PART ONE: FAMILY VALUES
CHAPTER THREE: THE BEAST OF SAN FRAN
FELICITY, STARLING CITY, USA
Felicity sat on her couch, unable to shake the feeling that something big was going down. Oliver and Diggle had escorted her home and made sure she was locked safely inside before leaving. Despite that, she couldn't shake the image of her dismantled car sitting in the secure garage beneath Queen Consolidated. If this someone, or something had got in there unnoticed, who was to say they couldn't get into the actual building and to her? She bit her lip and then gave in to the one thing she told herself she wouldn't do ever when it came to these meta-humans. She Googled.
Her fingers hovered over her keyboard, the insertion line on her screen blinking away, waiting for her keystrokes. 'Large animals', she typed quickly hitting enter before realizing that had been the worst possible thing she could have entered. The search yielded a variety of elephant pictures, giraffes and rhinos and multiple sites claiming to list 'the top 10 largest animals in the world'. She quickly went back to the top of the screen and amended her search. 'Large pawed animals' which rendered more unsatisfactory results of lions and tigers and various other wildcats with paws not nearly large enough.
She sat and stared at the screen for a while, scraping her mind for a better description of what she had seen. 'Large claw marks', she typed in and then reread it, wondering if she was just wasting her time. She moved her mouse to hover over the pinned bookmark at the top of her browser that read 'cat videos' and then retracted it to the search bar. This would be her last attempt, she thought to herself. If this search didn't yield the results she was looking for she'd put it to rest and leave it to Dig and Oliver.
She clicked the search button and the page populated instantly. Her face sunk closer to the screen, the blue light reflecting off of her glasses as she did so. She clicked on the first picture, enlarging it on the screen and she let out a gasp. It looked nearly identical to the marks that graced the side of her own car. She immediately clicked the 'visit page' button looking for the name of whatever created the marks.
The page took her to a photographer's website that had labelled the picture with only one line. 'The beast of San Fransisco'. So immediately Felicity did the only rational thing one could do in search of an unnamed thing- she copied and pasted that statement into the search bar in hopes it would give her something else.
As it turned out, the 'beast of San Fransisco' was a sort of underground legend within the city itself a few years back. According to various blog entries these marks had shown up all around the city until one day they just suddenly stopped and no new marks were ever recorded. Bloggers that had committed their entire online existence to chasing after this creature had fallen silent with no new sightings.
Felicity's interest was piqued as she felt she was on the very brink of something important. She continued to sift through blogs and webpages, immediately discrediting the ones with titles like 'da beast of san fran- these fools ain't kiddin'. She made special note of a few more reliable looking ones and started a new favourites folder, fully committing to the rabbit hole she was about to jump into.
One title in particular caught her attention. '2007 Murder Linked to the end of the San Fransisco beast', her blood ran cold as the word 'murder' jumped out at her, taunting her from her own computer screen. She clicked it and was immediately rewarded with a professional looking article including images.
She intently looked at the screen, staring at the picture that graced the very top of the article - the same picture as was on the photographer's website. She clicked to enlarge it, searching intently for some kind of clue in its depths. The picture was of a brick wall, covered in graffiti and probably located in a back alley somewhere. The only thing that set it apart from any other wall she had ever seen was the giant set of claw marks engraved into the brickwork.
Her eyes widened as she took in the picture. Strong enough to carve right into the side of a building. The thing that had gotten in the building, had gotten to her car was strong enough to leave it's mark in a brick wall. "It'll make lunch meat out of me," she whispered, eyes wide and staring.
She jumped and let out a scream of terror at the sound of knocking. She clutched her laptop tight and leaned forward until her forehead rested on the top of the monitor, waiting for her heart to settle.
"Felicity?" A concerned voice shouted from the other side of the door.
She glanced at the time in the corner of her monitor and sighed. It was the exact time Oliver had said he'd be back to take her to Verdant. She hastily shoved her laptop into her purse for the second time that day and hurried to the front door.
Oliver stood on the other side, just as predicted wearing a grim expression. Her mood immediately faltered as she looked at him but he said nothing as she made to lock the door behind her. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, let's go," he responded calmly.
"No, no, no, I know that look. That look is not 'nothing', what's going on Oliver?"
"We got a copy of the security footage from the garage."
"And?" she asked, holding her breath.
