A/N: Hey everyone! So, I'm back with a new story (obviously) and I'm super excited about where it's going. It will be an AU, but I promise that a lot of backstory information will be revealed throughout the coming chapters.

Luckily for everyone, Maverick41 has agreed to beta this story again for me, so I want to express my gratitude for all he does to edit these chapters.

Okay, enjoy and please leave a review!

He was a shadowy figure, barely visible against the blackness of the sky as he stood at the edge of the roof, poised as if to jump.

The distant sound of sirens echoed through the silent night.

One side of his mouth turned up, a slight acknowledgment that the police were coming for him, but knowing that they were already too late.

Swinging the bow from its perch off his back, he fired an arrow attached to a cable onto the roof next door to use as a zipline to facilitate his escape.

No one could ever catch him.

…

Felicity sighed as she rested her head on her hands, closing her eyes for just a second.

"What're you doing?" a high-pitched voice demanded. "It's not the end of your shift. You don't finish for," he paused and she finally raised her head to see her balding manager consult his watch, "fifteen more minutes. Back to work!"

"I was just," she tried to protest, but he glared at her until her excuses died on her lips. "...working," she finished lamely. She should know by now that arguing with 'Mr. Efficiency' was a mistake, but the man irritated her and she struggled not to lose her temper at him.

"If you weren't our best…" the short man shook his head and muttered darkly, walking away from her.

"You'd what? Fire me?" she asked, under her breath so the man wouldn't hear her. As much as she didn't enjoy her job, she didn't really want to add getting fired from the IT department in a small start-up company to her resume.

Reluctantly, she turned her attention back to the screen in front of her and contemplated other possible employment options even as she resumed her monotonous work.

Fifteen minutes felt like an eternity. It always did. But, finally, the manager nodded at her, indicating to her that she was allowed to gather up her stuff, ditch the ugly orange vest that served as her uniform, and leave.

"Oh, Felicity?" the man's voice echoed after her when she was only about two more steps away from freedom. "We're cutting your hours."

"Again?" she demanded, whirling around to glare at him. "I'm already only part time."

He smiled, but there was no warmth in the expression. "We're a small store; we don't need that much help."

Grinding her teeth, she reminded herself that losing her temper at him wouldn't solve anything. However, she knew what he was really saying - she did her work so efficiently that they didn't need her to come in nearly as often. And that frustrated her. She was down to so few hours now…

"Fine," she forced out, then spun around and pushed open the door with more force than was strictly necessary.

The swinging door nearly took out Ray, who was reaching for the handle as she made her hasty exit. "Hey, careful," he cautioned, dodging out of the way. "Rough day?"

"Don't want to talk about it," she fumed. "And sorry, by the way."

"Hey," he draped his arm over her shoulders, "dating you is worth getting attacked by any number of doors, any day."

She smiled despite her irritation. "Thanks."

"Now, what's going on that has you assaulting helpless doors?"

"My hours got cut. Again," she mumbled.

He was silent for a second, and she winced, knowing exactly what was coming next.

"Felicity," he started, "hear me out."

"If it's about quitting my job to work for you…"

"But I'm the CEO of Star Incorporated, and we're looking for someone to run our IT department, and I can't think of anyone more qualified than you for the position."

"Ray, look," she stopped walking and turned to look at him. "I don't want you to think that I'm being ungrateful, but no. I don't want to get the position because you're in charge and we're dating, okay? I can't be that girl."

"That wouldn't be what it's like," he promised, looking at her eagerly. "All I'll do is get you the interview; the rest is up to you."

She bit her lip, surprisingly tempted despite her objections earlier.

"Just think about it, okay?" he asked softly.

Sighing, she nodded. "Okay."

He smiled and leaned down to peck her on the lips. "Chinese or Italian?"

"Italian," she said decisively, grateful for the sudden change of subject. "Did you know that Thomas Jefferson was the first person to introduce macaroni to the United States?"
"So he's not only a Founding Father, he's also the father of modern day mac 'n' cheese," Ray mused. "Interesting."

"A man of many talents," she laughed, leaning against him as they walked off to dinner, the issue of what she was going to do still running though her mind.

...

"Ollie, you're back late."

