Climbing the stairs became harder and harder as she reached the top. At the last step, she stopped to catch her breath, all of her adrenalin was gone. Sighing she made her way to the master bedroom. Pushing the door open, she sees Oliver standing by his dresser taking his watch off and putting it away.
Not looking up from the watch Oliver asks, "Hey, did you get your proposal done?"
Felicity doesn't answer, instead makes her way over to the bed.
"Felicity?" he asks turning around to face her. When he sees the sad look he immediately goes over to her. "Hey what's going on?" he tilts her chin up. "Hey what happened to your cheek?"
"It's nothing, Oliver."
He cups her cheek. "That doesn't look like nothing to me. Who did this to you?"
"Oliver leave it alone, I'm tired."
"Felicity. Who hit you?" Realizing she's not getting out of this, she sighs and begins to tell him.
"Your mother and I got into a little confrontation" she says avoiding his eyes.
"My mother did this to you?" he seethes.
"Oliver, I can handle it."
But he doesn't listen and clenches his fists and his jaw and walks to the door with purpose.
"Oliver, don't" she says grabbing his arm.
"Felicity, stay here." And without another word, he walks out of the room and down to the living room. When his eyes reach the open living room, he sees Moira staring into the fire. "What the hell is wrong with you?"
Moira looks up from the flames with wide eyes when she hears her son's angered voice.
"Oliver?"
"You cannot just walk into MY house and hurt my wife."
"Oliver, I didn't do anything of that nature."
"Then why is her cheek bright red, and about to bruise? And if you say she's lying, I will stop you right there, because if there's anything I know about Felicity, it's that she's a terrible liar."
She purses her lips and turns her gaze back to the fire.
"Well then she shouldn't have tested me" she mutters.
"What is your problem with her? She is literally the perfect woman for me. She's smart, strong, not afraid to speak her mind. So, what is it, huh?" He takes small but determined steps towards her. "Because Moira Queen never has a grudge on someone, just because."
Sharply turning her attention to her son, she squares him up. Oliver crosses his arms and has his head tilted up defensively, knowing that while he loves his mother, he will defend his wife with everything in him.
Seeing the challenge in his stance, she decides to take a softer approach. "I guess I'm just confused. Oliver the last time I saw you, you were careless and could not make up your mind to save your life. You and Laurel were on good terms and I thought that you were finally going to grow up and ask her to marry you. But then I find out that the woman in your life is not Laurel at all, but someone I don't know. I'm just trying to figure out what could have changed so drastically in the last few years for you to create a life that is unrecognizable. I mean you are the Mayor, and she's running 'our' company."
"Then why not ask me?" he asks desperately.
"I didn't know how to" she says looking down.
"But harassing my wife, was a better option?"
She doesn't say anything at the remark. Closing his eyes, he brings his fingers to his temples.
"You know I would have expected this from Laurel, but not you."
"Well I'm sorry if I wanted to protect my son."
"Protect me from what, mom? From a petite blonde that I've known for the last 7 years?"
She advances a few steps on him. "She's hiding something, and I mean Vegas girls aren't really your type, unless… Did she trap into a marriage?" She turns and begins to speak to herself. "That makes sense, I mean that would explain why you married a low life- "
"Mother!" Anger is radiating off him at this point, he hasn't felt this much anger towards this woman since she threatened Felicity to keep Thea's parentage a secret. "First of all, Felicity may be from Vegas, but she is far from it. And second of all she did NOT trap me into this marriage, as a matter of fact I was the one who asked her to marry me, several times if I might add. Felicity might not be Laurel, but she is by far the best thing that's ever happened to me."
Seeing the sincerity in his eyes, she softens up a bit, but she's still not convinced.
"Oliver, Sweetheart, I- "
Instead of letting her go into her signature half apology, Oliver walks up dangerously close to her.
"And if you EVER call Felicity a low life again, I promise you, those will be the last words you speak to me."
Not waiting for her response, he turns around and goes up the stairs and back to Felicity.
When he walks through the door, he sees her sitting under the covers and looking down at her hands resting in her lap.
"How much of that did you hear?"
"Enough."
Knowing words aren't going to comfort her, he joins her in bed, pulls her to his chest, and kisses the crown of her head.
"I love you. Always have, Always will."
The next morning, Thea and Roy walk through the door laughing and holding hands. When they reach the door to the dining room, they immediately stop.
"We just walked into a freaking battle front, I can feel the tension seeping through the air." Thea said.
"I wonder what happened" Roy said looking at the death glares and loss of eye contact going on around the room.
