Notes: So... one of my reviewers said they liked Ollie's and Tommy's POV but didn't think Felicity's would work.
That sounded like a challenge. And like they didn't think I could write it.
So,... here we are. See what you think!
Whatever else happened? Yeah, Felicity wasn't expecting this.
Any of this, really.
Even the smaller, unaffiliated casinos have kicked her out and the last one confiscated the money she'd made and she'd been forced to use the remainder to bribe her way out without bodily harm.
Felicity grew up in Vegas; she really ought to know better by now than to go to Mob-run casinos, but she hadn't had any choice when the others barred her from entering.
Now that she has even less money than she came to Vegas with she's got less than nothing.
Then that one-liner from what she'd assumed was some sort of douchebag; Felicity hadn't even looked at him, focussed on the casino just behind him. But after being unceremoniously denied entry – well, she hadn't known what to do and where to go and with him still standing there, shoulders hanging, looking lost, she'd figured she could at least figure this mystery out before she had to face reality and figure out another way of helping Coop.
But then the boy- no, man, had surprised her. Because for all his floppy haircut and crinkled clothing, the broad-shouldered man is intense, earnest and adorably flustered around her. He knows about Coop and he's still sticking around, still intending to help.
That's not nothing. It's… It's something. Maybe everything. Miles, Coop's roommate, certainly had nothing better to do than run the other way.
"I can give you money," Oliver Queen offers promptly as a solution once she finishes delivering her (failed) plan. "Or a lawyer – a whole suite of lawyers. Our family has lawyers on retainer."
"Ah, but let me guess," Felicity drawls out, leaning back in her seat opposite the two billionaires. "First I'd have to marry you."
"What? No!" The apparently-former playboy looks genuinely hurt at her suggestion – hurt and outraged.
"Of course not," he denies. "You don't have to do anything."
"So? What? You'd just give me the money, the lawyers as a no-strings-attached gift?"
"Yes," he says without even an ounce of hesitation.
Felicity has spent the last forty-odd minutes with these two guys and she cannot wrap her head around Oliver Queen. Tommy's easy to get – he's here for one reason only: his friend.
But Oliver? Oh, he's got a crush on her, that one's obvious – which is adorable, don't get her wrong – but he behaves more like she's the last drink of water and he's spent years wandering the desert. Like he can't believe she's real and yet he's desperate for any sip of her…
Yeah, okay, so maybe she's taking this metaphor business a little far, Felicity concedes internally, shifting her thighs slightly and feeling a slight blush on her cheeks at where her thoughts had taken her.
Internal innuendos are definitely a new one.
"Ollie, buddy," Tommy cautions, whispering something to his friend but he just waves him off.
"What if I wanted that in writing?" She asks, curiously and Oliver's hand twitches in hers – woah! When did that happen?
She pulls her hand away, trying not to betray to them that she'd had no idea their hands were all intertwined in the middle of the table – or when the hell that occurred.
"Give me pen and paper – or your laptop – and I'll write up anything you want."
"Anything?"
Felicity honestly isn't sure why she keeps prodding – she won't take him up on it, she knows that already.
You never leave a debt unpaid; that's just basic knowledge in Vegas. You never give someone leverage to hang over you later on – they might feel like you owe them more than they initially gave you in the first place. That's just stupidity; and one thing Felicity Smoak is not, is stupid.
"Anything," he tells her, still just as intense and earnest as he's been with her from the start, continuing to ignore his poor worn-down friend groaning beside him in either protest or despair (or both). At least one of the two has sense. The one who's so enamoured with her clearly lost even the last inklings of sense a long time ago.
Before she gets around to telling him she can't take him up on the offer either way, he pulls out his phone, lifting his finger up in the typical silent request for a minute.
"Ah, yes, Mrs. Loring, just who I wanted to talk to."
Is that the girlfriend – oh, no. She remembers now. The tabloids had named that girl as one Laurel Lance at some stage – so definitely not her. Tommy looks alert and surprised enough she's slightly worried now just who Oliver's calling.
And she kind of wishes she hadn't tucked her laptop away again. Despite the improvements she's made over the years, that thing takes ages to start up. She's probably better off just waiting him out and interrogating him then. Yes. Almost certainly. But she itches to know who 'Mrs. Loring' is and why he had to call her right now.
"Uh-huh. No. No, that won't be needed, thank you. No." He blows out a breath. "No, this is about something different. A friend of mine's been taken in by the FBI for allegedly hacking into the government's student loan accounts and deleting them."
Her eyes widen in realisation. His family's lawyer – at least one of them.
Unlike he is with her – or around her – this Oliver is cool, calm, collected. It's… yeah, it's kind of attractive – she feels bad about even thinking it, but it's not like Coop's eyes had never strayed. As long she didn't act on her thoughts, there was nothing wrong with appreciating what was in front of her.
"Yes," he continues. "Whatever resources you need. Paid for from my trust account – I believe you should have the details on file." He barks out a laugh. "Yes, that sounds about right."
"His name?" He looks up to her and she whispers it across the table automatically, still feeling adrift and unsure how to intervene as she listens to him repeat the name to the lawyer.
