Chapter Text
Felicity Smoak was pretty confident of her abilities. However the dilemma of knocking on the door while juggling a large bowl full of her famous eight layer dip (the eightieth is a secret, she often said with a wink) in one arm and the twelve pack of beer in the other, confounded her.
She stopped for a moment and kicked the door with her sneaker.
John Diggle opened, his smile wide and welcoming, "Hey there."
She answered his smile with one of her own. "I come bearing sustenance," she lifted the bowl to his eye level, "and adult beverages." John chuckled and took the beer from her.
"Thanks," he said and moved away for her to walk in.
John's place before the return of his ex-wife Lyla, had always struck Felicity as a bit austere. Digg's apartment had felt lived in, but a bit solemn. Muted colors and serious lines, much like the desert he spent in during much of his time in the Special Forces. However, now as she walked into the apartment and headed for the kitchen, she could see splashes of colors around the rooms. A dark red pillow on the recliner. A wonderful throw full of chaotic blues, greens and oranges spilled over the dark brown of the leather sofa. A new piece of abstract art, bold and full of rough strokes adorned the dining room wall.
Lyla already was making her mark.
Happiness swelled in Felicity's heart. Good, John needed a woman's touch. Need color on his sofa and his life.
Her smile didn't fade when she and Diggle walked into the kitchen and saw Lyla trying to shove something into Roy's mouth.
"Come on, Roy. It is only a bit of spinach and artichoke. It isn't rat shit."
Roy grimaced and Digg laughed, "Well now he definitely won't try it. "
Lyla stuck out her tongue at him and didn't protest when John reached out and wrapped his arm around her, pulling her to him.
He took a bit of the concoction off Lyla's fork, "Hmmm, not bad-definitely not rat shit."
Lyla swatted him on the chest and both of them laughed.
Roy's face shuttered and Felicity's own grin faltered watching the fleeting moment of pain grace his face.
It had been two weeks since the war ended. And a little more than a week after returning from China to find Roy beating his fists raw on the broken dummies still standing in their old ruined lair.
The letter Thea left on the floor next to him. He hadn't heard them and didn't even respond when Oliver tried to stop him. Roy kept hitting and when he noticed who was stopping his fists he turned them on Oliver.
For a second, everyone feared the Mirakuru had left some long-term effect on him and he was in the middle of another episode. Then Felicity saw the letter. She picked it up and read the note. Horror and anguish for Roy flooded her and she knew he wouldn't stop until he dropped. Running to the dismantled cabinet, she found what she was looking for and came back to the fighting men. Roy slammed into Oliver, screaming at the top of his lungs.
Felicity stabbed Roy with a knockout dart. Thankfully, Roy was human again because he froze mid-swing and like a marionette doll with his strings severed, collapsed on the mat next to a panting Oliver. "What the hell just happened to him?" Oliver rubbed his temple where Roy landed a lucky right. Confusion and hurt warred in his blue eyes. Burning tears itched behind her eyes and she could not speak, knowing how much the letter would hurt him as well. At her expression, Oliver's face grew pale, "Felicity?"
She handed him the letter. As she feared. He didn't take it well.
After reading the letter, Oliver looked at her. His face devastated and stricken.
He left for a few hours. Afterwards, when he returned to a hungover Roy nursing his raw fists, he didn't berate the younger man. Instead, he went to him and said, "I am sorry. It is my fault. We will find her." Roy's eyes bright with tears, but gave Oliver a hard nod and jumped up to pick up the mess he made of dummies.
Oliver didn't say anything and helped him. Through it all, she could only stare and pitched in to help in silence.
Finding Thea proved a little harder than expected because since finding out she purposely left, Felicity still hasn't been able to track Thea down.
Roy didn't ask her about her progress. He only trained and trained, and then trained some more. The single-minded devotion he currently exhibited reminded her too much of another man driven by despair and demons. "It is my fault," he told her not a few days before after another failed attempt to find Thea.
"No-" She tried to say more, but Roy cut her off as if she never spoke,"If I had just told her the truth…" Roy trailed off, his eyes glazed. Secretly, Felicity agreed-not that it was his fault, not that-but the telling the truth bit. Of everyone already in the loop about Roy and the Arrow, Thea should have been first.
Not that she could actually voice that unpopular opinion with Thea's very overprotective, worried brother within earshot.
That was a topic she would have to address with Oliver another day and time.
Back in the present she pulled a cold beer from the case and handed it to Roy, "Here," she said. His signature lopsided smile graced his face and he tipped it towards her in thanks. Grabbing one for herself, she toasted and they both took a swig.
Today was the first day since coming back they had had an afternoon without scrambling from one thing to the next.
"Where's your roommate?" Felicity asked, taking another sip, enjoying the cool liquid going down her throat.
Roy shrugged. "He had a lunch meeting with Walter. Said would be here after."
After they found Roy, Oliver decided to stay with him at his place in the Glades. Roy didn't protest too much, which meant two things to Felicity-one, he didn't want to be alone or two- he was too depressed to care who lived with him. She thought it was a combination of the two, but Oliver had given her a knowing stare and a nod. He wanted to keep an eye on Roy. He felt responsible for the boy's pain. It broke her heart to see them suffering for the same reason in different ways.