"I don't know but some bad shit went down last night" Tommy says coming to stand by them."
"What do you mean"? Thea asks.
"All I heard was Oliver yelling at Moira. Something about her slapping Felicity or something."
"She slapped Felicity?" Thea asked in disbelief.
"No wonder Oliver's jaw is so tight, and has that 'beat the crap out of someone' look in his eye."
"No, this one's more like 'I want to murder someone'" Thea whispers to him.
"No, his eyes are dark but they're not that dark, clearly you've never seen him in action."
"You take that back, I have too" she says slapping his chest and playfully glaring at him.
"Oh ok, so you've seen your brother on a murder spree?"
Her mouth opens but nothing vocally comes out.
"Ah ha, got you."
All while the two lovebirds are flirting, Tommy is listening with wide eyes, not knowing whether to believe them or not.
"Aunt Thea! Uncle Roy!"
"Tommy" Thea says going over to her nephew who is currently waving a piece of watermelon stuck on his fork.
"What?" Tommy whispers and shakes his head in disbelief when Roy follows her.
Thea picks the little boy up and showers him with kisses. "Well hello my favorite little boy in the world."
Roy stands behind her and catches Felicity's eye. "You ok?" he mouths.
She slightly nods and puts on a small smile, and Roy turns his attention to the man beside her to confirm her answer. The only thing Oliver gives him is a look that says 'we'll talk later'.
"Thea, this is a nice surprise" Moira says laying her fork down and turning to her daughter.
Looking up from the kisses she's giving little Tommy, she only responds with a glare to her mother.
"Thea, Roy would you like some breakfast?'" Oliver asks getting up from his seat.
"Breakfast!" Little Tommy says pumping his arm in the air.
"Yeah, we got it" Roy says leading Thea, who still has Tommy in her arms, to the kitchen.
When they're out of sight, the room goes back to pure silence, with Felicity and Tommy looking down at their plates and Laurel with a smug look plastered on her face looking at Felicity. Robert finally breaks the silence.
"Moira, may I speak with you for a second? Alone." Robert stands up and never leaves eye contact with her.
"But darling, I'm not done with my omelet."
"Now."
Huffing, Moira stands as well and follows Robert out of the room.
Robert holds the door open for his wife and ushers her into the room they have been sharing. When she is in the middle of the room, he closes the door and turns back to her.
"Is there a reason you brought me up here?" she asks with her arms crossed to her chest.
"Yes, there is. What you did last night was extremely inappropriate. Just because Felicity is not Laurel does not mean, she's not a good match for Oliver. Moira, this is your problem, you always try to manipulate our children's lives."
"I do not…"
"I'm not done yet. You try to control every situation to the tee and when it doesn't go your way you throw a fit. Felicity is a good woman, she's makes Oliver happy, she's a good wife, a good mother. How do you not see that?"
"She's a threat. No person is that good and innocent Robert. She's hiding something, and I am going to find out what it is."
"Moira, you are walking on thin glass. Have you even thought about the reason why our grandson doesn't know us? Because I have, and I fear that this behavior is the very reason why. Look at me."
She doesn't comply at first and folds her arms over her torso, so he gently grabs her chin.
"Look at me. Now you're going to listen to me very carefully. You are going to apologize to her."
She scoffs at the very idea of apologizing to that woman.
"Don't scoff at me, you have done enough damage and this time you can't make a phone call and make this all go away. This time you're damage control and you are going to fix this."
"And if I don't? "she challenges.
"You will. And you want to know why? Because if you don't, our son will never forgive you and frankly neither will I." Without another word he exits the room with his shoulders tense.
Later that night, after everyone has gone to bed, Oliver wipes the granite counter top for the last time. He lays the towel on the oven handle, when his little boy comes into the kitchen rubbing his eyes and carrying a blue blanket.
"Daddy?"
"Tommy, what are you doing up? It's bedtime."
"Can't sleep" he says with a little pout he inherited from his mother.
Oliver walks over to the little boy and picks him up. "What do you mean you can't sleep? Everyone else is."
"No" then toddler says crossing his arms in defiance.
Sighing, Oliver says, "Alright, I guess you can watch some baseball with daddy."
"Yay" the little boy says throwing his arms in excitement.
"I will take that as a yes" Oliver says walking them to the living room.
Getting settled in, Oliver plays the game he missed that day, while Tommy leans on his side out like a light within 15 minutes. Oliver looks over, and smiles at the sight of his little boy clutching his blanket tightly to his chest and his mouth slightly opened.
After another 10 minutes, Oliver's about to call it a night, when someone enters.
"You're still up."
