Note: It's been too long and I am not even going to try to explain myself. My muse acted up when it comes to this story, but it's back and hopefully it'll stay here until the very end.
I will keep this short because I knew you most likely wanna get on with it, so here's the only thing you need to remember while reading this: So far, Felicity doesn't actually remember anything about her transformation to hybrid. All she knows is that she was captured, tortured and injected with something unknown before being forcibly turned into a wolf to complete the transformation (This last part happened after she witnessed the death of the little kid...). She's always said that things have been blurry for her when it comes to what actually happened and if you remember, during the Undertaking, she was mumbling incoherent things when she was first affected by Malcolm's sound device.
Also, there's some time jumping in this fic, but I hope it makes sense! Enjoy! :)
Hunted
Chapter 22: The League
The sound of grunts, pants and bo-staffs connecting was the only thing that could be heard inside the Foundry as Felicity walked down the stairs. She listened intently, inhaling deep through her nose to scent who it was that was down there. There was no surprise to smell Oliver's familiar musk because he had practically been living there for the past week. Felicity had talked to Thea a couple of times when she had come to visit Roy and the girl had expressed her worry for her brother. Apparently, he had forbidden Thea from coming down to the lair with him, though, he hadn't given his sister a reason. Felicity knew that it had to do with Sara and keeping the fact that the blonde had also survived the Gambit's shipwreck a secret. It was understandable why he wouldn't want anyone to know about Sara's return from the dead. Too many questions would arise and the media would once again set their eyes on Oliver, which would in turn only cause more inconvenience for him as the Arrow.
Tommy had been having a difficult time hiding the truth about Sara to Laurel. That was why he had decided to stay away from the Foundry unless he was absolutely needed for a mission. So far, they had been doing okay, especially since Felicity had been trying to stay on her best behavior with Oliver.
She was still hurt over what had happened in Russia; the wounds were too fresh for her to ignore, even after weeks had passed. Despite the fact that she saw herself as headstrong, she knew that what he had said to her before they had found Sara had hit her right in the heart. His apology had been sincere and she had been able to feel it all the way into her bones and that was the only reason that she had decided to try and forgive him. It wouldn't be easy, but she knew that she didn't have to growl at him to show him that she was angry with him and she was no longer running out on the streets at night on her own, looking for a way to let out her anger.
In fact, most of her anger had been worked through, but just as she had told Thea, it was the hurt that was the most difficult to get over.
She walked down the stairs and her eyes instantly settled on Sara and Oliver who were sparring. Pretending that she wasn't paying attention to them, Felicity walked to her computers and sat down, looking over her searches that were going slower than she would have liked.
"Felicity, hi," Oliver said and she couldn't help but notice how breathless he sounded due to the workout. There was also a hint of uncertainty that Felicity didn't quite know what to think of.
"Hi," she said, spinning around in her chair to face him. For a moment, her eyes zeroed in on his naked chest, but she forced herself to look away. Instead, her eyes settled on the other blonde who was watching her with amusement. "Sara," she acknowledged.
"Wolf," Sara nodded back.
Felicity grit her teeth, reeling in her temper. Since Sara had agreed to help them make the city safe again, the two of them had been having a difficult time trusting one another. Oliver was wary of the whole situation from what Felicity could sense, but he hadn't done anything to intervene whenever she and Sara had had a disagreement. Then again, most of the time, it was all just petty things they debated over. The thing that was making it difficult for them to work together was the fact that Sara was a trained huntress and Felicity was a hybrid. It seemed that Sara held the same hatred for Dark Ones that Oliver had had when she had first met him, but Felicity was patient enough to give the woman some time to adjust to them working together. Mostly, Sara kept her comments to herself, but sometimes she would address Felicity in the manner that she had done just now and it would send Felicity's head boiling.
She was more than just a wolf, damn it.
"Sara," Oliver warned and Felicity was surprised by the fact that he had actually said something this time around. Maybe it was because the three of them were alone tonight. Felicity had given Roy the night off to stay with Thea who was complaining about being left out again and Diggle had requested a night for himself. A part of Felicity suspected that it had to do with Lyla Michaels, but Diggle was a private person when it came to his love life. Still, seeing him smiling more often made her feel a lot better too and the happiness that Roy had found with Thea made her believe that it was possible for something good existing in all of their lives.
According to Roy, though, she could have something good too eventually. Felicity shook the thought away from her head, not wanting to think about Roy's suspicions about her and Oliver slowly developing a mate-bond. The way that he had spoken to her about it made it sound like the two of them were meant to be in the long haul, and yes, Felicity knew that she had felt unexplainably drawn to Oliver since the beginning of their partnership, but with how he had hurt her, she wasn't sure if she wanted them to be mates. Then again, the mate-bond was a curious thing and sometimes one didn't have much choice in the matter. Felicity's problem was that she had already allowed herself to grow closer to Oliver and if a potential bond existed, then it had most likely already begun to form.
With Sara's surprise arrival, Felicity was able to sense a change in Oliver. He seemed more agitated and on-edge than before; as if he was always watching his step. Felicity remembered how she had come to stand next to him when they had been discussing whether they should let Sara help them or not. That had also been one of those natural reactions that she didn't want to acknowledge. She knew that Sara and Oliver had a past and it was more than just him sleeping with his then-girlfriend's sister. He had clearly cared about Sara a lot and Felicity recalled how sad he had looked a good while ago when she had mentioned the blonde who had now come back from the dead. Felicity hated the fact that her inner wolf had reacted in such a way; coming to stand next to Oliver as if she was staking a claim on him. He wasn't hers to claim and he wasn't something she could just proclaim ownership over. He was a person and he was allowed to make his own choices.
