Chipped Blocks
An Olicity Flash Fic Story

Flash Fic Prompt #48: Two Lies and One Truth

Chapter Twenty

"Hi. Yes. I'm late. I know." Breathing heavily – more from nerves and excitement than actual exertion, Oliver struggled to make any sense, though, if the amused smirk the front desk attendant was directing towards him was any indication, he wasn't the first man to make a fool of himself in her presence. "My... we have an appointment. Today. Five minutes ago. I'm running late. And I already said this. And suddenly I know how she feels when..." As Oliver took a step back and purposefully looked upwards to center himself, he involuntarily found his frustrations automatically seeking out his old tick, rubbing his thumb against the bowstring calluses on his right index and middle fingers. "Felicity Smoak," he finally managed to communicate effectively. "The appointment is under Felicity Smoak. Has she already gone back to the exam room?"

With a few clicks of the keys, a negative shake of her head, and a sympathetic smile, the young woman told him, "no worries, Mr. Queen, because Ms. Smoak must be running behind schedule today, too. She hasn't checked in yet."

That made absolutely no sense whatsoever to Oliver. "We're talking about the same Felicity Smoak, right? Smoak... as in S-M-O-A-K, not smoke as in a fire."

"We're on the same page, and we don't have any other Felicitys in our system, Mr. Queen – smoke as in a fire or otherwise."

"And she didn't call?"

"Other than my lunch break during which the desk was covered by one of the other girls, I've been here all day, and Ms. Smoak has not called."

Although Oliver was worried – he was the late one, not Felicity; never Felicity, he didn't want the desk attendant to realize just how concerned he was. While the young woman seemed nice and professional enough, Oliver and his family had been burned too many times in the past by other nice, seemingly professional people to ever doubt just how easy it was for others to cast aside their work ethics in order to make a few extra bucks by selling a story to the tabloids about the notorious Queens. With this in mind, he flashed the office worker one of his patented public smiles in an attempt to affect a mood of nonchalance. "I bet she got stuck in traffic. Starling Prep is all the way on the other side of the city. I'm just going to..." As Oliver allowed his sentence to drop off, he indicated the exit over his shoulder and started to back away towards it.

However, despite his efforts, the young woman did not look convinced. She frowned as she asked, "would you like to reschedule?"

Oliver shrugged, forcing his grin even wider. "It's fine. Thanks for all your help. You've been great." And he continued to offer empty platitudes and compliments until the door shut behind his quickly retreating figure and the desk attendant could no longer see him.

Once outside, Oliver made quick work of returning to his parked car, leaving, and heading off towards home. While he drove, he continued to try and reach someone, anyone – not just Felicity but also Digg, or Connor, or Mia, but all four of their cell phones went directly to voicemail. The kids not picking up didn't overly concern him. Though his relationship with his son grew stronger every day, Connor was still a teenager and very much lived in his own little, cyber world. As for Mia, well... he and Felicity were just glad that she agreed to carry a cell phone. As much as Connor loved everything about technology, Mia's preference would be to live off the grid entirely. Even Felicity not picking up, despite her own obsession with gadgets and a penchant for punctuality wasn't enough to send him into the panic he was currently experiencing. Although Oliver would willingly bite out his own tongue before ever saying so out loud, pregnancy brain was really a thing, and Felicity had it. No, what scared him was the fact that Diggle was also unreachable and, in all the years Oliver had known and worked with him, that had never happened before.

Surprisingly, his head of security had needed little to no prompting to shift his professional focus from Oliver to Felicity after she so unceremoniously announced her pregnancy two days before Christmas. Now, four months later, Felicity was still working (much to Oliver's displeasure) and planning to finish out the school year. Despite their best efforts, news of their relationship and the impending birth of their child spread quickly once Felicity and Oliver together started to attend regular OB-GYN appointments. Between the media's interest in Felicity, her pregnancy, and any lingering threat from Oliver's distant past and lingering secret identity, not to mention Mia's brief foray into vigilantism, Oliver had been nervous about Felicity's safety, and Diggle had seconded that concern, even going so far as to suggest himself that perhaps, until things calmed down some, he should accompany Oliver's girlfriend to work and around town. Even more shocking, Felicity had agreed to the arrangement without a single complaint or objection.

