Archive of Our Own ^beta

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Disclamer: I own nothing. Arrow and its characters belongs to its rightful owner. I just like to play a little bit with the characters ;)

AN: So, this is my first fanfiction. While I’ve been reading for a while and toyed with some ideas, I never wrote anything until now. So any advice and constructive criticism is more than welcome! :) I’ll try to update as regularly as possible. Any questions, feel free to PM me! :)

 

CHAPTER 1

Felicity POV

Things were different. There was no need to soften the truth. When she told him what she had discovered, about Thea’s father, he told her she would not loose him.

He shouldn’t have said anything.

Because the truth was, she already had. Honestly, she didn’t know why she was still on the Team. Sara could do everything she did and more. And the fact that she could kick ass could not be forgotten.

But, apart from that, her friendship with Oliver had changed. At Queen Consolidated she really had started to feel like she was only Oliver’s EA. Hell, he almost only spoke to her about work or Arrow business. The somewhat easy friendship was almost non-existent.

At the lair it was the exact same thing. Only Arrow business was spoken to her. She felt like she was really only the IT girl. And lately she had started to feel like she was not even needed for that.

To be honest, she felt, for the first time, in a very long time, truly alone. It’s true she still had Diggle, but he also had his life, he couldn’t always be with her.

Lately the loneliness had been overwhelming. Most of the nights, she fell asleep with tear tracks on her face. She couldn’t sleep or eat properly. And to add to that, Isabel’s not so pleasant jabs about her work at QC had started to affect her. Felicity had started to doubt herself and the thought of quitting her current position of Oliver’s Executive Assistant and going back to the IT department has crossed her mind.

The only good thing in her life at the moment was her friendship with Thea and Roy. They were the only ones who know how she really felt. And most importantly, they were the only ones who knew everything about her past. Not even Diggle knew why she came to Starling. Sometime she felt has if the only reason she hadn’t lost her sanity was because of those two. They were there whenever she needed, only a call away.

The best thing about their friendship was that there was no need to lie to them about anything, including Arrow business. Roy knew everything due to the Mirakuru in his system, which led to his integration on the Team. Thea wasn’t technically on the Team but knew about it ever since she was kidnapped after the Undertaking.

What Thea also knew, was that her biological father was not Robert Queen but Malcom Merlyn. She had been at home when Felicity had confronted Moira about it and didn’t like the way her mother had talked to Felicity one bit. At the rally she had seen the blond IT girl talking to her brother, and from his reaction, she could only conclude that Felicity had told him everything despite her mother’s threats.

Later that night, Thea had asked Roy to go with her to Felicity’s place, after she had told him everything she had seen and heard. He was nothing but supportive.

When they got there, they knocked on the door, rang the bell, and nothing. Starting to get worried, Thea mentally apologized to her friend, and used the key Felicity had given her, a couple of weeks ago, to use in case of an emergency, to open the door. What she saw broke her heart.

Felicity as lying on her couch, sobbing, and she could that had been happening for a while. ‘Oh God, what happen to her?’ Thea asked herself.

“Roy, go get her something to drink please.” He nodded with a concerned face. On the way to the kitchen, he stopped by the couch and kissed Felicity’s forehead.

“Felicity, sweetheart, what happened? Is everything alright? Does this have anything to do with what you told my brother earlier? At my mother’s rally?” With this last question, Felicity quieted almost instantly and her eyes opened, looking fearful.

“I…I have no idea what you’re talking about.” She said with a small voice, not looking at Thea’s face. Looking at Felicity, Thea couldn’t help but being angry with his brother. How could he ask Felicity to lie for him, with something like this?

“Fee, honey, look at me.” Felicity raised her head to look at Thea, and her heart broke when she saw Felicity’s scared face. She could imagine what she was thinking, she was afraid of losing Thea’s friendship. And with her past, her fear was almost crippling. “I know. I know everything. I know that my biological father isn’t Robert Queen but Malcom Merlyn.”

Felicity stared at Thea with an incredulous face.

“You…You know? But…H…How?” She questioned, completely taken by surprise.

“I was there when you confronted my mother. I heard everything. And when I say everything, I mean everything. I went to my room after you left the house.” She replied with a small smile.

Felicity could feel her eyes watering up again. Only this time she didn’t cry alone. Thea was there and they leaned on one another. Felicity told her how she found out the truth. They talked about Moira and her veiled threats. And then came the subject she really didn’t want to talk about. Oliver.

“Now Fee, tell us the truth. What happened with Oliver?” asked Roy, entering the room with some bottled water for the girls. He had decided to give them some alone time, feeling that they needed it.

Thea and Roy looked at Felicity with expecting but supportive eyes.

Felicity took a deep breath and started to talk.

“He noticed that I was not myself during the day, so he corned me to talk about what was bothering me. I didn’t know how to start, so, hum, I kind of told him about my father, how he abandoned us, me and my mother” she said with a small voice, and Thea took her hand. “he then asked if there was a problem with my family and I said no, that it was a problem related to his. And the I told him…God, you should have seen his face. He looked so…broken.” She said closing her eyes. “After the rally he came to talk to me about you, Thea. He said that for your protection it would be better if you didn’t know. And God, he convinced me to agree with him. After that he left.” She finished with a small voice, her voice breaking a little in the word left.

Roy and Thea looked at one another and then at Felicity. They could see she was hiding something from them, something she didn’t want to tell them. So, Thea decided to try to make her talk about it.

“But that’s not all, isn’t it Felicity? There’s something else.” She asked, trying to get Felicity to open up.

With this question, Felicity’s eyes got even sadder, and there was something about her posture that screamed defeat, that screamed she had given up on something. When she started to speak, it was with a voice so small, Thea and Roy almost couldn’t hear her.

“A few hours ago I decided to go to the Foundry to talk to Oliver, to see if there was something I could do to help him. I should have known better. God, when will I learn that I mean nothing more to him? That I’m just his EA and IT girl?” She asked with a bitter laugh. This scared Thea and Roy. They had only heard her talk like that when referring to one situation located in her past. Never was it related to Oliver. Thea was almost afraid to ask what her brother had done.

“What did he do?” she asked. Felicity looked at the wall, she couldn’t look at them while speaking. She didn’t know if she could stand tem seeing the hurt and heartbreak in her eyes.

“I saw them as soon as I arrived. Sara and Oliver, on the mats. They didn’t even notice I was there, they just continued. God, couldn’t they have done it at another place? Did it have to be my sanctuary?” She cried. Thea couldn’t help but hug her, while Roy rubbed her back in comforting circles.

Thea and Roy looked at each other incredulously. Oliver had done what? In the Foundry of all places! How could he have done this to Felicity? She wore her heart on her sleeve, everyone could see how much she cared for him.

Thea couldn’t believe what her brother had done, but at the moment she ignored her own reactions to the news and focused on her best friend. She had to be there for her. Thank God it’s Friday. She’ll have the weekend to deal with this. I’ll make sure she won’t have to set a foot on the Foundry until Monday. Thea though. She looked at Roy and saw the same look she was sure she had in her own eyes. They had a friend to support, and they weren’t going anywhere.

 

AN: So, what did you guys think? Any advice? I’ll star to talk about Felicity’s past in the next 2 or 3 chapters at most. :) Feel free to review ;)

P.S. Any spelling mistakes, I apologize, English is not my first language.

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AN: Thank you so much for all of your support! Honestly, I wasn’t expecting this response J… As I said previously, I’ll try to update as regularly as possible… I hope you enjoy this chapter!!

 

Disclaimer: I do not own anything. Arrow and its characters belong to its rightful owner.

 

 

 

CHAPTER 2

 

That weekend, just as Thea promised, was spent with the three of them watching movies and catching up on old gossip. Both Thea and Roy made the effort not to mention Oliver in any of their conversations. They both felt that Felicity needed the time to rest and just relax for once. Little did they know about the promise she had made herself.

 

Once she had let a man take control of her life and he turned it into a living hell. While Oliver didn’t hurt her on purpose, his actions had broken her heart more than once, and she was tired, so goddamn tired of feeling like she was never going to enough. So, she decided she was not going to live her life as if its main purpose was not to please Oliver or anyone else. She was going to star living her life for herself- thinking about herself first, she mattered to.

 

For now she was going to steer clear of any attempted relationships, she was going to focus on her work not only at QC and the Foundry but also the software she designs. It was time to start doing things for herself.

 

As weeks went by, she never imagined that her new resolutions would be supported by Oliver’s new behavior. He barely talked to her anymore, only speaking to her when it was related to QC or to Arrow business.

 

Even though she had decided to start thinking about herself more, the way he had been behaving towards her hurt. And what pissed her off the most, was that it was starting to show on her health. She couldn’t sleep, couldn’t eat properly, and psychologically, she just was starting to feel like Joshua made her feel, and that just got her mad.

 

Thea and Roy did what they could, but there was so much they could do for her. They remembered what she told them about Joshua, how she was, how he made her feel. They could now see in first person what she was talking about and they were not happy to see what Oliver’s actions, or lack of, were doing to their friend. They felt like they didn’t know how to help her, and they did not have the contact of the people who did help her in the past.

 

Felicity was thankful for everything those two did for her whenever they could, but there was no way they could be there for her at night. At that was the worst part of her day because that’s when the nightmares would attack.

 

God, wasn’t it enough for me to live through those things? Now I have to start reliving them again? Especially now, when I was starting to get better?? She thought to herself one night, after waking up from an especially bad nightmare.

 

Getting up she went to the kitchen and got a bottle of red wine. There was nothing a glass of wine can’t cure. Sláinte! She tough with sarcasm.

 

She looked at the clock, three freaking a.m.… The time her nightmares usually struck. Felicity knew there was no way she would be able to go back to sleep knowing what was waiting for her so, she got a couple of snacks, her already opened bottle of wine and decided to have a marathon of Doctor Who.

 

She managed to finish the red wine, falling asleep not long after. Felicity slept through her alarm and only woke up when she heard loud banging on her door and someone screaming her name.

 

“Felicity, open up!”

 

 Getting up was more difficult than she cared to admit, after all, falling asleep on her small couch was never a smart thing to do, considering the damn thing would kill her back.

 

She opened her door with a huge yawn only to find that Diggle was about to knock again with a worried expression. When he saw her he gave a relieved sigh. But that rapidly gave way to a concerned face once he saw her face.

