Archive of Our Own ^beta

“Dad.”  

Oliver’s throat ceases at her words, his eyes flickering back and forth between the three newcomers. 

There is no way.

“Dad? What’s going on?” This time it’s the young man that utters these words, his brown eyes trained on Oliver in recognition, confusion laced in his tone almost panicked.

Dad.

It can’t be.

“William?... Mia!”  Oliver falters when they both acknowledge him in recognition. “How...what...what is going on?”

Mia’s eyes flicker to him once, then she turns to her brother her entire body shifting, almost as though she’s putting up invisible walls between her and Oliver and it guts him.

“What year is it?” William asks, his eyes shifting to the other people in the room, cautiously. He takes a soft step towards Mia. 

Mia stands in front of him covered in blood. Her arms raised, ready for a fight  quickly moves in front of her brother. Her protective stance obvious.

“2019,” John replies, his own eyes are moving back and forth across each of the newcomers.

“Time travel? Really? ” Mia snaps at her brother skeptically. 

“You got a better explanation?” William quips back gesturing wildly to everyone in front of them. 

The snarky remark reminds Oliver so much of his teenage son, he falters. His heart is hammering rapidly in his chest. 

He’s seen some amazing things over the years, but this …. 

His children ...who aren’t so much kids anymore.

“ William, ” Oliver chokes out in surprise, 

He takes a step towards them, his eyes moving to Mia who takes a conscious back towards her brother. Back away from Oliver and it hurts .

“Hey Dad, how's it hanging?” William quips weakly to Oliver his joke falling flat.

Oliver can see Mia roll her eyes at her brothers, but her stance remains rigid. 

His baby girl.

“ William,” Oliver gasps out again, he takes a step forward and engulfs his surprise son in a warm hug, “look at you, you…wow.”

“Yes, yes he’s handsome as ever. Can we move on and figure out why we’re here?” Mia snaps in agitation, if it’s at the display, or the lack of having control of the situation, Oliver is not sure.

“ Mia,” Oliver chokes out. He takes a step towards her but stops short at the rigid way she holds herself. Despite her previous tone, Oliver can see the tears in her eyes, her appreciation in her face, and then it hits him. She does not know him.

“Mia, you... Mia ,” he breathes out again, almost as though if he keeps saying her name some form of recognition may appear in his daughter’s eyes. 

He takes her in, slim built like Thea, but the curly blonde hair, and small nose with a soft curve to her cheek that’s all Felicity. It’s like he’s staring at his wife.

Felicity .

“You look...you look so much like your mother,” Oliver chokes out. This time he takes a bold step towards her, and a small part of him cheers when she doesn’t retract, doesn’t flinch at the sight of him.

His gaze lingers on the large cut across her neck obviously done by a blade, he wants to reach for her, ensure that she is physically alright, but he refrains. “What happened?”

He finally catches sight of the quiver full of arrows on her back, his quiver with his arrows.

He has so many questions, so many, but he can see the way Mia is closed off, the way she moves closer to her brother and Oliver knows from experience now is not the time. 

However, his heart warms at the fact that they not only know each other, they clearly care for each other. Despite everything, his children grew up together and yet another moment in which he sends a silent prayer to his brilliant wife.

“We were being attacked by a deathstroke gang and then ended up here ,” their third company chimes in reminding Oliver that there are other people here. The young man takes a step towards Mia and William, his solidarity made clear.

“And who are you?” John speaks moving to step next to Oliver, his own gaze more fixated on Oliver’s children. 

“Connor, Connor Hawke,” Connor says standing tall as he addresses John, the recognition is there on both sides. The respect evident in the way Connor looks at John, Oliver knows there is a story there.

“You did that wrong, you’re supposed to say Hawke, Connor Hawke,” William quips clearly trying to ease the obvious tension in the room and it reminds Oliver so much of his wife, it makes his heart ache.

Both Mia and Connor look William incredulously, but William only looks at them offended, “Bond? Come on you two know about Star Wars but not James Bond?”

“Mom, made me watch Star Wars when I was five. You do not grow up with Felicity Smoak and not know that,” Mia fires back with equal gusto.

It’s comforting to listen to them squabble like the way he and Thea always have over the years. He is comforted to know that all these sacrifices were worth it, that his kids, although slightly banged up at the moment are happy and together. It’s all he wanted for them.

“Still…” William starts off but Connor takes a step towards them raising both hands. Oliver does not miss the way he gentle grasps Mia’s wrist stopping her mid retort

Uh

“Can we shelf that for later and figure out why and how we ended up in 2019?” He comments to the two.

