Work Text:
“Why’d you do it Ray?” The moon beamed down on their heads mercilessly casting the scene before her in harsh grotesque shadows.
“I think the question you mean to ask is ‘how’, how did I do it.” Ray corrected in a maddeningly haughty tone.
Felicity forced herself to continue to look distraught instead of calculating. In her head she was measuring how close to the ground he’d need to be before her modified EMP would work. They were in the warehouse district. The same place Oliver had his first bout with the Atom. The same place where months ago he’d decided to show mercy. Now Oliver was curled on the ground coughing up blood behind her, she knew she only had a few minutes left before his injuries would become life threatening, and then fatal. Once she heard that the Atom was indiscriminately hunting down “vigilantes” she’d rushed to Oliver’s aid, arriving just in time to see Ray strike him with a bolt of plasma lightning. For a terrible hung second he didn’t move and Felicity cast aside Diggle’s warning to stay hidden and ran out to defend him from The Atom’s blind “justice”.
Ray hovered in the air just out of range, and began his terrible monologue. In exacting, excruciating detail he reviewed how he’d targeted her, won her confidence by taking advantage of her and Oliver’s spat. How he realized that she was the only one who could help him finish his suit, and perfect the weaponry. How he’d taken out Arsenal with the bolt of untested lightning putting Roy in the ICU for the past three months and how he’d only pretended to ally with the vigilantes so that he could test and perfect his armor. How he’d waited for the exact moment when the Arrow was swamped and exhausted after fighting Ra’s Al Ghul’s minions to declare his war on vigilantism.
Felicity had hated before. She’d hated Cooper for dying and abandoning her for a brief period in mourning. She’d hated Slade for the pain and agony he’d put her loved ones through. She still hated Malcolm Merlyn. And now she was starting to despise herself for allowing Ray to get to her team through her. All of that, however, paled, when she looked at how she felt when she considered that Ray Palmer had perverted her genius and exploited their relationship for his own twisted, diabolical, purposes.
“Ray,” she tried to reason, after he finished gloating. “Ray, Anna wouldn’t want this from you. She’d want you to be better, to try another…”
Her words were cut off by Ray’s bellow of rage, “Don’t tell me what she’d want! I told you to never speak to me about her again!”
Felicity’s pulse quickened, he’d sunk four feet! It was working.
“Anna loved you. She’d want…”
“I said NO!” Ray screamed, and Felicity tucked and rolled as a bolt of lightning scorched the earth not three feet from where she’d been standing. She could still feel the heat of the blast as it washed over her body. Blinking away the blinding flash she saw that the ground in front of her had melted into a small crater. Felicity felt as though cold water had been dunked over her head. He’d tried to kill her.
Ray hovered towards her in perfect control but she scurried backwards, repulsed by his perfection. The seeming perfection that had attracted her in the first place had been corrupted from the inside out. It was as though she’d opened a beautifully wrapped gift only to find rotten fruit inside. Confidence turned to arrogance, stubbornness to imperiousness, genius to manipulation, mourning to revenge.
“Are you okay?” His voice was unnaturally loud through the suits amplifier. In her head she sighed in frustration, he was closer but still too high! It was as if he knew!
“You know that was your fault. If you hadn’t made me angry I wouldn’t have shot at you. You know I don’t what to hurt you. I’d never want to hurt you. You’re Felicity,” His once charming smile was eerily lit by the moon and the LED lights from his suit. He reminded her of Slade, and Merlyn, and Brother Blood, all men with empty smiles. She had to stop him.
Even though it had almost gotten her killed not 30 seconds ago, Felicity knew that her best bet was to keep him talking. Remembering a technique Dig had once taught her Felicity considered everything that she knew about Ray. His obvious belief that he was right, his superiority complex, the billions of dollars he had and companies he bought on a whim, his decision to manipulate the team to his own benefit, his unrepentant acceptance that Roy was burned and comatose, his arrogance. Felicity stared at Ray for a second as her brain lit up. His arrogance. Everything around him revolved around this one character trait. Why he assumed that he’d be better for Starling City, why he believed that he could fight crime, run a global business, and pursue his version of love: Sheer arrogance.
Standing up straight, if shakily, Felicity dusted herself off, secretly priming the EMP. Feigning ignorance she appealed to his ego, “But why Ray? I just don’t understand. Oliver told me that we were doing good and helping this city, and now you’re saying the opposite. Maybe if you helped me…” Felicity grit her teeth and went for the gold, “I mean I’m smart but I’m not that smart!”
Ray sighed condescension dripping from his voice, and descended until he was only one story above her.
“Vigilantism is evil Felicity. I know you’re too good to even understand that, and I don’t know what Oliver and his band of criminals told you but that’s the truth. The police are here to protect us, and the legal system, when given a chance, does its job. Something your friend Black Canary would tell you any day. But running around deciding who lives or dies that’s wrong. No one should have that kind of power.”