 

“Hey you ok? Is everything alright?”  He asked putting his hands on her shoulders.

 

“Yeah… Just had a rough night.”

 

Diggle looked at her with a look that translated to “please elaborate that”.

 

Inviting him in, she sat down on her couch and waited for him to join her on the couch. When he closed the door and sat with her on her couch, Felicity let a long sigh out and rubbed her eyes, trying to chase the sleep away. She didn’t want to tell Digg everything, not yet anyway.

 

“I didn’t sleep well. Nightmares… This time of the year is not particularly easy for me Digg.”

 

If he was worried before, it was nothing compared with what he felt at the moment. He had never seen Felicity look like that, so… Dejected.

 

“You know you can tell me anything right? You know I’m here for you.”

 

“I know Digg. It’s… It’s just not the right time you know? Just give a few days… I already had decided I was going to talk to you anyway… Thea and Roy said you should know everything.” She finished with a small voice. With this Diggle got up and kneeled in front of Felicity.

 

“What is this about? Does it have anything to do with how you have been feeling?” She looked at him with a confused face. “I’m not blind you know? I can see something is wrong with you… You don’t look particularly healthy, and, most importantly, you don’t ramble as much.” He finished with a small chuckle. Then he got a serious face. “Now seriously, what is going on Felicity? What do you want to talk about?”

 

She sighed and leaned back onto the couch. She really didn’t want to worry him, he was like a big brother to her.

 

“I can’t talk about everything right now Digg, please understand that. It’s not the right time, it feels like it’s still to fresh… What I can tell you is that it’s about the real reason I came to Starling City in the first place.”

 

“What? I thought you came here to work at Queen Consolidated?” He asked confused.

 

“That’s the official story, but not the real reason.” She responded with a tired voice. “But please, please, don’t ask me anything else right now. I’ll tell you all about it later ok?” She begged.

 

“Alright. As long as you promise me to call me if you need anything!” Diggle demanded.

 

“Ok.”

 

“And when I say anything, I mean it! No matter what time it is. Are we understood?”

 

“Sir, yes, Sir” She replied with a small smile. “Now, I really am happy to see you Digg, but, what are you doing here?” She asked with an adorable confused look. Diggle laughed at that.

 

“Have you already forgotten? Yesterday we agreed to go get lunch with Thea and Roy? Remember? At the new Italian place that just opened?” She looked at him with her mouth hanging open. How could I have forgotten?

 

“Oh my god! I’m so sorry! Let me just go get dressed. Are we very late?”

 

“No, I arrived a little bit early; I really wanted to talk to you. To see if you were alright.”

 

“Ohh… You are a very sweet man John Diggle.” Felicity said with a big smile, watching Diggle blush a little. “I’ll be ready in twenty minutes.”

 

With this she gave him a kiss in his cheek while on her way to her room.

 

True to her word, Felicity was ready in about twenty minutes. After leaving her apartment they swung by Roy’s place to pick up Thea and Roy. When they looked at Felicity they both realized she did not have a good night of sleep.

 

Thea looked at Felicity with a serious look on her eyes as if asking are you alright? To which Felicity responded with one of her own saying Yes Thea, I’m fine.

 

Diggle watched this interaction between Thea and Felicity through the mirror and his previous concerns came back with a vengeance. What is so bad about her past that has her reacting like this? In such a way that can really damage her health? And how does Thea, and Roy, know about it? He hadn’t missed the look between the couple when they had looked at Felicity. She was wearing making make-up, but there was so much it could do. There was no way someone could miss Felicity’s exhausted look.

 

Diggle was in no way jealous of her relationship with Oliver’s younger sister. As a matter of fact he was grateful for it. He knew Felicity didn’t have many friends and he felt better knowing she had someone she could count on if there was something he couldn’t help her with.

 

Looking at Felicity he had the feeling that whatever was going on with her was only get worse before it got better. And that thought really had him worried. He didn’t want to see the young woman he had started to think of as his surrogate little sister getting hurt.

 

However, he admitted to be curious, and concerned, as to why Felicity really came to Starling, and the way she had been acting had started to worry him seriously. But he could wait a couple days, Felicity herself had said she was going to talk to him. She just needed a couple days to regroup.

 

But enough of this for now. This is a time for us to relax and have a little fun before something else bad happens. Diggle thought.

 

The lunch went well, and the group had fun, catching up with each other. Thea, Roy and Diggle had the mission to make Felicity smile and laugh, even if it was only for a little bit. And they managed to do just that.

 

I really needed this. Felicity thought with a smile. I’m sure things will start to get better from now on.

 

 

 

 

Boy, she couldn’t have been more wrong.

 

 

 

AN: So, what do you think? Did you like it? I will try to update again this week J

 

        On another page, I was thinking about doing some one-shots, so if you have any ideas, please tell me!! J

Feel free to review ;) 

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AN: So, here's chapter three. I have never expected this story to be so well received, so thanks everyone! It really leaves me happy and gives me more inspiration and will to continue writing :)

 

On that note, I was thinking about starting some one-shots, so if you have any idea that you would like to see on 'paper' tell me about it!

 

Disclaimer: I own nothing, Arrow belongs to its rightful creator, I just like to play a little bit with the characters.

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER 3

 

 

As days went by Felicity started to return to her old self, which had Roy, Thea and Diggle pretty relieved, they wanted their friend back. Slowly she started to hang out with her friends more times, got healthy, and, at the same time, started to get madder at Oliver.

 

Didn’t he notice she had not been well? She asked herself bitterly.

 

Unknown to her that was exactly the same thing her friends had been thinking. Diggle had lost count to the times he had to stop himself and Roy to kick Oliver’s ass. He just didn’t understand how the man could be so blind. Sure he was busy with QC and Arrow business but Felicity was his friend and partner.

 

As Felicity started to get better she started to think about the promise she had made Diggle, to tell him everything when she was feeling better. She felt that the time had finally arrived, she just didn’t know how to approach the subject.

 

They were in the Foundry when she decided to breach the subject. Diggle had stopped by her house to pick her up, so it would not be suspicious of her to ask for a ride.

 

“Hey Diggle, could you give me a ride home?” She asked him.

 

“Sure, no problem. Do you mind if we stopped by Belly Burger first?”

 

“Of course not. I’m hungry anyway.” He replied with a smile. “Let’s go. Good night everyone.”

 

Oliver and Sara replied with a mumbled goodbye, barely noticing Felicity speaking. Diggle noticed this and didn’t even say anything to them, he just got up and left with Felicity.

 

When they were in the car, she started nervously.

 

“Do you mind asking to take out? We could eat in my place and talk a bit… If you don’t mind of course. Maybe you do. Maybe you have plans, do don’t have to eat in my place, you could eat in yours. Or you could eat at Belly Burger. I mean, if you don’t mind to have dinner with me, not with me as in date, as your friend… Because we’re friends, and you’re with Lyla… And I like Lyla, we’re friends… Oh God… I’m shutting up now, in 3…2…1.” She looked out of the window watching the cars go by mortified.

 

She didn’t notice Diggle just smiling a bit. And she’s back. He thought.

 

“It’s been a while.” She looked at him confused. “Since you’ve rambled. I missed it.” She gave him a shy smile. “And I don’t mind if we eat at your place. Then we can talk.” He understood the invitation to talk. She was finally ready to open up, to talk about her life before Starling

 

They continued the trip to Big Belly in silence and after getting their order they continued to Felicity’s place. In a mutual decision, though not vocal, they talked about easy things while having dinner, no heavy talk. After eating and cleaning up, Felicity went to her wine cabinet and selected a red merlot while Diggle got the glasses from the kitchen.

 

We are going to need the wine. Felicity thought as she poured it, telling Diggle to make himself comfortable. It was not going to be an easy conversation.

 

Felicity was in silence, thinking how to start such a difficult conversation. Diggle didn’t push her, he just let her think. He did not want to force her, it was better if she told things at her own pace. He imagined it was going to be difficult as it was. From the little she had told her, he imagine it was not going to be pretty.

 

When she finally started, it was in a small voice, and what she told him confirmed his thoughts, rocking his world at the same time.

 

“A couple years ago, last month, my ex-boyfriend tried to kill me.”

 

With this Diggle almost spit his wine, looking at her completely shocked.

 

“What?!”

 

She gave him a small smile. “Let me start from the beginning.”

 

“You might notice that I talk a lot. But you might have noticed that I don’t talk about me family. When I was seven my father abandoned me and my mother, he just left one days with his bags and he never came back.” Hearing this Diggle gently took her hand. “My mother was never the same after that, she was never motherly, but after he left she just…changed. She turned my life a living hell. She wasn’t physically violent, but we both know that sometimes that isn’t the worse. Instead of physical hits, she excelled at emotional and psychological ones. I won’t go into details, you must imagine how it was.” She made a pause, finishing her glass of wine. Diggle silently poured her some more. “Until I was about fourteen she at least gave me money for food and clothes, I only spent it one the essential, trying to save most of it. After that she told me she would not give me any more, that I had to fend for myself. And that’s what I did. I discovered my talents with computers young, so I started to do some odd jobs, fixing computers and stuff like that. Things at home got progressively worse with my mother, and I tried to stay away as much as possible. When I was sixteen I got some part time jobs, took up babysitting and started studying at the library, just so that I didn’t need to go home. I didn’t have much friends in school, just some people I knew, I had all my energies focused on just getting the hell out of that house. And then my wish came through: full scholarship at MIT. When the time to go came, I packed my things and never looked back. I never returned.”

 

She made a brief pause, drinking some wine, trying to organize her thoughts.

 

“On my first day I met my best friend Caitlin Barton, she was my roommate during the time I was at MIT, and we just clicked. She and her family, as well as her boyfriend Jack, who is now her husband, kind of adopted me when she figured out I had no else, that I was alone. They treated me like family.” She said with a small smile. “Everything was as close to perfect for a couple of years, I always spend the vacations with Caitlin and her family, she always dragged me along. And then I met Joshua.”

 

Diggle heard the change in her voice when she said this Joshua’s name. He could guess that things were about to get ugly.