"That sounded more like a statement than a question." Oliver says meeting his friend's eyes.
"That's because it was, this just proves that you aren't as old as you look."
"Ha, ha, it's nice to see that humor of yours never left."
"It hurts that you doubt my ability to get out of any situation with a single joke."
"No doubt, just relief." Oliver's eyes go soft, and then he quickly breaks contact to turn back to the game.
Tommy steps closer into the room and decides to change the subject.
"So, where did you learn how to fight like that?" When Tommy asks the question, Oliver tenses up and tries to think of something to tell his friend.
"Umm, I've been taking self-defense classes."
"And self-defense classes teach you how to throw a sword like that or how to shoot a bow and arrow like that."
Thinking he got caught he says the first thing that comes to his mind, "Their old school like that."
"Right" his friend says taking a seat on the opposite side of the sofa. Changing the subject, Tommy gets straight to it. "So, Felicity's great."
Smiling Oliver nods "Yeah she is, isn't she?"
"I'm not gonna lie, it is kind of weird to see her rather than Laurel here, not that I have anything against Felicity, it's just seemed like a done deal."
"Yeah, well as time went on, actually after meeting Felicity I realized that what Laurel and I had was nothing compared to what I have with Felicity. And I know that sounds bad, but it's just when I met her I felt things I never felt with Laurel, I saw things that I never saw with Laurel."
"What things?"
"Well like, when I make mistakes or lie to Felicity, the guilt eats me alive. I would do anything for her forgiveness. As with Laurel I would never feel guilty, no matter how many times I cheated on her. And I know that's bad to say, but it's the truth."
"Yeah, well the truth hurts sometimes right?" Tommy says trying to ease the tension.
"And you said you could see things with her?"
Giving a small smile Oliver said, "Yeah, I could see a future with her. With Laurel, my future was already planned, take over my father's position, have kids, a big house, and so on. But with Felicity, we got to plan it together, and that's when I realized that I wanted it all, the wife, the kids, the house…"
"And you got it all" Tommy says.
"Yeah, I did and it was the best decision I have ever made" he says laying a kiss on his sleeping son.
"I'm happy for you Ollie."
"Thank you, Tommy, that means a lot coming from you."
"Your welcome buddy."
The next afternoon Felicity is taking a nap with her little man, when Laurel corners Tommy.
"Laurel" Tommy says surprised.
"We need to talk" she says pulling him down to the stairs to the living room.
"What is going on? Slow down Laurel."
When they get to the threshold, he sees Robert, and Moira sitting on the sofa.
"Where's Oliver?" Tommy asks as Laurel walks to the middle of the room.
"He left, something about Mayoral duties."
"I still can't believe he's the Mayor" Tommy mutters.
"I don't think any of us can" Robert says.
"Focus" Laurel snaps.
"What is so important, I was about to go lounge out by their beautiful pool. I mean have you seen that thing, it was made for me."
"I am not the only one who has noticed that Oliver won't let us leave this tower. The question is why? Their hiding something."
"What do you propose?" Moira asks intrigued.
"We leave and go find out why."
"Laurel, you heard what Oliver said it could be dangerous."
"I agree with Tommy on this, if Oliver is telling us not to leave this place, I'm sure its for a good reason."
"No offense Robert, but I cannot stand being stuck in this stuffy home another minute, now are you coming with me or not?"
"I'm in" Moira says tilting her chin up in approval.
"This is a very bad idea."
Laurel gets close to him. "Oh, come on Tommy, you can't honestly look me in the eye and tell me you're not the least bit curious about the future."
He bites his lip, tempted at the offer. "I mean it would be nice to see where I ended up."
"That's the spirit, then let's go" she says grabbing his hand and leading them out the door.
Oliver is sitting in the conference room listening to the board discuss the new developments for the Glades. A knock on the door, interrupts the rooms concentration. Quentin emerges from behind the door. "I'm sorry to interrupt Mayor Queen, but you have a phone call."
Sensing the urgency in the older man's tone, Oliver excuses himself and steps out.
"What's going on?"
Quentin hands the phone.
"Hello?"
"Oliver, so you know how you told us to call you if we came across anything unusual?"
"What is it Cisco?"
"Well there seems to be a bank robbery at Star Union."
"What does that have to do with me? Let the police handle it." He says in a tight voice.
"I would but its Mirakuru soldiers."
Realizing the situation at hand, Oliver presses his lips together causing his forehead to crease in frustration. "I can't leave. But… Barry can. Send Barry, you think he can do it without backup?"
"Pfft, I mean, they don't call him the Flash for nothin."
