Chapter Text
Chapter 1:
Put your lighter in the air and lead me back home
When it's all said and done and follow where the air goes
(
Break In – Halestorm ft Amy Lee
)
Losing someone you love hurts. Deeply. Felicity Smoak learned that hard way when she was only nine years old. When that person is one of the first people who is meant to love you unconditionally, makes the pain that much deeper. It was this pain that made Felicity determined to never allow anyone close enough to hurt her again, even if she didn’t fully realise she was doing it. From that moment on she kept everyone at a distance. Even her mother. She tried to rationalise it with their different personalities, but deep down she knew it was just a defence mechanism.
That is, until a certain handsome FBI agent knocked on her door early one gloomy Wednesday morning.
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Felicity Smoak was distracted. It didn’t happen very often, but today her mind was on the code she had been working on for a week, instead of getting ready for work. After spending 10 minutes staring at her ceiling when her alarm went off, she mentally scolded herself and tried to focus on getting dressed. When she realised she had been standing with her dress in her hand instead of making any progress, she shook her head in an attempt to clear it. Determined to not have her side project derail her day, she walked into her bathroom and with quick, almost angry movements, dressed and did her make up. She was in her kitchen, waiting for her coffee maker to finish, when a knock at her front door made her jump. She sighed, thinking it was probably her neighbour, looking for her cat again. She didn’t even check the peephole before opening her front door and saying:
‘Mrs. Rayhase, I’m sorry, I still haven’t seen your cahhh…’
Instead of her neighbour, there was a confused looking handsome man standing at her door. Felicity could feel her jaw drop open as she took in his familiar looking short blonde hair, his slightly raised eyebrows, clear blue eyes, the somehow perfect amount of scruff on his jaw and the small smile on his lips. Her eyes had started to travel down, over his broad shoulders when a man behind him cleared his throat. He was a slightly older, also very handsome man, with a bemused smile on his lips. She snapped her mouth closed as she realised she had been staring at them in silence.
‘You’re not Mrs Rayhase’ was the first thing that came to mind.
Felicity thought she heard a quiet chuckle from the man at the back, but her eyes were still on the blonde man at her door.
‘Felicity Smoak?’
Felicity took her hand from the door and crossed her arms in front of her before asking:
‘Who’s asking?’
The man at the door reached inside his suit jacket and pulled out a dark wallet. He flipped it open and showed her a badge.
‘Oliver Queen, FBI.’
Turning slightly towards and pointing to the man at the back, he continued.
‘This is my partner, John Diggle. Ms Smoak, could we come in. We need to speak to you.’
Felicity looked first at Oliver and then John badges, but she did not move from where she was standing.
Looking back at Oliver she instead asked:
‘What would the FBI have to speak to me about?
‘It’s about your father, Noah Cutter.’
Hearing his named spoken out loud, Felicity inhaled sharply, as if she had been burned. She felt a sharp pain, as if someone stabbed her in the heart. She grabbed hold of the door again and put her other hand over her heart. It was a moment before she could reply.
‘I, … I haven’t seen or spoken to my father for 15 years, Agent Queen. I don’t see how we can have anything to talk about.’
‘Ms. Smoak, I really think it would be better if we talked inside.’
After a few seconds, Felicity nodded her head once, turned and left the door open for Oliver and John to follow her. She did not see the look that passed between the two agents before stepping into her apartment. As John was closing the door behind him, Felicity sat down on the purple chair in front of the window, leaving the couch for the two agents to sit on. She didn’t look at the two men standing in her living room, instead looking at her hands where they were clasped together in front of her. After a quick look around the living room, Oliver sat down across from her and leaned slightly forward before beginning.
‘Ms Smoak, as I ment…’
‘Felicity.’
‘Excuse me?’
Felicity seemed to be talking to her hands as she replied:
‘Please, call me Felicity. My mom is Ms Smoak. I’m just Felicity.’
Oliver raised his eyebrows slightly again, before nodding once and continued.
‘Felicity, as I mentioned, this is about your father. When was the last time you saw him?’
‘Fifteen years ago, the morning he left my mother and me without so much as a note.’ Felicity still had not looked at him as she said this. She took her glasses off and rubbed the bridge of her nose before continuing.