 

“I never dated in high school so when he started to pursue me I really didn’t know what to do or to say. When it came to guys I was really shy, Caitlin did the best she could but there’s so much she could actually do, she even tried to set me up with a couple of Jack’s friends, to no avail. Eventually Joshua and I started dating. For a couple of months things went great, he gave me the attention I never had and then things started to gradually change. It was small things at the beginning, the way I wore my hair, which was light brown at the time, the kind of clothes I wore. He was so subtle that I didn’t notice a thing. Then the commentaries came, things that my mother used to say to me. He always knew how and when to say things. So at the start it was only emotional and psychological abuse. It was what I was mostly used to, what I knew since my childhood, what Caitlin and her family showed me was the anomaly.”

 

She took a break. The worst was to come, and she didn’t know how to put it to words.

 

Diggle got gradually tense as he listened to Felicity’s story. To think the young woman he thought of as a sister had gone through so much wanted to make him punch something, or someone. The way she was starting to talk about her relationship to this Joshua he could tell worse things were yet to come. He closed his eyes and prayed for calm.

 

Felicity took a deep breath and resumed her story.

 

“The first time he hit me I can’t say I was really surprised, for the last days he had been escalating, I might not have had contact with physical abuse, but I was more than familiar with the emotional and physical one. After I just stood there looking at him, I didn’t even fight back he had me so controlled.” She said leaning back on the couch. “After that things got so much worse. He controlled every aspect of my life, didn’t let me make any decisions. He gave me beatings whenever he wanted for whatever faults he deemed I had committed. Everything around the house could become an object of torture. He favored belts and cigarettes. What happened in the bedroom wasn’t exactly consensual. And that is something I really can’t elaborate on.” She said in a small voice filled with pain. “I lost count to the number of times I ended up on the hospital, how many bones he broke. Whenever people asked me what happened I gave the same answers, I fell down, went against a door. I have scars Diggle, really bad ones.” The last sentence was said in a voice so small Diggle almost didn’t hear it. He was feeling so nauseated. How could someone hurt Felicity? She is such a good person. He thought with tears in his eyes.

 

“I did the best I could to hide what was happening but somehow Caitlin found out. I never asked her how. With her help and her family’s, which included Jack who had just become a detective for the police, I managed to get out. We got out of the dorm and moved to her parent’s house, they wouldn’t let us stay there, they wanted us someplace where I could be safe. Things were slowly starting to get better, I was starting to get better. It was a week till graduation when Joshua found out where I was. One day while Caitlin’s father was working Caitlin and her mother had to leave the house to go shopping, and that’s when he attacked. I didn’t notice I was no longer alone until it was too late. He raped me, and God, I can still remember how much it freaking hurt. He then got a knife from the kitchen and he stabbed me twice before Jack got inside. It was the middle of the afternoon, and he always stopped by to see how I was. If he hadn’t been doing that, I’d probably be dead. Jack shot Joshua in the shoulder before he could stab me again. He called an ambulance for me and then he called Caitlin. I passed out after that. I only remember waking up in the hospital a week later. I later found out that I crashed for about forty seconds while on surgery.”

 

She took a deep breath, and took another sip of her glass of wine, not noticing that she has tears falling down her face for the last ten minutes.

 

“Jack made sure that Joshua went to jail and had to serve time. During the time I spent recovering Caitlin and her family where there for me, they never left me alone. I love them dearly, they are the family I never had. They made sure I got my diploma, and I never felt prouder than the moment Cat’s father gave it to me. By the time I got better I had several companies offering me a place of employment. After much debate and talking with Cat and her family I decided to take the offer of Queen Consolidated and come to Starling. They understood that I needed a place without bad memories, where I could be whoever I wanted to be. I still talk with Caitlin and Jack almost every day, and the same with her parents, Helena and Anthony.” She took a deep breath and looked at Diggle, who had tears in his eyes and looked ready to kill someone. “So this is it. This is the reason I came to Starling. Apart from the Barton’s, you, Thea and Roy know about this. I suspect that Detective Lance might know as well, since I’m positive he ran my background when he found out I work with the Arrow, but he never mentioned anything.”

 

Diggle looked at her, took both of the glasses putting them on the table and hugged Felicity as hard as he could. And that’s when she broke down. She cried for everything. For her childhood she never had and for the one that she did have. For the family and abandoned her and for the one that she won when she met Caitlin. She cried for the scared young woman she was when she was with Joshua and all the pain he put her through. She just let it all out for the first time since telling Thea and Roy about her previous life.

 

When she finally calmed down Diggle gave her a kiss on the forehead and Felicity could see that he had also shed a few tears.

 

“I don’t know how you can be such a happy person, who believes in others, the good inside them, when you’ve gone through so much. I want you to know how happy I am to have you in my life and how much I appreciate your friendship. To me you are family Felicity, you are my little sister. And one day, if you feel ready I would love to meet Barton’s, to thank them. Because without them I would never have met you and my world would not be so light without you.”

 

Felicity smiled at Diggle, and this time it was a happy one. He didn’t know how happy his words made her.

 

“Thank you so much Diggle. I hope you know that I think of you as my big brother as well. And I would love to introduce you to the Barton’s. Maybe Lyla too? Do you think she would like that?” She asked with a small smile.

 

“I think she would like that. I know that Lyla cares for you like a sister. What do you want to do? Do you want me to tell her? Whatever makes you comfortable Felicity.”

 

She looked seriously at him, considering all her options, she knew he would not tell Lyla anything if she asked him to, but she didn’t mind if she knew. Felicity liked Lyla, she thought of her as a good friend.

 

“I don’t mind if she knows. I know it is difficult but, would you mind being the one to tell her? It is a difficult subject for me to talk about so many times in such a short amount of time. Tell her I wouldn’t mind meeting her for coffee next week and I would talk a bit more about it with her?” She asked nervously, her hands twitching.

 

“Of course I don’t mind Felicity. I’ll talk to her and then you two will arrange something to talk a bit more. I assume you don’t want anyone else knowing about this?” He knew she understood who he meant and when she nodded he promised he wouldn’t tell a soul.

 

After the talk about her past Diggle asked her what had happed between her and Oliver, since he could see that their relationship had changed in a lot of ways. Felicity told him exactly the same thing that she had told Thea, including Thea’s parentage, since the two girls had talked about it when she told Thea she was going to tell everything to Diggle.

 

Diggle’s reaction was the same as the young couple. He honestly didn’t know what the young man was thinking. Before anything they were friends and lately that was something he was not very good at.

 

Later, Diggle could see that Felicity was almost falling asleep and he said that he was time to leave since it was already late and they had work the next day. He said that he would pick her up at the usual hour the next day. After, locking the door up Felicity went to bed, happy that she had told Diggle everything about her past and, for the first time in days, she did not have any nightmares.

 

 

Diggle’s POV

 

He drove home on auto pilot. He could not believe what that bastard named Joshua had done to Felicity, all he wanted was to break the guys face with his fists, and his reaction to Oliver’s reaction to Felicity in the last weeks were not so different.

 

It was late than usual when he finally got home. After locking up he just leaned against the door and stood there, with tear tracks on his face, until Lyla came to him. When she saw his face she thought automatically of the worst.

 

“What’s wrong John?” she asked in a soft voice. And he broke down. He told her everything Felicity had told him, about her past and what had happened a couple of weeks before. By the time he was done, he was not the only one crying. They were both silent for a while until Lyla started to talk.

 

“She’s no longer alone John, she has us. Whatever she needs she can count on us. We won’t let anything of the sort happen to her ever again.” She was quiet for a while. “I’ll call her tomorrow. Ask if she wants to come to dinner next week. You think she’ll like that?” He nodded with a smile and kissed her.

 

After the long talk they went to bed and both of their last thought’s before falling asleep was how remarkable Felicity Smoak was and how glad they were that they had her in their life. They promised themselves to try to make sure that the young woman Diggle considered family was safe. With that thought they fell asleep.

 

The next days went by naturally, almost normal. Felicity was starting to feel as good as normal and had lunch with Thea, Roy and Diggle. She had also agreed to have dinner with Lyla the following week. The young woman hadn’t felt that good in ages.

 

 

 

And then Tockman Happened.      

 

 

 

 

AN: So, what do you guys think? Was it good? Please, feel free to review and tell me what you think!! J

Chapter Text

 

 

 

CHAPTER 4

 

Things had been going well for Felicity the past couple of days, she was finally starting to feel like her old self. And the fact that she had an amazing group of friends that she knew she could count on no matter what also helped. Since she had told Diggle the truth and talked about it with Lyla after, she felt like a weight was off her shoulders, she felt free. And she hadn’t felt like that in a while.

 

She was connecting with people again. People meaning Roy, Diggle, Thea and Lyla. She felt that she could finally be herself again, no judgments. All of this was starting to improve her health, she slept better and ate better.

 

Unfortunately, things at QC remained pretty much the same. Isabel carried on with her veiled threats and petty remarks, however Felicity didn’t give them the importance she would have a couple of weeks before. What continued the same was Oliver. He still remained oblivious to the fact that the IT girl was not well and that pissed her off. Weren’t they friends? Usually friends noticed when the other is behaving abnormally. And that’s when the anger kicked in. And she was going to take advantage of it.

 

Back when she was living with the Barton’s, after breaking up with Joshua, Jack decided to teach the girls, Felicity and Caitlin, how to defend themselves. If they were ever in a situation where they didn’t feel safe he wanted them to be able to defend themselves. Ever since she came to Starling Felicity had stopped training, and that was going to change. She was going to take the anger she was currently feeling and was going to turn it into energy, energy which she was going to use in training. The first thing she had to do was talk to Diggle and Roy, and that’s what she did one day when it was just the three of them in the Foundry.

 

“Hey Diggle, Roy, I wanted to ask both of you for a favor.” She said biting her lip nervously.

 

“What’s up Fee?” he smirked when he saw her expression.

 

“Well, I was wondering if you two could teach me how to defend myself. I have some basics but since I haven’t practiced in so long I’ve pretty much forgotten everything.”

 

“When did you learn and who taught you?” Asked Diggle.

 

“Jack did. He taught me and Caitlin after I broke up with Joshua. And then everything happened and I moved here. I haven’t practiced in years, so you’ll probably have to teach me everything from the beginning.”

 

“Well, I think it’s a good idea.” Replied Roy and Diggle agreed with him. “Even more now that you’re pissed off. There’s nothing like a punching bag to make you feel better when you’re mad. Trust me.” He smiled. Felicity and Diggle laughed at that. When they heard the door opened they moved to their places as if the conversation had never happened.