Oliver turned around to see Thea standing in the doorway of their small apartment, dressed in her pajamas, her eyes still bleary with sleep.

"What are you doing up?" he asked, shutting the door quietly behind him. "It's almost one in the morning."

"Couldn't sleep," she explained, yawning. "So I got up to get some hot chocolate, and I peeked in your room to see if you were still up and wanted something too."

"Sorry," he walked in and pecked her on the cheek. "I was at the office late, working on a big project with the rest of the marketing team."

"Does Star Incorporated ever give you a break?" she asked, shooting him a concerned look. "That's the third night this week that…"

"...don't worry about it," he interrupted her, eager to change the conversation quickly. He didn't want her to become aware of the way he actually spent most of his nights. "It's fine. We need the money."

"If you let me work full time," Thea started to comment, but he held up a warning finger.

"No. Education first - you have to get good grades so you can get into a respectable university." They had had this argument so many times before that Oliver could practically predict what she was going to say next - either a rebuttal about money or about the fact that he had a decent job without going to college.

"I can't afford university, Oliver," Thea folded her arms in front of her and glared at him. "And you only finished high school. I'll be fine."

"No," he placed his hands on her shoulders and looked her in the eyes. "You'll be more than fine. You'll be fantastic. You won't have to work your way up from lowly intern to a position where you can finally make some money."

"But-"

"No buts, Thea. You're going to university."

"You're not my father," she retorted, but he could tell that she wasn't actually angry at him. That was just her automatic reply these days.

"If Dad was alive, he'd want you to go to college too. So would Mom. You know that." Their father had died a number of years earlier in a car accident and their mother had followed only a couple years afterwards, supposedly of a heart attack, but Oliver suspected that grief at her husband's passing had played a large part in her demise. Their passings had left the barely 18-year old Oliver in charge of Thea at the time, a responsibility that he hadn't been ready for, but he had somehow gotten a position at Star Inc. and had made things work. He couldn't lose Thea too.

Thea sighed, but let the subject drop, for which Oliver was grateful. He knew that right now, in their current financial state, sending Thea to university was going to be next to impossible. His salary was not nearly good enough to make much of a difference.

"Now, Speedy," he smiled, "I think it's time you head to bed. You have school tomorrow."

"You should too," she told him, turning and heading back to her room. "And Ollie? I love you."

"Love you too, Speedy."

...

Oliver sat in his room, contemplating the small golden necklace he held between his fingers.

There was no other way.

His father's death had left him with tons of debt to a bunch of investors, debt that he hadn't had the heart to tell Thea about. She didn't need anything more to worry about, not while she was in her senior year of high school and had already been through so much. Their financial situation was even more unstable than she knew.

Up until a couple months ago, Oliver had somehow managed to keep up with all the payments and still keep food and an apartment for himself and Thea, but just barely. He was just lucky that he had somehow landed a decent job and that their parents life insurance had helped them out, at least for a while.

Then, the college applications had started. Thea had paid for the application fees herself, out of the small amount she made from her part-time waitressing job. However, Oliver had looked into tuition costs and had quickly figured out that he was going to have to supplement their income somehow. Financial aid was a possibility, but even that could only go so far when Thea's grades were only decent and Oliver's income was technically satisfactory.

The necklace felt heavy between his fingers.

It was expensive, some rich woman's fancy piece that she had loaned to the museum.

He sighed and slipped the necklace back into his pocket, banishing the guilt from his mind. He had no other choice.

…

"...thief called the Arrow stole a valuable piece from the local museum's prize exhibit. Police believe the heist took place sometime between-"

Felicity switched off the TV, too distracted by her thoughts to pay attention to the news.

She hated her current job. There was no doubt there. It was a waste of her skills to be there, and her manager certainly didn't give her any reason to stay. However, she had been hired strictly based on her own abilities.

The offer Ray had extended seemed more and more tempting as she considered it, but she didn't want to start a job with all her coworkers thinking that she was only hired because she was dating the CEO.
But, an interview couldn't hurt, could it?

Before she changed her mind, Felicity pulled out her cell phone and dialed Ray's number.

"Ray, hi," she started without waiting for him to do more than greet her. "When can I come in for that interview?"

Please review!