PART ONE: FAMILY VALUES
CHAPTER ELEVEN: EVERYTHING WILL CHANGE
TEAM ARROW, STARLING CITY, USA
Felicity was eyeballs deep in her research, three coffees in and not getting any closer to the end of the Winchester madness. It seemed that wherever they went, they left a trail of death and peace behind them. Two things that didn't seem to make sense together. There were numerous open cases with the Winchester name on them for a list of charges that only seemed to be growing longer with every passing minute.
"Alright, this is ridiculous," Barry finally declared from the other side of the room. "This rap sheet is half a mile long and we just keep finding more. How is that even possible? It's like they've been doing this since they were kids."
"Had to have been, I've never seen anything like it." Joe concluded, sifting through sheets of notes. "There's everything here from shoplifting to murder!"
"Felicity, maybe Oliver's right, maybe we can't trust these guys." Felicity wanted to argue, there was just something in Sam that made you trust him. She didn't feel quite the same about Dean, still unsettled by the way he had just appeared out of thin air. Her brain was raging a war on itself, the facts and her feelings clouding her judgement far too much.
"Stealing from an evidence room, disturbing a crime scene..." Barry's voice became a buzzing in her ears and she stood abruptly, her chair skittering on it's wheels away from her. He stopped and looked up at her with surprise written across his features. "Felicity? Are you ok?"
"Uhm, Yeah," she lied, pressing her eyes closed and shaking her head in a halfhearted attempt at clearing it. "I just need some air, too much coffee," Joe eyed her curiously, but she managed to slip out of the basement without another word. What she really needed, she decided, she wasn't going to get from the screen of her computer. She was nervous as she slipped out the backdoor and scrambled her way clumsily down the fire escape, her heels making the descent all the more awkward.
The crisp air seemed to have brought a gust of wind through her thoughts, clearing them in a swift blow. She looked out into the night and began to walk towards the sidewalk, her eyes trained on the cracks in the pavement. She needed to talk to these Winchesters alone.
"You know, you're absurdly like him," she stopped abruptly, her head searching frantically for the source of the voice. A man in a fine, black suit leaned against a nearby light post, his arms crossed casually over his chest as he studied her. He appeared to have been inspecting his nails before she happened upon him and he returned his glance to them once again, if only for a moment.
"Like who? I'm sorry, who are you exactly?" A sinister air seemed to surround him as he dropped his arms and pushed off the light post. He moved closer with an arrogant stride, a smirk playing at his lips. She took a step back which only seemed to encourage him, his smirk then widening to a grin.
"The name's Crowley," he said, extending a hand. Felicity eyed it carefully, withdrawing further from the strange man.
"Crowley?" Felicity repeated, letting the strange name roll off her tongue. He seemed pleased with the sound of his own name which made Felicity inwardly cringe. She slipped her phone from her pocket and stood, her finger hovering over Oliver's name.
"I can give you the information you've always wanted to know."
"And what information is that?" Felicity asked, her voice quivering as she took another half step back. He was wearing a full Cheshire grin now and she could feel the hairs raise up on the back of her neck.
"Darling," he tutted his tone scolding, "I could give you the name you've been longing to hear. I can tell you-" Felicity's mind was already there, her father, he was talking about her father. There was no other name she had ever wanted to know. She eyed him curiously, her interest piqued now as her mind spun ahead, regurgitating thoughts she hadn't had since childhood. Did this man know her father?
"Who are you?" She asked again, her voice stronger this time.
"King of the-"
"Crowley!" A voice shouted from across the street. The man before her rolled his eyes in an obvious act of annoyance before turning towards the announcer.
"Squirrel," he responded, his voice dripping with hatred as he spread his arms wide in a grand gesture. Felicity let out half a sigh of relief when she saw the two familiar figures step under the light - Sam and Dean. Neither of the brothers looked impressed to find the Crowley character in the street, neither of them looked surprised to see him either.
"Leave the girl alone ok? No one wants what you're serving," Dean commanded, his eyes ablaze. She could see Sam's jaw tightening from where she was standing, there was tension between the group and she knew there must be history there. Sam glanced past them and when his eyes locked with hers he gave her a small smile. Friendliness and kindness was all she could see there. He left Crowley to converse with 'Squirrel' - she made a mental note to remember that one- and he made his way over to her.
His hands were shoved deep into the pockets of his tan jacket and Felicity could see the natural wear and tear in his clothes in the dim light. She wondered why, if they were running credit card scams on such a level, did they not just buy new clothes. He looked tired when he was out here, like he was mentally exhausted. The fighter she had met before was gone outside of Oliver's presence and in his place stood a man that looked haunted. Still, he smiled, he moved, he conversed like it was just another day.
"You ok? He didn't try anything did he?" Felicity shook her head, though their short lived conversation ran through her head. He knows who my father is, he could tell me who my father is. "Here," he said, pulling out his wallet and handing her a business card. The top said 'Det. Springer', she gave him a questioning look and he sighed and a grin broke out across his features. "Ok, the name's fake but the number is real. If he shows up again, or something happens... call us."
"Just like him," Crowley's voice sing-songed but by the time she looked around Sam he was already gone and it was only Dean standing under the light. Sam frowned, looking over his shoulder as a rattled looking Dean pulled on the arms of his jacket, straightening it out and made his way over to them.
"Don't listen to him," Felicity looked between the brothers confused. "Not Sam, I mean Crowley! He plays games, Char- Felicity," he corrected. "Crowley plays games, he gets in your head and you'll regret any deal you make with him." The truth in his words rang clear and she nodded, a million questions forming on the tip of her tongue.
