Author's Note: Thank for all the reviews, favorites & follows. I try to respond to reviews as often as possible, but the weekend got away from me.

Chapter 3

Shoulders slumped, Felicity stares at the door Oliver just slammed shut. She bites down on her lip to keep it from trembling. Barry. Oliver. She grips the armrests on her chair, trying to steady herself. Barry. Oliver. They're liars. They both lied to her, when she thought she could be sure of them. Her face is on fire with hurt and humiliation. She's done a good job of compartmentalizing since Samantha arrived, but now she feels the weight of all the things that have gone wrong in the past few months pressing down on her. She wonders if she might actually stop breathing. Hysteria is bubbling up in her chest, but she can hear Lyla and Samantha talking on her couch and little Sara playing with robot puppy Felicity asked Curtis to build just for her.

Baby Sara. William was a baby once too. At eight, he's still a baby, really. He's in trouble, and Felicity is not going stand here...okay, sit here...and fall apart while someone's baby, Oliver's baby, is in danger. She straightens her shoulders and forces herself to think of one good thing. He didn't say John. Dig didn't know. He didn't lie to me. It would have to be enough. She forces a smile on her face, because she hasn't cried once AI, and she isn't going to start now. This isn't about her, it's about William.

She goes to the computer station Curtis set-up in the living room. He went with the team to run coms, and for once Felicity is happy to be replaced. She can't do what she needs to do with Oliver's voice in her head. She checks in on the searches she'd started last night and gets to work expanding her parameters. Oliver is certain William is in Star City with Darhk, but Felicity isn't. Barry, she tries not to cringe thinking of him, hasn't found any sign of him in Central CIty, and he's now been missing for close to 24 hours. Too long. Too long for a little boy to be away from the people who love him.

"What is all that?"

Felicity hadn't noticed Samantha come up behind her. Lyla is having a hushed conversation on the phone with someone Felicity assumes is one of her contacts, or maybe she's getting an update from John. Felicity turns to the woman crouching behind her, taking in her wild eyes, the way she's biting her nails down past the quick. She feels a flash of guilt for any time she's spent wondering about what this means for her own life.

"Facial recognition software. I'm using programs from several different agencies, plus one I custom-developed to search for any sign of William or Darhk."

"But nothing yet?'

"No, Samantha. Nothing yet."

"But you're doing everything you can, right?"

"Of course."

"Because I know you're angry, and I know you probably want to kill Oliver and me, but William is just a little boy-"

Lyla puts her hand over her phone and moves towards the other two women, eyeing them warily. Does she think they're going to argue? Does everyone think Felicity is so bitter that she would try to attack a woman whose son has been kidnapped?

"Samantha," Felicity breaks in calmly, "I'm doing everything I can. I will keep doing everything I can. I promise." She really does feel for this woman. Her child is missing, presumably with a sociopath (though Felicity still has her doubts about Darhk), and here she is surrounded by strangers, having to trust them with her whole world. Felicity reaches over to take Samantha's hand, rubs her thumb across her knuckles. She looks the other woman in the eyes and says, "I'm...yeah, I'm pretty pissed at Oliver. Maybe more hurt, or...just embarrassed because, I mean, wow, it seems like something I should've seen coming-" She's rambling and she can tell it's just upsetting Samantha more when she really is trying to reassure her. She takes a deep breath and counts to five in her head. "Look, I'm just saying that I get why you might have your doubts about me. You don't know me. But you shouldn't, because all those feelings, I'm putting them off until later, until William is back with you where he belongs. Safe and sound, okay? If the internet can help us find WIlliam, I will figure out how."

"She's a genius," Lyla adds. "The internet is her bitch."

"More like my beloved partner, but you've got the general idea. I will do anything in my power. And Oliver? Samantha, here's the one thing I know for sure, Oliver does not leave the people he loves behind." Felicity closes her eyes and grounds herself in this truth. No matter how badly her trust in Oliver Queen has been shaken, she has no doubt about this. "He won't rest, and neither will any of us, until William is home."

There's a pause, but Samantha eventually squeezes Felicity's hand. "Safe and sound?"

"You can count on it. You can count on us."

oOo

"Felicity, how do you do this?"

She has Curtis pulled up on video stream from the lair. "Curtis-"

"No, I mean it. These people are impossible. They're running all over the place, repelling off rooftops, NOT listening to me when I warn them, or ask them to report in. Your boy has gone completely off script, and-"

"Curtis! You need to take a breath. You kind of have a crazy-eyed thing happening here, and your hair is all...smushed." She sees him pull at his curls. "Yeah, it's not good. I'm starting to worry about you. Do you need a break? There's a bed in the lair, okay? If you want to get some sleep, I can remote in, and-"

"Do YOU need a break? I mean, you've been doing at this longer than me, and with it being your fiancee's secret kid…" Felicity pulls a face, and Curtis must notice because he trails off. "Sorry. I'm just, sorry. No, I don't need a break. I'm just wondering how you've been doing it all these years with these...I mean, I'm having a hard time thinking up a word other than lunatics to describe them right now. Maybe heroic lunatics, but you have to admit that they do some pretty insane shit. I guess all I'm trying to say is, I'm sorry for all those times I secretly judged you for getting to the office at 8:10 instead of 8:00 on the nose. I really, really didn't understand what you were dealing with all night long."

"Curtis?"

"Yes?"

"Do you feel better now?"

"Yes."

"You're sure you don't want me to take over over there?"

"I'm sure."

"Okay, then. I'll keep getting you and the team the locations on the ghosts, but nothing we're doing seems to be drawing Darhk out. Still no hit on William in any of my facial recognition searches, but I'll let you know if anything changes on that front, or if any of my attempts to hack into H.I.V.E's systems yield anything about other possible locations on Darhk."

