I've had this idea in my head for like two weeks and it wouldn't go away, so here it is haha. Basically, it's set a little earlier in season 2 but there's still going to be some slight changes. Nothing too drastic, I don't think. Sorry for any mistakes! Also, I tried putting break lines to separate the different parts but I don't think they always show up x.x so If they don't I apologize. I tried!
Thank you for reading!
"Felicity, can you send this out for me?" Oliver handed her a stack of papers.
"Yeah, sure, just le-" She was interrupted from her desk phone ringing. Holding up a finger to Oliver and an apologetic look, she reached out to grab the phone from the cradle.
"Oliver Queen's office, how may I help you?"
"Ms. Smoak? It's Bill down in security. There's an Officer Lance here to see you. Shall I send him up?" Her confusion must have been written all over her face as Oliver took a step closer giving her a curious look. The officer in question usually called her when he needed something Arrow-related. The fact that he was here in person had her worried.
"Ms. Smoak?" Bill spoke again, breaking her out of her thoughts.
"Right, sorry. Send him up." She told Bill before hanging up the phone and sending Oliver a slightly panicked look.
"Detective Lance is here to see me." She knew he was no longer technically a detective but she felt it disrespectful not to call him by his former title. Especially since he lost the position due to his minor involvement in their nightly activities. "You don't think he knows about you, do you?" She asked Oliver in a hushed whisper even though they were the only two on the floor.
"Relax, Felicity. If he did, don't you think he'd be here to see me rather than you?" Oliver asked rhetorically in a calm manner. The thought crossed his mind as well, but he did not want to jump to conclusions.
"Yeah. Yeah, good point." No sooner than she spoke, the elevator pinged and Quentin Lance stepped out. She held her breath as he made his way over towards them.
"Detective. What can I do for you?" She smiled at him trying to simmer her nervousness.
"Hello Ms. Smoak. Mr. Queen," he turned his attention to Oliver, "If you could give us a moment?"
"Of course, Detective." Oliver gave Felicity a pointed look before stepping into his office, closing the door behind him. Felicity tried her best to maintain her the panic running through her, hoping she wouldn't give away to any hints that would blow Oliver's cover. She took a deep breath and reverted her gaze back to the detective.
"I'm sorry for interrupting you at work, but I was already in the area." He sparred a glance through the glass walls to Oliver's office to make sure he wasn't listening in. Though he wouldn't be able to hear what they were saying, Felicity knew him enough to know he was following along as best as he could from his desk. Fortunately enough, Oliver knew when to avert his attention elsewhere before Lance could see him.
Lance held up a manila folder that she hadn't even noticed he was carrying. She took it from him, but not without confusion. "I need you to get that to your friend, if you wouldn't mind. We suspect this guy is involved in selling illegal weaponry."
"If you already know who he is and what he's doing, can't you guys look into it?" Felicity asked out of curiosity rather than doubt or disrespect.
"We've tried, trust me. But this guy knows how to cover his tracks. Word around town gives us reason to believe it's more than just speculation, but I need hard proof in order for us to move forward with this. Your help as well if you're willing to look into him."
"Right, yeah, of course. I'll get this to him as soon as I can." She gave the man a smile.
"Thank you Ms. Smoak. Keep me updated. Enjoy the rest of your day." With that he headed back towards the elevator as she briefly flipped through the file he had handed to her. Once she was sure that Detective Lance was in the elevator and already on his way down, she turned and entered Oliver's office to relay the information.
It was nearly seven o'clock that evening that Oliver, Felicity, and Diggle, as well as Sara, were situated in the foundry. Felicity begun her research on Brian Wright as soon as she arrived. Diggle occupied a seat next to her while Oliver and Sara took to training.
After about fifteen minutes, Felicity's typing became more noticeable. More determined and slightly louder than before. "What'd you find?" Digg asked from beside her. He knew the tell tale signs of her frustration. She huffed in response at first.
