Arrow, "Dark Stranger" Felicity/Slade, Felicity/OIiver "Eleven"

[paynesgrey.livejournal.com]

Fandom: Arrow
Title: Dark Stranger
Chapter Title: Eleven
Author: Paynesgrey
Characters/Pairings: Felicity Smoak, Slade Wilson, Oliver Queen; Felicity/Slade, Oliver/Felicity, and Oliver/Sara
Rating: M
Warnings/Spoilers: adult content, spoilers for "Heir to the Demon"

Summary: Felicity must make peace with Oliver's choice, even if it means turning her attention to a charming and mysterious stranger. Her attentions to someone else, however, do not go unnoticed.

Other Links: AO3 | FFnet | Dreamwidth

Like most of her recent dreams, Felicity dreamed of Oliver. Sometimes he wore one of his business suits, light grey with the first button open,and the collar slightly askew where he’d slid off the tie around 9 a.m. that morning. Most of the time Oliver couldn’t stand the tie past ten, unless he’d had an important business meeting that day or got too busy to notice. But even then, a tie on Oliver Queen was destined not to survive.

The other times, she dreamed of him as the persona she knew best, the Arrow. With his green hood, his new mask, and his heroic eyes, she watched as he whisked away into the night, saving children and innocents as she stayed with him in the comm system within his ear.

Always by his side. So loyal. So unyielding. No danger could faze her; she had the Arrow by her side - Oliver, the man that took so much residence in her heart she was sure it was unhealthy.

But it was reality, and the other reality was she couldn’t have him. She was his unending fangirl, and that made her sort of mad but she knew that wasn’t the case. She was always surprised and reassured when Oliver called her his friend. That would be enough for her, even if her heart wanted more. It was something.

She was having a very deep sleep, so deep that when she began to stir, her mind was unusually groggy. Puzzle pieces of her memories before she slept scattered like broken code in her brain.

When she felt her inner ears begin to pop and the sensation of being confined in very stale air space, she stirred more quickly, feeling fear trickle throughout her veins.

“What---?” The headache she had seemed to mock her.

“Ah, Ms. Smoak,” said a thick accent voice. She knew that voice. Will Shade...or that was the name he told her.

“What, where are we?”

“Having the honeymoon of our dreams,” he said with a dark chuckle, and she rose from where she’d been sleeping and looked over at him. She expected him to wear one of his fancy suits, drink wine and smile wickedly at her. Instead, she turned to a man who was ready for war, geared up with a black stealth outfit full of weapons and armor. Behind him strapped to his back he kept two swords, and beside him a weird looking mask of dual color, one side a fade orange, the other black.

Her blood went cold, and she tried to process the kind of man she was truly dealing with. She took a wild guess and found her voice.

“You’re...I take it you know Oliver. Maybe enemy? Let me guess, you met on the island? It’s a popular tourist attraction, I hear,” she rambled, and when she saw a lip curl in amusement she knew that he was right.

“I wonder how much Oracle was able to tell you under my watch, but it seems like you figured out enough, Ms. Smoak,” he said.

“Where are you taking me?” she asked, seeing clouds out of the window. Of course she was on a plane, and it terrified her that she could be anywhere, that she probably wouldn’t come out of this alive because she didn’t tell Oliver what she was up to. She only hoped Sara could whip out some of her tricks and find her. At least she warned Sara, and she did see Roy… He could identify this man.

“I think you should enjoy the surprise,” he said, finally answering her question.

“What’s your real name?” she asked, trying to be brave but feeling fear overtake her insides. She could feel her whole body shaking from the danger, knowing she couldn’t do anything at this point but bend to his will. If only she could use her phone, though she could see it plain as day he kept it with him at his side, next to the creepy mask.

Thankfully, he’d set her purse next to her. He’d probably already dug through it, and she was hoping he didn’t find the tracking beacon she stashed there. Of course, it was in her small makeup bag, so unless he wanted to go in there for a tampon, she figured she’d be safe.

“My name is Slade Wilson, and if you must know, Oliver and I are old friends,” he said, and he began staring at her as if he’d already won the game, and talking to her was just an extra high for him. She hoped he didn’t underestimate her either. Or Team Arrow.

