Chapter Text
Noah Kuttler had initially been anxious when Donna Smoak had informed him that she was pregnant. He wasn't entirely sure what to do with a baby. He was a certified genius and had little patience for explaining things. He needn't have worried.
Felicity Megan Smoak was born on July 24th 1989. She was an easy child and her parents loved her very much. Felicity was remarkable and developed at incredible rate. By the age of two and half, she was talking in full sentences, and by the age of thee it was clear to everyone around her that she possessed an astounding intellect.
Noah loved spending time with Felicity. She would routinely climb into his lap whilst he worked on projects and stare fascinated at the lines of code appearing on the screen. For her fourth birthday he gifted Felicity her very own computer. It was nothing but an outer case, and nothing fancy, but it allowed him to teach his little Felicity everything he knew about technology; and she loved every minute of it.
A year later, Felicity was five, and it was time to start school. She was extremely excited. A whole part of her day dedicated to learning new things. That morning she pulled on her rainbow shoes and matching backpack and hurried down the road tugging her parents after her.
Unfortunately, she soon realised that school wasn't exactly what she had expected. They spent most of the day 'learning' things she already knew and found out that people (especially other children) didn't like it when she voiced that. Apparently, being a genius wasn't a good thing. She tried to spend time with the other children, but she spoke twice as fast as them and at least three times as much, and they looked at her like she had grown a second head every time she mentioned anything to do with computers.
She tried explaining this to her mum, but she didn't seem to fully understand. Donna Smoak had always been a social butterfly and had no trouble fitting in at school. Her father had been a bit more understanding and had explained that she was different; she was special. That encouraged Felicity to dive further into technology and the world of computers.
When Felicity was seven, she built her first computer from scratch. She had scavenged parts from her father's stash and had saved up enough pocket money to buy the last few special pieces. It was the proudest day of her life. Her father had taken her out for burgers as a reward and although her mum hadn't really understood all the 'tech-speak' between the two of them she was happy for her daughter.
By this point Felicity was in 3rd Grade, having skipped a grade, and was already top of the class. Her academic achievements continued to advance at an immense pace, and her teachers were struggling to keep up. However, the only part of Felicity Smoak's life that wasn't at least on average with her peers was her social life. What little friends Felicity had had at the start of school, disappeared when she skipped a grade. She was now surrounded by kids at least a year older than her who wanted nothing to do with the frizzly-haired know-it-all who sat at the front of every class and aced every test.
This didn't really bother Felicity that much. She had her computers and technology, and could spend every day after school tinkering with hard drives, microchips and anything else she found in her father's spare boxes. She was happy.
Until she wasn't.
On March 19, Felicity went to bed with her favourite book; her parents said goodnight and closed the door. Everything the same as always. Until she woke up.
Her father was gone. No trace he had ever been in the house. Her mum wouldn't answer any of her questions, except to say that he was gone and not coming back.
Felicity retreated to her room and refused to leave for the next three days. He had to come back. She needed him. No one else understood her like he did.
But he never did.
Life moved on, and eventually Felicity accepted that he was gone and that this was her new reality. She and Donna moved from their family house into a tiny apartment with one bedroom. Donna started a second, then third job to pay the bills and Felicity grew steadily more alone. No friends at school; no parent that was ever home except to sleep. Felicity learnt to become self-sufficient and from the age of seven and three quarters, she essentially raised herself.