A/N: Just so you all know, things are going to start getting really complicated for all the characters in this story, so please bear with me. If anything confuses you guys or if you have any questions about this story, feel free to ask me in a review or send me a PM. Thank you for reading and please review. I hope you all enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it.

P.S. – Remember, I picture Queen Latifah as Tabitha White/White Tiger.

Chapter Six: Rust & Stardust

"Night is purer than the day; it is better for thinking and loving and dreaming. At night everything is more intense, more true. The echo of words that have been spoken during the day takes on a new and deeper meaning."

-Elie Wiesel

The next morning Roy made the phone call to Sin in the hopes of convincing her to get him a meeting with Catwoman. His explanation had been that he needed help that his Arrow friend had been unwilling to provide. Suffice it to say it had been rather easy to get Sin to give the Catwoman a call. So, there Roy sat at the bar in Verdant waiting for his friend to call back. He had been unwilling to go back down into the Foundry – the Lair – with the rest of their…group. He had stopped calling them a team when Felicity had left. It just wasn't the same without her and it was even harder to actually be in the Foundry when she was absent.

When Felicity had woken at one o'clock in the afternoon that Wednesday afternoon – since she stayed up till about three/four AM every single night, she often slept in past noon – to her phone ringing with a call from Sin, she had not expected their conversation would be about Roy. It was suspicious that Roy wanted to meet with the Catwoman; Felicity had a feeling it had to do with Oliver wanting to know who the new vigilante was invading his precious city; which was why she planned to go to this particular meeting as her new self. Not as Catwoman…not as the old naive Felicity – IT Girl Friday – but as the new her that had been reborn the night Moira Queen had pushed her out that window all those months ago.

Felicity had been very careful when she'd decided to let Sin help her even if it was in the smallest ways of simply being her eyes and ears in the Glades. Back in Gotham, a young officer by the name of John Black – a younger white version of Digg – acted as her eyes and ears there. She had given both a special burner phone that was untraceable, plus, neither actually new her real identity as Felicity Smoak, they simply knew her as Catwoman with and without the mask.

The phone call was short and to the point. She had agreed to meet with Roy in a few hours later that evening right before she planned to go on her regular patrol. As she hung up her cell phone and turned onto her back in her comfy bed – the sheets were a bright red silk and the comforter was a simple thick white cloud-like cover – and sighed. It was the precise knocking sound coming from her front door that pushed her out of bed and to wake fully. The dark black lingerie nightie that she had worn to bed was a little to showy to answer the front door so she grabbed her black and gold kimono robe to wrap around her as she used her hands to brush her hair out of her face.

When she opened the door, seeing Tabitha White standing there waiting for her was not what she had expected.

"Hello, baby girl," said Tabitha. Her hair held large natural waves that had been died a sandy-natural-looking-blond that was a sharp contrast to her dark mocha coffee colored skin. She was a good five inches taller the Felicity, but the four inch heals gave her even more height to tower over the small child she had cared for and protected from a far all these years.

For the first time since Oliver and Sara' betrayal, Felicity let the tears fall – tears of joy and tears of heartbreak – as her only known mother figure smiled at her in understanding. She had been holding on for the last three months mainly because she didn't have anyone remotely close enough for her to truly poor out her heartache and anger. Roy had been a good buffer at first, but even she couldn't tell him everything she had been feeling since that night so long ago. Tabitha merely walked in to her apartment, placed her suitcase next to the door in the entry way, and led Felicity over to the couch where she took the younger girl into her arms. Tabitha was the only mother figure she had since she was eight years old, the only woman to love and care for her. For the first time in a long time, Felicity felt the feeling of home as she cried against Tabitha's shoulder as she rocked her with a few faint pats on the back, soothing words whispered to her in a deep gentle voice.

It was six thirty later that evening when Roy left Verdant to go to his meeting with the Catwoman; Sin had called him back about an hour after their first phone call. Oliver had told him to just click the number nine on his cell phone and they would get the alert if he needed back-up, but Roy felt like he'd be able to handle his so called mission. It was the first time that Oliver was trusting him with an actual job for their Crusade against crime in Starling City, and Roy planned to do it right.

Meanwhile, beneath Verdant in the Foundry, Sara was having a particularly interesting conversation with Oliver and Digg.

"I think I know who the Catwoman is?" Sara said in a small voice. She didn't like voicing her opinions to any of them because she felt herself growing more and more insecure in her cause to help them. She was not a team player, she was a loner, and the mere fact that no matter what she did she could not take Felicity's place on the team even if she wanted to – which she didn't – made her feel like an outsider looking in when she was in the Sanctuary that Felicity had built.

