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Chapter Text

2007

“Sam I’m here,” Felicity calls out as she lets herself through the front door, dropping her book bag behind the decorative lamp table where she knew two-year-old William couldn’t get to it. 

“I’ll be down soon,” Samantha’s voice floats down from the top of the stairs.

“Lisitee,” a voice calls out cheerfully and Felicity looks up the stairs to see William toddling down the staircase. Without waiting for him to reach the bottom Felicity swoops up and takes the chubby brown haired toddler in her arms.

“What are you doing going down the stairs unsupervised Mister! Did you sneak away from Mommy again? Naughty William!” Felicity proceeds to tickle his little tummy and swing him in her arms, causing the wriggling toddler to giggle in delight.

“Lisitee we do sparement with candy,” William declares happily clapping his little hands together. “Down Lisitee. Will look for Lisitee candy,” the toddler orders confidently and makes a beeline for Felicity’s backpack, which she had dropped beside the couch, as soon as she sets him on the ground, rummaging through it eagerly.

“William even if you find the skittles you’re not allowed to eat them. We’re doing an experiment remember?” Felicity reminds her charge firmly. She had been researching suitable experiments for very young children for weeks now and stumbled upon the most marvellous book at her local library much to William’s delight. Of course he had gone for the one involving bright coloured candies.

“Will just eat one. We do sparement with the rest,” the toddler informs her innocently. He furrows his brows for a few seconds before a cheeky grin spreads across his face, “Maybe twee candies?” 

“Only if Mommy agrees okay?” Felicity answers with a smile on her face. What were a few skittles in the great scheme of things?

“Thank you so much for babysitting at such short notice,” Samantha breezes down the stairs looking all fresh and dewy in a flowery dress with her long shiny brown hair swinging behind her back.

“It was quite fortuitous actually as I went and picked up the skittles candy today. I was dying to see William and couldn’t wait until next Wednesday so I was pumped when you called me over.” Felicity grabbed Samantha’s hand and spun her around, “You look amazing. Hot date?”

“No just a show and dinner with the girls at work. I normally wouldn’t but one of them got cheap last minute tickets so I thought why not make good use of your bond with William.” Samantha pauses and pats Felicity’s hand, “I will forever be grateful we rented that tiny apartment near MIT back in the day. I don’t know how William and I would have survived the last few years without you breezing in and out as his second mom.” 

Samantha meant every word she said. Perhaps to the outside world entrusting her young baby to an angry looking goth babysitter was negligent but Samantha could not imagine William’s life without Felicity. Those two had a bond, an understanding and a love of knowledge and learning, even at William’s incredibly young age, that Samantha did not share. She often joked that William was really Felicity’s child. 

“I didn’t think children were my thing either,” Felicity confesses. “I did it for the money and you were so nice and paid well compared to some sketchy waitressing job at one of the diners around campus. But very quickly I discovered that I did love the little man very much.”

“I love you Lisiteee,” William having caught on that he was the topic of conversation toddles over and holds out his arms to Felicity, asking to be picked up.

“See he doesn’t even notice me when you’re here,” Samantha feigns outrage.

“Bye Bye Mommy,” William waves at her cheerfully, “Lisitee we do sparement now.” 

“He’s really excited about our colour experiment,” Felicity explains hoping Samantha wouldn’t take offence. William’s obvious favouritism when it came to Felicity was glaring sometimes. Felicity told herself he was two, and at that age he was always going to prefer the fun loving babysitter who was always full of games and ideas when she watched him four nights a week compared his mom who had to be in mom mode all the time. 

“You know what I’m just glad he’s got you to do all this stuff with him. Bye darling.” Samantha leans over, gives William a kiss on cheek before addressing Felicity. “I’ve left you dinner and a snack in the fridge if you want it Felicity. I should be back by midnight.” 

 ***

2009

“I still can’t believe you’re moving away,” Samantha murmurs wistfully. “It feels like we’ve always had you in our lives. I don’t think William remembers anything before you.”

They’d had this conversation before over the past few months but even now it didn’t quite sink in. Samantha didn’t have the courage to tell William that his big sister, his second mother was going to move away forever.

“I know it’s what I need to do since I’ve graduated and there is no reason for me to stay in Boston anymore. Plus Palmer Technologies is paying me a very generous salary and relocation allowance. But Sam I really don’t want to go and it’s put such a dampener on things. I don’t want to leave William behind. I know it’s ridiculous because it’s my life and I have to move on and I’ll visit him as often as I can but I just know it won’t be the same and he’ll forget me. I’m so used to being adored by him. It’s a nice feeling to be unconditionally loved by someone and love them back.”

“You could always stay, find a job here and I’ll give you half custody rights to William,” Samantha jokes at her friend, filling up Felicity’s glass with more of the red wine they had opened. Tonight was their little farewell. Felicity had planned to take William on a full day out the following Sunday to break the news to him. He was such a bright little thing; Felicity wondered how he would take it. Children were resilient though and it wasn’t like she was his mother or anything. He’d most likely get upset for a bit and then adjust when the next lovely babysitter came into his life. Felicity had to admit it stung a little to imagine the next cheerful bubbly girl who was going to take William for walks and give him piggy back rides. She was being silly of course. This had been a lovely stage in her life but it wasn’t going to last forever.

“I’m going to miss you guys so much. But I’m finally escaping from that dank apartment and moving into this charming little cottage style house in Ivy Town. There’s lots of room for when you guys visit.” The relocation allowance had been more than generous. Ray Palmer, although eccentric was a firm believer in taking care of his brightest talents. There was no possible reason why Felicity could rationally turn this job down.

“We’re going to invite ourselves over for half the summer,” Samantha threatens with a smile on her face.

***

“Felicity Smoak?” the voice on the other line was calm and soothing. The kind of tone that was meant to pacify you, prepare you before a bombshell was dropped.

“Yes this is Felicity Smoak speaking,” Felicity answers, trying to stay calm despite her stomach beginning to churn with anxiety. She glances over at William who was two feet from her, happily rearranging the hands on the big children’s clock at the playground for what must have been the twentieth time. 

“Felicity we were instructed by Samantha Clayton to call you. I’m afraid she’s been in an accident. Can you get to Mass General as quickly as possible?” 

“Of course,” Felicity nods to no one in particular, gripping onto her phone, her hands shaking. Her entire body felt numb. She and William had waved happily to Sam before they set off on their outing this morning, barely four hours ago. How could this have happened in the span of a few hours? 

*** 

“Felicity I’ve never told you about William’s grandparents. My parents and I, we’re estranged. They’ve never met William.” Samantha’s breathing was labored as she clutched onto Felicity’s hand. William was sound asleep in his stroller, oblivious to the calamity that had now overtaken his life. He was much too old for the stroller but Felicity based on advice from Samantha, always took a stroller out with her on long trips. There was nothing more challenging than dealing with a tired toddler who was forced to walk long distances.

Felicity took one desperate glance at William who was breathing so steadily, a little smile on his face. He’d fallen asleep in the stroller while she lapped around the hospital halls trying to locate Samantha.

“Sam you don’t need to tell me any of this right now. You rest and when you’re better, when you get out of here and come home you can tell me more okay? I’ll take care of William until you make a full recovery. I’ll delay my move.” Felicity’s voice was desperate as if she were pleading. Why or to whom she did not know. This could not be happening. Not to William. He was only four years old for goodness sakes. 

“Felicity I know I’m not going to make it. I…I just have this feeling,” Samantha smiles a weary smile at her.

“No don’t say that. You don’t know that,” Felicity argues. This wasn’t happening. It wasn’t right. William’s mom could not be on her deathbed right now. Things could not have changed so much in the span of one day. 

“Felicity please listen to what I have to say. I got them to find me a lawyer to draw up some papers for guardianship for you to sign. Some ambulance chaser so I don’t know how the paperwork will stand in court but there is no one, no one that will challenge you for William. I need you to take care of William for me. He loves you and you love him. You’re all he has after I’m gone. I also signed a will leaving everything I have to William. I don’t have much but you can do whatever you want with it. Just promise me you’ll take care of him. I don’t know who else I can leave my son to Felicity. I know it’s a huge burden and it’s unfair on you but please do this for his sake.”

Felicity looks down as Sam clutches onto her hand, the other’s woman’s hands a pale shade of almost white, yet there was so much strength in the way she clutched onto Felicity’s fingers. 

“I will promise you anything you want in regards to William, but you’re going to be fine, ok Sam? You’ll go into surgery and you’ll be fine. So I will take the best care of him for when you make a full recovery.” As their eyes meet both women knew this was a desperate grasp on Felicity’s part. 

“I’ll wake him so he can see you,” Felicity whispers softly, shifting off the hospital bed towards William’s stroller.

“No, let him sleep,” Samantha says gently. “You know how much he hates being woken up from a nap. Tell him I love him very much. I know you’ll tell him how much you love him over the years to come. He’ll be loved and cherished no matter what.”

***

Present Day

The sound of banging reverberated through the townhouse as Felicity pulled the covers over her head. This proved satisfactory for a total of about thirty seconds before the banging grew closer until it was just outside her door.

“Go away William,” Felicity grumbles, trying to shove her head under a pillow.

“If you don’t wake up I’ll just get louder and louder,” William yells cheerily outside her bedroom door.

“Be good to your mother,” Felicity peeps out from under her pillow to shout at him before tucking back like a turtle once again.

“I am good to my mother!” William shouts back, banging what she guessed must be the wok lid once again.

“You’ve got a client meeting today. You can’t be late. Since you’re self employed now we’ll end up penniless and under a bridge if you don’t show up for meetings,” William roars outside her door. 

Why was he so loud and so perky in the morning? Felicity wonders who she could blame these dastardly genes on. They were so similar in every way, even down to their love of the same video games; Felicity could not help but feel aggrieved as to why he had to be such a morning person. 

“I made blueberry pancakes. I’d bring them in for you but you really have to go to this meeting.” 

“I will be out soon,” Felicity grumbles slowly willing herself to sit up. Mornings were such a struggle. Perhaps it was a good thing that she and William had contrasting morning personalities. They might very well live under a bridge if she didn’t have him to run things in the morning.

“Five minutes or I will burst in with an actual gong and hit it right next to your ear,” William threatens.

“Ungrateful spawn,” Felicity mutters darkly to herself as she hauls herself off the bed and heads for the bathroom.

***

“Don’t forget your big night out tonight,” William reminds her pointedly as Felicity scoffs down her pancakes from across the table. 

“I raise you, feed you, and clothe you. Is it not enough? Must I actually go out and meet people?” Felicity asks with an air of exaggerated suffering.

“Come on Felicity, I’m only thirteen and even I have a better social life than you. I know you love me but you don’t want to be that lady who lives in a granny flat in my backyard when you’re seventy,” William tells her sternly. For as long as he could remember after his mom passed away, it had just been him and Felicity. She was everything to him mother, father, big sister. Yet it wasn’t until he got older and started developing a social life of his own William began to realize how much Felicity had put her life on hold for him. She was always putting his interests first and for as long as he could remember Felicity was either always working on climbing the corporate ladder to better their financial condition or devoting her time and energy chauffeuring him around to whatever activity or project he had. 

The move to Starling City had opened William’s eyes some more as his social circle expanded. Here he was able to form quite a few solid friendships and noticed that the older siblings of his peers (some of whom were around Felicity’s age when she adopted him) leading vastly different carefree lives in comparison to Felicity’s life with him when she was at that age. It wasn’t until then that William realized the sacrifices Felicity had made in agreeing to his mom’s dying wish. 

“Aww I’m touched you’ll let me live in your backyard,” Felicity grins at him. And she was. William was her perfect child. After reading almost every book on child rearing including one named “Raising Boys” Felicity had been waiting calmly for the other shoe to drop and for her sunny, obedient, well mannered, sane little boy to turn into an angsty grunting monster. This had not happened yet so far. William was as well adjusted and affectionate as ever. She liked to think it had something to do with her and the mounds of research she did on parenting.

“I want a baby sister one day. So you gotta go out there, find someone nice, settle down and give me a baby sister,” William informs her placidly as if he were being perfectly reasonable and she was the irrational party. 

“Isn’t it much nicer being an only child?” 

“Done it for 13 years, want to try something new,” William quips back looking unperturbed. “Don’t freak out and use me as an excuse to bail tonight. I’m not a baby anymore. Nora and Ray are perfectly capable of making sure I don’t burn the house down with one of my experiments.” 

“You’re a sensible boy. You clone cabbages. Ray is more likely to burn our house down if he comes over tonight.” Felicity eyes widen comically as she looks at William, “Maybe I shouldn’t go out in case he does blow our house up.”

“Nora and I will keep him in check,” William says calmly. There was no way he was letting Felicity off the hook. He could see clearly what she was angling for. If Felicity had it her way, she would stay home and hang out with Nora and Ray whom William liked a lot but that was not his objective right now. “Ray hasn’t blown anything up for three years. You need new friends besides your ex boss and his wife.” 

“Why am I so lame my thirteen year old is forcing me to have a social life?” Felicity grumbles taking another sip of coffee.

“Exactly. You should have a good think about that.”

*** 

Oliver glances around at the crowded club as he pushes his way through. Occasionally he’d pause and nod at a familiar face, namely any staff he could recognize from way back when he used to run Verdant. He’d led a different life back then and was a different person. Honestly he couldn’t begin to understand why Tommy and Thea insisted he make a showing tonight. He was strictly a suit at Queens Consolidated now and his presence here just seemed superfluous. Oliver was about to find his sister and Tommy to tell them just that when something; or rather someone caught his eye. 

She was beautiful, that wholesome dream girl kind of beauty, which was completely at odds with her surroundings as she sat at the table alone, two tiny headphones jammed into her ears as she sat typing furiously into her phone. She was wearing a bright pink dress with a lacey, flowery motif that worked with her wavy blonde hair and bright blue eyes to give her an almost angelic air. Classic and elegant like a bright vibrant pink rose, she stood out amongst the sea of short, tight and sparkly dresses.

Oliver makes his way to her table and waves at her a few times to get her attention. The beautiful girl looks up at him, her bright pink lips forming a surprised “Oh” as she pulls her ear buds out of her ear.

“Hello, can I help you with anything?” she asks brightly as if expecting him to ask for directions or for her assistance somehow. Why she would think that when she was in the middle of a club Oliver did not know. 

“You look like you’re engrossed in something I thought perhaps you would like a drink. May I buy you a drink?” 

The girl scrutinises him a fleeting few seconds before smiling politely and shaking her head. “No thank you I’m about to leave soon. I came here with a friend and I think I’ve paid my dues at this place so I was just finishing up some work before I bail. I’ll be well within my rights to bail after another fifteen minutes or so.”

Oliver drops himself down on the seat across from her. “I take it clubbing is not your scene.”

The girl glances around at the dancing and jostling bodies, a look of amusement on her face. “It’s nice to watch the pretty people having fun but I don’t think it’s for me.” 

“It is nice to watch beautiful people I agree,” Oliver grins, eyeing her up and down. 

She raises an eyebrow and levels her gaze at him. “I have a thirteen year old son at home,” she tells him simply, her voice sounding almost smug. 

Oliver’s mouth drops open for a minute as he does a double take. She looks far too young to have a child, let alone a teenager. He notices her watching him almost triumphantly, clearly expecting him to form his excuses and high tail it out of there quick smart. Actually if Oliver were to be honest, on any other given night, with anyone else, her expectation wasn’t far from the truth. But things were different tonight. She was different. He wanted to know more about this girl with her thirteen-year-old child and what she was doing at Verdant.

“My son thinks I should get out more so here I am with my girl friend who met someone she thinks is cute and will probably leave with him. I am going to head home soon before my other friends, who are staying with my son, burn our house down.” She explains herself at a fast pace and with more enthusiasm than Oliver expects based on her initial greeting. 

“My friends are thinking of having kids soon so they keep volunteering to spend time with my son to, and I quote, get used to having children around. Although why they think hanging around a thirteen year old boy will prepare them for a baby is beyond me.” The girl beams at him suddenly and pushes her chair out. “Anyway I hope that answers all the questions you have written on your face. I have to go now.” She reaches over and gives Oliver a firm tap on the chest before turning to leave. 

Out of desperation Oliver calls out, “So you’re not married?” It was by far the most interesting encounter he’d ever had with a girl. He felt like he couldn’t just let her walk away like that. He had to keep talking to her somehow. 

The girl pivots and turns abruptly to face him. “No,” she answers simply. “I’ve never been married.” 

“Are you…are you still involved with your son’s father?” Oliver blurts out, feeling slightly horrified that he was grilling a complete stranger who had no interest in him on her marital status, in the middle of a nightclub no less. 

“Not at all. Never have,” she answers smiling cryptically. She was obviously choosing her words very carefully, being vague on purpose.

“I don’t…I don’t understand,” Oliver runs a hand through his hair, feeling part frustrated, part confused.

“You don’t need to,” the girl smiles at him. 

“Look I really would like to get to know you. Can I buy you dinner? A burger?” Oliver didn’t have time for games and he felt like he wasn’t going to beat her at them anyway. 

“You seem like a really nice guy but I’m pretty content with my life right now and I’m not looking for anything. Like I said I only came here tonight to appease my son.”

“Are you saying thanks but no thanks?” Oliver asks her dumbly. So this was what it felt like to be rejected. And she was being quite kind too. Very firm but nice.

“Yes I am,” she smiles at him warmly, her blue eyes sparkling. Why was she sparkling like that while rejecting him?

“Is this about your son? Are you rejecting me because you’re too scared to get involved with someone and get your child tangled in it?” He had nothing to lose at this point, may as well call it as he saw it. To his surprise she suddenly looks a little flustered, her brows furrowing a little as she formulates her answer. 

“Yes…I suppose you are right. I just feel like he’s still young you know? And we’re living so peacefully. We have our own routine. I just don’t know if anything else is worth shaking up the dynamics of our household.” She shakes her head and smiles a gentle smile, “This is such a weird conversation to be having with a man I’ve only met for ten minutes.”

“Can I give you my number?” Oliver asks, feeling a little bold and encouraged by her honesty. 

“Pardon?” She doesn’t know what to make of him but Oliver is buoyed by the look of intrigue on her face.

“Look I know we’ve only met for ten minutes and you’ve clearly refused me but I want you to know I’m very interested in you so if you don’t object, can I please give you my number? Whether you call or not is entirely up to you, although I hope you’ll call me.” He had given it his best shot without being a creeper. Even if she never called, Oliver felt he would at least be satisfied he’d given it his all. 

“Okay,” she smiles as she unlocks her phone and hands it over for him to punch in his number.

Oliver grabs the phone eagerly from her. 

“Please save it under Oliver Queen,” he beams at her as he hands the phone back. 

“I shall do that.” She surprises him by holding out her hand, “Felicity Smoak. It was nice meeting you Oliver.”

Oliver takes her hand at once and shakes it eagerly. It was warm, firm and reassuring, very much like her. 

“I hope you’ll call Felicity,” he declares sincerely as Felicity gives him a little wave before heading towards the exit.

*** 

“Name’s Felicity Smoak. Used to work for that weirdo Ray Palmer in Ivy Town before relocating to the Starling headquarters. She’s branched out on her own now. Runs a small but successful business called Smoak Technologies. Appears to love your grandson William Clayton very much from my observation of her. I couldn’t find anything on the kid when he was younger but the surveillance photos I’ve taken of them should indicate that she’s raised him well. Goes to every game, every science fair that the boy has ever been involved in even though she’s a single parent. Smart boy too, like his adopted mother. Earned a full scholarship at Starling Academy my sources tell me.” 

“Thank you Mr. Wilson. These will do very nicely.” Moira flicked through the photos once more. Despite everything that had happened in the past, her efforts to get rid of Oliver’s unfortunate “problem” back when he was young, Samantha Clayton had gone on to have the baby. How he ended up being raised by Felicity Smoak needed further investigation but one thing was certain. Despite his unfortunate start to life William Clayton had grown into everything the Queen family needed to continue their legacy. Moira simply had to overcome the problem of Felicity Smoak being his guardian; something she did not think was going to be a hard task. The child was biologically a Queen and many people would give their right arm to be born into the Queen family with its advantages.

“Mr. Wilson were you able to get any information on how Felicity Smoak came to raise my grandson? I would very much be obliged if you could provide me with a copy of the guardianship documents. I do not think it is a problem that Jean can not take care of but I’d like to ensure everything is in order all the same.”

“I’ve been having trouble with those but finally I think I’ve got a lead on the low rent lawyer who drew them up. All the way in Boston though so you’ll have to give me some time.”

“As fast as you can please Mr. Wilson. I very much appreciate your assistance in this matter but the sooner I can settle this the better.” Moira taps her fingers on a photo of William’s face before absently drawing a line over Felicity Smoak’s. 

Slade Wilson gives Moira a searching look, undecided as to whether he should speak or not. Moira Queen was one of his best clients and a formidable woman at the best of times. She paid well and was pleasant, as long as you didn’t overstep your boundaries and ask any questions she did not want you to ask. Still the way she went at this so suddenly like a dog devouring a fresh meaty bone was too intriguing for Slade to let go. 

“Why the sudden interest in the boy now Mrs. Queen? If I recall years ago you sent me to encourage this Samantha to leave Starling after she took your cheques but refused to cash them. Why the sudden urge to bring in the boy?”

Moira looks at Slade with her piercing blue eyes and considers for a moment whether the question demanded an actual response or a curt put down to bring him back in his place. She decided for the former. Slade Wilson had served the Queen family well for years, helped tidy up numerous of their “problems” so to speak. He was exceedingly useful and not someone Moira wished to snub to a certain extent.

“Mr. Wilson you have assisted me for many years and as you know my children have not quite lived up to my expectations in certain areas. After Oliver cancelled his wedding to Laurel with a month to go I’ve come to realize that I cannot depend on my children to strengthen the Queen name in the future. It’s time I considered other options and it just so happens I remember that Samantha Clayton’s past act of defiance might be of use to me. William certainly sounds like a remarkable boy from everything you’ve shown me. He doesn’t resemble Oliver in temperament when Oliver was this age at all.”

“Well raised and very much loved that William,” Slade remarks earning him a sharp look from Moira, which he did not shrink from. Moira Queen might be his most well paying client but she certainly had no cause for any moral superiority, especially when it came to the grandson she’d tried to hard to get rid of. 

“I thought the kid has finally come good though? Settled down hasn’t he? Works for the family company?”

“Oliver is making strides career wise, however his romantic life leaves a lot to be desired.” Moira did not add that cancelling his wedding was the last straw for her and Robert. She thought his wild days were over, that he was finally settling down with Laurel whom he’d known since childhood. Laurel had grown up to be a respectable public prosecutor and was a perfect fit for the Queen family. Respectable, well presented, outwardly a confident career woman but also someone Moira knew who would respect and bow down to the Queen name and everything that being a Queen entailed. However Oliver had basically set fire to all that and now it was up to Moira to take matters into her own hands with Laurel being out of the picture forever.

“Does the kid know about all this?” Slade asks curiously. He felt a certain affinity towards the kid, having cleaned up quite a few of Oliver’s messes over the years. Having Moira and Robert Queen as your parents was no picnic he gathered. They were both pieces of work. Classy pieces of work but pieces of work nevertheless.

“Oliver does not know of my intentions yet and I would appreciate it if you can keep this between us for now,” Moira answers sharply.

“You’re the boss Ma’am,” Slade smiles at Moira before taking a slight bow. “I’ll have those papers you requested soon.”

“Thank you Mr. Wilson.” 

Slade nods at her once again and makes his way out. As the door closes behind him, Moira finds herself gazing at a picture of William who was beaming proudly at the camera as he holds onto a huge trophy while Felicity stands next to him, all smiles, clutching onto what appears to be a box of cabbages. Whoever Felicity Smoak was she had done Moira and the Queen family a great favour in raising William. Moira intended to reward her accordingly.

Chapter Text

“How do I look?” Felicity asks quickly as she rummages through her handbag, doing a last minute check to make sure she hadn’t forgotten anything. Out of nowhere she’d receive a call from Moira Queen, the Moira Queen, asking if they could meet to discuss the development of an exclusive App for a charity she headed. It was a completely unexpected but pleasant surprise. Although it was out of the realm of services Smoak Technologies wanted to offer several things had reeled her into attending this meeting, namely the fact that the work would benefit a charity and because this might pave the way for her to establish more contacts and find more investors for her business. Felicity had done her research after receiving the call and there was no doubt that Moira Queen who led the who’s who of Starling could open many doors for her to meet potential investors and clients.

As she glances at her phone to check for messages, Felicity sighs when she spots Oliver Queen’s number. It hadn’t taken her long upon leaving Verdant to recognize his name. Felicity didn’t care much for Starling gossip but it was hard for anyone to miss the very public and high profile breakup/wedding cancellation between Oliver and Laurel Lance. Apparently the doomed romance had lagged on for many years with most of Starling believing that Laurel would tame Oliver one day. After all it was so tortured it seemed almost predestination that these two on again off again souls would reunite, if only to make each other miserable for the rest of their days. The engagement proved just that until suddenly the wedding was called off. This appeared to be the point of no return and a source of morbid entertainment for the residents of Starling.

Felicity had her reservations about Oliver when she realized who he was but this was not what ultimately prevented her from calling him. She couldn’t personally fault her interactions with him. If anything she thought he was rather sweet and there was an earnest air about him, a sincerity that she didn’t expect from someone with his reputation. What stopped her from calling was William and the fact that Oliver Queen was the Vice President at Queens Consolidated. Ideally she wanted to see William off to college before she got into any romantic entanglements of her own. The years were long but the days flew by and her previously four-year-old baby was going to fly the coop one day. Felicity wanted to devote that time to him before she sent him off into the world and then she could pursue her own life with a bit more freedom. 

As tempting as Oliver was (the face, the eyes, the body, Felicity wasn’t blind or dead she noticed these things) Felicity could not see herself getting involved with a man who she might run into in the business world one day. If Smoak Technologies had already reached the heights she wanted it to reach, Oliver might be an option but where things stood now Felicity felt she really had to put her business first. Who was to say anything would come from her calling him anyway. He might not even remember who she was judging by his record with women.

“You look just right. Like my much older big sister with a huge age gap but not old enough to have given birth to me,” William responds confidently handing her a pop tart he had heated. 

“Perfect response,” Felicity smiles at him.

“So….” William says as if he were about to ask for a big favour or permission to do something she didn’t approve of, “If you land a gig with Moira Queen, does this mean it’s a win for the business and you can focus on your personal life a bit?”

William gives her a shrewd look before continuing, “I know you Felicity, you probably tapped away on your tablet the entire time that night you went out with Alena. If clubbing isn’t your thing why don’t you try online dating? Alena would be more than happy to create a profile for you.” 

“William!” Felicity cries throwing her hands up in the air in exasperation. “Why is it whenever you speak in that suspicious tone you’re not asking me for permission to go to a party or hang out with friends or something else like a normal teenager. Why are you always badgering me to date.” 

“I’m only 13 I don’t see the appeal of wild parties yet and all my friends you know and approve of,” William informs her calmly. “Shame on you for trying to steer me to the dark side.”

“You know perfectly well what I mean!” Felicity shoots him a disgruntled look.

“What about Barry? I liked old Barry. Why don’t you give him a call? Or that nice cop who came to our school to read us the riot act on drugs. He was dazzled by you when we ran into him during school pick up.” William looks so hopeful and innocent but Felicity knows better. That kid could be such hawker when he put his mind to it. 

“I am not calling Barry or the nice cop. And I’m not going online dating. Not yet anyway. Should 13-year-old boys take such an interest in their parental figure’s romantic life anyway? Shouldn’t you be all moody and resentful of anyone I bring home out of some secret fear that you will be usurped by him?” Felicity bites down on the pop tart, chewing quickly before taking a sip of coffee. She really had to get going soon instead of slipping into a debate with William about her love life or lack thereof. 

“You raised me with so much love, my confidence is unshakable dearest Mother,” William chuckles as he answers.

“Seriously,” Felicity tries to give him a disapproving look before breaking into a smile. He was still such a kid at heart, still so fond of random ridiculous jokes.

“Ok enough hawking for one morning. I’ve got to catch the bus before I miss it.” William stands up and takes two giant strides over to give her a big hug. Felicity still can’t quite believe that he’s a head taller than her. It felt like it was only yesterday that she would carry him around like a sack of potatoes whenever he had a tantrum and refused to walk to the car. Speaking of car she was going to have to get rid of the Mini soon as William was not going to fit in it for much longer, especially with all his sports gear and science projects. 

“I’ll pick you up after school for your tennis lesson,” Felicity reminds him. 

“Stupid rich people sport. I don’t know why you waste so much money on it,” William shakes his head. He had no qualms about being a scholarship kid at Starling Academy, in fact he wore it as a badge of honour but he disliked participating in what he thought were “snobby” pursuits. It wasn’t like he and Felicity were going to join some swanky country club. They detested that kind of thing. Except maybe the food. William wouldn’t mind checking out the food once.

“You can drop it in six months if you decide it’s not for you. Besides you’re really good at it. Give it some time so you know how you really feel about it.” William who had never taken tennis in Ivy Town was surprisingly talented at the sport. Everything bounced off the middle of the racquet and he could aim with an uncanny precision.

“This is one of those things where you insist on giving me all the chances you never had so you don’t feel guilty isn’t it?”

William knew prior to going to college in Boston, Felicity hailed from Vegas and that growing up she had a rather trying relationship with Donna. William adored Donna who was full of fun and doted over him, however she was the antitheses of Felicity when it came to parenting and as fond as he was of Donna, William could understand how someone like her would not be suited to raising kids like Felicity and himself.

“Am I too much of a Tiger Mom?” Felicity asks, wrinkling her nose a little. She liked order and research and had raised William with a lot of order and aided by a lot of research. She didn’t think she was a Tiger Mom but she wondered if her over zealous love of parenting theories had unwittingly turned her into one.

“Nah I’m just teasing and I wanted to save you tennis money,” William laughs giving her another hug.

“You are the best Mom in the whole wide world,” William shouts as he runs out the door.

Felicity beams to herself. He used to say the exact same thing when he was six. She was going to cherish these moments before he turned into an angsty, grunting monster.

***

“Mrs. Queen I am so excited to potentially be a part of your charity work,” Felicity greets Moira Queen sunnily, doing her best to quash the hammering in her chest that was making her feel slightly breathless. She took some deep breaths, making a conscious effort to control her nerves in order to not launch into one of her rambles.

Moira Queen eyed her up and down critically, looking even more formidable than Felicity could have imagined. For someone who was here to discuss a charity project, well ok the technology behind her charity project, Moira Queen was looking anything but charitable. 

Moira smiles, a cold insincere smile that does not reach her eyes, “I’m afraid I have misled you Ms. Smoak. I did arrange to meet with you under the guise of developing software for my charity however if you’ll accept my apology it was merely a cover story to bring you here. I have something far more important to discuss with you. Please do take a seat.” 

She gestures to the chair across from her desk and Felicity finds herself almost too stunned to move. What on earth could Moira Queen possibly want to trick her into coming here for? For a brief moment Felicity had a wild thought that maybe the Queen Matriarch had heard about Oliver Queen giving Felicity his number and had called her in to read her the riot act, an idea that was so ridiculous it was laughable. 

Trying to regain her composure Felicity gives a little nod as she moves towards the chair. 

***

“I want you to know that we are completely indebted to you for taking care of William all these years. Oliver has grown up a lot and it’s my belief that he is ready for fatherhood now in a way that he wasn’t thirteen years ago. It really is the best decision not only for Oliver and William but also for you Ms. Smoak. You’ve really done a wonderful job with William and I think it’s high time you got your life back don’t you? You don’t need to bear the burden of raising someone else’s child anymore.” Moira pushes the five million dollar check towards Felicity’s hand, which was gripping the table so hard, her knuckles turning a shade of deathly white. Felicity automatically recoils as the cheque brushes past the tip of her fingers. 

“He was never a burden.” Felicity’s voice is quiet but remarkably steady. She had finally managed to regroup herself sufficiently to speak. “He was never, ever a burden,” she repeats again.

“Of course he isn’t my dear but you don’t need to worry about him anymore now that his real family is in the picture.” The arrogance still features in Moira’s voice, however Felicity notices that for the first time since their initial greeting, Moira Queen is not as sure of herself. She watches Felicity with a slight uncertainty in her gaze. 

“I’ve loved that little boy from the very first time Sam hired me to babysit him,” Felicity says, in a startlingly loud voice, cutting Moira off before she could say more.

“I had so much trouble leaving him. I knew I had to, he was a child I babysat and I loved him but he was never going to be a permanent part of my life. Still I found it so hard to let him go. And then Sam passed away and suddenly I was in this new town, with a new job and a four year old in my full time care. It was a crazy few years but we didn’t just survive, we thrived Mrs. Queen. William is happy, well adjusted, loving, super intelligent. Well on his way to being the kind of person this world needs. He’s 13 going on 14 this year and he’s a head taller than me but you know what? He’s my baby and he will always be my baby. I didn’t expect my life to take the turn it did but he’s my child.” 

Felicity glances at the stack of papers Moira had waved at her earlier. Surveillance photos, various documents from her army of lawyers outlining all the ways the Guardianship documents Sam had drawn up before her death were invalid. 

“I raised a child who was left to me suddenly for nine years by myself Mrs. Queen. If you and your poisonous heart think that you can swoop in to use him for whatever purposes I’d advise you to think again.” Felicity picks up the cheque and begins to shred it into tiny pieces with her fingers, scattering the scraps of paper in front of Moira’s face like confetti.

“If you had approached this differently, if you had in any way mildly resembled a decent human with William’s best interests at heart, I would have encouraged William to reconnect with his family. I can see now why Sam never brought you people up.” 

Her voice was harsh and surprisingly full of grit despite how much she was shaking on the inside. Sam never spoke about William’s father and had simply acted like he did not exist. Felicity who was always too busy doting over William never asked. Perhaps even then she could sense it was something unpleasant from her friend’s past. Suddenly she wished she knew more about these people. Moira Queen by the looks of her was not going to let this go. There was something almost sociopathic about the way she had summoned Felicity in, coolly attempted to pay her off in exchange for handing over William as if he were a very expensive handbag Felicity happened to have possession of.

Then there was Oliver Queen who despite his past reputation had seemed so harmless and kind. In the midst of her horror over Moira, Felicity had temporarily forgotten that Oliver was actually William’s biological father, who seemingly had no idea about this scheme that his psychotic mother had cooked up behind his back to reclaim a child. Felicity was not sure he even knew about William’s existence. Whatever the facts were she needed to protect William from these people and their madness to the best of her ability.

If Moira Queen wanted William she was going to have to walk over Felicity’s dead, lifeless body.

“You’re still very young Ms. Smoak and while you’ve done a commendable job taking care of my grandson, you have no idea what you’re facing if you chose to go to war with me. We can do this the easy way or we can do it the hard way.” Moira watches her with a steely gaze. Felicity can see that she is fuming, the exchange having not gone the way she wanted, however Moira Queen was doing a marvelous job of keeping her outward composure. The gaze seemed emotionless but Felicity could feel the burn of hatred from it. She, Felicity Smoak, was now a nuisance, a blight, an inconvenience that stood in the way of Moira Queen and her grand plans. Felicity was certain she had a big target on her back. 

“I’m used to doing everything the hard way Mrs. Queen. The question is are you?” Felicity locks eyes with Moira one last time before standing up to take her exit. 

***

Felicity leans her head against a large plastic storage container, as she stares at Samantha’s diary. She’d rescheduled the rest of her appointments for the day, citing ill health, and rushed to the old storage unit she rented when they first moved to Starling. The container stored an assortment of toys and books from William’s childhood, things that she couldn’t bring herself to dispose of yet and more importantly two boxes of Samantha’s things which had been packed away hastily when they cleared out the property after Sam’s death. 

Suddenly finding herself with a devastated young child, Felicity had gone into auto pilot mode and had made decisions quickly in order to try and establish some normalcy for William. Samantha’s house was packed up and listed for rent. It was Felicity’s intention to let William decide what he wanted to do with it when he was old enough to make a final decision. It was after all his childhood home with his mother. Sam’s personal belongings had been thrown into two large plastic containers and shipped to Ivy Town where they resettled. Those containers moved to Starling with them but normalcy returned pretty quickly after Sam’s death, life took over and neither Felicity nor William thought to go through them. That was until today.