“So why me? What do you want with me? You know he’s with Sara, right? She’s his old love that he’s renewed. It makes more sense that you go after her,” Felicity said.

Slade’s amusement flickered a bit. His eyes seemed to go darker, and he pursed his lips at the mention of that name. “I could care less about that woman. And you are mistaken if they are in love. I’ve seen true love, dear girl, and that isn’t it.”

“Then what is it?” Felicity asked, though it wasn’t as if she took Slade’s word over Oliver’s, but he’d hope he’d keep talking and maybe let it slip where he was taking her. Maybe she could get a moment out of his sight, tap into the comm system of the plane and send out a signal, maybe… well, she had to have some way out of this, and so far she’d seen none yet.

Felicity was curious nonetheless.

“Obligation, Ms. Smoak. Penance and guilt. If Oliver doesn’t choose Sara, then Shado dies for nothing. If Oliver doesn’t choose Sara, then how fickle is his heart? How cold, to move from one woman to the next?” Slade said, and Felicity could detect a lot of venom in his words. Slade had been wronged by Oliver in some way, and that only meant one thing could have come between them to generate this much hate from a man who had been so secretive to finally open up to her, Felicity Smoak, of all people.

“Shado,” she said, and she watched the way his expression reacted to the name. “You loved her.”

Oh, dear, Felicity thought. This massive kick-ass, unstable mercenary loved a woman that Oliver was involved with, and if she remembered Oliver’s story correctly, Shado was dead. There was no mystery of her being alive, not like with Sara, as the case had been. Shado was definitely gone.

“You are a clever girl, Ms. Smoak. Not just a computer expert,” he said, though his tone was cold and devoid of any amusement or life.

“Well, I’m observational,” she said. “I should have known you weren’t right from the start,” she said accusingly.

“And honest mistake. One does not think on a broken heart,” he said.

Felicity shook her head. “Oh, my heart isn’t broken. Maybe naive, but not broken.”

“Either way, here you are,” he said with satisfaction.

“And where is here?” she asked, and sure enough, the plane was beginning to descend.

“Why Hawaii of course, but don’t get too attached, Ms. Smoak. We aren’t going to stay,” he said.

Felicity swallowed an uncomfortable lump. Well, at least she knew where Hawaii was, but as for the final destination of this journey she didn’t have a clue. But she did have a sneaking suspicion given the history of those who’d come from Oliver’s past.

She begged any god that would listen to not let Slade take her to that island.

 

--

 

Oliver and Diggle grabbed the first flight to Hawaii after Sara touched base with them about Slade’s plans. Knowing they were headed to the island, Oliver felt a sense of urgency to get to Felicity before Slade dumped her on that island to fend for herself. And that wasn’t even the worst thing he imagined Slade doing to her.

He threw a ton of money at an private plane that would take them to Hawaii. Sara borrowed Felicity’s comm system and stayed in contact with them hoping to direct them to the independent airport where Slade was going to reconnect with before heading to the island itself.

The plane could only go so fast, but Oliver was confident that Slade wouldn’t even suspect he’d know they were headed to the island. If he was that clever, Oliver didn’t have a clue where else he’d take Felicity. That scenario scared him the most because Slade was always five steps ahead of Oliver in every game.

Either way, Oliver wasn’t going to let him win this game. With his fears aside at Slade’s treachery, he was determined to save Felicity at any cost.

--

Slade had motioned her out of the plane, and Felicity felt like she was walking the plank. After they disengaged from the small private plane, she was greeted by the sticky, humid air of the island. She’d been here once before, to retrieve Oliver after he’d retreated here after Tommy’s death.

She knew it was full of booby traps, skeletons, and other scary stuff, and she knew very well that she’d never truly survive that long in a place like this.

Felicity stepped on the sandy beach and looked around. Something was different.

“Where am I?” she asked. This most certainly wasn’t the island she’d been too before.

“Well, you’re not where you think you are,” he said cryptically, with wicked amusement returning to his voice.

She stiffened, looking around as she clutched her purse and jacket next to her body. She prayed he didn’t take her belongings when he left her here. Especially not her purse.

“So now that we’re here, Ms. Smoak, I think we can finally do business,” he said, and she turned around to glare at him.