And he had chosen to do his best to make amends with her.
Oliver had declared his wish to make amends with her and even though Felicity was reluctant due to how hurt she had been by him, she missed him. She would never admit it out loud, but having Sara there bothered her too. It wasn't that Sara was looking at Oliver in any particular kind of way. No, the thing that bothered Felicity was the way that the other blonde spoke to her and Roy. She seemed to talk down to them with only hatred in her voice and it made Felicity angry that she wasn't even giving them a chance to prove that they weren't like the other wolves that she must have encountered in the past.
"What's the plan for tonight, Felicity?" Oliver asked, shaking Felicity from her deep thoughts.
She blinked a couple of times, "Well, since it's just the three of us down here, I suppose that you and Sara will be going out and I'll be third-wheeling from here." Oliver stared at her and Felicity cringed at her choice of words. "You know what I mean," she said, noticing how Oliver's lips twitched as he nodded.
"It's just going to be us out there tonight then?" Sara wondered as she turned to Oliver.
"You heard what Felicity said," Oliver said.
"Yeah, but is she really going to be our only backup?" Sara asked, shooting Felicity a look which made her insides twist.
"You know what?" Felicity snapped, stepping toward Sara. "I am sick and tired of you talking to me like this."
"I'm not comfortable with having a wolf watching my back," Sara retorted.
"I'm more than a fracking wolf!" Felicity growled.
"Is that why your eyes are yellow right now?" Sara scoffed, hands balling into fists. "Or why your fangs are growing out?
"I'll show you fangs," Felicity hissed at the other blonde. Just as she was about to close the distance between them, she felt Oliver's hand on her elbow. She turned toward him, ready to yell at him too for stopping her and taking Sara's side. However, before she could do so, she took note of his dark gaze that was set on Sara.
"Stop," he said, but he was still looking at Sara. Felicity's heart sped up as she took him and his tense posture in. "Stop talking to her like that, Sara." Sara raised an eyebrow at him, looking confused. Oliver was still holding on to Felicity's elbow and she sighed to herself because annoyingly enough, it was having a calming effect on her.
"Oliver," Sara began, but he just shook his head at her.
"I don't want to hear another word. I've been watching you do this to her and Roy since you came back and for a while, I thought I'd just give you time to adjust to the idea of working with them. I can see that it's not working," Oliver said. "Felicity is a part of my team. She is my partner and Roy is her beta. I don't give a fuck if you were trained by assassins to hate every Dark One in existence, but I'm telling you now that Felicity and Roy are not Nightcrawlers. They are people and they are my people, so cut out the shit attitude or go back to Nanda Parbat."
A minute of silence followed and Felicity was too stunned to say anything. She kept looking at Oliver, but it seemed like he was set on just staring Sara down, who was frowning at him with her arms crossed. Finally, she nodded slowly.
"Okay," Sara said. "I'm sorry for treating you like crap."
In Felicity's ears, she couldn't hear much remorse there, but it was good enough for now. If Sara really was going to stick around, Felicity knew that she would come around on her own eventually.
"Good," Oliver said, finally letting go of Felicity's elbow as he walked over to get his suit. Felicity swallowed thickly, looking after him as he walked into the changing area before she turned back to Sara who was looking at her with narrowed eyes. It wasn't annoyance or anger there anymore, just confusion. Clearly, Sara had seen something which she hadn't been expecting and all of the sudden, Felicity's elbow felt as if it was on fire. She reached up and rubbed it subconsciously, wanting to remove the warmth that Oliver had left behind.
"I'm going to get dressed and head out," Sara told her. "Tell Oliver I'll meet him out there."
"Okay," Felicity nodded curtly. She walked over to her desk and took out a comm-link, handing it to Sara who put it in her ear. "Keep that in at all times," Felicity instructed.
Sara just nodded at her before turning away and walking off.
-§-
Oliver stepped out of the dressing room, looking around the Foundry. He only saw Felicity sitting by her computers, staring absentmindedly into space.
"Hey," he said softly as he approached her, "where's Sara?"
"She told me to tell you that she'll be waiting out on the streets," Felicity answered, turning to look at him.
He could see the wheels turning inside her head and he wondered what it was that she was thinking about. Oliver hated the fact that he had remained quiet for so long regarding Sara's treatment of her and Roy. He had tried talking to Sara about it when they had been alone, but he knew that her hatred for Dark Ones ran deep and it wasn't just based on some of the things they had gone through together on Lian Yu.
He still remembered when Sara had show up there, alive and well enough on the Freighter. They had spent time on the damned island together and fought off the creatures of the night that had roamed in the woods. Oliver had watched Sara become stronger, but they had become separated again and the second time, he had thought that he had lost her for good. Now that she was back though, Sara had shared with him where she had been for so many years. During his travels, Oliver had heard of the place called Nanda Parbat where the secret organisation of hunters resided. According to Sara, she had been found there by the daughter of the leader of the League of Assassins and she had been taken in and trained. That was where the difference between Oliver and Sara laid; she had been trained to hate Dark Ones, while Oliver's own dislike for them had been self-taught and later enhanced by the people he had met during his journeys.
