Arrow: Fracture Part 3

Always Home

A soft ramble from the bedroom pulled Jacob's head away from the wall. He glanced down the dark hallway and saw the string of light coming from the cracked doorway. Donna was most likely home from work and removing her usual amount of makeup that the pit bosses made her wear. A sigh escaped him as the thought of the woman being forced to work even more hours at that casino struck him. She didn't deserve this, Donna was only guilty of being the woman who had served him drinks when he was in search of a cover. A family was something that most intelligence organizations frowned upon, noting them as liabilities and distractions. HIVE had ordered him to create one however, needing his life to appear as normal and mundane as possible. Felicity was even apart of that cover, much to his regret. Despite Jacob's multiple attempts to keep Donna at bay, even he gave into the cover which resulted in a daughter. For some time he feared that he would arrive home one day and find both of their bodies slain at the hands of an unknown assassin, two loose ends being dealt with. But no assassin ever came, as a matter of fact HIVE didn't even care about his wife or child. They were nonessential to their goals, and they should have been nonessential to Jacob's as well. Atleast that's what HIVE expected of him, loyalty to them and not to his fake family. A family that was growing more and more real by the day, due in part to his beautiful daughter who took after him in so many ways. He had expected his training to block any and all emotional attachment to Felicity and the fact that Jakob himself was more sociopathic than he let on, but the girl had gotten to him. He fought to keep his distance but wasn't able to, his training and even his mental state were no match for the disarming young girl. This made things even more complicated. He had been informed that his time in his current posting was coming to an end within a year or two. His work would simply change and he would br someone else at the end of that time, for how long was yet to be determined. All he knew was his family wouldn't be joining him. More noise from the bedroom caught his attention, leading him down the hall. Jakob pushed the thoughts aside, knowing that they weren't helping him. There was nothing he could do to stop or change what HIVE wanted, they would never stop or compromise. He pushed open the door and froze. Felicity sat at her mother's mirror with a smile on her reflection and makeup covering her small face. She continued to apply the contents to her already covered cheeks. Jakob watched in horror, unable to speak or move. He searched for a thought to pull him out of the moment, something to focus on and keep him from giving into his love for the girl. He couldn't. No training was able to break his hold on his attachment for his daughter and it scared him. Love was an emotion that gave nothing in return, Jakob saw it as weakness and useless in terms of accomplishing a goal. He watched as Felicity played with her mother's belongings and shattered his beliefs with her innocence.

"Hi daddy." She spoke, waving into the mirror. Jakob knew he couldn't stay in her life in that moment, his reflection standing over hers would ultimately lead to her death.

"It's bedtime sweetheart." He plainly said, waving his daughter to the door. Felicity quickly moved past her father, smiling to him as she passed.

"Goodnight daddy." She happily said, running to her room and leaving Jakob to his own realization. Her door softly closing pushed him into action, gathering some of his belongings and hidden gear stashed away from his family. Some clothes and personal effects rounded out his bag as he slung it over his shoulder and moved to his office. He collected a few notepads before retrieving a large magnet from a hidden box and placing it directly against his computer's CPU, erasing the hard-drive. His footsteps stopped outside Felicity's room where he tried to decide whether he should take one last look at his daughter before disappearing from her life. His hand trembled as it reached for the doorknob before ultimately retreating back down to his side. The thought of seeing her one last time was too much to bare, he feared that it would keep in her life. But he couldn't, he wouldn't allow his existence to endanger hers. Jakob readjusted his bag on his shoulder and left the apartment. His eyes kept looking forward as he walked down the hallway, quickening his pace as he neared the stairs where he broke out into a sprint. His heart pounded as he charged down the staircase as fast as he could, the sweat pouring from his face masking his tears as he exited the apartment complex and disappeared into a nearby alley.