Guys like us...

Just a quick one shot. An alternative take on Oliver and Barry's talk in Central City

"Guy's like us don't get the girl"

I sighed as I looked past Oliver to see Felicity and Iris standing together, smiling happily, then looked back at Oliver. The look on his face was one of well-hidden regret, there was pain there too, as if he believed what he'd said, but hated it. I glanced back at them both, beautiful, stylish and smart; they made our lives better just for being there. I shook my head and turned back to Oliver.

"Sorry Oliver but that's BS" His head tilted slightly as he focused on me, his voice low.

"Excuse me?"

"That's crap Oliver. You love her, anyone can see that, hell I can and I'm not exactly an expert on the subject" He shook his head as his lips thinned into a line.

"It's not that simple Barry" I shrugged and smiled.

"Course it is. You love her and she, god knows why, is head over heels in love with you" He looked down at the table for a moment, then back up, the pain in his eyes there, more easily seen.

"The life we lead, it puts them in danger" I pulled a face, tell me about it, still…

"Yep, it's why Iris doesn't know about my other job, but Felicity already knows about yours, thanks to you nearly dying in the back seat of her car. That must have been murder on the upholstery too. Anyway she not only knows but signed on to help you with your crusade" He shook his head.

"There are people out there who would hurt her to get to me, I can't risk that" I shook my head gently, keeping one eye on the girls as I attempted to extract Oliver's head out of his ass, hopefully without too much pain and bloodshed involved.

"I have a news flash for you man, they already know and came for her; Deathstroke, that insane Rochev woman who was working with him, the Count, hell she's even got the bullet scar to prove it courtesy of Tockman" I could see his face tense as he thought over her injuries but pressed on. "What I'm saying is that Felicity being in danger happens independently of you and her being involved. Yes, people do come after her and Dig and Roy and Laurel and Thea because they're part of your life, they don't differentiate because of who your sleeping with" I smirked. "Or in this case not" His voice was low but firm, like he was trying to convince himself.

"It's not that simple..." I broke in quickly; he needed to get with the program.

"Actually it is Oliver. All those things that happened with Felicity happened because she was part of your team, how much worse could it be if you two were involved?" Before he could respond I held my hand up. "At least if you were together you'd be in a position to keep an eye on her when she's not at work or the foundry" I smiled. "Escort her home, stay with her at night, be there in the morning to escort her to work, all in the name of keeping her safe" Something flickered in Oliver's eyes for a moment then he sighed, flicking a glance over his shoulder at them both then back at me.

"It's complicated"

"Oliver, the girl I love is going out with the man who is running the CCPD task force that wants to arrest the Flash, so don't talk to me about complex okay?" I smiled at his nonplussed expression. "At least Felicity loves you" His frown was back.

"How can you be so sure of that?" I shrugged.

"She told me, right after I kissed her" I saw the sudden narrowing of his eyes and for a split second I felt a phantom pain in my shoulders where his arrows had hit.

"You kissed her?" I smiled at the jealousy he was doing a piss-poor job of concealing.

"Sure did, just once, so stop looking at me like I'm one of your targets" I smiled at the memory. "We kissed and we both realised that while we'd always be good friends, we were also both in love with someone else" I shrugged. "She knows I love Iris and I know she loves you" Oliver was staring at me, whether because of the kissing thing or something else I didn't know. A short burst of laughter from the girls broke him out of his trance for a second as he glanced over his shoulder, the ghost of a smile appearing as he took in Felicity. He glanced back at me, his expression uncertain, which I took as a positive, at least he wasn't completely denying it. Before he could say something stupid I pushed on.

"Look Oliver, you can deny it all you like, but in the end the only person you're fooling is yourself, and to be honest you're not even doing a particularly good job of that" I shrugged. "Sure, the Arrow says no, it's all about the mission, keeping Starling City safe and I completely get that" I tipped my head to regard him, then continued, letting my voice soften. "I really, really do, but the Arrow's an obsessed whack job, he's all about the mission and to hell with the rest of the world" I saw his jaw tighten but ignored it. "He's not you though, not all of you" I glanced over at the girls, wondering how much longer I had, deciding to cut to the chase. "You're not him either; he's you, but only a part of you. He used to be a killing machine, but now he's not, because someone got through to you and convinced you there's a better way. The Arrow wouldn't have listened but Oliver Queen did and you're both better people for it"

"Yeah well, someone was very persuasive" I shook my head and grinned.

"No, I can be persuasive, Dig or Roy or Laurel can be persuasive, but Felicity has you wrapped around her finger" I smiled wider at his sudden look of outrage. "That's a good thing by the way, she turned your alter ego from a killer-vigilante into a hero, from someone I'd want to put in jail to someone I admire, and it's all due to her, and you"

Oliver turned slightly, unconsciously smiling as he saw them both standing there, then turned back.

