Archive of Our Own

Oliver Queen lay staring at the person standing over him, not quite believing his ears. He’d returned home from assignment late the night before and had only slept a few hours, falling asleep on his couch, before he was woken by his boss.

“You want me to do what?” he asked incredulously, sitting up.

Lyla Michaels, his handler at ARGUS sighed before she repeated “I need you to hide someone for me. Disappear with the subject and not surface until you know it’s safe.”

“That’s not what I do Lyla” Oliver told her. “My job is to infiltrate and extract intel. It’s not to babysit someone…I mean…”

“Oliver” Lyla interrupted. “It has to be you. Right now you are one of the few agents I can trust. You’ve been out on assignment for nearly a year, so I know you’re not involved. ARGUS has been infiltrated.”
“What do you mean?” Oliver hesitated.

“In the last few months we’ve had some breaches. We almost lost some agents, but got to them in time.” Lyla stated, lowering her voice in sadness. “I need you to keep safe our last line of defence until we find out who’s doing this and what the hell is going on. Also, I’ve not told them you’re back so they won’t look for you.”

Oliver looked down at the file Lyla had just handed him and read quickly.

“Where do we start?” Oliver asked.

***

Felicity sat with her friend, John Diggle, waiting in the van outside Oliver’s apartment.

“If I need protection, and I don’t think I do, why can’t it be you?” she enquired.

“You know why Felicity. I have to stay here. If we both disappear they’ll be tipped off that we’re on to them. That puts Lyla and the entire agency at risk. Queen has been away for months, and no-one knows he’s back yet. If it’s just you that’s gone they’ll, hopefully, think you’ve flaked. Or that you’ve decided to run away again without talking to anyone. It will help us in the long run. I promise.”

“Why did I have to be so good at my job.” Felicity lamented, as John smiled.

“Thank goodness you are. I think you might have saved a lot of lives. So, what’s your plan?”

“Sorry John, if you’re not coming I think I should keep that to myself. It’s not that I don’t trust you, or Lyla, but we don’t know just how far they’ll go to find and stop me, before their endgame - which we don’t know either. So it’s better if you both don’t know where I am and what I’m doing, just yet.” Felicity cautioned. “So, tell me, what can I expect from Agent Queen.”

***

Oliver followed Lyla into the van and nodded to John Diggle, who was sitting with a small young woman. So this was Felicity Smoak, supposed tech genius, who he was to babysit for the foreseeable future.

He introduced himself, eyeing the young woman who was dressed all in black, with long black and purple hair hiding a lot of her face. She smiled, much warmer than he’d expected.

“So, what happens next?” Oliver asked.

“Nice to meet you too, Agent Queen, and for the moment it’s need to know and you don’t need to know.” Felicity said firmly.

“Excuse me” Oliver barked.

“Agent Queen” Felicity broke in “No offence,  but you’re not the brains of this operation. You’re the muscle.” Then she winked at him.

Both John and Lyla looked at each other, trying not to laugh.

“I am a very good agent Ms Smoak” Oliver spat, but Felicity waved her hand at him.

“I know you are. Otherwise I wouldn’t have agreed to you accompanying me on the run. However, I have an IQ of over 170 and am probably one of the smartest people in the world. So I make the plans.”

Oliver fumed and looked over at Lyla. “She’s not lying.” Lyla said, trying not to laugh. “Trust her Oliver. I do.”

“As do I” John confirmed.

Oliver knew he was beaten, so he resigned himself to what was going to happen next.

Felicity smiled, gesturing him to get out of the van.

“You know the signal?” Felicity asked, to reassure herself.

“Yes” both Lyla and John said in unity.

“Keep safe.” John told his young friend, then turning to Oliver he said firmly “I’m trusting you here Oliver, don’t let me down.”

“I won’t” Oliver confirmed.

Felicity grabbed a large backpack from the floor of the van, and gestured Oliver to pick up a black box that was next to her. They said their goodbyes and watched the van leave. Felicity walked over to a nondescript blue car parked across the street and opened the back door.

“Put the box in here” she told him “And then, we need to get you ready.”

Oliver just looked at Felicity, puzzlement on his face.

She smiled, asking “So where’s your apartment?”

**

Felicity had told Oliver not to talk just yet as they entered his apartment. So he watched as Felicity sat on his sofa, pulling what could only be described as gadgets and gizmos out of the backpack. She finally found what she was looking for and put the items she didn’t need back in their place.

She then picked up a small black box and flicked a switch on it.

“Now we can talk” she smiled. “I’m sorry about that, but I don’t know who’s listening and I needed the jammer before I briefed you. I also didn’t want to talk in front of John and Lyla, the less they know the better.”

Oliver stared at Felicity, he was still feeling groggy from being woken up suddenly, looking at his clock he realised it had been less than half an hour ago.

“What did Lyla tell you?” Felicity wondered.

“Not much” Oliver told her, shaking himself out of his stupor. “She told me there’s a leak and that you’re the last line of defence. She showed me a file, but it didn’t say much.”

“I’ll give you a quick summary now, but I’d rather wait and fill you in on all the detail when we get to our secure location. Do you know who I am?”

Oliver shook his head, “Just that your name’s Felicity, but apart from that, no.”

“Here’s the quick summary. Felicity Smoak, 26 years old, born in Las Vegas, computer genius, and consultant for ARGUS. I run my own software company and created a lot of the toys that keeps ARGUS agents like yourself safe. A few months ago I noticed that some of the firewall code had been changed. I didn’t think anything of it, because the internal developers are always making tweaks. Then a few days ago I realised it was a deliberate attempt to destabilise the entire system. I took it to Lyla and we started to investigate. Any breach in security would put a lot of lives in danger and give our enemies access to everything.

I was at ARGUS tonight, looking into the system changes. John was keeping an eye out and managed to stop someone who we think was sent kill me. We have no information on my would be assassin and who let him in. He killed himself before he could be questioned and we can’t find him on any system. That’s why I now need to disappear. The only way to find what’s really going on is for me to stay safe until we can work out who’s doing this.”

Oliver took a deep breath, steadied himself and asked “So how do we disappear?”

“First, put this on” Felicity told him, handing Oliver a large watch, “and next, tell me your clothes and shoe size.”

***

Oliver was surprised when Felicity pulled the car she was driving into the large mall at the outskirts of town. She’d told him not to pack, but he’d put a few things into a bag. She’d glared at him but said nothing.

She drove around in the almost empty parking structure, looking for something. She passed a lot of empty spaces, as the mall had just opened, then finally stopped next to an older fully-loaded truck.

“Why have we stopped here?” Oliver asked.

“I’ll answer your questions later, Agent Queen” Felicity acknowledged Oliver’s reluctance, but they had people to meet. “Please put this on your collar” she continued, handing him what looked like a small badge.

Looking at Oliver,’s face, Felicity realised she’d have to give him something “This disrupts facial recognition software, so we won’t be identified if we’re picked up on camera.”

“That’s not possible” Oliver countered.

“It is” she said slyly “I just haven’t told ARGUS about it yet.”

Oliver shook his head. This young woman was something else. She was a mixture of infuriating, adorable and stubborn. It was driving him half insane already.

“No badge for you Ms Smoak?” Oliver wondered as they exited the car.

“Not yet” she told him, walking towards the door. “Right now, I need to be seen on camera. I’m starting a fake trail to see who follows. Don’t look so worried, Agent Queen, I’ve got this.”