Felicity pored over Samantha’s possessions and scanned through every entry of her diary to find out anything she could about the Queens and Samantha’s involvement with them. The result were snippets of information, which although patchy, revealed to Felicity that Moira Queen was exactly the piece of work Felicity thought she was. 

From the fragments in Samantha’s diary entries Felicity gathered that Sam had, had an ill thought out one time liaison with Oliver resulting in her pregnancy. Somehow Moira Queen got her hands on this information and had attempted to pay Samantha to have an abortion. Samantha then told Oliver that she’d lost the baby and cut all contact with the Queens.

Felicity was unsure what happened next but it appeared that Samantha moved to Central City for a period of time and had William there. This was consistent with William listed as being born in Central City, something Felicity had never questioned as she assumed Samantha simply decided to move after he was born.

The diary entries suggested that Samantha had intended to make Central City her home, however Moira Queen somehow found out that Samantha had gone ahead with the pregnancy and given birth to William. Moira then sent her hired thug, someone Samantha described as the terrifying one eyed man to terrorise Samantha and this drove her out of Central city, across the country all the way to Boston. 

Felicity’s phone pings with a reminder causing Felicity to jump. She was due to pick William up for his tennis lesson in an hour. Taking into account his lesson tine, she had about two hours to think through what she should do, what she needed to do, to start protecting William. Moira Queen was not just merely a dismissive and arrogant society lady who viewed people like dirt. Based on everything that had happened with Sam, the way she arranged everything behind Oliver’s back without him knowing, she was much more sinister than that. Felicity had no doubt that Moira intended to deal with her sooner rather than later and she needed to be well prepared for when Moira would inevitably strike. 

***

“So she just expects me to walk away from you and join her creepy family. Just like that when she terrorized my mother and tried to get rid of me before I was born?” William shakes his head in disbelief, still trying to process what Felicity had just told him. 

He was a perceptive boy and when he noticed the woman who doted over him, who generally couldn’t sit through a tennis lesson without carrying on about how wonderful he was, staring distractedly at her phone with a worried expression on her face, William knew something was up. Nothing much ever happened to them (Felicity often said his mom’s death was enough trauma for him in this lifetime) so William was intrigued and concerned as to what could have rattled Felicity so visibly. Felicity was fearless and William knew it had to be something monumental to shake the woman who took on a four-year-old orphan without any hesitation. 

He also knew that she would tell him. It was one of the things he loved about Felicity. Sure he thought of her as his mother and was grateful for everything she did for him but the attribute that William loved and admired most about Felicity was the fact that she always told him the truth. For as long as William could remember Felicity had never lied to him. She always phrased things in an age appropriate way, depending on which stage of life he reached but she never kept things from him. She did not deviate from that behavior here and had told him everything she knew about his mom’s past and the fact that the people on his dad’s side were a bunch of rich creeps. To be fair Felicity did not call anyone names (ok just Moira) but William was assuming that they were all creeps if they were being led by Moira Queen.

“I think she expected me to take the five million dollar cheque and hand you over gleefully,” Felicity responds with a smirk as she thought of Moira’s face when she had scattered the cheque fragments in front of it. “Then she expected to take you in, buy you a few Porches or something which you will undoubtedly crash while you get high due to the abandonment issues you develop after I abandon you for five million.” 

“You said she drove Mom out of town. What do you think she’ll try to do to you Felicity?” William was worried now. He didn’t think Moira Queen would hurt him personally as she wanted him to join the family and play the chosen grandson, but he feared for Felicity’s safety.

“I don’t think it’ll be as bad as you’re imagining it to be. I think I made it quite clear that she’s not dealing with a scared young woman anymore but rather a raging mother bear who has no hesitation in ripping her to shreds. She’s not a stupid woman I think she can see the difference between me now and how defenceless your poor mom was back then.”

William shoots her an alarmed look causing Felicity to shake her head and let out a big sigh. “I can see the worry on your face William. Sometimes I wonder if I tell you too much about things and unburden too many of my problems on you.”

“Err hello I have a psychopath Grandma-wanna-be after me. I don’t think that’s just your problem to deal with alone Felicity.” He did have a point. As much as she would love to protect him from all of this, knowledge was power and there was no way she wasn’t going to arm him with everything he needed to know about the freak relatives he’d just inherited.

“Speaking of telling the truth, there’s something I wanted to run by you.” William straightens himself and meets her eyes, indicating that she has his full attention.

“Your father is Oliver Queen. While you were at your lesson I did a little digging on him. He doesn’t even know you exist William. You mom told him that she had a miscarriage and that was the end of that. Moira instigated everything that happened afterwards. I don’t think Moira will give up this fight anytime soon but I’m also sure that she’s still keeping you a secret from Oliver. I think…I think he deserves to know that he has a son. He deserves to know what his mother did and I would like to tell him the truth but only if you’re ok with it.” 

Seeing William’s thoughtful face, Felicity reaches out and pulls him over for a hug. He cuddles in happily, just like when he was a toddler, oblivious to their size difference now.

“You’re still my first priority so I will only tell him if I have your permission. You don’t have to meet him or get to know him. Take your time to think about it. It doesn’t have to be right now.” 

“Tell him,” William responds firmly straight away. Felicity sits up and stares at him.

“Are you sure? You don’t want time to think about it?”

“Nah I want you to tell him. Maybe if his mother wasn’t so awful he would have turned out better. Maybe if his mother loved him as much as you love me things would have been different. He doesn’t sound like a bad person from everything you’ve told me. Dumb and neglected like some of those rich kids at school but harmless. He deserves to know.” 

He seemed sweet and decent when I met him Felicity thinks to herself but omits from the conversation. There was absolutely no reason to tell William she had met his father accidentally once and that Oliver had given her his number. That ship was never sailing so it was irrelevant and didn’t need to be brought up ever. 

“You turned out pretty good kiddo, despite everything that's happened to you.” Felicity ruffles William’s hair, “Don’t turn on me in the next few years.”

“My mom is awesome,” William grins at her. 

*** 

“Oliver? Hi, it’s Felicity Smoak. We met at Verdant last week and you gave me your number. I was wondering if you could meet me. For a coffee. Urgently.” Felicity grimaces at her words. At this rate he was going to think that she was asking him out and sounding dead keen. Well to be fair she was the one instigating a meeting and sounding a little desperate although not for the reasons he would expect.

“Sure Felicity. I’d meet you anywhere, anytime. I’m really glad you called.” There was a lighthearted playful quality to his voice. Felicity could practically hear him smile through the phone. It pained her a bit and made her feel guilty, although logically she knew she had nothing to feel bad about. She was not the instigator of this chain of events. Still she felt so incredibly sorry for him. Felicity lets out a gulp. Poor thing. He thought he was going on a date with a girl and here she was getting ready to drop a massive bombshell on him.

***

“Your son…your son is my son,” Oliver says quietly, staring down at his hands. He wasn’t sure what to think, how to react after everything Felicity had told him. When she walked into the little café and said she had something to tell him whilst looking visibly apprehensive Oliver had casually teased her and made a wisecrack about her looking like she was about to tell him she was having his baby. Little did he realize how cruelly close to the truth he had stumbled with that comment. 

Felicity had been so kind and thoughtful, breaking it to him as gently as possible. She even offered up a folder of neatly compiled paperwork, which included DNA tests his mother had somehow ordered to prove William’s paternity. William. He had a thirteen-year-old son named William. A thirteen-year-old son who could have ended up goodness knows where in this world if it hadn’t been for the remarkable woman sitting opposite him.

“The world works in mysterious ways doesn’t it? William and I both thought that you should know. I’m sorry I had to tell you this way, although given the circumstances I can’t imagine any other way to tell you. Regardless of what I think of Moira, I’m sorry for the hand that you’ve been dealt in this.” 

“How is William taking this? How does he feel about everything,” Oliver asks momentarily casting aside his own issues to focus on that of his son’s. His son. Out of nowhere he suddenly had a child. 

Felicity studies him carefully and decides that the immature boy she’d read about in Sam’s diary has since grown up. 

“He’s fine. He’s an amazing kid. Sensitive, empathetic but tough as nails when he needs to be. Try not to worry. I’ve always been there for him and I will always be there for him.” Felicity smiles at Oliver kindly and reaches out to give his hand a little pat. 

Oliver still couldn’t comprehend how it was that this woman who had been left to raise his child on her own for almost a decade was sitting here calmly trying to comfort him. And yet his mother thought she could just waltz in and rip Felicity’s son away from her. He’d always known his mother was a formidable figure and found her intimidating, the weight of her expectations crushing, yet the malevolence with which she had treated Samantha and now her hostility towards Felicity was a new low he had never expected from her. 

“My mother has a lot to answer for. I’ll make sure she stops being a nuisance for you and William.” He knew his words sounded hollow, lame even, since before today, before Felicity approached him, he’d been blissfully unaware of the havoc his mother had intended to wreak on their lives. Yet as he observed Felicity sitting there, watching him with such gentleness in her eyes, Oliver felt he simply had to do something to repay her for everything she’d done. 

“I suspect your mother intends to be more than a nuisance,” Felicity says in a crisp voice, suddenly sounding all business like. “I don’t want you to feel that you have a responsibly to stop her. I know you want to try but neither William nor I hold you responsible for her actions. Moira will do what Moira does and I will deal with her accordingly. I really don’t want you to feel that it’s up to you to stop her.” 

“How is it that you’re still worried about my feelings?” Oliver shakes his head in disbelief.

“It wasn’t a chore or a trial to raise William. It was a blessing in all honesty. My life…I had my own issues before he and Sam came into my life and when Sam passed away there was a whole other set of challenges in raising him alone but it was an incredible time. To be honest with you sometimes I wish for certain moments back. I became a whole new person. A person I am much happier being.” There was no doubt Felicity meant every word. If anything she looked like she pitied him for missing out on all the years she had with William.

“Do you think he would be willing to meet me? Will you let him meet me? I want so much to make up for lost time. I just don’t know what to do. Will you help me?” 

“Let me speak to him first but I know William and I know that if he didn’t want to meet you he would never let me tell you about him. I’ll take care of it okay?” As she gives his hand a reassuring squeeze, Oliver once again finds himself fascinated by the fact that someone who looks so soft and delicate could be such a reassuring tower of strength. 

“Thank you Felicity,” he says gratefully. “You’re always taking care of everyone so who takes care of you?”

The words slip out before he can bite them back and Oliver winces at how awkward they sound given the things they had delved into tonight and that this was only his second time meeting her. He meant them sincerely but spoken out loud, they sounded like he was making a pass at her. He should have just left it at the thank you and asked her if she had, had anything to eat yet. 

“Why do you want to know? Are you volunteering?” she teases, giving him an impish smile. 

Oliver blushes but feels considerably better after Felicity lightens the mood. 

“Did you want to grab a quick bite? We’ve talked for hours and you haven’t ordered anything besides a latte. If you want I know a place that makes the best burgers, curly fries and shakes in Starling City.” Oliver was aware he sounded overly eager but rationalized that she was the adopted mother of his long lost son after all and there was nothing wrong with trying to get to know her better. 

“I am hungry,” Felicity says although there is a look of hesitation on her face as she glances at the time display on her phone.

“But you have a 13 year old son waiting at home right? Just like you told me at the club.” Oliver smiles. It was incredible to think that he could be smiling now given how he felt a few hours ago. 

“Maybe just a quick bite,” Felicity concedes. 

“We can get him some take away too,” Oliver says hopefully. "You can bring it home to him. Tell him it's from me. If you think it's okay to do that." 

“William would like that,” Felicity beams at him.

Chapter Text

“Mom you are to leave them alone do you understand me? You stay out of their lives because so help me God if you ruin this for me just like you robbed me of the last 13 years I will hate you even more than I already do.” Oliver storms into Moira’s home office. A startled Raisa had let him, looking on helplessly as the normally good-natured young Mr. Queen merely said Hi to her quickly, before replacing the courteous smile in his face with a look of pure rage as he went looking for his mother.

“Oliver what is the meaning of this? Bursting into my study and shouting first thing in the morning,” Moira tries to keep her composure as she examines her son’s face for clues. He was furious, something she’d never seen before. He had been angry in the past, disgruntled when she and Robert had threatened to cut off his trust fund but that was a more petulant type of anger rather than the pure rage and disgust that had overtaken his face right now.

“You tell me exactly what the meaning of this is Mom. I’m sure you know way better than I do.” Oliver tosses the file Felicity had compiled for him in front of his mother who picks it up gingerly and flips through it, her face growing paler by the minute. 

“That’s right mother, Felicity told me everything. Samantha, William how you tried to pay Samantha off and then found her again and drove them out of Central City by sending Slade Wilson to threaten Sthem. Now almost thirteen years later you’re trying to pay Felicity off.” 

Oliver watches his mother’s face, which morphed from shocked to a forced sort of composure by the time she’d reached the end of the file. Truth be told as angry as he was with her there was a large part of him that was just wary. Moira Queen had a knack of arranging things to get her way and Oliver wasn’t quite sure he could best her on an intellectual level. It was one of the reasons why the guilt was gnawing away at him ever since he’d found out about William. When he confided in this mother all those years ago about Samantha’s pregnancy there was a part of him that hoped she would somehow fix things for him. Although he was young, stupid and a completely different person pack then, Oliver couldn’t help feeling that he’d play a part in bringing on this chain of events.

“Felicity Smoak works fast doesn’t she?” Moira says in a chilling voice, thumbing through the file again and again. It was this act that gave Oliver the confidence to continue. In all his years he’d never seen his mother look like she wasn’t sure what her next step was. Moira had always been eerily efficient, always ready with the next step or to make the next move.

Felicity was the unexpected element in this. His mother had been banking on keeping him in the dark until she had maneuvered things to go her way. As a person whose life was shrouded in secrets and the unspoken, she’d expected this thing with William to head exactly the same way everything else always did, with her in control and holding the cards to herself until she was ready to reveal them. What she hadn’t counted on was Felicity, with her open heart, going to him, not only telling him everything but also offering him a chance to forge a relationship with William. There was a stark difference between Felicity’s relationship with William and the one Oliver had with his mother. Moira Queen couldn’t possibly imagine how someone could love and nurture so openly the way Felicity did. 

“Felicity Smoak raised my son for a decade. Not only has she not held my past against me, she’s going to help me build a currently non-existent relationship with him. Like I said before you will not ruin this for me. Whatever it is you’re thinking of doing, you will stop. You will stop because as William’s biological father I will not sign anything so whatever legal assault you have planned on Felicity you can think again.” Oliver glares at his mother, his eyes harsh and unyielding as he tries to get his point across best as he could. 

“There is no need to take that tone with me Oliver. I did this for you. I realized I handled things badly in the past and I wanted you to have your son back.” Moira’s voice is full of conviction, Oliver couldn’t tell whether she believed the lies she was spewing or not.

“By trying to pay off the woman who raised him and removing the only parent he’s had all these years? And not telling me anything about it? You did this? For me? Really Mom? Why thank you so much I never realized you cared that much about me and the relationships in my life.” Oliver’s voice is growing louder and louder now, almost at the point of shouting.

“Really Oliver do what your tone. It’s a good thing your father is away on a business trip in Russia and not here to witness you having a meltdown over what this woman has told you.” Moira sits down and leans back on her chair. She’s fully regained her composure by now and giving Oliver a look that suggests he’s being unreasonable and having an emotional outburst. 

Oliver lets out a bitter chuckle when he sees her look of mild disdain, mixed with a dash of disappointment. Thea was right, their mother really did have gas lighting down to an art. Of course it didn’t help that both he and Thea provided her with plenty of ammunition due to their various screw-ups in the past. Oliver felt like he’d finally woken up from a very long sleep and was able to see his mother clearly for the first time.

“You did this for me or did you do this for yourself? Was my cancelling the society wedding of the year your final straw? You dusted yourself off, remembered that grandson you conspired to get rid off all those years ago, dug up some information on him and realized that someone else had done the hard work for you and raised him to be the kind of kid who could be the poster child for the Queen family.”

Moira opens her mouth to speak but Oliver cuts her off sharply before she can get a word in edgewise. “I am going to have a relationship with my son. You and the Queen family are not going to get your claws on him. You might also want to reconsider your assumption that William is some clueless kid you can pin all your hopes and dreams on. He was raised by one hell of a woman and something tells me if he’s anything like her, he’s going to be a hell of a lot harder to manipulate than Thea and me.” 

***

“Oliver, hi! You’re here!” Felicity’s face pops out from behind her front door as she greets Oliver enthusiastically with a huge smile on her face. He’s still nervous but her sunny smile does wonders to calm him down. Oliver sneaks a quick glance at her and notices she’s barefoot in a white dress with a bright yellow sunflower print. Her hair is loose, cascading around her shoulders, the waves framing her small face. In fact she’s looking very much like a sunflower herself.

“Hi,” he greets her back shyly. “Thanks for doing this, for talking to William.” He pauses and takes in another nervous breath. “Thanks for even agreeing to this.”

“Don’t be silly. I told you I didn’t hold it against you. I thought you’d realize that after our talk the other night.” She waves him off casually before smiling a mischievous smile; “Besides if William and I didn’t want you in William’s life, you’d feel in in your bones trust me.” 

“Oh I don’t doubt that,” Oliver chuckles nervously, shifting from foot to foot. He was going to meet his son for the very first time. His child. He wanted this, no needed to do this so badly but he wasn’t sure if he could handle it.

Felicity as if reading his mind reaches out a hand, grabs a handful of his shirt and yanks him through the front door. 

“William!” she bellows, “Come out and meet your father. We can finally sue him for all the child support we’re entitled to.” Oliver’s eyes widen nervously at her joke and Felicity bursts out laughing at the look on his face.

“Sheesh Felicity couldn’t you have led with something more tame than that,” William emerges giving her a disapproving headshake. “Hi I’m William Clayton. It’s really great to meet you finally. Thanks for the burgers the other day. I polished them all off. Felicity tried to steal my fries even though she had her share with you already.” 

William holds out a hand and smiles kindly as he tries to diffuse Oliver’s nervousness. For a moment Oliver freezes. The kid really was wonderful. No wonder Moira wanted to snatch him away and she hadn’t even met him yet. William had this poise, a certain self-assurance that Oliver couldn’t not even begin to imagine a kid in his situation possessing. Here he was trying to make the moment as easy for Oliver as possible. Oliver shifts his gaze to Felicity who has moved beside him for moral support and was smiling at him encouragingly. It was obvious whom William picked up all these traits from. 

“Hi Buddy,” he stammers nervously. “I’m really glad we’re finally doing this.” Oliver racks his brain for something else to say but nothing comes to mind and suddenly before he realizes what he’s doing, he bypasses William’s hand and dives at him for a hug. 

Felicity stifles a giggle when she sees the shock on William’s face as Oliver grips onto him enthusiastically.

“I’m so sorry for everything that’s happened in the past buddy and all the stuff that my mother tried to do. Thanks for agreeing to see me Buddy. We can take this father son bonding thing at the pace you’re comfortable with.” 

William shoots Felicity a Is he for real? look as Oliver continues to hold him in the hug, refusing to let go. Felicity counters with a Please be kind pleading look as William rolls his eyes and begins to pat Oliver awkwardly on the back. These Queens were weird. His father definitely seemed like a good guy but jeez he was a weirdo. 

After a few pats Felicity decides her son has had enough and jumps in to gently pry Oliver off William. After all she spent a good part of William’s youth teaching him he didn’t have to hug or touch anyone he didn’t want to so she couldn’t very well undermine years of her own child rearing. 

“Well that was a very affectionate first meeting. Look I know we’re all nervous so let’s just all take a deep breath and clear the air.” To her surprise both men nod at her enthusiastically and start breathing exactly like she instructed. 

“Good. I figure things are going to be a bit weird for a while so let’s just acknowledge the weirdness and deal with it.” Felicity smiles at both men brightly before continuing, “We should probably head out. The movie starts in one hour.”

“Oh I brought a few things for you guys. Can I leave them with you before we go?” Oliver looks a lot less nervous and a little bit pleased with himself as he hands William the giant bag that he’d taken in with him.

“Oh cool the new Play Station and a bunch of new games,” William rummages through the bag enthusiastically. “Thanks Oliver.” 

The teen gives him a big smile, clearly pleased with his haul of goodies. 

“You’re welcome Buddy. Felicity told me you have an Xbox so I thought you might want to try the Play Station as well. She helped me picked out the games too.” Oliver flashes Felicity a grateful smile. She had really gone above and beyond to help him in this transition with William. 

Seemingly out of nowhere, Oliver produces a lush green potted fern, it’s bright green leaves contrasting beautifully with the bright pink glazed ceramic pot it sits in. “When I dropped you home the other night I peeked in at the door and noticed you have a lot of potted plants. I didn’t know what to get you so I thought I’d give this a try.” Oliver smiles shyly at Felicity as he holds out the fern, blushing a little as he can feel William’s eyes looking at him inquisitively.

“I do love plants. Thank you very much Oliver. It will make a lovely addition to the living room.” Felicity takes the fern off him and places it on a shelf next to a pink and green cactus she had on display.

“Felicity is like a plant lady instead of a cat lady,” William teases. “I keep telling her she needs to go out and meet people instead of coding and talking to her plants.

“I do not talk to my plants,” Felicity protests indignantly, placing her hands on her hips with exaggerated anger.

“We better get going if we’re going to catch that movie and make our dinner reservation. We’ll make fun of Felicity later Buddy,” Oliver’s feeling a bit more confident now. William and Felicity were both so light and easy to get along with. There was a certain breezy, relaxed dynamic about them that he had never felt in his entire life with his parents. He was slowly overcoming his nervousness despite the unfamiliar territory he was treading. 

Felicity and William shoot each other knowing looks, silently communicating with their eyes for a few seconds. Suddenly they flank Oliver on both sides, each person draping an arm around him. 

“Oliver,” Felicity begins with the air of one who is about to let him into some great secret. 

“About you calling me Buddy,” William continues for her.

“You see his name is William Clayton,” Felicity adds as she and William steer Oliver towards the door.

“Not Buddy,” William shakes his head earnestly. 

“If you’re going to call him Buddy you can’t hang out with us,” Felicity and William chorus in unison, causing Oliver to laugh despite the fact that they were making fun of him. 

***

“That was really fun,” Oliver says grinning ear to ear as he loiters in Felicity and William’s living room. He could not have asked for a more joyful and seamless experience. Apart from trying desperately to keep up with what Felicity and William called “Nerdspeak” and a lot of teasing from them (initiation into the Smoak – Clayton household they told him) Oliver felt as if he had made months of progress in one night. This was mainly due to Felicity who always seemed to be able to diffuse the situation whenever things got slightly awkward between Oliver and William. 

Oliver still wasn’t sure how familiar he should be, something that tripped him up every now and then. William was a great kid. Open and accepting, he seemed to take this all in his stride not holding Oliver’s past against him. Oliver understood that this was their very first meeting and despite William being his biological son, the familiarity was simply not there, however he could not help but feel a little disappointed when he noticed William dodging him the few times he tried to initiate a hug. He just had to give it time he told himself. Few people would be as fortunate as he was to have the other parent be as supportive as Felicity.

“Table Salt was great Oliver. Felicity and I were going to go there to celebrate once she gets her office space sorted.” William abruptly cuts off his comment as he spots Felicity mouthing Noooooo to him while shaking her head.

“Oh I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to steal your celebratory place. I would have picked another restaurant if I’d known,” Oliver apologizes profusely right away, looking distressed.

“Don’t worry about it! It’s fine. There are about six other restaurants that William and I want to try. We’ve made our way through quite a list already so don’t worry.” She smiles at Oliver comfortingly and he notices that she’s stroking his arm in an attempt to sooth him. He briefly ponders whether she even knows she’s doing it. Oliver can’t help but feel a little bit pleased that she’s so tactile with him. William might not be one for physical affection but Felicity certainly was.

“You guys eat out at restaurants?” Oliver asks curiously. “It’s just not what I would think of as a typical mother and son activity. I never went out to dinner alone with my mother.” 

“Probably has something to do with the fact that your mother is a horrible person and mine isn’t,” William mutters under his breath. Felicity raises a disapproving eyebrow at an unrepentant William as Oliver watches them cautiously.

Damn his mother for ruining things for herself. This could have all been so different if she hadn’t been so heavy handed and aggressive in the way she approached things. She had given William all the ammunition he needed to loath her. Thirteen years ago Moira harassed his biological mom and now a decade later she was going after Felicity.

“For a very long time it was just the two of us and I often got nervous leaving him with babysitters when he was younger, which is weird when you think about it since I used to be his babysitter but motherhood does funny things to you. I suppose I had him at preschool and then later on school all day so when I wasn’t working it just didn’t feel right to have someone else take care of him,” Felicity says all this in one breath before pausing to take in some air. 

“I decided to start this tradition where we would go to a nice lunch or dinner whenever we had something to celebrate, mainly because I missed going out myself.” Suddenly Felicity’s expression changes and she looks very pleased, smug almost. “Over the years William won lots of awards and competitions so there was always some big achievement to celebrate and I guess we both developed a taste for dining.”

Felicity claps her hands to her cheeks and bounces excitedly. “I’ve just realized I haven’t shown you all of William’s awards and report cards. Some are in storage because there is just so much stuff that he’s won but I’ve kept a bunch of the more recent stuff he’s won in the spare room. Would you like to come and have a look at it?” Felicity’s face lit up with pure glee as she hones in on a fresh new victim she can natter to about William’s achievements. Oliver can’t help but stifle a smile. So she was that kind of mom.

“Run! Run now for your sake. She’s got that manic look in her eyes. You’ll be here until morning going through every single painful detail of what took place during which competition.” William looks slightly mortified but there’s something in his expression that tells Oliver, deep down William secretly enjoys the adoration, although he’d never admit to it. 

“I would love to hear every single detail,” Oliver laughs. “Looks like I’m pretty lucky Felicity here has a good memory and can tell me everything about what you’ve been up to in the past few years.” He meant every word of what he said. He had missed out on so much and right now he was grateful for any morsel of information about William’s life. 

“Oh you won’t be saying that after the twentieth story. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. She’s a genius with photographic memory and I’ve seen fear in people’s eyes when she uses that memory for her stories about me.”

William’s eyes shift from Oliver to Felicity and then back to Oliver again. He grins before moving closer to Oliver and giving him a few slightly awkward pats on the back. “I’m going to crack into my new game console now and leave you at her mercy. I like you Oliver. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Just run when she gets to the story about the science fair in 2015. It was a painful time in her life and she can’t let it go.” 

“That Marissa Beecroft bought her creation from Amazon,” Felicity scowls viciously. “I saw that thing on Amazon. How they let her get away with it and even awarded her first prize was an absolute travesty for kids like you who worked so hard and painstakingly created everything with your own hands.”

“Enjoy,” William smiles at Oliver sweetly before turning to Felicity. “There, there mother just breath and let it go. I have, you should too. It’s been three years. ” 

Felicity shoots him a disgruntled look but grudgingly cracks a smile back at him. “You’ve always handled these things better than I ever did,” she says fondly before abruptly switching into mom mode, “One hour of games and then bed okay? I know it’s a Saturday night but…” 

“My brain will fritz if I don’t get enough sleep,” William finishes for her.

“She used to use that excuse for everything,” he explains to Oliver. “Anything she didn’t want me to do, she’d bring up some science and link it back to my brain fritzing. Even to this day even though I should know better, I still imagine my brain fritzing when I don’t listen to her.” 

“Yes you remember that when someone offers you drugs and you say NO,” Felicity says at once, not missing an opportunity to throw in this little gem whenever she can. 

William rolls his eyes before holding his arms out to ask for a hug. Oliver watches with surprise and a little sadness as his tall and gangly thirteen year old tries to shrink down in order for Felicity to give him a cuddle.

“Good night my little monster,” Felicity says hugging William tightly before letting him go. 

“Night Oliver,” William gives the other man another clap on the back on his way out.

“He’s a great kid,” Oliver says, smiling at Felicity as they both watch the teenager disappear into his room. 

“He’s the best kid,” Felicity nods in agreement. It was nice to have someone to dote over and agree with her how wonderful William was. She had a feeling they would be having many more of these conversations in the future. 

“Hey about the hugs, don’t take it to heart. It’s your first time spending time with him. Did you know that in a recent survey only 23% of teen boys surveyed believe that affection from their moms was acceptable anytime anywhere. He’s very affectionate with me so I think he lies in the 23%. Your hugs will come once he gets to know you better.” She smiles at Oliver kindly and makes herself comfortable on the couch. Oliver follows her lead, casually seating himself beside her. 

“That’s a very specific statistic you have there. Do you um regularly read up on this stuff?” 

“I like reading. Before I do anything I like to read up on it. Parenting has given me this excuse to read just about every parenting theory there is out there. Of course nothing really prepares you for actual parenting but I like to cling to the comfort of science and studies.”

“I’m glad I have you leading the way on this.” Oliver beams at her and reaches over to place his hand on top of hers. He quickly pulls his hand away once it dawns on him that it’s a bold and inappropriate move. Felicity is a gorgeous woman and Oliver is well aware that his attraction to her that night at Verdant is still very much there, simmering beneath the surface. If anything, it’s grown even stronger now that there is more foundation for it. Felicity is no longer just the beautiful fascinating creature he saw at Verdant who intrigued him. She’s so much more than that. She’s an intelligent, nurturing and tenacious woman with a heart of gold, a woman who was most likely out of his league.

“It’s weird isn’t it? Gosh I feel like I keep saying that. You and William discovering you’re father and son. You and me, meeting at a club and then finding out that we share a son. Now we have to all co exist and make sense of it somehow.” Felicity leans back on the couch and slides down a little, her body completely relaxed as she smiles at him, showing no sign of offense that he had tried to hold her hand. 

“Thank you for everything. You are truly remarkable Felicity.” Oliver is gazing at her, his face full of gratitude and awe. Felicity finds her cheeks warming up and she’s pretty sure she’s slowly on her way to turning bright pink. No one has ever looked at her with such intensity before and Felicity tells herself that this is probably the kind of look you get when you raise someone’s kid for them. Oliver was grateful, that’s all. 

“You don’t have to keep thanking me. I know you’re appreciative but I don’t think I can handle you thanking me profusely every time we speak to each other. Any decent person would do what I’m doing, given the facts. This is our reality now and we should just roll with it, move forward.” She’s kind and her voice is gentle but there’s an efficiency and pragmatism about her that once again leaves Oliver very much in awe. Felicity has love and affection in spades, yet Oliver is convinced she’s the most practical woman he’s ever met.

“In the spirit of moving forward, while we were waiting for our coats, William asked me if we could invite you to Starling Spring Fair next month. I’d take that as a really good sign if I were you. It was a tradition we started in Ivy Town where we’d go to the Spring Fair every year. He was stoked to find out Starling has one too. It’s been just the two of us at the fair since forever, he never lets anyone else tag along so the fact that he’s letting you join us is a huge deal.”

Oliver watches Felicity’s face carefully to try and figure out how she feels about him encroaching on her and William’s longstanding tradition. To his relief all he sees is excitement.

“I would love that. I would not miss it for the world. But it’s a month away. Can I have you guys over to my place for dinner first? And then I can show you all the Starling City landmarks. We don’t have a beach but we have a bay,” he offers eagerly. “It’s prettier up close than it is from a distance. We can go on a family hike. And maybe we can go camping? I don’t know if you guys are campers, I don’t think I’m a camper myself but we can all try to go camping and see if we like it. We can get kayaks and paddle in the bay. Or driving vacations. Let’s go on a driving vacation the next time there’s a public holiday.”

He’s got all these ideas flying left and right in his brain and they just come spilling out. Ideas for things he’s never even dreamed of doing. He was just about to suggest a driving trip to visit all the amusement parks the country has to offer when he notices the amused smile on Felicity’s face.

“What?” Oliver asks, rubbing the back of his head looking adorably confused.

“You’re very dad like,” Felicity laughs. “No offense but I’ve seen snippets about you on page 6 and I would never have imagined that Oliver Queen suggesting a camping trip and driving vacations. You’re well on your way to being one of those suburban fathers.”

“With the Hawaiian shirts?” Oliver volunteers. Although Felicity is laughing, she secretly thinks to herself that if anyone can pull off a Hawaiian shirt, it’s Oliver.

“And the Dad jokes,” Felicity adds causing them both to burst into a fit of fresh giggles. 

Too caught up in their little exchange, Felicity and Oliver don’t notice William standing in the hall with a delighted smile on his face as he watches his parents laugh and giggle like two happy idiots while they continue to make a series of unfunny nonsensical comments at each other, comments which they both seem to find wildly hilarious.  

***

“Looks like fatherhood is working out well for the kid. Never seen him so happy before,” Slade Wilson comments as Moira flicks through the new set of photographs in a quiet rage. He had refrained from any commentary up until today, but Slade couldn’t help wondering why Moira insisted on torturing herself every week, asking him to stalk the kid while he hung out with the boy and the blonde, only then to silently fume as she watches them play happy families. 

Slade hadn’t ventured to ask but he was smart enough to know that things had reached a stall as far as Moira’s bid to gain custody of William. Despite delivering both the Boston lawyer and a copy of the Guardianship papers, there appeared to be no movement on Moira’s part. Her team of lawyers had not swarmed in to rip Felicity Smoak apart. Judging by the smitten starry-eyed looks the kid sported in every photo with the blonde; Slade suspected he had something to do with this. For the first time in his life, the kid had not buckled to his mother’s demands. 

“She’s better, a lot smarter than I anticipated. She went straight on the offensive and got to Oliver right away. God knows what she’s telling my son and grandson, turning them against me, bending them to her will.” Moira’s fingers are gripping onto a photo so hard; her nails punch a hold through the thick paper. It was a photo of Oliver and William, grinning ear to ear as they stood on each side of a protesting Felicity. Dressed in hiking gear it appeared they were trying to push her up a hill on one of Starling’s hiking tracks despite her protests.

“She raised the boy and from what I’ve seen he adores her. I don’t think she needs to say anything to the boy,” Slade finds himself defending Felicity Smoak. He might be paid by Moira to stalk her but for all intents and purposes she seemed like a devoted, hard working mom. “As for the kid, I know he was winding down on the scandals but he finally looks content these days.” 

“I didn’t ask for your commentary Mr. Wilson,” Moira snaps tersely. 

“Seems like I’m the only one talking to you these days,” Slade replies in a sharp tone, not at all cowered by her. 

“That you are right about. I underestimated her. I thought retrieving William from her would be easy but she’s taking what’s mine instead.” 

“Have you ever considered changing how you approach this? She’s been decent to the kid. Done more than what’s expected of her to help him reunite with his son. If you handle things differently maybe she won’t hold it against you.”

Never one to back down from a fight himself, Slade could almost understand why Moira was hell bent on fighting through this losing battle, however even he understood that there were a lot of strong feelings and emotions in play here. Moira’s strategy of bribery and intimidation clearly wasn’t working and any aggressive action on her part was likely to lengthen the temporary estrangement from Oliver. 

Felicity Smoak was doing everything right whether she intended it or not. He supposed this was what niggled at Moira Queen and rendered her unable to back down. She was used to people either falling at her feet or succumbing to their fear of her. It was unacceptable to her that some cute pint sized blonde should defy her and refuse to abide by Moira’s rules. 

“If you think I will lose my family to some pretty piece of trash you are sorely mistaken Mr. Wilson. I’ve let her have a good run but I am about to show Ms. Smoak just how hard it is to survive in this town while being at odds with the Queen family.” Moira was done playing nice with Felicity. She would show her who owned this town.

“The thing about girls like the blonde, girls who have had it tough is that they tend to be scrappy Mrs. Queen. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Chapter Text

“Mr McGrath I was due to sign the lease this afternoon, what do you mean it’s not available anymore? The property has been on the market for months now, you’re telling me that someone just swooped in and offered double the asking price? That’s ridiculous.”

Felicity feels an urge to scream in frustration at the man on the other line and call him all sorts of creative names but she knew better than that. For one she was in the middle of a cosy family run café where she was a regular and carrying on loudly on the phone was the last thing she wanted to do to the Chengs who knew her by name and were lovely people. She was better than that and in reality Ivan McGrath most likely had no ill will against her. This was one person’s doing and it was highly probable that Mr. McGrath has no choice in the matter but to obey Moira Queen. Goodness knows what ultimatums that woman was throwing around at Felicity’s clients and real estate agents. 