“Business?” she asked incredulously. She doubted after the charade he’d just pulled, he just wanted to get her out here for business.

“Yes, this is where I give you two choices. One: join me against Oliver Queen and become my new computer expert, or anything else I’d require from you…” He paused and looked her over, and she suddenly felt dirty. He’d seen her naked already. She’d slept with him, and she’d felt him inside her. Now it made her want to gag, knowing she’d been taken by this guy only to have him deceive her. “Two: if you do not want to betray your lovely employer, I will give you the option of relocation.”

“Here?” Her voice cracked.

“Out of the way and probably facing your demise here by one of the landmines or poisonous snakes. That will be up to you and your God, Ms. Smoak.”

“You want me to betray Oliver or live here on a deserted island?”

“Oh, it’s not deserted. There’s a Chinese outpost on the other side of the island. Once they find you, a beautiful woman wandering around their territory, they will throw you in prison, torture you for information and probably do other unspeakable acts to you that I dare not say aloud,” he said.

Felicity felt her blood curdling in fear to all of this, but more than anything her temper was boiling under the surface. How could she be so stupid to even get involved with this man? Not when Oliver was being targeted all the time, how could she not think she’d be targeted too?

“I don’t understand why you’re going through all this trouble for me! I just help Oliver with his computer. I’m just a friend, nothing more, and yet you schemed this entire thing to what? Throw me on an island!” she yelled at him, pointing her finger.

“Don’t be so naive, girl. You are more important to Oliver than you truly know. More important than Sara. More important than the other Lance girl he was always mooning about. You have something those girls never will have.”

“And what is that?”

“His true heart. He may not know it yet, but you do. He’s pushed you aside this long for a reason. I know him. I’ve known how he is with women. He has never treated a woman with such fear, such delicacy as he has you,” Slade said.

Felicity could barely swallow the lump forming in her throat. She couldn’t believe it. Slade thought that Oliver loved her enough that he had to dump her on this island. Slade believed that he could even get her to betray Oliver?

“You must think I’m really stupid,” she said defiantly, and she tried everything not to make her words shake, like her knees were shaking. She saw him raise an eyebrow over his good eye. “I would never betray Oliver. It doesn’t matter how many times he rejects me, I will never betray him. Not for anyone. Especially not you.”

“I never thought you were stupid,” Slade countered. “So that’s your answer then?”

Felicity nodded once, clutching her coat over her purse, still hoping and praying he would not take it from her once he left.

“Well, I’m not totally undignified. I will leave you here, with your belongings, so when those Chinese men find you they will search you, find out you’re American, and maybe give you amnesty. Probably not though,” he said.

Felicity felt real fear, and she tried to show it, hoping she’d soon have a chance to use that tracker before anyone that Slade was describing on this island found her.

“It is a pity,” he said finally. “I would have relished the idea of you betraying Oliver.”

She looked at him defiantly again. “Not a chance in hell.”

He chucked at her as he returned to the plane. He signaled the pilot and then turned back to stare at her with that malicious grin. He waved to her before the plane ascended. Felicity felt dread as the plane departed into the clouds, but she was also relieved.

Now she hoped that tracker was still in her purse (since she hadn’t had a chance to look in Slade’s presence) and that it would actually work.

---

When Diggle and Oliver arrived on the island known as Lian Yu, they split up looking for any sign of Felicity. They paid the pilot of the small charter plane to circle around the island and look for her as well, but after three hours of searching they reconvened without any luck.

It was clear to Oliver that Slade had taken Felicity somewhere else, fulfilling his worst fear. Now he didn’t know where she could be, and it tore him up inside that he could fail Felicity too.

“Didn’t you tell me where was more little islands around here?” Diggle asked.+

Oliver furrowed his brow. “When Sara and I were captive on Ivo’s ship, we’d seen some small ones, some barely livable, but some were big enough for at least an outpost.”

“Is it possible Slade knows about those islands?”

Oliver pursed his lips. “It’s possible Slade knows a lot more than I could ever know about these waters.”

“Then, we keep looking,” Diggle said, clapping a hand on Oliver’s shoulder for comfort. “I hate to say this,” he continued, gazing around the island again, “but I don’t believe Felicity is here.”

Twelve