Oliver followed Felicity into a small computer repair shop. After getting a nod from the young man behind the desk she closed and locked the door, putting a “back in 10 minutes sign up. She pulled out her jamming device again and turned it on.

The young man at the desk said “In the back” as he got up and gestured them both forward.

Felicity’s demeanour changed instantly. She was all business as she started issuing instructions to the 3 people waiting for them. Before he could get a good look she turned to him.

“Agent Queen, go in here. There are clothes there for you. I need you to take everything off you’re currently wearing, including underwear, except the watch…I’ll explain later…Put everything, including your wallet and phone into the box that’s there. Once you’re done put the badge back on your collar. You have 5 minutes. Go…” She pushed him in the bathroom and closed the door on him.

As Oliver quickly changed he could hear murmuring outside the door and a lot of things being moved around. He put all of his belongings into the large box and walked outside.

He was confronted by the strangest sight. In front of him was a young man, about his hight and build, wearing exactly the same clothes he’d had on. Beside him stood a young woman, who looked almost identical to Felicity, again dressed exactly like her. Even from a small distance you’d never tell the young women apart.

Felicity walked out of another small room. At least he thought it was Felicity. Gone was the black and purple hair. Now she had shoulder length blond hair, that she’d put up into a ponytail. She was wearing square glasses and a pretty green dress.

He also noticed she was now wearing a watch similar to his and had a small badge on her collar.

“How long do we have?” she asked the fake Felicity.

“About 4 minutes. I’ve switched up the nanite tracker signal and they’re now on us. Everything you need is in here.” Fake Felicity told them. She handed Felicity a fancy handbag and began to move out of the room, with fake Oliver behind her.

“We’ll give them a couple of minutes to get a head start on us.” Felicity turned to Oliver, who was still a bit speechless, she was really pretty, in a nerdy way.

“Do you like the new look Agent Queen?” she asked him, smiling.

“You look very different Ms Smoak” Oliver began, but seeing her start to pout he continued “And yes, I like it, it suits you. But how did you change your hair so quickly?”

“Wig” Felicity replied “I’ve been wearing a wig around ARGUS for a couple of years now. I’ve always had a plan in place to disappear. But, again, we’ll talk more once we’re safe.”

They walked out of the back room into the store. The employee was bagging up what looked like a tablet for them, along with her jammer device which he switched off. Felicity nodded, winked at him and then turned to Oliver.

“Time to go. I need you to take my hand so we look like a normal couple shopping.”

Oliver reached for her hand, it was soft and warm and fit perfectly. Their fingers intertwined as they exited the shop.

“Where too?” he asked.

“Coffee, then shopping.” she replied. “We have to get some supplies and give the fake us time to get a head start.”

***

Oliver followed Felicity back to the parking lot, both carrying quite a few bags. He'd been initially surprised that she’d handed him a wallet, full of cash, and then encouraged him to buy ‘whatever he needed’, reminding him that they wouldn’t have a lot of opportunities to shop for clothes and other necessities over the next few weeks.

As they reached where their car was parked, or should have been parked, he was perplexed to see their car wasn’t where they’d left it.

Before he could say anything, Felicity opened the drivers door of the older truck, parked next to the empty space, saying “Get in.”

Oliver looked at her for a moment, waiting for her to say something else, but she just got into the drivers seat and put the bags she was carrying onto the floor next to the passenger seat.

Oliver sighed, because for the first time in many years he was completely unsure what was happening. And Felicity wasn’t telling him anything yet. Any time he’d asked, she’d shut him down, telling him they’d talk later.

Oliver waited a moment, to see if Felicity would say something, but she had put on her seat belt and started the truck. Realising she wasn’t going to answer any of his questions he got in the truck and sat down. He put his bags over hers, and found himself cramped in.

She still wasn’t paying attention. She just started the truck.

Felicity then navigated them out of the parking structure and into the street. When he tried to speak she waved her hand and said almost teasing “I’ll explain everything, please be patient Agent Queen.”

He wasn’t sure how much of this she was taking seriously. He’d never met anyone who had got under his skin so quickly before.

***

Oliver kept alert as they drove, making sure they weren’t being followed. Rather than heading towards the highway as he expected, she seemed to be moving further into the city. They’d only been driving about 15 minutes when Felicity pulled into the parking structure under a very large apartment complex. She keyed in a number and the doors opened, then she drove in, knowing exactly where the was going.

She eventually parked the truck in a space that he knew would be hard to find if you didn’t know it was there. It was round some corners and deep in the back. He also noticed that there was an elevator right next to the parking spot.

“Time to go Agent Queen” Felicity said brightly.

“Here?” Oliver asked.

“Let’s get things unpacked and I’ll tell you everything.” she smiled.

Oliver let Felicity lead. She pressed the elevator button, and when it arrived, she swiped a small fob over a panel, locking it into place. She then directed him to help her unpack everything from the truck and put it into the elevator. He could see boxes and bags of groceries, more than enough to keep them going for weeks and some electronic equipment that he’d never seen before, as well as her box and backpack. She then locked up the truck and pressed 4 on the control panel.

Arriving at the forth floor, Felicity pressed the fob again as the door opened, seemingly locking the elevator into place. She then walked over to the apartment door in front of them and opened it.

“Let’s get everything inside before we unpack” Felicity instructed as she stared moving things into the apartment.

After everything was in the apartment  Felicity released the elevator. She then closed the door, locking it and sighed. Finally she felt safe.

“Ms Smoak” Oliver said firmly “Are you going to tell me what the hell is going on?”

Felicity just walked to the kitchen area, the little knowing smile he had seen a lot on her face. She  turned to a panel in the wall and pressed some buttons. The lights flashed twice and she then put her thumbprint onto a small sensor. Oliver watched as a steel wall came down from above covering the apartment door and the entire wall.

“Oh shit” he said, mainly to himself.

“That’s better” Felicity beamed. “Now, we can talk as we unpack these supplies.”

Oliver stood staring at the security wall, wondering what other surprises Felicity had up her sleeve.

***

“You must have a lot of questions Agent Queen, ask away.” Felicity said as they moved the groceries to the kitchen area.

“What is this place?” he asked in awe.

“I’ve anticipated for some time that I’d need a bolt-hole. So I set this place up about 5 years ago. I’ve added security and new features since then.”

“How? Why?” Oliver puzzled.

“I think I’m going to have to tell you the entire story and I’d rather do that after we unpack and have some lunch. Is that OK with you Agent Queen?”

Oliver nodded and began to help, as Felicity directed him where to put their supplies.

***

The sat on opposite sides of the dinning table, tucking into sandwiches that Felicity had purchased in the mall. Oliver stayed silent, waiting for Felicity to start talking.

“I built my first computer when I was 7” Felicity began, “I got into MIT at 16, and graduated at 19. Safe to say, I’m a genius. While I was at MIT I started my business, Smoak Technologies, which provides security services and software to individuals and businesses. I also dabbled in hacking. Just before graduation Amanda Waller, head of ARGUS came to see me. She’d decided that I should work for her. At first I was able to keep my company going, arguing that it worked well as a cover, but Waller wanted more and more of my time. She got me to rebuild the ARGUS security net, saying I could leave when I was done. But I didn’t trust her, never have, so I did something she didn’t anticipate. I built myself a way out. So, after 18 months, and her delight at all that I done, I gave her an ultimatum. Either let me leave ARGUS and go back to running my company or I’d blow up their security net. My offer was simple, I get my life back and I’ll be a consultant for them, charging them very large fees; and if she tried to kill me or lock me up the entire network would implode. Lyla told me later that Waller admired my balls. But I know Waller, and that’s why I built this place. A place to go if someone at ARGUS decided I needed to be gone.”