Oliver didn't know whether Sara would be all right with him sharing where she had gotten her training, but he had told her that he wasn't going to keep secrets from his team. She hadn't liked the idea of Felicity and Roy knowing, though, Oliver kept insisting that they were a vital part of his team and that they too needed to know. Sara had simply sneered at him then and told him to do what he thought was necessary for them to let her work with them to make the city safe again. In the end, Oliver told them everything he knew about Sara and her return to Starling City. It was clear that she had come there to check on her family, but then gotten caught up in fighting the Dark Ones. She didn't know much about the Master, but she had agreed to help them find out what they could about him and they needed as much help as they could get.
"Uh, Oliver?"
He looked at Felicity, surprised to see that she had walked over to stand in front of him. Once again, he had fallen too deeply into his own mind. He needed to be more aware of his surroundings, or else it might cost him a great deal one day.
"Yes?" he asked, meeting her uncertain gaze.
"I just wanted to say thank you," Felicity told him, keeping her head high. "For standing up for me and Roy. You didn't have to do that just because I was close to losing my temper, but I still appreciate it."
"You had it under control," Oliver said, "but it's nothing. I told you where I stand. I won't let anyone hurt you, not even me."
For a moment, he was afraid that he had said the wrong thing because he could see the haunted look in Felicity's eyes as she swallowed thickly. He wanted to say something else to assure her that he knew that she was perfectly capable of handling herself, but he told himself to just remain quiet and let her lead the conversation. After all, this was probably the first time in a long while that she had been the one to initiate a conversation between the two of them.
"There's something else," Felicity said, brushing her hair behind her ear. Oliver wanted nothing more than to reach forward and do it himself, but he knew that he shouldn't. Still, the urge was there and it made his fingers itch.
"Is something wrong?" Oliver wondered.
"I… I guess I just wanted to say sorry for what happened in the lair a while ago," Felicity sighed, not meeting his eyes. "I never intended for Roy to find out about what happened and I didn't want him or the others to get involved in all of it."
What was she talking about? Did she know that Roy had come to talk to him? Had Felicity found out about Roy telling him about the mate-bond?
Oliver opened his mouth, but all of the sudden it felt dry and he didn't know what to say. Felicity still wouldn't meet his eyes though and even though he understood why, it bothered him.
"You're talking about…?" he drawled.
Felicity closed her eyes, turning her attention to him again. She tilted her head and looked up at him and the air felt a bit heavier.
"Him punching you," Felicity clarified. "I should have stepped in instantly but, well, you know," she shrugged.
He did know. If he had been in her spot, he too would have probably enjoyed watching the asshole who broke his heart get punched.
"It's okay," Oliver told her. "I deserved it."
"Not going to argue with that," Felicity said, her lips twitching. It made his heart race and he was beginning to feel a bit pathetic. It was amazing how much the realization that one loves a person can change things. The road to repair what they had would be long and it would take time, he knew that. He wasn't going to give up and whatever she gave him in the end of it all, he would be grateful to get.
"We should get going, right? I mean, Sara is waiting and we don't want her alone out there for too long," Felicity said, chuckling awkwardly, wringing her hands together.
"Yeah," Oliver agreed.
"Yeah," Felicity echoed, breathing out softly and offering him a small smile before turning around and walking back to her computers. Oliver watched her, letting out a breath of his own before heading out of the Foundry.
-§-
Everything was going okay, until it wasn't.
Oliver had met up with Sara and the two of them had patrolled the streets. Felicity wasn't sure why she hadn't seen it coming, because it was clear that Sara was far more impulsive than either of them. She had set out a route for Sara and Oliver which she knew would be safe, but Sara had heard something and gone off in the opposite direction. The following thirty minutes had been a whirlwind of events that had exhausted even Felicity.
Oliver had been fuming when they had returned to the Foundry and he had yelled at Sara for taking unnecessary risks. They had been ambushed by a small gang of made vampires and they had been forced to put them down. There had been quite a few moments where Felicity had been forced to shout directions at the two hunters because they hadn't seen the attackers coming from behind and Felicity was still trembling now that they were back safely in the Foundry.
"If you're going to stay with us, you're going to have to communicate, Sara!" Oliver yelled and Felicity couldn't remember if she had ever seen him as angry as he was at that moment. "We could have died out there, all because you decided to go rogue!"
"I told you that I heard a woman scream for help," Sara snapped back, but she didn't sound so sure of herself anymore.
"There were three female vampires in that group," Oliver said. "One of them must have screamed to get our attention. You screwed up and that's on you!"
"We got out of there, though, right?" Sara countered. "We killed them all."
"You just don't understand, do you?" Oliver scoffed, looking at her in disbelief. "If we had gotten killed-"
"We would have been killed fulfilling our mission," Sara said calmly.
Felicity stared at her and her mouth dropped open. From what she had understood, Sara had spent the past seven or so years being trained by a group of dangerous hunters called the League of Assassins. Still, Felicity couldn't believe that she had just spoken the words that she had. Did that mean that Sara wasn't afraid of dying? That she was willing to sacrifice herself for the greater good?
"I used to think that way too," Oliver said, his hands balling up into fists. "Now I know that it shouldn't be like that. We shouldn't be fighting to take down as many as we can with us. We should be fighting to make a better place that we too can live in."
"The girl I was before is gone, Oliver," Sara said, her stare hard.
"Gone does not equal dead," Felicity finally interjected. Her words gained the attention of both Oliver and Sara, who turned to look at her. Both of them went quiet and Felicity met Oliver's gaze for just a moment before he looked away. Felicity turned her attention back to Sara. The other blonde's jaw was clenched, but she kept her focus on Felicity.
