitting the vampire in the stomach. The monster dropped to his knees and Felicity looked up to see Oliver in full costume staring down at her from a small balcony on the side building. He jumped and came down to stand next to her, bow aimed at the vampire that was kneeling.
"Who are you and what do you want with Ms. Smoak?" Oliver asked, his voice disoriented.
The vampire looked between Felicity and the Hood before laughing. "You're working with the Hunter?" he laughed. "This is ridiculous."
Felicity stepped forward, grabbing the vampire by his cheeks. "Who sent you?" she asked him. "Who else saw me here tonight? Tell me and he–" she motioned to Oliver was looking as intimidating as ever, "–won't kill you."
The vampire seemed to contemplate his options. "We stumbled onto you by accident," he replied. "We were just looking for a late night snack and a club seemed to be an easy place to find it. When we saw you, we stuck around."
"Have you alerted anyone else of Ms. Smoak's whereabouts?" Oliver asked, not lowering his bow.
"I swear, I haven't!" the vampire said, eyes wide and fear written on his face now that his facade seemed to break. "No one knows she's here! Just the five of us!"
Felicity turned to look at Oliver. She couldn't see his eyes, but she could tell that his jaw was ticking.
"Felicity, move away," he finally said, wooden arrow remaining aimed at the vampire.
"No!" the vampire yelled, shaking his head wildly. "I won't tell anyone, I swear!"
"Shut up," Oliver growled, sending another arrow flying into the vampires stomach after Felicity moved away.
The vampire's eyes turned read and his fangs extracted when he snarled at Felicity, "I should have killed you myself when I had the chance! I told them that you would cause trouble! I knew it the moment you refused to turn!"
Felicity could feel her body run cold at the memories that were starting to floor her mind again.
Chains, rope, wolfsbane...
The vampire stood and moved to her in high speed and Felicity closed her eyes, knowing there was no chance that she would be able to deflect the move.
The hit never came though, and when Felicity opened her eyes, the vampires eyes had turned blank as he stumbled back, wooden arrow etched into his chest, right through his heart. The vampire sunk to the ground, skin turning ashen and Felicity let out a breath she hadn't even known she had been holding.
She turned to look at Oliver, who lowered his bow before reaching for another arrow.
"They're all vampires?" he asked, the voice modulator off.
"Yes," Felicity breathed. All she could do was stare as he sunk the arrow through each and every one of their hearts. They all shriveled, skin graying as they died before her eyes. He turned toward her then and pulled the hood off his head, meeting her eyes for the first time since he had joined up with her.
"We need to get Thea out of here, but first I have to dispose of the bodies," he told her.
Felicity nodded, pointing at a garbage container, "We can put them there for now and then get back later."
Oliver looked in the direction she was pointing and nodded slowly, already reaching down to lift one of the dead monsters over his shoulder.
"Thank you."
Her voice had broken the silence that had fallen between them and she could only stare as Oliver froze.
"Just get Thea inside and I'll meet you there in a few," he said.
Felicity nodded curtly and then moved to Thea, who was still unconscious.
-§-
Oliver joined her a few minutes later, just like he had said. The two of them made up some excuse to Tommy who looked horrified at the sight of a fainted Thea and a bloodied Felicity.
Felicity told him that Thea had had a little too much to drink and that she had gone outside and that she herself had tripped over her high heels when following her and scraped her hands, thus the blood.
Oliver carried Thea up to his office at Verdant and gently put her down on the couch.
"Do you think she'll be okay?" he asked Felicity, who nodded.
"They drugged her," she explained. "From what I can smell, it's a drug called Vertigo that has become quite a problem here in the Glades, but she should be fine."
"Can you somehow sense if it's on its way out of her system?" Oliver frowned. "Or do I need to take her to the hospital?"
Felicity knelt down next to Thea and took the younger girl's hand. She brought her wrist up to her nose and inhaled deeply. "She should be fine," she told Oliver. "There's not much of the drug there, just enough to knock her out. Taking her to the hospital would just start an investigation that would lead to things that we really don't want people to stumble upon."
Oliver nodded slowly, agreeing with her.
"I should go downstairs," Felicity said. "I think I've had enough action for tonight."