Felicity pulls out her tablet and begins tapping away in frustration. So this was the new status quo. Her clients and investors were dropping off like flies and she couldn’t get office space anywhere in Starling even though the market was slightly stagnant and rents were relatively low. Moira Queen had finally lived up to her threats and put out the equivalent of a business hit on Felicity.

A bitter smile crosses Felicity’s face as she sets her code to work, scouring away for that elusive bit of information she’s hoping to gain. She’d been naïve enough to think that maybe, possibly, the Queen matriarch had gotten over her ridiculous idea of reacquiring William like he was some lost family heirloom. After all Oliver had told his mother that under no circumstances was she to interfere with them and Oliver had been so happy spending time with William. In fact they had all been wonderfully content and it was this contentment, which had led Felicity to believe that maybe Moira would accept that her son is slowly building his relationship with her grandson and leave it there. 

Apparently this was not the case. Moira’s dislike for Felicity obviously overshadowed any reasonable thinking and hence Felicity now found herself trying to work out what kind of war Moira Queen was waging and how she was going to fight back. 

“Hey you, why that face?” Alena squeezes her cheeks whilst giving her a sympathetic look before dropping down on the chair across from Felicity. Felicity gives a big sigh and they wave Mrs Cheng over to put in their orders (two slices of blueberry pie with a scoop of ice cream on each, iced tea for Alena and a coffee milkshake for Felicity) before getting into things.

“Oh no that’s the Moira Queen screwed me over again face,” Alena clucks sympathetically. “Oh honey isn’t it a good idea we arranged to catch up today.” 

“Well considering I barely have any client meetings now it looks like I will be available all day and every day.” A thought enters Felicity’s head, causing her to wrinkle her nose and widen her eyes before she speaks again. “At this rate I’m going to be too poor to afford pie and coffee.” 

“If that happens I’ll pay,” Alena reassures her calmly before reaching across to grab Felicity’s cheeks and slapping them gently, “But that is not going to happen because you are going to go full Ghost Fox Goddess and deal with the bitch. Am I right Felicity?” 

Alena was a few years younger than Felicity and they had met under the most unique circumstances. Before she met William and Sam, during her early days at MIT, Felicity had been going through what she now deemed her Self Discovery Phase. It was a polite way of referring to all the angry hacking and angry group of friends she kept during that time in her life. She’d built and done some...let’s just say interesting things under the pseudonym Ghost Fox Goddess which unbeknownst to her had built her a fan base, with her number one fan being non other than Alena.

Years later when Felicity’s life had taken a turn and was firmly entrenched in motherhood, PTA meetings, work and conversations with exuberant little boys, Alena had reached out only to discover that her idol was a busy working mother who wore bright coloured dresses and looked more like a hot young mom than an angry hacker.

Despite not living up to Alena’s expectations of the true Ghost Fox Goddess of yesteryear, the two women had hit it off and became firm friends. Alena mellowed out of her own self discovery phase and their friendship continued, brought even closer by Felicity’s move to Alena’s hometown in Starling. Despite the years that passed Alena was still very much in awe of Felicity’s old legendary persona, always egging Felicity to channel it whenever her friend needed encouragement and support. 

“I could…” Felicity’s voice drifts off and she looks thoughtful. Lowering her voice she leans across the table, closer to Alena. “I wrote some searches and found some pretty interesting stuff that would certainly make that woman squirm if I deploy it but then I think what is the point? It would only escalate her vendetta against me and it won’t actually help me get my clients and investors back.” 

Felicity glances at her tablet, which is flashing the results of her specialised search temptingly at her. “Revenge would be so satisfying but I’ve got William to consider.”

“You mean Oliver,” Alena says at once smirking at her friend. “Because let’s not pretend that William gives a crap about his fake psycho grandma. You’re worried about upsetting Oliver.”

Felicity is about to protest but Alena jumps in, refusing her excuses and explanations. “You said he told his mother off before and from what I can see the man seems to spend every moment of his free time with you and William. I doubt mother dearest is high on his list of priorities right now. Probably why she’s hell bent on ruining your life.”

“She’s still his mother Alena. I don’t want to put him in a difficult position. None of this is his fault and I want him to have a relationship with William without having to juggle me in the mix.” Felicity pokes at her piece of pie and decides to take a bite. It’s tangy and sweet and full of bursts of blueberry. At least Moira Queen hasn’t taken away the enjoyment of pie from her.

“You’re not even asking him to do anything against his mother. You haven’t even told him the witch is currently trying to ruin your business. You’re already the bigger person here. You are entitled to have your revenge, exacted by your own fingers. You don’t owe it to anyone to pull your punches.” Letting out a frustrated huff Alena narrows her eyes at Felicity. “You know the old you, the myth, the legend would have wiped out QC’s stocks by now.” 

“Alena calm down. Oliver runs a large part of QC remember?” 

“Yes, yes we all know you don’t want to upset your precious Oliver.” Suddenly Alena eyes Felicity up and down before her face is lit up with a triumphant smile. “Oh my god, you like Oliver Queen don’t you? You have a crush on your son’s father. That’s why you haven’t gone mental on his bitch of a mother yet. You’re worried about his feelings and don’t want to force him to be stuck in the middle of this.”

Felicity rolls her eyes and casts Alena a withering look. “I’m not going to even dignify that with a response Alena. And for your information if I thought wreaking havoc on Moira Queen would bring back my clients and investors I would do it in a heartbeat. But judging by the way she’s handled things so far, even though Oliver has a relationship with William like Moira claims she wants him to have, she’s not going to back down. She feels like she’s lost to me because Oliver told her off and refuses to launch any legal action against me for custody of William. Plus he’s spending all his time with us like you said. This latest attack on my business is her win, her punishment leveled against me for not rolling over and for going to Oliver with all the facts about his son. I understand people like her, the arrogance, the feeling that she’s above it all. She’ll just escalate things if I hit back. Maybe if I take a hit this time she’ll feel victorious and let it go.”

“But you need to make a living,” Alena reminds her, this time her tone is a little more gentle. “Your dream was to build this business to help people. You left a high paying job, a powerful position with Palmer Tech to do this.”

“I’ll get new clients. Moira is powerful but she doesn’t rule the whole town. Plus I have quite a few investors from other places who are interested in the venture. As angry as I am about this I have some meetings lined up already and some of the highly principled ones rang to tell me they’d stick by me despite the huge incentives offered by QC because they want a slice of what Smoak Technologies has to offer.” Felicity pauses and smiles, feeling significantly better by her own pep talk to herself. 

“Smoak Technologies is a dynamic, fresh new firm with patents over some solid ground breaking products. There are those who will sign on and stay based purely from an investment and potential profitability standpoint, regardless of whatever favours Moira Queen is trying to call in. Money talks after all and we are going to make a lot of money. I know it, the financials are solid.”

“Fine fine,” Alena waves Felicity off and shoves a giant piece of pie in her mouth, chewing vigorously before swallowing quickly to make her next point. “ Just between you and me, what would you have done to the bitch anyway?”

Felicity grins as a devilish look crosses her face, “I know for a fact that she heads her charity committee meeting at 10 am every Thursday. I hacked into her schedule and her phone. Then I wrote a search and found these pictures. I would have sent them to the phone of every member of her charity committee mid meeting. It would have caused a great sensation and given me a good lesson in poise to see how Moira Queen would have handled it.” 

“Show me what you were going to send,” Alena demands, practically snatching the tablet away from Felicity. 

Alena studies the tablet in awe as she flicks through the series of photographs of Robert Queen canoodling and necking with a young and leggy brunette in Russia.

“Now that would have been a Ghost Fox Goddess move,” she says looking longingly at Felicity. “Are you sure you don’t want to do it?” 

“I’m pretty sure but if I do, do it you’ll be the first to know,” Felicity laughs at her friend.

“Nice work using all the CCTV cameras to get you up close and personal footage. I especially like the use of the various dashboard cameras. Borrowing what others have already. And these compromising ones…yikes.”

“Oh those were easy, I just hacked into Isabel, the mistress’s phone. You know what the average person is like. It doesn’t occur to them if they take a photo like this, we will be able to access it. Although to be fair I rarely go scouring into people’s phones despite it being easy to do so.”

“You’ve still got it but you won’t use it,” Alena says with exaggerated disappointment. 

“Being a responsible adult is no fun,” Felicity tells her with mock solemnity. 

*** 

“Are you sure you can’t go with us?” Oliver asks feeling slightly guilty that he so desperately wants Felicity to check out the country club with them. He was William’s father and just like Felicity said it was a great opportunity for them to bond, however there was an uncomfortable feeling niggling in the back of his mind that perhaps she was avoiding him. 

He hadn’t seen or spent anytime with her in two weeks bar exchanging a few pleasantries during William’s pick ups and drop offs. She was still as supportive as ever of his relationship with William, however it appeared as if her friendship was suddenly off limits. Despite being her charming self every time they met, Oliver felt as if Felicity had suddenly constructed a wall between them and was slowly retreating out of his life, a move that was driving Oliver insane.

Logically Oliver knew he couldn’t ask anything more of Felicity. She let him see William as much as he wanted, made it easy for him to see his son and was more than willing to juggle around with their schedules. He’d just had a taste of her friendship and to suddenly revert back to polite acquaintances felt like a slap in the face.

Oliver’s first thought was that his damn mother probably had something to do with this but no matter how much he pressed and hinted at Felicity she would not give anything away, always citing that her business was giving her a headache. He didn’t dare try to pick William’s brain about the subject as much as he was tempted to. Their relationship, although steadily growing stronger was still (in Oliver’s mind) fragile and Oliver didn’t want William to feel like he was being used as a means to get to Felicity. 

“I’ve run into a few snags with the business that I’m trying to iron out. Besides country clubs are not my thing. You and William have fun. I think he wants to challenge you to a match on the courts there. He was excited to try the posh, meticulously maintained courts.” Her smile is adequately friendly but there is a politeness to it that rankles on Oliver’s soul. She’s not this person and for some reason he just couldn’t accept this cool politeness from her. At least not without knowing the reason why she was distancing herself from him.

“We…we had so much fun before, the three of us. I love getting so much time alone with William but I miss the outings we used to have together. All three of us.” Boldly he takes a step closer towards her, “It’s not the same without you there Felicity. William feels it too. Can’t you find some time to come along with us today?”

For a brief microsecond he sees a wistful look flicker across her face but it vanishes just as quickly as it appeared and Felicity smiles that cool, guarded smile at him again. “I was around all the time because I wanted to make William feel comfortable while he was getting to know you. You guys are doing great now, you don’t need me anymore.”

“But we want you there with us,” Oliver all but whines at her, resisting the urge to grab her hand. His hand is almost outstretched to touch her but he pulls it back and lets it fall to his side, clenching it tightly. He suddenly notices William standing in the doorway, his gaze diverting between Oliver and Felicity. There’s a look of intrigue and understanding on his son’s face. Something about the look on William’s face told Oliver that his son knew more than he was letting on.

Felicity however remains immovable. “Maybe when things settle down for me a bit.”

Oliver is about to plead with her once again when her warm hand touches his tricep, a gesture that soothes him a little, irrational as it may seem. “I’ve got a lot on my plate now. When I get myself sorted I’ll join you boys again okay?” 

She smiles at him and this time it’s the Felicity smile he’s used to as her whole face lights up. There’s something gently reassuring about this look and it’s the most positive sign Oliver has gotten in two weeks so he decides to run with it. Whatever it was she was going through, whatever his mom did, at least she doesn’t hate him for it. 

“Thank you for saying that. I hope that time comes soon. When I envisage my new life with William, you’re also in it Felicity.” Oliver can feel the heat rising in his cheeks as the words leave his mouth. They sounded…odd. In his life as what? He should have added friend or something to make it sound less weird but friend was a word he wanted to avoid using with Felicity if he could. He would take friendship over nothing but it wasn’t a label he was keen to throw onto them.

“I’ve been imagining all three of us as a family too,” William declares brightly as he walks over to Felicity. “Maybe with a baby thrown in, a baby sister.” He turns and smiles at Oliver with the most innocent look on his face, “I’ve always wanted a baby sister.”

Felicity’s cheeks turn a bright shade of crimson, as do Oliver’s as they stare at each other uncomfortably. Taking advantage of his mother’s temporary loss of words, William leans over to give her a kiss on each cheek. “Don’t work too hard and don’t forget to eat lunch okay. If you’re going to make me eat healthy you need to eat properly too.”

“Love you William, have fun,” Felicity smiles fondly at her close to six foot baby, temporarily forgetting that just a moment ago she had been mortified by his comments in front of Oliver. Sometimes she wondered if William’s wish for a baby sister was just some arbitrary thing he had picked to get a rise out of her. It was such a specific and somewhat odd thing for a boy his age to wish for. In a younger child she could understand but William started this baby sister nonsense when he was around 10 or so. 

“You too Oliver and be wary of him on the tennis court. He has a killer forehand.” She’s patting his arm now and although Oliver is disappointed that Felicity isn’t going with them he takes this as a positive development, his first in a while. 

*** 

“Err….Dad….I want to talk to you…about Felicity…” William says, choosing his words carefully and slowly as he carves into his broiled garlic butter lobster tail, his second one during this lunch sitting. He figured Oliver was not strapped for cash and it wasn’t like he was eyeing off the Queen family fortune. Far from it, but he was going to eat his weight in lobster tail whenever he got the chance. Save Felicity some money so he wouldn’t have to order it when he’s out with her. 

Oliver does a double take, almost falling off his chair before he gripping the table to steady himself. He didn’t know what caught him more off guard. William calling him Dad or William deciding to volunteer up information about whatever was going on with Felicity. 

“Sure bud…William. We can talk about anything you want.” The words sound childish and Oliver’s aware he’s got that baby voiced tone again, the tone he keeps lapsing into, especially when he’s nervous. He doesn’t know how Felicity does it but she manages to call William all sorts of baby names without sounding like she’s talking to a baby. Oliver was well aware that he sometimes spoke to William as if he were a toddler. He wasn’t sure why, he just knew that he reverted to it whenever he felt nervous.

“Relax dad,” William smiles at him with a hint of amusement on his face. The smile fades away quickly though and when he starts speaking again, his tone is crisp and full of purpose.

“Felicity made me promise not to tell you but I’ve got a way of getting out of this promise so I’m going to tell you. You probably have no idea but your witch of a mother has been trying to sabotage Smoak Tech. Felicity’s lost a bunch of investors and clients all because your evil mother is on a rampage. She tells me she can fix it and I know she will. Felicity can do anything but I hate seeing her working so hard and so stressed out. She’s worked her butt off to build Smoak Tech and now she’s pushing herself even harder just to combat your vile mother’s evil. Can’t you do something about it? I know she doesn’t want you to, that’s why she made me promise not to tell you but I think you should do something about it since your vicious mother is behind this.” 

It was not lost on Oliver all the adjectives William used to describe Moira. That bridge was well and truly torched and the two hadn’t even met yet. Oliver knew better than to comment on the slew of unfavourable words William used when referring to Moira. William was an easygoing, placid and mild mannered young teen, quite far away from the norm (even Felicity attested to this) however when it came to Felicity, this was where William channeled any teen angst he had. During the course of his time with them Oliver had discovered that William was fiercely protective of Felicity and her happiness, always on the look out for her welfare. It was natural given they’d only had each other to rely on all these years and it also explained why the two communicated so openly with each other.

“My guess was that my mother had done something but Felicity shut me down so quickly every time I tried to bring it up. She’s stopped going out with us altogether. The last thing I want to do is force her to discuss this with me. As for my mother I didn’t bother going to her because all she would have offered up was lies so there really was no point. Is that why Felicity has been avoiding me? She…she doesn’t think I support my mother does she?”

“Of course not, don’t be dense,” William waves him off impatiently. Oliver bristles as being called dense by his son but decides this is not the time to discuss respect. This would have been something he’d bring up with Felicity first anyway since he was afraid William might very well pull the I only listen to Felicity because she is my mom and you’re not really my dad yet card on him.

“She’s been avoiding you because she doesn’t want you to be stuck in the middle of this vendetta your repugnant mother has against her. She’s in compartmentalization mode now which means she’s going to shut you out and politely help you have a relationship with me, while she personally will never have anything to do with you ever again, because she doesn’t want you to have to chose between her and your despicable mother.” 

William pauses dramatically for a few seconds, staring intently at Oliver before continuing, “She has a point though because what is she to you really? I’m your son but what is Felicity to you? Friend? Acquaintance? Reverse baby mama?”

“Reverse baby mama?” Oliver raises an eyebrow at that one.

“Yeah that wasn’t a good one but I can’t think of a term to describe someone who raises your biological child for you as their own,” William admits looking a little sheepish and endearingly Felicity like in that moment. The look doesn’t last long and he’s back to his shrewd self again.

“You need to work out what she is to you and whether you’re going to fight your wretched mother for her or not. She’s in an awkward position because of you. I know Felicity, she’s fiercely loyal and values common decency, something your beastly mother wouldn’t know if it hit her on the head. You being in our lives is preventing Felicity from fighting back. I’ve been privy to some stories about Felicity’s life before mom hired her to babysit me. That girl would have wreaked havoc on your mother but she’s not doing it because of you. And it’s definitely because of you, not me. Felicity knows very clearly what I think of your mother.”

William hadn’t said it outright but there was a very clear underlying message to his words. You better fix this and side with Felicity or else you are dead to me couldn’t have been conveyed anymore clearly than this.

“Of course I’m on Felicity’s side,” Oliver reassures his son quickly. “I’m on both your sides. You’re my future now.” He wasn’t saying this to placate William or out of fear of William’s wrath. Oliver meant it, those two were his future now and his mother needed a major attitude adjustment if she wanted a place in his life.

“I’m so happy to hear you say that Dad,” William beams at him approvingly, getting out of his chair to give Oliver a brief hug. “Felicity’s a fighter, she never wants to be rescued by anyone. She’s just going to work herself to death to fix this but I have a list of a few of the people your loathsome mother reached out to. Lucky for you I have a really good memory too and can replay conversations in my head so I mentally saved all the names. I don’t know if there is anything you can do but I assume you’re high enough on the QC food chain to have some clout?” 

“Depending on who they are, I’ll see what I can do,” Oliver says watching his son carefully. Like it or not there was some of the Moira Queen’s cutthroat edge to William, although in William’s case, because he had been showered with so much love and affection, it manifested in his fierce loyalty to Felicity and his determination to protect her. Oliver finds himself wondering if the sudden use of the well-timed “Dad” today had anything to do with the fact that William wanted him to take a stand on Felicity’s behalf.

“One thing I need to ask you William. Could you possibly tone down your use of adjectives whenever you refer to my mother? I know she deserves every single one of them…”

“She terrorised my mother and then a decade later goes after the only mom I have left. She deserves more than a few unflattering nicknames,” William cuts him off quickly.

“I actually agree with that but it’s just so jarring to hear. Can you ease up on the thesaurus of words you use to describe her?” Oliver pleads before an amused smile forms on his face. “How do you come up with a different word each time anyway?” 

William lets out a chuckle. “When I was five we had to learn to write what they deemed interesting sentences at school. I never cared for writing and just wanted to pore over science books ad experiments all day but Felicity would make me write interesting sentences every day. Those skills came in handing when thinking up words to describe Moira Queen.” The words Moira Queen were uttered with such contempt but Oliver figures this is William’s offer of compromise, which he gladly takes. 

***

“Hi,” Felicity gives Oliver a little wave when he finds her curled up on a plush leather couch, in the waiting area designated for parents who wished to stay while their kids had their guitar lessons. 

They were a bit early today so it was just the two of them, the waiting room not yet inhabited by the family scheduled for the next lesson. 

“Hi,” Oliver smiles shyly at her. He’d been worried about her reaction in regards to his interference with her business but the fact that Felicity had finally agreed to join William and him for dinner tonight meant that at the very least things had improved from before.

“Thank you,” Felicity says quickly, sitting up straight before switching off the screen of her tablet. “Thank you for whatever it was you did to get them all crawling back. I could have made do without them but it was exhausting to try and lure in all that replacement business and investment all at once. I didn’t want you to feel like you had to choose that’s why I didn’t say anything but thank you all the same.”

Oliver sits down next to her and reaches for her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. “You don’t ever have to thank me. I was just doing the right thing, fixing up my mother’s misdeeds. And never talk about me having to choose because when it comes to William and you there is no choice to make.”

“I know William is and should be your top priority but I hate the idea that I might be putting you in an awkward situation when it comes to your mother. William is your son. I’m…I’m just a stranger to you really and she is your mother no matter what she’s done.” As much as Felicity loathed Moira Queen, she too had a son and she didn’t want to play any part in the disintegrating relationship between Oliver and Moira. She slept better at night knowing that her conscience was clear.

“You’re not a stranger,” Oliver protests earnestly. “You’re…you’re…you’re my Felicity.”

“Oh?” Felicity eyes him curiously her brows furrowing a little.

“Well not my Felicity but you are Felicity and you are an amazing person and someone who I would like in my life. You’re…um…family?” He looks half hopeful, half slightly confused, frowning and Felicity can’t help but smile.  

“Family eh? You mean like a sibling?” Felicity teases. 

“NO,” Oliver practically shouts in protest causing her to jump. “I mean I have a sister already. She’s in Europe on an internship. I don’t want or need another one.” 

“Friends then?” Felicity offers smiling. He really was very sweet, if not a little jumpy today. This was such a contrast to the man whom she presumed had put the fear of God in her rogue clients and investors on her behalf. 

“Friends,” Oliver agrees somewhat reluctantly.

“How did you get so many of them to come back to me anyway? Your mother intimidated them to death and sent them fleeing from me.” Felicity decides to steer the subject away from the awkward determination of what their status was. 

“You’ll find Ms. Smoak that while you may fluster me a little, I can be quite intimidating when I chose to be. My mother might be the self declared family matriarch but I am the one who signs off on all deals and I can make doing business very difficult for anyone who crosses me. QC has a lot of interests scattered in this town.” He’s leaning into her and suddenly he’s full of confidence and swagger with a little smirk on his face.

“Well I appreciate you putting your powers to good use Mr. Queen,” Felicity responds giving his tie a playful yank, her voice low and suddenly their faces are very close indeed. Catching herself in time Felicity pulls away, prompting Oliver conceded a few inches of personal space back to her. 

“You can retaliate you know,” he says out of the blue. “William told me you most likely had a way of getting revenge but you didn’t because of me. I want you to have the freedom to fight back and not worry about me. This is a tough situation we’re in but you deserve every right to retaliate especially since my mother started this.” 

“Your mother caused me a great deal of grief this time but she hasn’t crossed the line yet and I didn’t want to escalate the hatred between us by striking back at her. I will make one thing clear though, if there ever comes a day when I decide that she needs to be put in her place I will rain hell down on her, consequences be damned.” 

Wordlessly Felicity turns on her tablet screen, taps in a few commands and places the tablet in Oliver’s hands. “This is what I was going to send to every member on your mother’s committee. It would have been pure revenge and wouldn’t have won me any business back. Plus I didn’t want you and your sister to suffer from any fall out.” 

Oliver glances at the pictures and shrugs. “This is old news to us. It would be humiliating for her but she chose this life.”

He hands back the tablet to Felicity and suddenly he looks thoughtful. “This is why I called off the wedding with Laurel my ex fiancé. I didn’t love her. I haven’t loved any woman ever and I didn’t want to end up living out my parents’ marriage for the rest of my life. That’s how Laurel and I would have ended up if we went through with the marriage. I think she was okay with it but I wasn’t. I would like to think that I could love someone in that crazy, devoted, can’t live without you way.” 

“I would have never guessed you were such a romantic at heart,” Felicity smiles softly at him, her eyes magnificently blue and mesmerizing. 

“What about you?” Oliver seizes this opportunity to delve into her mind a little more. 

“I’ve honestly never given it much thought. I spent years trying to juggle being a working single mom.” She contemplates for a few moments before adding with a smile, “But a crazy, devoted, can’t live without you love sounds like a good idea.” 

“If you’re going to bother with love it shouldn’t be anything less than that right?” Oliver nudges her playfully. 

“I know where you two can find a love like that,” William’s voice chimes out of nowhere startling his parents.

“Your lesson isn’t over, what are you doing out here?” Felicity asks, ignoring the cheeky grin on her teen’s face. She was used to William and his ways and could react much faster and more efficiently than Oliver who often just stood around blushing or grinning stupidly at their teen’s impertinent comments. 

“Just getting my backpack. Forgot to take it in. I didn’t interrupt anything did I?” William asks with wide-eyed innocence.

“Be off with you,” Felicity swats William playfully, giving him a shove towards the main house while Oliver watches with a pleased smile on his face.

***

After William’s guitar lesson they all headed out for a family dinner. No one said anything about it, but in a way the dinner felt like the celebration of a new beginning for the three of them. 

Moira had done them all a favour. Her actions forced them to define their loyalties and clear up many things that had previously remained unsaid, despite all the time spent together as a family unit. Oliver made it abundantly clear that Felicity was his priority too, up there with William.

Oliver insisted on following them home in his car and hence they now found themselves congregating in Felicity and Williams’s living room, saying their farewells for the night.

“Thank you for dinner and for the talk earlier. Oh and for fixing my business related issues too.” Felicity stands in her tippy toes and is about to give Oliver a light peck on the cheek when she notices William watching them hawkishly, his eyes darting from parent to parent with a look of glee on his face. Noting the expression on her son’s face she thinks better of it and pulls back abruptly at the last second, losing her balance in the process and topples backwards. 

Fortunately (or unfortunately because William is now one step away from cackling at them) Oliver has great instincts and catches her, banding his arms around her waist to keep her steady. Suddenly Felicity is using his chest to steady herself. He’s very well built, all muscly and hard pressed against her soft curves. It’s a little too close and way too warm for comfort. Felicity wishes she could just disappear into a portal somewhere instead of being held by her son’s father with said son staring at them in fascination.

“Just don’t shut me out in the future okay? I don’t care what you do to deal with my mother and I know you’re reluctant to talk to me about it but at least promise me that you’re not going to treat me like a polite stranger again. That’s a punishment Felicity. I know it’s not your intention but to me that’s a punishment.” 

He’s gazing at her with so much intensity, his arms still wrapped around her waist and Felicity finds it all a little too overwhelming.

“I’ll try,” she whispers, managing to pull herself together to give him a response. Her voice is low and her face is hovering close to his again. Felicity wasn’t sure what was going on but they kept finding themselves in too close physical proximity tonight. 

Suddenly she’s aware that William is still standing there peering at them. This freaks her out sufficiently to make her try and extract herself from Oliver’s arms.

“Sorry about that,” he says softly, releasing her from his grip, his arm still hovering a mere inch from her waist as if he were trying to steady her. 

“It’s okay,” Felicity smiles at Oliver, blushing a little. What William was thinking of this spectacle she did not know. She finds herself wishing he was 6 again and would just run off to his magnetic tiles or Lego whenever they were home instead of being this brazen teen, giving them knowing looks. Felicity did not dare to think about what it was that William thought he knew. 

“Can you guys come over to my place for dinner next week? I’ll skip William’s guitar lesson and head home to make dinner. Now that I’ve experienced the waiting room game I don’t think I need to do it again. You can drop by after William finishes his lesson?” Oliver’s got a big hopeful smile on his face. He’d wanted to make Felicity dinner before his mother spoilt things and now he finally got his chance back. 

“He’s a great cook,” William pipes up. “Waaaay better than you Felicity. It hurts my heart to say it but waaaaay better than you.”

“Traitor,” Felicity slaps her son’s arm playfully before clutching her heart dramatically. “For all the pains of motherhood that I go through only to have you betray me like this.”

“Of course we’ll come over for dinner,” she turns and grins at Oliver. “I’ll be looking forward to it.” 

“So will I,” he grins back at her, trying to fight this terrible urge he has to pull her in for a hug. 

“Oh for fig’s sake just hug dammit,” William throws his hands in the air in exasperation. 

How two grown adults could be so awkward and dumb was beyond him. Before either parent is able to reproach him, William uses his long limbs to pull them into a tight group hug, taking great delight in pushing the other two together as he extracts himself and stands on the edge. 

***

“You’re not mad are you?” William asks tentatively after Oliver has left.

“Depends on what you’re referring to.” Felicity wasn’t the least bit mad at William for telling Oliver. She could understand why he did it and he’d been raised by her to speak up when things weren’t right. However she couldn’t resist casting some doubt and giving him grief for all the teasing he constantly lobbed at her and Oliver tonight. It wasn’t something she could complain about since he did it all in jest but it did make Felicity squirm a little if she were to be honest.

“You spent years telling me that I should never keep a secret, no matter what it is, if it’s going to hurt someone else or myself. It was definitely hurting you and Oliver too so I had to tell him.” William, bless him actually looks a little worried that she might be angry with him. 

“Ahh so all my years of repeated nagging does sink in,” Felicity laughs, motioning for him to sit next to her as she begins to ruffle his hair. “You did the right thing kiddo. I was trying to protect him but he does seem happier after you told him.” 

“You knew it wasn’t something you should keep to yourself that’s why you told me,” William says snuggling up to her. He had always been such a cuddly, affectionate child and even at this age showed now signs of changing from that behaviour.

“I always feel unsettled when I don’t tell you things. You’re intelligent enough to understand and I’m never comfortable with the idea of you walking around blindly not knowing what’s going on. Sometimes I worry I burden you with too much information though.” 

“Eh you know me. In one ear and catalogued away somewhere. I’ve got my own teen stuff to navigate through. I promise I don’t sit around and obsess over that witch Moira.”

William suddenly sits up excitedly and out of nowhere changes the subject. “Dad’s a catch isn’t he?”

“He is a very nice man your father. We’re lucky he’s so sane and nice,” Felicity responds with a neutral expression on her face. She had to give it to the kid; he certainly didn’t dwell on Moira.

“Stop saying that he’s nice,” William sniffs at her looking slightly offended. He’s more than nice. He’s a handsome billionaire who runs QC and can cook.” 

“I’m very glad you have such a good opinion of your father,” Felicity says, carefully giving him a non-committal response. William was getting it in his head that there was potential between her and Oliver. It was best not to encourage him and that line of thinking. 

“Do you have a good opinion of dad?” William fires back at her, clearly growing irritated. Felicity stifles a laugh. This was reminding her of his younger days where instead of asking for something outright, he would talk in hints and riddles and would end up throwing an almighty tantrum when she tried to play dumb. It always amuses Felicity how they can talk about the serious stuff so openly but every so often would engage in a battle of wits where they skirted around each other to see who would fold first. 

“If I didn’t have a good opinion of your father I wouldn’t spend so much time with him or encourage you to spend so much time with him,” Felicity says calmly.

William shoots her an irritated look. She was digging in her heels tonight, all zen like and refusing to be baited by him. Oh the spectacular tantrums he used to throw as a kid when she did this. Still there was dad now and Oliver was easier to crack than Felicity. No disrespect but Oliver just wasn’t as bright. William decides he will start tackling Oliver first. 

With the matter settled, William gives Felicity a big hug and a kiss on each cheek. “Dad certainly thinks you’re a catch. When I had lunch with him last week he kept using the words remarkable and brilliant constantly to describe you.” After firing that parting shot, William trots off to bed looking pleased with himself.

Chapter Text

Laurel Lance did a double take, crashing into the strawberry vendor’s table and almost knocking over the punnets of strategically piled juicy red fruit, a move that earned her a mild disgruntled look from the good natured vendor who had been happily passing out samples before Laurel unceremoniously used his display table to steady herself.

Laurel apologized profusely before reaching into her wallet to pull out a $20 note which she hastily handed over to the strawberry vendor before absentmindedly grabbing several punnets of strawberries, her eyes never leaving the sight that was the source of her intrigue. 

It was Ollie. Ollie early on a Saturday morning at the farmer’s market. Not only was Ollie at the farmer’s market, a placed he refused to go with her in all their years together, he appeared to know his way around, passionately explaining something to the pretty pouting blonde and a young teen boy as he steered them away from a store selling baked goods. 

Laurel took a few more steps towards their direction and observed the blonde carefully. She was affectionate, maternal even with the young teen who reciprocated that affection in a cheeky boyish way. What fascinated and puzzled Laurel was that the blonde woman, or girl really, was much too young to be the boy’s mother. She looked younger than Laurel, younger than Ollie. 

As Laurel’s gaze diverted to Ollie she saw something she had never seen before. He looked…happy. Gone was the distracted or sometimes mildly irritated and tired expression he so often had with her. There was contentment in his eyes and a spark of…something whenever he spoke to or reached out to touch the blonde. 

Feeling like she’d been sucker punched Laurel found herself making a beeline towards them. She hadn’t spoken to Ollie since he’d shown up at her door, looking both incredibly apologetic and relieved as he ended their relationship weeks before their wedding. He couldn’t go through with it, he had said. He needed to give himself a chance to see if he would ever meet the love of his life, someone he would love the way he imagined he could love someone. And he didn’t love her, Laurel, in that way. 

As Laurel watches the blonde shake her head, stamping her foot while pouting cheekily at Ollie who has stars in his eyes, she wonders if this is the elusive person Ollie was looking for.

*** 

“We came here for free range eggs, asparagus, fresh produce. Not for you to get some dubious looking whoopee pies,” Oliver scolds Felicity and William as he tries to steer them away from the offensive store of shoddy baked goodies. The whoopee pies in question had the most suspect looking filling and texture, he couldn’t understand why Felicity and William were hell bent on buying a dozen. Maybe it had been a bad idea to make them wake up early and drag them out here with him. It was certainly hard work keeping them in check, dragging them away from stall to stall. They were like horses that needed blinders to make them concentrate on the task at hand instead of drifting off on random tangents. Oliver couldn’t deny it had been a hell lot more peaceful all the times he’d gone by himself to buy ingredients for their dinner, although it had never been as entertaining. He didn’t scold as much (well at all) but certainly didn’t smile as much either.

“We’re hungry,” Felicity wails, eyeing the whoopee pies longingly.

“Yeah don’t you know I’m a growing boy,” William chimes in. “Fine dad you are starving your son and his mother.”

“Guys can we just buy what I need to buy and then we will go home and I promise you guys I will make you two dozen whoopee pies that will look and taste much better than these. Please.” As frustrated as he was with them, Oliver wasn’t completely unsympathetic and their hungry little looks tugged at his heart strings a bit. But it was barely 9 am in the morning and they had already scarfed down a pastry each, meat on a stick (much to Oliver’s disgust), some kind of a banh mi roll and banana fritters. Oliver drew the line at dubious looking whoopee pies. 

“Why don’t you go buy what you need to buy and leave us here to try just one whoopee pie each?” Felicity bargains with the cutest little pout on her face. Felicity who ripped and threw a cheque in his mother’s face was pouting at him adorably, all wide eyed and coaxing as she begged for a nasty looking baked good.

“Please stop eating? At least stop eating this crap? I will get home and make you whoopee pies right away. It offends the very core of who I am to see you guys eat one of these. Look at the filling. It looks split.” Oliver pushes them gently away from the stall. They go with him grudgingly, Felicity stomping her feet a little.

“Ollie? Ollie it really is you. I thought I saw you but I couldn’t believe it was really you and had to see for myself. I never thought I’d see the day when you would set foot in a place like this without someone dragging you kicking and screaming, and most of all not at this time in the morning.” A pretty slim brunette marches up to them. She was addressing Oliver but her eyes were trained on William and Felicity, staring at them in fascination. 

“Uhh…Laurel…um guys this is Laurel Lance…um my friend,” Oliver manages to spit out awkwardly. Of all the places and times Laurel was not someone he expected to run into today.

“I may be a terrible cook but I like to buy my produce as fresh as possible. This is where I buy it from Ollie. If you had ever cared or paid attention when we were together.”

A combination of irritation and hurt was evident in Laurel’s voice as Felicity observes the train wreck before her with great interest. So this was Laurel. On again, off again, on again and then the spectacular implosion before the wedding Laurel. And to think just a few minutes ago Oliver thought he was having a bad day reigning her and William in about their eating habits. 

“Hi Laurel, I’m William, Oliver’s son. This is my mom Felicity.” William’s voice is clear and confident as he innocently offers a hand to Laurel with a friendly smile on his face. The other woman stumbles back a step and gingerly reaches out for his hand, temporarily rendered speechless by his introduction. 

Felicity on the other hand, casts a suspicious look in her son’s direction. Whilst he often introduced her as his mom to people (it was easier that way) there was something gleeful about the way he said the word today and the look he’d given Laurel, which made Felicity wonder what her teen was conspiring to do next. 

