Chapter Text
PRESENT DAY
Oliver stood in the hospital room where his wife lay hooked up to wires and monitors. Today they had returned to Star City after being presumed dead for the last five years. Today they would see their family again, and he held her hand tightly as they heard the door open. He looked up to see his mother Moira enter the room, and she stifled tears as she looked at her son.
"Oliver!!!" She ran to him and hugged him tightly, her tears starting to flow freely. She moved back and cupped his face, as if she could not believe he was standing there. Her gaze traveled over to Felicity and she moved around Oliver and leaned down giving Felicity a hug, her eyes holding a sad truth. She pulled back and Felicity looked at her expectantly.
'My mother! Have you spoken to her?" Felicity asked, hope sitting squarely on her chest.
Moira took Felicity's hands in hers and she took a moment before she answered, "I am so sorry dear. Your mother is dead! She was killed in a car accident two years ago."
Shock flashed through Felicity at her words and the tears spilled from her eyes as she gasped, "No!! Please, that is not possible!" she begged.
Oliver walked to her side and sat down next to her gathering her to his chest as sobs wracked her body. He held her tight, looking at his mother as his heart ached for her. The doctors heard the sobbing and rushed into the room. They offered her a shot to calm her down.
"Lev! (Lion!), she said to Oliver, "Otvedi menya domoy! (Take me home!)"
Oliver looked at the doctors. "Is she free to leave?"
"Yes Mr. Queen. Let us get her discharge papers and you are free to go." The nurse moved over and started to unhook Felicity's IV line as Oliver kissed her on the head.
"I have a car waiting downstairs." Moira said.
As they drove home Felicity sat curled in Oliver's lap, his arms banded around her tightly. He spoke soft words to her and Moira watched as they clung to each other. What had happened to them while they were gone? She looked at her son who seemed more mature and she could see a hard glint in his eyes even though they looked softly on his wife. Arriving at the mansion Oliver carried Felicity up the stairs to his old room. Placing her gently on the king size bed he laid down beside her and pulled her head to his chest and whispered, "Shh yego khorosho moya koroleva (Shh it is going to be ok), we will find the person responsible."
He held her whispering soft words to her until she fell asleep.
A little past midnight Felicity woke with a scream her nightmare causing her to tighten her arms around Oliver's waist. He gently rubbed her back and whispered, "Hey, it's ok. Did you have a nightmare?"
Felicity nodded, trying to shrug it off.
"Hey Fel, talk to me!"
"We were coming to see you at the office and a drunk driver smashed into us whipping the car around. SHE DIED! There was nothing I could do!" Felicity said as she started sobbing. Oliver wrapped his arms around her tightly seeing the anguish in her face.
"That's not going to happen. I'm never going to let that happen. It was just a dream baby!" He soothed her and kissed her forehead softly. "Why don't I run you a bath." He said letting her draw strength from him.
She nodded and he headed to the bathroom, turning on the water and filling the tub with her favorite bath salts. Oliver went and got Felicity helping her to undress before he walked her to the tub and helped her inside.
"Will you join me?", she asked. Her voices sounding small and lost. She didn't want to be alone.
Oliver removed his clothes and stepped in behind her as she leaned forward and then drew her back to his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her shoulder. "I will call Anatoli in the morning and we will see Zoya soon."
Felicity nodded and leaned back against her husbands strength, her tears slowing but still falling.
Zoya! They would have her home soon.
FIVE YEARS EARLIER
Oliver Queen walked confidently into the restaurant his thoughts already on the meeting he had planned for the evening. He had asked Joe Civello to meet him at the restaurant to discuss their family’s alliance and where it was headed now that Oliver had taken over as boss of the Queen family. His eyes scanned the restaurant like always as he assessed the room as he made his way to the back room, when suddenly a red dress caught his eye. The men flanking him stopped and waited as Oliver's eyes slid over a petite body in a tight red dress; the short skirt flowed down to long legs that ended in bright red pumps that made Oliver's body tighten in response. His eyes roamed back up and as they slid over the creamy bare shoulders and up to blonde hair a pair of sky blue eyes looked right at him.
Felicity Smoak!
