A/N: This follows the one shot 'Tacenda' – spoilers through episode 2x06. You could say it takes place between 2x06 and 2x07. I may write a few more one shots that follow this thread – it just depends on if the episodes inspire anything. I didn't have a lot of time to edit this, and I don't have a beta. Let me know if you see glaring errors.

Felicity stared down at the papers in front of her, her brow wrinkled in confusion. It was an offer of employment from Stellmoor International – a very good one, actually. She would be working in their Applied Sciences and Technology division, and the salary package was competitive.

It was exactly the sort of job she'd been working towards when she accepted the position in Queen Consolidated's IT department. If she remembered correctly, it had even come up during her interview. But how would Samantha Martin at Stellmoor know about that? She tapped her finger on the papers in front of her and then stilled as she recalled a conversation she'd had with Isabel the previous week.

Felicity barely suppressed her grimace when Isabel Rochev strode into the office late Thursday afternoon. Ever since their trip to Russia, Isabel had taken to visiting Oliver in his office more often, and each visit was like a little knife twisting in Felicity's gut. It wasn't jealousy, exactly. It was more that she would never understand why Oliver had chosen to get in bed with the devil when he could have so much more.

Because that's exactly who Isabel Rochev was; the devil in red offering up temptation on a platter, and it made Felicity extremely suspicious of her motives.

Isabel glanced over at Oliver, who was in a meeting with one of their investors. "I wasn't aware that Oliver was meeting with any of our investors today."

Felicity schooled her expression into one she hoped was at least borderline pleasant. "It wasn't on his schedule. Mr. Vaughn likes to drop in sometimes."

"Hmm." Isabel crossed her arms as she looked at Felicity. "I was talking to your old supervisor in the IT department. It seems they're having trouble replacing you."

"I thought they already replaced me."

"They did, but the new employee isn't entirely working out. But then that might be because you were doing work well above your pay grade. Mr. Blevins told me that you actually wrote most of the code for the current firewall. It's impressive."

"Yes," Felicity replied, wondering where Isabel was going with this. The other woman didn't usually deign to speak to her other than to ask about Oliver's schedule.

"So I looked up your personnel file. You graduated top of your class from M.I.T and first applied to work in the Applied Sciences department but lacked the experience they needed. All of which begs the question of why you've derailed your own career path to work as an executive assistant." Isabel was prodding now, her gaze speculative.

Felicity counted down from ten in her head, trying to organize her thoughts and head off the ramble just itching to pour out. "Mr. Queen offered me a generous benefit package."

Isabel's brow rose. "I'm sure he did, but it doesn't change the fact that you're underemployed and working in a position you're not qualified for. And please don't take that in the wrong way because my point is that you should be working in the field you trained for. Perhaps Oliver prefers not to see your true potential, but I do."

Felicity wondered if she was imagining the implied dig about Oliver not seeing her true potential. Isabel seemed sincere enough, but she was pretty sure nothing out of the woman's mouth could be trusted at face value. "Well, thanks for the… compliment? But I'm happy in my current position."

The other woman nodded and immediately changed course. "Oh, and make sure Oliver's schedule is clear in the morning. He's going to have a late night."

Isabel's tone was carefully neutral, but Felicity knew exactly what she was talking about. She was also sure that the older woman meant for her to assume exactly what she was assuming because Oliver had already told her that he had plans for the evening and therefore wouldn't be at Verdant later. He hadn't offered any details, and she hadn't asked. However, it was clear now exactly what he'd be doing – or whom, in this case.

Pushing those thoughts away, Felicity forced a smile before turning her attention back to her computer. A couple of minutes later, Oliver escorted Mr. Vaughn to the elevators before he and Isabel went into his office. After the other woman left, Oliver walked out to Felicity's desk.

He handed over a file. "These are the numbers legal was asking for earlier."

With a nod, Felicity took the file and stood up to deliver it to the legal department, but Oliver's voice stopped her.

"I noticed Isabel talking to you. What did she want?"

She shrugged. "She was talking to me about my experience in the IT department. And she wanted me to clear your schedule for tomorrow morning." She left it at that, not wanting to go into the topic of Isabel again since it was bound to rock the already shaky boat they'd been on since their last conversation about his relationship with his new business partner. "But your schedule is already clear, so… anyway, I need to get this down to Joan before five."

They had carefully tiptoed around what happened in Russia, but Felicity suspected they were still involved. She couldn't help thinking that she was on a giant chess board, and the other woman was carefully moving the players around to suit her own agenda. Not that she had any idea what that agenda might be, but this offer from Stellmoor proved that Felicity was one of the unwilling chess pieces.

Rubbing her temple, she looked up and jumped when she realized Oliver was standing right in front of her desk. "How long have you been there?"

"Long enough to see you're distracted," he commented with a slight frown. "Is something wrong?"