“Ollie’s son?” Laurel takes his hand and gives it a shake so as to not appear rude before dropping it to turn and face Oliver. “You have a son? With her?” 

Laurel whips around and eyes Felicity up and down. “But she’s barely old enough to be his mother. She’s not old enough to be his mother. Ollie what did you do? Is this why you cancelled our wedding?” 

The hurt and horror that’s written so clearly on Laurel’s face is too much for Felicity to bear. She gives William a stern glare before speaking up in a placating tone. “I think there is a misunderstanding here. Oliver and I have never been involved with each other romantically or otherwise. I am William’s mom but it’s not what you think.” 

William shrugs his shoulders at her, causing Felicity to give him another stern nudge. “I think we should leave you guys to have chat. Come on William, lets go check out some stalls.” 

Felicity smiles sympathetically at both Laurel and Oliver. Wow, talk about awkward and uncomfortable. She played no part in this and yet even she felt terrible about the whole thing.

“Mom and I will try to get some of the items on your shopping list for you. And maybe something for us without you around to police us,” William smiles cheerily at Laurel and Oliver, much to Felicity’s dismay. He obviously had no qualms about the uncomfortable conversation his father was about to have with his ex fiancé. Felicity gives him another disapproving look before yanking him away. 

“I’ll be back with you guys soon. Try not to eat anything too terrible,” Oliver calls after them with a fond smile, despite the dread he was feeling at the prospect of explaining himself to Laurel. He really thought that part of his life was behind him, laid to rest once and for all. Yet he knew he owed Laurel an explanation at the very least.

*** 

“What was that all about?” Felicity elbows William disapprovingly as they make their way towards a stall selling savoury organic popcorn.

“What was what?” William asks her vaguely, pretending to look dim like he didn’t have a massive IQ and was the winner of several math competitions.

“You know very well what I’m talking about. I know we’ve always introduced me as Mom to people to make it easy but you rarely call or address me as Mom and you certainly didn’t need to today in front of Oliver’s ex fiancé.”

“But I do call you mom sometimes,” William responds innocently. 

Felicity shoots him a knowing look, sizing her son up before turning to buy two servings of popcorn. He was right about that, he did call her mom sometimes but only once a blue moon when he was upset and needed soothing. It was a term they usually reserved for Samantha.

“You’re right, you do call me mom sometimes but that’s always when it’s just us and you know very well you did it on purpose back there to confuse Laurel. I haven’t been your mother all these years for nothing. I can read you like a book William.” Felicity shakes her head at her son as they stand to the side of the stall and start shoveling popcorn into their mouths enthusiastically. It really was fantastic popcorn. Savoury and light. 

“Ha! You called yourself my mother just then and you’re quibbling with me about it. You’re my mother. I tell people that you’re my mother. I wasn’t trying to upset anyone.” William was unrepentant. 

“William,” Felicity sighs, “Laurel and your father had a…difficult relationship. The last thing she needed was to briefly, even for a second, think that your father got an underage girl pregnant.” 

“That wasn’t my intent. I honestly didn’t even think about the optics of how young you look. I just wanted her to know that you’re both my mom and dad. Which you are.” William is firm in his stance about calling them mom and dad but Felicity can tell he’s being truthful in regards to having no malicious motive to hurt Laurel’s feelings. 

“So did dad cheat on her with mom?” 

“They were all young,” Felicity says wistfully. “But I will always be grateful that you exist for me to love so I don’t really want to comment on it either way.” She suddenly has an overwhelming urge to hug her son and stands on her tippy toes to give him a squishy hug. 

“I’m gonna be like you when I’m at that age,” William laughs as he returns her hug. 

“Which me?” Felicity asks warily. “The me that raised you or the other me before I met you?” 

“The cool, badass you,” William responds with a maddening grin, leaving her to guess which version of her he considered cool. Sometimes she regretted telling that kid stories about her youth. She talked to much. 

***

“I must be the most stupid woman in the world. I knew you cheated but Samantha was my friend. Although I suppose Sara is my sister so my friends wouldn’t be off limits in the grand scheme of things would they Ollie?” Laurel’s voice is bitter, albeit quiet. They were sitting at a makeshift coffee stall where a few stray tables and chairs had been laid out for tired market goers to rest their weary feet. Laurel had no desire for anyone else to listen in and hear just how stupid she had been. 

“I’m really sorry Laurel. I know it doesn’t make anything better but I am sorry for how I treated you in the past.” Oliver shifts uncomfortably in his seat wishing he was back with his son and Felicity again even though he knew he owed it to Laurel to explain himself. It was the least he could do after everything he’d put her through. The one bright spot was that he had called off the wedding. He couldn’t even begin to imagine this conversation right now if they were married. And then there was Felicity. Loving, brilliant and beautiful. What hell would he be in right now if he’d gone through with the wedding and Felicity had sailed into his life later with his son? He’d done something right in his life for once by calling off that wedding. 

“I suppose I should be grateful you called off our wedding,” Laurel says bitterly. “I would have been the laughing stock of town with your illegitimate child and his beautiful young mother, who you can’t keep your eyes off, making a sudden appearance in my life. You did do one good thing Ollie.”   

“Felicity has nothing to do with this. She’s the innocent party here. She gave up most of her youth raising my child alone.” Oliver didn’t know why he felt compelled to defend Felicity but there was something about Laurel’s tone, the way it implied Felicity somehow contributed to her problems that didn’t sit well with him.”

“Relax Ollie,” Laurel snapped. “I wasn’t suggesting Felicity is some man eater out to use your son to lure you in. She doesn’t need to judging by the way you look at her. I’m surprised you haven’t made any moves on her already.”

“It’s not like that,” Oliver sighs, getting tired of the conversation but feeling like he owed Laurel enough to have to sit this out for as long as she wanted. “She’s not just some girl for me to hit on. She’s…” his voice trails off and he finds himself at a loss for words. 

What was Felicity to him exactly? She was William’s mom, the only woman to be truthful to him. She was giving, never asking for anything in return but she was also very closed off in her own way. Oliver could admit to himself that he was attracted to Felicity but this was so much more than attraction. Someone like her only appeared once in a lifetime and at this junction in his life he wasn’t ready to use up his one chance yet. 

“She’s too special for you to try and bed?” Laurel finishes for him. “God Ollie I’ve been stupid. My whole life I wanted to be that girl for you and I never was. It was obvious from the first time you cheated in me that I never was. I just…all those wasted years.” Her eyes start to glisten and Oliver feels bad even though he knows there is nothing he can do to rewrite the past. They were young and stupid and should have called it quits long ago but they kept being stupid together. Hindsight and maturity were really wonderful things even if they delivered a hard dose of reality. 

“I…I’m glad I ran into you today. I wish you’d contacted me to tell me but I know now that’s all that matters.”

“I only just found out about William a few months ago and we’ve been trying to adjust to being a family unit. I…I would have told you eventually.” Oliver was careful choosing his words, not wishing to say anything about the animosity his mother had for Felicity. It wasn’t her place to know and he certainly didn’t want to go around divulging details about Felicity’s life to Laurel. 

“You were right to call off our wedding. We should have broken up years ago. Someday I’m going to find someone who loves me the way I deserve to be loved and this time I will embrace it and make that my first priority.” She smiles a small but determined smile at him, her demeanour suddenly looking a lot more confident. 

“I hope you find him Laurel. I wish you all the best.” He meant ever word of it. He really hoped Laurel had finally let go of whatever it was she kept trying to find in him and move forward instead. 

“Dad, you have to come quickly, Mom’s found a pie vendor. I told her it might offend you but she waved me off. You gotta go stop her now if you don’t want her loading up on pies to bring home.” William smiles cheerily at Laurel before he continues, “Once, to bring in the new year we sat down with a peach pie and a tub of ice cream each while we watched the fireworks on TV. I threw up that night. Ten year olds and a full pie do not mix well. Poor mom felt so guilty about that.” 

Oliver tilts his head slightly as he watches his son speak, wondering why it was that William seemed to be putting extra emphasis on the word Mom.

“Oh sorry I didn’t mean to interrupt your talk. Should I wait over there until you’re done?” William asks looking most apologetic.

“We’re done,” Laurel says quickly standing up and offering a hand to William which he shook cheerily. “It was nice to meet you William. Say bye to your mom for me. Oliver told me all about you and you’re very lucky to have a mom like Felicity.”

“I am,” William beams at Laurel. “Dad is soooo fortunate that he also gets to have her in his life too.” 

Oliver can’t help but bite back a smile. The kid really was relentless and for the first time Oliver could see a bit of himself in William. William was almost all Felicity in terms of brains and interests but this sudden devil may care, slightly audacious attitude reminded Oliver of his younger self, although he had used his powers mainly to hit on girls, unlike his son who seemed to have more complicated and far reaching motives. 

*** 

“Are you getting back together with her?” William wastes no time getting to the point as soon as Laurel took her leave. “Because things will change between all of us if you are getting back together with her.”

If Oliver didn’t know any better he would think William was trying to issue some sort of subtle threat.

“No I’m not getting back together with her. I didn’t marry her when I had the chance so why would I try to reconcile now when I have you and Felicity which is everything I need.” He gives William a reassuringly clap on the back, “Since we accidentally ran into her today I thought it was the decent thing to do to explain myself to her. And judging by how fast Felicity whisked you away, I would say she agrees with me.” He always felt safe playing the Felicity card when it came to William.

“Do we need to tell her sister Sara too?” William asks with a smirk on his face. “Since you’ve been involved with the entire family.”

Oliver stares at his son open mouthed, not quite sure how to respond to that comment.

“Relax dad, I googled you as soon as Felicity told me the truth about who my father was.” William is grinning at him and looking most amiable however that does nothing to quell the sense of nervousness that starts to creep up on Oliver. As a father he hadn’t set the best example and now he wasn’t sure how much his son knew about his past or whether he should even try explaining himself. He wished Felicity was back from wherever she had drifted to. 

“I know you’ve been trying your best to make it up to me ever since you found out about me. You’re doing quite well as a dad so that’s not what I’m concerned about,” William tells him breezily, taking the seat that had previously been occupied by Laurel.

“What…what are you concerned about then?” Oliver asks carefully, sitting down across from William. 

“Our family dynamics. It’s been great. You, me, Felicity. But what’s going to happen in the future when you meet someone? Or when she meets someone? Are we going to dissolve the current dynamics? Felicity and I have only had each other to rely on our whole lives but now that you’re making yourself a part of our lives, how long do you intend to be here for and what happens when you need to move forward and take the next step? You’re not dating anyone now but that doesn’t mean you’re going to be like this forever. I’ve seen your list of exes and all the models you date.”

Oliver studies William carefully as the teen sits across from him, arms casually resting on the table. He was looking relaxed and remarkably calm despite the challenging nature of his words. Felicity sure didn’t raise a simple kid. It was obvious that without his mom around to rein him in somewhat, William was putting all his cards on the table despite Oliver still not quite knowing what it was William wanted from him exactly. What sort of promise was he trying to extract? 

“William I’m not going to date anyone. You can trust me on that. You are my first priority and you always will be going forward. Both you and Felicity are the most important people to me,” Oliver tries to assure his son, hoping to end this stand off.

“I’m your son so it makes sense that I’m your first priority. But why is Felicity? She’s just your reverse baby mama. It doesn’t make sense for you not to date because of her as well. People who are divorced date other people while co parenting their kids.” 

William gives a shrug before casually continuing, “Unless she’s more to you than just being my mom. You always ask her along even when we could easily spend time alone, the two of us. The three of us spend an abnormal amount of time together when all you need is visitation rights for me, which Felicity would never deny you. You stay back to chat and watch TV with her for hours after you drop me off.” 

The young teen’s eyes sparkle as a wicked glint develops in them, “Do you like, like Felicity dad? Is that why you’re so confident about not dating anyone? Cuz you’re gonna be busy chasing Felicity around?” 

Suddenly William hits the table excitedly and sits up dead straight, “That’s it! You want Felicity to be your next relationship! That’s why you’re so adamant it’s not a problem. You’re going to chase her around slowly aren’t you?” 

“William,” Oliver begins with a halfhearted attempt to chastise his son that he abandons pretty quickly. William had pretty much hit the nail on the head and considering how much he admired Felicity’s honest relationship with their son, he didn’t feel like sitting around denying things when clearly William was smart enough to know it would be a lie.

“Felicity is remarkable and amazing and incredible. How can I not want to be with someone like her? I was taken with her the first time I saw her. But it wasn’t meant to be at that time and now it’s complicated. Our family is complicated and I’m…I’m just not sure how she feels. I don’t want to do or say anything because she’s got a lot going on with Smoak Tech right now and all that awful stuff with my mother. I just don’t want to add to her pile.” 

Oliver refrained from telling William he was scared. Scared of upsetting the delicate balance between him and Felicity and potentially losing her. He would rather have her as his friend, someone he could spent countless hours with whenever he wanted under the guise of family bonding than to try and make a frivolous move that might send her running. He had no idea how she felt about him now, how she would feel to find out that her son’s biological father wanted her. He didn’t know if Moira’s abhorrent behaviour had generated enough ill will for Felicity to write him off completely in terms of romance. It was one thing for her to raise a child with him, she would do anything for William, however she didn’t need to be involved with him personally. That could very well be where her line was drawn. He was content to just admire her from close proximity than risk it all by being greedy and trying to ask for more. 

“Wow you have it bad if you’re staying away on account of her feelings. That doesn’t seem like your style from what I’ve read about you.” William looks slightly frustrated with him but not entirely displeased.

“Felicity is special. And not just because she raised you for ten years but because of how generous she’s been to me after all that stuff with my mother. I’m not going to put what I want above what she wants.”

“Gahh,” William makes a noise and throws his hands up in the air. “She spent a decade throwing herself into raising me. If you don’t do anything she’s going to spend the next decade playing happy families.”

William’s eyes widen in horror as he leans across the table closer to his dad, “It’ll be like you two are married but there won’t be a baby sister to show for it. Can you imagine what a travesty that will be?”

“Hey you said before that you asked Felicity out the first time you met her. Did you really hit on her when she went to meet you about me? If you were bold enough to hit on her then why won’t you tell her that you like her now, especially since she knows you now,” William asks, rolling his eyes at his father.

“No of course not,” Oliver protests immediately. “Why would you think that? I met her at Verdant before we knew we had you as a common thread. She told me she had a son. Normally I would balk at that but it was Felicity so I persuaded her to take my number. She never called and then when we did meet again….” his voice trails off. 

“Suddenly you were raising a kid with her,” William finishes for him helpfully. Oh his father was a fool. Oliver had been willing to forgo his models to chase after Felicity back when he knew Felicity had a kid. Now that he finds out Felicity’s kid is his kid, he was going to be noble and worship her from afar. It was ridiculous. 

William’s mind starts ticking at a million miles per minute. So Felicity, who always told him everything failed to leave out a little detail about having met Oliver long before his paternity was established. Clearly she was wary of William and his match making ways. This was probably her attempt at managing his expectations. William grudgingly admitted this was probably the right call on her part as he was getting all jittery about the meant to be-ness of it all. 

Oliver had fallen for Felicity long ago. As for Felicity, William was confident she liked Oliver too whether she admitted it or not, because being a good mother did not extend to bonding with your son’s father until 2am in the morning and letting him crash on your couch. 

It was up to him to give these two slow, overly cautious and paranoid people a push. There was nothing but scope for wins all around as far as William could see. Oliver would get the woman of his dreams; Felicity would finally take that leap of faith and actually open her heart to the possibility of romance. As for William, well he might just get that baby sister after all.

*** 

“You do make the best whoopee pies,” Felicity sighs with satisfaction as she glances at her very full tummy. Noticing Oliver next to her with his six-pack that was showing no signs of fullness, Felicity sucks her tummy in a little. This proves to be rather uncomfortable and she exhales only to find Oliver smiling good-naturedly at her. William had excused himself, citing some extra credit project that he was working on. Felicity couldn’t help but puff up a little with pride. He was always so engaged at school. Starling Prep was worth every penny considering the phenomenal job they did catering to William’s gifted big brain.

“I should get going,” she says lazily, trying to haul herself up. The whoopee pies in combination with the delicious large dinner cooked by Oliver was making her drowsy and right now the thought of driving home did not appeal to her. Still it was easy for Oliver crash on her couch but being well…her, Felicity needed supplies in the morning and couldn’t very well just pass out on his couch. “I’ll swing by in time for lunch tomorrow. You two can spend some time alone over breakfast while I sleep in.” 

Their weekend routine now was to spend copious amounts of time at each other’s places or take off together on a family outing. It was one of those things that Felicity was acutely aware should have felt strange but never did. She enjoyed having someone take care of her for a change. It was nice not to have to be the soul provider and organizer of everything. To just show up and be pampered, knowing William was also well looked after. She also liked having someone else to share her day with and not feel worried that she was burdening William with too many of her little rants.

“You know how you’re always tired and sleepy on Saturday nights and we always have this argument about you driving home,” Oliver says looking suspiciously pleased with himself for some reason.

“Come with me, I have something to show you.” He grabs her hand excitedly and helps her off the couch. Felicity follows his lead but is too full and relaxed to work herself up with excitement about whatever it was that Oliver was so jubilant about. 

“William, come out and see this. It sort of concerns you too,” Oliver calls out as he leads Felicity past William’s room. 

They stop just outside of a room she vaguely knew was his spare/junk room and Oliver nudges the door open excitedly. Felicity lets out a little gasp and claps her hands at the sight that greets her. Upon first glance at the room she realizes exactly what Oliver’s intent was.

The room was furnished minimally. A pink dressing table, pink wardrobe and a queen sized bed that was lined with mint green sheets with prints of adorable black and white baby pandas on them. There were also matching pillow cases, quilt covers, all with the same matching baby panda print. They two pillows on the bed were joined by a vast array of panda cushions and food themed cushions. It was a quirky, fun, joyfully decorated little room and so very much to Felicity’s taste. 

“Geez dad did you do this yourself? Why didn’t you consult me? It looks like a panda loving toddler was let loose in here. What’s with all the pink?” William says eyeing the room critically. 

“Hush you, it’s wonderful,” Felicity elbows her son and glares at him before turning to gaze happily at the room again. “I love it! It’s so cute! It’s so the kind of room I would have if I didn’t have to try and be a grown woman.”

“We can always change the décor if you don’t like it,” Oliver says looking a little unsure of himself now. Had he gone a bit far with the decorations? William eyeing it with distaste made him think he’d gone overboard but he had really wanted to go all out and do something that screamed “Felicity” to show her how much he wanted her here in their lives, in his life. 

“I love the décor but I don’t know what this is supposed to mean Oliver,” Felicity says carefully, as she sits herself on the very plush and comfortable bed and grabs a cupcake cushion. She had a good idea what Oliver was trying to say but she wanted to confirm it for sure. 

“It means he wants us all under the same roof, no more driving back and forth,” William declares. “I always thought it was weird you drove home on Saturday nights only to come back again on Sunday.” 

“We spend so much time together, William has his own room and you should too. I left a space for your computer desk. I know you’re finicky about it so I figured your can go and pick one out yourself. I wouldn’t dream of trying to set up your work station for you.” Oliver smiles a teasing smile as he holds his hands up in a mock surrender pose. 

Glancing over at William who was looking at her expectantly and Oliver who was looking like a puppy that prided itself in doing a very good thing, Felicity couldn’t help but pull both her boys in for a hug. She squeezes them tight and kisses each of their cheeks heartily. William rolls his eyes upon receiving his kisses. Oliver, on the other hand, blushes bashfully while looking pleased. 

“Thank you for the room,” Felicity beams at Oliver before standing up on her tippy toes to give him another kiss on the cheek. “This is possibly the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me before.”

William almost protests indignantly as he recalls the time he tried to empty his piggy bank to buy Felicity a pair of Manolo Blahniks (she had given him a big cuddle and explained to him that one day when their ship came in she was going to buy herself a pair and buy him a trampoline. True to her word she got a huge promotion and raise at Palmer Tech a few months later and they celebrated with their respective gifts) but thinks better of it and bites his tongue. This was not the time to be jealous over Felicity’s love and affection. He would happily concede to dad on this one if it meant more of his parents staring awkwardly and smiling stupidly at each other. It was all very cute and fun, like one of those romantic comedies Felicity made him watch whenever it was her turn to pick a movie for movie night. But at his parent’s age, William decided there was very little time for cute, awkward hijinks. It was time for them to get their act together, confront their feelings and get on with life. Lucky William was there to manage this.

“Isn’t it great dad got all this ready on a night where you pigged out on dessert? Now you don’t have to go home,” William declares brightly in an attempt to snap his parents out of their stupid smiling trance. They got along splendidly and could talk for hours (he knew, he eavesdropped sometimes when they thought he was texting friends or doing school work, just to get a feel for where things were headed) but somehow during certain moments they would clam up and choose to gaze at each other for lengthy periods of time, only to uncomfortably shift about afterwards. 

“I can’t stay here tonight, I have no supplies,” Felicity protests. Besides not wanting to drive home, she really did want to stay and throw herself on that wonderful bed that Oliver had bought her. But she really had nothing here. No change of clothes, no make up, no toiletries. 

“You can borrow my T shirts and jumpers to sleep in,” Oliver offers at once. “I’ve also bought you a toothbrush, tooth paste and flowery toiletries.” 

The reference to the flowery smelling toiletries made Felicity smile. Oliver really was the sweetest, most earnest guy, a far cry from what the media reported about him.

“I don’t have any make up,” Felicity protests half-heartedly. “I’m not sure I can walk around bare faced in the morning.”

“You have a gorgeous face no matter what,” Oliver assures her at once and things take such a sappy turn, William is not sure he wants to stick around for this despite his determination to push his parents together. It was sickeningly mushy. Did his dad hear what he was saying? 

“Please?” Oliver pleads again. “I’ll leave you alone in the morning to sleep I promise and it’ll save me from worrying about you driving back.” 

“Okay,” Felicity grins at him throwing herself down and snuggling into the mountain of plush cushions. “Let’s just call it the next phase of our friendship. You witnessing my scary zero make up face.” 

“You mean your stunning face,” Oliver corrects her sitting down on the edge of her bed. He was feeling a bit bold. Felicity watches his ridiculously handsome face and wonders why she is here with this man on her bed, in his apartment, complimenting her. It was all so bizarre. Blushing she pulls a donut cushion over to cover her face while Oliver is peering at her with a broad smile on his. 

William who witnesses all this the way one watches a so damn awful it’s addictive and I can’t stop TV show, decides he’s had enough and takes off, muttering something about having more school work to do for the extra classes he was taking. Goodness knows how long they were going to sit around in Felicity’s new room making goo goo eyes at each other.

***

Moira watches as her phone once again dials Oliver’s number only to eventually be diverted to voicemail. This was the norm these days with all her calls and voicemails going unanswered. She’d done the usual thing and confronted Oliver at the office only to have him calmly tell her he no longer wished to speak to her for the time being, right in front of that blundering Gerry who had stared at them with wide-eyed intrigue. Oliver had coldly bid her good day and literally turned his back on her. 

Moira knew her son’s silent treatment was to punish her for the trouble she had caused Felicity Smoak’s business. She honestly thought that everything would blow over by now but this time Oliver was resolute. He had never been like this before. No matter what they had done in the past (cutting off his trust fund, sending him to a pseudo military school via a staged kidnapping) he had always forgiven and forgotten. Oliver for all his faults was a loving and good-natured child who did not bear grudges. Thea was a different story but Oliver could never truly ignore or turn his back on his parents. He’d been like that his whole life. Despite getting into one mess after another, Moira believed he did love her and Robert and tried to seek their approval in his own unfortunate way. 

Felicity Smoak whom Moira now viewed with more scorn and hatred than ever, no doubt was the cause of this prolonged period of estrangement. The girl was as pathetic as Samantha, even worse perhaps. She had failed to stand on her own two feet to retaliate against Moira, instead choosing to run to Oliver, coaxing him to be her savior. She was after all a very pretty face and Moira could see that even just from pictures, her son was completely enamored with the wretched little thing. This served to infuriate Moira even further. From all her big talk, bluff and bluster, Moira had expected Felicity to be one to fight her own battles. Instead she was just another pretty face, only a more cunning one, using Moira’s grandson to turn Moira’s son against her. Any shred of respect Moira had for Felicity had long vanished. There had been plenty of beautiful women with agendas in Oliver’s life in the past; only her son went through them pretty quickly, having his own agenda as well. This time it appears that he cannot, for some reason, quit the bespectacled, curly haired Felicity Smoak. There was a first time for everything Moira supposed. She just had to fix it and not let it get out of hand. 

Throwing her phone angrily into her purse, Moira instructs her driver to drop her off at Oliver’s apartment. He would have no choice but to invite her in if she surprised him on this Sunday morning. This time Moira will not take no for an answer, Oliver was going to talk to her whether he wanted to or not.

***

Oliver is midway through fussing around the kitchen, setting up Felicity’s breakfast tray when the doorbell rings. He wonders who on earth it could be. He didn’t have any plans with anyone, Thea was still overseas (he just Face Timed her yesterday) and the only person who might just show up at his apartment was still asleep in her new bedroom. 

“I’ll get it,” William calls through a mouthful of pancakes before dashing to the door. He takes a look at the peephole, makes an unpleasant face, unlocks the door and swings it open. 

Standing in front of him, looking disagreeably intrigued was the evil Queen Bee herself, Moira Queen. Not wanting to appear rude and reflect badly on Felicity, William greets his wannabe grandma. “Good morning Oliver’s Evil Mother, I take it you would like to speak to dad?” 

He notices with great glee that Moira looks a little taken back, shocked even and he smirks at her before calling out to Oliver, “Dad your Evil Mother is here to see you.” 

Felicity might not be pleased (or she might be depending on whether she caught a case of the parenting guilts or not) but William figured it was worth it just to see the look on Moira Queen’s face.

Oliver appears beside him, still sporting a spatula in his right hand. His gaze immediately turns frosty upon eyeing his mother. “Mother I thought I made it clear we have nothing to say to each other. If this is a business related call have Gerry set up a time. I’m busy right now.” 

“Oliver I am your mother,” Moira responds having gotten over her shock of William’s disdainful attitude. “You will show me enough respect to speak to me now that I have made a trip out to see you. You will not let that woman get between us.” 

“You do realize that he’s a grown man right? Geez no wonder he wants nothing to do with you. Felicity didn’t speak to me like that when I was five. Glad you tried to off me when I was little. Wouldn’t want to be raised by you.” William’s tone is snide however he is glancing around most amiably, much to Moira Queen’s intrigue. 

This child, this boy that she wanted to bring into the family was…something else. From his long list of achievements she had imagined a meek, mild mannered child. Instead he was showing attitude that rivaled Thea’s, possibly worse than Thea’s as it looked like he had free reign to speak like this from that awful Felicity. 

“It’s not Felicity’s fault I’m like this, although she always encouraged snark when I was young as she thought it would help me with my command of language. You were expecting someone different weren’t you? Barking up the wrong tree lady.” William folds his arms and gives her a challenging look.

“Young man you will not speak to me in such an ill mannered tone. You are doing no favours to Felicity Smoak by showing how badly brought up you are,” Moira’s shock is now replaced by outrage, however there is a part of her that finds William fascinating. 

“Oh I’m a perfect gentleman to everyone else. Just not to evil old ladies who try to destroy my mom’s livelihood.” He moves off to one side and glances at Moira and then the living room, effectively silently urging her to come in. William was finally getting what he wanted, a chance to defend Felicity and show Moira Queen whose child he was. “You still got a grand scheme to take me from Felicity? That’s not going to work out well for you Oliver’s Evil Mother.” 

“William, that’s enough,” Oliver places an arm on William’s shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze and a look urging him to stop.

William shrugs and throws his hands in the air before injecting one last comment, “I’m gonna go to my room. It’s been interesting meeting you Moira Queen. I’m gonna stop calling you names now because Felicity probably won’t like it.” 

He turns and looks Moira directly in the eye, “Felicity is and always will be my mom. It’s best you remember that,” With that William saunters into his room, leaving Oliver glaring at Moira.

“Mom I think it’s best that you leave now. There is absolutely nothing to talk about. I want you to stay away from them. Don’t you ever dare pull anything like what you did to Felicity again.” 

“You’re playing right into that woman’s hands Oliver,” Moira snaps, making her way into the living room. “You’re letting her manipulate you and turn both you and William against me.”

“Felicity could have taught you a very embarrassing lesson but she chose not to out of respect for me. As for William, he is devoted to his mom but I would be careful with him if I were you because he was raised VERY differently to me as you can see from your exchange with him.” His voice is getting louder and louder even though he knew the last thing he should do was shout. Oliver was desperate to get his mother out of his home. He dreaded the prospect of Felicity waking up and potentially witnessing this. He had no idea how she would react or whether she would balk again. He was not going to lose her a second time because of something Moira did.

“I was the one who chose to step in and do the right thing, after you tried to destroy someone’s dreams and hard work out of pettiness and some severe God complex. If you ever…”

“Oliver do I smell pancakes?” Oliver’s threat is cut off when a bleary eyed Felicity, wearing nothing but a pair of his old boxers tied at the waist with a rubber band and an old loose T shirt, makes her way into the living room. Her curls were frizzy and she didn’t have her glasses on as she sniffed the air to determine if she indeed smelled pancakes.

Mentally Oliver cursed his mother. He had Felicity in his clothes, wandering around groggily; looking cuter than a basket of golden retriever puppies and his mother was here to ruin it.

“Oh…OH.” Just as he fears Felicity stops dead in her tracks. She might not see well without her glasses but up close enough Oliver was sure she could make out that it was his mother.

To his relief (and slight dread) once Felicity notices that it’s his mother, she reverts into efficient, polite mode. “Good morning,” she says crisply to Moira and turns to Oliver, “I’ll let you finish your conversation.” 

“I’m just about finished assembling your breakfast tray.” He grabs her hand beseechingly; worried that this was the start of her shutting him out again, “Pink rose. I even got a pink rose for your tray. You will stay and eat it right? Same plans for today?”

Felicity smiles a beautiful, gentle smile at him and despite having no glasses Oliver knows she can see him clearly, “Of course. Normal plans always.”

Her words work as intended and relief floods Oliver’s face. Of course she would understand. It was Felicity and Felicity was the most wonderful person he’d ever known.

“I think I’ve seen enough here,” Moira snaps at them. “There really is nothing more to talk about is there?”

“I would say that is correct mother,” Oliver shrugs, still holding onto Felicity’s warm little hand, which soothes him somehow.

“I’ll see you out.” He makes a halfhearted gesture to move towards the door however Moira shakes her head.

“There is no need. Have a good day Oliver,” Moira responds curtly before turning and taking her leave.

*** 

“This doesn’t change anything does it?” Oliver asks looking slightly uneasy as Felicity tucks into her pancakes and berries across from him. He liked to think they had progressed, even if just as friends and she wasn’t going to retreat from him because of his mother again. 

“Nope, not a thing,” Felicity beams at him, looking like she was very much enjoying her breakfast. “We will be around to leech dinner off you most nights and I may even buy you, your own pillow for the couch as a thank you for furnishing me the most marvellous bedroom.”

“Oh no don’t,” Oliver says at once. Felicity tilts her head and looks at him with confusion. 

“I…I didn’t want to be presumptuous but I bought myself a pillow for your place and a new blanket as well,” he admits sheepishly.

Felicity bursts out laughing. Oliver really was the sweetest man she’d ever met. There was something equally swoon worthy and yet a little lost and awkward about him that made him so human despite the male model looks and billionaire thing he had going for himself. 

“We’ll declare the living room at my house your turf for now,” she says still smiling. “These pancakes are REALLY good by the way. I like William’s, he loads his with blueberries but your batter is definitely fluffier.”

“I heard that! Not going to forgive you for that,” William yells from his room. The boy had ears like a bat.

***

A quiet, yet calm fury engulfed Moira as she instructed her driver to drop her off at Knots, a small out of place restaurant where she often went for lunch alone. The weather was good and Moira enjoyed watching passerbys as she dined al fresco. She also dreaded going home to her enormous empty house and eating yet another meal alone. 

Knots was a charming little place, upscale enough to provide Moira with the quality she was used to, yet not upscale enough for her to run into any of her society friends here. At Knots she was able to sit and think.

So it had finally come to this. When Felicity Smoak responded defiantly to her offer at their very first meeting, Moira even with all her years of dealing with and handling people had never guessed that this was what it would come to. The sight of that woman cavorting around in Oliver’s apartment while he stared after her like a love struck puppy told her all she needed to know about Felicity Smoak and her abilities. She’d lost Robert to Isabel; she wasn’t about to lose her son to another manipulative, cunning and beautiful woman. 

In Moira’s eyes Felicity was even more dangerous than Isabel who wore her downright bitchiness like a badge of pride. Conniving, social climbing, seductive, all those qualities about Isabel were upfront unlike Felicity who was the picture of sweetness and wore her angelic air convincingly and effortlessly. Barely needing to lift a finger she had manage to turn the tides against Moira for trying to hurt her business. Moira didn’t even want to think about William, who was nothing like the child she imagined him to be. 

As she nibbled on her Caesar Salad, marvelling at how juicy yet well caramelized they always managed to cook the chicken, Moira came to the decision that she needed to get her son and her grandson back, even if it meant taking more drastic measures. Nothing in life was more important to her than her family. She’d long given up on Robert, however as long as he was still her husband on paper and the assets didn’t get redistributed, Moira really didn’t care who he took up with in his spare time. 

Her children were slipping away from her though and this pained Moira to her very core. Thea refused to come home, making excuse after excuse to stay in Europe with Walter Steele as her mentor. Moira had always been able to count on Oliver being there, despite all the troubles he caused over the years but now that he’d settle down somewhat and after Felicity Smoak got her claws into him, all Moira could see in her son’s eyes was disappointment and disdain. 

Swallowing the last bite of her salad and taking a sip of her white wine, Moira picks up her phone and makes a call.

“Mr. Wilson? I would like to request an urgent meeting. I have some work for you I’d like to discuss.”

Chapter Text

“Mrs. Queen I’ve done a lot of work for you over the years, handled a lot of things. It’s not my usual practice to comment on the decisions my clients make but in this instance I feel like I need to ask at least once. Are you sure you want to go through with this?”

Slade Wilson was convinced Moira Queen had finally lost the plot. He had done his fair share of intimidating, threatening, staged kidnapping (this was a stint devised to frighten the shit out of the kid who was then shipped to some imitation military school designed to scare spoilt rich kids), not to mention a few other not so glorious deeds for her along the way. However this was the first time she’d ordered a hit on someone.

It wasn’t Slade’s first rodeo as far as hits were concerned but it was the first that involved an innocent, harmless person. He’d killed before and those he killed had always deserved it. He liked to think he was establishing some sort of equilibrium by helping one criminal take out another in a never-ending loop. Still it had been a while since he’d been involved in that world, choosing instead to run morally ambiguous errands for morally questionable rich folks. Although he was a person primarily shrouded by darkness, killing an innocent young woman felt like a bridge too far somehow. The trouble was, judging by the resolute madness that seemed to have descended on Moira Queen, if he didn’t do it, he was sure she’d just find someone else.

“Mr. Wilson I’ve admired your tact and discretion over the years. I think it would be wise for you to continue to adhere to your policy of not questioning my decisions,” Moira says coolly.

Slade watched her with interest. Her actions were that of a desperate woman, yet there was no hint of mania about her. Only a dignified coolness, brutally cold in fact, even by Moira Queen standards.

“Oh I know full well my place as the hired lackey Madam,” Slade responds calmly, “But I’ve been your hired lackey for many years now, helped clean up after the kid, watched him grow. I would hate to see you lose the kid over a decision you can’t ever take back. Not to mention the boy.”

“Blood is thicker than water Mr. Wilson,” Moira once again responds calmly, this time with a hint of a smile as if she was noting his good intentions. “Women will enter and exit his life but Oliver only has one mother. He won’t hold anything against me forever. Besides, I’m trusting you to keep this discreet like you have with everything else.”

“Whatever you say Mrs. Queen,” Slade nods at her with a neutral expression on his face. Her mind was made up and he knew it was useless to try to deter or reason with her. He may be the most efficient and discreet but Slade Wilson knew he wasn’t the only gun for hire Moira Queen had access to. Best to humour her before she went on a rampage and sought help elsewhere.