"Cooper Seldon."
Felicity's honestly lacking in the emotional capacity to analyse just why hearing that name from his lips sounds so wrong.
"Uh-huh. I want him free and clear. Hire PI's as needed or if you need anything else."
"No," he says suddenly in response to whatever is being told to him. In the space of a moment his entire body language changed to aggression; shoulders drawn tight, brows furrowed, jaws and hands clenched, bicep flexing as he sits upright, clearly only just stopping himself from hitting the table.
"You will leave Felicity Smoak out of this. She's priority one – no charges, no suspicions, no nothing. Then Seldon."
Felicity blushes – again – but Oliver for once is not sparing her a glance, glaring darkly off into the distance. Her heart skipped a beat at his open declaration – she's never been anyone's number one priority aside from her mother. Not even Coop's.
She hadn't expected this rush of feeling for the man when she first saw him.
"Alright," he agrees, voice firm enough it sounds more like an order. "Call me as soon as you have an update."
With that he ends the call, turning back to her and softening immediately, lips turned up into a grin.
"Hey," he says softly but Felicity is in no mood to let him get away, no mood to entertain or think about the emotions he evokes in her. Anger's easier, faster, simpler. So much simpler.
"What the hell was that?" She asks in a low tone and he frowns, looking taken aback at the vehemence in her voice.
"What- I- I just called our family lawyer for criminal cases," he's stammering, confused, taken aback and a little hurt – it surprises her how easy she finds it to read him. It's like he's not hiding anything from her.
"She's bailed me and Tommy out like a million times. She's good, I promise. We'll have an update in no time."
"I didn't agree to that," she reminds him harshly and Felicity can feel herself softening slightly when he looks at her like a kicked puppy, all wide-eyed and sorrowful, unsure why she is lashing out at him.
"But- I thought you wanted a lawyer? Someone to help?"
"I was going to get the money together by myself to help my boyfriend."
"But- The casino. They weren't letting you in. This is helping. Right?" Oliver looks to Tommy for reassurance – who just sighs.
"Buddy," he looks pained at having to defend her but his tone enough to tell her that's exactly what he's going to do.
"Remember the pool party last summer?"
Oliver nods.
"And how you invited that exchange student, Alessandro, because Thea had this huge, adorable puppy crush on him?"
Another nod.
"Now, remember how upset she was with you for it?"
Oliver winces – that one clearly hit home.
"Didn't matter if it was what she wanted anyway – you not consulting her and just doing things you assumed she wanted without actually asking her? Yeah, this is that same thing. Kind of. Except you only met Felicity tonight and then decided to just do what you thought was right without giving her the opportunity to have any input."
"Is he right?" Oliver asks, grimacing slightly, even though they both know the answer to that question already.
"He's not wrong," Felicity confirms slowly, giving Tommy a clear nod in thanks even as Oliver looks more downtrodden.
"Oh," he says softly, shoulders hunched, "I'm sorry."
Like a god-damn puppy. Including the floppy fringe of his hair – it's like ears. There's no way she can remain mad when he looks like that; he clearly had the best intentions even if he went about it ass-backwards.
"It's okay," she grumbles and watches him light up. She can practically see his metaphorical tail wagging behind him in excitement.
Oh dear god, she should kill her mind – where does it even come up with these things?
"Just- send me the bill. I'll – Can I pay you back in instalments or something?"
She might have to quit MIT or postpone her final year and Masters so she can get a job instead – but if Coop got out, it'd be worth it.
"You don't need to pay me back."
"I don't like debts, Mr. Queen," she reminds him.
"Ollie," he corrects her instantaneously. "Please. Call me Ollie."
Her lips curl up in distaste at the name, but she says it anyway. "Ollie, then. I don't like unpaid debts hanging over my head."
Queen's ignoring her talk about debts entirely, laughing delightedly.
"Alright, alright. How about Oliver then."
"Oliver," she draws the name out slowly with a deep sigh – yes, that works much better. Ollie, the frat boy, Ollie the playboy, and now Oliver – the man. The one who stepped up to the plate and took responsibility, even if it wasn't his responsibility to take up. Felicity much preferred Oliver the man to the boy Ollie who graced the cover of tabloids seemingly at least once a week.
His eyes widen and a deep blush covers his cheeks, his mouth opens just for him to make a strangled-croaking noise, hands fisting into the edge of the table.
Felicity stares at him bemused.
"I- Yes, please. Call me that again," he pleads, ignoring Tommy's full-on body shudder and grimace beside him, holding his hand over his ears as if he doesn't want to hear them.
"Oliver?" She repeats questioningly, unsure, until he sighs, pleased, and staring at her with what she can only call full-on heart eyes, adoring her with his gaze.
"What?" she snaps, flustered and discombobulated, feeling like she's caught on the backfoot constantly.
"I just like the way you say my name," he tells her – clearly honestly but Felicity falters for a breath, unsure what she's meant to say – or do – with that.
Thank you?
You're welcome?
… Say his name again?