"You can take a look when we get to Verdant." Felicity watched him walk away with purposeful steps, now suddenly afraid of what she might find. Oliver cast her an expectant look over his leather clad shoulder and she hurried to catch up with him. For the first time in ever, she was really hoping this was a meta-human they were up against.
She climbed into the car, clutching her purse to her chest as she thought about what she had found. Oliver's brow furrowed as he watched from the corner of his eye, but he knew better than to ask. Felicity had always managed to keep a straight head - well, almost always managed to keep a straight head when he was the one being chased. For the first time she was the one being chased and he was pretty certain she was doing anything but.
The footage from the parking garage would only make it worse. That thing they had seen tearing her car apart was unlike anything he had ever seen before. He was relieved to see her fingers loosen on her large yellow purse as they approached the thumping club. The lit up 'V' over Verdant cast a green glow down over the waiting line that wound around the building. The view of the black clad bouncer seemed to make Felicity relax more which in turn made Oliver feel a little less unsettled by the footage he had watched earlier.
Oliver parked the convertible near the front of the building, finding a parking spot easily before cutting the engine. They stared at the line for a moment and let the thumping music quake in their bodies before they finally moved. Felicity's gaze cast away from the waiting line as they passed, feeling bad for getting valued spots in the prestigious club when they weren't even going to be using it. A few voices shouted out to Oliver, which he ignored and she imagined they were probably people who had gone to school with him at some point.
"Trey!" Oliver casually greeted, clapping the bouncer's hand in a shake and patting him on the back. Felicity concentrated on Trey's warm smile and dark skin instead of the death glares she was receiving from the line. Oliver's reassuring hand went to the small of her back and guided her through the door, steadying her quaking nerves. This was the worst part and she made mental note to complain to Oliver again that they needed a back entrance to the Arrow cave.
The sweaty bodies mashed together on the dance floor and Felicity stood slightly horror struck each time at the daunting task of getting through them. This was Oliver's scene though, he slid effortlessly into the mass of people, parting the crowd easily as she hastened to catch up before the masses closed in behind him. Her path was cut off by a dark haired male with a cocky grin and a glassy, alcohol induced stare. She shifted uncomfortably as he broached her personal space filling it with the smell of body odour and alcohol. Instinctively she leaned back as his whiskey laced breath fanned across her face. She resisted the urge to gag as his hand brushed up her arm and his sweaty body pressed in on her.
She forced her large purse in between them to create a barrier that was nowhere near big enough, leaning back further and further. When she couldn't lean any further she stepped back but found herself only shoved forward again into the waiting arms of the drunken young man. A solid hand clamped down on her arm and she jumped, before relief flooded her system at the recognition of Oliver's stubbled face. His expression was irritated as he gave the imposer an icy glare, extracting her from his vicinity.
"Whoa! Sorry Ollie, I didn't know man-" Oliver pulled her behind him and she saw his shoulders tense and square as his chin lifted. She recognized the same posture in the hooded figure that graced her screen every night. Oliver was ready for a fight and one move would surely give him away, no one fought like the Arrow.
"What was that?" Oliver asked, stepping forward until their toes were practically touching. The drunken twenty something year old looked up at him, a fake laugh caught in his throat as he tried to play it off.
"Ok, you know what? I think it's time to go," Felicity interceded, wedging herself between the two men looking pointedly at Oliver. He cast a look down at her as he appeared to literally chew the idea over before finally stepping back and glaring at the other guy. He took her hand firmly in his and half backed, half shoved his way across the floor. No one dared to push back against Oliver Queen.
As they reached the door both of them found their heads on a swivel, half expecting to be caught at any moment. He jabbed the number into the security lock and pulled the door open, hurrying Felicity in ahead of him. With another glance around he pulled the door shut and followed her echoing footsteps to the next door at the end of the hall. This was a heavier door with a little added security courtesy of Felicity Smoak herself, no one would be accidentally stumbling in on their secret hideout.
Oliver dropped her hand as they reached the door and she tried not to let her disappointment show, hurrying towards her computers the moment the door swung open. Diggle cast them a knowing look which she immediately tried to ignore as she dropping into her swivel chair. She shrugged her jacket and tucked her purse under the desk before turning to the keyboard.
She watched as Dig and Oliver geared up and she felt her shoulders relax. She watched in sneaking glances as Oliver shrugged out of his grey t-shirt into his green hooded suit. She knew that at least if she was here she was safe, between the doors and the two men in front of her, nothing could happen.