“That was you?” Oliver said in awe. “I heard that someone had got one over on her. Well done.”

“Anyway” Felicity continued “I’ve also developed a lot of the other gadgets you agents use. I created that system, and I could see that someone was messing with it. And they’re good. That’s why I’ve not caught them yet. The people that helped us today I’ve employed over the years, who owe me. I’ve got most of them out of messy situations and given them a place to turn their lives around. They won’t talk. I just knew this day would come, that someone would come for me, happy that I was so prepared.”

“So how do you catch them?” Oliver questioned.

“Let me give you the tour and I’ll show you.”

***

“I own the building” Felicity stated “I bought it and did a full renovation. That’s how I was able to modify this part to my exact specifications. As different parts were done by different contractors, no-one but me could see the full picture. This is the forth floor, the living area. The windows let you see out, but no-one can see in. And they’re bullet proof.”

She gestured him to follow where down a small hallway.

“On the left is my bedroom, on the right, yours.”

Oliver opened the door, seeing a large, welcoming room with an en-suite bathroom. It had a large double bed and a TV and games console on one of the walls.

She then walked to the end of the hall, and pressed what looked like a light switch.

A door slid opened and he could see stairs in the space.

“Come” she instructed.

At the next level down she pressed another light switch and another door opened. Oliver walked in behind a beaming Felicity.

“This is my playground.” she beamed.

Oliver looked around. It was just a massive space, with more computer equipment than he’d ever seen in his life. It looked like something out of a sci-fi movie. There were monitors and TVs with  lots of numbers, text and video showing on screens.

Felicity walked over to one of the screens, looking at the numbers flying past.

“I’ll be spending a lot of time down here in the next few weeks. This is where I’ll monitor ARGUS and the search for us. I’ll also need you to help me with surveillance, if that’s OK.”

“That’s my job Ms Smoak” Oliver replied.

“Can you please call me Felicity. Ms Smoak is my mother.”

“Only if you call me Oliver.”

“I can do that Oliver. Can you give me a few minutes to run some checks and then we’ll continue the tour?”

Oliver sat in one of the chairs, watching Felicity work. He had no idea what she was doing, but it almost looked like a dance as she checked monitors and typed commands into the computers.

Finally, she stopped and gestured him to follow.

They walked down the stairs again, to what he assumed was the second floor.

“This floor was done in anticipation of being here a while.” Felicity explained. “They nag me to take exercise, and I hate it, but my doctor and my mother, and Lyla all say sitting in front of a computer too long is bad for me. However, I don’t even know where to start.”

Oliver smiled. In front of him was a state of the art gym. He had been concerned how he was going to keep up his fitness levels, he didn’t have to worry now.

“This is great” he told Felicity. “And I’ll train you if you want. One of my many covers in the past was as a fitness instructor.” Looking at the horror on Felicity’s face he continued “just the basics, don’t worry. I’ll not try to kill you.”

“I’ll think about it, Oliver.”

“What’s next?” Oliver asked.

Felicity led the way down to the first floor. It was just an empty space with a couple of sofas.

“This can double as a panic room.” She told him. “I can seal it up with steel walls, floor and ceiling. It will even keep out fire. But I’d hope never to have to do that. The staircase leads right down to the garage, and takes us out near the truck. But it’s good to have a backup if we can’t get away.”

“Do you have any weapons?” Oliver asked seriously. Felicity hadn’t allowed him to bring anything of his own and he felt bare without being armed. She smiled and gestured to a cabinet. He opened it to find a wide selection of guns, knives and other fighting equipment. The drawer under the cabinet contained bullets.

“Got you covered” Felicity told him.

“Can I take some of these with me upstairs? I feel better when I’m armed” Oliver enquired.

Felicity nodded. “If you must, but trust me, no-one is getting in here. I made sure of it.”

***

As they walked back upstairs Oliver announced he was going to take a shower, but Felicity asked him to come to the computer room.

“We need to remove something first” she told him. “What do you know about ARGUS tracking nanites?”

“What?” Oliver coughed.

“Every ARGUS agent and person of interest has them.” Felicity commented.

“I don’t even know what a nanite is.” Oliver shrugged.

“Oh, save me from luddites.” Felicity sighed. 

Oliver raised his eyebrow, but let her continue.

“Nanites are teenie tiny robots. They are put into agents blood streams, so that they can be located at any time. One of Waller’s pet projects.”

Oliver looked worried and started to speak, but Felicity continued quickly “Don’t worry, she can’t track us, no-one can. That’s why I gave you that watch this morning. It masks your signal. If anyone checks you’re still on your last assignment and my last reading was heading out of the city.”

“So I need to keep this watch on at all times?” Oliver enquired.

“Nope, I’m going to disable them” Felicity boasted. “I led the team that built and coded them. I built in a failsafe, I always do. And we can fool the system anytime we want to get them to search for me far away from here.”

“Clever” Oliver mused.

“That I am Agent Queen.” Oliver gave Felicity a look as she said that, raising his eyebrow again, but this time with a little smile, “Oliver. Can you please step into this box and it won’t take but a moment. It shouldn’t hurt too much.”

Oliver was a little reluctant to step into the box, which looked like a shower cubical, but knew it had to be done. He watched as Felicity shut the door and walked over to a control panel. A few seconds later there was a flash of light. As his eyesight adjusted he saw Felicity gesturing him to come out. She had a wand type thing in her hand and she ran it over Oliver’s arm.

“All gone” she beamed. “Now, you’ll need to do me.”

Oliver followed her over to the consul and pointed to a button. “When I close the door, just press this button.” she told him.

She walked to the box, shut the door and he did what he was told.

After getting out and checking herself, she smiled. “Nanite free.” she declared. “Now, I think showers for both of us, then comfortable clothing as it’s time to get to work.

****

Oliver and Felicity quickly settled into a routine. They spent most of their day in the computer lab, monitoring ARGUS. Felicity spent hours putting booby traps into ARGUS code, waiting for someone to try and access something they shouldn’t. She also spent a good portion of her time shoring up ARGUS defences. Oliver helped the best he could, watching and listening to surveillance and helping Felicity strategise their next move. They found they laughed a lot together, making jokes about the people they were watching.

They’d relax over dinner at night, where they both leaned more about each other. They were becoming friends.

One night during dinner, when she asked, Oliver found himself opening up to Felicity, something he hadn’t done in forever. She was the first person he had trusted in a long time.

“I joined the Marines when I was 18” Oliver confessed. “I was a screw up at the time. There was an accident.”

He stopped to compose himself, then looked at Felicity, who had nothing but compassion in her eyes.

“I was at a graduation party, with my best friend Tommy. I hooked up with a random girl and disappeared into one of the bedrooms. Tommy wanted food and decided to go without me. I was…. I was supposed to be the designated driver. So Tommy drove drunk.”

Felicity let the silence wash over them as she waited for Oliver to continue. She took his hand in hers and gently rubbed her thumb against his.

“He crashed” Oliver choked “Tommy was badly injured, and one of the girls in the car with him didn’t make it.”

“Oh Oliver” Felicity whispered, with tears in her eyes.