 

During the following days Diggle and Roy would teach Felicity and Lyla even gave her some tips a few times, which she found extremely useful. After all, there were some maneuvers that only a woman could truly explain. These lessons would take place when neither Oliver nor Sara were in the Foundry as Felicity didn’t want to give them an explanation.

 

It was during the next week that banks started to be robbed with the help of a hacker who could timely hack the bank to facilitate the robbers. It was with this villain of the week that things got out of control for Felicity.

 

One day, while practicing with one another, Diggle, Sara and Oliver started to tell stories about their scars, not wanting to be left out, she told the story about the only scar she had that didn’t origin in violence. And then Sara had told her that it was a cute story. Diggle could see the fire that appeared in Felicity’s eyes. It wasn’t as if she could tell the story of any of the others.

 

Things only got worse after Tockman managed to out-hack her and basically telling her entire system to commit electronic suicide. And the fact that Sara had practically done her job during the case certainly did not help the matters and managed to raise some of the doubts that had plagued her weeks before. Thank God for Diggle and Roy were there when she needed them.

 

After setting the trap for Tockman with Oliver’s money as bait, they all decided to attend to each other personal matters until they had the received the alert that Tockman had taken the bait. It wasn’t until they got back to the Lair that they noticed that something wasn’t right. Felicity was nowhere to be found.

 

They were talking about the fact that Felicity wasn’t in the Foundry when Oliver’s phone started ringing. It was her.

 

“Hey” Oliver said as he answered the phone.

 

“Tockman took the bait. The money you had Walter deposit. I’m reading his signal at Starling National.” Felicity replied.

 

“Wait. How do you now that?” he asked.

 

“Because I’m here.”

 

“What?” he growled.

 

After that it was a rush to get to the bank. In the end it was Felicity that took Tockman down with her tablet after being shot in the shoulder while saving Sara.

 

When they got to the Foundry Roy already had the medical kit ready to help Felicity. In order to help her deal with the pain Diggle gave her some “aspirins” that almost had her knocked out. After that Sara told them that she would stich Felicity up. Hearing this Diggle and Roy looked at each other in alarm. In the Foundry they were the only ones that knew about their IT girl’s scars. Quietly getting together they were trying to think up of a way to prevent Sara from being the one to take care of the wound without being suspicious about it. Unknown to them, Oliver was aware of their conversation and reaction and was wondering why they were being so secretive. None of them noticed that Sara had helped Felicity out of her shirt until she screamed.

 

“What the hell??!”

 

“Oh God no.” exclaimed Diggle.

 

“How are we gonna explain this one man?” asked Roy.

 

“What’s wrong?” asked Oliver.

 

“I…I don’t know.” Sara said in a small voice. “Felicity, what happened? Who did this to you?”

 

“I don’t want to talk about it.” She replied. “Can’t you fix my shoulder so that I can go home? I’m sleepy. I wanna go to bed. Diggle, can Lyla stay with me tonight?” She asked in a sleepy voice. Seeing what was about to happen Diggle walked to her. Holding her up while Sara finished what she was doing.

 

“I’m sure she won’t mind sweetheart.” Smiling at his reply, Felicity finally gave in to the pain medication and fell asleep.

 

“Sara.” Oliver growled “what’s wrong?”

 

“We’ll talk later Ollie. All of us.” She replied, later being when Felicity was at home, including Diddle and Roy. She hadn’t missed the looks between those two.

 

Sara finally finished and helped Diggle put on a shirt in Felicity that belonged to Oliver. While Sara was buttoning it up, he called Lyla, told her what happed, both at the bank and at the Foundry and asked if she could stay with Felicity for the night. She said she wouldn’t mind. They both knew that it was going to be a long night.

 

While Diggle drove Felicity home not even a sound could be heard at the Foundry. There were only stares. Both Sara and Oliver knew that Diggle and Roy knew more than them, and it bothered Oliver. He wanted to know what was going on. Sara hadn’t even told him what she had seen that had originated such a reaction. When Diggle finally arrived, they were a few minutes in silence until Oliver broke it.

 

“What happened Sara? What did you see?” he asked in an even voice.

 

She walked for a bit, taking deep breaths, wondering how she was going to tell him.

 

“It’s her back Oliver. It’s covered in scars.” She said in a small voice. Oliver looked at her as if he didn’t understand what she was saying. “I’d say it’s from cigarette burn marks and belts. Some of them are worse than mine Ollie.” She finished with tears in her eyes.

 

Suddenly Oliver walked to a table and threw everything that was on it to the floor, not caring if anything was broken. Taking deep breaths and looked to his team mates. Sara’s look was one similar to his, surprised and incredulous but what really appalled him was the look on Diggle and Roy’s face. They didn’t look anything like him and Sara.

 

“You knew…” he said looking at them. “You knew didn’t you?” he screamed.

 

“Yes” replied Diggle. Roy remained quiet.

 

“And you didn’t tell me?” He inquired incredulously.

 

“She asked me not to. She’ll tell you when and if she’s ready.” Diggle argued. He could see where this was going.

 

“I’m her friend! Why wouldn’t she tell me?”

 

Hearing this Roy let a bitter laugh, shaking his head. Everyone directed their eyes to him.

 

“What?” Oliver demanded.

 

“Her friend? You say you are her friend? That’s bullshit! Where were you when she needed you?”

 

“What the hell are you talking about?” he said in what Felicity called his Arrow voice.

 

“Roy” Diggle said low, trying to calm him down.

 

“Are you so fucking blind that you didn’t see how she was a couple of weeks ago? Sick? Barely sleeping and eating. It got to a point that me and Thea were actually worried that she would get herself in the hospital! Are you so goddamn self-absorbed that you didn’t see it?!” He growled walking towards Oliver in an angry pace.

 

“You have barely talked to her unless you needed her to do something whether it was related to QC or Arrow business. It was as if that was all she was needed for! Hell, even Isabel snide remarks started make her doubt herself and her place not only on QC but here as well! Where the fuck were you when she needed you?” Roy screamed. And that was when he punched Oliver, who fell into the floor.

 

Everyone stopped in shock. Seeing that Roy was not done with Oliver, Sara and Diggle run towards him and pushed him back before he did something that he would regret later. It took a few minutes until Roy finally calmed down. I’m not sorry. He deserved it. He thought once he was finally himself. Oliver still hadn’t moved.

 

When he finally got up he asked in a small voice, sounding almost like a little boy.

 

“She was sick?” Everyone looked at him.

 

“Yeah.” Replied Diggle. “I was starting to get really worried. If she hadn’t gotten better I would have dragged her to the hospital. Luckily that was not necessary.”

 

“What was wrong with her?” asked Sara.

 

“I’m sorry, but I can’t say. She asked me not to.” Diggle said in a firm voice. There was no way he was going to betray Felicity’s confidence.

 

“Why?” Oliver begged.

 

“She’s not ready for you to know. You just have to accept that. She needs time man. You really screwed up these last few weeks. Like Roy said, you have not been exactly been a good friend. To put it simply, you’ve been a dickhead.” Explain Diggle. “What I can tell you is that it’s related to her past.”

 

“That’s one way to put it Dig. That girl has a past more messed up than these two can imagine.” Said Roy.

 

Hearing this Oliver sighed and sat down in a chair with his head in his hands. God I messed up. And badly.

 

“How can I fix this?” asked to no one in particular.

 

“Honestly Oliver I have no idea. Try being her friend. Right now that’s what she needs.” Advised Diggle, he honestly had no idea what more Oliver could do. He hadn’t seen her during those weeks. Even now that she was better he didn’t know if he would ever forget.

 

All of them were in silence thinking over things. How had things gotten into that point? Where I don’t notice that one of my best friends is sick? Oliver asked himself. Unfortunately, he had absolutely no ideas.

 

After a while Sara finally spoke. During most of the confrontation she had stayed quiet, she honestly had no idea of what to say. Not to mention that in her mind she was still seeing Felicity’s scars. How someone like her had gone through something like that was truly inconceivable to her.

 

“Maybe it’s best if we go home. It’s late, we have work tomorrow. I’m sure after a night of sleep things will get better.”

 

 

Little did they know that the storm was yet to come, and it was not going to be easy, especially for Felicity.

 

    

 

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: I own nothing, Arrow belongs to its rightful creator, I just like to play a little bit with the characters.

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER 5

 

Oliver POV

 

After everything that happened in the Foundry, Oliver decided to take his bike out and try to clear his head. He couldn’t wrap his head around what he had discovered that night.

 

Scars… That was all he could think about. Sara said her back was covered in scars. Some are worse than hers.

 

How could he have made such a mess of things? Roy and Diggle were right. He had been a lousy friend. She had been there when he needed. But when she needed? Where had he been? Engrossed in his own life, only caring about himself, and forgetting about everyone around him. He hadn’t been behaving like Oliver, he had been behaving like Ollie. And that was something he only realized after getting punched by Roy.

 

He really couldn’t fault him for that. He had been defending Felicity. But the thought that Roy had been protecting her from him, Oliver, left a bitter taste in his mouth and a hole in his stomach.

 

Sick… She had been sick and I didn’t even notice… Sick… Diggle thought he would have to take her to the hospital… He couldn’t forget what Diggle and Roy had told him. What he didn’t notice. What friend doesn’t notice??

 

He didn’t know how much time had passed since he had left the Foundry. It could have been minutes or it could have been hours. He hadn’t noticed the time flying by as he drove mindlessly around the city.

 

Suddenly he stopped the bike and he noticed where he was. Honestly, he was not surprised to realize that he had ended up at Felicity’s place.

 

I just want to know how she is, after all she got shot. He thought to himself as he climbed the fire escape up to her floor. When he looked through her window, he could see her sleeping peacefully he relaxed for a moment.

 

Until he felt he end of a gun pointed at his head.

 

“Who are you and what do you want?” Someone asked in a low and threatening voice.

 

Lyla. Oliver thought, he had forgotten that Felicity has asked Diggle if she would spend the night with her.

 

“It’s me Lyla, Oliver.” He answered in a low voice, trying not to awake the sleeping girl.

