Work Text:
When Oliver walked down to the Foundry, he was expecting it to be empty. After the night that his team experienced, from Dinah Lance's kidnapping to Sara almost dying (again) to stop Nyssa, the team deserved at least the night to rest. The only reason that Oliver had even come back was because he could not stand being in the same house as his mother - not after all the lies and all the betrayal. So that left Oliver sleeping in the cot (complete with a new full-size mattress in case two people ever needed to sleep in it again) at the Foundry.
As Oliver walked down the steps, he was surprised to see Felicity's monitors lit up and the blonde working at them.
Felicity turned to look at him when he got to the base of the stairs, her ponytail whipping her in the face. "Hey, what are you doing here at… midnight?" Felicity asked, checking her phone for the time.
"I could ask you the same question. I thought I told you to go home?" Oliver asked in return. It worried him that Felicity was alone in the bunker in the middle of the night with no one knowing where she was. The bunker was secure but there was always the chance that one of their many enemies could attack the bunker and no one would know Felicity was in danger until too late. Oliver shuddered to think of it.
"I was going to, I swear! My feet were on the stairs, but then I remembered that it's been a while since I updated the computers, and since I was already down here I figured why not? None of us have any idea what could happen tomorrow or the next day or the day after that, so no better time than the present, right?" Felicity responded, looking slightly frazzled and even a little panicked.
Oliver frowned at that. "That's true… just let me know when you're down here after hours, okay? Never know when something can happen."
Felicity seemed to calm down slightly at that. "Okay, yeah, of course. You never did answer my question though, why aren't you at home? And follow up, what's with the duffel bag?" she asked, spinning away from the monitors as they seemed to restart and pointing to the bag hanging off of his shoulder.
Oliver dropped the bag off on one of the tables in the med area, before sitting in a seat next to Felicity. "I'm going to be staying here for a bit. Needed to get out of the house," was all Oliver said.
Oliver noticed all of the air seem to leave Felicity. "Is this because of what I told you earlier?" A second later the monitors finished restarting, leading Felicity to do her final checks on the system.
"Yes," Oliver responded, his tone sounding clipped to his own ears. The idea that Malcolm Merlyn was Thea's father was one Oliver was still trying to wrap his head around. And the fact that his mother had hidden the secret for nearly 20 years was another. When would the lies end with her?
Felicity just gave a solemn nod in response, before putting the monitors to sleep, not once looking at Oliver.
"Well, I guess I should go. I'll see you tomorrow, Oliver," she said, her voice sounding strange as she attempted to make a hasty retreat. Oliver caught her wrist before she could make it too far.
"Woah, Felicity, what's going on? What's wrong?" He tried catching her eyes, but Felicity seemed to be doing everything in her power to hide her face in the shadows.
"Oliver, just let me go, please." Her voice sounded wet like she was on the verge of tears.
"No. Just stay with me. Talk to me. What's wrong? You were fine just two minutes ago and now you're trying to run? What did I do?" Oliver was lost. Why was Felicity trying to run from him?
Oliver was still sat in the swivel, holding the IT expert's wrist, her standing in front of him as she finally made eye contact. "You didn't do anything wrong, Oliver. This is on me."
Oliver's brow furrowed in a frown. "I don't follow."
Felicity released a sigh. Oliver moved his hand to her hand, stroking it with his thumb. "You wouldn't be mad at your mom right now if I had just kept my mouth shut and listened to her when she said it was better for everyone if I didn’t say anything . You just got her back, Oliver, and I hate that I am the one who put you in a position where you don’t have her anymore.”
The blonde’s eyes started welling with tears, quickly taking her hand out of his to dash them away.
“Felicity,” he said curtly, trying to rein in his anger. He wasn’t angry with her (he never truly could be angry with Felicity) but his Mother on the other hand… How dare she tell Felicity to lie to him? How dare she make Felicity feel guilty about not hiding her lies from him? “What do you mean when you talked to my Mother?”
Felicity paled. Oliver shot her a questioning look. “Whe- when I realized why your mom had paid off that doctor, I went to her to give her the chance to tell you and Thea herself. She basically told me that she wasn’t going to and if I did tell, you would never believe me and would hate me and to drop it because she knows that I care about you,” she said, picking at an invisible piece of lint on her skirt.
Oliver in that moment felt incapable of having a thought. Did Felicity honestly believe that there was anything that she could tell him that would make him hate her? Her? “Is that why you were afraid that you would lose me? Because my mother said that you would?”
All Felicity did was nod. Oliver almost let his anger consume him - almost . Of course his mother would say something like that. Instead of telling her children the truth, she threatened someone that Oliver not only cared about but trusted . Put that person in a position where she felt - she believed - that she had to choose him and the truth .
But Oliver looked at Felicity - really looked at her and knew that he had to control his rage towards his mother. Oliver felt the anxiety rolling off of her in waves. Saw how her hand trembled a bit (similar to how she was after the Count). Felicity - his Girl Wednesday, his - was terrified. Not of him, the archer was fairly certain, but of losing him. Like there was any truth in what his mother said.
He stood up, invading her space, he knew, but he needed her undivided attention. Cupping her palms in his hands, Oliver stared into her eyes as they shone with tears. As if his heart couldn’t break anymore. “Felicity, you are never going to lose me. Especially not because you told me the truth. My mother’s lies are on her - those are her burdens that she needs to live with, not yours. And she had no right to put them on you.”
Oliver searched her eyes to see if any of what he said reached her, but they remained unchanged.
“She was just afraid of losing you, Oliver. You're her son, one she’s already lost once. And I made her fear come true. What kind of person does that make me?” Felicity responded. Her eyes were piercing into his, as if she was searching for answers in him.
Oliver softly brushed his thumb along her cheek. “She wouldn’t have lost me if she had just told me and Thea the truth. And as far what kind of person telling the truth makes you, it makes you honest. It makes you someone that I can trust, and you know how important that is to me. You have no reason to feel any responsibility about my relationship with my mom - she knows what did. You gave her the opportunity to come clean, and she didn’t take it. If she didn’t want to lose me, she should have taken the chance you gave her. Okay?”
Please, just understand.
Felicity swallowed and nodded. Oliver pulled her into a hug. Even if the blonde didn’t need it, the vigilante did. He needed to know they were going to be okay, that Felicity knew that none of what had happened between him and his mother had no negative impact on how he saw her. If anything, it just strengthened what he already had for her - unconditional trust (if nothing else).
The pair stood there for a second, Oliver’s head resting on the crown of her head. They parted only when they heard the door at the top of the stairs slam shut.
“I didn’t realize we were having a party down here,” Sara said as she walked down the steps.
“I was actually just leaving,” Felicity announced, securing her bag over her shoulder.
Oliver caught her eye before she could get too far away. We’re okay, right?
Felicity gave a small nod. We’re okay.
Oliver watched as Felicity made her way out of the Foundry, as the assassin walked over to him. “What was that about?” Sara asked, as the door shut behind Felicity.
“Uh, nothing. What are you doing down here? I thought you were at Laurel’s?” Oliver asked after a beat.
“About that…” Sara started, but Oliver’s mind was still on the blonde IT girl and all that he didn’t realize he could have lost.