“I trust you’ll get it done quickly and neatly?” Moira confirms one last time. “Your payment will be made in the usual way once I am informed that certain events have taken place.”

“I’ll get the job done Mrs. Queen,” Slade nods at Moira, smiling a smile that does not reach his eye.

“I’m counting on you Mr. Wilson.”

***

Moira glances at the picture of her children on her bedside table restlessly, finding herself longing for the simple days when Oliver was seventeen year old trouble maker and Thea was a sassy seven year old with attitude. If only she knew then how simple those days were compared to now. She would give almost anything to go back to that time, the time before things got complicated and her relationships with her children strained.

Unable to feel at ease, Moira grabs her phone from the charger and scrolls through the numbers. There was something about Slade Wilson’s tone, the expression on his face that made her feel uneasy about the entire situation. He had an impeccable track record, that much she had to give him. He had never failed her before from driving Samantha out of town, to finding William again. He always delivered what he promised. Yet the way he could not resist warning her, letting her know every step of the way that he thought this was a bad idea on her part made her feel apprehensive. What she needed was a little insurance.

Moira takes a deep breath, willing herself to relax as she loosens her shoulders before she commences dialing Ricardo Diaz’s number. Diaz was a thug, a crass one at that with the subtlety of a sledgehammer, however he was someone Moira knew would take great delight in accepting this job. If Slade Wilson decides to balk at the last minute for whatever reason, Diaz would be more than willing to jump and finish the job for Moira.

***

Stopping by home to pick up my other laptop. You boys head out to BBB first and I will meet you there. Xoxox

Felicity presses send to both Oliver and William at the same time before cringing a little when she notices she had sent out an array of hugs and kisses to Oliver as well. She brushes it off by telling herself it was a joint text to both and Oliver must know that the hugs and kisses were for William. Even if they were for him (Oliver) they would be purely friendly platonic hugs and kisses. There was no point in getting hung up about some symbols on a text message.

Feeling fairly satisfied with her train of thought, Felicity opens the car door and proceeds to walk to her front door. It was strange how different her life had become and yet in some ways it remained exactly the same. William still had tennis on Wednesdays but instead of being the one to sit through the lesson and drive him home, Felicity now handed that responsibility over to Oliver who left work early to fulfill this duty. This freed up her afternoon and allowed her to schedule meetings or attend to any additional tasks that needed to be done during traditional business hours. She was looking to hire new staff and it was helpful to be able to have some degree of flexibility around interview times.

It had become their little ritual to meet at Big Belly Burger for dinner, something Oliver was very enthusiastic about much to Felicity’s amusement. Although he was always ranting and lecturing them for their love of junk food, Oliver himself could not resist the greasy goodness that was Big Belly Burger.

Smiling to herself Felicity inserts the key into her front door. It was nice to have someone to share parental duties with. Not that she didn’t love every minute of being a parent, it was just nice at the end of the day to have someone to talk to about your pride and joy, someone to pick up the slack and make life a little easier. She was so used to running from one place to another, schedule packed to the brim down to the minute, it was almost an entirely different parenting experiences to be able to parent at a calmer pace.

Felicity freezes at the sight that greets her when she pushes the door open, for it was almost as surreal as it was unexpected. Sitting on her couch, which had been moved and strategically placed to face the front door, was the one eyed man.

“Good evening Ms. Smoak,” he greets her in a heavy Australian accent, making no attempt to get up, his hands help up in the classic surrender pose, his body language relaxed.

“What the hell…” Felicity mutters willing herself to run back out the front door and to do it quickly. Instead she finds herself frozen, rooted to the spot. Not out of fear, no if he wanted to kill her he could have done so a dozen other ways. It was rather flamboyant of him to be kicking back on her couch. He was the infamous one-eyed man from Samantha’s diary, which meant that Moira Queen had made her next move. Instinctively she clutches the taser watch on her wrist. There should be enough juice in it to take down someone his size down. It was a Felicity Smoak special edition, a little something she’d made for herself for personal security purposes. The taser watch was an invention she’d contemplated capitalizing on one day, once she could get around all the rules and regulations.

“Please don’t run or scream Felicity. I’m here to deliver a message from Moira Queen.” His words were threatening but not so much his tone. In fact he sounded almost apologetic. It really was such a bizarre confrontation. Had he been like this when he threatened Sam?

“I think I can guess what that message is,” Felicity retorts after sizing him up. She was not going to bow down to a threat from Moira Queen. Sam had been young and alone. Felicity had seen too much of life in the last few years to be scared off by a one eyed goon. Still she respected the threat enough to not give anything away by being too gung ho in front of the one eyed man.

“You can leave now,” she tells him coldly. “The threat has been noted.” Felicity pushes the front door open and motions for him to leave.

“Close the door Ms. Smoak. We need to talk. I’m not here to threaten you. I wasn’t sent here to threaten you. I was sent here to do another job and lucky for you I’m not going through with it. I don’t want to go through with it. Consider my appearing in your living room a warning to you about how dangerous Moira Queen can be.” He looks her straight in the eyes and as Felicity holds his gaze she could see he was telling the truth. There was no menace in his expression, just concern and dare she say it a touch of regret.

“Moira Queen asked you to kill me? But you’re not going to?” She backs away slowly towards the door. He might look sincere but she wasn’t stupid enough to hang around and socialize with someone sent to kill her. What if he changed his mind? She needed to get far away from here, get this man to leave her house and then begin to tackle the evil matriarch who was apparently now out for her blood. Literally. Felicity shudders. A man had just informed her he was sent to kill her, to commit cold-blooded murder.

“I don’t kill anymore Ms. Smoak,” he says as if reading her thoughts. “At least not well meaning young mothers who have done nothing wrong. I’ve done some terrible things but that’s not who I am. I haven’t devolved to that.”

“You know what, why don’t you show me how reformed you are by leaving my house after I leave and then I promise to always think well of you in the future,” Felicity says before sliding sideways out the front door so as to keep an eye on him still.

“Ms. Smoak my hands are where you can see them. How am I supposed to kill you sitting here with my hands up?” His tone is lighter now, with a hint of amusement in it. Felicity was thankful to note it wasn’t the sadistic cat and mouse type of amusement. It vaguely resembled Oliver and William’s amusement when she squabbled with them about her cooking abilities.

Still Felicity wasn’t quite convinced just yet.

“How do I know you haven’t got weapons stashed somewhere that you can pull out and take me out with?” Felicity asks although she’s moved back into the doorway again. She could still run if she needed too and if the one-eyed man was chatty, perhaps he could give her more information on just how bloodthirsty Moira Queen was for her.

“Because this is real life Ms. Smoak and although I possess combat skills, I am not a ninja. I’m not going to pull out a samurai sword and chase you with it.” The one eyed man shakes his head at her, that amused glint still in his eye.

“You’ve gotten flamboyant over the years. You waited for Sam at her front door at night. Popping up in my living room is a bit much don’t you think?” Felicity folds her arms and glares at him defiantly, not forgetting what he did to her friend, William’s mother, long ago.

“Look I’m not proud of that but it was either scare her out of town or risk Moira Queen upping her game. She had a baby at the time, I didn’t want her to fall under Moira Queen’s ire anymore that she already was. Ideally I’d like to scare you out of town but she wants me to get rid of you quickly so I had no choice but to try and talk to you.” He looks genuinely worried, a bit upset even, much to Felicity’s intrigue.

“I appreciate it Mr. Wilson” Felicity thanks him, feeling slightly calmer for the first time since she found him in her house.

“You…you know my name?” he asks her in disbelief.

“I did a little digging after I read Sam’s diary. Your name came up and I assumed you were the one getting all my information for Moira Queen. After I told Oliver, he obviously refused to launch legal proceedings against me like his mother wanted. I assumed you worked for her in all sorts of capacities so I didn’t pay you anymore mind. I mean even if you were to stalk us, all you would have is a bunch of pictures of Oliver trying to stop William and me from eating junk food. Hardly riveting stuff.” Felicity pauses and shuffles a little distance back into her hallway, pushing the front door almost shut, so that it is now only opened a sliver.

“I never, in my wildest dreams thought that Moira Queen would order a hit on me. I’ve been incredibly stupid and careless.” She shakes her head, suddenly feeling a chill run through her entire body. To have such a close call with absolutely no inkling of realization about it. She’d been incredibly ignorant and naïve about the threat Moira posed. She was still here through the good grace of Moira’s hit man. William would have suffered two losses in his life, simply because she had failed to watch her back.

“Don’t be too hard on yourself. I’ve worked for the woman for more than a decade and I didn’t expect her to make this call,” Slade says suddenly in a placating tone, as if to try and make Felicity feel better about herself. “All that stuff with her husband and her kids finally pushed her over the edge. Not that you would know it if you looked at her. Cool as a cucumber.”

He peers at Felicity, looking almost kindly. “You had no way of knowing. Most people don’t go around thinking other people are out to kill them.”

“Well generally there’s a name for people like that,” Felicity quips automatically, making Slade grin.

“So what are you going to do now?” he asks her.

“There is only one thing for me to do. She’s left me no choice but to deal with her.” Felicity looks calmer now and although he knows he’s done his bit, Slade Wilson can’t resist but hang around a bit longer to see if he can find out just what she intended to do. The first rule in these things was to never get personal but after watching her, the kid and the boy for months he couldn’t help a certain level of investment.

“Just how are you planning to deal with Moira?” he asks Felicity curiously.

“Send her a very clear message,” Felicity replies confidently with fire in her eyes. She was done. She was done being the bigger person, done trying not to cross lines. She’d underestimated the scope for evil in a person and that almost got her killed. Clearly Moira operated to a very different code, one that Felicity planned to match her on, because there was one thing Felicity would never sacrifice and that was William’s well being. Not for Oliver, not for anyone.

She rummages through her bag, pulls out her tablet and begins typing furiously.

“You young’uns these days can’t even carry a decent conversation with a threatening presence before whipping out some sort of device,” Slade grumbles as he watches her focus on her typing.

Felicity presses a few more keys and looks up at him with a smile full of amusement. Moira Queen’s hit man really was on her couch berating her for texting. She could never have imagined she’d be in this situation today after all those years in sleepy Ivy Town as a busy working mom.

“I’m sorry for being rude Mr. Wilson. After you very kindly refrained from killing me as well. Based on what you’ve told me I think I need to tackle Moira right away starting right here, right now.”

The amused smile turns charming as she asks, “Mr. Wilson does Moira have any other umm…consultants beside yourself?”

“Not that I know of,” Slade replies. “I’ve handled most things for her. Smart girl. Are you worried she’ll send someone else?” He eyes her up and down with the air of one who is suitably impressed.

The girl who had been informed only fifteen minutes earlier that Moira Queen wanted her dead was now calmly carrying a conversation with him to gather more information. Slade noticed the front door was still ajar and although Felicity had relaxed visibly, there was still plenty of scope to run out that door should she decide he was unsavory company.

“I’m going through a list of her recent contacts. Lots of ladies who lunch, yourself and one more name. Ricardo Diaz who based on my research appears to be a small time crook running a small gang in the Glades. Do you know anything else about him that you could tell me?”

“You got all that in a few minutes?” Slade asks her looking alarmed.

“I went to MIT Mr. Wilson, but you knew that already,” Felicity responds hoping he will focus on the matter at hand instead of being hung up on her skill level.

“Diaz is a small time crook. Drugs. His claim to fame is perfecting the manufacturing of drugs by using 3D printers. And a spot of murder on the side.”

“He must be insurance in case you fail to deliver. I’ve got to hand it to her. She’s thorough. Is there any other information you can give me about Diaz?”

“Batshit crazy. Unstable. Moira’s lost the plot if she’s hired him. She must have gotten paranoid after I suggested killing you was probably not the best idea.”

“Aww I’m touched you tried to defend me,” Felicity laughs despite the stressful circumstances. Sometimes the only way to forge ahead in these situations was action with a dash of humour.

“I had a son once. I made a lot of mistakes and lost him. Taking a good parent away from their kid is not what I’m about. And you’re a good parent Ms. Smoak. I wasn’t.” The big man’s voice falters a little when he talks about his son, his broad shoulder slumping.

“I’m sorry about your son Mr. Wilson,” Felicity says gently. “Thank you for not taking me away from mine.”

“If Diaz is after you, you’re going to be in trouble,” Slade warns her, trying to ignore the fact that he had revealed far too much about himself. He could see why the kid was head over heels for this girl. She had that air about her. Like she could take everything that was wrong with you and somehow make it right again. Like she would understand.

“Not if I take him out of commission first,” Felicity responds calmly, now typing more furiously than ever. “I’m sorry about the typing Mr. Wilson. I really don’t want to be rude. But if this Diaz is as dangerous as you claim I cannot have him running around town trying to murder me on Moira Queen’s instructions.”

“Look you go find the kid, tell him what happened, get him to call his mother off. I’ll keep an eye on Diaz to make sure he doesn’t do anything crazy before Moira cancels the hit on you,” Slade sighs with the air of one who is forced to undertake an unwanted task.

“You’ve done more than enough already Mr. Wilson. Oliver tried to call his mother off once and that obviously didn’t stick. I need to handle this myself,” Felicity says firmly, still typing away.

“You’re not going to tell the kid?” Slade asks incredulously. “How are you going to handle to psychos like Diaz and Moira Queen who have connections. You and whose army?” He admired the girl’s spirits but she was giving him a headache with this gung ho attitude of hers. She might have gone to a fancy college and could do clever things on the computer but what use was that on a gun and knife welding wacko like Diaz?

And yet Slade Wilson found himself rooting for her. There was something about her. Something very charming and likeable. He had intended to warn her and then clear out stat, letting her deal with her own Moira related problems, but now he found he wanted to stay to make sure she was going to be ok.

“I will tell Oliver after I handle his mom. If I’m not mistaken you seem fond of Oliver Mr. Wilson. I assure you I will tell him after everything is taken care of.” She’s got this serene air about her now, typing away on that tablet and her phone at the same time. She’d finally let her guard down enough to sit on the ground by the front door.

Slade shakes his head. “You are what? 105 pounds at most and five foot two? How do you intend on fighting Diaz when he comes for you? Don’t be foolish. Go handle Moira Queen if you must and go stay with the kid. I will keep an eye on Diaz.”

“Five foot four actually,” Felicity grins at him, finally looking up from her typing. “I’m not going to tell you my weight. I really appreciate the gesture Mr. Wilson but you don’t need to worry anymore. I have taken out Diaz temporarily. It’s my lucky day today. You not wanting to kill me, Diaz being where I was hoping he would be, in the right vehicle, which gave me the access I needed. It’s really just pure luck that he was driving around this evening. Made everything so easy and saved me hours, possibly days of watching and tracking him. I should buy a lotto ticket. Or maybe the universe just doesn’t want me dead yet.” She finishes all her sentences in one breath, her hands trembling from excitement.

Slade eyes the small blonde girl warily. First Moira Queen and now her. What was with all the crazy women in the kid’s life? She was charming though and a hell of a lot sweeter than Moira Queen he’ll give her that.

“Ms. Smoak I am older than you. I’m not from your generation so I haven’t the foggiest what you’re babbling on about. How did you take out Diaz? You’ve been here texting the whole time.”

“I crashed his car into a light pole and it flipped into the river,” Felicity tells him proudly. Seeing the horror on his face she moves to reassure him right away, shoving her tablet at him. “I didn’t kill him. According to my calculations based on the pole I sent his car into at that speed he will only suffer a few broken bones and maybe some really bad whiplash. I’ve alerted some paramedics to fish him out of the river. They’re pulling up right now as shown on these cameras.

Slade’s jaw practically unhinges as he watches the CCTV footage on the tablet. Sure enough there was some crew at the river engaging in some sort of a rescue mission.

“Oh don’t worry I made sure it was Diaz who was that car before I over rode all of its systems,” Felicity assures him warmly, leaving Slade to wonder who the hell this girl was. “He will be fine after a few months. And on the bright side his drug trade will halt for a while and he can’t wreak havoc on anyone. Or try to kill me.”

“You…you took over his car? You were spying on him all that time?” Slade manages to choke out.

“Yes. It’s not hard these days with all the electronics around. Everything can be your own personal camera if you know how to access it.” Felicity pauses and looks at him carefully, “I’m doing this to protect my family Mr. Wilson and based on what you’ve told me it’s either act or be a sitting duck.” Slade Wilson was judging her. Felicity felt slightly uncomfortable that Slade Wilson was judging her.

“I didn’t think you had it in you Ms. Smoak,” Slade says still shaking his head incredulously.

“I was a different person before I met my son Mr. Wilson,” Felicity says softly. “I had a problem with the world but all that went away the moment I started taking care of him. When his mother died I became a new person, one that I was finally at peace with. But Moira has pushed me and now I need to revert back to that person I buried long ago in my youth, just a little to protect my family.” Her tone is quiet, contemplative. Gone was that bubbly, almost cutesy exterior.

“I’m the last person to judge you Ms. Smoak. I was sent to kill you. I’d be lying if I didn’t admit I’m very impressed. I was just shocked at how…how efficient you can be. God help Moira Queen.”

Felicity smiles at his comment. “I better go and find my boys or else they will panic even though I’ve texted them to tell them I’m running very late. Thank you again for not killing me.” Felicity holds out her hand and offers it to him. There was a little more trust now that he’d witness her send a man’s car into the river.

“Best of luck Felicity. And you call me Slade if we ever meet again,” Slade grins as she shakes his hand crisply. It was a firm handshake full of force. Somehow he wasn’t surprised.

“Not to kill me I hope,” Felicity retorts slyly but doesn’t fail to cast him a knowing look.

“Wouldn’t dream of it. Wouldn’t dare try.”

***

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Oliver asks her once again as he pops his head through her door before walking in with a plate of profiteroles filled with ice cream and drizzled in chocolate sauce.

“Well if I wasn’t I sure am now that I see those,” Felicity grins, making gleeful grabby hands at the plate. It was a weeknight and they weren’t supposed to stay over but the events of the day had worn her out and once she discovered that William had all the right textbooks for school the next day, Felicity hadn’t hesitated when Oliver urged them to sleep over for the night. Now that the high of neutralizing one of Moira’s goons was over, Felicity found herself feeling rather drained. There was the matter of tackling Moira as well.

“You ran so late you missed our weekly Big Belly gathering. Are you ok? Did something happen with work?” Oliver looks worried and they both know the unspoken question hanging in the air that he’s not asking out loud is whether his mother has done something else.

“A few things came up. I don’t want to talk about it. I’m pretty agitated right now to be honest. Can I handle it and talk to you about it another day?” Felicity tells him honestly.

She was well aware of the conflict in handling his mother while she was nestled right under his roof but there was something soothing about being with her little family tonight. Yes she was beginning to regard Oliver as family, despite their undefined…friendship, which made it all the more important that she resolved this things with Moira right away.

Felicity was too exhausted to perform the dance of laying guilt on herself and shrinking away from him again, especially when Oliver had reiterated so many times that Felicity and William were his first priority and that he would always stand by them. There was no time for self-torment or doubt. It seemed like such a fruitless waste of energy.

“Of course,” he replies gently. “Are you sure there isn’t something I can do for you? You’ve got me a bit worried.”

“Thanks for letting me stay the night. And thanks for dessert,” she smiles at him.

“Felicity I know this was my bachelor pad but I hope you think of it as your second home or place to crash,” Oliver says sincerely. He lingers a little closer, tempted to kiss her wavy golden head of hair but stops himself and settles for a shoulder touch instead. “I’m going to let you work. If you need anything I’m just down the hall okay?”

Felicity touched by how soothing his presence is, places the plate of profiteroles (which she had been scarfing) down and throws her arms around his waist. “It’s been a rough day. Thank you.”

“It’s okay, I’m always here if you need me,” Oliver says patting her back, that forehead kiss tempting him more than ever but he tells himself she’s vulnerable tonight for whatever reason and kissing her, forehead or anywhere else, was not something he should be doing.

***

Felicity shoves the last of her dessert into her mouth before turning her attention to the laptop screen in front of her. This bit of code had been buried away long ago just like the recesses of her past. The last time she looked at this code she was in a dank, musty smelling dorm room with dubious company. To think that she should revisit it again today in Oliver’s meticulously decorated panda bedroom. After William she should have learnt that life could take some crazy turns but here she was, still constantly stunned by one event after another.

Taking a deep breath Felicity does a quick check on the three screens set up in front of her, making sure they were each displaying the correct information and footage she required. She places her hands on her keyboard and begins typing.

***

Moira seldom visited the kitchen in Queen Manor. It was Raisa’s domain and having cooked very few things in her life she often regarded the kitchen as the place she needed to pass through to gain access to certain other parts of the house. Still tonight, after finding herself unable to sleep, Moira had ventured down to fetch a glass of warm water. Raise had gone home long ago and the only staff that remained were the two security staff who manned the gates.

As Moira presses down on the hot water dispenser she notices the kitchen down lights flickering and makes a mental note to instruct Raisa to have the bulbs changed tomorrow.

Before she is able to complete her thought the room descends into darkness. Startled by the sudden disappearance of light, Moira drops her glass, hearing it shatter as it hits the sink. It was then that she notices the filtered hot water still running despite the fact that she was no longer pressing on the dispenser button.

There must be a power failure of some sort, Moira tells herself calmly as she takes a few steps back away from the sink. It was then that she noticed every light in the house was out and she was standing in near darkness except for the dim moonlight shining in from the large windows of the kitchen.

Moira reaches for her phone and dials for security only to have the call cut off as she repeatedly tries to dial. She does this three times before the phone shuts down completely.

Before Moira can comprehend what is happening a loud noise is emitted from the other side of the kitchen. Moira lets out a frightened scream when she thinks she hears what sounds like bullets being sprayed only to realize a few seconds later that the ice maker function of the freezer was spitting out ice cubes, the cubes spraying out before falling to the floor, creating what she thought was the sound of bullets.

“Is there anyone there? Who is this? Daniel, Karl what is going on?” Moira shouts frantically for her security staff. She backs away from the direction of the freezer. As Moira’s eyes start to get used to the darkness, she makes her way out of the kitchen, towards the next room and but not before she sees what appears to be sparks shooting out of the microwave as it burns out its motor, overcome by a huge surge of electrical power.

Moira fumbles her way to the front door and lets out another startled shriek along the way when she realizes the TV in the waiting area has turned on, blaring a loud and raucous TV show from the Cartoon Network. No one in the house ever switched the TV to Cartoon Network. Not since her children were very young.

Finally after what feels like an eternity, she makes it to the front door and yanks on the knob only to discover that she’s locked in, the electronic locks refusing to budge even though they were designed to automatically unlock from the inside at any given time and had never failed to do so in the last five years since they were installed. She was effectively trapped inside her own home.

“Karl! Daniel,” she screams banging on the front door. The TV in the next room flickers, automatically flipping through each and every channel at great speed, its volume turned up to the highest setting. The lights in the front hall turn on for a second before their bulbs pop, sending glass shattering as darkness returns.

“HELP!” Moira screams once again, banging on the front door, hoping someone would hear her.

Chapter Text

“Quentin you need to find whoever is behind this. This was an attack on me in my own home,” Moira glances around nervously as memories of the previous night flood back. She’d sat alone in the dark until sunrise when miraculously her doors unlocked again. 

Karl and Daniel, the two security staff on duty, reported that a noise drew them to patrol outside the gates and once they’d left the grounds of Queen Manor, the gates had somehow automatically shut, locking them out. They’d tried to call the house and Moira’s direct number but weren’t able to get through as it appeared the phone lines were not working. In desperation they tried dialing 911 to get some officers to stop by only to be told that there was a power outage in the area and as there was no injury or crime to report, police could not be dispatched to the property. 

In desperation Moira had called Quentin directly that morning, banking on the past acquaintance they used to share during the years Laurel and Oliver dated. In her terror she did not bother to consider the awkward situation between the two families ever since Oliver called off the wedding.

“Moira your power went out and a few of your appliances acted up. I hardly think this was some great crime. Probably just something malfunctioning at the grid,” Quentin tries his best to be polite despite feeling slightly irritated at being dragged out here first thing in the morning with two of his officers who could have been utilized better elsewhere. Still there was something about Moira having hysterics that compelled him to come out and check on Queen Manor. Moira Queen did not do hysterics. In fact that calm, dignified manner of hers was famous for being unshakable so there was a part of Quentin that was curious to show up and find out exactly what was going on. 

“Do you know for sure all the homes in the area had no power? Have you checked?” Moira demanded. “Because I know what I saw Quentin and this was no power outage. The TVs were turning themselves on and changing their own channels. My microwave exploded, as did the light bulbs. You cannot convince me that was caused by a power outage. My phone would not work, in fact none of the phones in the house worked. Someone is behind this.”

“Moira I never took you for someone who was afraid of the dark,” Quentin replies drily. It was quite a sight to see Moira completely rattled however his officers had found nothing out of the ordinary besides a few light bulbs that exploded due to a power surge and a toasted microwave which presumably also burnt out because of issues relating to the electricity supply to Queen Manor. As for Moira’s phone it was working fine again and there was certainly no evidence of anyone setting foot on the property. 

“The most rational explanation is that there was a power surge followed by a power outage. My people haven’t found anything. Everything, including all the TVs you claimed were possessed appear to be in working order.” Quentin pauses and gives Moira a sympathetic look, his tone lowering a few decibels. “Are you sure you didn’t have one too many drinks to de-stress and maybe that made you a little…sensitive to your surroundings and the power outage?”

“I was not drunk,” Moira snaps back, sitting up straight to regain her dignity and composure. “Someone was behind this attack. One of our competitors perhaps. Kord Industries are renowned for some less than ethical inventions. They could be behind this.”

Her mind drifted to one other name, but Moira pushed the thought out of her head. It would make Quentin think she was more hysterical than he already did, plus Moira was sure Felicity Smoak, judging by the way she handled their first altercation, did not have the personality to actually launch a physical attack on her. Moira knew the girl went to MIT and was starting some sort of fledgling business on her own but Felicity had been a working suburban mom for the past 10 years. Moira strongly doubted she would have the skills to launch this kind of coordinated attack. Besides Felicity didn’t know about Slade Wilson or any of Moira’s plans.

Suddenly Moira felt compelled to get rid of Starling’s finest. They were proving to be useless. Unhelpful and unwilling to investigate. Since they weren’t taking her seriously there was no good reason to try and force them into some halfhearted attempt to check out the matter for her. What she needed to do was to make a few private calls to put her mind at ease. 

“Quentin, you’re really not going to get an IT expert to investigate this?” she asks him testily. 

“Moira there is nothing to suggest that this matter warrants me bringing in an IT expert. You weren’t hurt, nothing was stolen, and no threatening messages were left. We’re woefully under resourced at SCPD and I can’t go around using resources in matters like this where there is nothing to investigate.” Quentin’s tone is firm. He’d gone over to check on her and had his staff look around. He’d done more than could be expected of him considering the situation. 

“Very well. So be it,” Moira nods at him coolly. SCPD really were useless. This was why she had her own collection of people whom she outsourced “errands” to over the years.

*** 

After seeing Quentin off and being assured by the very competent Raisa that she would contact the relevant people to have new appliances delivered and all the locks and security systems checked, Moira locks herself in her study. She stares at her phone with a certain amount of trepidation. It certainly looked perfectly normal but there was something about the way it cut off suddenly last night that made Moira wary. 

Moving the phone over to one side, Moira rummages through the bottom of her drawer and pulls out the burner phone she had stashed away for emergencies. She simply had it in her possession because she was someone who liked to plan everything and be in control. Moira certainly never thought there would come a day where she would actually need to use that burner phone. 

Pulling out a charging cable from the same draw, Moira plugs in the device and dials Slade Wilson’s number. 

Disconnected. 

She dials again. 

Disconnected. 

She tries to dial a few more times, her fingers now punching the screen frantically. 

The number you have called has been disconnected the robotic voice on the other line repeats once again.

Willing herself to calm down, Moira gulps in a few deep breaths as she punches in Ricardo Diaz’s number.

“Yo who’s this? Why you callin the boss?” a voice answers gruffly on the other end of the line. 

“Is Mr. Diaz there?” Moira asks calmly, despite her hands trembling a little. Nothing was happening the way she expected it to.

“Who’s this? Boss can’t take no calls for a while. You want something you gotta go through Little Lizard,” the voice informs her with a hint of pride in it.

Moira quickly terminates the call, tossing the burner across the desk, before slumping down onto her chair as she glances around her office in bewilderment. She did not understand what was happening, what was going on. Feeling like she has no options left Moira reaches for her phone and begins to dial Oliver’s number and lets out a hysterical laugh when the call fails to connect.

The browser on the phone however begins to load, drawing her attention to the Starling local news webpage with its headline blazing clearly on the screen. 

Freak accident sees suspected Glades crime boss land in hospital with severe injuries. 

Several pictures of an injured Ricardo Diaz being pulled out of the water accompanied the online article published.

There is no way she could have known about this. Slade may have betrayed you but there is no way she could have know about Ricardo Diaz, Moira tells herself as she clutches her desk, the blood draining from her hands causing her knuckles to go white.

***

Felicity glances down at her tablet, feeling tired and weary. She had, to an extent, paid Moira back in spades and it was most satisfying but even after just a few days she knew that keeping up the constant surveillance on Moira, hacking each and every camera and device to keep track of the Queen Matriarch’s activities and whereabouts was going to eventually take its toll on her. 

In her early college days, before William, before she became a mother she would have reveled in this and thrived. However the reality currently staring at her was that the Felicity of today was worlds apart of the Felicity of the past. She had her career, her commitment to William, and their little makeshift family with Oliver. She simply could not afford to hole herself up somewhere with energy drinks and chips to monitor and play psychological mind games with Moira Queen, fun as she would have found it in her youth. 

She needed to find another way to get her life back, to get back the feeling of security for both herself and William. 

She needed to put Moira Queen back in her box and keep her there once and for all. Metaphorical box of course. Not a coffin. Felicity was certainly not going to stoop to Moira’s level and try to murder her. 

***

“Oliver...” Felicity hesitates ever so slightly as she reaches for his arm, pulling him gently in her direction. It was going to be a difficult conversation, one she had wanted to put off for the rest of the day but deep down she knew it was one of those conversations they had to have so what was the use in delaying it. 

Ideally she wanted to just avoid this whole thing altogether and just go out with her boys, pretending nothing had happened or was going to happen. However she was about to take a big final step in resolving her issues with Moira and Felicity didn’t want to live with the feeling that she was going around harbouring secrets from her family.

“Oliver we need to talk. Right now. Before we do anything else today.” She’s tugging at his arm and Oliver responds by placing his hand on top of hers, the gesture comforting her greatly, reducing her jitteriness. 

“William why don’t you go get changed, pack your stuff and wait for us,” Oliver addresses William while pulling up a chair to sit beside Felicity. She notices he’s still holding onto her hand.

“No, William needs to stay. It’s something I need to tell both of you,” Felicity says looking solemn. A great sense of dread engulfs Oliver. What could Felicity possibly want to tell them about that was making her so nervous and tentative. She’d been acting a bit distant the last few days, although after observing her carefully Oliver came to the conclusion that it was not on purpose. She spent a lot of time alone coding, always watching her screen while looking worried and distracted. 

For a split second, a stupid thought enters Oliver’s head. What if Felicity had met someone and she was getting ready to announce her new relationship to William and Oliver. The thought lasted all of three seconds before he mentally slapped himself. The mere notion of it was ridiculous. She spent every moment of her free time with them, with him even. Felicity simply did not have the minutes in a day to go out and meet someone.

Oliver’s thoughts are interrupted by a smug response from William, “Get used to it. She tells me everything Dad.” 

“What is it you want to tell us? Do you want me to clear the breakfast dishes first? Do you want more coffee?” Oliver stands up and threatens to hover but Felicity pulls him down onto his chair again.

“No. None of that. I just want to get it over and done with.” 

“You’re worrying me Felicity,” he says giving her his full attention as he watches her intently. William on the other side of the dining table is looking both curious and excited. 

***

“My mother sent Slade to kill you? She also had back up plans in case he bailed. And you didn’t tell anyone about it for almost a week? Felicity what were you thinking? You should have told me. I would have…I…you could have gotten killed. Where would that have left William? And me?”

His voice softens as he grabs both of her hands, squeezing them gently, “We could have lost you.”

William sniggers from across the table earning him a sharp look from Oliver. Pushing the thoughts of what life would be like if he lost Felicity, William instead chooses to focus on how proud he was of her for taking things into her own hands. The woman who raised him was a force to be reckoned with. 

Felicity was finally revealing herself to be the badass William always suspected she was and all his dad could do was moon at her with worried looking heart eyes. That was not to say William wasn’t affected by the fact that Felicity could have been taken from him. He was well aware what a close call it had been and that the evil of Moira Queen knew no bounds. He had been outraged that crazy Moira wanted to murder Felicity however he couldn’t say it was surprising to him. It wasn’t like he had ever walked around and thought Oh Evil Moira might try to kill Felicity but the fact that she actually put the plan into motion didn’t shock him. Somehow he’d always known that woman was capable of anything.

But Felicity…his mom was such a badass. From what she told them in one day Felicity had managed to flip a crook’s car into Starling River to protect herself, terrorize the unshakeable Moira Queen and now had her under surveillance big brother style. Yeah Felicity was a total badass. She could wreak havoc on anyone, anything. She just didn’t because she wants to use her powers for good. 

“But you didn’t lose me. You will never never lose me and I have set a plan in motion to ensure your mother will never try to touch me again,” Felicity assures them both although she’s patting Oliver’s hand. 

“Like hell she will touch you again,” Oliver threatens, getting up from his chair. “I will see to it that she doesn’t even think of you ever again, let alone pull something like this.” 

“Oliver,” Felicity cautions, pulling him back. She pats his chest, a gesture which sooths him somehow. William takes a sip of his juice and makes exaggerated choking noises. Yeah let’s just pretend rubbing the chest of your kid’s father is a perfectly platonic thing to do.

“Oliver you can yell and threaten her all you want but we both know that won’t work. She’d rather have me dead and your forgiveness later. I need to speak in her language. Then she’ll understand. I know how to neturalise her once and for all.” 

“Spoken like the Ghost Fox Goddess I’ve been waiting for all these years.” William finally cannot keep silent any longer. Damn Felicity was impressive. He had to give himself permission to express just how awesome she was. His mother was finally cool.

“Are you going to drop a drone on the witch’s house?” he asks eagerly. 

“William we do not talk about hacking drones remember? I told you never to bring that up,” Felicity whispers shaking her head at her son.

“But this is the big moment where you become the awesome mother I’ve always dreamed you could be,” William protests indignantly. 

“A decade of raising you, sitting up at night with you when you get a bad cough, chauffeuring you around and this is all you admire about me?” Felicity rolls her eyes at her son and throws a strawberry at him across the table.

“I always knew you were cooler than you let on. Anyone with the name Ghost Fox Goddess had to have a more exciting life than just shuffling a child to swim lessons and drama classes. Finally you have lived up to my expectations mother,” William says with an exaggerated satisfied expression that makes Felicity laugh. He really was her darling. He could always make her laugh no matter what the situation was. 

“Felicity what are you planning to do?” Oliver asks, still looking worried, trying his best to resist the urge to scold them for being flippant. It was obviously the way they chose to cope with things.

“Take out your bitch of a mother, that’s what she’s going to do,” William answers confidently with a good dash of viciousness. 

“No! Nonono there will be no taking anyone out. I don’t intend to commit murder. I have a way to neutralize her and I will tell you boys but I need you to promise to trust me on this okay? You need to let me handle this. I’ve taken it this far, kept myself out of harm’s way so you need to let me see this through my style.” She was addressing both of them but Oliver knew the words were meant for him solely. William was looking positively delighted and certainly couldn’t wait to see his mom go nuclear on his estranged grandmother. 

“I trust you Felicity but you can’t blame me for worrying. My mother tried to have you killed and you’re taking care of it by yourself. I…I wish I could protect you.”

Oliver buries his head in his hands briefly before grabbing her hand again.

“At least tell me what you plan to do now." 

“I’m going to need your help for the last phase of my plan. I know you’re worried about me but I’ve taken care of myself my whole life and I need you to trust me on this. I need to do this myself to feel completely at ease. It’s a terrifying feeling to know someone ordered a hit on you. As much as you want to swoop in and save me Oliver, I need to save myself to feel at peace here.” She hoped he would cooperate and understand and not try to interfere out of some misguided hero complex. There was only one way Felicity could move on from this and that was to handle Moira personally.

