Archive of Our Own ^beta

Felicity Smoak groaned as she came to. The last thing she remembered was some ARGUS doctors had treated her, helping her activate her walking chip again, and then she was on her way home, when she had suddenly fallen down and blacked out.

She realized she was shackled to the ground, and then she heard the door in front of her opening. She looked up and was horrified to see Adrian Chase standing in front of her.

"Hello Felicity, nice to finally meet you", Adrian said with a smirk.

"Are-are you gonna kill me?" Felicity asked.

"No", Adrian said but any relief she would have felt was killed by his sick smirk. "Like Oliver, I am not interested in killing you, Felicity.

"Then why am I here?" Felicity yelled, feeling brave all of a sudden.

"Like I told Oliver, he helped me discover who I really am", Adrian said in a tone that made Felicity regret her false bravado. "Now I'm gonna help you do the same."

Later

Felicity gasped for breath as Adrian pulled her head out of the water.

"Not even five seconds", Adrian said, voice laced with disgust. "Oliver lasted 145 seconds and would have lasted longer. With all that energy you use to undermine his authority and order around those new snowflakes you have made him hire, I thought you would outlast even him."

"Why are you doing this?" Felicity demanded trying not to cry.

"Like I said, I want to show you who you really are", Adrian said as he paced around her like a shark. "I want to help you Felicity. I want you to tell me a secret. I want you to confess the one thing you've been afraid to admit to yourself, Felicity."

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Felicity snapped.

"Fine", Adrian shrugged. "You will come around eventually. Now where were we?"

He grabbed her head and dunked it into the water again for five seconds.

Later

Felicity woke up and saw Adrian had stuck several photos on the wall.

"Do these look familiar?" Adrian asked.

"What is this?" Felicity asked as she got to her knees.

"Do you remember all these people?" Adrian asked her. "These are the people whom you hacked, and those who died in Havenrock. Couldn't get info on all of them in time, but I got enough."

Felicity gulped as she heard that while Adrian threw a photo at her feet, and she was horrified on seeing who was in it.

"Rory Regan, Ragman, one of the recruits who has left by now", Adrian said. "You nuked his hometown and made him lose everyone he cared about. And you were cracking jokes with your mom later that same day instead of feeling sorry. And even after you confessed to him, you didn't change your behavior, and justified joining Helix, a terrorist organization. You wonder if Rory resents you for your actions?"

"Go to hell!" Felicity snapped.

"I've already been there, and I've come back with a message for you", Adrian said as he picked up a bow and arrow and aiming at her shoulder, fired, making her scream in pain.

"Oliver…is gonna find me", she said through gritted teeth.

"I wouldn't count on it", Adrian said. "You see, relying on you too much has deteriorated his computer skills, and I have shut off the tracker in your chip, so they can't track you, and you are to blame for that."

He grabbed the arrow and yanked it out of her as she cried out in pain.

"Confess to your secret, Felicity, and all this ends", Adrian said.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Felicity said.

"Oh come on!" Adrian roared as he got up and into her face. "I want you to tell me what you've never told Oliver, Dig, Curtis! I want you to admit to me the one thing you've been afraid to admit to yourself!"

"I don't know!" Felicity cried.

Adrian sighed deeply and walked to the pictures, and Felicity was shocked to see Oliver's picture there.

"You said you worked for Helix and came under Oliver because it was the right thing to do, but that's really true is it? No", Adrian smirked as he walked around.

"Caring for the city was just an excuse", Adrian said as he walked around. "Wanting to track me down was just an excuse. The idea that all the things you're doing was because you cared for Oliver and the city was all just an excuse."

"An excuse for what? Huh! Tell me!" Felicity roared.

"You tell me, Felicity!" Adrian roared as he got into her face and said in a whisper. "You tell me."

"You've told yourself you do the things you do because you have to for Oliver and the city", Chase said. "Confess, Felicity, you don't do this because you have to, so why, why do you do it?"

"Because I'm addicted to hacking", Felicity whispered.

"What?" Adrian asked with a malevolent glee in his eyes.

Getting up, Felicity screamed at the top of her lungs. "I'M ADDICTED TO HACKING! AND I DON'T EVER WANNA STOP!"

Adrian smirked wickedly and sat down with his back to the wall and his legs laid out.

"How does it feel, knowing I saw the one thing you couldn't admit to yourself?" Adrian asked. "You ruin the lives of everyone you come in contact with. It's because you're an addict who used someone else's love for his city to justify her addiction. There's a price to be paid for that."

Walking to her, he said. "Now I'm gonna let you go, but I'm gonna give you a gift as a reminder of our time together."

Felicity screamed as she felt Adrian give his 'gift.'

Later

Felicity woke up on her bed in her home, and felt her right hand shaking hysterically. She tried to stop it but couldn't, and she also felt pain. She turned to see the word 'ADDICT' branded on her arm. And with her hand shaking like that, she couldn't hack again, not like she used to, as it was impossible without both hands in perfect condition.

She would live knowing she used Oliver's love for the city to justify her addiction to hacking.