“It was my fault. It didn’t matter how many people told me it wasn’t, I blamed myself. I wanted to run away so I went down to the recruitment office and joined up. I served for 5 years, then was recruited to ARGUS. I cut ties with everyone, it was better that way.”

“So you’ve no family?” Felicity asked quietly.

“I have a sister… Thea.” he smiled. “She was so angry with me for leaving her. Our parents didn’t care, too busy with their lives and careers so it was just us against the world growing up. We were closer to the staff than to our parents. She came to see me at basic training to tell me how she felt. I tried to explain that it was better not to be around me, as she’d just get hurt like Tommy had, but she didn’t see it that way. She told me I was hurting her more by leaving her, that she’d never forgive me. I’ve not seen or heard from her since.”

“You miss her, don’t you?” Felicity enquired.

“Every day. Like I miss Tommy every day. But I couldn’t face them. I ruined their lives.”

“I’m so sorry Oliver. But this wasn’t your fault. You were young, horny and irresponsible, like most 18 year olds. You didn’t get into the car and drive, Tommy did that. You behaved like every 18 year old boy I’ve ever met. Distracted by a pretty girl. By the time I was 18 I was a notorious hacker, and should have been in jail.”

Oliver tried to smile. He’d buried this stuff so far down it was almost a relief to finally tell someone about it. Felicity didn’t look at him like he was a monster. She looked at him like she cared.

She let go of his hand, quickly standing up and going to get her tablet.

“Where did you live?” Felicity asked.

“Here, Star City” Oliver replied.

Felicity started quickly typing into her tablet. She pressed a button and the screen changed on the television, bringing up the picture of a young woman.

“Is this your sister?” Felicity enquired.

Oliver nodded, unable to speak. On the screen was his baby sister, all grown up.

“This is Thea Queen Harper. She is a successful nightclub owner and is heavily involved with community outreach. She’s married to a Roy Harper and they have one child, a little boy.”

Felicity pressed some more buttons and more pictures appeared. Thea was holding a little boy, who was around a year old.

“He’s beautiful.” Oliver commented, almost to himself.

“Yes he is, Jonas Robert Harper is a very cute kid.”

“Jonas?” Oliver gasped.

Felicity looked at him, waiting for him to gather his thoughts.

“My middle name is Jonas” he said in wonder.

“Well, maybe your sister doesn’t hate you so much after all.” Felicity concluded. 

Oliver spent a minute or so composing himself, he didn’t expect this.

“Can you find Tommy?” Oliver asked hesitantly.

“Can you give me a bit more information, like his surname?”

“Tommy Merlyn. He’s my age, just turned 30.”

Felicity laughed. “I know Tommy Merlyn. His wife and I are in the same book group, we’re friends. Well, it’s not really a book club, we just call it that. It’s more a wine and gossip club.”

“You’re kidding!”

Felicity brought up a lot of pictures, of Tommy with a beautiful young woman beside him, looking very happy.

“Tommy Merlyn is a much loved son of Star City. After a serious accident when he was a teenager” Felicity stopped, looking over her glasses at Oliver before she continued, “He devoted himself to getting better and learning to walk again. Using his father’s resources they invented a chip that lets him walk. The technology has revolutionised a lot of peoples’ lives. He then started a foundation to help people like himself. One day he was interviewed by a young, up-and-coming journalist by the name of Iris West. I don’t think Iris has left his side since the day they met. They’re a wonderful pair.

Oliver, without Tommy’s accident he wouldn’t be the person he is today. He does so much good in the world, and he’s so happy with Iris. I don’t think he would ever blame you.”

Oliver was still trying to process everything he’d been told. He’d refused to ever check how his sister and best friend were doing. His heart filled with joy at their lives.

“Maybe” Felicity coxed “After this is all over, you should go and see them. I can get you an in with Tommy and Thea’s easy to find.”

“I don’t know.” Oliver shrugged.

“Well, you don’t have to decide yet.” Felicity said cheerfully. “Now, it’s time to check our searches before bed.”

****

There was one aspect of their routine where Felicity was not happy with Oliver at all. At 11am every day he insisted that they both stop what they were doing, go down to the gym level and exercise for an hour. He told her it would be good for her, both physically and mentally. And even though she’d never admit it to him, she did feel a little better.

Oliver really enjoyed training Felicity. It amused him when she would pout her lips and shake her head when he told her what to do next.

“No Oliver.” she would cry as he increased the weights he was making her lift “I can’t do it.”

“Yes you can” he’d smile with all the encouragement he could muster.

“No.” she’d pout.

“Yes” he’d instruct.

And so it went on every day. Felicity would complain, but eventually do what she’d been asked to do and Oliver would laugh and smile.

It was a respite from being hunched over a computer all day.

“Why do I have to run on the treadmill” Felicity asked. “If I need to go somewhere I just take my car or my truck.”

“Because one day, we might have to run and I’d like to make sure you can keep up so I don’t have to carry you.”

Felicity smiled “That might be fun” she teased.

Oliver just glared at her, trying not to laugh.

Oliver was serious about making sure she could keep up. Even though he trusted the security they’d put in place he still worried. He knew that nowhere was 100% safe so he was making sure she could run if she needed to.

****

“Oh shit” Felicity gasped staring at something on her computer.

“What is it?” Oliver asked “Have you found something?”

“No, it’s the date” she gasped “It’s 14 December, that means The Last Jedi is out tomorrow.”

“What’s The Last Jedi?” Oliver queried.

“Oliver Queen, tell me you’re joking” Felicity snorted.

“Jedi, isn’t that to do with Star Trek or something?”

“I thought we were becoming friends, Oliver. But how can I be friends with someone who doesn’t love Star Wars.” she lamented.

“Felicity, I’m teasing you. Of course I know what Star Wars is. I’m just hoping that we don’t get spoiled until we can see the movie.”

“What do you mean ‘spoiled until we can see the movie’? We’ll be seeing it tomorrow.” Felicity stated, her tone brooking no argument.

“I hate to break it to you, but we’re currently in hiding, from people who want to kill you and we have no idea who they are. We can’t risk going outside. Unless you’re planning on hacking somewhere and finding the movie so we can watch it here.”

“That’s sacrilege” Felicity gasped. “Each new Star Wars film must be viewed with other die-hard fans. In a cinema. With popcorn and red vines. No arguments.”

“Can’t be done. Too risky.” Oliver sighed.

“I’m going.” Felicity snapped.

“No you’re not” Oliver exasperated. “Too risky. And I will physically restrain you if you try to leave this apartment.”

Felicity thought for a moment. “Even though that might be fun, what if,” she countered “I came up with a plan that reduced the risk, and might give us some clues as to who we’re after.”

“I’d consider it” Oliver warned “But it will need to be a really good plan.”

Felicity got Oliver’s attention 2 hours later. She asked him to join her at her big monitor. She liked her plan, she actually thought it was really good.

“So?” he shrugged.

Felicity was beaming, “The people we’re looking for know my profile well enough to know that I’ll see the new Star Wars film within the first 24 hours. But they don’t know where I am or what I look like now. I’ve found a flag in ARGUS’s facial recognition software looking for me. I’m still trying to chase up who the alert goes to, as it looks like a burner phone. Anyway, that programme will get a partial match with my face tonight, at a midnight showing of the movie in Boston. They’ll get another partial match, 3 hours later, in Austin Texas. These will only be partial matches. Also, my nanites will send out a signal for around 3 seconds in Austin an hour later. This will prompt a search, I think.

