Chapter Text
After Cooper’s arrest, Barry runs. He can’t risk pulling Felicity any closer into this mess he’s gotten himself into, can’t risk endangering her more than he already has.
So, he returns to the Bratva. He does what he has to survive and he’s twisted into a monster because he enjoys the intoxicating taste of power and control that comes with inadvertently taking lives.
Unbeknownst to him, Felicity never stopped looking for him, too curious and too intelligent for her own good. It’s been months since they were together. He’s become someone she would not recognize, someone she could not love. And when one of his underlings catching wind of someone sneaking through their firewalls, Varfolomei Knyazevich takes it upon himself to take out the audacious hacker himself.
He takes a trip to the states, to a city he’d only heard of in stories, filled with ghosts and grief and regret.
The IP address leads Varfolomei to a tiny apartment and as he looks through the window, there’s a pang of familiarity ingrained in him so deeply that he can’t place where he knows it.
Getting in is simple, the window not even fully closed let alone locked, and he stalks through the apartment silently, hearing the rapid sound of typing.
There you are.
Varfolomei pushes the door open, pointing his gun swiftly at the hacker, but his hard words are caught in his throat, and his aim wavers slightly as he sees who he’s aiming at.
Felicity freezes, eyes wide, licorice falling from her slack lips.
“Var,” she says. “Holy shit. You actually came. I knew you would find me. All these months, I’ve been trying to track you down, but it was like you didn't exist, and then suddenly you did and where there are whispers, there’s a trail to follow. God, you don’t how good it is to see you aga—” It’s then that she finally takes in the sight in front of her. “Oh. Oh. You aren’t here for me. Or you are. But…”
She gulps thickly. “So that’s how it is, huh?” She chuckles lightly. “I always knew that my ambition would be my downfall. I just never thought it’d be you that…” She closes her eyes, trembling as her fists are tightened in fists. “You have to erase your past. I get it. And I’m a loose thread that can trace back to you. Ironic, isn’t it? I was clinging onto the possibility of seeing you again that I didn’t realize that it wasn’t going to be you.”
She cracks one eye open. “Please, just… if you ever cared about me, could you make it quick? I’d really like to not suffer. But, I… I guess telling you that wasn’t the smartest choice.”
“Felicity,” he says, finally cutting off her rambling when he can finally find the words. They come out hoarse, thick with Russian accent.
She squeaks and closes her eyes again.
With a sigh, he puts his gun back into its holster and kneels on the bed, taking her face in his hands. A tear falls down her cheek and he wipes it away with his thumb.
“I’m not going to kill you, Schast'ye,” he murmurs.
“You’re not?” she asks, voice high and shaking, eyes opening again.
“No,” he says, shaking his head with a soft smile. “You’ve been causing lots of trouble. Do you know that?”
“I tend to do that,” she says with a teary chuckle, Varfolomei swiping at her tears again.
“I remember,” he says, smile growing fonder. “I won’t lie to you, Felicity. I did come here to kill you.” She tenses, all of the relaxed relief leaving her body once again. “But I didn’t know it would be you. If I’d known…” He trails off. “And you’re right. You know too much. Especially now. And having a loose end, that won’t look good.”
“So what are you going to do?” she whispers.
“I have few choices,” he says. “I could do what I came here to do and kill you.” She flinches. “But I don’t want to do that. I never want to do that.”
“Then what’s your other choice?”
“You come back with me. Under my protection, no one will be foolish enough to come after you for the knowledge you possess.”
“Come back with you? Like to the,” her voice lowers, “Russian mafia?”
He chuckles darkly. “Yes, Felicity. To the Russian mafia. The Bratva.”
“And like… be a mob wife?”
“In title, sure. But you can be a valuable asset too.”
Her gut churns. “Like… use my hacking skills for… for the Bratva?”
“I wish there was a way I could just let you go back to living the life you’ve been leading. But I wasn’t the one who discovered you. You’ve garnered a reputation and my coming here has only solidified that you’re a threat.”
“A, a threat?”
“If you’re not under my protection, I don’t trust that my word and authority will keep you safe.”
“Authority? What kind of authority?”
He sighs heavily. “Things have changed since we last saw each other, Felicity.”
“Are you like… a hitman now?”
He huffs amused. “No. I’m much higher up.”
Her eyes go wide. “No. No! Seriously? No way. You— you can’t be—”
“I am.”
She stands and starts to pace. “You’re the boss. Like, the boss the boss.”
“I am.”
“Well, can’t you just tell them not to kill me?”
“I could, but there are idiots whose pride overtakes their loyalty and feel personally intimidated by you and your skills. You’re an outsider and it would be of no consequence to kill you without me divulging our relationship, which I can’t do without tarnishing their perception of me.”
“So… so it’s mob wife or die. That’s what you’re saying.”
“Basically, yes.”
“Can I think on it? Like… can I get back to you on that?”
“Felicity.”
“Okay, fine, I get it. It’s a no brainer. But is it? I mean… mob wife to the mob boss. Var, when I met you, when I… when we… I never imagined this.”
“Believe me. Neither did I.”
“And Var, you came in here, ready to kill whoever was behind that door. And the you that I knew back at MIT would never have—”
“I did what was necessary.”
“You changed. They changed you.”
“And what of it?!” he roars and she takes a step back, not expecting his outburst. “They were torturing me, Felicity. They were merciless. I would’ve died in there if I didn’t kill them first.”
Felicity is trembling again. “I don’t know if I can do that.”
He softens. “You won’t have to. I will never expect you to shed blood, let alone kill. Just… just let me protect you. Please.”
“I don’t have to wear a fur coat, do I?”
His lip quirks up. “No. That’s not a requirement.”
“And you promise that if I go with you, they won’t try to kill me?”
He takes her hands in his. “They wouldn’t dare.”
She swallows thickly. “When do we leave?”