This is another one-shot set it my Vegas!verse. I'm afraid if you aren't familiar with that AU this fic might not make much sense to you. I know I'm posting this one week early (considering the Vegas-timeline), but I feel like with the tension currently gathering in the main story this is the right place and time for a little, light interlude. Plus: we're bridging the time until Albiona approves the next chapter. She also checked this and came up with the title, because she's awesome.

I do not own the Arrow and intend no copyright infringement.

Happy (*fingers crossed*) reading. Love, Jules.

April 13th, 2013

The house rule was to wait with the drinking until the first guests arrived.

Taking a sip of her Merlot, Kristina Miles broke her own rule without feeling guilty.

Even if it was her own rule, she had set it up for a reason (a party at her parents' home had gotten crazily out of hand, mainly because her seventeen-year-old self had been drunk before the first people arrived to empty her father's liquor cabinet, throw up into the aquarium, and put their burning cigarettes out on her mother's rug). Kristina prided herself as being a rule-breaker since that one Distillers concert. Being fifteen and entering the male restroom to avoid the ridiculously long line in front of the women's facilities might've been a small act of rebellion—but only the first one. More outrageous acts had followed.

Most of which probably shouldn't be mentioned now that she was dating a cop.

Looking at her very own police officer sitting by the perfectly set table, she grinned.

"What's with the smile?"

Marcus Grant raised a questioning eyebrow at his girlfriend. It was a habit of his—one Kristina serious dug. She could see him doing that when questioning criminals, throwing them off with that look that made it seem like he didn't need them to say anything because he already had it all figured out.

It was a bluff, Kristina knew, but an effective one. "I just thought that Tak'll most definitely drop a hint about your handcuffs. He'll probably add a wink."

"You sound very sure about that."

"I am."

A smirk played around Marcus' lips that made Kristina's heart beat faster. "Because that's what you'd do if the roles were reversed?"

Honest laughter flew from her lips. Loud and throaty, it shook her whole body. As a teenager Kristina had tried to change her way of laughing, training herself to switch it to girlish giggling. Hadn't worked for her. She'd needed to leave puberty behind to accept that. Her eyes shone as she met Marcus' amused ones. "Damn right, I would." She set her glass down. "So, be prepared. Tak might be even blunter than I am."

"Consider me warned." He glanced down at himself and picked an invisible fluff off his sweater, "How do I look?"

Kristina kept herself from laughing at that question (she did have some basic manners, thankyouverymuch) and let her eyes travel over her boyfriend: from the brown, short low-maintenance hair, over his clean-shaven face to the perfectly sharp collar poking out of the blue sweater. He had dressed up for the occasion, she realized and her heart did an extra pump as she saw him suck in his lower lips in a clearly uneasy gesture, making the tiny scar cutting into his full, upper lip (a drunk had thrown a bottle at him and hit) more prominent. His green, unsure eyes were glued to Kristina.

An honest smile showed on her face. "You look very handsome, Mr. Grant." She used her seductive voice, but couldn't add anything else before the doorbell rang.

Instantly, Marcus shot up from his chair. His reaction warmed Tina's heart. "Hey," she said, walking toward him, right into his personal space to place her hand on his chest, "there's no need to be nervous. They'll adore you."

"They're your friends. And even if that didn't include the two billionaires practically ruling this city, the meeting would be awfully intimidating and nerve-wrecking. I want to make a good impression."

Kristina got on her tiptoes and kissed him. "Don't worry. Felicity's amazing and Hubby's mostly harmless, too. The only one who'll make a bad first impression's most likely Tak." She winked and went to the hall to press the door buzzer, determined to throw out anybody who makes her boyfriend uncomfortable.

The sounds of four people marching up old, wooden steps hit her ears as she waited for her friends to reach the fourth floor. Yongtak Chan's face entered Tina's line of sight first—it was awfully red. "Tina, girl, you gotta move. First floor or elevator, everything else is unacceptable."

"The only thing unacceptable is your lacking fitness," Kristina shot back. "Listen to your nurse and start exercising. You don't need to overdo it like Felicity and Hubby, but some basic stamina'll go a long way—ask your boyfriend."