"What are you doing here?" she finally asked.
"We could ask you the same. There's a monster looking for you and you decided on a midnight stroll?" his tone was rising and she could tell he was angered.
"Dean," Sam warned, giving his brother a look.
She raised her chin a bit and looked Dean dead in the eye, "we need to talk." This seemed to take both of the brothers by surprise. Sam shifted and Dean gave her a bold look, as if to say 'I dare you to make a move', but she wasn't interested in pulling one over on them. He cautiously eyed her and seemed to chew it over for a minute before finally speaking again.
"Does Robin Hood know you're out here?" Her heart felt like it stopped in her chest and she let out an involuntarily choking sound. She stared at them wide eyed, trying to think of something to say but the words failed to come to her. "We'll take that as a no." He gestured over his shoulder to the shadows behind them and she followed her mind becoming numb with overload. They knew about Oliver, they knew about the Arrow.
The Impala was pristine clean, and Dean rubbed a spot at the top of the door with his sleeve before opening it. She had a moment's hesitation as she glanced around the street, wondering just how angry Oliver and the others would be when they found out she had done this. She climbed into the back of the car without another thought and Dean started the engine.
She examined the quirks of the car, a toy soldier stuck in the ashtray, S.W. and D.W. carved into the back of the seat. Home, she thought sadly seeing it all before her, this had been their home - is their home. Dean started the engine as she took it all in, her ears suddenly filled with classic rock. Sam pulled a box out from under the seat and started digging through cassette tapes.
"Cassette tapes? Really?" She asked, leaning forward to get a look at the ancient technology. Sam started laughing and Dean sulked, gripping tight onto the steering wheel. "You do know about iPods right?" She caught his glare in the rear-view mirror and pressed her lips tight together, sinking back into her seat. Dean started to drive as Sam stuck another tape into the player.
"So what did you need to talk about?" Sam asked casually, half turned around in his seat to look at her. She struggled with how to put her questions into words.
"I need to know who you are," she said slowly. Dean scoffed and looked out the window.
"Sweetheart I think you already know who we are."
"Not what the computer says, the computer doesn't make sense it doesn't-" She faltered, her frustration getting the better of her. "Maybe this was a bad idea."
"Let me guess, your friends don't trust us?" Sam put forth, tucking the box back under the seat.
"Not at all," she said quietly, staring out the window upon the familiar streets.
"But you do?"
"I don't believe it. Maybe you're like Oliver, you do what you have to do because you have to and no one else will. But you're not- I don't think you're bad people." Dean pulled up in front of a 24 hour diner and they piled out. "I think you know what you're doing, and I think, if given the chance Oliver will drive you out of this city. I'm going against all of my friends to keep you here and I need you to tell me I'm right." She was desperate, grasping at straws. The brothers eyed her suspiciously and then shared a look. Sam nodded and Dean ducked his head as if in an internal debate now.
"Once we tell you, you can't unhear it - you understand that right?" he warned, "things won't be the same, you won't look at the world the same. Felicity, is that really what you want?" She was nervous now, her stomach was in knots.
"Y-yes," she stuttered, "it can't be much worse than meta-humans."
"Right, meta-humans. You're going to have to explain what the hell you're talking about."
Felicity nodded and they headed into the diner, slipping into a booth at the very back of the room. The red pleather adding a pop of colour to the otherwise black and white diner. "What do you want to know?" Dean asked, staring down at his hands as the waitress came to the table.
"Everything," she responded as Sam made the order. They waited in silence until the food came back, a pie, some fruit and three steaming cups of coffee. Dean eagerly cut into the pie and Felicity eyed it, he noticed and hesitantly slid the first piece across to her. Sam just shook his head and let out a small chuckle as Dean served up a second piece for himself and he dug into the fruit. He hesitated, taking a bite of pie, his brow furrowed in concentration.
"It's a bit of a family business you could say, generations - grand parents' grand parents, that sort of thing. The family's been hunting monsters since the beginning of time. For us, it began with the death of our mother." Dean started and she could tell it was like breaking a dam. Once he started it kept pouring out, Sam taking over when Dean stopped to eat and the conversation pausing when the woman came to refill their drinks. Their story was dark but they laughed at things that she never would have and genuinely seemed to have their happy moments. Not too unlike their team, she thought.
"Everything's real then," she muttered in amazement, it wasn't a question though she believed them wholly and truly.
"All the stories you heard as a child, every bump in the night, every nighttime terror," Sam concurred, nodding casually.
"Felicity!" The shout caused all of the heads in the diner to turn towards the door. Oliver stood there, a look of relief flooding his face as her eyes locked with his. "I found her," he called into his phone, hanging up and moving angrily towards the table. "What the hell-"
She opened her mouth to explain but she never got the chance. The window next to them shattered inwards, raining crystals of glass down on them. A hand locked around her arm and pulled her from the booth- Sam. "Get her out of here Sammy!" Dean shouted, a gun locked in his grip. Her eyes followed his aim and she felt her blood run cold, the beast standing right there in the middle of the diner.
"Go!" Sam shouted in her ear. Gunshots rang out and Felicity cringed, her head pounding and her ears ringing. The beast howled out and she glanced over her shoulder as she headed for the door. Whatever Dean was doing was wounding it severely, but one thing was certain - the beast was still standing.
A/N - I thought it was about time Felicity had a little bonding time with the boys. Not to mention a little appearance by Crowley! Oddly enough, every character I picture as their TV actors EXCEPT him! I was struggling a bit, I kept picturing him younger and more 'dashing'. Let me know how I did with him and the rest of this chapter!