Verdant was less crowded than usual when Felicity entered. Oliver had only just had the Argus security measures removed, and it was strange seeing the nightclub bathed in its usual green glow and not looking like something out of Mission Impossible. Still, Felicity welcomed the throb of music and the sight of people dancing – it was certainly preferable to the red criss-crossing beams of light she was used to seeing over the last week.

She squeezed through the throng of clubgoers crowding around the bar and made her way to the foundry. Her hair was in loose curls around her shoulders. Her dress was a cool, dark blue, high-necked at the front and low-cut in the back, with a small split on either side halfway down her thigh. Aware her attire was attracting a few stares and even a drunken catcall, Felicity nevertheless just rolled her eyes, smoothed down the skirt of her dress and continued walking until she reached the door to the foundry.

Immediately, she was greeted with the clang of the bar on the salmon ladder's rungs, and the familiar sound (that Felicity had not heard in a while) made her smile for some reason. When she shut the door behind her and the din of the music quietened, the noise grew louder – clang, clang, clang – and she could barely hear her heels as she descended the stairs to the foundry, where Oliver was indeed doing the salmon ladder.

"Hey," Oliver called, and even from where Felicity stood, she could tell he was trying to hide a smile.

"Been a while since I've seen you shirtless," Felicity said, but the moment she did, she realised what she said and she could feel her cheeks redden beneath her blusher. Oliver just laughed, and with a sweaty grunt, he went up another rung. She smiled back. She hadn't realised until now how much she had missed that – Oliver's smile had been a rare sight since he had left to fight Ra's the first time. "I meant… uh, it's been a while since you've been on that thing. Are you sure you can do that, you know, what with you –"

"– being stabbed by the least handsome demon's head ever?" Oliver said, panting a little as he did a chin-up on the bar. Felicity laughed, and a moment later, Oliver jumped down. "Don't worry about me. I feel fine," he said, and now he was on the same level as her, she could see the sweat on his face and the way it trickled down his chest.

However, she could also see where Ra's al Ghul had stabbed him. The wound had nearly healed, and from a distance, the break in his skin would have been camouflaged by the assortment of scars that covered his torso. Up close, though, she could make out the blackness of where his blood had clotted. Wincing, she reached out as if to touch it, but then she thought better of it, and her hand dropped to her side. Oliver seemed to have noticed, because he took a step back and reached for the towel on the table which he put around his neck.

"That looks nasty," she murmured.

"It's fine," Oliver said. As he took off his gloves, he looked at her more closely. "You look beautiful. Going somewhere?"

Caught a little off-guard, Felicity was silent for a moment before she said, "Uh, thanks. And yes. I'm going to dinner."

She purposely didn't say "with Ray", but she may as well have. The cold air in the foundry thickened, just like it had done earlier when Ray had called her.

"Right," Oliver said, nodding. There was silence after he said that, a silence that stretched on for what felt like forever.

"You know, Ray has a salmon ladder," she said in attempt to break it.

Oliver raised his eyebrows. "He does?"

"Yeah. You know, you two probably have more in common than you think," she said. "Although, if it's any consolation, having seen them both multiple times, I can tell you that yours is definitely bigger."

Neither of them spoke for a second as she realised what she'd just said.

"…and of course I'm referring to your salmon ladder, and not, you know, something else," she added hastily, and she could tell Oliver was biting back a laugh. "Sorry, I really need to think of better ways to say things. Or, at least, I need to actually think before I say things."

Thankfully, though, her Freudian slip at least dispelled the tension that had been threatening just moments before.

"Your take-home must be pretty good if you can afford that dress," he said.

Felicity laughed. "My salary is more than what I earned when I was executive assistant, if that's what you mean. I have to say, my mom would be proud that for once I'm actually dressed for the nightclub I call home." She turned a little so she could adjust the dress's hem.

"Oh, I don't know," he said lightly. "Most people don't wear $400 dresses here."

"What?"

"Well, from what Thea tells me, most of the clientele is from the Glades, so –"

Felicity shook her head. "No, I mean, how do you know how much it cost?"

"It seems you forgot to take the price tag off," he told her. "Unless you wanted everyone to know you're wearing –" he tilted his head a little to one side, reading the label "– Bic-big-maxaz-ria?"

"BCBG Max Azria," she corrected, laughing. "Sometimes, I wonder if you really used to be a billionaire."