"I told you!" Tak grinned proudly at Felicity while taking the last steps. "The first sex-quip before we're even in the apartment. That's a round of donuts for the office on you." Tak winked at Tina. "You're too predictable, babe."

Feeling caught but trying not to let it show, Kristina stepped out of the way to let her guests enter. Felicity sent her a look filled with playful annoyance. "I was sure we'd at least get into your apartment before you'd make a suggestive comment." Felicity hugged her brunette friend with one arm and said, with audible fondness, "You're the worst!" She lifted the bowl that was the reason for the half-assed hug. "As promised, I brought desert."

"Look at you, Felicity Queen. Getting the hang of cooking," Tina teased.

"Chocolate mousse," Felicity said. "According to Valentina that's advanced cooking. I'm way beyond the rookie stuff by now."

"God, I hate us turning so domestic," Tak stated, half-teasingly. "I think I need alcohol to drown the knowledge that we all turned old. Do you have…? Why am I even asking? Of course, there's alcohol in Tina-land."

Tak headed into the dining room followed by his boyfriend Christopher, who greeted Tina with a smile and short hello. Kristina heard Yongtak introduce himself to Marcus, being all polite and casual (thank God!), while Hubby handed Kristina a wine bottle with a small smile. "Thanks for inviting us. I thought you might enjoy this."

Glancing down at the green bottle with its white label reading Chateau La Nerthe, Chateauneuf-du-Pape ''Cuvee Cadettes'' 2010 (that told Kristina nothing, but she had the feeling that this one bottle was more expensive than the five she bought at the supermarket today), she smirked. "Oh, Hubby, you know the way to a woman's heart." She looked up at him and dead-panned, "Get her drunk."

The corners of his lips lifted the barest bit. "Worked on Felicity."

She laughed and even though his face stayed even, she could see in his eyes that he enjoyed her reaction. This man standing in front of her, his back straight, his shoulders squared, keeping a bit more distance than one normally would, had come a long way. Compared to the guy she had first met in Felicity's bedroom – who had been all stiffness, calculated glances, and carefully selected words – this dude was practically relaxed. Felicity had never gone into details, but her best friend's hint that five years away from civilization as they knew it had left its marks made a lot of sense to Kristina. This man, who she never would have picked for Felicity, made her best friend happier than she had ever seen her.

Tina placed her hand on his arm in a gesture of silent friendship and together they entered the dining room. Her friends, being the easy guests she liked best, had already introduced and helped themselves. Yongtak was busy filling the wineglasses while Christopher and Felicity stood next to her boyfriend. "Marcus," Kristina said, instantly getting his attention. "That's Hubby."

"Normally, I go by Oliver," he corrected, offering the other man his hand. "Nice to meet you."

"Yes," Marcus said and Kristina thought he hid his nervousness well. "It's nice to meet you."

"Okay, guys." Kristina motioned to the table. "Please, sit down. Dinner's ready already."

"I need to put the mousse into the fridge," Felicity said and together the women headed to the kitchen. There, Felicity leaned close to her friend to whisper. "He's so nervous." She smiled. "Means he cares."

"I know." A happy tingle rushed through Tina and all she could do was return her friend's smile.

Squeezing her arm, Felicity sent her an encouraging nod before glancing around the kitchen. "Okay, what can I do to help you?"

Kristina laughed loudly. "You can drain the broccoli. If such rookie stuff isn't beneath you…."

Ten minutes later the six of them sat around the dining room table, Tina and Felicity opposite each other at the heads, Marcus and Hubby on the one side, Tak and Chris on the other. The table was filled to the brink with plates and bowls of all sizes. The idea to serve Tapas was well received—especially by Christopher, the only vegetarian in their group. Kristina dismissed his praise with a short wave of her hand—as if his meatless-ness honestly challenged her skills as a host. Treating guests was one thing Tina was unmatched in. (Others were beer bonging, finding the perfect vein for a painless venipuncture, and some sexual skills she didn't feel like bragging about.)

Lifting her high-stemmed glass filled with red wine, she said. "To us."

The others raised their own glasses (four filled with wine, one with table water, but Tina had stopped mentioning Hubby's terminally sober state because she had profited from him being the designate driver too often) and echoed, "To us."

Swallowing a rather huge sip of wine, Tina set her glass back down and gestured to the assembled dishes, "Dig in."

