A/N: This popped into my head, and I just couldn't let it go. It's silly and ridiculous, but I couldn't not write it with all the craziness surrounding it lately.
Forgive me. This is nowhere near my typical caliber of writing, but I just had to get it done. I started writing it at 4 o'clock in the morning, so please excuse any grammar mistakes or choppy-sounding sentences. I was trying to distract myself from the terror that is studying.
Enjoy!
"Okay, Oliver. I think you're all set up to be Mr. Mayor. Let me know if any of the tech gives you any trouble, okay?" Curtis made eye contact with Oliver and immediately winced at the despair that briefly flashed in those gorgeous blue eyes. Typically, Oliver Queen was insanely attractive. But the someone-just-kicked-my-puppy look was not a good one on the man. In retrospect, offering Oliver help with tech probably wasn't a good idea because it only reminded him that a certain blonde IT girl wasn't available to him for help with his mayoral computer problems. She had strictly limited herself to helping with the Green Arrow tech activities.
It had been a few weeks since Oliver and Felicity stuck around Star City while the rest of the team had disbanded and things were tense to say the least. Felicity was hurt, Oliver was hurt worse, and Curtis was hurt that his OTP had dissolved in front of his eyes. He knew it was bad form to ship real-life people, but he couldn't help it with those two. They were made for each other. But Oliver had lied to Felicity about his son, kept her from being a partner in their relationship, and Felicity lashed out and ended things.
Truthfully, Curtis was proud of her for standing up for herself like that and putting her foot down. Felicity had shared some of the backstory of her and Oliver's relationship over tequila shots about a week ago, and he knew that for her to end a relationship that she had been pining for long before they made it official had taken real courage. She deserved better from Oliver and Curtis was glad she'd drawn the line at what she would tolerate of Oliver Queen's crap.
BUT, that didn't make this whole wallowing, sending longing stares at each other when the other wasn't looking, unresolved angst fest between the two any better. To top it all off, Felicity was steal dealing with the aftermath of redirecting that missile and being responsible for the deaths of thousands of people, making her even more emotionally unstable than if she had only lost the love of her life. Because that was something else drunk Felicity had shared over the tequila buzz; Oliver Queen was it for her, but she couldn't have him. Apparently, he'd "ruined her for other men," and then ruined their relationship. Curtis actually had to steal Felicity's phone from her so that she couldn't call a pet shelter and adopt all of their cats because she was convinced that she was going to be the cat lady from then on. She couldn't have Oliver and she didn't want anyone else, so apparently that equated to a need to adopt twenty cats. She'd thanked him profusely in the morning for stopping that potential disaster. Hell, the poor girl couldn't even keep a fern safe.
Curtis opened his mouth to apologize to Oliver about bringing up his screwed up relationship but his butt vibrating stopped him. Reaching into his back pocket and pulling out his cell phone, he looked down and saw a new text message from Felicity.
911. The Loft. Now.
Curtis swallowed down some of his panic and looked back at Oliver waiting for him to take charge of the situation and start spewing directions and a plan. The blank expression on Oliver's face terrified him more than the text message from Felicity. Apparently, she hadn't texted Oliver to let him know she was in trouble. Crap. He so didn't want to be in the middle of this, but he knew that if there was any kind of physical danger to her, Curtis would need Oliver's help to get her out of it.
He took a deep breath, met Oliver's eyes again, and told him. "911 text from Felicity. She says she needs help at the loft immediately." He watched as the multitude of emotions crossed the man's face. Confusion. Terror. Pain. Panic. Determination. He strode out of the room and Curtis stayed on his heels a few paces back. The man was fast and it was not easy to keep up.
Wordlessly, they got into Oliver's car and Curtis barely had time to fasten his buckle before his head was slammed into the headrest from the force of Oliver's immediate acceleration. The loft was typically a fifteen minute drive from City Hall. They made it in eight.
Oliver didn't even wait for Curtis. He jumped out of the car and started running into the building. Curtis unbuckled himself as quickly as possible and hurried after Oliver. He wasn't sure what he could do to help, but he definitely wasn't leaving his girl in danger if there was something he could do about it.
He made it to the apartment ten seconds after Oliver. Felicity was nowhere in sight. Curtis tried yelling for her, "Felicity? I'm here - you said it was 911. Are you okay? Where are you?!"