Oliver raised an eyebrow at her and she groaned, "Not that kind of action." Oliver's lips quirked up and Felicity shook her head at him.
"Felicity?" a confused, low voice said. Both Oliver and Felicity turned their attention to Thea, who was opening her eyes slowly. "I just had the weirdest dream," the girl said. "I think you were a vampire."
Felicity looked over at Oliver, who seemed just a tiny bit paler. She pressed her hand to Thea's forehead and smiled lightly, "You've clearly had too much to drink. Get some rest and we'll talk tomorrow."
"Roy was here," Thea mumbled. "He was nice."
"I'm sure he was," Felicity nodded, just as Thea drifted off to sleep again.
"I'll come with you," Oliver said when she began moving to the door.
"Are you sure you don't want to stay with Thea?" Felicity asked, frowning at him.
"She'll be okay," he said, looking over at his sister who was snoring lightly. "If she's able to talk about boys, she's fine. Besides, you told me that the drug is almost out of her system and I'll come check on her soon. It's better if she just sleeps it off. And I should probably go and burn those vampires."
Felicity didn't know what to say, so she just nodded at him and allowed him to lead the way.
They walked down to the Foundry unnoticed, because apparently, even if the birthday girl wasn't there anymore, the party continued. Felicity washed her hands from the dried up blood and then walked over to her chair and sat down, taking off her high heels.
Oliver went out briefly, returning twenty minutes later smelling like gasoline.
"Set them on fire?" Felicity asked and he nodded.
"It's easier that way," he said. "If a Dark One finds the bodies, it wouldn't be able to smell us on them."
Felicity looked down at her hands again, memories of what had happened flooding back to her. She had thanked Oliver for helping her, but he hadn't said anything to her about it yet. He had dismissed her instead, completely changing the subject when he asked her to take Thea inside.
Felicity just didn't know what to do with that.
"Hey," Oliver spoke suddenly and she looked up, seeing for the first time that he had come to stand in front of where she sat. He seemed a little hesitant for a moment before he lifted his hand and rested it on her shoulder, squeezing lightly. "Are you okay?"
Felicity felt her lower lip tremble, but she nodded, not trusting her own voice for a moment. She stayed quiet, but he didn't remove his hand, so finally, she gathered enough strength to speak.
"I almost lost control tonight when I saw the two vampires bring Thea to the alley," she confessed. "I wanted to tear them to pieces for even touching her and–" she cut herself off with a sharp breath, " –and I guess I never thought I could feel that way."
Oliver watched her intently, not speaking. It felt like ages passed before he opened his mouth, "Thank you, Felicity." He gazed into her eyes and Felicity once again felt those butterflies act up inside of her stomach. "For protecting and saving Thea again... I..." he trailed off, closing his eyes for a second. When he opened them again, he seemed determined. "I think I'm ready to trust you."
Felicity would never be able to explain how she felt in that moment. She looked at his face, searching for a hint of sarcasm or trickery and she couldn't help the small smile that bloomed on her own face when she realized that he was telling the truth.
He trusted her.
He trusted her.
"Oliver," Felicity swallowed, making her decision to speak before she could once again let her doubts set in. "The People of Darkness are planning something big for Starling City." She felt his grip tighten on her shoulder slightly and without thinking, she put her hand over his, squeezing it lightly. She could see the way tension set into his body and she understood that he really didn't need another think on his plate tonight.
Still, even though she knew he might not be ready to hear the whole truth yet, she had to tell him. She had to show him that she knew that he trusted her and that she trusted him too.
"They are planning something big," she repeated, her voice low, "and they are calling it an Undertaking."
Note: Cue dramatic music!
Yay! Oliver has finally decided to accept the fact that Felicity can be trusted and he's NOT being a complete ass-hat to her! I told you he would be coming around, didn't I? ;)
Tell me what you thought of the chapter in a comment and please, do tell me what your favorite part of this chapter was! :) My favorite part to write was probably the dance scene between Oliver and Felicity, or the Tommy/Felicity introduction and Tommy teasing Oliver about his 'hot secretary'...
Okay, now. Don't forget to comment and I'll love you forever! =) Now I'm off to study for an exam I have next Thursday!
Hugs xx