No windows, a good lock on a heavy door and a throng of people above her to deter the average criminal. She repeated it in her head like a mantra -no windows, lots of people, criminals - sounds like a prison. She stopped. She slid easily into routine, as she listened to the antics of Starling City's most troublesome duo. Her fingers flew over the keyboard as closed circuit security footage popped up on one screen, the Starling City Police Department interface on another and finally facial recognition software flying through the country's most wanted and comparing it to the people within the city limits on the third.
There was a beep and her head snapped around to see a report of a robbery pop up on the Starling City Police system. "Robbery in progress!" she shouted, directing her attention towards the screen. "Two suspects, armed." Her fingers flew nimbly over the keys, searching desperately for the information they required. Oliver and Dig looked at her expectantly and her eyes flicked between two of the screens in front of her. "Millennium Jewellers on-"
"Main street," Diggle finished.
"Well then let's go! Felicity, track them and get their location, we'll be listening," he said tapping his ear as he grabbed his bow and made his way up the stairs, disappearing with the heavy thump of the door. The soft click assured her that the door was locked and she was safe, though now alone. She focused her attention forward, searching the closed circuit cameras surrounding Main street.
She kicked the criminal search off of the third screen, the results coming back empty. She booted up the communications system and the link to Oliver's voice distorter and waited with bated breath for the seconds it took to open. Her ears were immediately met with the 'wush' of air signalling she had indeed been patched in to their earpieces and Oliver was on the move - she hoped. "Oliver?" she asked tentatively, straining her ears for any sound other than the blank noise.
"Right here," his voice called back through the speakers. She felt her shoulders relax and she leaned back in the chair, never realizing she had been leaning forward in the first place. She idly clicked the pen that sat on the desk as she waited for them to come into view. Click, click, click, click-click-click.
"Dig?"
"Here," he responded clearly. She let out a hiss of air from between her teeth, glad everything was going smoothly. She relaxed a little, the loneliness of the basement filled with the faux presence of her two closest friends.
"Alright," she said spinning back around to the cameras. "I've got them east bound on Coughlin, Oliver take your next right and a quick left to head them off." She watched his hooded figure fly into the feed and she felt her pulse start to rise. She wondered idly if the feeling of worry would ever go away or if she would forever be holding her breath over Oliver Queen. She watched as he skidded to a stop in front of the oncoming white panel van and she watched, eyes glued to the scene in front of her.
He was quick to draw his bow and fire. One, two, three and the van came careening to a stop, tires flattened. She wondered where the third arrow had gone and zoomed in only to feel her stomach roll with nauseousness. The driver's hand was pinned to the metal barrier behind him, blood flowing freely from the wound in his hand. She zoomed back out and looked away from that screen to look in on the police. "We've got company, police incoming, three squad cars headed your way. You've got two minutes to get out of there."
Oliver moved with the quick and calculated movements of a trained assassin. For the umpteenth time Felicity wondered just what exactly had happened to Oliver Queen on that island. Gooseflesh covered her skin as she watched the caring man she knew seem to turn off everything. She looked away as he yanked the door of the van open and she turned her attention to her bag and the computer that poked out from the top of it.
Her fingers twitched against her grey skirt at the thought, the research that was waiting to be done. With her foot she pushed the bag out of view and told herself she wouldn't, she couldn't be distracted while Oliver was in the field. "Alright Felicity, what else have you got for us?" Oliver's smooth voice coaxed through the comm system and she glanced up to see a screen full of flashing lights. She spun immediately, glad for the distraction and began moving through the cyberspace in front of her.
"Nothing on the police scanners yet, but there is some strange activity-" a piercing grating sound echoed through the basement. Felicity froze, and looked up to the basement door wide eyed. Something had gotten through the first door.
"Felicity?" She fumbled desperately on the volume, to quiet his questioning voice as a bang accompanied another scraping sound that echoed around her. She could see the embossed edge of claws through the metal and her chest clenched in fear. She shivered involuntarily, the sound like nails on a chalkboard as they hit again. She grabbed the handheld system off of the desk and plunged under it, tightening herself into a tiny ball under the desk. "Felicity?" Oliver's voice called out with a new urgency.
"Oliver," she whispered quietly, her voice a trembling copycat of her fingers, "it's here."