"What? Why didn't you say anything? We could have had Roy stay here instead of sending him off to meet a woman who is known for castrating men who cross her, and something tells me that if Roy does get castrated that Thea will not be very pleased," said Digg with an air of disapproval as he looked upon Sara with a disappointed frown.

"Like I said, I think I know who she is, I don't know for certain," said Sara with a huff.

"Ok, who do you think she is?" asked Oliver. He seemed to be just as annoyed as Digg, but he was better at hiding it from her.

"The White Tiger."

"And who the hell is that?" Digg asked.

"She was a member of the League of Shadows long before I joined. I never knew her personally, which is why I can't be certain it is her, but she was a sort of legend amongst the members of the League."

"What makes you think Catwoman might be this White Tiger person?" asked Oliver with a frown.

"Well, by the way she fights, there is no doubt that she – the Catwoman – was trained by the League. Her movements, her style…it reminded me of when Rhas would fight. And the only other person who could fight like Rhas was the White Tiger. She was his greatest student…as well as the only person that he willingly released from the League." Was Sara's quick answer.

"I thought you said that the only way you leave the League is through death?" commented Digg.

"It is."

"So, why did Rhas Al Ghul, being the type of man he is, let the White Tiger leave…alive?"

"From what I know, she was the one to return the Child of Rhas Al Ghul to the League, to Rhas himself. As thanks, Rhas gave her freedom. That's when she left the League. Since then I have only ever heard rumors of her. The last I heard she was located somewhere in the south…New Orleans I think."

Felicity was lying across Tabitha's legs on her couch, her head cradled in the older woman's lap with tear stains dried on her face; Tabitha's gentles hands caressing her hair, as Felicity finished relaying what had happened in her life for the last 18 months. Tabitha had listened patiently before she finally spoke in a soothing voice and said, "True love makes you a better version of yourself. If it's not making you better, than it's not true love."

"I used to think that Oliver made me a better version of myself. When I met him he drew me into a world of danger, intrigue, and mystery. Essentially what every girl wants in her monotonous life. When I joined his little team I felt like I had become a part of something. We were doing good, saving lives…but now it's as if none of that matters anymore. Digg and I are the only true team members left. Oliver…ever since our…trip to Russia a few months ago…well, I never knew him before the island, but I have read about how he used to be and…he's begun to become more Ollie than the Oliver that I knew and grew to love."

"Oliver sounds like he is very lost in his past, and I know that you may love him, but don't let him drag you back into the past. You have always lived in the now, looking forward to your future. Don't let his ignorance of emotion, love, friendship…even loyalty around him twist your heart," said Tabitha. Felicity finally sat up and looked to her, whipping the drying tear tracks from her face. "He is nothing more than a child learning about the real world, and while the island may have made him privy to it, I think the responsibilities of adulthood, the harshness of reality, and what real love is have yet to…I don't think he knows what any of it means. He needs to find himself, to understand and love himself…before he can truly move forward. And I can't promise you that he will, baby girl." Tabitha gently brushed a few strands of hair from Felicity's face, at which time Felicity caught sight of the clock on her side table next to the couch. She had but an hour left to get ready for her meeting with Sin and Roy.

"Oh, I have to go and meet Roy," said Felicity hurriedly as she jumped from the couch and raced to the bathroom to start getting ready.

"That young boy you told me had been infected with the Mirakuru?"

"Yes."

"Well, there are some plans that I need to make while you're out. Perhaps we can talk some more then. I think there are some things that we need to settle. The first being your training and your past," said Tabitha with a seriousness that had not been in her voice earlier.

"I thought you said I should look to my future?" Felicity asked.

"Yes, but the only way you can do that, baby girl is if you face your past. It is the only way you can move forward," said Tabitha with a raised eyebrow.

Felicity looked back towards her with an expression of pure worry. She had blocked her past from her memory for so long that she barely remembered it, but Tabitha was right. Oliver was living proof of what could happen to a person if they stayed stuck in the past, and Felicity had not liked the person had become because of that fault. The inability to move forward. She wouldn't become like him…she couldn't. "Ok."

Felicity left forty minutes later dressed in a red day dress, a black long coat, and her dark purple fuzzy beanie, with a pair of dark purple stilettoes to tie her outfight together. Her dark auburn curls rained down her back.