So, now Digg was Felicity's driver, and Oliver was comforted by the idea that, in his new work capacity, his partner could also keep an eye on Connor and Mia, too. When the arrangement was made, Oliver had taken it as a sign of how uncomfortable Felicity was with the new, unwanted attention heaped upon her and her daughter thanks to Oliver's presence in their lives, but, now that no one was answering their phones, and now that he couldn't run a trace on their phones – the reason why he had immediately driven back to the Queen residence where he still had the bare bones of his base set up in the basement, Oliver was starting to wonder if there had been more to Felicity's easy and painless submission.

Unsure of what to do next, of how to go about finding his missing family members, Oliver collapsed into the desk chair behind where he had just run his searches. Had Felicity felt threatened? He knew about her history with her ex, with Mia's father, but Felicity had always hinted that there was more to her dark past than what she had already revealed to him. Maybe something or someone from her MIT days had come back all these years later to haunt her. Then again, there was always his past as well. It would never be completely dead and buried, and there was nothing inconspicuous about having a baby with a woman. That kind of connection to Oliver made Felicity an extremely valuable bargaining chip if someone were so inclined as to seek him out and challenge him in such a way. And then, as he had feared when the idea first came to him to arrange for security for Felicity and their unborn child, there was always the enemies Mia had made for herself during her brief run as Speedy.

Although Connor had done what he could to keep her safe, Mia had gone out onto the streets without taking the same precautions Oliver had for so many years to conceal his identity. Apparently taking her fashion cues from her joyriding buddy Roy, Mia had worn nothing but a hoodie to distort her appearance. Plus, it didn't help matters that, as much as a man in green leather, a hood, and a mask was memorable, so, too, was getting your ass handed to you by a barely five-foot-tall, 90-pound girl. And, despite her less than dolled up appearance, there was no mistaking Mia Smoak for anything but the young, mouthy woman she was. The dealers and pimps she had targeted would not soon forget her... or their need for revenge. What better way to send their own message than to go after Mia's family?

At that thought, Oliver sat up straight, and shot his chair forward to the work station and computer he had previously used a few moments before. Thinking about Mia made him recall the tracker he had installed her bow after he had learned of her vigilante activities. It was Oliver's own, secret precaution to make sure that Mia kept the promise Oliver had made on her behalf to Felicity: that she would be safe, that she would stop using the skills he had taught her in order to seek her vengeance against those who had used, manipulated, and hurt her during her years of addiction. So far, Mia had not given Oliver cause to doubt her, and he hadn't wanted to abuse her trust either by keeping track of her, but he was desperate.

A few seconds later, the trace came back with results, and Oliver was once more racing out to his car. It didn't matter that the location made absolutely no sense; it was something, somewhere to start, and anything – even a wild goose chase – was better than doing nothing. As he drove, Oliver tried to come up with some kind of plausible explanation as to why Mia – and her bow – would be where he was headed and why, even more importantly, Felicity would be there with her, Digg would be aware of their location and not answering Oliver's calls, and Connor would be MIA or with them as well… if that was indeed the explanation as to why he couldn't find anyone.

Although it was pushing five o'clock as Oliver strolled into the empty club, Verdant wouldn't open for business for several more hours. Clubs didn't operate on the same schedules as bars. Given that both Mia and Connor were underage (and Mia was a recovering addict), he should have been glad for the distinction, but it made even less sense for the two teens, Felicity, and Digg to be at Verdant without there also being actual customers there to have brought them to his sister's place of business. Because, despite Thea having apologized for going behind his back and speaking with Sandra about Felicity and Mia, the women were certainly not close enough to randomly spend their afternoons together, especially not when Felicity was supposed to have had a sonogram that day and had missed it without notice or word.

Heels tapping out a steady rhythm behind him announced his sister's presence before she spoke. "Ollie, what are you doing here?"

Sighing, he quietly said to himself, "honestly, I have no idea," before spinning around and facing Thea. "Have you seen Connor?" Although it was his trace on Mia's bow that brought Oliver to Verdant, of the four people he was looking for, his son being at the club, visiting his aunt, made the most sense.

Carelessly, flippantly... like it was no big deal, and a common occurrence, and like he was the strange one for even asking, Thea remarked, "yeah, he came in with that little weirdo after school like he always does." At what must have been Oliver's confused expression, she explained further, "he came to me a couple of months ago and asked me if he could use the basement, said he had some kind of tech project he was working on for school, and he needed space to spread out, and that, with the baby coming, he and the gremlin wanted a space where they could just hang out and listen to music as loud as they wanted. I admit that the two of them are a little old for a clubhouse, but I thought you'd rather have them here where I can at least keep an eye on their comings and goings than somewhere else."