 

“Come inside, quietly.” She replied in a low and neutral voice. Once Oliver was inside, they went into the living room, leaving the door of Felicity’s bedroom only slightly open, so that they could hear her if she needed them. “What are you doing here Oliver?” She asked in a hard tone.

 

“I just wanted to see how she was, if she was alright.” He replied.

 

“You haven’t cared about her for weeks, didn’t notice she was sick. And you think you can just come here as if nothing had happened? Tell me, if Sara hadn’t seen her scars because Felicity got shot protecting her would you even be here?” She questioned him with a hard stare.

 

Oliver looked at her with guilty eyes. She had noticed as well. Why didn’t he? How could he have been so blind for weeks?

 

“I just… I don’t know. I honestly have no idea what I’ve been doing, and I sure as hell have no idea how I’m going to fix this.”

 

Lyla sat down in front and clasped her hands. “Do you want to know what I think?” She asked him in a serious voice. Something told Oliver he might not like everything she was going to tell him. However he nodded anyway, He wanted to fix things with Felicity. “I have nothing against her, but I’ve noticed that all of this started the moment you and Sara got back together.” He blinked and looked at her. “I’m not saying it’s her fault. What I’m trying to explain is that, you’ve known each other for a very long time, went through really hard times together. She knew you before the island, she knew Ollie, not Oliver, and it seems that when you’re together it’s easier to be Ollie than to be the person you’ve become. And that’s not fair for either of you. I’m not saying you should not be together, that’s you decision to make.”

 

“We’re not together as a couple, we have an agreement.” Oliver interrupted.

 

“What you do is your business, however, Felicity paid the price for your actions. You stopped being her friend. I don’t know If you noticed, but you only talked to her If it was about her job, both of them actually, you never really bothered to talk to her as her friend. This past couple of weeks you were nothing but her boss. And because of that Felicity’s problems at QC only got worse.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“Things with Isabel got, how do I say it? Complicated. Her jabs to Felicity started to get worse when she realized you wouldn’t even try to stop it as you did before. It got to a point where Felicity started to think about going back to the IT department.”

 

Oliver was looking at her without knowing what to say. How could he have missed it? However, now he had a much more important thought in his mind. How do I fix this?

He didn’t notice he had spoken out loud until Lyla answered him.

 

“Honestly? I have absolutely no idea. Talk to her, be honest, but most importantly be her friend. But try to move at her pace, let her decide how things are supposed to work out. You really did hurt her Oliver.”

 

After a while, Oliver asked the question to which he really wanted an answer to.

 

“You know what happened to her don’t you?” Lyla looked at him seriously.

 

“Yes, I do. And before you ask, no I won’t tell you what it was. She deserves to decide when to tell you about her past or even if she wants to tell you Oliver, She has to decide for herself.”

 

Oliver didn’t answer, thinking about what she said. After a few more moments in silence, he said goodbye to Lyla and left Felicity’s place. On his way out he texted Sara asking her to meet him at the Lair. Once he arrived he could see that she had never left. He needed to talk to her but didn’t know how to star. Thankfully, it wasn’t needed. She started for him.

 

“You know, when I arrived here, in the team, she didn’t treat me different because of my past, she welcomed me, never said anything that made me doubt in the possibility of becoming someone better. After a while we became friends.” She paused for a while, thinking about what she was going to say next. “She noticed when I wasn’t well, always trying to make me feel better by offering me ice cream or inviting me to watch a movie at her place. She never asked anything, she just… was there, offering me support. How could I have not noticed she was not well Oliver? How could I not notice the fact that my friend was sick? How could I have not notice that she has demons that left marks and none of us noticed?” She asked. Oliver didn’t know how to answer.

 

“Honestly? I haven’t a clue. I keep asking myself the same questions. I have known her for almost two years and I just realized that I might not know her at all. Sure I know the small things, how she rambles, how she looks when she’s thinking about hacking, how much she loves ice cream and red wine. But her past? The events that made her who she his? I know next to nothing.”

 

They were both quiet for a while. They knew where this was going and they felt that it was the right thing to do. Once again it was Sara who started talking.

 

“You know, we both went a blind when we started this thing between us. Together we are a little bit toxic, we bot attract the dark side in each other, ignoring everything else. It’s not healthy Ollie. We both knew we were not going be together for a long time, we love each other but we’re not in love with each other. We both deserve better. I think it would be better if we just remained friends don’t you agree?” She questions him. He could see that she had thought this through, it was not a decision made in the moment. And to be honest, he was thankful that they were both on the same page.

 

He leaned back and answered her. “I do agree with you. We both deserve better. We work better as friends. That was actually why I had called you here. I’m happy to know that we have realized the same thing. As for how we are together, Lyla told me exactly the same thing.” He said shaking his head. She looked at him with a confused face.

 

“Lyla? When did you see her?”

 

“At Felicity’s. I went by to check up on her, to see how she was doing.”

 

“How is she?”

 

“She’s fine, asleep. I got one hell of an hello when I got to her place.” At her curious look he proceeds to tell her what happened at Felicity’s place. She was amused by the way Lyla said hello to Oliver and when he told her about what he and Lyla had talked about she listened carefully. By the time he was done talking she told him she agreed with everything the other woman had said – about both their reaction to one another and what they should do to earn Felicity’s trust again.

 

By the time they were done it was much later than they had anticipated and they both went to their respective places, going their separate ways as friends. They felt that they had finally closed a chapter in their lives.

 

 

 

 

Felicity’s POV

 

She woke up felling groggy and with a killer headache. She could remember much about what had happened the previous night after having taken the pain medication. What she did remember was Sara discovering her scars and asking her about them. She got up and went to the kitchen. She needed coffee desperately. When she got there, she found Diggle and Lyla drinking their coffee. Diggle noticed her first.  

 

“Hey girl. How are you feeling?” He inquired. Lyla looked at her with a look that advised her not to lie or to downplay things.

 

“I’m groggy, my head and my shoulder hurt and I need coffee.” The last part was said in a desperate tone that had her companions laughing.

 

“Come here, there’s still coffee in the coffee maker and we saved you a couple of pancakes.” Lyla said with a kind smile.

 

The rest of the morning was spent with Diggle telling her what had happened after he had taken her home. Oliver’s reaction, and everything that had happened, which included Roy punching Oliver.

 

“Wait a second, Roy punched Oliver??” She asked incredulously.

 

“Yes he did. Put him in his place by explaining how much of a dickhead he had been.” Replied Diggle. She still couldn’t believe it.

 

She knew that eventually she would need to talk to Oliver but she honestly had no idea when or how that conversation would occur. When she explained how she felt to her friends, Lyla decided to tell her about Oliver’s little visit the previous night. She didn’t know what to make of it. Thankfully she would not be going to QC that day, she needed to rest and to think about how she was going to act around him the next day after everything that had happened.

 

The next day, when she got to Queen Consolidated, she found Oliver next to her desk with a cup of coffee. They looked at each other until Oliver finally started to speak.

 

“I’m sorry.” He said quietly. “I’m sorry I’ve been such a lousy friend. Hell, I haven’t been much of a friend lately.” He paused, thinking about what he wanted to say. Felicity kept quiet. “There are thing about you that I want to know but I’m not going to ask any questions until you say you want to talk about it. I want to be your friend again, not just your boss and I’ll do whatever I need to earn your trust again. Just please, give me another chance.”

 

She looked at him seriously thinking about what he had said and about what he hadn’t said. She knew that this conversation was far from over. There were still so many things that they had to talk about.

 

“You really hurt me Oliver. You made me feel like I was nothing but another employee, like what everything we had gone through had no importance whatsoever. Don’t make me feel like that ever again alright?” He looked at her expectantly.

 

“Does that mean you’ll give another chance?” He asked hopefully.

 

“Yes.” She replied and saw the relieved look on his face. After agreeing that they would talk more about their friendship later, they both went to do their respective work. Oliver’s morning was filled with meetings and by the time it was done they were both starving. They had just decided to eat in when Thea walked in with Chinese for their lunch. After catching up with his sister, Oliver left the two girls alone for the rest of the lunch break and went into his office to take a call for a subsidiary of QC in another city.

 

Roy had told his girlfriend what had happened and she wanted to make sure with her own eyes that her friend was alright. Her boyfriend had also told her what had happened in the Foundry later that same night. She was about to breach the subject when Felicity’s pone started to ring.

 

“Felicity Smoak, Mr. Queen Executive Assistant, how may I help you?”

 

“Miss Smoak, there is a Mr. Jack Stone and a Mrs. Caitlin Stone who are here to see you. They say they know you.”

 

“Yes I know them Paul, please send them up.”

 

Felicity looked at Thea with a confused face. “It’s Caitlin and Jack. They are here to see me. I didn’t know they were in Starling.”

 

When the elevator finally arrived she went to say hello to her old friends, introducing Thea as well.

 

“Cat, Jack, is so good to see you!” She said, embracing them both. “This is Thea Queen, a very good friend of mine.”

 

“Hello, it’s really nice to meet some of Felicity’s old friends. She talks so much about you two that I feel that I know you already.” Said Thea with a smile.

 

Caitlin smiled at this and replied with a gentle smile “It’s nice to meet you too Thea. Felicity has talked about you too.”

 

After introductions Felicity turned to her old friends.

 

“It’s really nice to see you two but I’m a little bit confused. I thought you were only coming to Starling the next month. Did something happen? Is everything alright?” With this, the somewhat easy smile that her friends had dropped when she inquired about their visit.

 

 

 

When they told her why they were in Starling City Felicity’s world came tumbling down.

Chapter Text

Previously on ‘Coming Back’

 

“It’s really nice to see you two but I’m a little bit confused. I thought you were only coming to Starling the next month. Did something happen? Is everything alright?” With this, the somewhat easy smile that her friends had dropped when she inquired about their visit.

 

 

When they told her why they were in Starling City Felicity’s world came tumbling down.

 

 

CHAPTER 6

 

“He’s out. I’m so sorry Felicity. Somehow he convinced the jury at an appeal that he was better and that he was not a danger to society. I’m so sorry honey.” Caitlin said with tears in her eyes.

 

“He… What?... How… How is this possible? After everything how can they just let him out?” Felicity questioned, sitting down on her chair because her legs couldn’t support her. She stared blankly at Caitlin and Jack, not fully understanding their words. “Why? How?” Was the only thing she asked, the only thing she needed to know.

