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Post by Oliver Queen on Dec 24, 2013 20:48:37 GMT -6
 Oliver watched Diggle leave as the man's words still rung in Oliver's head. Are you saying this because you truly believe she's innocent, or because you don't want to face the fact that your mother might be guilty. Oliver had instructed Diggle that his mother was off limits, yet his words were not so easily forgotten. He knew which possibility Diggle was leaning toward, but Oliver did not want to accept it. He couldn't. It was hard enough to believe all that his father was involved with, so to now discover that his mother was a part of it too? No. He could not accept that. And would not unless he had very strong, very solid evidence to suggest otherwise.
Oliver shifted in his seat, slightly cringing as he looked down at his shoulder. He had escaped death once more, and would need to make sure that all the blood was dry before he redressed. It would be a bit of a giveaway if he just happened to be injured in the exact same spot his mother shot The Hood. His finger traced over the wound, eying it carefully. Diggle and Felicity had done a good job in mending it which hardly surprised him. And still, he was extremely grateful to them both. Which reminded him . . . Felicity would be returning from the restroom any moment now. Diggle was gone for the night, and Oliver felt he still owed Felicity some sort of explanation.
Yet another part of Diggle's words came into Oliver's head . . . stating that she would undoubtedly be in danger now that she was involved. They could protect her. Words that Oliver said and believed in his heart, but could not be 100% sure of. He had left her little choice, and while he appreciated her willingness to help -- however temporary it may be -- he wondered if she would truly ever be safe again. Just as these new thoughts filled him, he heard footsteps descending the stairs, and he rose his head, masking his concern with a slight smile, softening his expression a little to guard his thoughts and keep them concealed. "Did you find everything alright?" He inquired.
Location: The Arrowcave
Time of Day: Night
Timeline: Shortly after 1.14
Tag: Felicity Smoak
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Post by Felicity Smoak on Dec 24, 2013 22:19:15 GMT -6
Felicity walked down the steps from the thumbing club and the sound cut off straight away. Sound proof doors! How neato! Apparently being a billionaire had it's perks. He get sound proof doors, and she gets an awkward excuse to her rental car company about what happened in her back seat. How would that go?
Once on the floor she looked over where Oliver was sitting, and saw the blanket was exposing his gun shot. His mother shot him! Which fed back into her Shakespearean family drama comment. Not a recent one. But from before. "Yeah, they were really clean!" Why? Why that? "Not that they wouldn't be. You probably pay people to keep them clean." Stop!" She clapped her hands together and held them tightly as she looked at him and mentally went '3...2...1' before speaking again.
She turned to walk around his little sectioned off area for his nightly visits to the monsters of the city. She had always wondered what would push the hooded guy to do what he did and kill so many people. She still wasn't sure, but it was hard to see hot-sweet-and bad lying Oliver and the Hooded Man who killed other bad men.
"Suddenly the bullet holes make a lot more sense. And the other things." He's been using her to hunt down and kill people, and she wasn't sure she was ok with that. But she wanted to find Walter, and she trusted Oliver--even after this.
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Post by Oliver Queen on Dec 24, 2013 22:38:06 GMT -6
Oliver had learned from his few encounters with Felicity, that it was best to wait until she was done her little babble before continuing on with the conversation. He had to admit, it was rather amusing most times, even if he did not show its affect on him. It was a habit. Yet now that she knew the truth, he knew he would have to open up a bit more. Not the overly personal things of course, but more so in terms of his objectives. Of his plans. His tasks. And he knew she was going to be a highly valuable asset to the team. While he would not pressure her to stay -- after finding Walter -- Oliver hoped he could find a way to convince her to stay on the team.
She altered the subject to the bullet holes, stating that it made more sense now and Oliver couldn't disagree. He had seen the look of disbelief on her face and all had been able to do in that moment was give a cheeky smile and not dwell on finding a better excuse. He stood on his feet, taking a few steps toward her, and keeping the blanket around him. "I apologize for that," he began to say. "And for the position I put you in." For just showing up in her car, and leaving her little other choice. While he was sorry, he did not regret it. He knew he could trust her and even if she did not stay wtih them now, he knew she would not go to the police.
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Post by Felicity Smoak on Dec 24, 2013 23:22:26 GMT -6
Felicity watched him stand, and wished he'd stay sitting until he'd had more time to rest. He was too heavy for her to lift. "No, you don't have to apologize. I knew you were lying, but . . . . I trusted you, so I didn't care." Well, "I mena I cared, but I didn't . . . . care 'care'." Oh yeah! THAT was SO much better, she thought while fighting not to roll her eyes at herself.