Oliver smiled back. "Well, Lian Yu isn't exactly known for its Jimmy Choos." Felicity rolled her eyes and made to head over to the first aid cabinet for some scissors, but Oliver was quicker.

"I got it," he said, and he moved to stand behind her. Felicity's hand went automatically to her hair, which she pushed out of the way and over her shoulder. She felt his fingers ever so lightly brush against the bare skin of her back as he held the tag in his hand. Then she heard a snip and could feel his knuckles through the fabric of the dress as he removed the tag.

"Thanks," she said as she turned around to face him. She found herself closer to Oliver than she'd anticipated, but neither of them took a step back. Once again, her eyes were drawn to the scar on his midriff. But his voice cut across her thoughts and she was grateful, in a way, for the distraction from the heat starting to rise inside her.

"Anyway, if you're going to dinner, what are you doing here?" Oliver asked.

"Oh, you know, I wanted to make sure you weren't dead," she said. "You did kind of say no to probably the most dangerous man in the world."

Oliver shook his head. "I knew they weren't going to kill me."

"Well, if this were any other offer, I would be inclined to agree with you – if I was killed every time I turned down a job offer, I'd be dead several times over by now – but this is the League of Assassins. It's not exactly like them to take no for an answer. Especially when it's coming from Ra's himself."

"He wasn't in Starling. I met Maseo and told him I wasn't accepting."

The name sounded familiar. "Maseo… the guy who patched you up?"

Oliver's hand went, almost unconsciously, to the scar on his torso. "His wife did, mostly. But yes."

"I never did ask – why did he help you?" Felicity said. "Surely he was risking his life by saving yours after Ra's thought he'd killed you."

For the first time, he looked away from her and took a step back. "That is a very long story," Oliver said, sighing. "Bottom line, he thinks he owes me, and whatever he's done while he's been in the League, repaying debts is something Maseo will always honour. Anyway, I don't want to keep you. I'm sure you don't want my habit of being fashionably late to rub off on you too much."

"Actually, I think you'll find it already has," Felicity admitted. "I'm never on time for anything nowadays. I once missed a video call with the prime minister of Japan for that very reason. But I can kind of get away with it, being VP and all."

"I was CEO and Isabel never let me get away with it," Oliver said, and his tone was mock-defensive.

"Yeah, but that's because she turned out to be a super villain," Felicity reasoned, and she was glad they seemed to be getting back to their usual teasing ways.

They both looked up as the foundry door opened. John came down the stairs, and he furrowed his brow a little.

"Sorry… am I interrupting?" he asked.

Both Oliver and Felicity said "Of course not" at the same time. The three of them smiled for a moment.

"Just wanted to check in with you before I went home," John said to Oliver. "Make sure the League didn't take your rejection of them too personally."

"Oh, they did," Oliver replied. "But they wouldn't kill me. Or, at least, Maseo wouldn't."

"So you say," said Felicity.

"He said they'll be consequences," Oliver added, "but I don't know what that means just yet. We just have to keep our eyes open, I guess."

"Sounds ominous," John said grimly. He looked at Felicity. "Nice dress. Where are you going?"

"Dinner, with Ray," she replied.

"I see," he said, and if Felicity didn't know any better, she would have said John looked disapproving for a second. But then he brightened and held up two identical envelopes. "Well, before you go, I wanted to give you your invitations – I just went to the printers to pick them up."

Felicity smiled and took it from him. "Thanks."

John passed the other invite to Oliver, who accepted it with a smile too. "Sounds great."

"The wedding's next week Thursday. I thought you guys should get yours first."

"I can't wait," Felicity enthused. "It's been ages since I went to a wedding."

"Me too," Oliver said warmly. "Should be fun. Especially now you know your best man isn't going to be the next Ra's al Ghul."

John laughed. "Glad you came to your senses, man."

"Oh, so you did ask him!" said Felicity. "You never said."

"I'm honoured that he did," Oliver said sincerely. He turned to Felicity. "And I have you to thank for, you know, helping me come back to my senses."

"I should add hero-whisperer to my job title," Felicity said, only half joking. After all, it did seem like she was doing that a lot of the time. She picked up her purse. "Anyway, I should really get going."

Oliver and John both nodded, and John patted her shoulder as she went up the stairs.

"Have fun," Oliver called. Once she reached the top of the stairs and opened the door to the club, she turned back, met his eyes and smiled, glad to have at last gotten through to him.