 

“Apparently he got out on good behavior. During his time in jail he started to see a psychologist and started having therapy. It was mandatory. Somehow Joshua managed to convince that he was better. That’s how he managed to get out earlier.” Jack explained kneeling in front of her. “I’m worried about you. When he was arrested he promised that he would never let you go. You have to be careful. Whatever you do, make sure you’re safe.”

 

Felicity looked at Thea. How could she do both of her jobs with her friends here? Furthermore, she didn’t want to impose on them and complicate their lives by making them staying in Starling.

 

She took a deep breath and looked at her friends, trying to calm herself. The first thing she had to do now was consider all of her options.

 

“Ok. I’m done freaking out now. Jack, what are my options? What should I do now to make sure that he doesn’t come near me?” She questioned.

 

“Well, if I were you, I’d start by talking to the police and a lawyer and get a restriction order. After that, you make sure you don’t go anywhere alone. And get a good security system.”

 

Felicity nodded and thought out loud.

 

“I can talk to Diggle about the security system and then I can speak with Detective Lance and see what he says. I’m just not sure about the lawyer.”

 

At this Thea started to talk.

 

“There’s no problem with you talking with one of our lawyers Fee.”

 

“I don’t know Thea, I don’t want to impose. And you know that you’re mother will not like the idea. You know how she feels about me.”

 

“I know. Maybe Detective Lance could help you with that. He must know some lawyers.”

 

“Maybe. I’ll see what I can do.” She said with a small smile. Turning to Caitlin and Jack she asked. “Do you know for how long you’ll be staying in Starling? Do you need a place to stay?”

 

“No thank you sweetie. He have to go home today, we have a plane to catch. I just thought that it would be best for you to hear this from us, in person you know?”

 

“Yes, and I appreciate it. Thank you so much, both of you. You guys know that you need to be careful too right? You were the ones that helped me, he could come after you too. And your parents Caitlin.”

 

“Don’t worry about us.” She replied, seeing the concerned look Felicity was giving her and Jack. “We are already protected, Jack talked with his boss, explained the situation and he gave us a protection detail. Our only concern is now you.”

 

And this was when Thea stepped in, she was already thinking about ways to make sure that Felicity was safe.

 

“I’ll make sure she’s never alone. Most of the time, she either spends it with me and my boyfriend Roy or with Diggle and Lyla. We’ll make sure she’s never alone.” She assured them with a smile.

 

Caitlin smiled at Thea, she had only met her but she already liked the girl. And that was when she remembered. Doesn’t Thea have a brother named Oliver? From what Felicity told me they used to be good friends. I wonder why Thea didn’t mention him. She wondered.

 

“What about Oliver? Does he know about Joshua? Will he make sure you’re safe?” When she mentioned Oliver she could see both Felicity and Thea’s faces fall down.

 

“No, he doesn’t know about him. Things with Oliver have been a little different than they used to be.” Felicity replied with a sad, yet neutral, expression.

 

At this Thea snorted, making Caitlin and Jack look at her.

 

“That’s a polite way of saying things Fee.” Looking at Caitlin she said “My dear older brother has been behaving like a jackass.”

 

Felicity was thinking that they were luck that Oliver had to leave to meet with the head of the Science Department for an emergency meeting. She didn’t want to think about his reaction if he found out why her friends were in the city. She knew that she would have to tell him eventually, due to the new circumstances, but she wanted to do it when she felt ready

 

“Oh…” Caitlin didn’t know what to say. Felicity and Thea ended up telling Cat and Jack what they could about the situation. This ended up with Jack saying some things not so nice about Oliver.

 

They ended up talking a little bit and Jack and Caitlin got to know Thea, unfortunately they could not stay for long so they left short after Felicity’s lunch time was over.

 

After they left Thea looked at Felicity with expectation.

 

“What are you going to do?”

 

Felicity started slowly, thinking about her options.

 

“I guess that the first thing I should do is talking with detective Lance. Maybe he can direct me to a good lawyer. After that I’ll talk to Diggle.”

 

“When will you talk to my brother? Do you plan on telling about what’s going on?” Thea asked gently. She knew her brother. She knew he wo.uld like to know what was going on and, on a more practical point of view, it would be another person to protect Felicity. She did not want anything bad to happen to her friend

“I will tell him, just not now, first I want to resolve everything else. I hope you understand.”

 

“Of course I understand Fee. I just don’t want to see you getting hurt.” After a small silence Thea started to speak again. “How about this, as soon as my brother comes back, you’ll talk to him to ask if he’ll need you for the rest of the day or if you can leave a bit early. You don’t have to tell him everything, just say you have some personal business to take care of, and after that, the first thing we’ll do is talk to Detective Lance. What do you think?”

 

Felicity thought about Thea’s proposal.

 

“You know what? That’s exactly what I’m going to do.” She replied, giving Thea a smile.

 

Since Oliver hadn’t arrieved yet, Thea decided to keep Felicity company while the last was working, looking over at some reports and organizing Oliver’s schedule for the next week and making sure that the reports needed for the meetings of the next day were properly organized.

 

While Felicity was working, Thea called Roy and Diggle to explain what was going on with Joshua. When she finished talking with Diggle, she asked him to explain the situation to Lyla, she might have some ideas on how to deal with the situation. Also, unknown to her friend, Thea and Roy decided to spend the night in Felicity’s place to make sure that she would not stay alone during the night.

 

Oliver finally arrived at the office around four o’clock in the afternoon. Felicity let him go to his office and rest a little before asking to leave early.

 

Seeing that Felicity wasn’t doing anything, Thea decided to give her a little push when she saw Oliver walking towards them. Thankfully for Thea, Felicity didn’t notice this.

 

“When are you going to talk to my brother Fee?”

 

“I’ll talk to him…”

 

“You need to talk to me Felicity?” asked Oliver making Felicity jump.

 

“Oliver!! I swear one of this days I’m going to put a bell on you! Can’t you make a little bit of noise when you walk?” At this he smirked a little, this argument was something normal between the two of them. For him it was a ray of normalcy when the things between them were everything but normal.

 

“Well, do you mind if I leave a bit early? I have some personal things to take care of.” She asked him nervously. Oliver noted this and started to think about what Lyla had told him about Felicity. Obviously something was wrong and he was one of the few that had no idea what it was. From his sister face he could tell that Thea knew everything that was to know.

 

“Is everything alright? Do you need help with anything?” If there was something wrong with her, no matter what, he wanted to help her.

 

“No everything is alright.” She replied not looking at him. She was never able to lie to him properly. He always knew. “Do you mind if I leave now? Or is there anything you need me to do?”

 

She lied to me. That was the only thing he could think about. She told him she needed time, that she had to learn on how to trust him again. So that was what he was going to do. He was going to trust her and when she needed him, he would be there for her in whatever capacity he was needed.

 

“No there’s nothing else for you to do today. You can go.” He said with a small smile.

 

“Thank you.” She smiled at him and turned to Thea. “Let’s go?”

 

They were about to walk into the elevator when Oliver called Felicity’s name.

 

“Felicity?”

 

“Yes?” She asked looking at Oliver.

 

“You know that if you ever need anything, no matter what it is, that I’m here for you right?” She looked at him seriously, as if she was thinking over what he had said to her. After a few moments she gave him a shy smile and replied.

 

“Yea, I know. See you later Oliver.”

 

“Bye Ollie.”

 

“See ya Speedy.”

 

With that Felicity and Thea walked into the elevator and the last thing they saw was Oliver looking at them with a thinking face on. Looking at Felicity, Thea asked.

 

“So, where are we going first?”

 

Felicity looked at her with a serious face as if only she truly grasped the seriousness of the situation. When they reached the lobby Felicity looked at Thea and answered her question.

 

“Detective Lance, We’ll see Detective Lance first.”

Chapter Text

Previously on ‘Coming Back’

 

“So, where are we going first?”

 

Felicity looked at her with a serious face as if only she truly grasped the seriousness of the situation. When they reached the lobby Felicity looked at Thea and answered her question.

 

“Detective Lance, We’ll see Detective Lance first.”

 

 

 

CHAPTER 7

 

On the way to the station Thea called Roy, updating on the news they had received and asking him to meet with them at the precinct. She wanted Felicity to have as much support as possible while talking with Detective Lance. It was a quiet trip, no one said a thing, too much was going through their heads.

 

Once they arrived at the precinct they asked the first officer they saw where they could find Detective Lance, who was now an officer.

 

To say he was surprised to see them, Felicity, Thea and Roy, was putting it mildly. He instantly knew something was wrong, if the fact that the three of them were together as the SPD wasn’t an indicator, their faces surely were.

 

“Detective” started Felicity with a shaky voice.

 

When Thea realized her friend was in no condition of explaining the situation to Captain Lance, she took charge and told him everything they had learned that morning, as well as Felicity’s story. The more he heard, the more concerned Lance was getting.

 

“Oh sweetheart, I’m so sorry this has happened to you. What do you need?”

 

“Well, we were wondering if you could give us some advice on how to proceed.” Roy started. “Is there any way of getting some patrol to go through Felicity’s neighborhood and her place a couple of times a day?”

 

“Yes, I think there’s a way. I’ll talk to my boss to include Felicity’s place on my patrol route. I’m sure there won’t be a problem.” He smiled reassuringly at them. Lance looked at the three of them and could see how worried they were and, to tell the truth, he was feeling apprehensive as well. He knew what men like Joshua were capable of. He didn’t want to see Felicity hurt again, or worse, dead.

 

“Is there anything else I can help with?”

 

“Actually, Felicity begun hesitantly “I was wondering if you could recommend me a good lawyer who deals with things like these. I need a restraining order. When Joshua got out they didn’t issue a new one. It would help me to feel a little bit safer.”

 

 “Of course. I have one in mind. Her name is Suzanne Miller. I’ll give her a call to explain the situation and to be expecting you to go talk to her today.”

 

“Ok. Thank you detective.” She paused. “But didn’t you already know all of this? What happened to me?”

 

“When I looked into you last year because I suspected you were working with the Hood, I only saw the overview, never looked into the details of what had happened to you. But, just one question. Does our mutual friend know about this?” asked Lance.

 

“Hmmm…” Felicity didn’t know what to say. “Not yet, I wanted to see if I could do something before talking with him.” She responded avoiding looking at Lance.