Of course, Felicity reached for the steamed vegetables first. That woman and her constant counting of calories honestly irked her best friend. Looking at it from a purely health-related point of view, Tina knew she couldn't complain. Felicity ate healthily, ever since Hubby returned she also ate regularly, and combined with the regular jogs it resulted in a killer body that Kristina'd gladly have—if that didn't mean strictly healthy meals and daily jogging. Kristina had said enough about that topic, but she had also been there during the fallout from Felicity google-ing herself for the first time after giving birth to Jonas. That had been a disaster. Kristina knew mentioning Felicity's choice of vegetables now would mean starting this evening the wrong way, but she vowed right then to give Felicity an extra-big portion of chocolate mousse.

"Okay," Felicity handed the bowl filled with broccoli to Chris and looked at her best female friend, "I have to ask now, while the up-coming rant isn't wine-infused: how was the meeting with your sister?"

Kristina appreciated that question and hated it at the same time. The emotional mix had very different origins. Tina appreciated that Felicity remembered the meeting with her little sister Rachel and that Felicity knew her well enough to know that she had some things to get off her chest about that. She also appreciated that Felicity kept this casual, giving Marcus time to settle in and not putting him on the spot by instantly grilling him with questions. She appreciated that Felicity spoke up before Yongtak could, because she was sure that Tak would have focused his attention solely on Tina's new boyfriend. So, that was nice.

Less nice was the fact that Felicity knew she'd need to rant about the meeting with her sister, and that it might turn out even more heated after two more glasses of red.

Felicity wasn't wrong (she had witnessed enough rants to know perfectly what she was talking about)—and Tina hated that she wasn't.

She also hated the constant rivalry with her little sister—whose boyfriend had proposed on Christmas and who was giving her mother hope that her wish for grandchildren wasn't futile (a wish her mother reminded Tina of regularly). Tina wished she were closer to her sister, but they had simply never clicked and it wasn't like the constant competition wasn't mutual.

"I take it: not good," Felicity observed.

"She informed me that Jess is her maid of honor. Asked me if that was okay with me."

"That wasn't okay with you," Chris guessed.

With an exaggerated eye-roll Kristina showed him how completely off the mark he was. "That's perfectly okay with me—and she knows. She just had to ask to put on a show for mom and dad, so that those two could feel sorry for me." She reached for the dates wrapped in bacon. "I'm fourth bride's maid."

"Fourth?" Christopher asked, "Of how many?"

"Seven." Seeing Hubby reach for a bowl, Tina stated, "Those shrimp have garlic, take the other ones." A thankful nod was his only reaction and Kristina went back to the main topic. "I told her she didn't have to make me a bride's maid at all. I managed to offend her with that."

"Okay," Chris said, adding potato-and-mozzarella croquettes to his plate, "she makes her best friend maid of honor, I get that. But I don't care who you are, if you weren't raised by wolves, you make your sister the first bride's maid. Everything else is just unacceptable!"

"That's my boyfriend," Tak sounded strangely proud, "dropping truth bombs."

Felicity forked a shrimp (being the good wife she was, she picked the garlic-free ones, too) and nodded along.

"Good, the ladies and the gays are on my side," Kristina stated, glancing at Marcus and Hubby. Both men appeared utterly unfazed.

"You know I'm on your side," her boyfriend hurried to add. "I told you yesterday after you talked to her."

That was the truth. As much as Kristina knew that her complicated relationship with her sister wasn't her best feature (or even slightly flattering), she couldn't help it. And after the disaster that had been Demarion (plus the surgeon before him and the elementary school teacher before him) Kristina was over sugarcoating things and hiding the ugly truth about herself. If watching Felicity and Hubby interact had taught her one thing, it was this: you had to stop being polite and start getting real (MTV—airing out the wisdom since the 80s). So, Marcus knew her ultimate weakness: her inability to avoid her sister's emotional traps.

"You had to listen to her whole rant, huh?" Yongtak smirked. "Welcome to the club. We've all been there."

"At least it means that she doesn't have to plan the bachelorette party," Marcus said and proved that he had really listened to her, because that had been her giant conclusion after a very heated five-minute monologue.