“It’s cold here in Star City. That means we can put hats and scarfs on to cover our faces. We’ll also be wearing the jammers so the facial recognition software can’t identify us.

Come on Oliver, the cinema is 2 blocks down the street. I’ve got us tickets for the first showing in the morning. And you can bring your gun.

“We’ll be able to see what reaction the partial matches get, and we might even add another nanite signal to see who reacts.”

Oliver pondered for a moment. It actually could work, and it could produce new leads that they desperately needed. They’d been holed-up for 3 weeks and so far had found virtually no clues.

“And I can run fast now” Felicity interjected with a small smile on her face.

“You’re going to keep hawking me until I say yes, aren’t you?” Oliver groaned.

“You bet I am.”

“It’s a good start” Oliver conceded “But I think with a little work we can make it better.”

****

It didn’t matter that they’d not had much sleep. They’d stayed up to watch what would happen when the partial facial recognition alerts were sent. And they’d learned a lot. They’d watched one of the maintenance staff receive a text to his phone, leave his equipment and go and talk to Isabel Rochev, one of Waller’s deputes. Felicity remarked that she always thought Isobel was a bit of an ice queen and that there was no way that these people would know each other. As the next alert was sent Isobel contacted a lot more people. Suddenly they had targets, people they could investigate.

Felicity had left a whole lot of searches running, and various other things that Oliver didn’t understand. So off to the movies they went.

It felt good to be outside. The air was crisp and a snow was starting to fall. Oliver had taken Felicity’s hand through her glove, so they would look like the other couples walking towards the cinema. Visibility was poor because of the snow, just the right sort of weather to stay hidden in.

Felicity showed her excitement by squeezing his hand as they got closer to their destination. And even though he was being hyper-vigilant, he couldn’t help but revel in her joy.

***

“That was amazing” Felicity beamed at Oliver as they walked back to their building. “Thank you again.”

“I can’t say I didn’t enjoy it” Oliver smiled. “But it’s back to work now. Do you think your searches will have finished?”

“Work, work work, is that all you ever do? I can’t complain too much, we missed our gym session today.”

“Oh, that will be later” Oliver joked.

He couldn’t really see Felicity’s face through the snow, but just knew she’d be pouting.

“Or not” he corrected himself.

He heard her laughter as he guided them back to their refuge.

“Can we get coffee on the way back” Felicity pleaded. “It’s so long since I’ve had real coffee, we could get cake too?”

Before he could answer Felicity dragged him into a cafe that he hadn’t noticed, due to the snow.

Felicity quickly procured them both coffees and a selection of cakes and savoury snacks. She told him it was for lunch and dinner, whispering “We’ll be busy, won’t have time to cook.”

Oliver was getting nervous. He didn’t like being out in the open like this, but Felicity didn’t seem bothered. She’d checked her phone a few times, and knew Rochev and her co-conspirators were currently on a wild-goose chance half-way across the country, but she also knew that Oliver wouldn’t feel totally safe until they were back in the building.

***   

Felicity stripped off her coat, hat and gloves and locked down the apartment. Oliver walked over to the window, looking out at the snow, deep in thought.

“Are you OK?” Felicity asked Oliver.

“Today was nice” he commented, almost to himself.

“It was” Felicity agreed. “Maybe when this is all over, we could do it again, as friends.”

“I don’t really do that.”

“Do what Oliver, go out with friends, something else?”

“I don’t have any friends.” Oliver said sadly “I’ve lost touch with everyone. I’ve told you about Tommy and I didn’t keep in touch with my army buddies when I joined ARGUS. I spend most of my time undercover, no time to make friends.”

Felicity walked over to stand beside him at the window. She put her hand on his arm, squeezing it a little. “Well, you have a friend now, in me. And, if you want, I’ll help you connect with Tommy again.”

“I don’t know how.” he whispered.

“I’ll help, I promise. But now, coat off, get the coffee and cakes. It’s time to see what we’ve uncovered.”

****

It took them hours to finally see the entire picture. Felicity’s searches had opened up an entire avenue of enquires and they began to see what they were up against.

Isobel Rochev was secretly working with a group called Hive. They’d been playing the long game, placing her in ARGUS over 10 years ago. All of Isobel’s crew also seemed to have come from Hive. They’d been hard to trace, but after nearly 36 hours of intense hacking, Felicity had finally found what she was looking for.

She woke Oliver up, who had been sleeping in a chair, and directed him to sit beside her.

“I’ve found something, which I think explains what’s going on. This interview was recorded about a year ago by British intelligence. Right around the time Rochev started actively sabotaging ARGUS.”

Felicity pressed play on the video and they both watched in silence.

“My name is Nora Dhark. My father is Damien Dhark and he’s the leader of Hive. I was raised to believe that he world was evil and that it needed to be destroyed. My father has worked for decades to do this, placing people all over the world to help him when the time came. He decided to let me study medicine, as we’ll need doctors in the new future, he said. So I went to University, here at Oxford, to learn how to be a doctor.

“I’d never gotten to know people outside Hive. I’d never had friends before, my parents kept me away from other children. I’d been taught that most humans are weak and do not deserve compassion. He told me I was just there to learn how to fix the physical body.

“Away from my father’s influence I learned he was wrong. I made friends and even met someone, who I truely cared about.

“But my father found out. He saw me loving someone like Danny as a flaw. Because Danny was good and kind and would never have condoned anything my father wants to do.

“Danny disappeared, I’m sure my father was responsible.

“That’s how my father operates. He’s boasted for years that he can kill people and not leave a trace.

“I don’t know exactly how my father plans to destroy the world, but I know he’s in the final phase. They’ve already built “arks” for Hive members in cities across the world. I’ve told you where the ones I know about are, but there are more.

“So, as we agreed, I will return to my father and Hive, spying for you to find out what they are planing to do, and trying to slow it down the best I can.”

The video cut off.

“What do we know about Nora Dhark?” Oliver puzzled.

Felicity worked quickly, “The Oxford stuff checks out. She was studying medicine there, graduated around 18 months ago. There was a Daniel in her class who disappeared a few months later.”

“Is there anything else?”

“I’ll keep looking, but I think we have all we need to blow this open.”

Oliver felt his heart sink, if they had everything they needed, they’d have to leave their hiding place. He’d grown use to having Felicity around and didn’t like the prospect of leaving at all.

“But before that” Felicity was adamant “We both need showers, food and some sleep. We’ve been at this for nearly two days and I’m exhausted.”

“Agreed. We’ll make a better plan after.”

***

“Oliver” Felicity screamed.

Oliver jumped quickly, not sure of how long he’d been asleep, and ran into Felicity’s room. “What is is?” he fretted.

“They’re coming.” she almost whispered as she motioned him to follow her.

“How?”

“Later, but right now we have to shut all our monitoring equipment down. We only have a few minutes.”

They sprinted down stairs to the computer room.

“What do we do?” Oliver pleaded.

“That grey box on the other wall, open it.” Felicity ordered, as she pointed to one of the two boxes, as she walked towards the other.

“We have to do this at the same time or all the equipment will be fried, that’s why it’s got to be both of us. Grab the green handle and push it up in 3, 2, 1 go.”

Oliver did as he was told “Anything else?” he asked as he heard the buzz of their equipment quieten.

“Just a second. Once we hear beeping we need to press the red button. It takes about a minute.”

They waited in silence, both breathing heavily. Then they heard beeping.

“3, 2, 1, Go” Felicity called as they both pressed the red button.