"No." Felicity shuffled the papers back into the folder and set them aside. "So I've been going over the blueprints for your other job…"

Felicity bit her lip and glanced at her watch. "Mr. Wayne, I am so sorry. Mr. Queen had a business lunch, and it must have run longer than expected. He's usually very prompt." She wondered if she was getting any better at telling bold faced lies; when she saw his lips twitch in amusement, she figured the answer was no.

"Ms. Smoak, I think we both know Oliver is not exactly the most punctual executive," Bruce Wayne replied.

Sighing, she muttered, "I don't think he realizes how being late to one thing has a domino effect on the rest of his day and, concurrently, the schedule I've so carefully put together." When Bruce grinned, she backtracked. "Not that this is about me – that's my job. Making his schedule, reminding him not to be late, and then explaining his tardiness to people like you who have to wait for him to show up. But he's juggling a lot of things. He's really not being intentionally rude."

"It's fine, Ms. Smoak. Or may I call you Felicity?"

"Uhm – yeah, okay." She grasped at possible topics. "I love the new operating system your company released. I've got it up and running on my tablet now, and it's awesome."

"Thank you. Of course, there's still the matter of that little bug…"

"Oh, I already fixed that," she said.

His brows drew together in confusion. "How? We won't be releasing the fix until later this week."

She never did know when to stop talking. "I actually used to work in the IT department, so it wasn't difficult for me to figure out the problem."

"It took my department a couple of weeks to figure out the problem," he replied slowly. "How long have you had it fixed?"

"Since the weekend after you released the system," she admitted. "Computers are kind of my thing."

"And yet you're working as an assistant," he murmured. He was eyeing her with renewed interest now, and his smile was a little more genuine. "I don't suppose you'd like to have dinner later to discuss exactly how you fixed that problem so quickly?"

Felicity could feel the heat climbing her cheeks and silently cursed her fair skin. He's not asking you out on a date, she reminded herself. He just wants to pick your brain. But before she could answer, she heard someone clearing their throat from the doorway.

"Sorry I'm late," Oliver said, walking towards Bruce. The other man stood to shake Oliver's hand.

"No problem. Felicity was just telling me how she fixed the bug in my operating system."

When Oliver glanced in her direction with a questioning look, she said, "It's just that I noticed the bug when I downloaded the new system a few weeks ago, and it was bugging me – pun intended. It was a weekend project."

"Isabel would like the three of us to meet for dinner later," Oliver told Bruce. "If you don't already have plans?"

"I was just asking Felicity to join me for dinner. We could make it a party of four?"

"Oh, no." Felicity winced at the abruptness of her tone, especially when both men turned to look at her in surprise. "I'm busy tonight, actually. But I'll be happy to email you the details of the fix I designed, Mr. Wayne. I never intended to use it except for my own tablet, so if there's something in the code you can use, I don't mind."

"Another time, then."

Felicity headed back to her desk and put the information about the bug fix in an email attachment to Bruce before finishing up some other paperwork for the board meeting that was scheduled for the end of the week. An hour later Bruce emerged from Oliver's office and stopped in front of her desk. "It was nice to meet you, Felicity. And I really would like to have dinner the next time I'm in town – or if you're ever in Gotham."

"I've never been to Gotham, but I've heard it's kind of scary. Like, confronted by men dressed as giant bats in dark alleys kind of scary." She'd recently been looking into the stories of Gotham's own vigilante, her curiosity piqued by vague descriptions from a few eyewitnesses.

He shoved his hands in his pockets. "You must be talking about the Batman. Honestly, I think it's a prank or a misunderstanding of some sort. The only witnesses have been drunk or strung out on God knows what kind of drugs."

"A grown man dressing as a giant bat to fight crime does sound like a hallucination," she agreed. "Or the antics of a college frat boy who lost a bet. But then you never know." She'd thought stories of the Hood sounded ridiculous too at one point. It got a lot more real after finding Oliver bleeding in the back of her car though. "So I sent you that email. Just let me know if you have any questions."

Bruce took her hand and squeezed it. "Felicity, it was a pleasure." He looked at Oliver as he emerged from his office. "I want to drop in on Walter at the bank, but I'll meet you at the restaurant in an hour."

Felicity felt the weight of Oliver's stare after Bruce left, but he said nothing about Bruce's dinner invitation. She knew it was because it smacked of personal topics, and they'd both been carefully avoiding anything too personal lately.

They still talked, of course. They talked about QC business and Arrow business, and he even confessed a few of his worries about his mother's upcoming trial one evening after a particularly brutal day in the office. She knew that it would be a big help to Oliver if Moira were acquitted because then she could help him stay on track in the business world. He'd already visited her a few times to ask for advice on particularly sensitive matters.

Truth be told, she would welcome Moira back as well since that would mean one more person watching Oliver's back. Because despite Isabel's assertion that she was working in the best interest of Queen Consolidated, Felicity couldn't quite shake the feeling that the woman was nothing more than a viper, coiled in the grass and waiting for her moment to strike.