As much as Thea's continued attitude towards Mia wasn't the primary concern at the moment, Oliver also couldn't let her flippant comments slide. "You know very well that her name is Mia, Thea, and I would really appreciate it if you would stop calling her things like weirdo and gremlin. Her mother... Felicity and I are having a baby together."

"And if it was up to you, the two of you would already be married, and you'd adopt Mia, and then the five of you would live happily ever after, blah, blah, blah. I know," his sister both recognized what he was asking of her and mocked him at the same time. Before he could further censure her, Thea added, "look, I admitted that I was wrong about Felicity. She's like the absolute furthest thing from a stripper, but my reservations towards her daughter still stand, and I don't care how mad you get at me, Ollie. I'm not ready to just forgive and forget her past and trust her with my nephew, with the new baby when it comes." As Thea paused, Oliver could see the horror and revulsion sweep across her features. "Oh god, they're not, like, dating, are they?"

If Oliver wasn't so worried about Felicity and why she missed their appointment and now about what exactly this project was of Connor's that Mia was a part of, and if he wasn't so annoyed with his sister, he would have laughed at her question, because, if there was one thing he didn't need to worry about, it was the someday step-siblings ever seeing each other in a romantic light. "Trust me, Thea, that is not happening."

"Well, good, especially because we Queens are supposed to have better taste than..."

"Thea!"

She started to walk away from him, retracing her steps and back towards her office. Over her shoulder, his sister yelled, "not sorry, Ollie! As long as... Mia continues to look like Eleven from Stranger Things – by choice, I'm going to continue to mock her."

He didn't have the patience to continue fighting with her.

Oliver waited until Thea was long gone before he approached the basement entrance. He immediately noticed the electronic keypad requiring a passcode for admittance. Whereas most little boys asked for verbal passwords instead, Thea's remarks about Connor and Mia having a clubhouse weren't so far off the mark after Oliver observed just the exterior to their little setup. However, what he really wanted to know was how a girl who was required to use every last dollar she earned or was given to help pay off the debts her mother incurred because of her addiction and years of failed treatments or how a boy who did not have a job or a credit card could get their hands on such impressive, expensive equipment.

Oliver Queen smelled a rat.

He knew better than to think that he'd ever be able to guess the passcode. If it was Connor's, his son was much smarter than him; if it was Mia's, the sixteen-year-old was far too secretive to ever share enough about herself with anyone, let another her mother's boyfriend and, as Mia had started to refer to Oliver, her mother's baby daddy as well. As for the other options as to who could have selected the passcode, while Oliver wasn't quite ready to voice his suspicions, he also had to admit that he'd never get past the two of them either. His only option was to put the wrong passcode in enough times to trigger some kind of alarm, causing someone to investigate his presence.

However, it only took a few minutes and two failed attempts before the door swung open. Without second thoughts or a drop of hesitance, Oliver strode forward, using his years of training and work as the Green Arrow to advance with both silent haste and caution. Without a sound, the door shut behind him.

At first, he was bathed in near total darkness. It wasn't until Oliver was halfway down a pair of new, metal stairs that he, even with his well-honed eyesight, could make out anything. What he found was both a shock and not a surprise at all. Verdant's basement had been transformed into a base of operations... much like the Queen mansion's basement, though this base had more electronics and gadgets than Oliver had ever used in his quest to protect Starling City. Speaking of said electronics and the limited light spilling throughout the wide, open space, Oliver spotted Connor in the distance working on wiring. A repetitive, sharp staccato of metal on metal pulled his attention over towards Mia who was oh so quickly, her trademark, making her way up a salmon ladder. Then, there was John Diggle waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs, a sympathetic smirk and shake of the head his only response to Oliver's challenging gaze. The other man's reaction told him that Digg had been the one to let him into the basement, that he had known this whole time, and that, though he was glad Oliver now knew about it, too, he wasn't sorry for the role he had played in helping Connor, Mia, and Felicity keep it from Oliver.

And, speaking of Felicity – his girlfriend, the woman he wanted to marry but who refused to even entertain the idea of a proposal because she said she wouldn't get married just because she was pregnant, the mother of his unborn child, and the very same woman who had stood him up for their sonogram appointment that afternoon, she was reigning over this little secret, underground kingdom from the center of the room and from behind what was one of the most impressive computer setups imaginable. Even Oliver's luddite mind recognized that it was truly a work of art.