"Cisco go with him."
"Alright, if you insist, but I'll have to call Felicity to run coms- "
"Don't bother Felicity, she didn't sleep well last night, is there anyone else who could take over coms?"
"I can" Caitlyn says.
"Alright, keep me updated, and try not to cause too much damage."
"You do realize we're battling super soldiers, right?"
"Just stop them." And with that Oliver hangs up the phone, collects himself and goes back into the conference room.
AT STAR UNION:
"GET DOWN! MOVE & I'LL SHOOT!"
15 Mirakuru men dressed in all black, aim their guns at the civilians laying fearfully on the floor. A man moves and one of the Mirakuru soldier fires his gun. Before the bullet reaches the mans chest, it is caught.
"I don't know where you come from but where I'm from it's not nice to shoot people."
"Yeah did you not learn in school? Guns, Bad." Cisco says walking out of his breech.
"What are you doing here?"
"Oliver said you might need backup, and you know what they say."
"No, what do they say?"
"Always do what Oliver says."
"Can't argue with that" Barry mutters.
The sound of shots being fired, breaks them from their reverie, and springs them into action. After a few minutes, they fell into a rhythm, Barry would get people out and Cisco would hold the bad guys off. Which was harder than it looked, these guys were strong.
When everyone was safely out of the bank, they both finished taking down the soldiers. A few were casualties but most of them escaped.
A few moments before the bank heist is happening, a few blocks away, Laurel and the rest of the crew are walking down the street.
"Well I have to say not a lot has changed, maybe the haircuts, I mean what is that thing on that dude's head?"
"I think that would be a bun" Laurel says responding to Tommy's observation.
"That's just weird."
On the other end of the group, Moira looks back for what feels like the tenth time since in the last five minutes.
"What seems to be the problem Moira?" Robert asks.
"It's the way those people are looking at me."
"What's different? We are Queen's after all."
"No, they're looking at me like I've done something terrible and I have been shunned or something."
"Your just being paranoid dear." He says continuing to take in the beautiful day.
"I know what you mean, I'm getting a strange vibe as well" Laurel says looking around, and feeling like a thousand people are staring at her.
Before she can say anything else, they hear screams up ahead.
"What was that?" Laurel asks.
"I don't know, but we should go check it out." Tommy said already jogging to the crowd up ahead.
"Sure, that's what you do when you hear screams, run towards it" Laurel mutters.
Right before Barry leaves, he catches a glimpse of four familiar faces.
"Oh crap"
"What? We just saved the day.
"Do those four faces look familiar?" Barry asks pointing them out.
"Double crap, those look like- "
Without thinking, Barry super speeds them back to the house.
"What the- "Laurel starts
"How did we- "
"I don't know" Moira says.
And the mystery continued, because before they could process what was going on, Barry was already on his way to the Mayor's office.
"Reports say that everyone made it out safely and the only casualties were a few of the bad guys. But the odd thing that caught everyone's attention was the man- or should I say men behind today's rescue. It seems The Flash has made a pit stop in Star City and we couldn't be more grateful- "
Oliver shuts the T.V. off.
"Well it looks like, Bart came in handy after all."
"It's Barry and Yes, he did."
A gush of wind appears in the office, and then comes to a stop.
"Speak of the devil."
"Good job, you saved the day. Did they steal anything? What did they want?"
"I'm not completely sure on that, but we have a bigger problem."
"What?"
"Your family was there."
"What?!"
"And when I say family, I mean your parents, Laurel- "
"BARRY! What did they see? More importantly did people see them?"
"Umm, I'm going to say yes."
Closing his eyes, he brings his fingers to his temples. "Where are they now?"
"Back at your place, and they probably don't know how they got there now that I think about it."
"Thank you, Barry."
Foot thuds can be heard throughout the house as Oliver makes his way to the place he knows where all four of them reside. Entering the living room, he goes in hot.
"What were you thinking?"
"What were we thinking? We wanted answers." Laurel said standing up.
"So, you went behind my back and left the house, after I specifically told you not to."
"You didn't actually think we were going to be stuck here all day and night, and like it did you?" She says getting up close and personal with him.
"Yes Laurel, call me Naïve, but I wanted you safe. But I should have known, you've never been one to take orders. Your reckless Laurel."
"Screw you, Ollie."
"Oliver, why were those people staring at me in disgust?"
"Yes, they all did seem to act a little odd around us."
'What's going on Ollie?"
'Yeah, what are you hiding Oliver?"
All the questions bombarded him, all at the same time and he loses it.
"BECAUSE YOU ARE ALL DEAD."