"Well there's certainly someone going around selling military grade weapons but Detective Lance was right. Whoever this is sure knows how to cover their tracks." She noticed Oliver and Sara had now joined them by the computers. "I'm looking into this Brian Wright guy but I can't find anything to link him."
"You think Lance just got it wrong?" Oliver suggested, ignoring the disapproving look from Sara.
"No, I don't know. He seemed pretty confident about this it's just that…" She trailed off before her searching came to a halt. "Hm, that's weird."
"What'd you find?" Oliver stepped closer to look at the screens but quickly realized he had no idea what he was even looking at. "Felicity?"
"I hacked into his systems at Wright Communications and there's like a black hole in it."
"A black hole?" Digg asked.
"That's the only way I know how to describe it, I don't know. There's clearly supposed to be something within these time frames, but it's like everything just stops. There should be a file in here but there's no way to access it." She said as her fingers fell slackly from the keyboard.
"Can't you just hack into the files?" She turned to Sara shaking her head. "Not from here. I'd have to use their system to even attempt it."
"So what now?" Sara turned to Oliver.
"We could always break in to Wright Communications so I can hack in through their mainframe." Felicity turned in her chair to give Oliver a questioning smile. It was risky, sure, but there seemed to be no other way to obtain the information quickly enough.
"No." Oliver shook his head at her, a stern look in place.
"Well, why not? It's not like we haven't done something like this before." She looked at him exasperatedly. After all the things they do, this is what he turns down?
"That was during the day where I had a valid excuse for being there, and even then you almost got caught."
"Surely we can just sneak in tonight. Just hack into the security cameras. Make sure Felicity can get in and out without being seen." Sara suggested casually. Oliver turned towards her, his finger raised, ready to shoot down the idea when Felicity spoke up.
"Come on, Oliver. It's our best shot at getting this information." Oliver looked towards Diggle for support but instead only received a shrug. Oliver sighed.
A little over an hour later found them sitting in a van just outside the back of the Wright Communications building. Oliver had begrudgingly agreed to Felicity's plan and now here they were. Oliver and Sara were dressed as their aliases while Felicity adorned a simple black outfit and mask she had pocketed to cover her face just in case the security feed went live.
Felicity tapped away at her tablet, fingers flying over the screen. "Okay, the computer we need to get to is in his office. I've looped the security feeds and cut the alarm systems which won't last forever but should give us enough time." She handed Sara the tablet, "It's all set up for the thermal scanning."
Before they had left the lair, they set their plan. Oliver would lead Felicity into the building to get where she needed to go while Diggle would stay just outside the building to alert them if anyone new showed up and in case they needed to get away fast. Sara would be on lookout on the adjacent rooftop monitoring who was in the building and where.
"Alright, let's make this quick." Oliver said as he exited the van. Felicity followed suit while Sara took off to where she needed to go. Once they were out of sight, Digg drove the van around so it was hidden from view.
They made their way to the side where the parking garage was. Oliver took out his roped anchor and aimed it up towards the top level of the garage. Having done this before in a different circumstance, they worked in tandem. Felicity's arm over his shoulder, while his arm wrapped around her waist. Still not a fan of heights, she closed her eyes and turned her head into Oliver's shoulder as they propelled upwards. Just before they reached the top, he swung them into the second to last level.
"I'm never going to get used to that." Felicity shuddered. Together they headed towards the door leading from the garage to the building. Shooting an arrow into the lock of the door, he kicked it open, removing the arrow and entering the building.
"Stay close." Oliver's tone left no room to argue otherwise. Not that she would do anything else anyway.
"His office is only three more floors up and down the hall. The staircase should be close." Felicity whispered having checked the layout of the building before they arrived. "Here it is." She stopped just outside the door.
Oliver opened the door quietly, listening for any sounds before ushering Felicity through the door. They headed up the three flights of stairs before coming to a stop at the door leading to where they needed to be.
