m_findlow

Title: Coming up empty
Fandom: Arrow
Characters: Oliver, Felicity, mentions Thea and Malcolm
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 659 words
Content notes: Written for Challenge 38 - None at beattheblackdog
Summary: No news is not always good news

Felicity was busily working away when Oliver entered the lair. It was quiet, the rest of his new team having departed hours ago, battered and bruised from training.

He stepped over to her and pulled away the tie that had been strangling him since before the start of his most recent press conference. The suits he donned as mayor felt more a costume than the Green Arrow. He didn't wait for a greeting.

'How many leads do we have on Malcolm's whereabouts?'

Felicity frowned, bright pink lips turned downward. 'Malcolm as in Malcolm Merlyn?'

'Do we know any other Malcolm's?'

'Well, actually there was this one kid in eighth grade.'

Oliver fixed her with a look and she quickly swiveled in her chair, turning to back to her computer monitors.

'Merlyn, Malcom,' she typed out loud. 'Why are we looking for him? I kinda thought no news was good news. You know, let him scurry away to whatever little hold he hides in, crawl under that rock, ride off into the sunset.'

'He hasn't been seen for months, nor has he visited Thea.'

'Are you sure about that?' she said, cocking her head at him.

He was. Thea was past keeping secrets about Merlyn from him. Malcolm's own actions had been his undoing in the battle to win her affections. Whether he truly desired a proper relationship with her was unclear. His methods had always been brutal and harsh, even those memories he had of Tommy's own battles with his father. The repentant figure he most definitely wasn't.

'Thea's in a good place now. As much as I hate to admit it, her leaving the team has been the best thing for her.'

'Just not for you,' Felicity added, finishing the unspoken thought.

'I don't want to ruin whatever happiness she's built for herself. I can control a lot of things, but the one thing I can't control is Malcom.'

Felicity slowly put her hands on the desk, bracing gently against its surface. 'I know you don't like me saying this, Oliver, but Thea can handle herself.'

'I know,' he said, nodding without looking at her. 'I just want to know what he's up to.'

'How much trouble could he cause?' Felicity laughed. 'He's only a psychopathic, murdering one handed, sword wielding, ex league of assassins leader, yeah, forget I asked,' she trailed away. She consulted the screen in front of her, and frown casting over her features.

'What is it?' Oliver asked, leaning over.

'Nothing,' she muttered.

'Felicity, you can tell me.'

'No, I mean nothing, none, zip, zilch, nada. The search came up with no results at all.'

'That's not possible. He can't just disappear.'

'He did a pretty good job after the undertaking. And they did call him "the magician",' she said, making quotation fingers. 'Maybe he went poof in a puff of smoke and disappeared forever. At least I hope he did.'

'We weren't looking for him then. We didn't know what he was capable of.'

'We still don't know what he's capable of. Except being beyond evil and trying to destroy the whole planet, which,' she said, pointing a finger, 'when you think about it, is a really good reason to know where he is.'

Oliver didn't disagree. Merlyn had a nasty habit of turning up unexpectedly and throwing their lives into chaos. Oliver severely doubted he'd given up scheming, and the longer things went on without hide not hair of him, the more he feared that whatever lay ahead would lead them to big trouble. Malcolm wasn't about to just give up on Thea and stay away forever. She'd have been factored into any long term plans he had.

Felicity saw the look of worry on his face. 'I'll keep trying. No stone unturned and all that.'

'Thanks,' he said walking away. He suspected just the act of searching would be enough to alert Merlyn. More like than not, he'd find Oliver first.