“I’m guessing this has to do with your new friend?” Diggle addresses Oliver, pulling him from his thoughts. 

His friend mindful of  their audience, who is currently unaware of Oliver’s latest missions. Oliver glances from Mia to William and then looks across at Diggle who gives him a pointed look, and they both come to the same conclusion.

“No, they are not going to be involved in this,” Oliver says firmly. He sees his arrows on Mia’s back and he frowns, “he told me I had to do this to protect my family. My children will not be part of this fight. Do you hear me?”

Oliver looks up to the ceiling, calling out to the Monitor not exactly sure he can hear him, but almost certain he is behind this latest mishap.

“This is it, this is the fight that took you away from us?” Mia calls out her voice soft. Her eyes filling with tears, but then she looks at Oliver with the kind of stubborn determination he has only ever seen on his wife, her mother. “If I was brought here to fight. I want to fight.”

“You don’t even know what you’re going to be fighting,” William calls out in clear frustration and exasperation.

“I don’t care, if I’m meant to stop things from happening then I want to fight. Isn’t that what time travel is all about? Changing the future?” Mia asks spinning to face William and purposely putting her back to Oliver.

“Actually time travel is about the exact opposite of that, have you never watched an episode of Dr Who?” William asks her incredulously.

“You can’t tell me you want things to turn out the way that it does,” Mia hisses out at him in an accusatory tone, “Dad’s been gone for years . Mom left to find him and you and I barely know each other. Don’t you want our family to be together?”

Oliver falters at her words, he knew his fate the moment he walked away from his family. But seeing the outcome of this, how broken and alone his kids are it makes him think just surrendering to his fate is not the best choice for them. In the end he’s only doing this for them and if their lives are as lost and terrible his daughter makes it seems then all of his actions was for naught. 

He can’t have that.

“Mia of course I do but it’s like Mom said, some things

 are bigger than our family,” William says solemnly.

“I refuse to believe that,” Mia replies hotly, “if there is a way to change all of this, stop it from happening. I’m going to do it.”

“Mia…”

“No, William, don’t!” Mia growls holding her hand up to him. She takes a deep breath looks up at the ceiling and fixes the strap of her quiver unnecessarily, “I need some air.”

With those final words she spins on her heels and walks off the platform to a small secluded part of the bunker. 

Oliver is at a loss for words. William looks at him apologetically, “Sorry about her. I don’t know her as well as I would like, but I think with Mom gone, she just hasn’t been dealing with it. Or any of her emotions lately, to be quite honest.”

“ Gone ?” Oliver chokes out, his heart ceasing in his chest. 

Felicity.  She can’t...she won’t... No.

“Oh no! Dad, she’s not dead, she just went off to find you? Neither of us know where that is, I tried to find you both but we gave up on it a few weeks ago and suffice to say neither of really dealt with it. Mia more so,” William explains. He glances across the room for his sister, his concern evident, “I should go talk to her.”

“No, let me. I’m the cause of all of this,” Oliver replies solemnly. He takes a deep breath and quickly makes his way to the small sitting area of the bunker, but not before he grabs some medical supplies.

“Hey,” he calls out softly as he enters the small space Mia’s bow and arrows rest on the side table and she’s sunken into one of the soft chairs, her eyes downcast.

“If you came to talk me out of…” she warns, her green eyes meeting his for the second that night, full of determination.

“No, I’d like to just talk to you,” Oliver offers sheepishly, he then holds up his supplies, “and clean that cut if you don’t mind?”

Familiar green eyes watch him with a calculated stare, it’s the same kind of intensity he remembers her giving him right before he bottled fed her and she was never pleased that it was not Felicity. 

The memory makes him smile, and Mia only looks at him in confusion.

“Your eyes, they haven’t changed,” Oliver replies softly as he takes a seat in the chair opposite her. “You would stare back at me whenever I tried to give you your bottle but you only wanted your Mom.”

His words have made her uncomfortable, he can tell by the way she shifts in her seat and pulls her gaze away from him. It seems like she is as fascinated with him as he is with her.

He holds up the antiseptic wipes and gestures to her neck, “May I?”

She seems startled at his question, but then slowly gathers her hair and puts it up in a ponytail, leaving her injured neck bare. With her hair  tied up, the curve of her chin and the arch of her nose is even more prominent, and all he sees is Felicity.

It takes his breath away. 

He catches himself staring yet again and quickly moves to clean her cut. They sit in uncomfortable silence as he begins the process of cleaning away all the tried blood. There is just so much of it.

This is not the life he wanted for her, or for William. He thought when he signed away his fate it meant that his family would be safe and more importantly away from all of this.