The room plunged into darkness for a moment, then soft low-lighting kicked in.

Felicity breathed deeply and let out a sigh of relief, sinking to the floor.

Oliver walked over and slid down beside her. “You want to tell me what’s happening?” Oliver asked.

“I could tell you a lot of technical jargon, but you’d get lost. Don’t look at me like that, you know you would. But what you need to know is that Hive now suspect we’re still in Star City. They’ve realised I’ve been shoring up ARGUS defences and know I’d need serious equipment to do that. In about a minute they’re going to cause a city-wide power outage and look for anywhere that still has power. Because they know I’ll have a backup generator.”

“And do you?”

“Yes. If I hadn’t known about the shutdown, my batteries would have kicked in. And with the right equipment, which they probably have, they’d see that my equipment is still up and running. I can only disguise so many heat signatures.”

“Now we wait?” Oliver wondered.

“It’s going to get cold, so we better wrap up” Felicity smiled, noticing that Oliver was just wearing boxer briefs. She eyed him up for a moment, impressed at his very fit body. Then she noticed that Oliver was looking at her the same way, and she realised her sleepwear was almost as skimpy as his, shorts and a tight tank top.

“Torches are under my main desk” Felicity said quickly as she stood up, changing the subject.

Oliver watched her, appreciatively, walk over, bend down and grab 2 torches.

He smiled, even in low-light, he couldn’t not admire her curves. He stood up, took one of the torches from her and followed her up the dark stairs.

***

Oliver, now dressed in sweatpants and a t-shirt, stood by the window looking out at the dark city. He could see small pockets of light, probably cars, against the darkness. He heard Felicity’s bedroom door open and her soft footfalls as she walked over to join him.

“How long do you think the lights will be out?” Oliver asked.

“Not too long I think.” Felicity replied. “They’ll be sweeping the city now, probably using one of the  ARGUS satellites. That was the first alert I got, someone positioning the satellite over Star City, when they shouldn’t have been. Luckily for us they’re a bit sloppy so I was able to quickly work out what they were up to.”

“You should have woken me” Oliver told her.

“Between alert and action was around 2 minutes. Sorry, but it would have taken me longer to explain.” she told him.

“You know you’re remarkable Felicity Smoak”

“Thank you for remarking on it.”

Felicity opened the window as she wanted to hear what was going on outside. They could hear police cars and people shouting, voices carrying in the darkness.

“Do you think they’ll find us?” Oliver worried.

“I don’t think so. But it doesn’t matter. As soon as the lights come back on I think we need to leave.” Felicity concluded.

Oliver felt his stomach dip. He didn’t want this to be over, just yet. He’d grown so close to Felicity in just a few short weeks. She had quickly become the most important person in his life. He couldn’t imagine his life without her.

Felicity interrupted Oliver’s silence, “It’s time to bring others into the loop. We’ll get Lyla and John, then alert Waller. Then it’s up to them to deal with this..”

She turned and looked at him, seeing something on his face she’d never seen before “Don’t worry” she smiled “I’ll be out of your hair by dinner.”

Oliver stared at Felicity, even in torchlight she seemed to shine. “I don’t know if I like that.” Oliver confessed.

“Good” Felicity beamed. She rubbed him upper arm for a few seconds, smiling at him.

Then the lights came back on, interrupting the moment.

“Give me a a minute” Felicity said, changing her tone to more business-like.  “I need to grab a few things.”

Oliver walked to his own room, put on his shoes and grabbed his coat.

He was waiting for her at the stairs when she reemerged from her room, carrying her black backpack. She walked into the kitchen and pressed a few buttons on the security console.

“That will release in one hour, we’ll be long-gone by then.” she told him. “Let’s go”.

They walked silently down the stairs, both lost in thought.

Arriving at the truck, Felicity handed Oliver the keys “Can you drive?” she asked.

“No problem, where are we going?”

“John and Lyla’s.” she  said “But I want to park the truck up first, just round the corner. Do you know where they live?”

Oliver nodded. 

As he drove, Felicity worked on the tablet she’d brought with her. She murmured to herself, lost in her work.

It didn’t take long to get to their destination. He was surprised to see John and Lyla waiting at the door for them.

Lyla led them into the townhouse and Felicity activated her jammer.

Before anyone else could speak Felicity asked “Is Waller coming?”

“Yes” Lyla replied “she’s a few minutes out.”

“Good, because I don’t want to go over this multiple times.”

***

Amanda Waller entered the room like she owned it. She looked a little disgruntled that she’d been summoned, but her eyes widened when she saw Felicity and Oliver.

“Ms Smoak” Waller commanded “And Agent Queen. Quite the pair we have here this morning.”

“Director Waller” Oliver nodded.

“Amanda” Felicity smirked.

“Why am I here?” Waller demanded.

Felicity took charge. “John, can you get everyone some coffee and I’ll fill you all in.”

***

Waller made no effort to hide her anger. She felt betrayed. She’d trusted Isobel Rochev, mentored and promoted her.

After Felicity had finished briefing anyone, they sat in silence for a moment. Felicity and Oliver looked at each other, waiting for the reaction.

Then Waller stood up, ran her hands down her jacket, smoothing away non-existent creases and said firmly “We have work to do.”

***

It was the day before Christmas Eve when Oliver finally returned to his apartment. It had taken almost a week to take down Hive. He’d slept on the plane, returning from his assignment, so wasn’t tired.

When he entered the room he saw a large box sitting in the middle of his sofa. Opening it warily he saw the stuff he’d left at the mall, weeks ago, along with his things from the hideout apartment. On top of the pile was his phone.

He clicked the phone on and saw a notification which said ‘Thea Queen Harper’ with a phone number.  He smiled to himself, knowing only one person who would do this. There was a note under the phone, which just said ‘Thanks for everything, F’.

He stared at the phone for a while, pondering what to do. He wished he could talk to Felicity but he had no way to contact her, they’d never exchanged phone numbers or emails. But the message she was sending was clear, call your sister.

Oliver pressed the button before he could overthink things.

“Hello” said a tentative voice at the other end of the line.

“Thea” Oliver asked.

“This number is showing on my phone as Oliver Queen, is this some sort of joke.”

Oliver smiled, he knew of only one person that could do this. “No Thea” he smiled “It’s Ollie…”

There was a gasp then silence at the other end of the line, waiting was torture, but it was up to Thea to speak soon.

“Ollie” Thea sniffed. “Is it really you?”

“I’m so sorry Thea, sorry I shut you out, can you forgive me” Oliver interrupted. He had to let his sister know how sorry he was.

“I forgave you a long time ago Ollie” Thea told her brother “I think it’s more you need to forgive yourself.”

“I’ve missed you Thea.”

“Where are you, right now?” Thea demanded.

“Star City”.

“Good. That means you can come and see me right now.”

“Right now.”

“I want to see my brother right now, I’d come to you but it’s a little hard to get away.”

Oliver could hear a child shouting in the background, demanding his mothers’ attention.

“Is that…Is that your son?” Oliver asked his sister.

“Yes, how did you know?”

“My friend showed me your Instagram, he’s beautiful.”

“Jonas is a little terror. Like his Uncle Oliver.” Thea laughed. “Now are you coming to see us?”

“Give me your address, I’ll be there in an hour.” Oliver confirmed.

****

He’d let Thea berate him for staying away so long, because he knew he deserved it. But then, once she’d gotten everything out of her system, they talked and re-bonded. And Oliver promised he’d never loose touch again.