"Just because you say that the girl you were before is gone, it doesn't mean that she's dead," Felicity said. "I've heard about you before… From Oliver, Thea… Laurel."
Something flickered in Sara's eyes and Felicity took a deep breath, hoping that she was getting through to her somehow.
"I don't know you from back then, and yeah, you've been a bitch to me and Roy since you came here, but I don't want you to get yourself killed out there because you think it's somehow your purpose," Felicity said. "If you've lived this long, then you're meant to keep going. There might be more in store for you than just being an assassin."
Silence filled the room for a while, until Sara spoke, "I know I was in the wrong. I just thought that someone needed help. I'm sorry." Her voice was short-clipped, but Felicity was still happy that she had apologized.
"Don't let it happen again, Sara," Oliver said. "Or I swear to everything that it'll be your final night on our team. I can't have a loose cannon with me. You need to control yourself."
"I will, I promise," Sara said and for the first time since she had met her, Felicity believed her. Oliver only nodded and walked away to get cleaned up. Felicity watched him go, stomach churning at the sight of blood sprayed over his face and body. It had been too close of a call and Felicity had felt sick throughout the entire fight. Every piece of her had been itching to get out of the lair and turn so that she could help them; help Oliver. No matter how angry or hurt she had been, she didn't want him to end up killed and despite the way that Sara had been acting toward her, Felicity knew that if the woman died, it would end up breaking Oliver.
"Eh, Felicity," Sara said, breaking her out of her thoughts.
Felicity looked at her, startled that the huntress actually used her name, "Yeah?"
"I just wanted to say thank you," Sara said. "For having my back out there tonight. There was a moment that surely would have ended with me dead if you hadn't told me to watch out. I owe you my life."
"Considering how little you think it's worth, I don't know what to think about what you just said," Felicity told her.
"I know," Sara said, a small chuckle escaping her lips. "I'll work on it, but I still owe you. I'll try to make all of this work."
"Okay," Felicity nodded, but she wasn't going to believe it until she actually saw it.
-§-
As the weeks passed, Sara began to prove herself to Felicity. A month after she had joined the team, the two of them had formed an understanding of sorts and they more than tolerated one another. They worked together and Sara kept back her demeaning comments about Roy and Felicity being wolves and somewhere along the line, they started respecting each other.
Felicity had to admit that it had been awkward in the beginning, but as the days passed, things got easier between them. She wouldn't go as far as to say that Sara was her best friend, but there was some kind of partnership there at least. Tommy had been dropping into the Foundry between meetings, but Thea still hadn't been allowed to come around. Felicity had taken to teaching the younger woman more about computers to keep her from complaining about not being welcomed back into the lair for such a long time. Oliver had been teaching her self-defence too whenever he could spare a moment and that was the main reason that Thea hadn't just come barging down into the lair. Besides, both Thea and Oliver had been very busy with their mother's trial that would be coming up soon. They had met with Laurel almost every day to discuss the various routes and options they had. Felicity could practically feel the tension rolling off of Oliver after every meeting, but he had taken to training with Diggle again, which was calming him down some.
There was still a lot of tension between Felicity and Oliver though. They kept walking the thin line between being partners and knowing that there had almost been something more. Felicity would sometimes catch Oliver watching her from a distance, but she couldn't exactly say anything to him about it since she had been staring at him too. Besides, ever since they got back from Russia, she had been having trouble sleeping.
Her nights were long and drawn out with nightmares. She felt trapped inside of them, lucid enough to know that they weren't real, but haunted by things that she knew that she had experienced. They were all from her time in captivity, though, some were more blurred than others and she couldn't always make sense of them when she woke up in cold sweat.
Roy had been distancing himself from her too. Well, he had been distancing himself as much as he could, by blocking her from reaching his mind during the full moon that had been and gone. She knew that he was upset with her for not speaking to Oliver about the mate-bond that he was convinced that the two of them shared, but Felicity wasn't ready to face that yet.
Things down in the Foundry were still tense between Oliver and Roy as well. Diggle and Tommy had also been disappointed with what Oliver had done back in Russia, but Felicity had told them all that she didn't want her and Oliver's personal issues to disrupt them when they worked together. So far, things had been going okay, but she could see the guilt that Oliver still carried on his shoulders whenever his eyes connected with hers.
A bit more than a month had passed since Sara had joined them but they still hadn't gotten any new clues regarding the Master. Yes, they had been catching Dark Ones left, right and center, but none of the wolves that they had confined had had any information to share regarding the mastermind behind the operation. It frustrated Felicity so much that she just wanted to get out on the streets on her own and try to find something. She felt as if she was missing a great piece of the equation and that it was all just hidden under the surface, somewhere deep inside her mind. There was no way for her to put her finger on it, but she knew that there was something blocking her thoughts.
To top it all off, they had other problems at hand too. There had been an attack at the airport a couple of days back. Civilians had been hurt, although, after that dead Dark Ones had started showing up at every corner of the city it seemed. There were only so many dead bodies that the SCPD could cover before the word got out and Felicity knew from keeping in constant contact with Detective Lance that things were only going to get worse.
-§-
"I did a facial scan on the mysterious woman at the airport but so far, no results," Felicity said.