"You've got two men on the opposite hallway of the office. They haven't moved but that might not be for long. Be careful." Sara's voice coming through the earpieces. Felicity looked at Oliver nervously. He grabbed her hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze before opening the door and heading into the hallway. Felicity held her hand on the door as it closed to keep it from banging against the frame but she couldn't account for the unknowingly loud click the handle made as the door fully closed. She cringed as they both stopped, breaths held.
"Ollie, they're heading your way." Sara's rushed voice sent Felicity's heart racing.
"Oh god, I'm so sorry. I tried to-" Felicity cut off her panicked whisper as Oliver shushed her pushing her behind him as he attempted to head in the other direction. It was too late, however, as two security guards spotted them as they came around the corner.
"Shit." There was no way to avoid them because either way, these guys would surely come after them. Deciding quickly he needed to take them down before they could call for backup, Oliver made his decision.
"I'll handle this, when you see an opening make a run for the office. Only when you have a clear opening." He said the last part slowly making sure she fully understood not wanting her to get caught in the middle. She nodded in confirmation as he headed towards the two guards.
"Stay where you are!" The gun aimed at Oliver did little to deter him as he grabbed the mans arms pointing the gun down before sending a right hook into the mans jaw. He faltered for a second before heading towards Oliver again. Felicity watched as he grabbed the mans arm flipping him over and onto the ground. The man laid unmoving and Oliver was already fending off the second guard. Seeing her opportunity, Felicity took a deep breath and took off down the hallway intent on heading past Oliver and the guards as she tried to stay as close to the opposite wall as possible. Too focused on getting past them, Felicity failed to notice the previously fallen guard was now standing and well aware of her presence.
With Oliver's back towards them as he fought the choke hold the second guard had him in, he too was unaware of Felicity's trouble until he heard the short panicked squeak that came from her as the guard grabbed her. With that, Oliver put everything he had into breaking the mans hold on him. Once he was free he grabbed the mans head driving it into the wall rendering him unconscious.
The man had Felicity's arm in an iron grip as she struggled to get away from him. Driving her foot down on his and sending her free elbow into the mans abdomen, his grip loosened enough for her to free her arm from his. However, as she went to get away he tried grabbing her once more. His grip failed, instead knocking her off balance. She gasped as her footing faltered from the push, sending her falling head first into an office door.
Wasting no time, Oliver ran over grabbing the guards gun and knocking him out with the handle. With a quick look to make sure he was out for good, he quickly averted his gaze to Felicity who was leaning against the door her hand to her head.
"Are you okay?" Oliver ask worriedly as he moved his hand to her head to check the damage. She inhaled sharply as his hand made contact to a quickly formed bump.
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine just a bump." Felicity said as he carefully hauled her back on her feet. She swayed briefly grabbing onto his arm to gain equilibrium.
"Felicity?" Oliver grabbed both sides of her arms leaning down slightly to look her in the eyes. "Hey, what's wrong?"
She shook him off, shaking her head, "Nothing. Sorry just lost my balance there. I'm good." Oliver looked at her unsure before breaking his gaze. He quickly went over to the unconscious men and zip-tied their hands behind their backs before returning to Felicity's side.
"Let's get this over with." He said to her before hitting the button to the comm, "Anyone else we need to worry about?" He asked Sara.
"There's no one else on that floor, but there's two more guards about six floors down. I'll let you know if they start making their way up." Sara answered.
"Come on." With a gentle hand against her back, he led them a few doors down until they reached Wright's office. Felicity entered the room immediately heading towards the computer while Oliver stood at the door. She sat down at the chair and navigated her way through the system. Having already looked into it at the foundry, it didn't take long for her to get to the files she couldn't access earlier. As she opened the files she quickly skimmed through making sure what she was seeing was relevant to why they were there in the first place.