Thankfully, the arrangement had worked out so far because Roy was still alive and Oliver hasn't come to the lair breathing fire.
At least not about Roy and Thea. That topic was reserved for getting his family's company back.
Oliver spend most of his time these days with Walter and lawyers trying to figure out what they were going to do about Queen Consolidated. Everything was still up in the air and there wasn't any real leadership heading up the ship at the moment. The shareholders were all up in arms and even Walter was having a hard time from keeping them from dismantling the company. Oliver kept cursing his idiot act of signing it over each day that went by and the need to make a clear and concise course of action soon was stressing him greatly. All of then knew if he didn't do something soon, Queen Consolidated wasn't going to be around very soon.
It was part of the reason for this gathering today. That, and Diggle was finally going to let them know the big news the couple were withholding.
By the way they were intertwining their fingers and the intimate looks, Felicity had a pretty good idea what it could be, but couldn't wait to hear it.
A knock broke through her reverie.
Oliver was here.
She took another swig of her beer and steadied herself.
Diggle opened the door, and both men gave each other a pat on the shoulder as Oliver walked in. You would think they hadn't seen each other for months instead of last night. But then again, a number of things had changed with Oliver in the last few weeks.
It was as if the crisis with Slade, the death of his mother, him almost giving up his life, caused a hyper-awareness of his surroundings and the people around him. He had touched and laughed and smiled more in the last fourteen days than in the last two years Felicity has known him.
Seeing him lighter warmed her soul in ways she didn't want to examine.
It overwhelmed her at times, the quiet joy of seeing this light come over him at different moments. Watching and actually embracing everything around him. A swell of something heavy and full would surge up her body and she often would blink back tears.
Like now.
Take another sip,she told herself and looked at the ordinary granite counter-top.
John looked towards them and motioned for them to come to the living room.
Everyone settled on the chairs and sofa, except for Roy who sat on the floor propping his elbow on the table, dipping another chip into Felicity's dish.
"Man, Blondie, what's in this! It is great." His big eyes crinkled at the corners as he bit down.
She laughed. Sometimes it has very easy to forget he was still young. But moments of this, with him on the floor and making noises while chowing down, snippets of the boy came through.
Diggle cleared his voice and said,"Well, now that we are all here, there are a few things Lyla and I wanted to discuss with all of you."
Oliver bent down and took a chip and some of the dip. "What about?" and then ate it. He blinked and stared at her in amazement. "You made this?"
Felicity snorted, "Yes, but why don't we hear about what John and Lyla want to tell us. My dip can wait."
Roy coughed.
Annoyed at her damn double entendre mouth, Felicity ignored Roy, Oliver's amused half smile and focused on John.
"You were saying?"
John gave a small shake of his head and threaded his fingers with Lyla's. Felicity stared for a moment at the beautiful contrast of his dark skin against Lyla. Almost like yin and yang.
"Well," he said looking over at his ex, "Lyla and I were wondering what you guys were up to this Friday?"
Excitement spiked in her stomach. The looks they were giving each other, like two kids caught with their hands in the cookie jar and not even caring.
They wanted to drag this out, well she could do it do. Teasing, she said,"I don't know guys. I mean I have TONS of job offers to go through. I don't think I will be available on Friday. But if it is really important, I think we can work something out." Winking, she bent down and took a bit of the dip.
Flavors explored in her mouth. Damn, it really was a good. She smirked to herself. At least her mother had taught her one useful thing.
Lyla smiled, "We were hoping you all could come to the courthouse with us."
"I knew it!" Springing up from her seat, Felicity hugged them both. "Congratulations! I am so happy for you both!" John and Lyla laughed, then Felicity noticed a lack of bodies. Still hugging John, she looked behind her to see Oliver and Roy sharing similar confused expressions.
Exasperated, Felicity huffed, "Really, guys. Courthouse? Ex-married couple living together." Still no recognition. How the hell could they be so oblivious! "They are getting married!"
Shock and happiness simultaneously appeared on Oliver's face. Both men rose and gave hardy congratulations and hugs.
"There is one other bit of personal news we wanted to share." Lyla said. Her smile softer, almost vulnerable. Dig have her a similar expression.
Something akin to deja-vu skirted through Felicity, which was impossible because if what she suspected was right, this was not something she had ever experienced before.
Thought it was life altering. For them and for the team.
"Is it big or small news." Felicity asked, hating that her voice came out in a hushed whisper. Diggle's dark eyes turned soft. So many emotions swirled there, love, respect, fear, hope. He inclined his head to her in a slight nod and said, "Right now small, but will be big at some point." His words held a tone of reverence and awe.
Tears swelled and spilled from her eyes. "Oh, oh!! Oh god! I am so happy for you both. So happy." She grabbed Lyla's hand, not surprised to see she was crying as well. A baby. A small, beautiful human being.
Again, Oliver and Roy were clueless. This time, the moment was too beautiful for her to be flippant with them.
She looked at Oliver, really looked at him in a way that she hadn't for two weeks. Letting herself hold his gaze and drown in their blue depths.
The words came out in a whisper, laden with emotion, "They are having a baby."