Oliver sighed frustratedly, running a hand through his hair as he crossed his arms. Things couldn't by any means get any more complicated in his life at the moment. The only good thing that had happened this past week was that Sara and Felicity had formed some kind of understanding. They weren't exactly inseparable best friends, but they tolerated one another and didn't argue all the time. In fact, from what Oliver could see, there seemed to be some kind of understanding between the two. It seemed like Sara had understood that not all Dark Ones were out to get one. Oliver figured that one of the reasons that the two of them had gotten closer was also because Thea could no longer come to the Foundry since Oliver didn't want her knowing about Sara being alive. It was complicated and it all gave him a headache, but he knew he had to deal with it on his own because he was the one who was complicating things further.
He looked over at Felicity, his chest feeling empty as he took her in. She was looking over at Sara, but she wasn't speaking and he wondered what she was thinking about. He missed her and he wished that he hadn't gone and ruined things between them like he had. If he hadn't, she would most likely be talking to him right now instead of just keeping quiet. A part of him wondered if the two of them giving their friendship another go would actually work, but he knew that he needed to stay hopeful on the matter. Still, it was difficult considering that he knew how much he had hurt her feelings. He was torn between wanting to be with her and wanting to protect her from himself, but at the same time he knew that he couldn't live without her anymore.
"Why don't you go home, Oliver?" Felicity suggested. He looked at her curiously, not really understanding why she wanted him to leave now. It was still early. "Go home, have dinner with Thea and Roy. I'll give you a call if something turns up since I have nothing better to do anyway."
"Are you sure?" he asked.
Felicity nodded, "Yeah. Besides, Sara's here too, so if something happens, she can head out on the streets."
Oliver wasn't sure if he was making the right decision, but he knew that he had to trust Felicity's judgment. Finally he gave in and nodded. "Okay, but I want an update every half-hour."
"I'll send you a text every hour and that's the only update you'll be getting," Felicity said sternly. "Go spend time with your sister. Think about something else for a while. You clearly need it."
-§-
After managing to get Oliver to leave, Felicity turned to Sara. She had seen the look on Sara's face when she had showed her and Oliver the security footage of the woman who had attacked the people at the airport. Deep down, Felicity could tell that Sara knew more about it than she was letting on.
"So?" Felicity questioned, turning around in her seat to look at the other blonde. "Are you going to say anything now that it's just the two of us here?"
Sara raised an eyebrow at her, looking confused before her mouth drew up in a small smirk. "What's up with all this tension between you and Oliver?" Sara wondered bluntly, making Felicity pause.
"There's no tension," Felicity said, but she knew that it was a lie.
"Oh, yes there is," Sara stated. "In fact, it seems to be quite sexual as well."
"Trust me, there's nothing like that going on. Oliver is just my partner," she said. "We're partners, nothing more."
"Partners are supposed to trust one another," Sara said. "I can see that you're reluctant in every way when it comes to him, just as he is careful with you."
"I…" Felicity trailed off, hating how the conversation that she had tried to direct at Sara has somehow turned back on her again. "I believe in Oliver and what he does. That should be enough for now. I'm trying to be better, but it isn't easy to let go," she confessed.
Sara looked at her seriously, "Did Oliver pull an 'Ollie' on you?"
For the first time in a long while, Felicity let out a laugh, "You could say that, I suppose." She looked at Sara who looked apologetic. Felicity figured that it was because she too had been treated badly by Oliver in the past. Still, it was in the past and Felicity knew that Oliver had changed deep down. He wasn't the playboy that people had known him as before and she knew, deep in her heart, that he had really meant it when he had apologized to her. The two of them would just need time to fall back into their old ways and she would have to keep herself from thinking about him in any way other than friendship. It wouldn't be easy considering that the thoughts had already been implanted in her mind, but she had to try.
"Anyway, I don't want to talk about Oliver and me right now," Felicity said, shaking her head at her thoughts as she changed the subject. Sara looked at her curiously, but Felicity could see that it was all pretense. The woman clearly knew that Felicity had seen her reaction when she showed them the security footage earlier. "You know that woman, don't you?"
Sara was silent for a while, staring right at Felicity, her face carefully impassive. Felicity wasn't going to back down though. She knew what she had seen. There had been a flash of something in Sara's eyes, something which Felicity had seen a couple of times over the years. It was the look that someone had on their face when they unexpectedly saw someone they cared for.
Someone they loved.
Sara sighed, "Her name is Nyssa Al Ghul. You're not going to find that name in any database though. She's part of the League."
"The League of Shadows," Felicity noted, breathing out slowly as she tried to make sense of it all.
"Shadows, assassins, what does it matter?" Sara asked. "It's the League I work for and I didn't exactly ask for medical leave when I came here to Starling."
"Can you do that? Ask for medical leave…?" she trailed off when Sara gave her a look. "Never mind," she muttered. "But you're saying she's here because of you?"
Sara nodded, her posture tense. Felicity wondered if a part of her blamed herself for what had happened at the airport.
"Why didn't you just tell us?" Felicity asked. "We would have known what we're dealing with and maybe we could have figured out something together."
"And say what? That the woman I love has come looking for me and that she'll tear the city apart until she finds me?" Sara wondered.
"Oh, so this is a crazy-girlfriend-kind-of-thing," Felicity said. "First of all, I didn't know you were swinging that way, but it's a pleasant surprise. Secondly, do you have any way to contact her?"
"Nyssa isn't crazy," Sara said. "If anything, she's the most reasonable assassin in the League."
"Okay, but still," Felicity rolled her eyes. "On to my second question: Can you contact her somehow?"