He’d fallen in love with Jonas, and the young boy had taken to his uncle instantly. It had been a very good day. Thea had also demanded that Oliver be at her house on Christmas morning, telling him in no uncertain terms that he would be spending the day with the Queen-Harpers.

Oliver just wished he could tell Felicity about it. He actually wanted to tell Felicity about a lot of things, especially how much he missed her. 

He’d only seen her once after they left John and Lyla’s house to go to ARGUS. And that had been a fleeting hello in the corridor as they both had to be somewhere else.

They’d quickly apprehended Isobel and her co-conspirators, but finding and taking down Hive had taken a lot longer. Oliver had no idea how Waller got Isobel to talk, but she had, giving ARGUS and other security agencies what they needed to stop Hive in their tracks.

Oliver had been part of the team that had taken down the Hive cell in Star City, and then had gone to Washington to take down their ark and help them purge the Hive operatives from the government. He’d been delighted to find that one of the prisoners they held was Nora Dhark’s Danny. He’d even met the young woman briefly as she was reunited with her boyfriend.

 Now, lying in bed, he remembered their evenings chatting and watching whatever took Felicity’s fancy. She calmed him and made him want more than just the next assignment from Amanda Waller.  Closing his eyes, chasing sleep, his last thought was of Felicity’s smile.

***

Oliver arrived at ARGUS early on Christmas Eve. He had things to do before he hit the mall to get presents for his family. He liked that thought, he had a family again. First stop was Amanda Waller’s office.

“Agent Queen” she greeted him, gesturing him to sit down at her desk, “Are you here for your next assignment already? I thought I told everyone to take a few days off.”

“No, Director Waller, I’m here to tender my resignation, effective immediately.”

“I’m not sure I can accept that Queen. You’re one of my best agents.”

“My contract is up on the first of the year, and I won’t be extending it. I want to do something else with my life.” explained Oliver.

“I’m not happy about this Agent Queen.” Waller grumbled. “What about a promotion, a pay increase? Would that encourage you to stay?”

“It was never about that with me Director. I was running away from my life and I don’t want to do that anymore. I just wanted to tell you in person, not via email.”

“Ms Smoak does that.” Waller stated.

“What?” Oliver was puzzled.

“She exudes life and draws people into her orbit.” Waller acknowledged, “She changes people. And you spent almost a month with her…”

“She’s my friend. A friend who encouraged me to stop running away from my past.”

Waller looked at Oliver and smiled. She picked up a post-it note from her desk and wrote something down “She’ll be here. This is the address of her company. She’ll be catching up as we’ve monopolised her for a while.”

“Thank you” Oliver began.

“No need” Waller interrupted. “Good luck, Mr Queen. I’m sure we’ll meet again. Someone will be in touch in the new-year to arrange to pick up all your ARGUS equipment.”

Oliver nodded, knowing he’d been dismissed, got up and left.

***

Even though Oliver felt as though he’d grown close to Felicity, he was shocked when he arrived at the address Waller had given him. Felicity had talked about her company a lot, but he didn’t realise how big it was.

He’d expected Smoak Technologies to take up a few floors of a large building, he didn’t expect that it took up an entire skyscraper. So he stood, looking up at goodness knows how many floors of the Smoak Technologies building.

He walked to the reception desk. Could he just walk in and ask to see their founder, but it was the only option he had right now. At least he could leave her a message.

“Can I help you” the chirpy receptionist asked.

“I’m here to see Felicity Smoak” he said with more confidence than he was feeling.

“Do you have an appointment?”

“Not exactly” Oliver divulged “But I’m an old friend, and I’m sure if you asked, she’d see me.”

“Name” the receptionist said, with a little more contempt. Didn’t this man realise she got this ten times a day.

“Oliver Queen.”

The receptionist’s face changed instantly “Oh, Mr Queen. Let me get you a pass, you can go right up.”

“Was I expected?” he asked.

“All I know is your name was left here and we were told to send you right up.”

“Up where?” he smiled.

“32nd floor. Go over to the first elevator, swipe this pass and it will take you to the executive floor.”

***

The elevator doors opened and before Oliver could even walk out he heard Felicity’s voice shouting “Gerry, where is the Applied Sciences monthly report.”

He walked out, towards the voice, as she walked towards the desk.

“Gerry” she shouted, then stopped and looked round. “You’re not Gerry” she realised “Oliver.”

“Hi” Oliver said, suddenly realising he had no idea what he was going to say to her, only that he wanted to see her.

“Oliver” she said again “what are you doing here, not that I mind.”

“I would have texted or called first” he admitted “but I didn’t have a number or email for you. So I thought I’d drop in. Nice place you’ve got here.”

“Oh my goodness” she said, slapping her hand to her head “Didn’t I put my number into your phone when I added Thea’s.”

“Nope. I did look.”

“Sorry. Give me your phone and I’ll do it now.”

Oliver watched as she keyed her number in.

“My assistant seems to have disappeared” Felicity clarified “Do you want a coffee or something?”

“I’m fine. I just…”

“Came by for my phone number?”

“I just wanted to let you know I called Thea. Thank you. We’ve reconnected. I spent yesterday with her family.”

Felicity’s smile left her face for a moment, but she recovered quickly “Oliver that’s wonderful. I’m so happy for you all.”

“Also,” Oliver said hesitantly “I need a favour.”

“Well, I do owe you one. You did risk a lot by letting me go to Star Wars, and looking out for me this past month. What do you need?”

“I need to go to the mall to get Jonas some presents.” Oliver admitted “I was going to ask you to come with me, but if you’re too busy here, I’ll understand.”

“I’m not busy, that’s the problem” Felicity confessed “It seems my staff can run this company just fine without me. I expected to come back to chaos, but everything’s running smoothly. I feel a little useless. Maybe helping you shop will make me feel useful again.”

“And after, we could, if you don’t have plans or anything, we could go to dinner?” Oliver stammered.

“I would love….Oh no, I can’t. I’ve got a holiday party. Wait a minute, I can bring a date, do you have a tux?”

“Yes, Felicity, I have a tux. And I would love to be your date to your holiday party.”

Felicity beamed. She had grown to like Oliver far too much while in hiding, and was itching to spend time with him doing normal things.

***

After only waiting half an hour for Felicity to finish in her office and send her staff home for the holiday, she led him down to the garage to pick up her car.

“Can we stop at my house first” Felicity asked “I want to get changed. This outfit is fine for work, but these heels will not do for walking.”

Oliver nodded, appreciating that even though her legs looked spectacular in those heels and the short grey dress she was wearing, she was right.

Oliver half expected Felicity to drive them to the apartment they’d shared, so was initially surprised when she drove under one of the most up-market apartment blocks in the city.

“It’s a little nicer than the last place we stayed” she commented.

“I liked that place, it was pretty great.” Oliver argued.

“It was OK. But trust me, this place is so much nicer.”

Oliver’s jaw almost hit the floor as they walked into Felicity’s penthouse. There was a large living space with couches that could sit 20 people, the largest television he’d ever seen and even a pool table. There was a kitchen area and a large dinning table that was currently covered with a more than a few computers, in different stages of rebuilding. There were floor to ceiling windows instead of one wall, with a spectacular view of the city. The other walls, painted in shades of light blue,  were covered in pictures, some funny, some personal, even some press articles, all of which reflected Felicity’s personality. The place was inviting and warm.

“Do you like it?” Felicity beamed.

