Please read A.N. : Okay here it is, my first fanfic for Arrow. I've written many fics under another name for other fandoms, but I wanted a clean slate for this one.

My idea for this story came like a lightning bolt from above, because I didn't like what the spoilers revealed and what it would mean for Olicity. So in this one I kept Sarah Lance dead, and then... you'll see.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Not Arrow, or Green Arrow. only any mistakes or typos (since I don't have a Beta either).

Felicity Smoak despite her quirkiness was a pragmatist.

At least she had been made one after the Glades fell. Now almost two months later, she had come to accept the fact that her role in their little team was that of glorified tech support. And she was okay with that. Mostly.

She was mostly, almost okay with Oliver Queen never looking at her with anything else in mind other than friendship. Okay, her little crush hadn't gone away at all, but she'd come to accept her role in his life. She was the EQ in their team – the emotional quotient that kept both the voice of reason –Diggle- and Oliver's brawny, heroic impulses in check.

Sometimes -though how often she didn't admit even to herself – she wished she could be more. She wished that she could help in other ways, contribute to their team as more than their unofficial psychologist. She wished she could be more for him. But dreams didn't fit in their little world after the Glades.

"Felicity?" His voice interrupted her inner monologue, but her fingers never stopped flying on the keyboard.

The sun had been setting when she came in today to discover Oliver had chosen a target from his list: A man who in the wake of the Undertaking had taken advantage of the confusion and after murdering most of the "clients" he'd sold protection to, was now trying to flee the country with his slate wiped clean.

"Yeah. Got it. Marcus Flynn's pilot filed a flight plan five minutes ago. The private jet is leaving from an FBO in Starling City airport. You can get him but only if you leave like, right now."

"I'll get him," he assured her, before grabbing his bow and quiver and leaving the foundry.

Now all Felicity had to do was wait here in case he called for assistance of some sort, and while she prayed that would not be the case, she did not look forward into spending the next couple of hours alone in the basement. Since the Undertaking the place caused her a sense of anxiety. While she was emotionally stable enough by now, the thought that above her head loomed tons of concrete was ever-present in her mind. In short, she could not relax and work her magic.

Making sure that she had synced her tablet to all the necessary apps on her desktop, she picked it up, hooked an earpiece in place and started her ascent to the club above. Most of it was under repair, sheets of plastic hanging where walls once stood, and dust covering most of the bar, but it was better than having to constantly chase away her claustrophobic thoughts. Digg would be here soon she knew, comforted by the thought. The basement was only bearable when she was with either Digg or Oliver. Until then she'd stay up here. Despite Oliver's warning that she shouldn't spend time here since the place wasn't secure, she felt much better.

She took a rag from behind the bar to dust a stool and the area of the bar in front of it and then settled in. All her attention was now turned to the screen and to any sounds that coming out of her unmuted earpiece. She hadn't wanted Oliver to hear that she had moved and if she knew the man, which she was proud to say that yeah, she somehow did know him a little, he would have noticed the sounds.

Felicity waited for him to switch on the earpiece, a sign that he'd have arrived at the airport and at the same time criticized her own thoughts. She was proud to say she somehow knew a little of Oliver? Nice! She really needed to stop thinking in those terms. A crush was okay at first and it didn't bother anyone except for the times when her brain-to-mouth filter stalled and she blurted out things, but even then Oliver just ignored it.

As he should.

But recently her inner filter wasn't just stalling, it was disappearing altogether. A filter could block only so much, right? It could stall the crush-y thoughts but not the really sexy ones or love-y ones.

Bad thoughts, all of them.

It was the only small thing that had improved since the Undertaking. She had learned to compartmentalize. Now she kept a little box with those thoughts and fantasies, that she opened only late at night at home. At work in QC and with Digg and Oliver she was the IT girl on one hand, and part of the Hood's team on the other. It was much better this way, less embarrassing and less chance that Oliver would figure out that her crush had been blown out of proportion. That would have been awkward.

Because there was Laurel, beautiful, woman-of-men's fantasies Laurel. This comparing and coming up short thing really sucked.

"I'm here." Oliver's voice pulled her from her thoughts and she forced her head back in the game. Okay, not game since it was really dangerous, but- "The jet is getting ready but I haven't seen Flynn."

"The flight plan that was filed lists the takeoff time ten minutes from now, he should be there by now if he wants to be on time," Felicity replied after double-checking her screen. What if this was a trap though? She had just opened her mouth to say so, when Oliver's quiet voice cut her off again.

"Okay, I got eyes on him," was all he said, before his mic was muted again.

These moments were hell; Moments when the silence was only an illusion, a veil of quiet behind which a battle was raging, while she stood on the other side not knowing whether this would be the time when the click followed by the sweet relief of Oliver's voice wouldn't come.

This time, thank God, the click was heard after a few minutes. "It's done." He was panting, his voice quiet. "Heading back now."

"Copy that," she heard her own subdued voice. She knew what they did was right, but it still took a moment for his type of justice to sit well with her.

"Is Digg back in?"

"He should be here in a few, he called me from the car earlier."

"Good. Start some grappling with him, and we'll go through target practice later."

She half-smiled at the prospect. Not about spending time practicing with Oliver. Well that too, but also about them helping her learn some of the stuff they did. Yeah, she wasn't going to be a ninja sidekick or something, but she felt better about protecting herself. The city wasn't what it used to be, and even though some areas hadn't been damaged from the earthquake the devastation in the Glades had leaked out to encompass everything and everyone.

No street was safe now after dark.

She looked at the plastic sheets swaying in the breeze and realized how late it was. She definitely needed to go back to the basement, claustrophobic thoughts or not. She picked up the tablet and jumped off the stool. A sense of unease flooded her, nothing to do with the basement.

Everything was quite, too quiet.

Why wasn't Digg here yet? The club was looking a lot creepier now. All this empty space and the silence was getting to her. Walking faster, she made her way to the door leading down looking around her anxiously. Okay, this wasn't good. She could hear the whisper of footsteps now. Why hadn't she liked the silence before? Silence was good.

And now that crinkling sound, as if the plastic sheets were moved aside.

Her heart was beating a rapid tattoo in her chest as she rushed to the door, frantically punching the code to get in and at the same time touching her earpiece. "Oliver, someone's in the club," she whispered as quietly as she could while the door to the basement buzzed open.

There was a pause and then the muted noise of a bike engine revving up. "Don't go up Felicity. Stay down, no one can get in. I'm on my way."

She winced, realizing he must have heard the door buzzing and assumed she was in the basement looking out at the club and not the other way around. "Uhm…I'm going down now," she whispered, trying to quietly close the door. It wasn't a lie exactly-

Her thoughts stilled, her heart froze and then everything fast forwarded.

The door stopped from closing with a bang and then she was shoved away from it, falling on her butt, her spine tensing in pain. Felicity's head had barely hit the rail when her elbow was take in a harsh hold. Someone pulled her roughly to her feet and she swayed. Oliver's voice sounded like a buzz in her ear, her fear not letting her concentrate enough to listen. She blinked and tried to focus on her attacker's face, but then he jerked her around and she was turned around, the walls a blur that dizzied her. The pause before she started struggling was enough for him to immobilize her against his chest and press a rag to her mouth.

Some kind of anesthetic, her brain reasoned as she feebly struggled not to breathe it in.

She was so screwed…

"Felicity?" Oliver's voice was coming from far away now, but another was closer and the last she heard.

"That's her."

A.N. 2 : And now Felicity is on her way