 

“Is everything alright?” He asked narrowing his eyes.

 

“Yes, of course it is! Why wouldn’t it be? Of course everything is ok!!”  

 

He looked at her with a doubting look. “Are you sure?”

 

“Yup!” She assured, popping the p.

 

“Ok… If you say so. But you’ll talk with him right? He would want to know and that way is one more person to look after you.”

 

“I know… Like I said detective, I promise I’ll talk to him and explain everything later.”

 

After that, Lance promised to talk to his captain in order to be able to include Felicity’s place in his patrol route and the trio decided to leave the detective to his job.

 

As soon as Felicity left the precinct with Roy and Thea, she could already feel a little bit better after her talk with detective Lance. After getting the contact information of Suzanne Miller she decided to go talk with her about the restraing order.

 

When Felicity arrived at the lawyer’s office, Suzanne was already waiting for her since Lance had already called and briefed her on the situation. The only thing that the lawyer asked Felicity to do was to tell her story from the beginning. And that was what she did. There were parts that were difficult to recall and to talk about but thankfully she had Roy and Thea to support her.

 

By the time she was done, Felicity was exhausted and just wanted to forget about the day. When she left the office it was with the assurance that Miss Miller would take care of the restraing order.

 

They were on the way to Felicity’s car when Roy started speaking.

 

“Man, I’m starving. I would love a burger. What do you say Blondie? Wanna stop by Big Belly Burger before heading to the Foundry?” He asked trying to cheer Felicity up. He knew how much she loved their burgers.

 

“Yes please!” responded Thea. “I’d kill for a burger. Hey, we could even ask Diggle if he and Lyla want to meet us! What do you think Felicity?” asked Thea, making an angelic face, trying to make Felicity smile. Which she did, although it was a small one.

 

“I don’t see why not. I could also eat something before heading the Foundry. Will you drive Thea? While I call Diggle?” she asked.

 

Thea looked at her with an incredulous look.

 

“”You’re going to let me drive your car? Awesome!” She responded, squealing and hugging Felicity. Looking at her, Roy just smiled indulgently while shaking his head.

 

While Thea was driving, Felicity called Diggle and invited him and Lyla to meet with them at Big belly Burger and since those two were near the place they were already waiting when Felicity arrived with Thea and Roy.

 

“Hey guys! Sorry to make you wait.” Apologized Felicity once she saw Diggle and Lyla.

 

“There’s no problem. We just arrived as well.” Responded Lyla with a smile.

 

The group made some small talk while the three that arrived last got seated and chose what they wanted. The moment the order was placed they decided to talk about the big elephant in the room.   

 

“I know that you went to talk with detective Lance and a lawyer today. How did everything go?” asked Diggle.

 

“Ok I think” answered Felicity. “Detective Lance aid he would do some extra patrols around my place himself, he only needs to talk to his captain. This was actually a pretty good idea of Roy. I never really remembered to think of something like that and that is something since my IQ has triple digits and… Oh my god Roy! I’m not saying that you are not intelligent, I just…” and that was when Roy stopped her babbling.

 

“I know what you meant Blondie, don’t sweat it.” He replied with a smile.

 

“After that we went to see a lawyer, Suzanne Miller, that Detective Lance recommended.” Continued Thea. “She is going to deal with the restraing order and everything that comes with it.”    

 

“The only thing that needs to be done right now is an upgrade to my home security. Do you think you could help me with that John?” asked Felicity.

 

“Of course, you don’t even have to ask.”

 

“And I’ll help too Felicity.” Said Lyla.

 

“Thank you guys.” Said Felicity, with tears in her eyes and a sweet smile. After that, they were just a group of friends having something to eat. When they finished, Lyla went home and Felicity, Diggle, Roy and Thea went to the Foundry. It was time to go to work.

 

When the four of them arrive at the lair Oliver and Sara were already sparring and if these two though that the group that had just arrived looked like they were trying to hide something they did not show it.

 

Oliver was trying to do what Felicity had asked him to do. He was giving her time. He was going to prove to her that he could become a good friend and someone that was there for her whenever she needed it. And at the moment that implicated doing what she thought was best for herself. At the moment he could wait.

 

Thankfully it was a quiet night on patrolling. Just the normal stuff, some muggings and alike, that the Arrow stopped and personally delivered the culprits to the station.

 

Since it was a quiet night, whenever she could, Thea would go down to the Foundry to make Felicity some company. She didn’t want her friend to be alone. She knew that Felicity would start thinking and considering all the hypothesis of what could happen with Joshua if he ever saw her again. She would shiver if she even thought about it.

 

Since it was an early night and nothing was happening at the city at that moment, Oliver gave them the rest of night.

 

Thea and Roy decided to stay at Verdant to oversee the business while Oliver and Diggle decided to put in some training. Sara decided to go spend some time with her family.

 

When Felicity was leaving the lair Diggle made her promise to call him once she got home, so that he could know that everything was alright. Once she left Oliver turned to Diggle.

 

“Is everything ok with Felicity?” he asked.

 

“No, why would you ask?” he responded not looking at Oliver.

 

“You never ask her to call or say anything once she gets home.” He was staring to get a little worried. First Felicity left with Thea in the middle of the day and now Diggle was asking her to say tell him something once she got home? There was something definitely going on. And if it was something that could harm Felicity he wanted to know what it is so that he could protect her better.

 

“You know what?” Diggle started. “There is something happening at the moment but Felicity will be the one to tell you once she feels ready. Do you understand?”

 

As Oliver was about to answer, Diggle’s phone started ringing.

 

It was Felicity. Diggle answered the phone.

 

“Hey girl, did you get home ok?” Whatever she told Diggle had him panicked. Oliver could see it in his face. And what he told her only had him panicking as well.

 

“Go to your bathroom and lock the door. I’m on my way. Don’t hang up the phone ok?”

 

With this he started running, with Oliver hot on his wheels.

 

“What the hell is going on Dig? Is Felicity alright?”

 

“From what I got from her yes, but we really need to get to her, she didn’t tell me what happed exactly.” And with that they drove out of Verdant.

 

 

-----

 

Felicity was grateful that she got to go home sooner that day, she was exhausted and what she really wanted at the moment was to drink a glass of wine and get some rest.

 

She didn’t notice that something was wrong once she got her car parked. It was only when she turned on the lights of her living room that she saw it and her heart stopped beating.

 

What if he was still at her home? Felicity could feel a panic attack coming,

 

The first thing that she did was call Diggle.

 

“Hey girl, did you get home ok?”

 

“John, he was here, oh god I don’t know if he’s still here… What do I do?” she couldn’t breathe. This was not supposed to be happening. Not right now.

 

“Go to your bathroom and lock the door. I’m on my way. Don’t hang up the phone ok?” With that Felicity ran to her bathroom. It had a window that she could unlock from the inside if she needed it.

 

“I’m here now. Please don’t take too long John. I’m scared.” She said with a small voice. She could hear Oliver on the other side of the line asking what was going on. With what he had heard there was no way he was going to stay on the Foundry. He was going to find out about everything.

 

This wasn’t the way she wanted him to find out.

 

She didn’t know how much time had passed until Felicity heard a car parking in front of her door. It wasn’t long until she heard Diggle and Oliver calling out for her. She knew the moment that they got in and found what had her calling Diggle in such a state.

 

Once Diggle understood what he was seeing he turned to the bathroom to get Felicity, who was with her back to the wall, seating on the floor with her arms around her knees and tears streaming down her face. Diggle helped her up and once she was safe hugged her for all she was worth.

 

“He’s outside, isn’t he?” she inquired. “Did you tell him what happened?” asked Felicity in a small voice.

 

“No. I really didn’t think about it. But now you have no choice Felicity. You have to tell him after what he saw.”

 

“I know” she sighed.

 

Once they got out of the bathroom Felicity looked around, seeing what she was too panicked to understand when she got home and what Oliver was still looking at, hoping to make some sense of what was happening.

 

Felicity living room was in shambles. Things were destroyed. Couches were ripped open and books and DVD’s were thrown all around the living room. Her clothes, which were in her bedroom to begin with, were ripped apart and discarded around the place. She didn’t even want to imagine how her bedroom must look.

 

But what had her, Diggle and Oliver extremely worried, even though the latter had no understanding of what was going on, was the writing on the wall, directed especially to Felicity.

 

 

I SAID YOU WERE MINE, NOBODY ELSE’S! I’LL NEVER LET YOU GO. I’M COMING FOR YOU.

 

Things had just gotten way worse than Felicity could ever had imagined.

Chapter Text

 

Previously on ‘Coming Back’

 

Felicity living room was in shambles. Things were destroyed. Couches were ripped open and books and DVD’s were thrown all around the living room. Her clothes, which were in her bedroom to begin with, were ripped apart and discarded around the place. She didn’t even want to imagine how her bedroom must look.

 

But what had her, Diggle and Oliver extremely worried, even though the latter had no understanding of what was going on, was the writing on the wall, directed especially to Felicity.

 

 

I SAID YOU WERE MINE, NOBODY ELSE’S! I’LL NEVER LET YOU GO. I’M COMING FOR YOU.

 

Things had just gotten way worse than Felicity could ever had imagined.

 

 

 

Chapter 8

 

Oliver looked around but could not understand what he was seeing. It just didn’t make any sense. He could understand the words but he could not relate them with Felicity. Who could possibly want to hurt her?

 

He recalled how she had looked that day in the office. In the morning she had looked relatively normal but now, looking back, he could see that something had spooked her during the time he was away from the office. Her expression had been similar to the one she had when Felicity had a bomb collar strapped to her neck. Scared but trying to be brave. And then she had left earlier than usual with Thea. Which meant that whatever was going on with Felicity, his sister knew, and if she knew, it was almost certain that Roy knew as well.

 

He was still staring at the wall when he felt Diggle and Felicity walk into the room. He could feel their eyes on him. He looked around for a few minutes before he focused his attention on them.

 

The look on Felicity face broke his heart. She was terrified. And he didn’t know who had put that look on her face. Once he found out, that person was as good as dead.

 

“Felicity, what is going on?” He asked in a low tone, trying not to scare her. “You can trust me. Whatever is going on with you, I want to help. Please Felicity.” Said Oliver, walking towards her.