“Your friend Connor mentioned Deathstroke, he did this?” Oliver asks with concern, as he gently dabs at her cuts and he realizes she barely even flinches at the antiseptic touches her skin.

“One of his minions did it, but all the same,” Mia grunts out, “I’m fine.”

“No, fine was what your mother was when she faced Deathstroke. You have a three inch cut that any deeper would have required stitches. You are not fine,” Oliver remarks angrily. Angry at the person that did this, also angry at Mia for being so nonchalant about it, the same way she seems to want to run head first into a fight she knows nothing about.

“Mom faced Deathstroke?” Mia asks her voice filled with awe. “She never told me that. She only told me that you were able to put a stop to him and you ended the fight once and for all.”

“It was only because of her I was able to stop him in the first place,” Oliver says smiling proudly at the memory.

Mia catches his smile though, and she looks at him thoughtfully, a hint of a smile tugging on her own lips, “You know mom gets that same exact wistful smile when she talks about you too.”

Oliver heart warms at her words. God, he misses her so much.

“You know I have to do this,” Mia says to him softly, “I won’t sit back and do nothing.”

“When I left, I was comforted by the fact that your mother would be nowhere near this fight. She would be safe taking care of you, away from all of it. Your brother is still with his grandparents and far from all of this as well. Knowing that the three of you are safe is the only thing that keeps me going. I won’t be able to do this knowing that both of you could get hurt. I won’t Mia.”

“Well Dad , you might have a say on the version of me that can barely sit up on her own. But I’m an adult. I make my own decisions. You cannot tell me want to do. I’m joining this fight with you, whether you like it or not.”

With those final words, she grabs the last of the antiseptic wipe and storms off towards the bathrooms.

Oliver sighs deeply and rubs his face in exhaustion. That conversation went as well as he expected.

He casts a glance at her bow and quiver full of arrows one last time before he makes his way back to Felicity’s station. He pauses when he sees William sitting at her desk, his fingers flying around the keyboard. If Oliver closes his eyes he could just imagine Felicity at that chair, blonde hair held high in one and away from her face the familiar sound of keyboard clicking loudly. 

It sounds like home.

“I’m guessing you couldn’t change her mind?” William calls out knowingly, his voice pulling Oliver from his trip down memory lane.

“No.” Oliver grunts. He leans against the table and watches his son thoughtfully. 

He can see whispers of the young boy he knew, the same brown eyes, the small dimple in the corner of his mouth. It’s William, except he’s grown so much, yet again Oliver has missed out on all of his son’s life.

“Mia is too stubborn, she will never back down on something unless it was her idea. The trick is to make her think she came up with it,” Connor chimes in reminding Oliver that yes there are other people in the bunker. 

Oliver narrows his eyes at the other man’s tone and the familiarity in which he speaks about Mia, does not sit well with Oliver in the slightest. He narrows his eyes at the newcomer and Connor clamps up immediately, and least someone listens to him.

Oliver turns to Diggle looking at him questioningly, his friend seems kind of pale and his gaze is fixated on Connor. “John?”

“I sent the others away. Figured there is too much about all this we don’t know about,” Diggle explains, clearly avoiding Oliver’s other silent question.

“All the same, I don’t trust them in 2040. Probably shouldn’t trust them now either,” William remarks with a bite in his tone Oliver has only heard from Mia so far which is surprising to say the least. “Damn these things are prehistoric. How did Mom ever get anything done?”

Mom .

He knows that William and Felicity have gotten close over the 6 months he was in prison but never really understood or realized the true impact Felicity had on his son till this very moment. 

It’s amazing.

For months Oliver has felt like he’s failed his son. He worries about the lack of stability or consistent environment. Although it pained him to see William go, it looks like moving with his grandparents was the best thing for his son.

“Frack,” William grumbles in frustration. He shakes the keyboard and a few crumbs fall onto the desk, he pauses and then look at Oliver suspiciously, “You really should not let them eat by the computer.”

It’s a warning, not a threat, which is what Felicity would have done.

She would have also known how to talk to their grown children because right now Oliver is at a loss for words, again.

“I feel like I should apologize,” Oliver admits softly. Brown eyes lock with his and William shift uncomfortably in Felicity’s chair.

“Pretty sure it’s Mom you should apologize to, for getting food on her stuff,” William jokes weakly, and they both know that is not what Oliver is referring too.

“William, you need to know that we were planning to come for you. We wanted to make sure it was safe before we uprooted you again.” Oliver explains. He needs his son to understand that they did not just decide to have another kid and forgot about him.