“If it’s you asking I’ll do it. I’ll do anything you want me to do. That includes not interfering with your plans,” Oliver responds in a resigned tone. His hands instinctively reached out, itching to touch her. How he longed to just get out of that chair and engulf her in his arms. But that wasn’t their relationship. He didn’t even feel like he had the right to hug her as a gesture of comfort. At least not right at this moment. 

William sensing the torment in his dad’s eyes, pushes out his chair noisily and glides over to Felicity’s side. “Dad after almost losing her we’ve gotta cling onto her like leeches,” he announces with a mischievous grin on his face. William moves to Felicity’s other side and pushes her chair, right up until it touches Oliver’s chair. He then wraps his arms around Felicity. Oliver to his credit catches on pretty quickly and does not hesitate in joining in, engulfing Felicity in a tight squeezy hug.

“Boys you’re squeezing me to death,” Felicity scolds despite the huge smile on her face.

“We need to kiss her too dad,” William orders Oliver as he gives Felicity a big hearty smack of a kiss on the cheek. He smirks as he watches Oliver awkwardly nuzzle Felicity’s other cheek with his nose. 

***

“Oliver you’re here early…and you’ve brought a friend.”

Felicity comes to an abrupt halt as she exits her bedroom to find Oliver sitting at the breakfast bar with a guest. The young man (boy? She wasn’t sure if he qualified as a boy since he was baby faced but still quite a few years older than William) in question was a good looking fellow. Great jawline, clean cut features. Looked like the lead singer of a boy band. The handsome one that they let sing even though he may not have the best voice. 

“Hiiiii…welcome to my home. I’m Felicity,” Felicity holds out and hand while eyeing her guest curiously. She had given Oliver a key long ago. It was simply more practical and sometimes he needed to grab certain things for William. It made her life easier and they pretty much exchanged keys after a few weeks of spending copious amounts of quality time together.

“You’re here early today Oliver. I wasn’t expecting you until tonight, for pizza, tonight. And now you’re here…with a guest…” Felicity trails off and glances awkwardly at the handsome boy who looked equally uncomfortable. 

“Excuse us Roy. I’ll just speak to Felicity for a few minutes and then we’ll get back to you,” Oliver says, grabbing Felicity by the arm to usher her down the hall to her bedroom. 

“Whatever you say Boss,” the handsome boy replies, shrugging, very much looking like he thought this was a weird or bad idea but was just rolling along with it. 

“What is going on Oliver?” Felicity whispers as he leads her to her bedroom. She had a crucial appointment today. One that was going to make or break her future actually and Oliver springing up like this was most definitely not helpful. He was also leading her to her bedroom. He never went anywhere near her bedroom in her townhouse. Which was weird when she thought about it. They sometimes ate dessert and had long chats in her bedroom at his house but for some reason her bedroom here was implied to be off limits by both of them. Instead they often sat for hours in the living room.

“I want Roy to be your new body guard. I’ve hired one for William as well. It won’t be forever. Just until I feel secure about things. I’ve known these two guys for a long time through dealings with their security company and they are the only people I trust with my family. Please Felicity?” He tacks on the plea at the end knowing very well that he’s at her mercy in regards to this whim. Clearly he was expecting Felicity to protest against this course of action vehemently.

“Oliver I’m on board with someone to watch William but do remember he’s a 13 year old boy. It can’t look like he’s got a permanent babysitter,” Felicity reminds him. “You and I are still going to pick him up from his activities yes. I’m not offloading my kid to someone else.” 

“Oh his body guard will just keep tabs on his surroundings from afar. We’ll still do everything we do,” Oliver assures her. The easy part was over, now he needed to gear himself for the more difficult task.

“Now about me. I do not need a bodyguard. I told you I’m going to sort your mother out and I am very close to it. I’ve got electronic eyes on her and she cannot contact anyone without me unlocking my systems to give her permission.”

Felicity smiles a smug smile; “She can’t even go to a payphone without me granting her permission. Thank goodness for the digital age.” 

“I knew you were going to say that,” Oliver tenses up a little and starts rubbing the back of his neck. “My mother tried to kill you. Tried to kill you. And until you you’ve successfully completed your grand plan to deal with her I need this for my own sanity. Please? Think of it as you doing it for me, for my sake and not you actually needing a body guard.”

“Why is he so pretty?” Felicity asks with an amused smile on her face. “It’s going to look like I hired a hunky boy to follow me around for the view.” 

Her smile turns into a chuckle, “Which would really sell the powerful business woman with a toy boy thing very well.” 

“You think he’s good looking?” Oliver frowns at her, unable to stop the outraged expression on his face.

“Not as good looking as you,” Felicity waves him off as she distractedly studies his face. Roy was good looking but Oliver was hot. She knew from experience he could be totally cute too but he also had the protective hot thing going which totally worked for her. 

Felicity snaps out of her thoughts and shakes her head, smiling a small embarrassed smile. “You’re all too good looking. I bet William’s body guard is a hunk too,” she says sheepishly.

“Yup he is,” Oliver nods earnestly after thinking about it. The man did have the most mighty arms Oliver had ever seen after all. “Enough about hotness. Can you please just humour me for a little while? Roy’s a good kid, smart. You’ll like him.”

“Fine! I’ll put up with it just so you stop fussing like another hen,” Felicity agrees. “But not today. Slade Wilson will not take kindly to me bringing a body guard along. You tell Roy he can start tomorrow.” 

Her stance was firm on this. She had a solid plan but the core of it relied on her ability to predict Slade Wilson’s character and behavioral tendencies. This was quite a stretch considering she’d met the man once. She did not need any variables that might cause him to go off script. 

“But Slade Wilson is the reason I hired Roy to watch your back in the first place,” Oliver argues. He knew Slade did work for the well to do, the likes of his mother. The thought of Felicity meeting alone with him made Oliver practically wither with worry. 

“Slade Wilson broke into my house and chose to warn me about your mother. He volunteered to keep an eye on Diaz. He’s not going to suddenly develop an urge to kill me. Besides he went offline to get a fresh start and there is no way your mother can reach him since she can’t even dial for pizza if I don’t let her.” 

Felicity tilts her head to get a good look at Oliver. She understood where he was coming from, she really did. He blamed his mother and himself (for no good reason!). He wanted to be the one to protect her and William. Having her running around scrambling to take care of herself was killing him.

“Oliver if you want to be at ease for the rest of your days, if WE want to be at ease for the rest of our days, you need to let me do this alone. I’m just going to meet Slade for a coffee in a very public place. Please let me do this my way.” 

“Fine, fine,” Oliver shakes his head in defeat, looking extremely crestfallen. So crestfallen in fact that Felicity, without thinking, reaches up and holds his face in her hands. 

“I’ve got this. I did not sit through countless parties at play centres every year, for a good three years, while making small talk with parents I barely knew, to finally fall at the hands of your mother. I will fix this. I will make us all feel secure again. Do you think you can trust me?” She strokes his cheeks gently, trying to sooth him as best as she can.

Oliver closes his eyes and nods obediently as he leans into her touch.

Chapter Text

“Ms. Smoak.”

“Mr. Wilson.”

“I thought we were going to go by first names if we ever met again,” Felicity grins impishly at Slade.

“Very well Felicity,” Slade grins back motioning for her to sit down. He takes a seat across from her. It was a beautiful day to be dining outside, the soft luminous rays of sunshine gently brushing the tables. Felicity could see why Knots was a frequent haunt of Moira’s. 

“Thank you for agreeing to meet me. I really appreciate it,” Felicity says at once after the waitress leaves with her order of spaghetti carbonara. Slade had declined food, opting only for a glass of water (Got to keep a clear head in case you bring trouble with you, he had told her with a deadpan expression on his face).

“Couldn’t say no even if I wanted to. My curiosity got the better of me. So what makes you summon me here Felicity?”

After his encounter with Felicity that day, Slade Wilson had gone off and actively started to disengage himself from his life in Starling. He didn’t do it out of fear. No he didn’t fear anyone or anything, least of all Moira Queen. Rather the incident with Felicity, his unwillingness to go through with Moira’s request and his meeting with Felicity had made it crystal clear to Slade that this wasn’t the life for him anymore. Like many other defining moments in his past, this experience told him it was time to move on and find a new start.

“I wanted to thank you again,” Felicity says quietly. “Thank you for not doing what you were hired to do. Besides saving my life you really opened my eyes to what a threat Moira Queen posed. It was very naïve of me to think she’d just leave me alone and respect her son. You saved me Slade.”

“I would have saved you,” Slade corrected her. “But you ended up saving yourself. I’ve been around and seen it all Felicity. Very few things impress me but you certainly do. If I weren’t starting over, we could make quite a team with your skills. And well done on finding me after I worked so hard to disappear.”

“Oh it wasn’t hard,” Felicity waves him off breezily before noting his raised eyebrow. Whoops. The goal here was not to offend him. She mustn’t forget that Slade himself did investigative work too.

“When we met the other day you mentioned losing your son. I was wracking my brains on how to thank you. I ended up doing a little digging and well…I thought you might want to see this.” Felicity pulls an inexpensive tablet out of her bag and hands it to him.

“Sorry I know you probably prefer things old school but I absolutely loath compiling physical documents. Almost lost my sanity when I supplied Oliver an actual physical folder with hard copies of paperwork in it. You’ll have to do with a digital version. Besides the quality is better.” 

She smiles at him sheepishly, “You can keep the tablet if you want. I programmed it especially for you.”

Slade, despite cutting an imposing, burly figure is looking like he’s about to fall out of his chair. Gingerly he takes the tablet from her and starts scrolling through it, his speed increasing as he scans the contents.

“How did you…?” Slade’s voice trails off. “I’ve been looking for him for years.” 

“After your ex wife left, she changed her name and identity several times. That’s probably why you couldn’t find them. They moved every few years and each time she took on a new identity. She passed away three years ago and Joe resumed using his old name.” 

Felicity falls silent for a moment and watches Slade carefully before continuing,

“Shortly after your wife left she also gave birth to a little girl.” Better he hear it from her than scroll through to the end and find out from digital media. “She’s not so little anymore. Her name is Rose.”

Seeing the devastated looked on Slade’s face Felicity adds gently, “They are happy and very close. Joe is a business owner, runs his own martial arts centre for children. Rose is a graphic design student.”

“I don’t know if I did the right thing Slade but there was so much regret in your voice the other day. I thought you would want to know that they are happy and well adjusted. Living their best lives as we Millennials are prone to say.”

Slade recovers briefly from his shock to pay attention to the kind-hearted girl sitting across from him. She was watching him with a gentle encouraging look on her face. After years of going through women like loose change, the Kid sure did know how to pick the one. Oliver’s Felicity was certainly very lovely. And in possession of very useful skills. After disposing of Diaz so quickly and swiftly with a flick of her fingers, tracking down his children must have been a piece of cake for her.

“Thank you Felicity,” he says taking his eyes off her to stare at the screen again. He runs his thumb across a picture of the handsome young man, his son, who is smiling cheerily at the camera while holding a big catfish with the equally happy looking brunette standing next to him. “I have made so many mistakes when it comes to Joe. They’ve haunted me for most of my life. You did the right thing. You’ve given me closure.”

“Do you…do you intend to make contact with them?” Felicity asks. She’d given him everything he needed. It was up to him whether he wanted to try and reconnect with his children or truly let the past go. 

“They both seem so happy. Well adjusted like you said. I don’t want to poison their lives by pushing myself in where I’m not wanted or needed. The best thing I can do is to start over and leave them in peace.”

“Like I said before, shortly after your ex wife passed away Joe changed his name back. That must mean something if he’s willing to use the name you gave him,” Felicity reminds Slade. Ultimately it was none of her business what she did but she was glad she could afford him some closure when it came to his children.

“I owe you Felicity. I really owe you. No matter what happens you’ve lifted the fog that’s engulfed my life for more than two decades. If there is anything I can do for you, anything at all, you just name it.”

“I did this for you, not so that you can repay me but because I love my son very very much. I couldn’t bear the thought of being separated from him and for the rest of my life, never knowing how he is, whether he’s happy, sad, what challenges he was facing. Every loving parent deserves to know that their kids are safe and happy Slade.” She smiles at him reassuringly, her chest easing with the feeling of relief. He was certainly reacting the way she predicted he would. 

“In my world we always repay our debts Felicity and I owe you a big debt for this. If there is anything you want, anything you need at all, you find me and I promise I will do it for you. No hesitation, no questions. I always keep my promises.”

His voice is gruff and no nonsense but Felicity can sense the sincerity in it. He was not going to let this debt go unpaid. You didn’t want to cross someone like Slade Wilson who would bear a grudge against you for life, but just as she predicted, by befriending him she had garnered the sort of loyalty she needed. 

***

The combination of gorgeous weather and the need to clear her head and steady herself, resulted in Moira instructing her driver to drop her one block from Knots. She was short of a few steps from approaching the café when she witnesses a sight that stops her dead in her tracks.

Felicity Smoak and Slade Wilson. 

They were sitting across from each other, appearing to be deep in conversation, Felicity Smoak acting as animated as ever, despite the grim look on her face. Moira backed behind one of the large ornamental potted trees that littered the sidewalks of this café district and stared in astonishment at the sight before her. She was must be dreaming, locked in a nightmare of sorts.

As the minutes tick by, Moira witnesses Slade Wilson giving Felicity Smoak a reassuring pat on the back, looking like he was trying to comfort her. Some way, some how, Felicity Smoak had managed to get Slade Wilson under her thumb. There was an unmistakable look of fondness, of protectiveness in his eyes, something Moira had never seen in all her years of interacting with him. Horrified she turns to flee, running as fast as she could while fumbling for her phone to call her driver.

***

“Can I escort you home Felicity?” Slade asks her gallantly as he clutches onto the precious tablet she had given him.

“No I’ll be fine. I’m going to sit here and order dessert. Oliver will pick me up soon.” Things had gone better than Felicity expected. Slade’s fondness for Oliver and now loyalty to her had made things easy in a way she didn’t expect. 

“You told the kid after all,” Slade says looking pleased.

“He’s the father of my son. His mother is involved. I didn’t fancy living with a mountain of secrets,” Felicity says before adding, “This all started because Moira lied to Oliver. I think he’s been lied to by enough people. I don’t want to be that person as well.” 

“The kid’s lucky to have a girl like you in his life,” Slade says admiringly. He meant every word of it. The kid had finally settled down and was making great life choices. 

“We’re just raising our son together,” Felicity protests at once. “We’re lucky we get along pretty well. We see eye to eye about most things and have complimentary temperaments.” She smiles a little dreamily at Slade before realizing how this must sound. 

“I mean our complimentary personalities are good for raising William. Not for anything else. We are raising a child without conflict. Lack of conflict is good for William,” she adds hastily when she sees Slade eyeing her with an abundance of amusement in his one eye.

“I’ll check back with you in a few years to see how this burgeoning friendship will work out for you two,” Slade all but sniggers at her. His tone suddenly turns serious as he gently takes hold of her shoulder. “Don’t you worry about a thing. You will live a long and prosperous life. There will be repercussions for others if you don’t.” 

“Thank you Slade,” Felicity smiles gratefully at him. 

“Tell the kid if he doesn’t make a move soon I might make one myself,” Slade smirks at her. 

“Mr. Wilson,” Felicity responds looking scandalized despite trying to hide a smile. Who knew Moira’s ex hitman could be so…fun.

“If I were ten years younger Felicity, the kid would have competition,” Slade continues, very much enjoying himself. 

“Competition with what,” Oliver’s sharp voice interjects crossly as he walks up to them, glaring daggers at Slade Wilson who was looking highly amused. Felicity tries desperately to stifle another smile. Clearly Slade knew Oliver was near and had set out to bait him.

“You’re early,” Felicity turns to address Oliver. “But we’re just finishing up. Come sit with me and we can share dessert.” She pulls on his hand, the contact soothing his frayed nerves considerably. 

“Do as you’re told Kid and stop clenching that handsome jaw. Enjoy the rest of your day you two. I won’t stand in the way of true love even if I think you struck gold Kid. Luck does smile on the stupid. She really is very lovely.” Slade lets out a chuckle as he watches Oliver’s face turn an even brighter shade of red, his fists clenching angrily at his sides.

“We’re just friends,” Felicity tries to deny yet again and Slade notices the kid flinching at the word friends. These idiots were going to be in for an interesting time. He was curious to see where they’d be in five years but also glad he wasn’t going to be around for this circus. 

“Take care of each other. I’ll do my part and keep my promise to you Felicity.” Slade gives them both a nod before taking his leave. He would have liked to shake hands with Felicity Smoak to thank her for everything she’d done but the Kid looked like he was going to combust any given minute.

In a way, through fate or whatever you wanted to call it, Felicity had played a huge part in saving his soul. After so many years of searching and constant agonizing Slade was finally at peace. His son had grown up safe and happy. He had a beautiful daughter. Even if he never saw them he still felt a sense of peace that had eluded him most of his life. He owed all the to Felicity Smoak.

***

“I’m guessing you had him eating out of the palm of your hand?” Oliver scowls in Slade’s direction even though the other man was now out of view. Judging by the shameless way Slade was flirting with Felicity, the meeting had gone well, too well. The old bastard obviously felt no shame trying to hit on someone much younger than him.

“Yes he’s very grateful and will do anything I ask,” Felicity breathes a sigh of relief. Slade wasn’t a bad guy in this story. In fact he was one of the good ones and the way she had used his children’s information to soften him and bend him to her will, made Felicity a little uncomfortable.

She tries to ease her guilt by consoling herself with the fact that she’d given him the information before he promised his loyalty to her. She would have done that regardless because it was the right thing to do. It just so happens that with a little calculating on her part, she was able to garner Slade’s loyalty and at the same time put on a show for Moira. 

Felicity pulls out her tablet and scans her eyes over it. Good. Moira was heading back to Queen Manor. Nothing beeped to alert her that Moira was going anywhere out of the ordinary but she still liked to check every few hours all the same.

“When do you want to arrange the meeting with her?” 

Oliver knows the toll this has taken on Felicity who despite her victory over his mother was now on high alert and constantly monitoring her devices. “Now that you’ve got Slade on board, the sooner you confront her the better so you can stop being on edge all the time.”

He pulls his chair closer to hers and gently nuzzles the top of her head with his nose. “I don’t want you to live like this for any longer than you have to. Tell me what I need to do.”

“Sorry it’s become habitual for me to constantly check your mother’s whereabouts,” Felicity apologizes hoping her reassurance would make Oliver feel better. She knew how worried he was about her. 

“I know I was against you hiring Roy to watch out for me at first but now that I’ve had time to process I’m glad you did. I made sure your mother got a good clear view of me sitting here looking like I am best friends with Slade Wilson today. I don’t think Moira will be trying anything again anytime soon.” For the first time Felicity felt truly confident with every word. Moira Queen was going to be her, Felicity Smoak’s, victim from now on and at her mercy. 

“I’ll take you up to the house whenever you’re ready. That way you can have as big a scene with her as you like without having to worry about prying eyes.” He still felt that he should have done more for her, wished he could have done more for her but supporting her was all he was capable of at this time. Felicity, or Ghost Fox Goddess, as William insisted on calling her these days had more than enough power to battle his mother.

“There will not be a scene! I’m not going to cause any scene,” Felicity looks slightly offended, crinkling her nose in an adorably disgruntled manner at him. 

“I didn’t mean by you. I meant by my mother,” Oliver soothes her, stroking the bridge of her nose. It was a weird thing to do, he knew it was a weird thing to do but her nose was so cute. 

“I never thought the prospect of my mother causing a scene was a plausible notion but here we are. Scenes were my specialty I was young,” he adds with a wry smile. 

“I don’t think there will be a scene. She will handle it with dignity and grace and not a hair out of place.” 

“Do you find Slade attractive?” Oliver suddenly asks her out of nowhere, his brows furrowing dispite the fact that he was trying to sound nonchalant and keep his face neutral.

“I don’t find him unattractive,” Felicity’s response is non-committal. “I mean he is kind of attractive in an older, salty sea dog, one eyed pirate kind of way. But I like them more pretty.” She nods her head in affirmation at the word pretty and grins at him.

“You mean like Roy?” Oliver shoots back at once, looking outright annoyed now. “You like that young pretty boy look don’t you?” 

“Too boyish for my tastes, although points to him for being rogue boyish as opposed to nerdy boyish,” Felicity answers with a wicked glint in her eyes. “I like them just right. Not too young, not too old. Just the right amount of pretty. Somewhere in between.”

Before Oliver can answer or ask any more questions Felicity shoves a piece of pie into his mouth to shut him up. 

*** 

“You do realize the woman you are infatuated with is effectively holding my life hostage and terrorizing me.” Moira’s tone is calm and somewhat resigned as she sits at the head of the dining table, looking at Oliver like he had once again disappointed her.

Oliver who in the past would be compelled to feel guilt right away merely shrugs at her. “You’ve bullied and walked all over people your entire life, you never stopped to think twice about who you were dealing with. This time your arrogance caused you to picked the wrong person to mess with. Deal with it.” 

Moira doesn’t back down and continues to hold her gaze, however Oliver interrupts her just as she is about to speak, “I don’t want to hear anything you have to say Mother. Save it for Felicity. Just so we’re clear, mother or no mother, I have no forgiveness for you right now and if anything, ANYTHING were to happen to William or Felicity in the future, I will see to it myself that I single handedly destroy you and burn this place to ashes.”

He pauses and takes a few steps closer, staring down at Moira, straight into her eyes. “You’re the one who started all this mother. Not only did you never acknowledge your mistakes, you just went ahead and committed one worse act after another. Accept the fact that I will never forgive you and stay away from my family.” 

Somewhere in his head, Oliver can hear William’s voice adding Or Felicity will drop a drone on you. They really were his little family now. He couldn’t even have a show down with his mother without hearing them in his head, William especially who also lacked a filter like Felicity, only his comments were often darker and snippier. 

Casting his mother one last disdainful look, Oliver storms out of the dining room to fetch Felicity. He really just wanted this day to be over. He wanted his carefree days with his family back. Back to the time when he didn’t worry constantly about everyone.

*** 

“Take a seat Felicity,” Moira indicates calmly at a chair next to the one she had been sitting on. “Would you like a coffee or tea? Help yourself to some food.”

Apparently there was not going to be any showdown like Oliver had predicted. No matter what she thought of the woman, Moira Queen had a certain poise about her that was unrivalled. Felicity noticed the lavish spread of sandwiches, pastries and fruit before her, along with the ornate teapot and matching fine bone china teacups. Good manners had compelled Moira to receive her in the politest of ways. After all she was a visitor, a visitor that Moira had tried to kill but still a visitor nevertheless. It was so unfortunate that Moira’s good manners didn’t extend to threating or trying to kill people. Surely that was not good etiquette either.

“No thank you. After everything that’s happened between us I don’t think eating or drinking anything you’re offering is a good idea on my part, wouldn’t you say?” Felicity’s eyes linger on the pile of pastries before her. They looked so puffy and tempting but she was not going down because of pure greed. Death by pastry. William and Oliver would never forgive her.

“What do you want Felicity?” Moira asks bluntly as she sits back down. “You launched a full scale attack on me, you’re holding me hostage and every day without fail you do something to show me that you’re pulling the strings. You show up at my favourite restaurant with Slade Wilson, ensuring that I am there just at the right time to witness it. So tell me what is it you want now?” 

There is a business like quality to her tone. Whether she was frightened or not, Moira Queen was not going to show one single ounce of fear. She had felt physically ill after seeing Felicity with Slade, but now faced with this reality, Moira was determined to show no fear. Felicity Smoak may have gotten the best of her and she may have lost this fight but she wasn’t going to give Felicity the satisfaction of seeing her lose her dignity. 

“What I want is very simple. I want my life back. I want to be able to work, to spend time with my family without constantly watching over your every move to make sure you don’t try to kill me. I’m not scared of you Moira. I’m just sick of being suspicious of you. So I’m here to tell you about my little insurance policy that will hopefully motivate you to stay away from me and my family once and for all.” 

Felicity pulls out a chair, one chair down from where Moira was seated and makes herself comfortable before she stares at Moira and begins to speak again, “You see Moira, I did Mr. Wilson a favour and he feels indebted to me. Tells me he’ll do anything I ask.”

Felicity shrugs, “I don’t need much, never have, but I did ask for one favour. He is to check from time to time whether I am healthy and alive. Should any harm befall me,” Felicity pauses and smiles sweetly at Moira.

“Should any harm befall me,” she repeats again, “he is to ensure that you suffer the same fate. So in short, I live in peace, you live in peace. I die or get hurt…well you know how that goes. You also know how meticulous and discreet Mr. Wilson can be.”

“Oliver…Oliver knows about this… Oliver is letting you do this to me,” Moira pales and sinks into her chair. Her own child, her son was perfectly fine with this woman threatening her.

“No one is doing anything to you Moira. If I live a long and peaceful life, you will too. You started all of this. I’m just finishing it. Don’t act like you’re the victim here.”

Felicity shoots Moira a look of disgust before pushing out her chair and rising from it swiftly. She had had enough. She said her piece and judging by Moira’s reaction Felicity was satisfied that her message had come across loud and clear. There was no need to stay here and exchange barbs with the woman any longer. She didn’t have anything else to say to her nor did she wish to prolong this conversation.

“Good bye Moira. I hope you learn from this and stop terrorizing innocent people simply because you believe you are superior to them and therefor the basic rules of human decency don’t apply to you.” 

***

“You sure it wouldn’t have been a better idea to just drop a drone on her?” William finally says after they’d been driving in silence for about fifteen minutes. 

“William,” Oliver chastises in a warning tone. After rushing out of Queen Manor, Felicity had smiled and assured them everything went well, however Oliver could tell the exchange with his mother had been taxing on her. She was uncharacteristically quiet and flat. As much as he wanted to grill her on each and every detail to satisfy himself that his mother was no longer a threat, Oliver knew that space was what Felicity needed right now so he had suggested driving them home and making her lunch with William. William, being William was unable to stay quiet for long without some sort of commentary.

“I deny any notions that I am able to take command of any drones,” Felicity turns her head and peers at her son in the back seat. “Plus we are better than that remember. A bit of blackmail will be enough.”

“You really think she’ll stop trying to kill you?” William asks again with a worried look on his face and suddenly Felicity realizes why he’s so hung up on dropping a drone on Moira.

“She’s terrified of Slade, William. She’s known him for longer than I have. She knows better than anyone what he’s capable of and what he’s like so she’s going to stew with that knowledge. Plus I think I’ve made it abundantly clear that I can take her out myself, at any given time. She was trying to keep up appearances today but I saw the fear in her eyes so I think we can safely assume she’s going to scurry back to her Queen Bee of society role and let this go.”

“You should fry her electronics from time to time to keep her on her toes,” William mutters viciously. He loathed the woman and still thought she had faced zero consequences for her actions besides getting spooked a bit by Felicity.

“I don’t want to make the mistake she made and push her too far. We have to leave people a way out. I want her to leave us alone and I’ve already done enough to ensure that. I don’t want to bully her the way she tried to bully me. It wouldn’t make me any better than her.” 

“Did you at least use the Liam Neeson speech from Taken? Told her you have a very particular set of skills?” William asks hopefully. 

“No that would have been a tad dramatic don’t you think?” 

“You could be so cool and yet you chose to reject greatness,” William shakes his head at her.

Noticing Oliver looking glum in the drivers seat, Felicity reaches over and gives his arm an affectionate squeeze. “I’m sorry we’re talking about your mother like this.”

“Don’t be,” he replies at once, monetarily taking his eyes off the road to smile softly at her. “I wish she was a better person but she isn’t. You haven’t said anything untrue about her.”

“You know what the worse thing about that meeting was?” Felicity asks him, leaning back in her car seat, determined to cheer him up. 

“What?” Oliver asks. 

“Resisting that brunch spread she had laid out. It looked so good and you know I stress eat so the entire time I kept pining after those pastries,” Felicity admits looking sheepish. 

Oliver chuckles at her confession. She had the most marvellous way of making him feel lighthearted. The feelings of shame and disappointment in his mother were all momentarily washed away by her one comment.

“Felicity Smoak you love us enough to give up delicious food that was dangled in front of you. I have never felt your devotion more than I do right now,” Oliver teases her, earning himself a smack from Felicity.

“Don’t love you one bit, only William,” Felicity retorts sticking her tongue out at him. 

William who was conveniently forgotten by his flirting parents rolls his eyes so hard they threaten to fall out. So now that Evil Wannabe Grandma was vanquished, his parents had wasted no time getting back to their odd non-mating ritual. Sitting there in the back seat, watching them find ways to touch each other, William decides it was time he stepped up to the plate, did something for the family and put everyone out of their misery.

Chapter Text

“You’re kidding me right?” Diggle asks William again, shaking his head in disbelief at what he was being told.

“Nope not at all. Everything I told you is true. This is by far the worse and dumbest thing they have ever done,” William nods his head like a bobble head doll at Uncle Dig, his mind ticking away, trying to make sense of the ridiculousness of it all.

William had been opposed to a bodyguard at first, complaining that surely it was just a dramatic rich people thing but had relented to reduce his dad’s stress levels. However after spending some time together and noting the way Uncle Dig smirked and raised his eyebrows so expressively at William’s stupid parents, William decided he had found a kindred spirit in John Diggle. A solid friendship blossomed from there.

Although John Diggle’s services were now no longer required (Felicity and Oliver being quite confident that at the very least, Moira would not try to hurt her grandson) John and William had formed an unbreakable bond and twice a week Uncle Dig volunteered to pick up his previous charge from school. On these days it was their ritual to go and grab a bite (usually but not exclusively at Big Belly Burger) while William updated Uncle Dig on war stories about his parents. John having witnessed a purposely dense and in denial Oliver describe his platonic friendship with Felicity many times during their weekly gym sessions, understood the aggravation and annoyance that young William lived with, watching his parents live out this absurd romantic comedy that had no ending.

They bonded over the trials and tribulations of dealing with a pair of obtuse and stubborn people who went out of their way to be more and more foolish each day.

“Felicity bought him a bed and set it up in her home office, where she keeps all her computers and he lies on it every night while she codes next to him?” John asks again incredulously. He knew things between Oliver and Felicity were silly but he didn’t realize they’d progressed to this level of ludicrous. 

“Yup,” William answers, bobbing his head again, his eyes going wide. “Every time dad ends up at our place for dinner, he conveniently gets too lazy to go home. Felicity bought him a wardrobe too so he’s got clothes there now. He just stays inside his room and sleeps there with Felicity coding next to him.” William lets out a disgruntled huff and shoves a curly fry viciously into his mouth.

“Does she ever go sit on his bed or does she at least stay at her desk?” John asks curiously. This was some good stuff. You could not make up more ridiculous gossip than this. Lyla was going to have a ball when he told her tonight. Lyla was very invested in The Olicity Saga as she liked to call them.

“Yes!” William replies slapping his hand on the table, working himself up to a fine state. “Yes she does! I knocked the other night to get her to sign a permission slip and she called me to come in, cool as a cucumber. She was in her PJs next to dad, who was also in his PJs. They were both typing away and smiled at me when I walked in. Like it’s a completely normal thing to do when you’re not married or dating but raising a kid together. Let’s change into PJs and sit next to each other on a king sized bed that one of you bought the other because it’s just so normal and that’s what sane single people do every other night.” William’s voice audibly rises by a few decibels now, causing surrounding tables to peer at them curiously. Chuckling, John reaches over and gives him a few hearty pats on the shoulder to calm him down.

“You should say something to them,” Diggle muses looking thoughtful. “You’ve spoken to Oliver and from what you told me he was fairly honest about his feelings for Felicity. He’s just too chicken to do anything about them. So you need Felicity to make the first move.”

John Diggle leans back and folds his mighty arms, giving William a confident gaze, “You need to confront your mom on this. Rationally. Just lay out all the facts.”

“I’m going to,” William nods in agreement. “I plan to jump straight to the topic and ask her point blank so she can’t avoid it. But I want to gather more evidence of their weird relationship. What I love best about Felicity is that she’s always honest with me but she’s not even being honest with herself right now. I want to have a conversation listing out all the facts and evidence in such a rational, almost scientific way, that she can’t avoid.” He had a determined look on his face that had Diggle wondering what was to come next.

“You’re very wise for your years my young friend,” Diggle grins at him. “How did those two idiots have a kid like you? What are you planning to do to get more evidence?” He was thoroughly enjoying this. William was intelligent, amusing and it was refreshing to see things through the eyes of a determined 13 year old. Diggle previously thought teens were miserable, angst ridden, and grumpy creatures and had always dreaded the day when his twins, Sara and JJ would reach this age. William gave him a whole different perspective on teens. For all of their nonsensical ways when it came to romance, Felicity and Oliver were doing an A+ job with their very well adjusted kid. 

“I get my brains from Felicity and my love of having direct, confrontational conversations from my biological mother,” William smiles. He was lucky to have been blessed with a great memory and could remember snippets of his life with his mother more than most people could. Felicity often lamented he loved to launch into confronting conversations just like Samantha did. She said it was a very prominent trait and she could almost hear Samantha’s tone from him sometimes. 

“Nothing from Oliver?” Diggle asks with a smile.

“Hopefully just his looks,” William deadpans before adding somewhat guiltily, “It’s actually kind of weird but if you take physical resemblance aside, I could very well have been Felicity’s biological kid rather than Dad’s.

“So what’s your plan?” Diggle hurries William along sensing that they were getting off track.

“Can I stay with you this Thursday or any other Thursday you have free,” William asks unexpectedly.

“Uhh yeah, I guess so,” Diggle answers, frowning a little in confusion. “Wouldn’t your parents ask you why? It’s not something you do.”

“I have no extra activities on Thursdays, we all normally congregate for dinner at dad’s place in the evening,” William contemplates for a moment, frowning a little with thought before continuing, “I could try and go to a friend’s house but I’d actually have to organize with someone, get his or her parents permission, my parents’ permission. It’s too much hassle. If I just tell them you need help with the twins and I crash at your place, Felicity and Oliver won’t even question it. They’ll have dinner together of course, even if I’m not there and then Felicity will sleep over in her room. It’s not normal for two people who are supposedly only raising a kid together to do stuff like that of course, especially when the kid isn’t even there. Anyone normal would just call off dinner and stay at their own place.” 

“Ahh so you want to confront them about the lunacy of it the next day?” Diggle asks, looking amused.

“Yes! I can help you with the twins when they wake up and if you can drop me off home super early I can catch Oliver and Felicity making googoo eyes at each other over breakfast and confront them.” William smacks the table triumphantly again. “I’ll confront Felicity this time.” 

“I can do this Thursday,” Diggle nods enthusiastically in agreement. “We’ve got twins we don’t get out much on a weeknight,” he explains to William, the latter giving him a surprised look that he could grant his request immediately. 

“You like the plan?” William asks looking pleased everything was working out. He quickly downed the rest of his strawberry milkshake, noting it tasted so much better than when he started the meal. Terrible parents were affecting his appetite.

“It’s a little Disney, a little parent trap-ish but you need something bordering on outlandish hijinks to deal with those parents of yours,” Diggle gives William his seal of approval. 

***

As soon as Lyla pushed her front door open she was greeted by a set of enthusiastic, bounding footsteps as JJ threw himself at her, clinging onto her pantsuit with what she hoped was a pair of non sticky hands. 

“Momma,” her four year old shouts enthusiastically. Lyla bent down to give him a kiss and waited expectantly but no second set of hurtling footsteps arrived.

“Sara’s refusing to walk around. She says she’s the king and making Will carry her everywhere,” JJ announces by way of explanation after seeing the questioning look in his mom’s eyes.

“Will?” Lyla asks as she plucks her four year old from her suit and swings him around, eliciting a series of delighted giggles.

“Hi Aunt Lyla,” William emerges with a petulant looking Sara perched in his arms. “Uncle Dig said I can sleep here tonight. I hope you don’t mind. I won’t cause any trouble I promise.” 

“Wiiiiiiiillll when are we going to play the stealing game?” Sara eyes the older boy critically. “You said you will play the stealing game with me all afternoon but you’re just talking to Mommy. You’re lying to me. Lying is naughty.” Realizing that she had barely acknowledged her mom Sara smiles her best charming smile at her mother. “Hi Mommy. We’ve got to go play now.” 

Sara tugs on William’s shirt and points towards her play area. “Over to the play tent to play the stealing game please,” she commands with the authority of one who was used to being obeyed by this much older boy.