Sara looked at her suspiciously, "Why?"
Felicity didn't know whether she should be honest or not. She'd heard things about the League and what they did to Dark Ones that crossed their path. They were made up stories about an organization that was so corrupted within itself that it tried to make itself out to be the good guys. The stories were about everything, from whole cities being destroyed to legends of mysterious waters… Felicity wasn't sure what to believe since most of it sounded like fiction. Then again, werewolves and vampires weren't considered to be real either, and yet here she was, a mixture of both.
"I've heard about what the League can do," Felicity started carefully.
"Then you should be looking the other way, not trying to set up a meeting with the Demon's daughter," Sara pressed.
"Is it true that they used to work with witches?" Felicity asked, ignoring Sara's look of concern. "That they have potions and things like that?"
"This isn't Harry Potter, Felicity," Sara deadpanned. "The League has had dabbling with witches, but since they went underground, they no longer do. Why are you asking this?"
"I've been having nightmares," Felicity finally admitted. "When Malcolm Merlyn set off his sound device, I… I had these visions."
"Visions?" Sara repeated. "Why are you saying this now? Does Oliver know?"
"I couldn't talk to him about it because then it would have become a thing. After everything else that happened between the two of us, we hardly needed another thing," Felicity said. "I wasn't sure what it was in the beginning, but I'm sure it's just under the surface. I can't reach it though. I've tried."
"Suppressed memories," Sara said. "From what?"
"My time in captivity," Felicity told her. "Everything about that is a big blur to me. There are pieces missing, I know it."
Sara looked at her again and Felicity was starting to get tired of all the silent thinking.
"I can get a hold of Nyssa," Sara finally nodded. "But if you want to meet with her, you're going to have to stand behind me. She isn't very welcoming when she senses that someone is a Dark One."
"You think she'll stab me?" Felicity asked with an uneasy chuckle.
Sara stared at her, "Do you remember when I met you the first time?"
Felicity's smile dropped as she nodded. "Okay," she said, "I'll stay behind you."
-§-
It wasn't even that late when they stepped into Big Belly Burger. If someone would have told Felicity that Sara would manage to get a hold of her girlfriend and get her to agree to come to a fast food restaurant in less than an hour, she would have probably laughed at the ridiculousness of it all.
What was even more ridiculous was the sight of Nyssa though, sitting calmly in one of the booths with her hands clasped over the table, a box of fries in front of her. Felicity's phone sounded and she took it out quickly. Oliver had texted her, asking her where she was and she replied with that she had to go home with Sara to get a change of clothes quickly. It wasn't a complete lie since they had stopped by her place to get Sara something to wear as a disguise. The other blonde was currently donning a wig that Felicity had bought on Halloween to mess with Roy and it looked moderately real under the trucker-hat she had over her head.
When she looked up again, she saw Nyssa and Sara embracing. The other woman looked like she hadn't been sleeping for a while and for just the fraction of a second, all that tension in her seemed to have melted away when she had Sara in her arms. It didn't last long though, because when she opened her eyes again, her eyes settled on Felicity and with the fire burning in them, Felicity almost reacted by taking a step back.
Sara had told her not to show weakness and to keep her head high. They had talked about how things would go down and Felicity could see Sara tightening her grip on Nyssa. Felicity's eyes moved down and she saw that Nyssa was holding a dagger in her hand. It was sticking out from inside her coat, but as Sara whispered to her, she tucked it inside her sleeve again.
Felicity breathed out, trying to remain focused on her surroundings. The two women pulled apart and Sara motioned for Felicity to step forward.
"Why don't we sit down?" she suggested, looking from Nyssa to Felicity.
Felicity nodded at her, not taking her eyes off of Nyssa who slowly sat down again, taking one of her fries and putting it in her mouth. Sara sat down next, opposite Nyssa and Felicity took her place next to her in the booth.
"What is the meaning of this, Sara?" Nyssa asked and Felicity was surprised by the hostility in her tone for a moment. Then she realized that she was glaring at Felicity while speaking to Sara, so maybe her tone wasn't so surprising after all. "You run away from the League, from me, and then I find you with a Dark One? A hybrid, nonetheless."
"Felicity isn't like the others, Nyssa," Sara said calmly. "It took me a while to see it, but you have to trust me on this."
"They are all the same," Nyssa insisted, her voice dark as she narrowed her eyes. "The League tried to control wolves before, but it didn't work. They were savages hundreds of years ago and are still savages today."
"Wolves are not meant to be controlled," Felicity said, a growl escaping her despite her trying to stay calm. "The ones that I've known over the years have all integrated themselves in the human world. We were fine."
"You are no wolf, though," Nyssa stated. "Not anymore."
"I was turned against my will," Felicity told her. "I didn't want to be what I am."
For some reason, this made Nyssa pause. Her gaze moved to Sara who stayed silent as she nodded her confirmation.
"This is a first," Nyssa admitted. "I've never heard a hybrid say that they didn't want to be turned."
"Well, I can bet that you never heard one out long enough to hear their story," Felicity muttered.
Nyssa smirked, "Your bluntness amuses me."
Felicity leaned forward, over the table, "It's not meant for your amusement, it's the truth."
Nyssa eyed her for another moment. "Why are you here, little wolf?" she asked. "Why did Sara set up this meeting?"
Felicity looked at Sara then, silently asking her to help her. The woman bit her lip and turned to Nyssa. "I have been helping Felicity and her team try to look for the one they call the Master," she said. "Felicity escaped from him after being turned. She's been trying to piece together everything that she knows, but it's been difficult for her."