William bites his lips and looks across the room and Mia and Connor who are slightly conversing on the other side of the room. Oliver just knows they are thinking the same thing.

“We found out about Mia after you left. We always wanted you with us, but we also wanted to respect your decision.” Oliver explains.

“I was 13, Dad. You guys should have put your foot down more,” William replies shortly. “You should have fought for me more. That is what I wanted, and you two were the adults.”

“William…”

“It’s funny.” William’s tone is anything but, “ twenty years later and it still hurts to know you thought you could protect a newborn more than you could a teenager. All that stuff about sending me so I could be safe, but yet Mia got to grew up with her mom.”

Oliver falters at his son’s broken tone. This is not how it was supposed to be, this is not what he and Felicity wanted for their family.

William shakes his head and places the keyboard on the desk with care, “It doesn’t matter. It was a long time ago.”

“No, William it’s happening right now . I need you to understand…”

“Dad, just stop, it’s fine. It took endless hours of therapy and some broken relationships under my belt. But it’s fine. I need to get into Felicity’s system to figure out what we’re dealing with and if anyone joined us on our little trip.”

The switch of moniker for Felicity not lost to Oliver. Foolishly, he thought his conversation with William would have gone better than with Mia.

“William…” 

Both of his children may be stubborn, but they clearly got it from him and he won’t let this go.

William sighs deeply, it reminds Oliver of his William who always made his feelings about getting a lecture pretty clear by sighing loudly and dramatically in displeasure. 

Before either of them can speak, there is a loud beep and then the Star Wars ‘Imperial March’ starts to play loudly on the PA system. 

Immediately everyone in the bunker comes running towards the centre of the room.

“William, what the hell are you doing? Now is not the time for some geeky playlist,” Mia snaps. She goes to touch the keyboard but Willam levels her with an annoyed look that stops her.

“I’m not doing that,” William snaps back, his gaze moving back to the screen. The music stops and the screens goes black.

“Step away from the computer. If you touch anything you’re going to be greeted by the sounds on flatulent pigs. Who are you and what are you doing touching my system?” 

The voice that booms across the PA system is masked by a voice modulator but it’s obvious who is behind the screen.

Felicity .

“Felicity?” Oliver calls out tentatively, his heart hammering in his chest at the prospect of talking to her seeing her for the first time in weeks .

“Oliver?” The voice starts in surprise, a soft click is heard and then the most beautiful sound greets him, “Oliver? Is that you? Why are you at the bunker? Are you okay? Who do you have trying to hack into my system?”

“Felicity,” Oliver chokes out, and then the blank screen clears and familiar blue eyes and blonde hair comes into focus. This time the tears forms in his eyes, “ Felicity.”

“Oh ,” Felicity gasps, and he can see that she's not faring any better, “ Oliver . Oh, you are a sight for sore eyes. Hey .”

“ Hey ,” Oliver responds, unable to form any other words. Felicity smiles warmly at him, but then pauses when her eyes land on the other people in the room.

“You seem to have acquired, a whole other team in my absence,” Felicity observes her eyes moving to the three newcomers, then back to Oliver. As their eyes meet again she sighs softly, a smile tugging at her lips, and Oliver can’t help but return the smile in kind.

“Oh wow, you were right, they are sickening,” Mia remarks dryly. Despite her tone though, Oliver can see the way she is taking in her mother, her gaze never once leaving the screen. Her small hand is gripping the back of Felicity’s chair, and Oliver knows she is far more affected than she lets off. 

“They were downright embarrassing when they got married,” William chimes in with a teasing grin as he smiles warmly at Felicity. “I always had to announce my presence loudly when I entered a room. It was still pretty pointless, though.”

Felicity tilts her head to the side looking at both William and Mia with curiosity, William more so than Mia. “Oliver, what’s going on?”

Oliver takes a deep breath, and takes a step towards their children, he grips William by the shoulder, and presses hand lightly on Mia’s back. “Felicity...this...this is William...and Mia from 2040.”

“What? William... Mia ?” Felicity practically shouts, and to everyone’s surprise, a loud cry erupts off screen. 

Oliver immediately perks up at the sound as Felicity looks down and winces, the cries getting louder, “Oh baby, Mommy’s sorry. No need to give me that look Miss Mia, you know very well how to latch back on. You can keep glaring at me, but that won’t get you dinner. Yes that’s what I thought.”

“Oh god Mom , can you not?” Mia bemoans, her cheeks red in embarrassment and Oliver can’t help but grin, despite her standing right next to him, he is itching for Felicity to put baby Mia on camera. “This is too weird.”

