Felicity's brain felt like it was buffering.
It was wild enough to suddenly gain a boyfriend and lose her twenty-something-year streak of virginity in one impulsive night. But to find out that said boyfriend might also be a kidnapper with some pretty questionable morals? That wasn't exactly in her relationship bingo card. And yet—his police file was classified top secret. Not something you'd normally associate with a run-of-the-mill criminal. The whole situation had left her spinning. Jack Kadere was clearly more than he let on. Mysterious, unpredictable… and incredibly difficult to deal with.
Still, one thing she did know for certain: being with Jack was far more thrilling than the time she hacked the Department of Defense at seventeen.
Watching him lie back on the couch without a care in the world, Felicity hesitated, then sighed and closed her laptop. She decided to lie down too. Since she couldn't make sense of the situation right now, she'd let time do the heavy lifting. Tucked in Jack's arms, physically and emotionally drained, Felicity slipped into the deepest sleep she'd had in years.
There's a saying: Don't stress over what you can't fix today—because chances are, you still won't fix it tomorrow. Sure enough, when Felicity woke up, there was no epiphany waiting for her. Time had clearly shrugged this off.
After getting dressed, brushing her teeth, and grabbing a bite, she left for work—but not before handing Jack a house key. She wasn't sure how he'd gotten inside the previous night, but she was fairly certain he didn't come through the front door like a normal person.
Jack didn't go anywhere. He lounged on the sofa, soaking in the morning sun, thoughts drifting lazily.
If Felicity had been Green Arrow's girlfriend, Jack would've taken satisfaction in giving the guy a metaphorical green hat by sleeping with her. Maybe even leave a smug message like, Nice catch, Oliver. But the timeline was off—Felicity had become his girlfriend before ever meeting the Emerald Archer. So things weren't so straightforward.
He wasn't about to change his fast-moving ways. Jack had no problem with breakups. Love, hate, drama—it was all part of the game. Even messy, vengeful fallout could be entertaining. But what he didn't want was for anyone to talk about him the way he talked about guys like Green Arrow.
Life is a journey—we cross paths, then go our separate ways. Fine. But what if someone else wants to tag along? Forget it.
Jack thought about it long and hard. The best move, he decided, was to give Felicity a purpose—something to focus on beyond him. Something fulfilling. Maybe even a calling.
Like becoming a hero?
Felicity had a natural sense of justice. Sure, she wasn't going to be leaping off rooftops anytime soon, but her hacking and tech skills were top-tier. Perfect support-class material.
"Planning for a breakup on day one of a relationship… I'm probably the only guy who does that," Jack muttered to himself. "Impulsiveness really is the devil."
Still, since he was already grooming Laurel Lance to become Black Canary, why not bring Felicity into the mix too? A techie sidekick could be useful—and if things went south, she'd be another ex-girlfriend who represented a city.
If Felicity became an ex-girlfriend and a symbol of a city, that didn't sound so bad. If Jack Kadere drifted from city to city, leaving behind a trail of ex-girlfriends who went on to become iconic figures—was that a curse or a legacy? It was a bit twisted, but undeniably exciting.
So when Felicity returned from work, Jack had already prepared dinner. He hung up her coat like a perfect gentleman and guided her to the living room. There, he calmly explained everything: his kidnapping of Laurel Lance, the motives behind it, and the deeper reasons for involving Felicity.
"The Queen's Gambit sinking wasn't just an accident—it was orchestrated?" Felicity's eyes widened. "That's... massive! How do you even know something that secret?"
Jack simply smiled. "Let's just say... I have my ways."
He didn't elaborate, but Felicity's imagination filled in the blanks. Maybe he was a deep-cover operative—like an agent of ARGUS or some off-the-books branch of the government. That would explain why his records were sealed under top-secret classification. Maybe everything he did was just part of some long-term infiltration operation, pretending to be the bad guy to expose even worse ones.
Honestly, Felicity's overthinking could've powered the Watchtower.
But the conclusion gave her peace of mind. It was comforting to believe Jack was a good man playing a dangerous role. She leaned into him, smiling. "So, anything I can help with? Just say the word."
"Just keep tabs on Laurel," Jack said casually.
"No problem!" Felicity grinned, tapping her temple. "I've got this."
After dinner, she opened her laptop and got to work. It wasn't easy to monitor someone without installing hardware or bugging their devices, but Felicity Smoak was no ordinary tech expert. She was a world-class hacker who once broke into the Pentagon at seventeen. With a few swift maneuvers, she infiltrated Starling Telecom's network, located Laurel's phone number, tracked the internal signal code, and set up a background script to monitor her location 24/7.
She even coded it to record all voice call metadata and forward the logs to a secure inbox she created minutes ago.
"Done and dusted." Felicity leaned back with a satisfied smile. "As long as she has that phone, whether it's off or even broken, this software can trace her. This laptop stays here, and I'll show you how to use the interface."
Jack nodded along, genuinely impressed. "So with access to the telecom company's backdoor code, you can just track anyone like this?"
"Pretty much," she replied with a grin. "Wrote the tool myself."
"That... definitely sounds illegal," Jack remarked, raising a brow. "What was your original plan for it?"
Felicity scratched her cheek, sheepish. "My old roommate's boyfriend was cheating on her. I was bored and thought, 'Why not build a digital bloodhound?' But I never actually used it... until now."
Jack gave her a long look.
"Anyway!" she said quickly. "You don't have a phone, do you? Want me to pick one up for you?"
Jack didn't answer. He just gave her a slow, amused thumbs-up.
"Nice save," he said. "Quick wit, Smoak."