"Yes!" Tina looked at Felicity across the table. "Guess where Rachel wants to go for her party. Guess!"

"If you ask like that: Vegas."

Her best friend knew her too well. "Exactly! How cliché's that?"

"Maybe she's hoping she'll meet Mike Tyson," Marcus offered.

"What?" Hubby frowned.

That guy and his complete disregard for all things pop-culture after the year 2007 would never stop being amusing to Kristina—even if she knew that the reasons for it weren't a joking matter. "That was a clever quip at the movie Hangover," Kristina explained while complimenting her boyfriend. "It's about a bachelor party in Las Vegas."

"It's funny," Marcus added.

"It's mediocre!" Chris corrected. "But Bradley Cooper's a babe."

"It's funny," Tina defended Marcus. "Hubby should watch it and get to know the genius that's Zack Gefi… Geze… Zack Something."

"He doesn't need to watch it," Tak chimed in, grinning. "Oliver had his own party in Las Vegas that got out of hand. He lived the Hangover."

"I did," Hubby stated, casually. "Ended with me getting to know the genius that's Felicity Queen."

Felicity chuckled softly and Kristina couldn't help but laugh. "Wow. Hubby, you're on fire tonight."

He raised his eyebrows at her, amused.

Chris reached for his wine glass again. "I hope it's not out of line, and most of you probably know the story, but how'd you end up married that night?"

"We were drunk," Felicity stated the obvious.

"Come to think of it," Tak said, frowning. "You never told me about your wedding. Did Elvis officiate?"

"No," Felicity sent Oliver a quick glance. "A very annoyed guy in a cheap suit did."

That was a fact that not even Kristina heard before, and she was the only one – apart from the spouses, of course – who knew the whole truth about the Vegas-wedding and the tale Moira Queen had spun about it. Tipping her head to her side, she asked. "What did you do to annoy him?"

"Oliver kept zoning out," Felicity chuckled. "And added unnecessary commentary."

"Like what?"

"Like that fact that my 'I do' was the correctest answer to anything ever."

Oliver let his fork sink a little. "You remember that?"

"Sure. You raised your arms in victory. I thought it was funny."

"Wow," Yongtak breathed, "you must've been wasted."

Felicity laughed. "I was."

"I think it's romantic," Christopher sighed, but straightened up in his seat when ten disbelieving eyes settled on him. "Okay, sure, it was a little messy, but you were in love and you wanted to be together. You knew—and looking at you now you were obviously right."

Oliver glanced at Felicity. "Let's just say: it ended up better than it should've."

"Hubby, I never knew you to be such a diplomat." Kristina winked, because – honestly – truer words had rarely been spoken.

"Okay," Tak cut in. "Enough about the married couple. We're here to grill the new boyfriend."

That had taken longer than Kristina expected. She looked at Tak. "How come you've never grilled Hubby?

"I want to say 'because he's hot enough', but I promised Fe to stop making him uncomfortable." The smirk showing on his face died uncharacteristically fast for Yongtak Chan. He glanced at Oliver, "Plus: we had our very own very pointed conversation that cleared some things up."

"Oh, right." Tina remembered Felicity telling her about the awkward confrontation between her husband and her best male friend. She smiled weakly. "Taky, you were a good friend—even if you were way, waaay off the mark."

"I was genuinely concerned," Tak defended.

"He was," Oliver said evenly, reaching for his glass. "And as he said: we cleared some things up and now we're good."

The two men shared a glance across the table, filled with mutual understanding. It ended with Yongtak turning to Kristina. "Don't think you managed to distract me," he focused his attention on Marcus. "So, you're a cop?"

"I am," Marcus said and met Yongtak's challenging gaze. "Do you want me to elaborate? Or just wait for you to fire the next question?"

Felicity's smiling eyes found Kristina's over the table. The unspoken message her best friend sent was obvious: this is going to be good. And, yes, Kristina seconded that expectation because Marcus wasn't a stranger to interrogations. Last week, he had to give his statement in court and the guy's attorney had seriously pressed him. It was rare that Marcus met high-class lawyers like that. Normally, he was faced with duty solicitors since the gangbangers, dealers, and thieves he arrested in the Glades couldn't afford more. But this one lawyer, probably billing $500 per hour, had been hired by an arms dealer of some kind and that dude was able and willing to spend money on his defense and his freedom. It had been a first for Marcus Grant, making such a high profile arrest and meeting a super-lawyer in court. Both had been triggered by finding a wrapped package The Hood had left in a warehouse. Kristina's boyfriend and his partner had been the firsts to arrive at the scene, seeing the trademark silhouette disappear through a hole in the ceiling.