“ Mia…” Felicity says in awe, her eyes moving to the baby who is off screen nursing, then back to the adult in front of her, “Oh my god, Mia ... how ...well I know time travel, duh but how ? William? Oh, is that really you? What is going on?”

“Still trying to figure that out,” William promises. He sends her a small wave and Oliver can see the moment Felicity melts at the gesture, he also does not miss the way Mia rolls her eyes at the exchange. 

“ Oliver,” Felicity calls out to her, her eyes wide and still moving between their adult children and Oliver.

“I know,” Oliver says softly. He takes a step towards the screen, wishing for nothing more than to reach out and touch her. “I’d say don’t worry but…”

“But you know me better than that,” Felicity finishes with a soft smile. She finally notices Diggle and Connor and frowns in the lack of recognition of the latter. “John, thank you for bringing him home.”

“He had no say in the matter,” Their friend quips sending her a knowing grin.

Oliver only huffs with a roll of his eyes, and he hears a snort next to him, “See? I told you that’s where you got it from.”

William sends Oliver a knowing grin while Mia scowls, not impressed with her brother’s remarks. 

“Oh my, the Miss Grumpypants never goes away does it?” Felicity quips with a laugh, “I don’t know why I thought you would grow out of it.”

“Miss Grumpypants, I haven’t been called that in years ,” Mia says her features softening as she looks at her mother. She then shrugs her shoulders sheepishly at Felicity, “I’d say I’m sorry, but…”

Oliver snorts at the remark, oh boy, this one will be a handful, he can tell already. 

“So, what’s the plan?” Felicity asks, she moves to sit up, but then stops when she realizes she can’t, “What do you need? There is not much I can do from here but…”

“Felicity, no . You know you can’t come out here,” Oliver warns her, no matter how much it pains him to admit. He then looks at her alarm, “This call…”

“Relax. I scrambled it, I don’t have much longer though,” Felicity admits softly. Her teeth sink into her bottom lip and she looks at them with regret.

“Hey, it’s okay. You are exactly where you need to be, with Mia,” Oliver promises her, no matter how much he wishes she were at his side. He has never fought anyone without her by his side, and the past few weeks has proven to him just how little he is unable to function without her.

Adult Mia shifts uncomfortably at his words, he wants to reach out to her, but she takes one fleeting look at her mother, before she turns on her heels and walks off the platform. Oliver sighs, at her retreating figure.

Felicity looks at him in concern, but William rises to his feet, and claps Oliver on the back, “I’ll talk to her, give you two some time to talk. I really hope I get to see you soon, Felicity.”

With those words William waves at her shyly, before he follows his sister, both Connor and John having already slipped away.

“ Oliver ,” Felicity calls out pleadingly, clearly wanting him to tell her differently, “we failed them didn’t we?”

Oliver heart breaks at her tone and he takes a seat on her chair pulling it as close to the monitor as he can get, “ No , we did not fail them. You did not fail them.”

“She’s just so angry . This is not what I wanted for us, this is not how our story should end.”

“It won’t.” Oliver says with conviction, “I’m not fighting to die, anymore. I’m fighting to live.”

“But, the Monitor…” She sounds so hopeless, it rare that she is the one that needs convincing between the two.

“If anyone can defy the odds, it’s us right?” He asks her softly. As much as he wants to convince her to have hope, part of him also needs her to have faith in him as well.

“Bigger than the freaking universe,” Felicity sobs out, echoing her own words from a few weeks ago

There is a soft beeping from the computer and Felicity looks at him crestfallen, and he knows what she’s going to say before she says it. “I have to go.”

He’s not ready. There are so many things he needs to say to her. “I know,”

“But first, I think there is someone that wants to say hi,” Felicity says softly. He watches as she reaches off camera for something, shifts her arms and to his utter delight, Mia appears on camera, a little bit of milk, running down her chin, but still round cheeks with dimples. Felicity quickly wipes it away and Mia’s green eyes stare back at him, the moment she recognizes him she gurgles loudly in delight and reaches out for him.

“Hi, baby girl,” Oliver sobs out softly, not realizing his own hand is reaching out for her, until his finger tips are inches away from her, “Oh, hey Mia.”

“Tell Daddy, hi, Mia.” Felicity sends him a watery grin, tears running down her cheeks as Mia begins to fuss, reaching for Oliver again, “Tell him, we will see him soon.”

“ Felicity .”

Felicity’s computers start to beep in rapid procession, getting louder with each beep and Mia starts to whimper. “Oliver, we have to go.”

“I know,” Oliver replies crestfallen, “I love you both.”

“We love you too.”

“I’ll see you both soon,” He says with conviction, just as the screen fades to black.

“I promise.”