Meanwhile, Oliver came up from the Foundry to the empty dance floor of Verdant. The club would be opening in another hour and all the employees were either getting things ready in back or doing some last minute cleanup. He observed his sister, Thea, from across the dance floor and he was shocked that when she noticed him she practically ran from the room. She had been acting weird ever since the weekend before Felicity's last day at Queen Consolidated. In fact his entire family had been acting weird. Whenever Felicity was mentioned his mother, Moira acted as if she were part of some strange conspiracy. Thea hadn't spoken to him or Moira for the last three and a half months. Not to mention the fact that even Isabel had been acting really strange.

Before Felicity had left the company and the Team, Isabel and Moira hated each other, now Oliver would catch them in secluded corners almost on a daily basis whispering and arguing urgently towards each other. He never did figure out what it was and he had even had Sara, Digg, and Roy tail them for a day or two at a time to try and find out what exactly they were up to, but they had come up empty.

It seemed that everything in his life had gone upside down since Felicity was no longer in it. He had never truly realized just how much of an impact she had on him. Emotionally, he was more closed off now more than ever. He knew he could always trust Felicity – always so certain that she would never keep anything from him…of her loyalty – that she would always back him up, and while she still aided them technologically, it wasn't the same. She did everything from home and the only people she seemed to be willing to converse with was Digg and Roy. Romantically, it was as if someone had ripped his heart out and was trying to squeeze the life out of him, granted that was mostly his own fault…his and Sara's. Professionally, he felt so alone at Queen Consolidated now that she wasn't there every morning to greet him with her bright smile and a sarcastic-babbling comment about not being a morning person despite what he may think. Intellectually, he felt lost…she had always been the brains of their operation whether it be at Queen Consolidated or as part of their Arrow Team. Hell, she had even affected his presence in his family life.

He remembered how Thea had once made a comment that he was much easier to be around and to talk to when Felicity was by his side, because she seemed to center and calm him. Thea had not been wrong. Felicity had calmed and centered him.

But this…he couldn't let Thea push him away any longer. He had lost Felicity; he couldn't lose her, too. So, that was how he had found her and cornered her in the back storage room of Verdant.

"Thea, tell me what is so wrong with you?! You've been avoiding me and mom for the last three months! I thought we were done keeping secrets," said Oliver.

"That is very ironic coming from you," said Thea with an annoyed smirk as she rolled her eyes and avoided making eye contact with him.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Ollie, ever since you came back from the island…keeping secrets seems to be the only thing you are capable of doing."

"I know I haven't been the most forth coming with what I went through, but I do want you to be able to tell me whatever is bothering you."

Thea finally looked at Oliver right in the eyes. "Malcolm Merlyn is my father." Oliver froze at what his sister had just said. How had she found out? "Did you know?" Oliver closed his eyes on a long sigh. He gritted his teeth and tried to come up with something to deny what was so obviously true, but he couldn't. "That's what I thought." The turned to leave, but before she had left him completely alone, she looked back at him to say one last thing. "You should have told me. I had a right to know, from you of all people."

"Thea…I-I didn't want you to get hurt," pleaded Oliver in a tormented voice.

"It's funny. You lied to me to protect me, but all you really succeeded in doing was hurt me anyway. I would have rather been hurt with the truth than to have you comfort me with a lie. I wonder if this is how Felicity felt when she found out about you and Sara." Oliver gave her a pained expression but he was too late in hiding it. "You pushed her so far away until you pushed her right out the door. Is that what you want? To betray and push away the people closest to you until there is only you left? I'm starting to wonder if that island changed you at all." With those final words Thea left her brother to marinate in his pool of shame that he had made himself.

Sin and Roy had been waiting for the last ten minutes when Sin finally received a text from her new friend, Catwoman stating that she'd be there any minute. Sin looked at Roy strangely as he ducked behind the dumpster in the alley behind Big Belly Burger. He wanted to give the Catwoman a bit of a surprise so that he could get a good look at her before their ultimate confrontation. He heard a pair of heels clack gracefully against the pavement before he heard a voice…a very familiar voice.

"Well, where is your friend, Roy?" asked Felicity as she appeared from the misty shadows and in front of Sin.

Wait? What? No…way…

Roy climbed out from behind the dumpster. "Felicity?" It sounded like her, and it looked like her…well, sort of. She seemed very different, but it was her nonetheless. "Oh…corn dog!" A small figure rubbing up against Roy's pant leg and a soft purring meow drew his gaze from Felicity and down to his feet to see a small black cat weaving around and through them.