It's not like she's unfamiliar with the sentiment – when Oliver had said her name earlier, he'd imbued it with so much emotion, so much meaning, she couldn't help but feel he could communicate entire sentences just saying her name. Felicity had felt loved, of all things, just with the way he said her fracking name.
She's never had that before, either. But as she's not the one with a crush, she didn't think she could – or would – do the same thing to him.
"I- I still don't want to be in debt," she blurts out, eminently confused by both him and her own responses to him, not even sure where the words come from.
"You could never be in debt to me," Oliver tells her earnestly and she stares at him.
"You literally just called your family lawyer," she tells him, "and told them to bill you – ergo, money paid, money owed. As it's for me, I'm the one who owes you money. Therefore- a debt."
"But," he looks bemused, "it's you, Felicity. I'm happy to give you whatever you want, no debts."
"And I told you, I don't like owing."
"Oh my god, will you two just get a room and fuck it out!" Tommy half-shouts, exasperated, from just beside them.
Felicity still recoils into her seat. Yes, they had been tuning him out, but that's by no means justification to accuse her of this.
"Tommy!" Oliver growls at his friend, scowling.
"I have a boyfriend, Mr. Merlyn," she cuts in coldly. "And I assure you, even if I didn't, I'm not the kind of girl who sleeps with someone who has a girlfriend. So, I would appreciate if you could desist with your- what are you doing?"
Half-way through her tirade, Oliver's eyes had widened and then he'd scrambled for his phone, texting someone, before putting it right back down, grinning widely.
"I don't have a girlfriend," he tells her proudly and Felicity can feel her eye twitching.
She breathes in and out, reminding herself of a calm breathing pattern – but none of it works. Instead, all she manages is a whimper and uses her palms to hide her face for a moment.
This cannot be real, she reminds herself.
You're overreacting.
This is not happening.
"Did you really just break up with your girlfriend over text, Oliver?" Felicity manages to ask dryly the moment she's got enough of her composure together to face him.
"Yes," he tells her excitedly. "I've never managed to tell her to her face – but this, this was brilliant incentive. Why did I never think to just text her before?"
Felicity stems her eyeroll with difficulty, holding in a groan of despair at this man's obtuseness.
"Because it's rude?" She posits, "Or cold-hearted? Impersonal? Means you don't think she's earned the right to an explanation? Or you were never serious about the relationship in the first place like she was? Pick your choice, either way, it's not good."
"I don't want to hurt her," Oliver tells her – them, she corrects, remembering Tommy sitting beside them suddenly, looking slightly alarmed at her list of accusations. "I just- I could never just talk to her."
"Then you shouldn't have been in a relationship with her in the first place," she snaps back.
"That's what I've been trying to say," Oliver, agrees, looking both exasperated by everyone else being so slow to catch on and excited that she appears to agree.
Yeah, Felicity's definitely not agreeing.
"Hold on, just how long have you been trying to say that?" Tommy interjects, leaning between them slightly to draw their attention.
"I don't know, since a year or two ago," Oliver says with an easy shrug.
Two years and he hadn't managed to say 'I want to break up with you'? What the hell were they doing- never mind.
Don't think about that, Smoak.
None of your business.
"You've only been dating her for a year and three months," Tommy tells him dryly.
Hold on – why does his best friend know better how long he's been in a relationship than Oliver himself does? Is he interested in his best friend?
"A couple of weeks after we started dating, then," Oliver confirms.
"But you kept giving her gifts and jewellery to apologise each time she broke up with you to get her back."
The other billionaire objects immediately, looking confused. "What? No! That's not what happened. I kept apologising because cheating on her is a shitty way to get her to break up with me."
Felicity slouches deeper into her seat, sinking her head down and hiding in the cradle of her elbow. God save her from emotionally constipated frat boys.
Author Notes:
Thanks for all the reviews but as long as you're guests - I can't respond. Either login to review or PM me or do it AO3 where I can respond.
So, as you read at the beginning, this chapter is from Felicity's POV because, well, I'm kinda rebellious at heart, no matter how old I am. I never quite outgrew that teenager phase. So, reviewer said, Felicity POV won't work? Ha, I'll show them! (BTW hope you agree with me it did work)
One of the other reviewers then was like if you write him going to the island I'll stop reading. Yeah, Before I was kind of 70/30 against the island - thought maybe spectre would prod other superheroes to help out or something with the big bad's. Now I'm kind of like 80/20 the island is happening guys!
So, still not fully decided, as you can see... I just felt the vigilantism / doing something good gave them both purpose. But I like them having kids quite young and growing up together raising that kid with Oliver as primary caretaker. I thought even about Felicity investigating and finding the videos Robert left for his children... so yeah, all in all? No decision made. Yet.
Suggestion's been shorter time on the island, Felicity with him on the island etc What do you think?
Coop will be out of the picture soon enough, promise.
My favourite scene in this is the very last scene with Felicity breaking down and the one with Oliver just going yay, broke up with Laurel, aren't you all proud of me? And Felicity's internal innuendos :) I really like this chapter. Hope you guys do too!
Please comment and review!