36 - The Hack of the Golden Dragon

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Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://download.archiveofourown.org/works/7269232. Rating: Archive Warning: Category: Fandom: Relationship: Character: Additional Tags: Series: Stats:

Teen And Up Audiences Choose Not To Use Archive Warnings F/M Arrow (TV 2012) Tommy Merlyn/Felicity Smoak, Oliver Queen/Felicity Smoak Felicity Smoak, Tommy Merlyn, Oliver Queen olicity - Freeform, flommy, pre-Smoaking Billionaires Part 36 of Infinite Love Published: 2016-06-22 Words: 3015

The Hack of the Golden Dragon by realityisoverrated Summary

Oliver's disappearance after the Undertaking has Felicity seeking out help from an unexpected source.

Notes

This story depicts a polyamorous relationship between one woman and two men. If this is not something you are interested in, please stop and go no further. Thank you for all of your comments and kudos for the last installment. This installment is set pre-relationship. I'm not telling this series in chronological order. Some readers have requested that I provide a chronological order for the fics in the series. There is no need to read them in chronological order, but in case you'd like to the list is below. 1. Beautiful Stranger (Part 28) 2. The Hack of the Golden Dragon (Part 36) 3. The First Time (Part 1) 4. The Italian Restaurant (Part 3) 5. Do The Hustle (Part 21) 6. Wherever You Are, There I Am (Part 8) 7. Perfect (Part 16) 8. Practical Jokes and Other Misunderstandings (Part 14) 9. Cobble Hill (Part 4) 10. House Warming (Part 15) 11. 30 (Part 30)

12. Hong Kong (Part 35) 13. Twenty Questions Over Brunch (Part 11) 14. Hildy (Part 5) 15. Burgers & Lies (Part 9) 16. You Say You Want A Revolution (Part 22) 17. Look Me In The Eye And Make Me Feel The Truth (Part 12) 18. Fight Night (Part 20) 19. Into Thin Air (Part 17) 20. It’s Just Like Falling (Part 27) 21. Will You Still Love Me, Tomorrow? (Part 7) 22. Life With The Arrow (Part 23) 23. Up All Night (Part 6) 24. Welcome Home (Part 10) 25. Better Than Chocolate Chip Banana Pancakes (Part 24) 26. Home Is Where You Are (Part 2) 27. Somebody Get A Hammer (Part 26) 28. Three (Part 13) 29. Life Lived In The Tabloids (Part 18) 30. Tokyo Calling (Part 25) 31. Prudence Chastity (Part 19) 32. Love Is Worth It In The End (Part 33) 33. The Drop Out (Part 32) 34. William (Part 29) 35. Hold On For One More Day (Part 31) 36. Saturdays With The Green Arrow (Part 34) Welcome to any new readers who have stumbled into this universe. The more the merrier. Arrow and its characters do not belong to me.

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Artwork by Lademonessa

The sound of someone pounding on his front door pulled Tommy from his sleep. He glanced at his clock and groaned. He’d only been asleep for two hours and felt like he could sleep another twenty. He reluctantly got out of his comfortable warm bed and shuffled towards the front door. “Coming,” he shouted when the pounding got louder. He was surprised to find Oliver’s former IT assistant standing on his doorstep. She was soaking wet and carrying a large paper bag and some binders. She gave him a quick smile and an apologetic look, but when he still didn’t say anything she said, “May I come in? I think the structural integrity of this bag is failing.” Tommy took a step back and opened his door wider, “Sure.” “Kitchen?” she asked as she breezed past him into his apartment. Tommy vaguely gestured in the direction of the kitchen and followed after her. He watched her place the paper bag and binders down onto the counter. She removed the messenger bag she wore over her head and placed it onto one of his kitchen stools. He pinched his arm because he wasn’t sure if he was actually still asleep. He had no idea why she was standing in his kitchen, “Felicity, right?” She smiled and nodded, “Yep, that’s me.” Tommy ran his fingers through his hair, “Not that I don’t love it when beautiful women stop by my apartment unannounced, but I don’t imagine you’re here for what most women stop by for.” Tommy thought she looked adorable as her nose wrinkled when she realized what he was implying, “I’m not here for sex, Tommy. I brought you food in the hopes of asking a favor.”