"The Master?" Nyssa frowned. "That is not the first time I've heard the name."
"You know who he is?" Felicity's eyes brightened.
"No," Nyssa shook her head. "There have been whispers though, about a hybrid army being built in secret."
"Why hasn't the League tried to intervene then?" Felicity asked. "Why haven't you done anything to stop it?"
"Starling City is one of the few places the League considers to be a lost cause," Nyssa admitted. "After the Undertaking, the city has become a hotspot for Dark Ones. If the League were to intervene now, we'd just even the city with the ground and let the humans rebuild."
"Kill thousands of innocents?" Felicity stared. "I thought you were supposed to protect mankind, not destroy it."
"The organization has been corrupted," Sara stated, sounding unimpressed. "Nowadays, it's more about killing Dark Ones, no matter the price. No one cares about humanity anymore."
"We're falling off topic," Nyssa said, sounding irritated. "What exactly do you want me to do? I had to convince my father to let me come here to bring Sara back. He wanted to send other League-members after her, but I knew they would just kill her. The longer I stay here, the more people he will send and the more people he sends, the bigger the risk of him learning just how bad Starling City has gotten."
They were clearly running out of time here. If the League did come to Starling City, Felicity was sure that there would be no way to save the city.
"My memories of my time in captivity," Felicity said. "I need them."
Nyssa frowned again. "Your memories have been suppressed? Taken from you?" she questioned.
"I don't know," Felicity said. "All I know is that the Undertaking triggered something inside of me. I saw things that I can't remember fully and I need to know what happened to me when I was turned."
"You think you've been compelled," Nyssa realized, voicing the thoughts that Felicity hadn't wanted to admit to herself.
"Maybe," she said.
Nyssa took another fry and put it in her mouth, pushing the box toward Felicity who looked at it hesitantly. "I might have something that can help you remember," Nyssa said. "It's a drinkable truth serum that the League uses when interrogating people. It comes from a desert flower with no name, but it's effective."
"But if Felicity has been compelled…" Sara frowned, trailing off.
"I don't know for sure what would happen, but if it's your only lead, it might be worth the risk," Nyssa said. "It would put you in a state between consciousness and sleep, letting you reach down in your subconscious to find your answers."
"It would be dangerous. Painful even," Sara said and Felicity could hear it in her voice that she didn't like the idea.
"I would agree to lead you through it and not cause you any harm if Sara agrees to return to the League with me," Nyssa told Felicity. "I'd give you my word."
Felicity bit her lip, closing her eyes. If this really was the only way to find out the truth, what choice did she have? She knew what she had to do, but she needed to tell Oliver too before agreeing to it.
"Sara?" she asked, looking at the other blonde.
"I don't know, Felicity," she said. "I have to return to the League either way, but this has to be your choice."
Felicity looked at Nyssa again, worry and dread seeping through her when she thought about what she'd have to do.
-§-
Felicity wished he would say something. In fact, she wished anyone would say anything, but Diggle, Roy and Tommy were just staring at her, just as Oliver was. Although, Diggle, Roy and Tommy's expressions were more looks of concern, whereas Oliver looked more pissed than he had ever looked before.
She had called an emergency meeting in the lair and she hadn't wasted any time to tell them what she and Sara had been up to. She wasn't sure whether it was the fact that she was thinking about taking Nyssa's serum that had Oliver angry, or if it was her going behind his back with Sara and meeting with Nyssa in the first place.
"I don't know what to say," Roy admitted, but Felicity could sense that he didn't like the idea of her taking anything to remember.
"You've been getting visions and you haven't said anything about it?" Tommy questioned.
"Well, it's more like memory flashes, but-"
"Does it even matter?" Oliver snapped, interrupting her. Felicity turned to him, lips pressed together. "How could you go off and meet with a member of the League just like that? Without telling anyone?"
"I was with Sara," Felicity said, annoyance building in her. "We need to focus on the important thing here. Nyssa has agreed to help me if I take the serum. We can finally get the answers that we've been looking for, Oliver!"
"We don't know that!" Oliver countered, stepping toward her. "We don't know if this is just a ploy to kill you! Nyssa clearly doesn't like Nightcrawlers and unfortunately, in her eyes, you are one!"
"She gave me her word," Felicity said, eyes glowing. "Sara promised that she'd go with her if she helps me. Nyssa has nothing to gain from killing me because she knows that Sara considers me a friend!"
Oliver stepped into her space, but she wasn't going to back down. She could sense that everyone else in the room was starting to get nervous.
"Oliver, we might need to think about this," Diggle said, trying to stand between them.
"I am not willing to risk your life, Felicity," Oliver said.
"But I want to do it and the final decision should be mine," Felicity said. "I've told you so many times now that we're supposed to work as a team. If you want to earn my trust back, you need to trust me too!"
"I do trust you," Oliver growled at her. "I trust you with my life, but I don't want you to risk yours for something that's not even a certain way to get answers!"
"There's still a chance, Oliver," Felicity said, voice softening. She took a step toward him, acting on instinct as she cupped his cheeks, forcing him to look into her eyes. For a moment, she forgot that everyone else was in the foundry with them. "If there's even the smallest of chances that we'll get a lead, we have to do this." Oliver stared at her and she could feel the tension rolling off of him. He was angry and upset, the worst combination for him, but she had to make him see.