‘So, again, if you’re looking for him I really am one of the last people who would be able to help you. Which, if you knew me and what I am capable of, is really saying a lot. Believe me, I’ve tried finding him. I mean, the skills I have I should have been able to find him years ago, so it’s a bit of a personal sore spot that I haven’t found him yet. Which is not something you needed to know.’
Oliver looked at his partner before saying:
‘Felicity, we know exactly where your father is. That is not why we are here.’
Felicity’s head snapped up at that, looking him straight in the eye.
‘What? Where is he?’
‘Two days ago, your father walked into the Starling City FBI headquarters and handed himself over.’
Felicity could feel her jaw drop open again. She didn’t know what part of what Oliver said was more confusing. Starling City? Her father was in Starling City? He was in the same city as her. And he handed himself over to the FBI? For what? Why now? What had her father gotten himself into that he would give himself over to the FBI after disappearing for 15 years?
‘I, what? Why? I don’t understand, if he’s in your custody, what are you doing here?’ Felicity looked from Oliver to John as she asked.
John had been watching them quietly speak as he stood by the door. For the first time, he spoke:
‘We’re here because we need you to come with us, Felicity. Your father has gotten himself involved with some very dangerous people and as a result, you and your mother are in danger.’
Felicity felt even more confused:
‘My mom, what does my mom have to do with this? Wait, is she safe? Where is my mom? Do you have her? And why would we be in danger? My father walked out on us, we haven’t been a part of his life for a decade and a half.’
As Felicity’s eyes snapped back to Oliver as she asked this. Oliver clasped his hands together, a mirror of what Felicity had done earlier.
‘First, your mother is safe, a few agents picked her up this earlier this morning. Felicity, what you need to understand is this: your father has been on the FBI’s radar for the last ten years. Your father has been involved in almost every major electronic crime that has been committed in the last decade. We haven’t been able to so much as identify him, never mind catch him, but his electronic signature has been all over these crimes. At least, the ones we are aware of. So it is fair to say we were very surprised when he handed himself over. He offered to give up most, if not all his associates. However, he had a few conditions. The first one was that we agreed to provide you and your mother with protection. I don’t know what we need to protect you from, but I am sure, that for a man that has been so good at staying one step ahead of us for so long, to give himself over willingly, it has got to be serious.’
Felicity was quiet as she listened to Oliver speak, and he could see her hands start to tremble as he spoke. Oliver got up from the couch and sat down on the coffee table in front of her. He placed his hand over hers’ as he continued in a softer tone.
‘Felicity, know this is a lot and I’m sure you have a lot of questions, unfortunately I don’t have all the answers. But, if you come with us, I promise we’ll do everything we can to keep you and your mother safe. And we might be able to help you get some of those answers.’
Felicity was looking at his hand over hers, but her eyes locked onto his when he said this.
‘What do you mean?’
It was John who answered her:
‘The other condition your father had was that he wanted to speak to you Felicity. We’re here to take you to see him before taking you somewhere safe.’
Felicity sat back in her chair, her hands falling into her lap, looking even more confused. She was quiet for a few seconds, before standing up and moving to the side of the couch before asking:
‘Is there time to pack?’
At the two agents surprised expressions she continued:
‘The way I see it, this is a mystery. I hate mysteries, they need to be solved. And the only way to solve it is to go with you. And if I’m going with you, I’ll need to make a few calls and pack.’
As Oliver started to get up from the table, opening his mouth to say something, Felicity held up her hand and said:
‘Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone I’m going with the FBI, but I do have a life here and a job. And if I want to come back to it when this is all over, I need to make some arrangements.’
Oliver put his hands in his pockets, looked at his partner and when John gave him a small nod, he looked back at Felicity with a small smile.
‘Fair enough, but we will have to go soon. The longer we take to get started, the longer it will take to get you back to your life.’
Felicity smiled and moved past Oliver towards her room.
‘Okay, give me five minutes.’
As she disappeared into her room, John came to stand next to Oliver and said:
‘You sure we can keep her safe? I get the feeling whoever is after them is pretty serious.’
Oliver didn’t turn to look at him as he replied:
‘I’m sure that I will do everything I can to keep my promise.’