After a few moments she brought a hand up to her head to ease the slow but steady throbbing that was now occurring in her head. When she returned her focus back to the monitor she noticed her vision wasn't as clear as it had been just a few seconds ago. She swallowed thickly, blinking her eyes to try and focus her eyes better. The result was minimal at best.
Not wanting to panic she brushed it off, focusing on her mission instead as best she could.
"Those guys are making their way up. I don't know where exactly they're heading but hurry it up in case."
"Felicity." Oliver turned to Felicity in warning.
"Yeah, just a few more minutes." She replied hastily as she inserted her flash drive into the computer tower setting it up to transfer the secured files that she had accessed. Her hands flew across the keyboard but she quickly grew frustrated when she seemed to keep hitting the wrong keys making her plan delayed by a couple seconds longer than what they had to spare.
"You guys need to get out of there. Now." Oliver stilled at Sara's voice.
"Felicity…"
"Just a couple more seconds." Felicity rushed out while Oliver headed towards her. She held up a hand, "Wait, just…" She watched rigidly as the transfer was at ninety-nine percent. As soon as it hit one-hundred percent, she ejected the flash drive just as Oliver grabbed her lightly by the upper arm, heading back out into the hallway in which they entered.
The pressure in her head had yet to ease as she stumbled, quickly apologizing as they made their way down the hall. Oliver stopped short when he heard the door to the stairwell open.
"Sara?" Oliver whispered into his comms.
"Damn it, Ollie, they're blocking the only exit on that floor." Sara exclaimed as she found a way to get to the roof of the other building. "I'll be right there." Felicity gripped onto the back of Oliver's jacket as he pulled her behind him. Together they cautiously continued down the hall heading towards their only way out other than jumping through the window. Oliver figured he'd save that as a last possible solution.
When they got as close enough as they could without being seen, Oliver quickly looked around before turning to Felicity. He grabbed her by the shoulders, easing her against the wall. "I need you to stay here." Her eyes widened in slight fear as she tried to focus on him through not only the dark, but unnervingly blurred vision as well. "Stay here. Don't move." His grip on her shoulder tightened slightly before he headed around the corner.
She leaned her head back against the wall as she worriedly waited for Oliver to return. She closed her eyes at the sudden onslaught of pain running through her head. She pressed a hand to her head where she hit it against the door earlier trying to ease the pain, inwardly moaning when it didn't have any affect. When she heard the sounds of a fight break out around the corner her eyes popped open and her head shot up. She knew it would happen, but she wasn't sure how many guys Oliver was up against.
Worried for him, she slowly made her way to the corner, bracing herself against the wall. Taking a deep breath, she slowly peeked around the corner her heart racing as she saw Oliver trying to take down the four security guards. She should have been quicker, then they could have been out of there sooner and he wouldn't be in this mess.
She saw a flash of blonde propel through the window and she breathed a sigh of relief. Sara was there now to help Oliver. Leaning back against the wall out of view she closed her eyes before they shot back open as the pain in her head became tenfold.
Black spots invaded her sight and without realizing it, she was now on the floor, back against the wall as she tried to quell the nausea running through her.
Her breaths became erratic when her vision wasn't going back to normal, instead getting increasingly worse. Panicked and finding it harder to breath she slowly listed to the side before she felt a pair of hands grab her.
She screamed trying to pull away from the hands on her but they only tightened.
"Felicity!" She heard Oliver's voice but when she looked up all she saw was an array of black and white blurs. Still pushing at the hands, she blinked a few times trying to see clearly but when she looked back up her eyes still hadn't cleared. "Felicity, what's wrong? Talk to me, Felicity." She could barely hear Oliver's panic through her own. Her hand shot out to him gripping the leather of his jacket. She relaxed only slightly at the fact that it was indeed Oliver.
"Oliver? Oliver, I can't- I can't-" And with that she was only vaguely aware of her eyes rolling back before she completely lost consciousness.
There it is! I have the second part planned out already, I just need to write it up. Please leave a review! It'll speed up the second chapter if you guys like this. Thank you!