He couldn’t help but grin as the blush spread across her face, “I thought you said you didn’t come here for sex.” She rolled her eyes as she began to randomly open cupboards, “Plates?” “You’re dripping all over my floors,” Tommy said as he took in her drowned rat appearance and the large puddle that was spreading along his kitchen floor. “The plates are to the right of the sink. I’ll go grab you a towel.” When he returned from brushing his teeth and his hair, Felicity had lined up dozens of food containers. He handed her a large towel, one of his sweatshirts, a pair of sweatpants and socks. He placed a towel on the floor and began to mop up the puddle, “If you want to get out of your wet clothes, my bathroom is through that door.” “Thanks,” she said with a grateful smile, “I’ll be right back.” Tommy started a pot of coffee while she was changing. He was examining the contents of the containers when she returned dressed in his clothes with a towel wrapped like a turban around her hair, “Several of these are my favorite dishes. Either we’re soulmates or you’re a mind reader.” Felicity snorted, “Hardly. I might’ve hacked your credit card to determine your favorite restaurants. Once I determined you liked Chinese, I hacked your favorite Chinese restaurant to find out what you order the most. You don’t always order the same thing, which is interesting, but makes it hard to order your favorite.” Tommy laughed as he scooped some rice onto his plate, “These were pretty good guesses.” He looked up and stopped laughing at her serious face, “Oh, you weren’t kidding. You hacked me and the Golden Dragon?” “I said that I needed a favor. I wanted you to be inclined to say yes.” Felicity picked up a plate and began to serve herself. “The only thing I didn’t get was your Kung Pao shrimp. I’m allergic to peanuts. I got Grand Marnier shrimp. They usually come with walnuts, but I’ve been told the dish doesn’t lose anything without them, unlike Kung Pao. Anyway, it’s one of my favorites, but if you don’t like it, I’m sure we can find another shrimp dish we can both agree on. I know Kung Pao is spicy, but so are a few of these other dishes so I decided to replace shrimp with shrimp and allow the spicy to be replaced by one of these others.” She took a deep breath, “Oliver and Diggle both completely gave up peanuts because of me. I told them that it was completely unnecessary since it would only be a problem if I kissed one of them after they ate peanuts and there isn’t really much of a chance of that happening, but I appreciated the gesture. You can feel free to eat as much Kung Pao as you’d like. I can always order it next time, I’ll just steer clear of it. I didn’t get it this time because everyone shares Chinese food, right? I mean who orders Chinese and then hoards it? I never trust someone who isn’t willing to share. I always carry my Epi Pen anyway.” Tommy put his plate down as he tried to digest the tornado of words that had just flown from her lips. He poured himself a cup of coffee. He’d gleamed two important pieces of information from her verbal download. First, he would never eat another peanut again if it meant he could spend more time with her. Second, she seemed to think that they would be eating Chinese food together a lot in the future. He’d definitely missed something. “Would you like some coffee or I could open a bottle of red?” Her eyes lit up, “I would love a glass of red.” “Come on, grab your plate.” Tommy led Felicity into his living room and placed his coffee and plate on the coffee table. He placed a large pillow on the floor for Felicity and then went to his bar to retrieve a bottle of red and two glasses. As he poured her a glass he asked, “I noticed that you