"Yes, okay."

"And Curtis, you have to be stern with them. Raise your voice if you need to. You're their eyes, and let's be honest, their brains...not that they are stupid, because they're not, but comparatively….Okay, that's an example of what not to do. What I mean is, be confident, be forceful. They need you. And so does William."

"Okay." Curtis nods. "Be confident. Good talk, boss."

"Go get 'em, tiger." Felicity gives him one last smile as she signs off, then takes a moment to roll her shoulders and stretch her neck.

"You really should take that break."

Felicity startles at the sound of Lyla's voice. "Do you all take secret classes on how to sneak up on people? Is that part of the ARGUS training program?"

"It's a gift." Lyla hands her a steaming mug, which Felicity accepts eagerly. She growls when she realizes it's tea and not coffee, but Lyla is unaffected. "Do you know what is part of the ARGUS training curriculum? The physical and mental effects of various amounts of sleep deprivation." She checks her watch. "By my count you've been awake now for 29 hours. Do you want me to tell you what's happening to your brain functioning?"

"No?" Felicity answers hopefully.

"Sara will be asleep for a few more hours still, and I've had a solid four hours, which is enough in an emergency. I snuck Samantha two of your muscle relaxers," she flashes Felicity a sheepish grin, "so she's finally out. That leaves you."

"Glad I didn't drink the tea, since you're running around drugging everyone."

"Felicity," Lyla is using her best mom voice. Although, maybe it's her wife voice, since it seems like she's usually using it on Dig, not Sara. "Hand over the computers. I'm not Johnny or Oliver or Thea. I can manage this stuff while you get a couple of hours of sleep."

"Is John sleeping? Is Oliver?"

"You know the answer to that, and you also know that they are not the role models you need right now."

But Felicity can hear the resignation in the other woman's voice. She knows there's no way Felicity will sleep while they are still out there. While William is still out there. "I know my breaking point, and I'm not there yet. And, you know, if this tea were to magically turn into an espresso from the super fancy machine Oliver gave me as an early Christmakkuh gift, you know before I was almost killed, well, that would help push off point break even a little further." Felicity smiles as Lyla takes her cup with a huff. "And don't even think about dissolving muscle relaxers in there! They don't make me sleepy, they just give me delusions of grandeur. The doctor actually made me stop taking them once I started outlining a plan to run for President. In my defense, though, given our current candidates, I don't see how that makes me a megalomaniac. Really, it's the age requirement in the Constitution that's the biggest barrier-" Lyla puts an espresso in front of her, Felicity smiles sweetly. "Thank you."

"Have you spoken to Oliver?"

Felicity turns back to her monitors and takes a slow sip of her espresso. "Curtis is keeping me updated."

"Johnny says he's like he was before."

"Before?" She doesn't dare look the other woman in the face.

"Before. When you were in the hospital. He's...not holding back."

Felicity takes a few deep breaths in and out. Those first couple of weeks, during all the surgeries, are mostly a blur in her mind. She was on so many meds. She remembers that Oliver wasn't there. She hadn't blamed him, but she had worried about him. She worries about him now, about how easily he can still lose himself. Even though she should want to kill him. Probably would want to kill him, would she allow her mind to go there, which she absolutely will not. Not yet.

"It's his child."

Lyla settles into the armchair across from her, the overstuffed teal one that Felicity had bought once she'd realized that life in the loft was more permanent than temporary. Oliver had tried to give it the side-eye, but had backed off quickly once Felicity told him that he either had to let her inject some color into the place, or she was going to start looking for her own apartment. Lately she'd been catching him sleeping in it, wrapped in her fluffy plum throw blanket.

It felt like a million years ago.

"Oliver being a father. That's a shock."

"Well, when you consider his past…."

But her attempt at flippant doesn't land. Lyla's voice is heavy when she asks, "Felicity. Are you okay?"

Tears well up in her eyes, because she can hear the concern in the question...and also because she is so frustrated by having to hear that question so often these days. "I'm okay." She sees that Lyla is about to object, so she holds up a hand to stop her. "I have to be okay right now. Lyla, please. I can't."

"Fine. But when we're done here, you and I are having a proper girl's night, understood?" Felicity smiles at her gratefully, and she continues. "Debrief me. Where do we stand, and what are you working on?"

Felicity loves when Lyla goes into ARGUS agent mode. She knows ARGUS is evil, or maybe not evil, but morally ambiguous at best...anyway Felicity enjoys watching people at their most competent, which is why she's always enjoyed watching Oliver on the salmon ladder and nnnnnnnnope, not going there. She forces her mind into safer territory. "Well, I've been responding to all requests from the team. Following up on Darhk and H.I.V.E. and any leads they've been able to get from the Ghosts, which as you can imagine are few and far between. Then, of course there's the facial recognition. I'm covering Star City as well as Central City-"

"Cut the crap Felicity. We both know all of that is going nowhere. Tell me what you're really working on."

She grins. "Well, we're all so certain that it's Darhk that has William."

"Right. Because Darhk has been very open about his vendetta against Oliver."

"I think 'open' is the key word there. He likes taking credit." Felicity is feeling Lyla out.

"He does. I've been thinking about that myself."

"I don't want to offend anyone by suggesting other avenues of investigation."

"Of course not," Lyla says. "We both know how easily everyone offends."

"But there's a little boy's life in the balance, so it would be completely irresponsible to not explore every possibility."

Felicity and Lyla look at each other and when they speak, it's in unison.

"I"ve been looking into Samantha."

They smile at each other, but before they can say more, one of Felicity's searches sets of an alarm. She whirls around to the computer and pulls up an alert, motioning for the other woman to join her. They read together, and everything starts to click.

"Call John and Oliver."

But Lyla is already dialing. "On it."