“I do.” Oliver said happily “It’s very you.”

“Make yourself at home” she told him as she rushed to get changed.

Oliver wondered around, looking at the pictures on the wall. They almost told a story. He could see the beginnings of her company and the first employees she had. He even recognised a few of the faces as the people who acted as decoys for them. A few of the newspaper cuttings told of her company’s rise. He started to feel a little intimidated.

But this was Felicity, he told himself. This was the woman who pouted when he made her lift heavy weights and who mixed red vines in with her popcorn when she went to the movies. She was his friend, and he hoped, would be something more.

Felicity walked back into the room wearing tight black jeans and a purple top. Her hair was down, framed around her face and there was a glint in her eye behind her square glasses. The bag she was carrying matched her sneakers, bright red.

Oliver couldn’t stop himself from staring at her, she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.

“Felicity I….”

Before he could say more, Felicity put her finger over his lip.

“I know Oliver. We have this chemistry, and I do like you, but I think we should just be friends.”

“What! Why?” Oliver implored.

“I like you, I like you a lot. But you’ll disappear on mission again and I won’t see or hear from you for months. I can’t live like that.” Felicity told him.

“I resigned” Oliver stated.

Before Felicity could stop herself she reached up on her tiptoes and kissed him. At first the kiss was tentative, but as they began to explore each other’s mouths they got more passionate.

Finally Felicity broke the kiss. They just stared at each other for a moment, smiling.

“So that happened.” Felicity told him.

“Yes, it did” Oliver beamed. “Can we do it again?”

“I would love that Oliver. I would love to spend the rest of the day here, hold up with you, making out. But we have things to do and you have presents to buy. But I promise we’ll continue this later.”

“It’s a date.”

****

Oliver walked to the car that Felicity had sent to pick him up in his tux. They’d spent a fun afternoon shopping and he couldn’t remember a time when he’d enjoyed himself as much. The crowds and noise didn’t bother him, as Felicity didn’t let go of his hand once. He could get use to it.

He opened the back door of the car and saw Felicity sitting there, looking amazing in black cocktail dress. She was typing into her phone which she quickly put into her bag as he sat beside her. Throwing caution to the winds he leaned in and kissed her.

Felicity smiled.

“Are you doing anything tomorrow?” Oliver enquired.

“Not really.” Felicity replied “I’m Jewish, so I’m just planning on catching up on Netflix and having Chinese food. Want to come over?”

“I’m going to my sister’s. But I was wondering, do you want to come too?”

“Oliver, I…”

“You’re going to say no, aren’t you. But please think about it. I know we’ve only been dating about 5 minutes but I’ve already told her about you and she wants to meet you.”

“What did you tell her?” Felicity glared.

“That you’re my friend, the one who encouraged me to get back in touch with her, and that we’ve recently got together. At that point she just about ordered me to bring you along as she wants to meet you and thank you.”

“I don’t know.” Felicity pondered.

“Promise me you’ll think about it.” Oliver pleaded and Felicity nodded her head as the car pulled to a stop.

Oliver exited first, going around and opening Felicity’s door. She told the driver she’d call the service when they were ready to leave and led the way into a very nice Star City restraint. Felicity walked in first, Oliver right behind and he saw her wave at someone, shouting “Iris”.

Suddenly she stopped “Oh shit” she exclaimed. “Oh Oliver, I’m so so sorry. I didn’t think. It went completely out of my head. We can leave right now if you want.”

Oliver was confused. He looked at the woman she was waving at, and standing right beside her, was Tommy Merlyn.

***

Oliver froze. He could see from the look on Felicity’s face that she felt terrible about putting him into this position. They’d been so caught up in their happiness that she hadn’t made the connection that Tommy would be there.

Tommy stared in recognition. He almost couldn’t believe his eyes. In front of him was the friend he hadn’t seen in over 10 years. He moved towards Oliver quickly.

And hugged him.

“Oliver” he cried with tears in his eyes. “Is it really you?”

“Hi Tommy” Oliver said tentatively.

“I can’t believe it.” Tommy beamed. “We’ve been trying to find you for years.”

“I’m so sorry” Oliver apologised “I shouldn’t have… well, everything really.”

“There’s nothing to forgive. We were all young and stupid and I came to terms with that years ago.” Tommy insisted. “I’ve missed  you so much, so has Thea… Thea, does she know you’re back?”

“Yes, Thea knows. I caught up with her yesterday. She pretty much had the same reaction you did”

Tommy then looked around and saw Felicity standing there “Do you two know each other?” Tommy asked.

Felicity shrugged “Sort of. We met through work. We’re sort of dating.”

“Oh, that’s even better. Oliver, you and me, we can catch up while they’re at their book club.”

“Come on Tommy” Felicity laughed “You know we don’t read books.”

***

6 months later.

Oliver looked around the large crowded room. He could see his sister and Felicity cooing over Jonas, who was in a high chair.  Beside them stood Lyla and John, John looking longingly at the young boy. He then whispered something in Lyla’s ear, and she smiled.

Oliver’s life had changed drastically in the last six months. Instead of going from mission to mission he’d put down roots. He was close again with his sister, and his re-ignited friendship with Tommy had helped him forgive himself. But he was most grateful for Felicity. She brought nothing but joy into his life, helping him find a new way to live. She’d encouraged him to find something he loved to do, and then do it. It had taken a while and a lot of soul searching, but he realised he wanted to stop young people making the same mistakes he had made and help them make something of their lives.

Tommy had suggested he went to work in the Glades, the worst part of Star City, in the youth centre that Tommy’s foundation ran. It was a place that gave young people a place to work out, do homework and participate in the arts. Oliver had been working there part-time as a fitness instructor, while he went back to university to study to be a social worker.

Today they were having a fundraiser, which Oliver had organised, to help pay for college tuition for some of the students that attended the centre.

Oliver and Tommy had hoped that they’d raise enough to pay for 5 young people to go to college, but after Felicity, and a few others (who Felicity had strategically invited) made donations they had raised over $5 million dollars. There were a couple of students he couldn’t wait to tell they were going to college.

Felicity walked over to him and put her arm around his waist. “It’s going well, I think” she beamed.

“Thank you for inviting all your rich friends.” He said as he kissed her forehead.

She pouted slightly as he added “And thank you for your very generous donation.”

Felicity smiled “I’m sure you can find a way to make it up to me later.”

Oliver raised his eyebrow, then winked at her “I’ll see what I can do. But the thing is, I’m moving in with a young woman this weekend and she can’t keep her hands off me, I’ll need to ask her.”

Felicity hit his chest and started laughing. “Oh, I’m sure she won’t mind” she giggled.

They walked over to Thea, John and Lyla, not breaking apart until they reached Jonas, who started jumping up and down in his seat, gesturing for Oliver to lift him up.

“Unc Ollie” Jonas cried. “Up, up”. Oliver couldn’t resist.

Felicity’s heart melted a little as she saw Jonas in Oliver’s arms. “I want one” she exclaimed “Oh no, did I say that out loud.”

“I’ll see what I can do, tonight maybe” Oliver said, amused at his girlfriend’s outburst.

“Not right now” Felicity said, trying to dig herself out of her hole “But one day maybe?”

“Yes, Felicity, one day, hopefully not too far away.” Oliver leaned down and kissed her.

“I love you Oliver Queen.” she told him as they broke the kiss.

“I love you Felicity Smoak. Thank you, for making me run away with you. It gave me a home.”