implied that we would be sharing Chinese again in the future. Did I miss something? Is this a date?” Felicity choked on her sip of wine, “A date? No, this is definitely not a date. This is an ambush lunch where I ask you for a favor. If you say yes, I think we will be eating lots of meals together.” “Okay, I’ll bite.” Tommy leaned against the sofa, “What’s the favor?” “Eat first, then I’ll ask you the favor,” Felicity picked up her chopsticks and expertly lifted a shrimp to her mouth. Tommy watched her chew and was at a complete loss as to what he should say. All he knew about Felicity was that she was good at computers, Oliver trusted her with his secret, she liked red wine and she was very pretty. “How are you doing?” she asked sincerely. “According to Dig, who heard it from Thea, you’re not sleeping, you’re not eating, you’re not leaving your apartment except to go see your lawyers or to visit Moira.” Tommy took a sip of his wine. Everything Felicity had said was true. He wasn’t sleeping or eating. All he cared about was helping Moira so Thea didn’t lose her mom and to try to make financial restitution to his father’s victims. He no longer cared about what happened to him, “I’m doing as well as anyone could expect of someone whose father orchestrated the murder of at least five hundred and three people, including the woman I had a very complicated relationship with. I’m receiving death threats, not that I blame anyone since I’m the only person left with the last name Merlyn. All of the Merlyn assets have been frozen by the government. Everything, but the trust fund my mom left me is fair game for the lawyers who are representing the victims. Not that I want anything that belonged to him. I told my lawyers not to fight for any of it.” “I’m sorry. I know that Malcolm is responsible for terrible things, but he was your father. I’m sure his death has been hard on you and I imagine no one has told you that they’re sorry for your loss.” Felicity took hold of his hand, “I’m sorry that you lost your dad.” He squeezed her hand and then pulled away, “They haven’t found his body. I doubt that he’s dead.” “Tommy,” Felicity said with concern, “Oliver put an arrow through his own chest in order to kill your father. I’m sure his body will be located. The morgue is overwhelmed.” He shook his head, “Don’t get me wrong. I don’t want him to be alive.” Felicity pulled back in surprise, “Oh.” “I’ve shocked you?” Tommy asked already knowing the answer. “I know he has done terrible things, but he was your dad. He raised you. You can’t be unaffected by his death.” “I’m not unaffected. I just think that the world would be better off without my father in it.” Noticing the incredulous look on Felicity’s face, he continued, “I’m not saying these things because I’m in denial about his death. I think I’m the only person who truly knows what my dad is capable of. I spent nine years of my life living in abject fear of him. Then I moved on to plain old fear. If they didn’t find his body, my dad isn’t dead. If Oliver could survive that injury, so could my dad.” “I’m sorry. You deserve a better dad than that.” Felicity rolled her chopstick between her fingers,

“My dad never hit me, but he did walk out on me and my mom when I was seven. I haven’t heard from him since. My mom supported us by working double shifts as a cocktail waitress.” She raised her glass, “To surviving our crappy dads.” Tommy clinked his glass against hers and they both drank. “Have you heard from Ollie? His mom and Thea are worried about him. They think he’s in Europe. He’s not in Europe, is he?” “I haven’t heard from him, but no, he’s not in Europe. I’ve hacked cameras across six continents and I can’t find him anywhere. The one thing I’m sure of, he’s not water skiing in the Mediterranean.” Tommy chuckled, “Even before he survived a sinking yacht, I could never get Ollie to do water sports. I can’t believe Thea and Moira believe that story.” “Do you water ski?” Felicity asked around a mouthful of dumpling. “I have, but my real passion is sailing,” he stood up and retrieved a photograph from his mantle. He returned to his seat and handed the picture to Felicity. She looked at the picture and then looked at him, “You sail?” “I do,” he said with a smile that quickly faded. “Well, I did. My boat belonged to my grandfather. When my parents married he gave it to them as a wedding present. Since it wasn’t part of my mother’s trust for me, it is one of the many Merlyn assets that are going to be sold.” “Is this your mom?” Felicity asked without looking up from the photo. “Yes, her name was Rebecca.” Tommy swallowed the lump in his throat. “She was very beautiful,” Felicity looked up and smiled at him. “Did she teach you to sail?” “Yeah, she did. We’d go out almost every Saturday in the summer and sail around the bay. Sometimes, we’d go on overnight trips and I’d wake up in a different town or city and it was like magic. A different skyline and different places to visit. When she died and my dad left, the lawyers who were left in charge of me asked me if there was anything I wanted. I asked to go sailing. They hired an instructor and I took lessons for the four years my dad was away. When he came back, I don’t know if he knew that I was still using the boat or not, but he kept paying for its maintenance and the slip.” “Sunnybrook,” Felicity handed the picture back to Tommy. “Your grandfather named the boat after your mom.” Tommy laughed, “No, my mom was named for the boat, actually.” “Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farms.” Felicity laughed, “Your grandfather must’ve really loved that boat.” “Not as much as he loved my grandmother. She grew up in Maine and that was her favorite book growing up. They met when he was attending Harvard and she was at Wellesley. They got married after he finished medical school and moved here to Starling to be closer to my grandfather’s family and their money,” Tommy winked at her. “My grandmother was homesick for Maine and the only time she was truly at home was when she was out on the water with my grandfather. My grandfather bought the boat and called her Sunnybrook to cheer my grandmother up. When they had my mom, it was only natural that they named her Rebecca.” “That’s a beautiful story.”