Nothing.
He looked at the panicked man beside him and moved further into the apartment screaming "FELICITY SMOAK! WHERE ARE YOU?!"
"Curtis? Oh thank god you're here. I'm dying." He heard her voice just as she rounded the corner. She ran to him and jumped into his arms smiling wider than he'd ever seen her lips spread when she wasn't looking at Oliver Queen. Apparently she was not in mortal danger.
"I literally think the excitement is going to kill me. Pokemon is back, Curtis. It's really, really back." Her smile got wider if that was possible. She hadn't noticed Oliver's presence in the loft yet, obviously, or she would've lost her chipper demeanor entirely. He really didn't want that to happen because it was the first time she'd shown genuine excitement and enthusiasm over something since the split.
"That's great, Felicity, but do you think next time you can refrain from the 911 messaging? Oliver and I thought you were in serious dang -" Wait. "Wait. Did you say Pokemon is back? What do you mean it's back? How is it back. Details." But no details were forthcoming as the smile faded into shock at seeing Oliver in her apartment, vibrating with tension, and completely silent.
"Oh my god. I'm so sorry. I had no idea you were with Curtis or I never would have sent that text. Well, I would have sent it, but I definitely would not have used the phrase 911. I'm not in any danger. I'm so sorry." She lifted her hand like she was going to reach out to him, but seemed to remember herself and instead let it drift back down to her side. Oliver still hadn't released any of the tension in his frame. It barely looked like he was breathing.
Felicity had noticed this as well and she apparently decided that reaching out for him was okay this time. She stepped forward towards Oliver and gently cupped his face in her hands, coaxing him to look down at her and meet her gaze. "Hey. Breathe. I'm okay. Everything's okay."
Oliver let out a shaky breath, still gazing into Felicity's face. He placed his hands over hers on his face and traced circles into her knuckles with his thumb as some of the coiled strain ebbed from his body. "I was so scared, Felicity. I was terrified that something was happening to you and I wasn't there to protect you. And then, to think something was wrong and you felt you couldn't contact me for help. That about destroyed me. I know you're safe in my head and that there was never any danger, but my heart and mind need to hear you say that you realize that you can always come to me, Felicity, regardless of the status of our relationship. I will always be there for you. Please." His voice was a desperate plea for her to reassure him.
"Yes. Oh, Oliver. I know." She stroked his face lightly with her fingertips. "Believe me, if there were something wrong, I would definitely call you. I know things have been messed up between us lately, and we're trying to find some kind of medium in our relationship. But I will always ask you for help if I need it. I promise."
Oliver tugged at her hands to pull her closer to him as he wrapped his arms around her, needing that extra bit of assurance that she really was okay.
Felicity hugged him back for a few seconds before pulling away. "I really am sorry for saying 911. I was just so excited and I needed someone to share it with. Not that I wouldn't share it with you. I would. I just- This is the first thing that has actually pulled me out of the funk I've been in for the last few weeks and made me feel something other than sadness, anger, and hurt. And I needed to share it with someone. Not that it couldn't have been you. It just needed to be someone that would be as excited as I am about it. And, no offense, but that's not you." She took a deep breath. That babble was the longest string of words she'd put together in front of Oliver since the other members of Team Arrow had dispersed. He must have recognized it, too, because the corner of his mouth twitched up in that familiar almost-smile that he reserved for one of her long rambles.
"Okay. Now that the touchy-feely portion of today is over. I believe you mentioned something about Pokemon being back. Felicity Smoak. You will share this information with me. Right. Now."
She pulled her blue eyes from Oliver's to look over at her friend. Her big smile was back. "It's amazing Curtis. They're calling it Pokemon Go. It's an app on your phone. It uses GPS and has maps of the real world. You get to design your own avatar and then explore and come across pokemon in the real world. You get to throw Pokeballs at them, catch them, evolve them, take them to gyms to fight. It's back." She ran to Curtis and hugged him. "It's seriously back."
"I need it. Yesterday." Curtis unlocked his phone and went straight to the App Store. He began the download immediately.
While waiting for it install on Curtis's phone, Felicity went and grabbed drinks for everyone from her fridge. She passed waters all around, then picked up Oliver's phone and unlocked it. She started the download on his phone, too, as he looked at her curiously. She shrugged back at him. "Everyone needs Pokemon in their lives, Oliver. Seriously. You have to do this, you have no choice in the matter. I'm sure you didn't play it as a kid, but you're not getting out of it this time."