"When Walter asked me to look into the Notebook, he told me that the first person who did so had died in an 'accident', so in a way I knew what I was getting into on that part." He had warned her. "No so much for this part." She lifted a finger and touched the flat, non-sharpe parts of the arrows in rows. So much hate. It had to take so much rage and hate to do this.
"Why me?" She busted out after a short silent moment. "All the other techs, and you come to me?"
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Post by Oliver Queen on Dec 25, 2013 9:58:06 GMT -6
This just further confirmed his decision in entrusting her with his massive secret. The fact that she did not hold his lies against him. That she knew he was lying -- and he supposed on some level, he knew she knew -- and she did not hold on to any bitter feelings or offense against him. He knew he wouldn't be able to say the same for his other family and friends. Which was why they could never know. He was endangering enough people's lives as it were. "Thank you," he said, simply but sincerely. For it did indeed mean a great deal to hear her say that she trusted him. That she didn't 'care' about his lies. That they weren't enough to make her turn and run the other way.
She then mentioned Walter. An innocent man who had just stumbled across dangerous information. Oliver didn't even know if he was alive, though had to believe that he was. He was a good man and deserved none of this. And the man that was killed . . . well, it was all the more reason Oliver wanted to bring Felicity aboard. Because he could keep her safe. Two men had been dealt with because of possessing information surrounding the list, and Felicity was exposed to it as well. "Don't worry Felicity. We can protect you." Did she truly know what she was getting into? Yes. She must. Or at least enough to know she would be in danger -- as Diggle pointed out. So Oliver felt the need to state these words, perhaps not only to comfort her, but himself as well. He could state them with confidence and sureness, and he would do everything in his capabilities to not break his vow of keeping her safe.
She then asked a question that caused him pause. There was nothing wrong with it. It was a perfectly legitimate question, and he was well aware that he needed to give an honest answer. "When I was looking for someone to recover the computer, your name came up. I was told you were the best," he said with a slight smile. He paused, thinking back to her expression when he'd handed over the damaged laptop. "You doubted my reasoning, but you did the work for me anyway. Every time, you did what I asked of you." Bullet hole laptops, energy drink syringes . . . the whole thing. "And you're good. Really good at what you do." Truth was, he had done his homework on her. He had looked her up, used his judgment . . . and came to the conclusion that he could trust her. Even if it was a decision made under extreme circumstances. "When I was shot, I could not think of anyone else that I could go to in that moment, besides you." Part of it was convenience, but Oliver had gotten out of worse situations. He had reached out to her, and while it was not easy to admit . . . he had needed her help.
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Post by Felicity Smoak on Dec 26, 2013 17:04:33 GMT -6
He didn't say that he had no other choice, which made her feel a bit better about being picked to join his group. Or well, not join, as she had declined and only wanted to find Walter. "I'm not too worried about needing protection. Beauty of computers is the most people can do it yell at you in caps lock." She joked knowing there was much more they could do, but doing it from here would not lead them back to her. It would lead them here . . . . where chances were she'd be . . .
"Mr. Diggle told me most of what I've helped do." It felt good helping sometimes, but she didn't want in on the killing. "But he didn't tell me what you already knew about the notebook." If she was going to help she needed to be on the same page. She was walking around looking at things while talking to him. While she had seen it all anyway, she had been more focused on keeping him alive. She came to stand under a weird bar system that she didn't know what was for. "He did say you already had one, before I gave you the one Walter gave me."
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Post by Oliver Queen on Dec 26, 2013 19:53:54 GMT -6
Oliver gave a very slight smile as she spoke of not exactly needing protection. Truth was, people could do a lot worse than what she was suggesting. And he knew that she was not naive and that she was aware of that too. The people he was going after were not small fish. They were wealthy and powerful and had connections and unethical means of getting what they want. Which was why he would constantly be afraid for those he was closest to, and now Felicity was the newest name on his other list of people that he greatly feared for. He wasn't going to go into detail about that. His aim wasn't to instill fear into her. And the next subject she brought up provided a perfect diversion to that. He was well aware that he owed her an explanation to . . . well, a lot of things.
He held up his copy of the book, taking a few steps toward her as she seemed to pause her movement for a moment. "My father gave me this just before he died," Oliver began to explain, handing her the notebook so that she could see they were identical. "All of the people on this list are part of what's wrong with the city. People who have benefited from the suffering of others." The sources of the disease infesting Starling City. "He told me to right his wrongs. And that is what I am doing." As the vigilante, because he couldn't do that as Oliver. "With your help, I have been to work through this list, name by name." And thus, able to atone for his father's sins. Well, his family's sins, apparently. Since his mother was somewhat involved.