"Isis, come here girl," said Sin. The small black cat pranced gracefully over to Sin's awaiting arms. Sin lifted Isis gently into her arms as the cat proceeded to cuddle while she purred in content.

"Hello, Roy," said Felicity.

"Everything she does comes from this dark impulse. That's what makes her so thrilling to watch. So dangerous! Even perfect at times, but also so damn destructive."

-Anonymous

Flashback – Two Months Ago…

Felicity had branched outside of Starling City and made her way to Gotham City after her first month of being the Catwoman. Despite what her research had told her about Gotham already having a residential Superhero by the name of Batman – aka the Dark Knight, aka the Caped Crusader – and that he was doing an amazing job of saving the city all on his own, but there were still always the petty criminals wandering the alleys. Rapists, muggers, and other perverts. Plus, Gotham Museum had a wonderful art collection that she was very interested in seeing; not to mention quite a few rich socialites that needed to be taught a thing or two, namely the millionaire John Daggett who was a board member at Wayne Enterprises.

So, there she was wondering the streets of Gotham, she had parker her motorcycle a few blocks away, when she came across a young woman who couldn't be more than sixteen years old trying to sneak into a club just a few feet ahead. The bouncer didn't seem to fall for the little girl's act and sent her on her way, but given the slutty outfit she was wearing it was practically a calling card to any of the low lives wandering around this late at night. Yup, not five minutes later a well-dressed man mistook the girl for a hooker and backed her in an alley and was trying to have his way with her.

His hand was over the girl's mouth as he tried to undo his pants, he'd already pushed the girl's short dress up an out of the way, when a certain Woman in Black decided to make her appearance.

"I just love a big strong man who's not afraid to show it with someone half his size," said Catwoman, her whip around her chest and abdomen, the official Catwoman mask and suit giving her an alluring and provocative look without seeming slutty. The man shoved the girl to ground as he made his way towards her. "Be gentle with me, it's my first time." Felicity batted her eyes before she brought her leg high up and kicked the man in the jaw once he was close enough. Once. Twice. Three times…her claws came out and she dragged them forcefully up and then across his face. "Tic-Tac-Toe." She said with a hiss before she punched him in the eyes with her stud tipped knuckles. Catwoman turned to the young girl who had stumbled back to her feet and was giving her a teary smile.

"Thanks, I…" Felicity didn't give her the time of day to finish; instead she looked the girl in her eye and sneered.

"Seriously, if going clubbing means more to you than your own safety, then be my guest. Me or Batman may not be here the next time you decide to do something foolish. And if you think Batman will always be there to save you, then you are a shame of the female race…waiting for some man to come and save you. Do yourself a favor and learn to save yourself." She said while giving the girl a good stern glare. "There's a gym two blocks south that gives self-defense classes. If you know what's good for you, take some."

Felicity turned to saunter off when she heard the girl whimper, "Who are you?"

Felicity glanced back with a smirk, "I'm Catwoman. Hear me roar." She flipped her way back into the shadows. When she reached an alley of low level drug dealers, she skipped over across the street towards the small run down art studio that she had spotted. She confiscated a couple spray paint cans and snuck into the abandoned apartment next to the alley with the low lives none the wiser. She found the gas line and exposed it to the open rundown room before she hotwired the microwave in the kitchen to work. Stuffing the spray paint into the microwave she skipped out, flipping and cartwheeling her way across the street once more.

When she brought herself up into a stand still crouching position, she came face to face with Commissioner Jim Gordon, his right hand man Detective John Robin Blake, and the Dark Knight himself. All three looked at her as if they were in a trance. "Meow…" The explosion rocked the ground and sent all three men ducking for cover, giving her the perfect opportunity to run. She made it over three rooftops before the Batman had her cornered. She fought him to the best of her abilities, which were based solely on animal instinct, but the problem was that he was doing the exact same thing plus he was trained on top of that. It took about five minutes before he finally had her trapped under him.

"Well, I'm not sure whether I should be angry that you got the drop on me or if I should be flattered that you wanted me in this position after just meeting each other," said Catwoman flirtatiously. It seemed to faze Batman as his grip on her wrists, which he had trapped above her head on the cold rooftop floor, loosened just a bit. "If you wanted to be on top, all you had to do was ask." She leaned up just enough for her to nip at his chin playfully with her sharp teeth. That time his grip went completely lax as his eyes closed. It was the perfect opportunity. Her hands had been released to search over his suit for a weak spot. Her breath ghosted over his lips in anticipation of a kiss when her claws dug into his side just as she summersaulted backwards and gave a sharp kick to his chest.