Despite this, despite everything, he didn't yell. He didn't scream. He didn't demand answers. Instead, calmly – because, as Oliver had to remind himself... while gritting his teeth to the point of pain, Felicity was fivemonthspregnant, and he loved her... very much – he simply said her name in an attempt to gain her attention without startling her. "Felicity."

"Just give me a second, Oliver."

At the sound of his name, Mia fell off the salmon ladder, landing on her feet like a lithe cat. The bar she had been holding onto clattered deafeningly against the concrete floor and echoed throughout the basement. At the sound of his name, Connor jumped so much that, in whatever he was doing, sparks flew, and, out of the corner of his eye, Oliver saw his son flinch as a mild electrical shock went through one of his hands. Yet, still, Felicity was neither aware of the kids' reactions nor, apparently, cognizant of what she had just said or to whom she had actually said it. Her response had simply been rote.

Clearing his throat, Oliver took several steps closer to her, approaching from the side. Again, though, he maintained his composure, though he did raise his voice slightly. "Felicity."

She huffed in perturbation, and Oliver watched as her brow furrowed as she grumbled, "I said to give me a second, Oliver. Sheesh. If you're this impatient as an adult, I don't even want to contemplate how impatient your..." As her words faded away, her awareness increased. Felicity's eyes rounded and became comically wide as she pursed her mouth and froze. The exaggerated movements were admittedly adorable and went a long way in curbing his temper. When she eventually spun around in her ergonomic chair to finally face him, the final phase of her self-chastisement and embarrassment appeared, washing her face with a deep, telling blush. "Ugh... hi, honey?" The little greeting was accompanied by a tiny wave, and Oliver had to fold his arms over his chest to keep himself from moving towards her, to prevent himself from grinning.

"Is there something you would like to tell me, Felicity?"

She pursed her lips and nodded. Oliver waited patiently. At first fiddling with her fingers, Felicity eventually spread her arms out wide to encompass the large, underground room before saying brightly, "surprise!"

"That's one way to put it."

Standing, Felicity advanced towards him, talking rapidly. "It's not done yet. We still have some equipment that we're waiting on to come in, and I planned on having Digg bring over all your old equipment from the house still, but... you weren't supposed to see it yet." And then she realized what that meant – that Oliver hadn't been invited to their secret base of operations; he had discovered it... despite all the security measures he now knew Felicity had installed. "Wait, why exactly are you seeing it now?" Before he could respond, she held a placating hand out towards him and rushed to add, "not that I'm not glad to see you. I am. And I totally planned on telling you about... this. But I wanted to make sure that everything was done first. And ready. But you're here. Now. And I have no idea how, of why, or..."

Deciding he would put her out of her misery... or at least some of it, Oliver prompted, "you didn't show up for our sonogram appointment this afternoon, Felicity."

"Oh. Yes. That. Right." Wincing, she added, "um... sorry?"

"And I became worried."

"Because you're a wonderful boyfriend, and father, and man, and lover, and..."

"Hey!" Three equally horrified voices rang out in unified disgust, but Oliver ignored them.

"So, I tried to call all of you, and, then, I tried to trace all your cell phones."

Rather than indignation at Oliver's tactics, Felicity beamed in his direction. "Oh, good! My signal jammers are working."

"They are," he agreed with her. "However, they didn't stop me from picking up a trace on Mia's bow." Felicity went to say something, no doubt a complaint because she had not been aware of such a tracking device needing her interference, but Oliver's patience had expired, and he was ready for some serious answers. "So, I followed that signal here, talked to Thea, and found out about Connor approaching her to use the basement for some electronics project he was working on. I didn't know the passcode to get in, but I'm guessing you guys have cameras set up outside of the door, Digg must have spotted me, because he let me in, and, now, I'm here."

"And now you're here," Felicity agreed, nodding her head once.

"But what I don't understand is why I'm here, Felicity. Or why you're here. Or why Digg is here. Or why Connor and Mia are here, obviously still running comms and going out as Speedy despite our agreement that, above all else, we were going to keep our kids safe." When she went to answer him, Oliver raised his voice and talked over top of her. "What I don't understand is why, after we also agreed to no more secrets, you kept this all from me."