It was barely a week after Oliver's meeting with Bruce that Felicity found herself studying yet another offer of employment – this time from a Mr. Fox with Wayne Enterprises. This offer was even more generous than the one from Stellmoor; not that it mattered since she wasn't going anywhere. She sent an email to Mr. Fox politely declining his offer and expected that to be the end of it. And it was until Bruce called the following day.

"I was disappointed when Mr. Fox told me you declined his offer," he told her.

"You don't even have my resume," she pointed out. "How do you know I'd be a good fit for your company?"

"Isabel told me you graduated from summa cum laude from M.I.T. – and honestly, the code you wrote for the bug fix was better than what my department came up with."

Isabel again. Felicity glanced at the drawer that still contained Stellmoor's offer, wondering if it was a coincidence. "I really do appreciate the offer, Mr. Wayne. But I have no intention of leaving Queen Consolidated at this time."

The two weeks that followed were busy ones. Moira's trial was coming up and Oliver was more restless than usual as a result. He'd taken to pacing behind her as she worked her mainframe magic, and it was beginning to drive her crazy.

He paced his office as well. In that setting he was a lot like the caged tiger she'd seen once at the circus, walking the perimeter of his cage, the gilt bars doing nothing to detract from the wild nature that couldn't be entirely suppressed. And now she needed to brave the cage and discuss something she wasn't looking forward to talking about at all.

She knocked on his door. "Are you busy?"

Oliver turned away from the window. "What's up?"

Felicity sighed and carefully laid the papers she held on his desk. "This – four different offers from four different companies."

Oliver approached his desk with a frown. "Offers?"

"Employment offers addressed to me," she explained. "Stellmoor, Wayne Enterprises, LuthorCorp, and Samsung. I've suddenly become a hot commodity in the tech world."

He glanced at her sharply. There was something in his eyes – hurt? "And you're considering them."

"What?" She shook her head, confused. "No, Oliver, I'm not the one who's been putting out feelers."

There was no mistaking the relief on his face. "Then who?"

"Isabel. She approached me a few weeks ago – it was casual, but she specifically mentioned that she thought I was underemployed in my current position. A week later I had the offer from Stellmoor. Then Bruce called after I turned down an offer from his company. Apparently, Isabel was talking me up."

"Bruce mentioned your bug fix at dinner that night with Isabel," Oliver said, a muscle beginning to twitch in his jaw. "She mentioned your M.I.T. background."

"We both know that Isabel was in Metropolis recently, and right after she returned I got an offer from LuthorCorp. They said they were reviewing previous applicants and felt they'd made a mistake in not following up with me. Now, it's true that I applied to that company when I graduated, but I have a hard time believing that it's a coincidence. And I've never talked to anyone from Samsung, so I have no idea how they even heard of me."

Oliver was looking through the offers now, his expression unreadable.

Felicity twisted her fingers together in an attempt to calm her nerves. "And then there are the not-so-subtle reminders that she's still sleeping with you – really not my business, and I know we agreed that Isabel was a tacenda, but she's making it my business by throwing it out there. So obviously she has an endgame here, Oliver."

"She's trying to get rid of you."

"Or drive a wedge. The person from Samsung made it seem like you recommended me for the job, but I knew that wasn't true because of my other job." She sighed and crossed her arms. "I'm tired of the awkwardness, and I'm tired of feeling like the only person who's waiting for Isabel Rochev to show her big bad. I mean, she's on The List – if I remember, I'm sure you do too. And then there's the obvious question of why she's trying so hard to oust me from the executive office. I'm not exactly a threat to her."

"It's because I trust you and she knows that. She pokes and prods, but she doesn't get the answers she wants from me, and she suspects that you already have those answers." He stated this calmly, but she could hear the thread of underlying anger in his tone. "I'll handle Isabel."

Felicity figured Isabel had also picked up on her residual hurt and insecurities after their trip abroad, and she'd sought to leverage that. "We have to be a united front – in here and out there. No cracks in the wall for her to pick at. So I knew I needed to tell you about this because I guessed the next step in her coup would be you hearing about it in some other way and thinking I was going behind your back."

Oliver looked at her and smiled a little. "I wouldn't have believed you were going behind my back, Felicity, no matter what it looked like. You have too much integrity for that."

And there it was – another one of those moments that seemed to creep up on them out of nowhere. She loved and hated them at the same time because they made her feel things she was trying really hard not to feel right now. "Okay, well, that's it then." She turned to go.

"Hey." Oliver reached out and grabbed her hand. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For being you. I don't say it enough – to you or to Diggle – but I do appreciate what you've given up for me. And some day I hope it'll be worth it."

"It's already worth it," she answered, smiling. "Most days, anyway. Maybe not when you're wearing a groove in the floor behind me in the lair. I don't think you understand how annoying that is."

His laughter followed her out of the office, and she settled back at her desk feeling lighter than she had in weeks. Isabel might have gotten Oliver into her bed a few times, but she never made him smile or laugh like he did when he was with her or Diggle, and she didn't really know him – not like Felicity did. And if Isabel wanted to play? Game on.