He grinned, “It is. Thank you for letting me tell it. It’s been years since I told it to anyone.” “I’m honored, thank you.” Her smile lit up her face, “Your mom was a doctor too. You didn’t want to follow the family tradition?” Tommy shrugged, “I don’t do well with the sight of blood. It’s not the best profession for the squeamish.” Felicity shuddered for effect, “I hate needles and blood – gagh.” “Having Oliver for a friend must be hard on you,” Tommy teased. “Ugh, you have no idea. I’m proud that I never swooned. The first time I learned he was the Hood, he was shot and bleeding out on the backseat of my car. He probably would’ve died if I’d swooned.” Tommy’s heart hammered in his chest, “What? Who shot Ollie?” Felicity smirked, “Moira.” Tommy bit his lip and closed his eyes, “I forgot that Moira allegedly shot the Hood when he broke into her office.” He laughed, “I hope that I’m there when she learns that Ollie is the Hood and she realizes that she shot him. Wow, will she be unhappy with him.” “For Oliver’s sake, I hope she never finds out.” Felicity returned her attention to her plate. “Not a big fan of Moira’s?” Tommy asked. She shrugged, “I’ve only met her the one time and it was more of a wave than a nice to meet you. I don’t dislike her, I just wish that she’d been more honest with Oliver about her involvement sooner. It might’ve made a difference. Maybe we would’ve known that there was a second device. If I’d known there was a second device maybe Laurel and all those other people would be alive.” Tommy reached across the table and took her hand, “Those deaths aren’t on you. They’re not on Moira either. She was afraid for Ollie and Thea. She knew, better than most, what my dad was truly capable of. The deaths, every last one of them belong to my dad and my dad alone. If it wasn’t for you, a lot more people would’ve died.” “Thank you.” “So, what’s this favor you need?” “Moira has informed the board that Oliver is in charge of Queen Consolidated while she’s in prison. They’ve been sending him emails, which I may or may not have hacked, and I’ve been doing my best to respond, which has been working, but yesterday I received an email regarding a potential hostile takeover. I don’t know how to respond to what they’re asking.” “And you think I’ll know?” “You worked for your dad,” she reminded him. “For about a month,” he countered. “You have your MBA,” she persisted. “I don’t think that it’s a good idea.”

“Listen, I know you’re pissed at him. You have every right to be angry about what went down between him and Laurel. But this isn’t about Oliver, this is about the thirty thousand worldwide employees of QC who will be unemployed if this takeover happens – including me.” Tommy was ready to say no when he looked at Felicity. There had been nothing he could do to save the tens of thousands of Merlyn Global jobs, but he might be able to help save QC. Starling City had enough issues trying to recover from the earthquake without adding massive layoffs. He sighed as he realized that he was once again going to clean-up after Oliver, “What do you need me to do?” “I need your help responding to the board’s emails. They’re sending Oliver all of this material to read, which I’m reading, but I’m not sure what I should be doing with it.” “Did you bring any of it with you?” Felicity sighed with relief, “Yes, I printed out the materials they sent over and put them in those binders. I also have all of the emails he’s been receiving.” “I’ll take a look, but I don’t know what help I’ll be.” “I’ll go grab them,” she stood up, but not before she placed a kiss on his cheek. “Thank you.” When she handed him the binders he said, “I will be expecting food in exchange for this favor.” She nodded vigorously, “Of course. You tell me what you want to eat and I’ll bring it.” She placed her computer in her lap and turned it on. “Hey, Tommy?” she asked without looking at him. “When do you have to give up Sunnybrook?” “The lawyers said that they can probably hold off on handing her over for another month. Why?” “I’ve never been sailing. I grew up in the desert.” He couldn’t decide if she was flirting with him or just felt sorry for him, but either way he’d love an excuse to take the boat out one last time, “Would you like to go sailing with me?” She blushed a deep pink, “I’d love to.” He grinned as he realized that she might be flirting with him, “What are you doing tomorrow? The weather is supposed to be sunny and clear.” “Looks like I’m going sailing,” she said before she disappeared into his kitchen. For the first time since the city crumbled around him, Tommy felt like he might make it through to the other side.

End Notes

Thank you for reading. Kudos and comments are always welcomed and appreciated. Hearing from you is my favorite part of the day. Any ideas or prompts for what you'd like to read in this universe are always welcome. You have been sharing some great ideas - please keep them coming.

On another note, I launched my new Olicity fic, The Sword and The Shield, under my other author name - wordscreatereality. If you are so inclined, I'd love for you to join me on this season 3 rewrite. Chapter 4 was posted on Sunday. http://archiveofourown.org/works/7008718/chapters/15959470

Please drop by the archive and comment to let the author know if you enjoyed their work!