Curtis's finally opened and he hurriedly created his Avatar, caught his first pokemon, Squirtle, obviously, and proceeded to lose himself in the game. He was walking around the loft trying to get close to other pokemon. He was so focused, that he didn't notice what was going on with the other two people that he'd left in the living room.
Felicity guided Oliver over to the couch where she sat close to him. She helped him pick out his Avatar's skin tone, hair, and clothing. Together, they carefully considered every detail. Once that was done, Felicity showed patiently explained to him what pokemon were, they debated the pros and cons of each of the three available starter pokemon, and was secretly pleased when he picked Charmander. She didn't tell him that she had gamed the system to give her a fourth choice, allowing her to be the proud owner of a Pikachu.
Oliver had no idea what she was talking about. All he could focus on was her thigh pressed against his and the way her hair brushed his shoulder when she leaned to see the screen on his phone. He inconspicuously (he hoped) sniffed her hair, remembering the lavender scent surrounding them as they engaged in other activities. Her enthusiasm was contagious. He was so happy to see a smile back on her face that he listened as intently as possible when she described how to play the game. Anything to make her happy again. She was the light and his deepest regret was stealing that light from her.
He let her rope him into her good mood. She was bouncing on the couch like she was eight years old again, and he reveled in the thought that he was glimpsing a Felicity of the past. He could definitely picture her as a little dark-headed girl with too-big-for-her-face glasses and a Gameboy in front of her, completely focused on trying to catch 'em all. Of course he knew what pokemon was. He was a kid, too, back when it was the most popular game at school. He'd never been very good at it and he would definitely use that incompetence to his advantage now, keeping Felicity close to him, getting her to explain everything.
Almost unconsciously, Felicity had moved even closer to Oliver. In her excitement, she'd completely forgotten why she had been so distraught over the last few weeks. When he kept throwing the pokeballs wrong, she made a grab for the phone, but he was quicker than she was and he maneuvered the phone into his other hand, playfully holding it out of her reach. At least it was playful until she climbed on top of him trying to get the phone back. Suddenly, the tension was back, but it was a completely different kind. He looked into her eyes, trying to see what she was thinking. When he didn't see any hesitation or regret, he leaned his head up into hers slowly, giving her time to pull away from him. She didn't.
Their lips met, softly at first. Getting to know each other again. It was a chaste kiss, just lips pressing against lips, until Felicity's tongue peeked out between them and licked his bottom lip. He opened his mouth to her and they were lost. He groaned at the taste of her mouth, having almost forgotten how sweet she was. The angle was awkward because of how she sprawled across his lap, so his hands found her waist and he lifted, allowing her to adjust her legs so she was straddling him on the couch. He tucked a few stray strands of her hair behind her ears and cupped her face as they both deepened the kiss. He was about to pull the familiar move from Nanda Parbat and lay her down on the couch when -
"This is the best game ever, Felicity. You were totally right about this being a 911 kind of text. This is the kind of information I need the second you have it. We need to leave the apartment now so we can go catch more. I've almost used up all my pokeballs, apparently I throw just as well in the game as I do in real life." His eyes had been glued to his phone, but then he looked up and saw the position of Felicity and Oliver on the couch. "Nevermind. I'm going to go. You two, do you." He moved towards the door to make a hasty exit. He opened it, and with his head over his shoulder he made eye contact with Felicity. "Don't let him screw up my OTP again. Understand?"
Felicity giggled. "I'll do my best. Bye, Curtis."
The door shut behind him. Felicity made no move to remove herself from Oliver's lap. Instead, she cupped his face in her hands, kissed him quickly on the lips, then threatened a certain piece of his anatomy if he ever screwed up like that again. He swore he'd never make that mistake again.
When he re-proposed six months later, the ring wasn't hidden in any food or in a velvet box. Instead, he'd had a pokeball specially made to protect the ring. He tossed it at her, hitting her square in the chest, and she miraculously caught the ball. He made a joke about needing to catch her. A year after that, she became Mrs. Felicity Queen. Two more years found a pokeball replica sitting on the shelf of the nursery of their soon-to-be-born little girl.