She was gone in a flash.

The second time she…ran into Batman was when she found him cornered by a handful of Maroni's mobsters. He was certainly holding his own and had them all unconscious and tied up within a minute or two. She was leaning causally against the wall of the empty parking garage they were in when he turned to her and said with a rough raspy voice, "Feel free to jump in any time?" The fact that he didn't need a voice modifier – which she could tell just by looking over his tight armored suit – gave her a thrill as a shiver swept down her entire body, her muscles tightened and her breath quickened just slightly, but enough for him to notice. He went back to tying up his bad guys and when he glanced back up she was gone. "Now I know how Commissioner Gordon feels," said Batman with a growl.

The next time was when he had come to her rescue when she found herself in a pickle with the Joker, who had just escaped Arkham Asylum. They had briefly partnered up for three wonderful days in which time they locked the Joker up together.

A week later Batman caught her stealing the Egyptian black crystal carved statue of a cat from Gotham Museum. She had snuck in with Isis help, which had distracted the two night guards and sent them on a marry chase around the lower levels of the Museum, and was just about to snatch the statue when the shadow of the Bat came over her form from high above behind her. He had come in through one of the skylights.

"I had a feeling you make a grab for it," said Batman as he jumped from his perch and landed in front of her.

"Batman, you just couldn't let the Cat have her fun, could you?" pouted Felicity. Before she knew it they were fighting in a dance that they seemed to have memorized.

Lunging…ducking…kicking…biting…scratching…it was like rough make up sex.

"Surrender and save me the trouble of putting a leash on you!" Batman growled.

Felicity lunged…they tumbled…rolling and writhing until Felicity came out on top. "Now where would be the fun in that?" purred Catwoman, but Batman got the drop on her and she found herself standing with her back to his chest and his arms encased around her like two bands of steel.

Their moment was interrupted by a deep throat clearing that came from behind them. They both turned to see a not so amused Commissioner Gordon with a highly amused Detective Blake. "Are we interrupting…something? Because it sure looks like we're interrupting something," said Blake with a wiggle of his eyebrows.

"Commissioner…Detective…I was just…we were just…I can handle Catwoman," said Batman, but Felicity got away from him shortly thereafter.

Present Time…

By the time Felicity finished telling Roy about how she had become the Catwoman and her little nightly escapades and somewhat complicated…partnership with Batman, the boy was open mouthed and slack jawed, just staring at her in awe. Sin had left to go play with Isis in order to give them some privacy.

"Well…that's…Wow!" was Roy's only response for a while, until he got his bearings, at which point he finally gave Felicity a serious look before he continued in a more articulated fashion. "As awesome as you are, you should know that Digg and Oliver are very interested in who you really are…I mean, who the Catwoman really is. That's why I'm here to meet you, to gather Intel for them. What exactly should I tell them?"

"Hmm, well…tell them I showed up in my Catwoman costume but bolted before you could get a good look at me. You and Sin have no idea who I really am and that I am simply trying to do what I think is right. You can leave the rest to me," said Felicity with a kind smile. Roy smiled back.

"Well, even so…they will eventually turn to you for help in finding Catwoman. You might want to think about creating another identity to place the…blame on, so to speak," said Roy, he was walking her back to her apartment at this point. Isis had said her goodbyes to Sin and caught up with them and was now trotting at Felicity's side.

"Hmm, definitely something to think about. Thank you, Roy, for accepting what I have become," said Felicity with a shy sigh.

"Hey, you're still the same old Felicity…you just can kick ass now." That was Roy's parting words before he pulled his hoodie over his head and jogged off into the night. Felicity wore a genuine smile as she walked into her apartment.

A/N: For those of you who haven't realized it yet, but Thea was the one who overheard Isabel's confrontation with Moira. Just in case this chapter didn't make that clear enough. I have been wondering what Thea's reaction would be to finding out about Malcolm Merlyn being her father and this was what I came up with for her confrontation with her brother. Don't worry, she will be confronting Moira but not for a couple more chapters.

One of the main reasons that I had Felicity leave Oliver at the beginning of this story (and why I think that it's the only reason that Oliver will realize just how much she means to him if she leaves or is taken from him) is because him and his repetitiveness in making the same mistakes when it comes to the Lance sisters is sort of like an addiction for him. And by letting Felicity constantly forgive him is like enabling him which is bad. He needs to fall on his ass and face the consequences of his actions before he can learn and grow from them (essentially he needs to hit rock bottom so he can go forward). Just in case you all were wondering.