Genuinely curious about how Ray could be so blind, Felicity gestured at Ray, “So the suit?”
Ray tilted his head as beamed at her fondly, “Think of me as guardian of this city, protecting it from the cancer of vigilantism. Once a city gets infected it spreads, and spreads like a tumor. My whole purpose is to radiate the city. To keep it clear of the threat that vigilantes pose…” As he spoke he descended lower and lower until finally his boots hit the ground. It took everything in Felicity to not to reveal that he’d triggered her trap. She just had to keep him talking.
“And where do I fit in?” Felicity asked. Ray began walking slowly towards her, his palms outstretched.
“Felicity, we worked together once. And I know that you think you love the Arrow right now, but if we join forces, we could become an unstoppable team for justice. We could protect this city from itself! And in time you’ll grow to love me and good again.”
In her pocket the EMP buzzed as Ray approached. It was specifically calibrated to his suit and would only work once he got into range. Felicity knew she had five seconds until this nightmare was over. A grim smile covered her face.
Ray tilted his head in confusion, “Is there something funny about what I just said? I just offered you your life back! I’m perfect for you. I’m offering you the chance to earn my forgiveness and trust back…” He was getting upset again but Felicity didn’t care. He didn’t know that it was already too late.
3…2…1…
The EMP emitted a series of deep pulses that rang out like a hit to a bass drum. She could feel it in her skull and in her bones but to her it felt only mildly uncomfortable. The same couldn’t be said for Ray. As soon as the first pulse hit The Atom gave cried out in pain and grabbed his helmet as his suit’s circuitry shorted. He fell to his knees at the second pulse, and she watched in dark fascination as the lightning gun on his wrist snapped and hissed before letting out a lick of fire. Ray howled in agony as the flames burned through his suit. After the third and final pulse Ray fell to all fours panting heavily. Felicity stared down at him unmoved. When he finally managed to catch his breath Ray squinted up at her, the hurt, physical and emotional, etched on his face,
“Why?” he breathed.
Felicity thought she’d enjoy this moment. Here was the man who’d lied to her, manipulated and hurt the ones close to her. The man who put Roy in the hospital with third degree burns so bad that doctors placed him in a medically induced coma. The man who cost Laurel her job and the respect of her peers, the man who confronted Diggle and Lyla one evening at their home with a ‘warning’ to stay away from the Arrow, the man who left Oliver Queen jobless, homeless, and for a time purposeless. The man who dared to tell her he loved her. She didn’t enjoy seeing Ray in pain, but if she was honest she wasn’t horrified either.
Felicity ignored Ray’s question. She didn’t trust Ray not to bluff and play on her sympathies. While the EMP had disabled the suit the same could not be said for the man. Felicity reached up to her industrial piercing and undid it. What no one knew was that it wasn’t just for looks. Inside of the tiny barbell was a weak paralytic. When used the victim would still be able to breathe, swallow, and look around but all other muscle groups would be completely useless. Her friends and enemies forgot that before she was a simple IT girl she was Felicity Smoak. Oliver had his secrets and so did she.
Felicity crouched down Ray’s level, the barbell carefully in hand, and wordlessly pricked him on the side of the neck. Ray stared at her in horror as the drug began to work. Unable to support himself Ray collapsed on his side, his wide eyes growing larger in fear.
Felicity scoffed,
“Don’t worry Ray, unlike you; I wouldn’t try to kill you. This is going to wear off in about an hour, don’t worry. I just want to be sure that you hear what I have to say,” Felicity lowered her voice and in an eerie imitation of the Arrow continued, “You will never set foot in Starling City again. I don’t care where you go but if I ever hear tell of the Atom harming anyone besides a bad guy? I will find you. And this time I’ll let Oliver use that assassin skill set that he pretends he doesn’t have. Blink once if you understand.” Ray blinked slowly.
“Good,” carefully fitting the piercing back in place with a practiced hand Felicity stood up before she turned to walk away, “Oh and Ray?” she called sweetly over her shoulder, “I don’t need your forgiveness, or your trust.” Leaving Ray’s paralyzed body on the ground Felicity rushed over to Oliver. He was bleeding and she could hear him struggling to catch a gurgling breath. Off in the distance she could hear police and ambulance sirens. Diggle was on his way with help.
“Oliver? It’s going to be okay, just hang on, Digg is coming with help. Just hold on. I’ve got you.” Felicity grabbed Oliver’s gloved hand, squeezed as hard as she could, and sat on the ground beside him.
"They're over here! Felicity!" Diggle's voice echoed through the space as he rushed over with medics. Seeing Diggle unharmed Felicity blinked back burning tears of relief.
She could hardly believe it but as the moon shone down on them the thought wouldn’t go away: they were going to be okay.