 

“I…I didn’t want you to find out like this, I wanted to be the one to tell you once I was ready. It wasn’t supposed to be like this…” She started hyperventilating. Diggle helped Felicity sitting down and Oliver kneeled right next to her.

 

“Please Felicity, tell me what’s going on, I want to help you.” Oliver said, almost begging.

 

Felicity didn’t say anything, did not respond. She was thinking of how she was going to explain everything to Oliver. Somehow telling him her story was different than telling Diggle or even Roy, Felicity did not want to think about the ramifications of that feeling.

 

While Felicity thought things over, Oliver was getting even more concerned due to her silence. It was when Oliver was about to speak tat Felicity started talking, only it wasn’t to him but to Diggle.

 

“John, do you mind giving us some time please?” she asked.

 

“Are you sure?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Very tell. In that case, I’m going to have a look around, see if I can see anything. And then I’ll call the rest of the guys and Detective Lance. If you need anything I’m only a call away.” Once Diggle mentioned Lance Oliver got even more concerned for his blonde friend. If they had involved the police the situation must have been more serious than he had considered.

 

But under all the concern was also hurt. Was he the only one who didn’t know what was going on? He thought.

 

They had been alone for a couple of minutes when Felicity started talking.

 

“The person who did this is…is my ex-boyfriend. My ex-boyfriend who got out of jail due to good behavior and because he had therapy.” She said, not looking at Oliver.

 

Once Oliver heard ex-boyfriend and jail and added that to the message written on Felicity’s wall, he had a really bad feeling. And the image he was conjuring from the little she had told him was not a good one. He just hopped that what he was thinking about wasn’t true.

 

“Felicity…” he started. He wanted to know the answer to his question, but at the same time he didn’t. “Why was he in jail?” he asked with a calm voice.

 

With Oliver’s question, Felicity tried to make herself smaller if possible. And if Oliver’s thought things were bad before, now he was sure. 

 

“I put him in there a couple of years ago. Before coming to Starling.” She paused, thinking how she was going to explain things without telling too much. There were things she didn’t want Oliver to know.

 

“I put him in jail because he tried to kill me. He put me in the hospital for weeks” she said, not looking at Oliver. She couldn’t imagine what he must have looked like.

 

“He…did…what?” he questioned in what Felicity liked to call his Arrow voice, with some incredulity thrown in.

 

“Oliver was expecting something bad, but he never expected something like that. How could someone try to kill Felicity? She is everything that is good. He didn’t understand, and he needed to.

 

“There is a lot of things you don’t know about me Oliver. Despite what many call a sunny personality, my life has never been an easy one.” She said in a somewhat dark voice.

 

And that just helped Oliver beat himself up again. First he didn’t even notice that one of his closest friends wasn’t well. And now he was blaming himself for not noticing Felicity’s life had been anything but stellar.

 

“Could you tell me now? Explain what happened with your ex?”

 

She paused before starting.

 

“My childhood wasn’t exactly a happy one. She started. “I had to start fending for myself when I was only fourteen, and for a while it was tougher than I had thought. When I got my letter from MIT I left and never looked back I never went back to Vegas. Haven’t seen my mother since I left.”

 

“You haven’t visited?” he asked calmly. He hadn’t expected what she said.

 

“Nope” the popped the p. “Don’t have anything to go back to anyway.” Somehow hearing Felicity say that about herself was like receiving a punch to the stomach. How was that possible? Felicity was sunshine. Everyone who met her loved her instantaneously.

 

“Was this when you met him? Your ex?”

 

“On my first day at MITI met Caitlin, she was my roommate. We just clicked, became best friends, almost sisters. She quickly introduced me to her parents and her boyfriend Jack. They became my family and Caitlin’s boyfriend the overprotective big brother I never had. In Vegas I never dated, was too focused on school so that I could get a scholarship and get out of that city. Because of that I had no experience with guys and was very shy. Caitlin and Jack tried to set me up with some of their friends but it never panned out in a relationship.” Felicity paused, thinking of how she was going to explain the rest. Oliver didn’t say a thing. He could feel that talking about that subject was very hard for Felicity. He didn’t want to make things worse than they already were.

 

“I met Joshua on my second year at MIT. I was working on this coffee shop and he was always around. Anyway, one thing led to another and we started dating. At first everything was going really well and I was happy. And then things started to change gradually. It was so very subtle and manipulative. He started with the little things, theway I used my hair, what I would wear, and then things got worse. It started with comments that he would say as if they were completely normal things to tell another person, things said for the said of being said (or so I thought). And then he escalated to being cruel in what he said and the threats followed soon after. I was so controlled by him, that the first time he hit me I did nothing, just stood there.”

 

“He did what?” growled Oliver. “He put his hands on you like that?” He asked. He wanted to tear the guy to pieces.

 

If he reacts like that to this I wonder how he’ll react to the rest. Thought Felicity.  

 

“Yes” she paused. “Things got worse with time. He became more violent, aggressive and controlling. He put me in the hospital a couple of times. Every time someone asked me something about the injuries I’d give the same old answer, went against something or fell down or another stupid excuse.”

 

Oliver was livid. He didn’t want to think of Felicity in the position she had just described. Hurt by the hand of someone who said h cared for her. How could someone hurt her? She was such a good person, inside and outside.

 

“How did you get out? How did you manage to leave him?” He inquired, he knew that trying to leave a relationship like that was difficult as well as dangerous.

 

“I could see him getting worse as the days went by and I knew that there would be a day when he would take things too far. I realized that I had to leave at that moment or I would end up dead. Just another statistic. When I finally realized that I had to leave Joshua I talked with Caitlin and her family, which includes Jack. They helped me. When I broke up with him we were in a public place and Jack was nearby. It was hard, I was terrified of what he could do, even in public.” She stopped, trying to calm herself.

 

“After that pat was done Caitlin and I moved into her parent’s house. At first I tried to refuse, I didn’t want to put them in any danger but they wouldn’t take no for an answer.” She paused remembering those days. The Stones were truly an incredibly family, she never would be able to thank them enough for what they did for her.

 

Oliver was looking at her, silently thanking people he had never met. If not for them, he probably would never have met Felicity. Something he couldn’t imagine.

 

  “However” she continued “even living with the Stones couldn’t help how I felt outside their house. Wherever I would go Joshua would be there as well. He had started stalking me. That was when I finally got a restrain order against him. And that was when things started getting a little bit better. I enjoyed living with Cat and her parents. I never really had a family growing up, so it really was a completely different experience, having someone caring like that. But just like all things good, this too came to an end.”

 

Felicity stopped, taking a deep breath, gaining courage to explain what happened next.

 

“Everything went to hell, didn’t it?” questions Oliver, in a subdued voice.

 

“Yes. I had been living with the Stones for a while when everything went bad. I was only a couple of week away from getting my diploma and for the first time, in a very long time, I was alone at home. Cat’s father and Jack were both at work and Cat and her mother had gone to the grocery store. Both of them had invited me to come but I was working on a personal project and told them to go without me. I was so focused on what I was doing that I didn’t notice after a while that I was no longer alone.”

 

“He found you. And he hurt you, didn’t he?”

 

More than you could possibly know. Felicity thought to herself. 

 

“Yes. He tried to kill me. He stabbed me. There was so much pain.” She said as quickly as possible, trying to avoid looking at Oliver and putting her hand to her abdomen, the place where he had stabbed her. For a while she had phantom pains, now she only had them a couple times a year, majorly when the nightmares about that day occurred. “And then Joshua was no longer there and Jack was telling me to hold on and then I passed out. It was touch and go for a while. I only remember waking up in the hospital a couple of weeks later.”

 

When Felicity was done telling what happened that day Oliver could barely contain himself, he was so full of rage. He wanted to find Joshua and obliterate him from existence. To think that he almost managed to hurt Felicity in such a way, that she almost died, he deserved the worst kind of punishment that he could come up with. 

 

“You said that Jack was at work. How come he was the one to stop Joshua?” Asked Oliver. During the time that Felicity had been describing what had happened Oliver had gotten up, he could not stand still. His body was practically vibrating, needing to move, to destroy. She almost died and he didn’t protect her. At that moment he didn’t think of the fact that he had no knowledge of her at the time, he just wanted to hurt the guy that ad hurt her.

 

“It was his lunch break and he decided to pass by the house and see if everything was alright. Thank god for that, otherwise I would be dead”.

 

“He flinched when he heard her say dead. A world without Felicity Smoak was completely unthinkable.

 

And then she stopped walking. He wanted to ask her but was afraid of hearing the answer. He closed his eyes. He didn’t know I he could look into her eyes when she answered.

 

“You said it was touch and go for a while. How close were you. To… Not waking up?” He couldn’t even say Felicity and dead in the same sentence, there was no way he could relate one word to the other.

 

Felicity looked at Oliver. She knew that he would not like the news but she sure as Google was not expecting this reaction. It looked like he was barely hanging on. She didn’t know how she could deal with this Oliver, one that looked like he was going to explode due to something that had happened to her. She knew that Oliver somewhat cared about her, like he cared about John or even Roy but she could not understand his reaction.

 

She realized that he was waiting for her answer and decided to end his waiting.

 

“Too close… I crashed during surgery. Woke up couple of weeks later.”

 

“Fuck” said Oliver. Turning his back to her. He didn’t want her to see the expression on his face. He was barely holding the tears in his eyes. But somehow Felicity understood how he was feeling and gave him some space. It was once he was finally in control of himself that he looked at her. And then he remembered what she said in the beginning.

 

“It was your ex who did this, the one who got out of jail.” His voice looked more like a growl when he spoke to Felicity.

 

“Yes” she confirmed, even if his voice was not looking for confirmation.

 

“Did Diggle know?”

 

“Yes…” she responded, not following the way he was thinking.

 

“Then, why the hell were you alone when you arrived home? Why wasn’t someone with you?” He questioned, if she hadn’t know him, she would say that the expression she saw in his eyes was rage.

 

 

 

 

--

 

 

 

Unknown to them the person who had destroyed Felicity’s house hadn’t only left a path of destruction but also a way to know what was going on with Felicity. He wanted to know who she was friends with, what were her routines.

 

And it was through this way that he witnessed Felicity and Oliver’s conversation.

 

He was going to study her, to learn everything about her again, she had changed. This way he could get back what was rightfully his, no matter what he had to do.

 

 

 

He was going to get Felicity back.