During trial, after Marcus' testimony, the arms dealer was found guilty.

So, if Marcus Grant could handle a high-power lawyer's grilling, he could handle Yongtak Chan—even though Tak probably played dirtier.

"Please," Yongtak answered, "elaborate."

"I've been a cop for ten years, working in the Glades the last five. I've never shot anybody – I'm just saying that because people always ask – and, yes, I do like donuts."

Felicity and Tina shared a knowing smile and a quiet laugh, but Christopher leaned a little over the table toward Marcus. "Do you know that little place down on Westlake?"

"Oh, yeah," Marcus nodded enthusiastically. "Their donuts are the best, the ones filled with the homemade jam—heaven!" He glanced at Tina. "I brought them the other day."

Yes, he had. She smirked at the memory. He had brought them and had treated her to a very special morning. "It was a sweet treat."

Marcus' ears turned a little bit red like they always did when Kristina slid a teasing innuendo into their conversation. It was the most endearing thing she had ever seen, but she chose not to say anything else. She didn't want to make him uncomfortable, especially when things were going so well.

"Have you ever seen The Hood?" Christopher asked. "He's very active in the Glades, isn't he?"

"He is," Marcus nodded and reached for the stuffed mushrooms. "I saw his back once, down by the docks. He left an internationally-wanted arms dealer for us to find—plus two Russian mobsters and 500 assault rifles. I know some people in the force have mixed feelings about The Hood, but every cop stationed in the Glades can see the good he's doing."

"Really?" Tak frowned.

"Definitely. Like him taking down The Count. That was a blessing; Vertigo was a disease."

Kristina noticed Felicity's eyes settling on Oliver while Marcus talked. There was a certain intensity in the look she sent her hubby that Kristina couldn't quite place. It nearly seemed like pride. Hubby felt Felicity's eyes on him and met her gaze, holding it. A wordless conversation was shared in a few seconds. Kristina had witnessed it often—even before they had dropped their stupid denial. Those two had a connection, one that not even Kristina, as Felicity's best friend, could really grasp. She envied them—but not in a begrudging way. She was happy for her best friend; she simply longed for the same connection. And she felt like she could build something similar with Marcus.

The shared glance only lasted for a few seconds, but it ended with a smile ghosting around Hubby's mouth. Whatever those two had talked about must have been good. Tina lifted her glass to hide that she'd been watching them.

"So," Christopher said. "You saw his back? I heard he has a great ass."

"Yeah," Marcus confirmed and Kristina nearly choked on her wine. Had her boyfriend honestly just agreed to the greatness of The Hood's behind? "I heard that, too. But I can't confirm it." Oh. Yeah, that made more sense to Tina.

"My friend Derek saw him once," Chris said. "Said everybody who doesn't already have a thing for leather will after laying eyes on him."

This time it was Felicity choking on her wine. Kristina frowned at her friend questioningly. "Sorry," Felicity croaked. "Wrong pipe."

"Derek," Yongtak made a dismissive gesture, "is not a reliable source to judge that. He'd still be wearing leather chaps if Leo didn't forbid it."

"Fine," Chris huffed and turned to Felicity. "If anybody knows, it's you: does The Hood have a great ass?"

For a second Felicity hesitated, then she bit back a smirk. "He does."

Kristina watched Hubby closely, studying the tiny shake of his head, accompanied by a strong intake of breath. He seemed amused, which surprised Kristina. Somehow she hadn't taken him for a guy who'd take the information that his wife appreciated another man's butt lightly.

But Kristina didn't get to dwell on that as Christopher whooped. "I knew it. God, I gotta get myself rescued by him."

"As much as I appreciate what the guy's doing, you honestly shouldn't get yourself in a situation that warrants meeting him," Marcus said in what Kristina had come to know as his cop-tone. All seriousness. On their first date, she had asked him to say, 'Move along. There's nothing to see here.' in that particular voice. When he had actually done it, her crush on him had multiplied in a heartbeat. Because despite his seriousness, he could be silly with her. And she loved a guy who could do that.