While he was talking, Felicity fidgeted the entire time. She bit her lips, she twisted her fingers together, she shuffled her feet, but, once Oliver fell silent and gave her the chance to talk, he watched as she transformed back into the confident, smart as hell woman he equal parts loved and was oftentimes unbelievably frustrated by. "It didn't matter what we said, or what we did, or what we wanted, Connor and Mia were not going to stop. As much as I wish we could wrap them up in bubble wrap, put them inside of a glass display case, and throw away the key, they'd suffocate. Plus, that's unrealistic. Plus, if they weren't my children, then I wouldn't want them to stop what they're doing, because I admire their convictions, and I want the same thing: a cleaner, better, safer Starling City. I don't like the risks they take, but I'm proud of them nonetheless. And if my choices were to put my head in the sand and pretend ignorance to what they were going to do with or without our blessings or do whatever I can to make sure that they're both as safe as possible in their mission, then I choose to help them. And you. I never intended to keep this a secret from you, Oliver; I just didn't want to say anything until we were ready, until I had every possible safety measure in place, and until I was satisfied that you guys would be able to handle this without me, because, in another month or two, I won't be able to fit into this chair... let alone be allowed out of bed."

A worry of a whole different kind stole through Oliver. His steps quickly ate up the remaining space between them, and he took Felicity's hands within his own, squeezing once in both reassurance and a request for it. "Are you... is the baby...?

"We're okay, Oliver."

"But how do you know? You missed our appointment today, and we were going to get to see him or her on the sonogram, and the doctor would have been able to tell us if something is..."

"I'm really sorry about missing the appointment, Oliver. I just... I guess it slipped my mind." He didn't say it, but Oliver thought it: pregnancy brain. Recapturing his attention and slightly changing the subject, Felicity asked him, "did you know that Digg had medic training in the army?"

Recalling all of the many times that medic training had saved his life over the years, Oliver glibly remarked, "I'm aware."

"Well, he helped me stock this place with state of the art medical equipment... including an ultrasound machine."

"Because of the possibility of internal injuries."

"Well, yes, but... I'm sorry, Oliver!," Felicity practically exploded in her nervous agitation. "I know you do not want to know the sex of the baby, but it was driving me crazy. Like... to distraction. And, finally, one day, I couldn't take it any longer. I knew we had this appointment coming up, but I couldn't wait another two weeks, let alone a day. So, Digg sort of, kind of... hooked me up."

"He bought you an ultrasound machine?"

"Well, yeah, but I meant that he literally hooked me up. He gave me an ultrasound." At his less than amused expression, Felicity said, "so, when I tell you that we're fine, I really mean it. And know it. And I promise not to spill the colored beans."

"Okay. But that still doesn't tell me why you think you'll be on bedrest soon."

"Oh." Felicity gulped and then looked away from him briefly before explaining, "well, I'm kind of small. Like... height-wise, because nothing else about me is small these days. And Connor's... practically a Pict."

"I don't know what that means, Felicity."

"He's ginormous." After a moment, she added, "not that I'm having a boy. Or not, not having a boy."

Chuckling, Oliver tried to appease her. "But he wasn't born six foot tall, and your genes are going to play a role in all of this, too."

Felicity snorted. "Don't I know it! I swear, I can already feel her glasses pinching and poking me every time she moves." A pregnant – pun intended – pause hovered over the room. For five seconds. Ten. After fifteen seconds, Felicity blurted out, "again, not that I'm having a girl. Or not, not having a girl. Or a boy. Or not, not a boy. Who knows? I definitely don't. And Digg doesn't. And neither does Mia or Connor. And I haven't told my mom anything. I swear."

It took less than a minute after Felicity had promised not to tell him the sex of their unborn child to basically confirm the sex two different times... with two different results. Resigned, Oliver sighed. "Felicity."

"Don't worry. I have this under control. I'm fine. We're fine. Everything's fine. And I can do this: I can totally keep the... sex a secret." Apparently sensing that he didn't believe her, Felicity rushed to add, "relax, Oliver. It's not like we're having twins or anything."

Except, as soon as those words left her plump, pink lips, Felicity flinched, and flushed, and refused to look at him, and Oliver knew that's exactly what they were having – twins... and one of each, too, if Felicity's previous awful cover stories were not to be believed.

And to think Oliver once thought his life before meeting Felicity Smoak was complicated.