“I want to play too,” shouts JJ as he clambers down from Lyla’s arm and charges towards William and Sara. “Will I wanna be carried too,” he demands as he tries to climb on William. 

“I can’t carry both of you, you’re too heavy,” William protests. “Sara how about you walk and let me carry your brother to the play area,” he coaxes, knowing this was going to end badly.

“No!” Sara responds defiantly, sticking her tongue out at her brother.

JJ who was a laidback child, despite his boisterous energy merely shrugs and clings onto William’s leg before announcing proudly, “I’ll hitch a ride to the play area.”

Lyla smiles and shakes her head and she watches tall, gangly William trudge to the play area with her kids latched onto him. 

“You’re home early,” Dig comes out of the kitchen, carrying a silicon spatula covered in some kind of sauce. He had started on dinner much to Lyla’s relief. Today was shaping up to be an excellent day. Her husband was cooking dinner and her twins had found a new victim to accost. 

“What’s Oliver’s son doing here?” she whispers to John. 

“I didn’t think you would mind. He asked if he could sleep over tonight.”

“I don’t mind but why would he want to sleep over with us? We’ve got a pair of terror twins. What could possibly induce a teenage to want to hang out here,” Lyla asks looking genuinely puzzled.

“He’s giving his parents private time. He wants to bait them with each other and see how loved up they get before he confronts them with their stupidity,” John explains quickly as he rushes back to the kitchen to check his sauce.

Lyla perks up and follows him close, eager to hear more, “So tonight they are going to have the whole night alone? Just the two of them at home?” 

She lets out an envious sigh. “We rarely ever get that and we’re married with kids. What do two people who are supposedly platonic do all night together?” 

“Exactly,” John answers with a knowing look. “William is going to make them explain that to him.” 

***

“Hi! Oliver what are you doing here?” Felicity asks in surprise as she glances up to see Oliver carrying a bouquet of bright pink roses in front of her. She was packing up a few reports she needed to run through tonight before heading out. After receiving texts from both William and Diggle, they had decided the easiest thing would be for Felicity to drop by Oliver’s place for dinner and just stay the night. 

Felicity was vaguely aware that there was something slightly odd about her having dinner with her child’s father and then sleeping over at his place where she had her own bedroom but if she were to be honest with herself, she enjoyed Oliver’s cooking. More than that she enjoyed Oliver’s company. It seemed like a no brainer to come home to a nice cooked meal and a warm smile rather than her lonely townhouse (and it was lonely without William bustling around) and try to make herself a second rate dinner (she’d moved beyond inedible ever since she had William to care for but her dinners were by no means actually tasty) or eat greasy take out. So Felicity didn’t give it anymore thought and decided to do what made her happy which in this case was having a meal with the handsome man before her. She meant handsome in a neutral observer way she really did. He was very handsome. No point in denying it.

“Since we have the night to ourselves tonight I thought I’d do something a bit different,” Oliver says waving the bright pink roses at her, interrupting her very long train of thought. 

“You’ve had a rough few weeks and this is only my small gesture to brighten things up for you a little.” Oliver Queen was standing in front of her, awkwardly waving a bunch of flowers with the shyest, most endearing smile on his face. Felicity’s heart melts a little, despite her knowing it has no business melting. Thank goodness William wasn’t here to witness all this.

Acutely aware that William was nowhere in sight, Felicity takes one more look at Oliver who is running his hands through his hair and looking at her nervously while still holding onto the massive bunch of roses. She quickly shoves the reports into her briefcase, slams it shut and turns to face him. Felicity rewards him with a sunny smile before standing on her tippy toes to give him a kiss on both cheeks. 

“You like the flowers,” Oliver declares looking pleased with a dopey grin on his face.

“I do,” Felicity says, giving him one more peck on the cheek. “Thank you. You’re very sweet.” He was so happy with each cheek kiss making his eyes light up. She decided right there she enjoyed seeing Oliver light up. 

“Come on let’s go home and have dinner,” Oliver finally says as he touches his cheek, still grinning at her. He wraps his free arm around her shoulders, rubbing them gently as he steers her out of her office. “I made your favourite crème caramel.” 

“You really are the best. Don’t tell William but you are,” Felicity sighs happily as she leans into him as they make their way to Oliver’s car. 

***

“Oliver,” Felicity gasps, eyes wide with wonderment before the smile on her face lights up the entire room and Oliver’s soul. The flowers were beautiful, he had made sure of that but they were incomparable to Felicity. 

“Oliver what did you do?” She says walking around, pausing to touch the petals of various flowers within reach. “This is madness. Good madness, wonderful madness but absolute madness. Nobody actually does this for real. They are so beautiful. And they smell glorious.” She pauses by a box of bright yellow roses and stops to breathe their scent in. Oliver had gone and filled the entire living room with flowers. All kinds of flowers. Offhand she could see roses, carnations, sunflowers, daisies, daffodils and tulips just to name a few. Why he would do that was beyond her but she couldn’t deny it took her breath away. Felicity had never been fussed about flowers although she enjoyed them and occasionally got herself a bunch to decorate her space after a gruelling day at work. Seeing something beautiful and alive made her happy. Unable to contain her happiness she does a little twirl around the room. 

“I wanted to do something for you but I didn’t know what to do. So I opted for the biggest cliché ever and did this,” Oliver says, trying to brush off his gesture in a casual manner. He had visions of what he wanted the room to look like but now standing here with Felicity he wondered if it was a bit much. He certainly hoped he didn’t make her feel uncomfortable by going over the top. Beautiful as the flowers were, they were superficial and nothing compared to everything she had done for him.

“I’m glad you like them. They are beautiful but they do pale in comparison to you and everything that you are.” 

His comment stops Felicity mid twirl as she lets out a startled “Oh” and a pink blush begins to creep onto her cheeks. Oliver winces. That sounded less like a declaration in his head. He was going more for a grateful; tell Felicity how wonderful she is kind of comment. 

“Mr. Queen you are quite the smooth and suave operator,” Felicity regains her composure and smiles at him.

“I mean it for real Felicity. There is no smooth operating here. I would never try that on you.” Oliver sounds so genuinely distressed by her comment, Felicity feels bad for teasing him.

“I know you’re always sincere when it comes to me,” Felicity grabs his hand and gives it a reassuring squeeze.” Tonight was strange. Actually if she thought about it every night was a bit strange. Their friendship had steadily grown closer and closer, hitting a point where Felicity felt there was an element of co dependency between them. It frightened her when she thought about it too much. Still Felicity found much comfort and happiness in her friendship with Oliver, with all its quirks; she didn’t want anything to change. He was her loyal friend. He supported her and was always there for her no matter what. Nothing else mattered. 

“These flowers, the fact that they’re everywhere.” Felicity does another twirl, “You’re making me feel like a princess. I’ve never been the princess type. It does feel nice to be a princess once in a while.” 

“Well the way you took down your own hit man, brought Slade over to your side and handled my mother, you’ve always been a plucky Disney princess,” Oliver chuckles. “You even have the golden spun hair.”

He leans into her and gently touches a stray curl, winding it around his finger. From all the equipment she kept at his place Oliver knew she straightened her hair most of the time. Some days when she was running late, it would be left out in its full wavy glory. Today was one of those days.

Felicity doesn’t say anything but merely smiles a bashful smile at him, her cheeks glowing pink again, looking very much like the white roses with the bright edged pink petals. God she’s beautiful, Oliver thinks to himself as continues to idly twirl the stray curl, their faces now just a few inches from each other. Loving, brave, intelligent and stunning beyond belief. 

He’s about to kiss her when a loud, swooshy noise starts up, dissolving the magic in the air. Another sloshy noise follows the first sound and Oliver glances around in alarm as Felicity bursts out laughing. 

“It’s my tummy,” she says apologetically between smiles. “I was so busy I only had a packet of Lay’s Flamin Hot for lunch and now the spice and hunger is making my stomach yell at me.” 

“You really should eat better and try to eat a proper lunch,” Oliver scolds her, making a mental note to pack her lunches a few more days a week. Work had been hectic and his earlier starts meant that he’d been neglecting lunch duty. 

“Come on, let’s get your dinner served up quickly,” he says kissing the top of her head. Felicity’s stomach, which simply wanted to be fed and had, had enough of the flirting let out another audible protest. 

“I’m going to get moving. Relax!” Oliver says, giving Felicity’s tummy a little pat while Felicity laughs at what a lovable dork he is. 

***

Diggle, true to his word managed to drop William off at 7am on the dot. The fact that the twins were early risers helped speed things up and both kids cooperated delighted at the prospect of going for a morning car ride with Wiiiiillll as they called him. 

William turns the key and pushes open the door open quietly hoping to sneak up on his parents, knowing that they were most likely still home. He pads in softly and conceals himself behind a large shelf, intending to eavesdrop and get a feel for things. He doesn’t even bat an eyelid at the flowers displayed all over the room. All things related to his parents frustrated him but seldom surprised him anymore.

His stupid parents were behaving exactly as he expected. Oliver had made Felicity breakfast and was sitting across from her watching her eat it, starry eyed like Felicity had invented eating and was performing some sort of high art routine. William wrinkles his nose and shakes his head at the scene before him. 

“I see I haven’t been missed at all,” he says, springing himself on them, causing Felicity to drop a strawberry in startled surprise. William popping in suddenly had caught her off guard even though she knew he was due back this morning. 

“Of course we missed you,” she assures him hastily, after chewing the piece of fruit as fast as she can. 

“You didn’t even realized I’d come back,” William says in an accusing tone. It was always a good idea to subtly point out how lost to the world they were when around each other. It would provide him with ammunition for the difficult conversation later. 

“You can’t be safer with anyone that with John so of course we didn’t worry about you,” his dad frowns at him; clearly displeased that William was trying to lay a guilt trip on Felicity.

“The point I’m trying to make is that you two had a perfectly wonderful time without me. I know you love me, I’m just merely pointing out how much you enjoy each other’s company even when you don’t need to be in each other’s company for my sake. Clearly you love spending time alone together.” He put extra emphasis on the word love and gave them both a knowing look. 

Felicity as he predicts, promptly falls into his trap. “We missed you yesterday. But since you had your own plans, we made the best of the situation and enjoyed some adult alone time together.” 

Oliver’s face breaks into a huge smile that he tries his hardest to suppress. In that moment, Felicity who had turned her eyes on Oliver for support realizes the error of her words and quickly slams her eyes shut before digging a bigger grave for herself.

“I don’t mean adult time. I just mean time alone as two adults, doing adult things together and enjoying each other’s company.” 

“Felicity you know how I feel about you two together by now but spare me the details. You’ve been such a good mom up until now and helped me avoid trauma. It would be ironic if you were the one to inflict it yourself with sordid details about you and dad doing adult things,” William responds gleefully with a sly grin on his face.

“Your dad and I did not do adult things!” Felicity squawks at him in protest. “I mean we did do things that adults do but we were just enjoying each other’s company. We were not doing HBO adult things.”

“It’s alright Felicity, he understands perfectly well, he’s just giving you a hard time,” Oliver pushes out his chair and walks over to stand behind Felicity, rubbing her back. 

William gives them an infuriating knowing look before heading to his room. “I already ate cereal at the Diggle household. You guys enjoy your adults only breakfast and drive me to school when you’re ready,” he calls casually, grinning to himself as he catches Felicity trying to protest while his dad massages her shoulders in an attempt to sooth her. Like hell they were just trying to be friendly and co parent. 

***

“Why won’t you date Dad?” William cuts to the chase immediately now that he had Felicity hostage in the car. It was a tactic she had used on him in the past, whenever there was something he struggled with talking about. Felicity never pushed, bless her, but she did like to give him an opening to talk in the car when she drove him around.

So he wasn’t exactly as diplomatic and understanding as Felicity but to be fair he was never as pig headed or stuck in any situation as dumb as the one his parents were in. William felt justified ambushing Felicity in this instance.

“Because I can’t just date a man, wonderful as your father is, just because he is conveniently your father,” Felicity answers, puffing out her cheeks in frustration at both her son’s line of questioning and the fact that the light had turned red, causing her to miss out on being able to make a right in time. 

“We’ve been through this before Will. He’s your father. I’m your mother but we’re not together and we don’t have that kind of relationship. We’re just so fortunate that besides loving you, we get along and enjoy each other’s company. Doesn’t mean we will ever get involved in any other way.”

Ahh William was expecting this. The traffic was terrible this morning, which meant he could go on for a good amount of time. William steels himself willing the powers of the universe to grant him patience and a good temper as he tackles this.

“Dad’s not who he used to be you know. He’s not that guy anymore if that’s what you’re afraid of.” William focuses on Felicity’s face to gauge her reaction to his comment.

“Why should I be afraid of things that are none of my business? Oliver’s dating life has nothing to do with me. I have a very high opinion of him. Why would I invite him into our lives and spend so much time with him myself if I thought he was a terrible person.” Felicity makes her turn, eyes purposefully focused on the road before her, if only to avoid William’s gaze. 

“It is your business when the man has stopped dating because if you,” William retorts back quickly, continuing before Felicity can interrupt him. “He’s so worried about upsetting the status quo, he’s basically convinced himself that he’s happy to be in this undefined relationship with you. He chases you around and acts like your husband while both of you pretend to be friends. Come on Felicity. Don’t keep pretending anymore. Both of us are way too smart for this.”

Felicity stops at another red light and glances at her son. “What would you have us do William?” she sighs. “Yes your dad and I are fond of each other. We get along, we care about each other. But that doesn’t mean we have to be anything more.”

“Um you also enjoy spending every waking moment with each other, even when I’m not involved. Both of you have shut down in terms of dating other people. You’re all touchy, feely and carry on like a couple in love. What gives? Why won’t you just give it a go?”

The light turns green and William knows they are only a few hundred meters from pulling into the school car park. He was running out of time.

Felicity doesn’t say anything and seems lost in thought as she continues to drive. Finally she pulls into Starling Academy’s spacious car park. 

“You’re right. Oliver and I are very fond of each other. We love you and we have each other’s backs.” With the car safely parked, Felicity places a hand on William’s shoulder.

“Don’t you see though Will? Oliver and I, our family, we’re like a well-oiled machine. We love you; we like each other, we never disappoint or upset each other. We’re happy. I don’t want to...I can’t risk blowing up that happiness by exploring something more with your father. People break up, relationships don’t work out, and children get hurt as a result. If we were to date and then break up, our family dynamics would change for the worse. I don’t want to risk all that when I can have Oliver in my life as the friend who will always be there and you can have two parents who have a great friendship with each other.” 

“This is because of your parents messy divorces isn’t it?” William asks her softly, feeling a little guilty that he’s accidentally struck Felicity where it hurts. “I know you had a rough time because of your parents rocky marriage but you and dad…you’re perfect for each other. And I don’t want you to deny each other happiness because of me. You’ve always put me first so here I am telling you I don’t need to be your number one anymore. You start living for yourself.” 

Felicity smiles at him, a small sad smile that is unexpected. “It’s been unfair of me to tell you I’m doing this for you. I love you and you’ll always be my first priority but you have nothing to do with this. If I’m to try and be honest with you it’s because I’m scared. I like spending time with your father, I love it that he packs me lunches sometimes, I love that we’re such good friends, I love having someone besides you to watch movies with at night and cook my dinner. I’m so scared of losing all that so I’ve been telling myself that I can’t let anything happen between Oliver and me for your sake. But that’s not true. This is for my sake. For me to protect myself and my friendship with your father.” 

“Dad loves you,” William says at once. “Surely you can see that? You’re the smartest person I know Felicity.” 

“He may very well love me but it doesn’t mean he always will. Feelings change, people change. Life gets hard sometimes. Maybe he just thinks he loves me because I’m your mother and subconsciously it’s convenient for him to have feelings for me so everything can fit into a neat parcel. Can you just accept it when I tell you I don’t want to take a gamble when it comes to my relationship with Oliver?”

There’s something in her tone and the pain in her eyes that tells William he’s said all he can to no avail. Nothing he could say or do would alleviate Felicity’s fears. William throws his arms around her and gives her a big bear hug, clinging onto her just like he used to when he was little. 

“Felicity you raised a four year old child all by yourself and then you caused a criminal to break god knows how many bones by ramming his car into a pole. You terrorized Moira Queen and charmed the guy who was hired to kill you. I really hope for your sake, you find the same courage within you again to give dad a chance. I know it’s scary and you’re afraid dad will hurt you one day but the man loves you so much he’s willing to hang around and worship you from afar because he thinks that’s what you want. Why go through all this torment when the risk of heart break is almost none existent?” 

William lets go of Felicity and meets her eye before adding, “I know about your first meeting at the club. Dad was smitten and wanted to pursue you even after you told him you had a kid. If I were someone else’s kid he’d still want to pursue you so you can’t use the excuse that you’re a convenient person for him to love. Don’t rob yourself of happiness and me of a little sister.” 

William knew bringing up his baby sister again was a bit much but this was the time for dropping truth bombs after all and his truths included badly wanting a baby sister to bounce.

“You were doing so well and sounding so mature up until the baby sister request,” Felicity laughs at her son, although she looks thoughtful.

“I should probably go learn something now instead of repeatedly try to set my parents up. Think about what I said Felicity. I’ve always listened to your advice whenever things got hard. You’re the fairest person I know so I hope you’ll take me seriously.” 

Before Felicity can answer him, William plants two quick kisses on her cheeks and runs out of the car, slamming the door behind him.

Chapter Text

“So I’ll keep the first two weeks of July free.”

“And I already told my assistant I am on leave during that time,” Oliver nods impatiently. “We really need to commit to a resort as soon as possible. Just book the over water bungalow. You have it all right there. Book it now before it gets booked out. They don’t have many two bedroom options and we need two bedrooms.” 

William watched with a mixture of fascination and irritation as his parents attempted to book a holiday together. Not just any old road trip of a vacation. Aruba. They were all going to Aruba with the grand plan of sharing a two-bedroom water bungalow if Oliver had his way. For a moment William pondered how the sleeping arrangements would work. Was he going to share a room with dad or were they going to give him his own room and then camp out together at night and eventually share but not admit to sharing a bedroom. 

William lets out a quiet huff and shakes his head at no one in particular. Oliver and Felicity were too engrossed in their family vacation extravaganza to notice him. Felicity was at the helm, leading the charge with her laptop on the couch, while Oliver hovered next to her, apparently not understanding the concept of personal space as he hunched and rested his chin on Felicity’s shoulder while they debated their vacation plans. Not that Felicity seemed to mind as every so often she’d turn around and give him a smile, complete with an adoring look.

“The beach bungalows are cheaper and also have two bedrooms.”

“My treat. Stop worrying about the prices. How much are you going to save anyway? It’s not a cheap place regardless.” 

“I don’t think you should have to treat us to this entire trip….” 

“Felicity we discussed this. After everything you’ve been through just let me have this trip ok? Book the water bungalow. You can buy me a cocktail when we get there.”

“It’s all inclusive.” 

“Swim shorts. You can pay for a new pair of swim shorts.” 

“I’ll take you shopping for a pair of swim shorts and buy you lunch.” Felicity turns around to give him a winning smile, their faces just a few inches apart. They grin stupidly at each other for a few seconds before Felicity turns back to type something quickly on her keyboard, presumably to book this much debated water bungalow. 

“Will, we’re going to Aruba! You’re going to love it. The resort has an ice cream parlour. We can eat ice cream all day. I wish I could have afforded to take you when you were little at the height of your ice cream phase,” Felicity calls out to William cheerfully before pausing to add with a frown, “They would have banned you from the Japanese restaurant though. It says children over 12 years of age only.” 

“How would you manage a kid by yourself in Aruba?” Oliver asks looking intrigued. He was eternally grateful to Felicity for raising William but the logistics of it never ceased to amaze him. For almost ten years Felicity fed, clothed and watched over William. She drove him to extra curricular activities, took him out to buy shoes, took him to dentist and doctor appointments, flew him on vacations, boarded planes and waited for flights with a young William. It was all Felicity without any help, no one else. Oliver couldn’t think of a time where his mother had actually…well mothered. There was always a handy nanny every day of his life when he was young. 

“You’d be surprised how easy it is to vacation with a child when there is a beach or swimming pool. You just pop them on sand with lots of sand toys and they can entertain themselves for ages. Or you float around in water with them. The flights were easy after he turned five.” 

Felicity looks thoughtful for a moment before smiling sheepishly, “We did go to Hawaii a lot though. It was easy to get to and we had a routine for Hawaii.”

“Will come here for a cuddle. I’m reminiscing when you were little and cute. I’m feeling sad,” Felicity calls out. 

Ordinarily William would obediently trot up to Felicity and stick out his cheeks so she could squeeze them while she reminisced something or other but today something about the way his father was stroking Felicity’s back irritated the hell out of William. He had spoken to both of them about the situation. Had made direct and indirect snide comments about the ridiculous living situation they were all engaged in. His parents had given him nothing but excuses in his private talks with them and had outright ignored his snarky remarks.

No one was committed to doing anything or even taking a step back to think about how laughable their family situation had become. William felt like he would have had more patience with them if they had taken a step back from each other after he talked to them. At least then he could believe there were concrete reasons for why they felt they couldn’t be together.

Instead they opted to book a trip to Aruba while being touchy-feely with each other under some delusion that it was perfectly normal for two people who were friendly and shared a kid to carry on the way they did. In that moment something inside William snapped as he glared at his two beaming parents, his dad with an arm casually slung over Felicity’s shoulder. Of course they were touching. They were always engaged in some sort of physical contact.

“I am not going to Aruba,” William says sharply while walking towards them. That got their attention. Felicity immediately stiffened while Oliver wrapped a second arm protectively around her. 

“Will I thought you would like it. It’s not too late to get a refund if you want to go somewhere else. We should have discussed it with you more but you always said you didn’t care where you go as long as it was warm and beachy and there’s an ice cream shop on the resort…” Felicity’s voice trails off as she looks at him in dismay. 

William almost feels sorry for Felicity and his dad. Felicity looking upset and Oliver looking distressed that Felicity was upset. Almost but not quite.

“I’m not going anywhere with the both of you until you sort out your crap. Enough is enough guys. You want a holiday you can split your time and custody of me like normal people who aren’t together.”

“Will…” Oliver begins unsure of whether to indulge his son on his outburst or tell William to stop upsetting Felicity. 

“I love you. I love you both. But I am not doing this anymore. I will not go along with this bizarre arrangement where you two are madly in love and acting like you’re married, only to turn around and tell me you’re just friends. Friends don’t have dinner with each other every night and wait for each other to go to bed. People who share custody do not have a room at their place where the other party has practically moved in. People who are purely platonic do not sit around and touch each other all night.”

William winces at the last statement, which was decidedly a very Felicity thing to say and the mere thought of it creeped him out but he continued to glare at them defiantly, crossing his arms.

“I will not be a part of this any longer. No more family dinners. Felicity I will eat with you 4 nights a week and see Oliver for the other 3 nights. You can stay in your own homes and clear out those spare bedrooms you have for each other. You can chat politely when you drop me off. If you want to see each other for lunch while I am at school that’s none of my business but I don’t want this nonsense under my nose every night. I’ve had enough. I will not put up with it any longer. You should both move on. You know what, I don’t care anymore. I want you both to move on so I can have two siblings from each of you when you marry other people.” 

He practically shouted the last sentence in their faces and gave them one last frustrated glare before storming off, slamming the door of his bedroom. 

*** 

They sit in silence for a good chunk of time after William’s outburst. It is in those moments that Felicity is acutely aware that what should be an uncomfortable silence is not so. Somehow during that time, Oliver has pulled her into his body so that she is now has her head resting on his shoulder while he rubs her back in circles comfortingly.

“He’s not wrong you know,” Oliver says in gentle voice after a good amount of time has elapsed.

Felicity sits up straight to get a good look at him.

“I know,” she responds with a small smile, noticing that Oliver’s taken both of her hands in his. William’s observations were spot on. No matter what they did, they always ended up in this kind of situation. “Where do we go from here?”

“Well I’m not giving up my bedroom here,” Oliver says with a determined look on his face, coaxing a chuckle out of Felicity. He watches her in wonderment while she laughs and when she pauses he takes the opportunity to cup her face gently in his hands. Felicity gazes at him, those big blue eyes searching his face for answers. 

Oliver decides they’ve done enough talking and swiftly but softly kisses her lips. To his delight Felicity lets out a content sigh and just melts into his kiss, winding her arms around his neck as she kisses him back. Her lips are soft and she tastes like the raspberry cake he brought over for dessert but the biggest thing that Oliver takes away from it all is that Felicity is a wonderful, wonderful kisser, that he could go on kissing her forever and why had he been such a fool to wait so long. 

When they finally come up for air, Felicity gives him a sheepish grin and snuggles into his arms, all the pretenses of platonic friendship now dropped. 

“We should go on a date,” Oliver says with a goofy grin on his face as he kisses the top of her head. “No William since he’s mad at us anyway. I’ll send him to John’s for the night and I’ll pick you up and wine and dine you like I should have months ago.”

“Haven’t we been dating for months now according to William?” Felicity laughs looking up at him, her eyes bluer than ever, her hair more golden, and her face more beautiful. It was like all the barriers he’d carefully constructed out of respect for Felicity and their friendship had crumbled after their kiss and now she wasn’t Felicity his friend and savior anymore, she was Felicity the woman he wanted and desired. 

Oliver leans in for another kiss, pulling her onto his lap. “I want to do things properly with you Felicity. We are going to have a first date. We’re going to have a first everything.”

“But we’ve had a first kid together already,” Felicity reminds him with a glint of mischief in her eyes.

“We’ve had a first teenager together. We’re going to have a first baby together one day,” Oliver responds boldly before realizing what he’s just said. 

“I mean if you want a baby. We can talk about that later. I want a baby. With you. If you want a baby. With me. I…I didn’t like it when he said we would have babies with other people. But we don’t need to worry about babies yet. Unless you ask William. He’s worrying about babies all the time I think.” 

Oliver is so endearingly earnest and flustered as he clings onto her; Felicity simply squeezes his cheeks and smiles at him. “You’ve said the word baby way too many times,” she teases. “Just so we’re clear I am open to babies, well at least one baby.”

The look of relief and sheer joy on Oliver’s face causes her to kiss him once again. Oliver responds enthusiastically and whines when Felicity finally pulls away.

“I wonder what he would think of this,” Felicity whispers. “We finally took his advice.”

“Should we tell him now or wait until he’s had time to cool down? I think he’d welcome the news after how angry he was tonight,” Oliver ponders as he tries to pull Felicity in for another kiss. This was wonderful. He can kiss her now. Anytime. Anywhere. They were on kissing terms. Life was amazing. He dives in for another kiss. 

“Let’s actually go on a date first so we have something to tell him,” Felicity emerges from the kiss to answer Oliver. “What are we going to tell him tonight? Hey you yelled at us so we’ve been making out on the couch and we hope you’re happy with us again. Plus I don’t think he wants to hear about the making out.”

“You are a very smart woman,” Oliver concedes enthusiastically, as he falls backwards onto the couch and pulls Felicity on top of him. He was allowed to do that now. He grins at her with glee before sobering up as he remembers one important fact, “Do we need to take this to the bedroom so we don’t traumatize him if he comes out?”

“He’s furious with us so he’s not going to go out here tonight. Probably thinks we’re going to watch a movie platonically and the sight of us will annoy him,” Felicity reassures Oliver as she props herself up, by laying her hands on his abs.

“I’d rather not take my chances,” says Oliver as he sits up and neatly rolls Felicity into his arms, lifting her off the couch. 

“Ooh,” Felicity squeals in surprise. “I was not expecting that. You’re very deft at that.” 

“Military school that I got kidnapped to taught us a few things. It was the one thing I took away from that horrible place. Self defense. I got Dig to train me after I met him so I work out too in order to keep fit.” 

“I can see that,” Felicity smiles dreamily at Oliver as he carries her off into her study, his pseudo bedroom. 

*** 

Felicity had never been a wild child. Much to Donna’s dismay she had never done the walk of shame or snuck around. The Cooper years were more undesirable than wild and then soon after that she “had” William which put an end to any youthful indiscretions she might have had. 

There was something profoundly laughable about sneaking around with her son’s father of all people. Nothing had happened (well plenty had happened but nothing of drastic consequence) the night Oliver had whisked her off to her study. Oliver who was oddly very uptight and datezilla-ish about the whole situation between them had put on the breaks repeatedly, insisting that he be allowed to take Felicity out on a few dates before they progressed the relationship. Felicity had protested vehemently, jumping on board the “But we have a kid together already” train, however Oliver after kissing her senseless a few times made it clear that it was his dream to at least date Felicity properly once.

So here they found themselves sitting nervously across from each other, Oliver suited up and Felicity in a form fitting red dress with her hair cascading down her shoulders, both wondering why things were feeling so tense. They had spent almost every moment of every day together for the past few months, both with William and alone. 

“Do you think he has any idea we’re here?” Oliver asks. Suddenly finding themselves at a loss for topics to discuss, they reverted to the one safe subject they could both talk about. William. 

“He’s probably too busy sulking at John’s to give too much thought to what we are up to. Probably thinks we are having a friendly dinner at home, reverting to our old ways and disregarding his feelings,” Felicity laughs.

William true to his word had refused to spend time with the both of them for the past week and tonight was his night to sulk at John Diggle’s house, leaving Felicity and Oliver to go on their date.

“We should tell him soon,” Oliver says anxiously. For some reason tonight felt like a milestone of sorts. It was a symbol of the beginning of their relationship. After the official date he hoped Felicity would finally agree to tell William. 

“We can tell him tomorrow,” Felicity smiles at him reassuringly. “After we survive this date tonight.” 

“It’s that bad huh?” Oliver asks with a sheepish grin on his face. They’d gone out for dinners alone before, notably once when William was on a short school trip. However something about the label attached to this date tonight had thrown them both for a loop, moreso Oliver than Felicity.

“It’s not bad. Your company is never bad.” Felicity reaches over and takes his hand from across the table. “I think we’re both just trying too hard to act like this is a first date instead of two people who know each other very very well and share a life together already.”

Oliver doesn’t say anything but simply squeezes her hand and gives her a starry eyed smile which makes Felicity melt a little. The nerve of this man. First he pursues her at the club and now he’s dreamily treasuring every moment of this first date with her even though realistically they’d probably had a first date several months ago. Who would have guessed Oliver Queen was such a hopeless romantic.

For a moment they are locked in gaze, grinning foolishly at each other until Felicity manages to drag herself out of the trance to give Oliver’s hand a few resounding pats. 

“On that note, I am going to order a giant serve of pasta for entrée, guzzle that down, a giant serve of tiramisu, inhale that and then whine about how full I am like I do every night.” 

“That’s my girl,” Oliver chuckles and just like that he’s on the date he’s always wanted with the girl he didn’t think he would ever get. 

*** 

“Just so we’re clear, you’re not asking me in tonight so I can watch TV with you and do some work side by side like we usually do?” Oliver asks in one breath, taking in a giant gulp of air at the end when he realizes how silly the question seems. Still they were treading on newfound shores here and with Felicity he wanted to work on the premise that nothing should be taken for granted. Which was why when she kissed him after he walked her to her door and suggestively asked if he was staying the night tonight, Oliver panicked and managed to work himself into a state of confusion. 

He was 95% sure she was asking him to stay the night in a completely different context but the other 5% could not help worrying in case she meant in the normal context and he went ahead and jumped the gun. That would be awful. Terrible. Beyond awful. So he did the lamest (and safest) thing he could think of which was ask for clarification. Oh how he wished there was a more suave way to ask for clarification. His younger playboy self would have known how to handle the situation with ease. But then his younger self had never had a woman like Felicity grinning at him lasciviously as she played with his tie.

That smile, the gentle yanking on his tie, the kiss. Yup she was definitely asking him in under different circumstances. Unless she was just being mischievous. Felicity did have a wonderfully unique sense of humour at times. 

“Oliver I am asking you in to…do I have to spell everything out so bluntly?” Felicity huffs, giving his tie another tug as she pulls him towards her so that his face is mere millimeters from hers. The night air, which should have been a moderately cool night, seems to have suddenly risen by several degrees. 

This time Oliver decides he’s got enough cues to read the situation correctly. He backs Felicity up against the door and lunges in for a kiss. 

*** 

William turns the key in the front door slowly, careful not to drop the box of pastries he was clutching onto. Uncle Dig really was very good to him, letting him crash at his place to have his big sulk about the situation with his parents. Not to mention agreeing to drop him off early today so he could surprise Felicity. The twins who were always up early and were car ride enthusiasts had waved happily at him while chowing down on a heavily frosted cinnamon bun each. 

William smiles to himself as he quietly enters the house. The Diggle twins were the reason why he’d decided to come home early and put an end to his big protest/sulk fest against his parents. After witnessing (and jumping into the deep end to help out) how much work it was to feed, clothe and generally entertain two little people, William’s heart softened towards his parents, Felicity in particular.

So what if Felicity had some fears that she wasn’t able to get over. Felicity was still the same woman who spent countless hours reading to him and playing board games with him. The woman who carted him on flight after flight by herself so he could experience other cultures and see the world even if it would have been easier for her to stay home or send him on summer camp. She’d spent virtually all of her youth on him. Who was he to demand that she resolve this thing with dad because he, William, thought that it was better for her?

It was obvious that they were in love with each other whether they admitted it or not and if they continued spending every moment of their lives together, there could only be one path for them. His threats and demands suddenly seemed so dramatic and bratty. 

With those thoughts swimming around in his head, William had begged Uncle Dig to stop by Flour and Co (Felicity’s favourite bakery) to pick up a box of treats for her. He also intended to apologise for his tantrum, inform Felicity he was more than happy to resume the normal status quo and later thank both his parents for planning to take him on such a lavish trip.

William moves quietly around the kitchen with bare feet and begins to make a coffee for Felicity. He decides he’ll bang on a pot lid to wake her like he usually does and then bring her breakfast in bed as a nice surprise. Felicity loved breakfast in bed. She always said it made her feel spoilt and was the ultimate pampering and luxury. 

*** 

William tiptoes quietly outside Felicity’s door and carefully places his tray which held a steaming mug of coffee, a large bear claw and a cherry Danish, on the floor. He then picks up the giant metal pot lid and ladle which he’d set up there earlier and proceeds to bang the two objects together as loud as he could.

“Felicity!!!!! Wake up call! Wake up Felicity,” William shouts perkily, giving the pot lid and ladle another series to clashes, making terrific noise in the process. He does this for a good minute before dropping the noise making objects on the ground to pick up his precious breakfast tray. 

“Good morning Felicity,” William calls out sunnily as he bursts into Felicity’s bedroom only to be confronted by a sight that almost made him drop his tray. It was only through sheer will and the desire to protect his hard sought pastries (Flour & Co were very popular and often sold out early in the mornings) that allowed William to lurch forward and grip onto the tray before it could tumble out of his arms due the severe shock he was experiencing.

His dad was in bed. With Felicity. In Felicity’s room. Cuddling. Without a shirt. Or bottoms William suspected. 

Unable to decide where to look but having too many questions to flee the room William did the only thing he could. He lets out a startled yelp, clings onto his breakfast tray protectively and turns his back on them, finding a nice soothing patch of fluffy rose pink carpet to stare at. 

William knew his parents were close and liked to peddle their ridiculous relationship as friendship but even they wouldn’t go as far as to lie in bed together (presumably since last night) under the guise of friendship. Not especially since Oliver has his own room in their home.

“Arghhhhhhh,” William screams again, the trauma of what he’d witness really sinking in now.

“What the hell guys! I was just mad at you the other day for…Arghhhhh. I’m scarred for life. I’m going to need therapy after this. Who would have thought after protecting me all my life you’re the one to traumatise me Felicity.”

William didn’t know why he was feeling dramatic but he was. It was all so very disturbing. First his parents had continuously sung the “We are platonic friends” song and now suddenly he’s witnessing his dad’s bare chest, canoodling with Felicity. William lets out a shudder as he absentmindedly picks up the bear claw, takes a bite from it and proceeds to chew morosely, pondering how much bleach he was going to need for his brain and eyes. 

“Buddy…” Oliver begins. “I’m so sorry Buddy, we were going to tell you today.” Oliver had a weird habit of reverting to calling William “Buddy” whenever he was severely stressed. 

“Will I’m so sorry you’re witnessing this but you shouldn’t burst in like that,” Felicity says calmly in a voice that suggests a hint of a smile. He bets she’s secretly laughing at him and not giving a second thought to the life long scars he was going to bear from this. 