"I agree," Hubby stated seriously. "He's clearly crazy—and dangerous."

"He saved your wife," Tina reminded, but couldn't help but smirk in the next moment. "Is it because Felicity just complimented his ass?"

"No."

"Pffft," Tak spoke around the potato he was chewing. "Oliver doesn't need to worry. Have you seen his ass in a suit?"

A snort escaped Felicity. Biting back a grin, she let her fork sink in mocking consternation. "Okay, how did this dinner conversation get so out of hand?"

"The gays," Tina said with a smirk. "They know no shame."

"Well, we're officially done discussing my husband's ass." Felicity's order rang strange in Kristina's ears (they had mostly talked about the vigilante's butt, after all), but the brunette couldn't help but grin when her blonde friend added, "No matter how amazing it is!" Felicity focused her attention on Marcus. "Tina told me you coach your nephew's little league team."

"I do."

Kristina couldn't keep the happy smile off her face. "They won last Sunday. Holly hit homerun." Ignoring the goofily happy smile her best friend sent her across the table, Tina addressed her boyfriend, "But you need to get your team a name—and a sponsor. You need matching jerseys."

Felicity didn't even hesitate. "You could be the Little Firestormers. We'd sponsor you in a heartbeat."

"We would?" Yongtak acted surprised. "We don't even know if they're Firestorm-material." He looked at Marcus, mock-serious, "Firestormers are special—even little ones."

"Are you kidding me?" Kristina glared across the table at Tak and motioned at her boyfriend. "Look at this fearless leader and tell me he hasn't got some Firestorm in him."

Marcus ears were turning a little red again. "That's a very nice offer, Felicity. But you don't have to feel obliged to—"

"I don't. I want to do it."

Yongtak pointed across the table at Marcus. "As sponsors, we expect free seats."

"Tak," Tina sighed. "Seating's free. It's little league, not Starling City Stadium."

A moment of silence followed. Surprised, Kristina looked around for a reason. Finding nothing but matching confusion on Felicity's face, she turned to her boyfriend. "What?"

"Starling Stadium is the home of the Panthers."

"And?"

"And that's football, Tina. Not baseball." Marcus explained and added, "The Starling Rockets play at Gentry Stadium."

"But I can't really fault you," Chris placed a comforting hand on Kristina's arm. "It's hard to tell the difference the way they've played this season. Nobody in their right mind would consider that football."

"Oh God!" Marcus let his cutlery drop to his plate. "They're a disgrace! They should fire Logan Rockwell and get a real coach."

"That won't help," Hubby cut in. "They need to fire the whole damn team and start over."

"Yes!" Chris agreed. "What they did against Coast City last week made me want to spank them—and not the fun kind, but the really serious kind. Their defense was offensive!"

Kristina met Felicity's eyes across the table and smiled while the three men lamented the state of the city's football team. Felicity nodded slightly. As her best friend, Tina understood everything she was agreeing to and the combined approval made the brunette's smile widen.

Again, Felicity nodded and reached for her wine glass. "You were right: this was long overdue."

"It was." Happiness filled Kristina more and more, the joy of being here with a great guy she really liked (bordering on much more) and her best friend, who was finally in a good place, too (which was saying so much, considering what happened last Wednesday). Spending a casual evening with five people she really cared about was a simple joy, but to Kristina Miles it was joyous perfection. This was everything she ever wanted and more.

"Okay," Tak loudly cut into the conversation. "Enough sports talk. I can't stand any further discussion about Hunk McSweety that doesn't involve those toned calves."

"Hunk McSweety?" Felicity frowned.

"Hank McSweaney," Hubby corrected in explanation. "He's Starling's quarterback—and his calves are the only thing you can compliment right now, because his aim's about as bad as yours."

"Wow," was all Felicity said to that.

"Yeah," Hubby agreed.

"I said, enough football talk. I wasn't done interrogating Marcus." Yongtak fixed his eyes on him. "So, real talk: did you ever use your handcuffs off duty?"

Tina erupted into deep and dirty laughter. Seems like she wasn't the only predictable person at this table.