"Felicity can be very, very persuasive when she wants to be. Plus her advice is usually good"

"Oliver, I'm a genius and I have the IQ scores to back it up, Felicity is way more than that, plus she's the only one you listen to when you get all…Arrow-y" He frowned suddenly.

"Arrow-y?" His frown deepened. "Excuse me?" I smiled a little sheepishly.

"Blame Felicity for that, it means when you go all angst-y and growl-y and pain in the ass-y, according to her" There was a flash of something there; it might have even been hurt, before he covered it with a smile.

"That's Felicity" I nodded.

"Yep, but she continues to put up with you because you're you, Oliver Queen, the guy who came back from the dead to change the world for the better, the one who she convinced that you could be the hero she thought you were" I shrugged. "Face it Oliver, you're who you are today in part because of her" He nodded slowly.

"She is remarkable" I nodded emphatically.

"And that's on a normal day, sometimes she's extraordinary, and you're the one she's like that for" I leaned forward, my voice lowering as I tried to get him to understand. "Oliver, she loves you, it's patently obvious and I'm pretty sure you feel the same way about her, so rather than causing you both pain, why don't you actually try being happy for a change. Be Oliver Queen and let yourself live, Felicity wants you to be happy and you want her to be happy and you can be both happy together"

For a moment I thought he was going to say something then he shook his head as I frowned, like Cisco says, denial isn't just a river in Egypt and Oliver had a world class case of it here.

"It would never work out, she's not part of the world I come from, she's untainted" I shrugged again, was this the best he could come up with?

"You're not part of that world either any more, she changed you from a killer to a hero, all because she understands and gets you and you listen because she's the most important person in your life" I saw both women turn to head our way so I hastened to finish. "Felicity deserves to be happy, you deserve to be happy and you'll both be happy together" I lowered my voice as they approached. "If you won't make her happy, sure as hell there are plenty of other guys who'll want to try and fill that role, which means you'll be miserable because you lost your chance to be the one for her as you watch her walk away with someone else" I saw that last one hit home, his barely visible wince telling me he'd already considered that scenario.

"Hey guys, sorry we took so long" It was Felicity. "We got to talking and lost track of time" I nodded.

"It was okay, Oliver and I had a few things to talk through" Iris smiled as well.

"Well it was really nice to meet you both, hopefully you'll be back soon" She looked across at Oliver and smiled. "No free coffee for you unless you bring Felicity with you" She looked back at Felicity and they shared another of those gorgeous smiles, looks like they'd really hit it off, not that I was surprised, they were both birds of a feather; gorgeous, happy, bright and bubbly people. Oliver smiled, taking them both in.

"Felicity's pretty much essential to everything I do" He tipped his head to her. "She's made me who I am today" I saw Felicity's eyes widen just a little at Oliver's words as I smiled a little wider, maybe Oliver had heard some of what I'd said. His next words proved it. "Please keep an eye out on Barry here, I understand you're his best friend and since I got back I've come to appreciate just how important they are in our lives" Felicity's smile was like the sun, with Iris's not far behind as she slid her arm inside mine and pulled me close.

"After all those months when Barry was not…here, I don't plan on letting him out of my sight" Feeling a little daring I slid my arm out from hers and then around her waist, pulling her in tight.

"I missed you Iris, don't worry, I'm not planning on going anywhere" Oliver, slightly embarrassed in the face of something that looked like honest emotion, held his hand out.

"Take care man, we'll talk soon" I nodded as we shook.

"Yeah, we will" I untangled myself in time to get a hug from Felicity even as Iris gave Oliver a hug before she stepped back, surprising me as her arm went around my waist again, encouraging me to put mine around her shoulders.

We watched as they took their leave before Iris looked up at me and smiled happily.

"I've changed my mind"

"Oh?" She nodded.

"Oliver's not on my three list anymore, Felicity's too nice to do that to, besides he's all wrapped up in her" I nodded slowly as they disappeared out of sight.

"Yeah, you're probably right" She stepped back and looked at me, even as I missed her warmth and closeness, before she gave me a scolding look, one I was all too familiar with.

"There's no probably about it, he loves her, I can see it, even if you can't, it's obvious" I nodded slowly

"Oh yeah, I see it" Iris leaned up and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek before she headed off to deal with some customers as I watched her with a slightly sad smile.

Part of me envied Oliver, despite all the pain he'd been through. In a way he was lucky, he loved her and knew Felicity loved him; me, well that probably wasn't going to happen. I shook my head for a moment, taking another glance over to where Iris was, then turned and walked away; I had a job to do.

After all those bad guys aren't going to catch themselves y'know.