She was a Star City debutante whose picture had graced the front page of the Star City Morning News and Star City Observer and she had been seen on the arm of some of the most eligible bachelors around town. Oliver had seen her pictures but they did not do her justice. Yes, she was stunning, you could see that in the photos, but what they did not portray was her undeniable sexuality. Her eyes perused him from the top of his head down to his Berluti Scritto leather shoes and he gave her a smirk as he walked behind the heavy curtain and it closed behind him. His men stood on either side, and Oliver quickly forgot about the debutante as he faced Joe Civello. They immediately sat down and got to business.
Felicity was laughing as she stood at the bar of Campisi's talking to her best friend Lyla. They both ran in the same circles and had become good friends after finding out their charity tastes were the same. Lyla had invited her out for a drink and despite the fact that Felicity had needed to be at home to meet with her father, she had texted him she would be running late and had stopped by to see Lyla. She had just taken a sip of her wine when she felt the hairs on the back of her neck tingle. She glanced around the room and her eyes met a striking pair of deep blue that were laser locked on her. She watched his eyes skim down over her dress over her legs before they slid back up and met hers. She felt a current of sexual awareness as their eyes met again and then he smirked and disappeared behind the curtain at the back of the restaurant. She knew who he was immediately. You couldn't live in Star City and not know the son of famous mob boss Robert Queen. He was sinfully attractive and the air of confidence and dangerous sexual energy that he exuded made him irresistible to women.
She knew he had recently taken over as mob boss for his father and she wondered only briefly what he was doing at the restaurant when Lyla captured her attention again. Felicity forgot about him and focused on Lyla and soon they were laughing and having a good time. Two hours later Felicity looked down at her watch and realized she could not put off going home any longer. She kissed Lyla on the cheek and promised to meet her again Saturday night before she grabbed her purse and headed to the door. As she stood waiting for the valet to bring her car, she again felt that the hairs on the back of her neck tingle. She kept her back to the door as her breath quickened slightly in awareness and she felt a presence behind her.
"A lady such as you should never be kept waiting." Felicity felt goose bumps break out on her arms as she heard the deep husky voice behind her. It was a voice that was used to being in control and hinted of sinful pleasures.
Felicity let a smirk touch her lips as she kept her back purposefully to him, and feeling a little daring said. "I only wait if I feel it is worth my while."
She felt him step up closer behind her, so close his breath tickled the hairs along her shoulders. "I am more than worth the wait Miss Smoak." Felicity shivered before she could hide her reaction and when the valet pulled up with her car, she walked around the front of her red Ferrari and threw him a sexy smile. "So am I Mr. Queen." He watched her with his intense blue eyes as she slid in behind the wheel and sped off.
Oliver climbed in when his limousine pulled up to the curb and he smiled. Oh yes, she was definitely worth the wait and now that he had met her, he was going to make sure he did not have to wait long before they met again.
***
Felicity walked in the front door of her father's home, the opulence giving off an arrogant air that Felicity had grown to hate. She put her foot on the first step to go to her room when she heard her father's voice from down the hall, "Felicity, can you come here please?"
Felicity groaned and walked slowly down the hall towards her father’s office. He was a well-known oil magnate who had made his fortune developing liners for oil pits and over the years he had grown his business into a monopoly. She walked in and sat down in the chair in front of his desk. Noah Cutler was known to be ruthless and the look he gave her would have cowered most men, but Felicity had lived with it all of her life and so she gave a look of indifference as Noah walked around his desk and leaned back against it.
"You were supposed to be here at 7:00. Where were you?"
"Out!", she said, getting annoyed. She hated when he questioned her.
"Out where Felicity?" He crossed his arms over his chest, his stance arrogant and intimidating.
"Out!" She gave him a look and stood ready to leave.
"We are not done Felicity. I had guests here this evening and imagine my embarrassment when my own daughter was not here to greet them."
Felicity rolled her eyes. Her father loved using her as eye candy for the business men that he sometimes entertained and every time she sat and gave a fake smile while men old enough to be her father ogled her, it made her sick to her stomach.
"I am sure Mom handled it quite nicely." Was all she said before she turned and headed out of his office.
"This conversation is not over Felicity!"
She ignored his words and headed up to her room. It was her one safe place, her escape from whenever the world or her father was weighing on her shoulders. She took off her shoes throwing them into the closet before she took off her dress. She thought back to Oliver Queen as she changed into her pajamas and a shiver slid down her spine as she remembered his words. The man was magnetically good looking and she could see why women all over town were vying for his attention. She pulled back the covers and laid back on pillows as she remembered his eyes. They held promises and sinful secrets and Felicity wanted to know every single one.
She planned on seeing him again.