“I did not burst in! I banged outside your door for several minutes. Why didn’t you say something,” William responds accusingly, taking another bite of the bear claw and staring even harder at the pink carpet. “I always wait a few minutes before bursting in. I’ve done it all my life and you’ve always been fine with it. I didn’t expect a man in your bed! You’ve never had a man in your bed!”

“The man is your father,” Felicity responds with a chuckle. How she could see the humour in this was beyond William. William bet that right now, Oliver was looking like he wanted to die too.

“We were really tired after last night so we didn’t hear you and then when we heard you and were about to say something, you burst in.”

“I always burst in eventually. The banging and yelling has always been your warning,” William all but whines at Felicity.

“And it’s extra traumatic that it’s my father. I don’t need to see Dad and you…ugh.” William shivers again.

“Why so squeamish if you’re the one asking for a baby sister?” 

Felicity is outright mocking him now, right after traumatizing him. In that moment William decides to mentally take back everything he’d ever said about her being a good mother. His dad as expected was deadly quiet through all this. William suspected that if he were to catch a glimpse of his dad now, Oliver probably looked like he wanted to die.

“I never wanted to witness you making my baby sister,” William shoots back. “Arrghhh this is so disturbing.” 

“There, there baby,” Felicity coos at him the way she used to in his younger years whenever he got vexed over something. “We are very sorry. We didn’t mean it. Well we did mean it but we didn’t mean for you to see us. I’m sorry Will.” 

William lets out a long cleansing breath, tries to gather his composure and wills his dramatic mood to dissipate. 

“I probably should have waited to hear you shout something back before I burst in,” he admits, feeling much mollified by Felicity’s soothing tone. It pulled him back to his childhood with her and his childhood always lulled him into a nice soothed state. 

“You brought me breakfast in bed? Awww Will. You’re the best,” Felicity coos again. “You can turn around, we’re decent now. Sort of.” 

Gingerly and most likely against his better judgment William turns around to see his parents next to each other, sheets pulled up to their chins. He suspected they were holding hands but decided to ignore this. At least they seemed somewhat civilized. 

“Here is your breakfast. The coffee is probably only luke warm now,” William says as he holds the tray in front of Felicity. 

Just as he suspects, Felicity has to disentangle her hand from Oliver’s to receive the tray. 

“Thank you Will,” she says with a big smile on her face that grows even wider and more amused when she eyes the Bear claw with two bites taken out of it. 

“I was stressed,” William says, gesturing at the tray by way of explanation. 

“Hey you two aren’t doing anything even more stupid right? Like trying to be friends with benefits or something?” he asks suspiciously now that his wits have returned to him. 

“Certainly not,” Oliver protests at once. “Felicity is my girlfriend. More than girlfriend. If you’ll have me of course.” He turns and gives Felicity a shy, dopey smile. 

“Sure I’ll be more than your girlfriend,” Felicity beams at Oliver before balancing the tray on her lap so that she could caress his face with both hands and pull him closer for a kiss. 

“Ugh! I may have wished for this but I don’t want to witness it,” William groans. “Enjoy your breakfast. There are more pastries in the kitchen. I will be in my room studying. With headphones on. Find me when you are…um done.” 

“This doesn’t change the fact that I still love you best,” Felicity calls after him as William skedaddles out of the room. 

“I do you know. Love him best I mean,” Felicity tells Oliver firmly with a grin as she turns to focus her gaze on him.

“Somehow I think I can live with playing second fiddle to your son,” Oliver laughs, pulling her in for another kiss. “You think he’ll be ok? We didn’t traumatise him for life did we?”

“He’ll be fine,” Felicity kisses Oliver back. A relaxed, melty kiss before focusing on her bear claw and taking a big bite out of it. 

“Did you know there was a time when I would not dare eat something Will had taken a bite off? His first two years at school every time I ate his leftovers I would catch something even if he appeared perfectly fine. I called him my little germ factory.” 

Felicity sighs and looks wistful as she chews, “They grow up so quickly. Too quickly.” 

“And now you’re in bed with his dad,” Oliver says kissing the top of her head. 

“Yup. Never expected that to happen in a million years,” Felicity admits holding up the bear claw so Oliver could take a bite of it as well.

Chapter Text

“This is oddly formal for a Father and Son dinner at home,” William remarks as he glances at the table setting for two. His dad had even whipped out a white lace tablecloth and a vase with pink baby roses sat in the middle of the table that had been set for two. Since when did Oliver have roses in a vase for their boys night dinners?

Boys night dinners had become somewhat of a fortnightly event after Felicity had declared dramatically one day that she needed time to see her friends and refused to be attached to them every night. She reasoned that even Will went off with Diggle or his friends once a week so it was only healthy that she went to spend quality time with some of her friends.

Both her boys accepted and supported her decision; although William noticed that Oliver bristled wildly when Felicity mentioned one of her friends included Barry Allen. It hadn’t helped matters when William absentmindedly confessed during one of their Father Son dinners that he had pushed for Felicity to pursue a relationship with Barry back in the day because Barry was so darn cheerful and reminded him of a commonsense devoid version of Felicity. 

“Why so fancy tonight?” William glances at the roses with intrigue.  

“Tonight is kind of important,” Oliver responds, trying to sound casual while he flutters around the kitchen placing finishing touches on his crispy skinned roast chicken and some sort of a suspicious looking side dish full of grains. That was going to eat gritty, William thinks to himself with a sigh. 

“I have something to ask you,” Oliver says as he sprinkles pomegranate seeds onto a bowl of dressed arugula leaves.

“Well dad unless you’re asking someone to marry you I would say you’re going a bit overboard tonight…” William pauses midway as the reality of the situation dawns on him. His face quickly breaks into a huge grin when he realizes what is going on.

“Oh my goodness. You’re going to propose to Felicity. You want to get my permission to propose to Felicity.” William is smiling so hard his cheeks start to hurt.

“Just so we’re clear you have my full blessing dad and if you hadn’t proposed by a year I would have raked you over the coals. This is good. I approve,” William practically shouts in delight. 

“Well that was easy,” Oliver sighs with relief, a glorious smile gracing his previously stressed looking face. 

“But why go all fancy tonight? Surely you didn’t think a grainy salad was needed for me to give you my blessing.” William picks up the dubious side dish and peers at it again wondering if those grains were cous cous or quinoa. Neither option was very palatable to him to be honest.

“I wanted your opinion on the menu I plan to propose with,” Oliver admits gesturing at the platters, which were now all on the dining table.

“Crispy chicken good, Felicity loves crispy chicken skin as much as the next person. Although if you really want to make a splash just make her fried chicken. Frying is your friend dad. Lose the nasty grainy salad. It’s not good, no one but you and your fellow health freaks will think it is good. Serve up Mac and Cheese if you want to increase her chances of saying yes. I am sure she’ll say yes but the quinoa might lose it for you. Felicity doesn’t want to be confronted with a bowl of grains that stick to her teeth while you pop the question.”

“You are very opinionated,” Oliver tells his son huffily as he ingests a huge bite of quinoa. So much for trying modern dishes on these two he laments to himself. William had a point though. He had been eating junk with Felicity his entire life, if anyone knew her palate it was William.

“Well you asked for my opinion,” William tells his father impatiently. “The tablecloth is a nice touch, a bit old lady looking though, maybe try a print. The roses are pretty.”

“Anything else you want to comment on?” Oliver asks sagely as he watches his teen tuck enthusiastically into a chicken thigh. The quinoa was not going to be eaten. Lucky he had the foresight to make some garlic bread, which was being kept warm in the air fryer.

“I notice you are planning on chocolate soufflés for dessert. I say lose the soufflé. Too eggy.” William says casually, as he leaves the table to go check the air fryer. He could hear it whirling and if it was on, it had to be cooking something that he did want to eat.

“That’s just your personal opinion now,” Oliver says defensively. “Felicity loves soufflés.”

“Well don’t ask for my opinion if you’re going to be squiffy about it,” William says good naturedly as he returns to the table with two half loaves of garlic bread. Dad cooked like a dream when he wasn’t devoting his time to making rank grainy dishes. His garlic bread was the best garlic bread William had ever tasted. 

“She’ll definitely say yes if you serve fried chicken, mac n cheese, this garlic bread and chocolate molten lava cake with ice cream,” William says before shoving a large piece of garlic bread into his mouth.

“Need some greens,” Oliver mutters back looking slightly disgruntled.

“If you are to skip greens on any night of your life, it would be the night you get proposed to,” William grins as he imparts his wisdom on Oliver cheerfully.

***

“Have you decided on a ring yet? Do we need to go ring shopping? I don’t know much about jewelry but I am very much Felicity’s child so you give me two days and I will know everything there is to know about engagement rings,” William informs his father as he shovels giant spoonfuls of chocolate soufflé into his gob.

“I thought you said it was eggy?” Oliver remarks snidely.

“I’m a growing boy. Even sweet chocolatey egg is fine.” William ignores his father’s indignant glare and continues to down the soufflé merrily.

“Back to the ring dad. Have you got one in mind?” 

Oliver perks up a little bit and reaches into his pocket, pulling out a navy blue velvet box. He opens the box and places it in front of William, looking very proud of himself. 

William eyes the square-ish shaped sparkler. Big, sparkly and kinda boring if he were to be honest. This was not a Felicity ring at all. He suddenly wishes he had more time to prepare for all of this, despite the fact that his dad proposing to Felicity was everything he’d ever wanted. Felicity was not the sort to care much about diamonds or weddings but he was going to be damned if he didn’t at least make sure she got a perfect ring. 

“Where did you get this ring from,” he asks his father carefully.

“It belonged to my grandmother who gave it to my father when he married my mother. After they drifted apart she stopped wearing it and split all her gifts from my father between Thea and me. I ended up with this ring,” Oliver explains. “I thought since it belonged to my grandmother it would be nice to keep it in the family. Propose with a family heirloom.” 

Oh his poor dim, deluded father. At least Oliver had the sense to consult him on this William thinks to himself.

“Let me lay out the facts as they stand. This ring, worn by your mother for many years in her failed marriage to your philandering father, yes I know he has a mistress, Felicity tells me everything.” He pauses and takes a deep, dramatic breath. 

“You want to use this ring to propose to Felicity. The ring that was worn by the woman who sent a hit man after her. You are going to propose to my mother using this ring that once belonged to your evil mother? Have I left anything out? 

“It was my grandmother’s first,” Oliver says defensively, rubbing his temple. William did have a point. He really should have thought this through.

“I’m sure your grandmother was a very nice woman but nothing can usurp the bad juju of your wretched mother,” William tells him bluntly. “All the sage in the world will not cleanse that woman’s vicious energy.”

“Ok ok you’ve made your point,” Oliver sighs looking defeated. “What do you suggest that I do?” 

It seemed like such a great idea at the time but now he realized he had only been one step away from putting Felicity in the awkward position of having to graciously accept the ring that once belonged to a woman who loathed her. Not that it was Felicity he was worried about. William would harp on about it forever. 

“Just how rich are you exactly?” William grins devilishly at him. “Give me two days for research and then you and I are going to buy Felicity the most amazing ring in the history of the universe.” 

“Nothing is too good for Felicity but I don’t think she’d be comfortable with anything over a million,” Oliver informs his son thoughtfully. “You know what your mother is like. She’s not that kind of girl.” 

“She deserves a honker of a rock considering how long she spent being your reverse baby momma.” 

“Hey what about a large Columbian emerald? Something a bit unique?” Oliver beams brightly at the thought of this. Green was his colour and it was a great element to incorporate into his marriage with Felicity.

“Just because you like green does not mean Felicity wants to sport a big rock in your favourite colour.” William rolls his eyes so hard he goes temporarily crossed eyed. 

“Yeah that wasn’t one of my better sudden ideas.” Oliver looks suitably chastised and ashamed of himself. 

Suddenly his brain clicks. 

“A pink diamond. That’s her favourite colour. The more I think about this the more I’m sure it’ll be perfect for her.” 

Oliver gets excited at the prospect of seeing what was out there that was pink. Most of all he couldn’t wait to see the way Felicity’s face would light up when she sees it. He’s seen her be positively giddy at the make up counter whenever there was a new pink shade of lipstick available and the one time he’d picked up a bottle of glittery pink nail polish as an offhand gift for her, he’d been duly rewarded that night. 

“Make sure you’ve got enough funds because we are going to buy Felicity the perfect ring.” William looks as thoroughly pleased with the outcome.

“Just don’t get any ideas about shoving it into chocolate soufflés or molten cakes because that is so cliché and just makes the ring gross,” William adds firmly. 

Oliver doesn’t respond to this but merely looks at his son sheepishly. 

“Oh god you’re so cheesy and predictable,” William laughs. 

*** 

“Hi! Something smells amazing,” Felicity calls out as she walks through the door. As Felicity makes her way through to the kitchen past the dining table she notices Oliver has broken out the fancy lace tablecloth. Bless him he was the only man she’d ever met who used lace tablecloths and he was Oliver Queen. It was another fascinating aspect of his personality to say the least.

Felicity peers more closely at the dining table and notices the brand new china, which has been laid out. As soon as she notices this Felicity makes a mental note to change into a pretty, date-like dress instead of the loose singlet and shorts she was planning to eat dinner in. It was only fair that she also dress the part in lieu of all the effort Oliver appeared to have put into tonight’s date night.

It was a date night in, something which they did all the time. Oliver liked to cook up a fancy feast but he was going all out tonight. 

“Hey,” he greets her with a kiss on the lips before shoving a large bunch of pink roses in her hand. “These are for you.” 

He’s smiling at her eagerly with his trademark devoted heart eyes, however there is a nervous energy radiating from him, like he is not quite comfortable in his skin.

“They are beautiful. Thank you,” Felicity smiles at him warmly while trying to work out what it is that he seems so nervous about.

“Oliver are you alright? Did everything work out in the kitchen?”

She asks this because he has been known to get a bit tense on the odd occasion when his fancy schmancy gourmet creations don’t turn out exactly the way he expects them to.

“Everything is fine you should put the flowers in a vase right now,” Oliver responds in one breath while shifting on one foot, still buzzing with nervous energy. “You really should put those flowers in a vase. They might wilt.” 

“Make sure you trim the stems,” he adds very loudly and insistently. 

“Okaaay,” Felicity says giving him a quizzical look. She decides she will get to the bottom of this later but right now she will stick these flowers in a vase if that’s what it takes for him to relax.

Felicity glances at the pink roses, each one with bright velvety pink petals and temporarily forgets about Oliver’s odd behavior. She nuzzles her nose softly into the petals and takes a big sniff, savouring the soft floral perfume. As she walks towards the display cabinet to fetch their vase, something drops down onto the carpet with a small plop and Felicity realizes the object had fallen from the bouquet of roses. 

“Weird. Seems like an object dropped out of the roses,” she says before bending down to see what it is. 

“Oh my god that wasn’t supposed to happen,” Oliver yelps, suddenly dropping on his hands and knees to scramble around on the carpet. 

Despite her curiosity getting the best of her by the minute (really this was the strangest Oliver has ever acted in all her time knowing him, in fact it was the only time in their relationship he’s ever been strange), Felicity also gets down on her hands and knees to look for this mysterious object that has sent Oliver into a panic. 

Two seconds later she spots it on the carpet. A beautiful, bright, peachy pink rectangular shaped diamond, surrounded by a pink diamond halo and again by another halo of white diamonds. The ring was stunning and there was no doubt who it was meant for. 

“Is this what you've been stressed about since I walked through the door?” she asks with an impish grin as she holds the ring up to show Oliver who is kneeling beside her. 

“You were supposed to put the flowers in the vase and find it nestling in the petals,” Oliver responds looking delightfully boyish and shy at the same time.

“William said it was a stupid idea,” he confesses his cheeks colouring in embarrassment.

“I think it’s perfect,” Felicity chuckles holding the ring up to the light. It shot out a thousand bright sparkles that twinkled at her cheerfully. The pink stone simply exuded bright and joyous energy. 

Gently Oliver takes her hands and urges her to stand up while he remains on both knees.

Felicity obliges and hands him back the ring, grinning giddily as she knows perfectly well what is about to come next. 

“Felicity Smoak will you make me the happiest man on the face of the earth? Will you marry me?” Oliver asks eagerly as he looks up at her, eyes shining. 

“Yes! I love you,” Felicity practically shouts, holding her hand out for Oliver to slip the ring on.

“I love you so much,” Oliver sighs happily as he stands up and pulls her into his arms for a kiss. 

*** 

“I don’t know what I love more. This ring or those molten lava cakes and that mint chip ice cream you served with them. Mmm mint and chocolate,” Felicity sighs as she cuddles into Oliver whilst trying to hold up her hand so that the diamond could make use of the light furnished by her reading lamp. She was wearing nothing but the ring. 

“Of course I love you more than the ring or the molten cakes,” she adds hastily noting the amused smile on Oliver’s face.

“William first, molten cakes second, I’m probably a lucky third,” he teases, before giving her a kiss.

“You look amazing in that ring. Should wear it and nothing else more often,” he grins salaciously at her.

“To tell you the truth I don’t even care about the ring. All I care about is you,” Felicity declares emphatically as she rolls on top of him. 

“Pink suits you. It really is the perfect ring,” Oliver says puckering his lips for another kiss. Felicity tilts her head and obliges. 

*** 

Will: If you didn’t say yes to Dad I’ll run away and never come back.

Felicity: I said yes. Don’t be so dramatic. 

Will: He didn’t try to bake it in the molten cake did he? If he did I’ll kill him. 

Felicity: Nope. Stuck it on roses. Dropped to the floor but we found it quickly.

Will: OMG I told him not to do that. Did it drop on the tiles or carpet? Is the stone chipped? Did you loupe it? Even diamonds have their weak spots. 

Felicity: Ring looks fine. Gorgeous actually. 

Will: Course it’s gorgeous I picked it. One of a kind. I made sure my Momma got the best. 

Felicity: You did not fleece your dad for this ring did you?

Will: Relax. You deserve it. They owe you for all those years of raising me

Felicity: WILL!!!!!!!! 

Will: Hey if there is one time I’m gonna milk that Queen trust fund it will be for this. 

Felicity: WILL!!!!!!!

Will: Don’t you love the ring?

Felicity: Yes I do. Very much. But I would have married your dad without a ring or one of those cheap toy ones.

Will: Course you would. Totally your trademark. And that’s why you have me. To make sure you get what is owed to you. 

Felicity: WILL!!!!!!

Will: Got to go! Gonna get busted for texting you. Love you Mom!

***

The ring in question. Offhand I think this cost approx $950,000. 

Chapter Text

“Remember you have a dress fitting on Wednesday afternoon. And we are all going to do a cake tasting on Friday afternoon. Felicity! Mom! Have you got that?”

Felicity nods obediently as William sends her a series of appointments causing her tablet to buzz frantically. Letting him and Thea plan their wedding was a nightmare of sorts. Even Oliver, ever the wedding enthusiast, was starting to wish he’d never agreed to this circus. He probably would be married to Felicity already and on his honeymoon by now, minus all the fanfare and dramatics Thea and William were both so fond of.

Felicity had approached the whole wedding business with much suspicion and wariness but in the end all the emotional manipulation from William meant she had no choice but to give in. She had often said all she wanted in life was for William to be happy and he was adamant that nothing short of Felicity being married off properly was going to make him happy. So Felicity strategically stayed on the sidelines, only obediently appearing whenever she was requested.

“Are you coming to my dress fitting?” she asks William. Besides school and his numerous extra curricular activities William was all over this wedding. Felicity briefly found herself wondering if her kid was going to start some high tech wedding planning business on the side after he was done planning hers.

“God no, I know nothing about womens dresses other than you telling me you don’t want to look like a cupcake. That’s Aunt Thea’s forte.”

“Aunt Thea eh,” Felicity smiles and jostles her son in the ribs.

“She’s alright I guess,” William admits with a grin. “Now that the lines are clearly drawn I quite like Aunt Thea. She supports me in my endeavour to see you married properly at least.” 

Thea Queen and William Clayton had pretty much locked horns the very first moment they met. William because he did not trust anyone who was Moira Queen’s child (besides his dad) and Thea was greatly suspicious of the long lost son who had pretty much taken over Ollie’s life and managed to get Ollie to conveniently propose to his mom with an almost million dollar ring. 

After several terse exchanges there was a respectful understanding between the two, namely that Thea had her brother’s back and William would do anything for Felicity. They found common ground in being fiercely protective of the people they loved. That and the fact that Oliver and Felicity floated around in a state of bliss and infatuation meant both Thea and William felt silly for mistrusting each other.

“I have something to tell you,” Felicity says softly, stroking William’s hair. 

“No,” William declares firmly crossing his arms. “Absolutely not.” 

“Will I haven’t even said anything yet.”

Felicity’s ruffling his hair again, trying to sooth him but William is having none of it.

“You want to invite that witch to the wedding. For dad’s sake. You don’t have to say anything. This is very predictable you behavior. Forgive the woman who tried to kill you.”

William shuffles to the other side of the couch, away from Felicity in an effort to express how unhappy he was about the situation.

“Will I haven’t forgiven her and I don’t think I ever will but she is your dad and Thea’s mother. She only has two children and regardless of everything that’s happened my conscience won’t let me exclude her from the guest list. I have taught her a lesson, which she appears to have learnt. Can’t we just give her a chance to witness the wedding of her child? It would kill me to miss your wedding one day.” 

“You love me and I assume you are not going to put a hit on my future spouse for whatever reason,” William retorts crossly. “She hired a hitman to kill you Felicity. Not one but two. That wasn’t some bout of madness she went on. She wanted you dead. Me, motherless.” He put extra emphasis on the word motherless and gazes at Felicity dramatically.

Felicity lets out a sigh. Will had a point and she could understand his resentment for Moira Queen. Still there was a part of her that could not make peace with excluding the woman from witnessing the wedding altogether. 

Felicity had been so deliriously happy these past few months. It was a different happiness to the kind she experienced raising William. Back then they only had each other and although she loved William desperately she was always constantly worried about him. Suddenly both their lives changed and Felicity now found herself with a huge support system in the form of Oliver, Thea, the Diggles and even sullen one word answer Roy. With this much happiness and good fortune, Felicity felt herself pitying Moira Queen. What Moira did was unforgivable but it was becoming increasingly hard for Felicity to hold onto any bitterness or resentment. 

“I dealt with her Will. I did not pull any punches in dealing with her. She understands that.”

Felicity gives her son a coaxing look which makes his expression soften slightly. 

“I’m not going to make it hard for you because you obviously love dad to a fault. But don’t expect any niceties from me if I run into that woman.”

“Thanks baby.”

Felicity shuffles over and throws her arms around her son, pulling him into a squishy hug to which he responds by grunting grumpily but does not pull away.

***

“You don’t have to do this you know. You’ve been the bigger person for a decade you don’t need to keep doing it.” 

Oliver is lying in Felicity’s lap on the couch while she absentmindedly strokes his face. It occurs to him their physical positions should be reversed but as usual she’s the stronger one offering him comfort that he doesn’t necessarily deserve.

“I know. But I want to. No matter what she is your mother. How many times is she going to see her children get married? I don’t want to look back and feel like I didn’t try my best to give her a chance. Because I have William I can’t say this decision is completely unselfish on my part. I’m just collecting up good karma for my own relationship with my son.”                                                                                                                         

“You know I’d be fine without her there don’t you? I just want to marry you. Yes I want a nice wedding to show you off but at the end of the day I don’t really care about anything else I just want you to be my wife.” He snuggles further into her lap and gazes up at her in wonderment. This was really his life.

William and Felicity often liked to prattle on about their sci fi shows with parallel earths while he rolled his eyes but if there really were multiple earths out there and multiple versions of all of them, he must be the luckiest Oliver Queen in existence. He hoped any doppelgängers out there also had their Felicities. 

“I do. I know that. Our family structure has always been complicated thanks to your mother but I assure you I am completely fine with my decision. I can and have managed your mother very well in the past so I don’t want you to worry about anything.”

She leans down to kiss him on the nose and Oliver practically purrs at the attention. 

“Loving and a badass,” he says dreamily. 

***

“To what do I owe this solo visit?” Moira looks directly at Felicity from her seat behind an enormous wooden desk, giving her visitor a dignified but considerably less formidable stare. 

“I suppose Oliver is still refusing to set foot in this house.” 

Moira’s face falls at the mention of Oliver and Felicity can see the pain in the other woman’s eyes. This once again convinces Felicity that she’s made the correct decision. 

“He’s waiting in your parlor. He offered to accompany me but I assured him I would be fine on my own so he’s waiting for me.” Felicity is careful to keep her voice and face as neutral as possible. She was here as a gesture of goodwill, despite it being undeserved. 

“Well what can I do for you Felicity?” Moira asks in a curt but polite tone. She’s not exactly hostile but there is a stiffness about her which is understandable given their past interactions. 

“I came to give you this. It’s an invitation to our wedding. No matter how we feel about each other you only have two children and one of them is getting married. I don’t want to be the person who prevents you from seeing your child get married.” 

Felicity holds out the invitation which Moira takes from her quickly. She opens the envelope right away and lets out a bitter chuckle as she reads the contents. 

“I guess I should be saying congratulations. Congratulations Felicity, you won.”

Moira’s voice is bitter but Felicity notices she’s clutching onto the invite for dear life as if it were something important, something vital. 

“It was never about winning. Thanks to your scheme I found my son’s father and I fell in love. I’m just grateful for everything and I hope for your sake you make the right decision in regards to this wedding. Oliver is your child and this is his special day.” 

Prior to coming here Felicity had thought she was only doing this for Oliver and Thea, to prevent any further awkwardness. However standing here in the vast study of the impressive Queen Manor with it’s huge manicured gardens and impeccably furnished rooms, Felicity finds herself feeling sorry for Moira Queen and hoping the other woman would make the correct decision. One that would lead her to happiness rather than more bitterness. 

“I’m sure Oliver wants me there even less than you do,” Moira says her gaze faltering a little. She’s still clutching onto the invitation like it is a precious possession. 

“You know I once watched a documentary on raising children. William was going through a trying phase. The doctor in the video talked in length about how when we raise children, we have to be the adult and make informed decisions based on what was best for the child, in a way that is rational and mature no matter how we feel or how they make us feel. Oliver is obviously not a child anymore and neither is William but I think that advice has withstand the test of time.” 

Felicity looks Moira in the eye with a firm yet kind expression on her face. “I hope you will step up and do what is best for Oliver regardless of how you feel about the way things stand.” 

“I’ll see myself out before Oliver thinks you’ve gone at me with an axe and dissolved me in the bathtub.” 

Felicity can’t resist throwing the last line at Moira, complete with a little smirk as she turns towards the study door getting ready to make her exit. 

Moira stiffens at her little dig and shoots Felicity dignified glare. 

“Thank you Felicity,” she says crisply, determined to show no signs of being ruffled by the spirited young woman before her. 

*** 

Moira takes a sip of her champagne as she watches the sea of people, all with happy, laughing faces as they eat, dance and engage in small talk. She’d made eye contact once with Oliver and given him a curt smile. Her son had stared at her briefly before turning his attention back to Felicity who’d said something to elicit a doting smile from him.

It was a glorious wedding, with the Thea Queen footprint stamped all over it. Moira noted that even she couldn’t have planned or hoped for a better society wedding for Oliver, back when she was obsessed with the notion that Oliver was to have the wedding and marriage she wanted for him. 

Moira is about to take another sip of champagne and return to her table when She’s confronted by a sight that almost causes her to drop her glass. Gripping onto the champagne flute so hard that she’s half expecting to snap the flute stem; Moira takes a step back as she stares at Slade Wilson. He looks different, happier, lighter and was dressed for the occasion, not a slick hair was out of place but there was no mistaking it was Slade Wilson. 

Slade Wilson was at Oliver’s wedding, chatting to a very young and pretty brunette looking like he did not have a care in the world.

“Just so you know Grand-ma I located and invited him without my mother’s knowledge. Felicity has nothing to do with this.”

William steps out from nowhere and settles beside her. The venom uttered in the word Grandma, coupled by the cold stare he was giving her left Moira no doubt that this was her grandson’s doing.

“I am my mother’s child in almost every way despite not being biologically related to her. Just a touch more ruthless but I think we both know where I got that from,” William continues giving Moira a smug smile as he trains his eyes on Slade who is very much enjoying the wedding festivities. 

“Just what would your mother think if she knew you were here making veiled threats at me,” Moira retorts. She was torn between feeling shattered that her only connection with her grandson was a series of threats however there was a part of her that couldn’t help being impressed by the sheer audacity of the boy.

“Oh she will know don’t you worry. I’ll tell her. I always tell her stuff. She’ll sigh and say, “WILL” and then all will be forgiven because I am her baby. Don’t you worry about that.”

The fond smile on William’s face does not escape Moira’s attention as he spots his mother dancing with Oliver.

He turns his attention to Moira once again, this time wearing a less severe expression.

“I didn’t want you here but you’ve probably made Felicity very happy because she thinks dad should have you here.” 

“Well I am glad I did one thing right.” Moira smiles an amused smile at her grandson. Really there was not much to do but accept things for how they were at this point.

“Enjoy the rest of the wedding,” William says cordially before walking away, giving one last glance at Slade to make sure Moira had well and truly got his message. 

Moira nods at him and oddly enough finds herself suppressing a smile. William might loath his connection to her but she could see more of herself in him than she’d ever seen in Oliver.

*** 

“Ms. Smoak.” 

“Mr. Wilson,” Felicity counters with a smile on her face. “I thought we were on a first name basis by now?” 

“Felicity,” Slade grins at her, “You kept your surname.”

He turns and gives Oliver a nod. “Nice seeing you kid. You really punched above your weight this time.” 

Slade pauses and motions to the pretty young brunette girl next to him. “What was that terrible show you made me watch with you sweetheart? The one that ended really badly? In one of the episodes they talked about the settler and the reacher. Congratulations on being a successful reacher kid.”

Slade extends his hand cheerfully at Oliver, his one good eye full of glee as Oliver scowls at him while Felicity scrambles to placate her husband.

“Slade,” she chastises as she raises an eyebrow at him.

“Daddy be nice,” the brunette cautions him.

“Fine,” Slade concedes still looking way too gleeful for Oliver’s liking. “You seem surprised to see me Felicity. Not many things serve to shock me anymore but the wedding invite by email and in the post was threw me for a loop.”

“Pleasantly surprised,” Felicity smiles at him before glancing over his shoulder to catch her son’s eye and giving the latter a pointed look. “I didn’t expect you to attend I must admit.” 

“It’s probably one of the best weddings I’ve ever been to,” Rose interjects cheerfully. “Thank you for leading daddy back to us. He told us it was you who found us for him after all these years. You reunited our family.” 

“Your father would have found you eventually I just helped speed the process up a little that’s all,” Felicity replies modestly.

“I’m happy for you kids. Told you this would happen didn’t I? Enjoy the rest of your lives together. If the kid ever gives you trouble Felicity, one phone call and I’ll take care of him for you.”

Slade kisses Felicity’s hand and winks at her, eliciting a noise that’s akin to a growl from Oliver.

“Let’s go visit the photo booths daddy. They’ve just freed up,” Rose smiles at Felicity and Oliver apologetically while firmly yanking her father away. 

*** 

“I can’t believe you let your unruly son invite Slade Wilson to our wedding,” Oliver grumbles as he pulls Felicity into him and together they sway to the music.

“So he’s my son when he tracks down Slade and your son when he wins the Starling Mathletics Championship?” Felicity nudges Oliver good-naturedly.

“I was tempted to yell at him but it is nice to see Slade so happy. Plus you have to hand it to our kid for being so resourceful. All to threaten his grandmother.” Felicity shakes her head with the air of one who knows she will not win that particular battle and snuggles into Oliver’s chest as they continue swaying.

“Between my mother and Slade Wilson this wedding is like a super villain convention,” Oliver grumbles holding onto his wife tightly and defensively. “I can’t wait for this reception to be over. I know I wanted the big wedding and all but I am so ready for our honeymoon now.” 

“Should we have taken William with us? He’s really no trouble at all,” Felicity pulls away a bit and gazes up at her husband beseechingly. 

“No! I love our son but I do not want him on our honeymoon,” Oliver protests with passion before softening his tone.

“He’s going to be fine. Thea will stay with him and they’ll have a blast. John will keep an eye on them. Plus besides that stunt of inviting Slade to our wedding, William is the most sensible kid ever.” 

His tone is gentle now, coaxing. He knew Felicity wasn’t accustomed to vacationing without William. It was simply just not something she did. William had attended summer camps but wherever Felicity went in the past, she took their son with her. 

“It’s just…”

“I know Felicity. I understand. You’ve never gone anywhere without him. You’re not used to it. He will be fine. He’s a big boy. He wants this for you. He’s not going to feel abandoned I promise. We can ask him again if that will make you feel better honey.”

“Whenever I think of a vacation, the first thing that goes on in my mind is what activities William would like to do and where we would eat together,” Felicity admits with a slightly fretful air in her voice. 

“Let’s just this once take advantage of the fact that our son is at an independent age and enjoy the limited free time we have together. It will be good for you to learn to let go for two weeks.” 

They stop dancing now and migrate back to their table on stage where Felicity absent-mindedly settles herself on Oliver’s lap much to the amusement of the guests watching them. 

“He’s going to go to college soon,” Felicity wails as she catches William goofily dancing around on the dance floor with his Aunt Thea. It was like he grew another few inches over night. “He’s going to leave me.” 

“We’ve got plenty of time to have another to replace him,” Oliver dead pans. He didn’t want Felicity to have another full-blown crisis about their child and decided humour was the best way to diffuse the situation.

It works a treat as Felicity laughs and slaps him on the arm. “That’s a terrible thing to say.” 

*** 

“Have fun. Don’t obsess about me. I will not pick up multiple calls a day from you when you should be sunbathing on the beach,” William declares firmly as he gives Felicity a tight hug just before his parents board Uncle Dig’s care for a ride to the airport.

“Are you sure you’ll be ok?” Felicity asks for the thousandth time as both William and Oliver try to steer her into the car.

“I will be fine. Go enjoy your honeymoon! Come back with a baby sister or brother,” William tells his mom cheerfully as he ushers her into the backseat of Uncle Dig’s car. The twins’ car seats had been removed temporarily to accommodate his parents and their luggage. 

“I know what you’re trying to do,” Felicity responds unfazed. “You are about to enter your teenage rebellion stage and you want me to have another kid because you don’t want my attention completely focused on you. I will make you babysit little Mister. Keep you out of trouble.” 

“Yes yes,” William waves her off impatiently. “I still want a sibling. You’re not getting any younger. The age gap between your first and second is going to be 14 years even if you get started now.”

Before Felicity can make an indignant retort William closes the car door and blows her a kiss as Diggle seizes his opportunity to drive off. 

As they drive away William can see Oliver grinning broadly at him with approval. 

***

“Would you have called me back? That night? Would you have called me?” 

Felicity was draped over Oliver in one of those large sunbathing chairs only it was now night time and they had been quietly watching the waves beating gently against the wooden posts that held up their overwater villa when Oliver posed his question from out of nowhere.

“I did call you back,” Felicity answers carelessly as she sinks further into his chest. The sound of the waves was making her sleepy and she wasn’t quite following where Oliver was headed with his questions. 

“I mean if you didn’t know that William was mine. If we didn’t share a son would you have called me back?”

He shuffles from under her and looks slightly put out, causing Felicity to snap her focus back to him.

“Probably not right away,” she answers honestly and upon seeing his face falls she adds, “I would have likely returned, ordered myself a drink, sit around for a bit, try to look cute and see if you were still interested. I would need to know that it wasn’t just a moment of chemistry and that you knew what you were potentially signing up for.” 

“I was definitely very interested,” came Oliver’s quick reply as he wraps his arms around her and kisses her hair. “I wasn’t keen on the teenage son but with you I was happy to explore what was there. Thirteen year old son and all.” 

“I felt so sorry for you when I made that call to invite you out for coffee. I mean you were this hot guy, who insisted on giving me your number and I was calling you to tell you Surpise! Guess what you have a kid that I’ve been raising.” 

“I’m so glad we’re here.” Oliver rolls them and leans over to get a full view of Felicity’s face. The wonder and smile of pure delight on his face cause Felicity’s cheeks to redden slightly. 

Without saying another word, Oliver leans down to kiss her.