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Post by Felicity Smoak on Dec 26, 2013 20:36:07 GMT -6
The notebook. It all came down to the names in this book. She stayed silent while he explained about his father, and how before he drowned that he had asked him to right his wrongs. Not asked him for help but just do it. Felicity wondered if there was more to the drowning story, but she would not ask. It did explain how he knew which men to look into and which to skip over.
"Walter asked me to quietly look into two point six million dollars that went missing in Queen Consolidated. Your mother claimed it was an investment into a friend's business, but when I looked there was no business. Instead I found the money was used to set up an off shore account called Tempest, and the only thing I could find on them was when they purchased a warehouse in the Glades."
"After that he told me if I kept looking it was at the risk of my job. So I stopped until later he came to me and asked me to look into the notebook I gave you. He said the former head of security for Queen Consolidated had looked into it and died under questionable circumstances. I agreed to look into it, but before I could he went missing, and I didn't look deeper because I was afraid."
"At first I was going to the police, but I didn't know who to trust. In the end, I decided to give it to you." Now all her cards were on the table too.
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Post by Oliver Queen on Dec 26, 2013 21:03:46 GMT -6
Oliver listened as she explained how she had become involved in this. Walter. An innocent man, punished because of his excusable curiosity. What Oliver did not want to hear though, was any more incriminating evidence against his mother. He had heard the recording, but he just . . . he couldn't accept it. And he didn't want to hear anything more that would support the claim that his mother was guilty. Even though deep down, he knew that whatever she did, it wasn't good. That Diggle was right. That he would have to go home and pretend like he knew none of this. He would have to look his mother in the eyes and lie to her, as she had done so with him.
"My mother is a part of this." It pained him to admit that, and he had to use what strength he had left to hold back his emotions when stating these words. But if Felicity was going to be a part of this, of their team, then she needed to know. They all needed to be on the same page. He figured that Felicity had already gathered enough to reach that conclusion, but obviously there was more. He paused though, gathering his emotions and making sure he didn't reveal them through his words. "The warehouse had the remains of the ship my father and I were on. It was sabotaged." Someone had tried to kill his father. And they succeeded, even if the ship wasn't the immediate cause of death, it may as well have been.
"You took a great risk, investigating all this," he told her. Especially as she continued to help Walter despite the murder of the previous man Walter had revealed this information to. "But you did the right thing, bringing the book to me." That alone had reassured him that she trusted him. For she had confided in him. It was part of what helped him choose her as the newest addition to their team -- hopefully a permanent one. "I wish I could say that the worst is over. But the deeper we go, the more dangerous it will become." They were going to find Walter, somehow, and that path was not going to be a smooth one. "Are you sure you are ready for all this?" He was only going to ask her once, and that was it. He told her he could -- and would -- protect her. He didn't want to talk her out of this, but he also did not want to blind her to how endangered her life would be . . . more so than it already was. Besides, they were being honest and he would not pretend like this was going to be easy or safe.
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Post by Felicity Smoak on Dec 27, 2013 21:37:38 GMT -6
His mother was apart of this, and that she knew but it was s surprise when she learned that the warehouse was storing the ship! Someone had tried to kill him, or them. "Maybe she was building evidence?" Though it was more of a though meant to soften the blow of, "Do you think she knew where Walter is?" Felicity had never meant his mother, so she wasn't sure what type of person she was. Besides the public imagine.
When he said she had taken a great risk, and asked if she was ready for things, Felicity again repeated her older answer. "I'm ready to find Walter. He was nice to me, and most people just don't see me." In fact there was only one other person who saw her and was nice to her before this. Oliver Queen. "So whatever it takes, I'm here for that."
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Post by Oliver Queen on Dec 28, 2013 10:01:02 GMT -6
Felicity started inquiring about his mother, questioning her motives by suggesting that she was building evidence. And then, asking if she knew where Walter was. She had been so distraught when Walter disappeared . . . he couldn't imagine his mother knowing anything about that. "Felicity," he began to say, keeping his tone level and calm, but serious all the same. He was going to tell her the same thing he told Diggle when it came to his mother. "My mother is not to be questioned, or investigated. She is off limits." He knew Felicity had skill with computers -- to say the very least -- so he didn't want her prying into his mother's life. Just as he no longer wanted Diggle to bug her and follow her around. This was his family. He would deal with this when the time was right. "Is that understood?" He asked, needing her to say it to confirm it and thus, comply with it.
Hearing her speak her reasons of wanting to find Walter, and saying she was ready for this . . . well, that was a subject easier spoken about. Sort of. "Alright," he said, with a small nod of his head. He wouldn't ask again, not wanting to keep pressing on her involvement when he was happy to have her part of their team. "If there's anything else you need to know, now is the time to ask." Because he had the time and opportunity to answer. He was well aware that questions would come up as they went about their business, but he was wondering if she had any more pressing concerns or questions about this entire operation.
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