Tommy cleared his throat, "Sorry to tell you this, but this has to be a team vote, I think. We should vote on it and then Felicity will know our opinion, but then she can decide what to do because it's her brain after all."
Oliver placed his hands over Felicity's and began shaking his head. He pulled away from her and Felicity was left staring at him as he took a step away from her.
"I've said what I've had to say," Oliver told her. "I don't want you to do this."
Felicity looked at him, swallowing thickly. She hated not having his support on this, but what else could she do than turn to the others? Roy slowly shook his head when he met her eyes and she could see that he was actually ashamed of disagreeing with his alpha.
"It's a risk," Diggle said. "It should be up to you, but I'm actually with Oliver on this one. We have no guarantees that it will work."
Felicity shook her head at them all because it didn't matter what they said. Even if she got Tommy on her side, no one else wanted her to do this and she would be going against everybody else if she did it.
But she didn't have a choice. She knew it and when she looked over at Sara who had remained silent through it all, she saw that the other blonde knew it too.
"I need some air," Felicity said, shaking her head as she pushed past them.
"Felicity-" Roy started, but he flinched back when Felicity turned to him with her eyes glowing golden, canine teeth glimmering as she growled at him.
"Stay," she ordered and the young man lowered his head like a child that was being reprimanded.
Felicity walked out of the Foundry and into the parking lot, breathing in the cool night air as she tried to clear her head. She heard someone step up behind her and she took a deep breath again, recognizing Sara's scent.
"I understand that you feel like you might not have a choice in this," Sara said, "but you need to think things through. Your team is right."
"It's been months, Sara," Felicity said. "I've been here for over a year and we haven't learned anything yet. We thought it was Malcolm because my memories were messed up. We were lead down the wrong path because of me."
"And now it's only right you correct it, isn't it?" Sara said. "Is that what this is all about? You feeling like less of a screw-up because someone messed with your memories?"
"I need to know what they did to me," Felicity hissed, turning to look at the other blonde. "Do you know what it feels like? To know that they did something to me but not being able to remember? It's all messing with my head and I need to know, Sara."
A couple of moments passed in silence. Sara crossed her arms, turning away from her. "You've already made up your mind," Sara stated and Felicity didn't have to say anything.
The look she gave Sara just confirmed her thoughts.
-§-
Oliver removed his jacket, feeling heavy. He had finally made it back to the mansion but anger was still running through his veins. He was worried about Felicity, who had disappeared, but he knew that she needed a moment to cool down. Sara had gone after her to check on her and he had forced himself to fight the urge to follow her too. He wouldn't be very helpful considering that he was still upset that Felicity would even think about taking that truth serum that Nyssa Al Ghul of all people had offered her.
He knew that his and Felicity's relationship had been messed up since Russia, but it angered him more than anything that she hadn't talked to him about all of this before. Why was he only now finding out that she suspected that someone might have used compulsion on her to keep her memories locked up? What kind of a Dark One would one have to be in order to have such a powerful ability?
He remembered what Felicity had told him about compelling people. She had never had the ability, apparently, and sometimes she even believed it to be a myth. Yet, it would be the only explanation for how she wasn't able to remember all the details about being captured. They had always just assumed that it was because she had been in and out of consciousness, but maybe there really was more to it?
Oliver removed his shirt and then laid back on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. He almost wished that he could have thought logically about all of this, but when it came to Felicity, he no longer could. His feelings for her ran deep and he wasn't willing to risk her life, especially not when he might not be able to do anything to help her.
Thunder sounded outside and he could hear the rain as it began pouring down. Lightning illuminated the room for a few seconds and then the lights went out. He blinked a couple of times, letting his eyes adjust to the darkness. Thea was already asleep and he was sure the power was just acting up because of the storm.
He listened to the rain, the tapping against the window…
Oliver paused, frowning.
Tap, tap. Knock, knock.
He sat up straight and turned toward the balcony door, just as another bolt of lightning lit up the sky. On the other side of the glass, he could see Sara in her suit, hair plastered to her face as she knocked on the door to get his attention. Oliver stood and hurried to the balcony, his stomach already dropping as he pulled on his shirt and his jacket again. There was only one reason Sara would come here and risk being seen by Thea.
"What happened?" Oliver asked hurriedly as he let Sara in.
"Felicity did it," Sara said. "She went to meet Nyssa at the clock tower and she took the serum."
Oliver's heart hammered in his chest as he stared at the woman in front of him. He wanted to scream at her for letting Felicity take the damn thing, but he knew that there was nothing to do now. He had to be with Felicity. He had to watch over her in any way that he could.
"I'll take my bike and meet you down the road," Oliver told Sara as he grabbed his keys, hurrying down to the garage.
As he drove through the gates, he was already soaked to the bone, but he could only think about getting to Felicity as fast as possible.
Note: Uh-oh... What has our lovely hybrid gotten herself into now? Well, good news is that the next chapter most likely won't be very long, which means that I'll hopefully get it out soon! I have an exam on Friday though, so I won't be able to write much until the weekend. You can find me on twitter if you have any questions or just need to talk (Sugar_Pepper666). I'm also on tumblr (author123456).
I hope you enjoyed the chapter and if there were any mistakes in there, I'm sorry, because I didn't really have time to read through it since I just wanted to post it. (I've been live-tweeting all night as I've been writing. So I apologize to the ones who suffered while I wrote, like, ten pages!) Comments are always golden and appreciated! :)
Thank you so much for reading and supporting me! xx
