First time writer here folks. I'll admit I discovered Arrow and devoured both seasons in about a 3 month period. Now I have to suffer through the summer with only your lovely stories to get me through! So here we go...be kind!

I noticed a few typos and grammatical errors had slipped past me so I made the corrections and updated the chapter. Nothing major changed though...
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Making peace with Oliver after leaving Slade on Lian Yu hadn't changed the fact that her daytime job no longer existed and that Oliver was now broke. She had no choice but to dive head first into finding herself a source of income. Far away from the 18th floor of QC, far away from Digg and Roy and far away… not allowing herself to go there, Felicity smiled as she refocused on the students in front of her.

Felicity took a deep breath as she surveyed the large class of MIT freshman crowded into her classroom. Her classroom! She had just passed out an assignment description that they were looking over excitedly. She had to admit it was refreshing to be among people she understood and who understood her.

Her job search had taken an unexpected turn when she was recruited to step in as adjunct faculty after one of her former professors had gone into labor several weeks early. Not allowing herself a second thought, only 48 hours passed between formally accepting the position and Felicity unpacking her last bag into the small faculty apartment in Boston. Universities such as MIT didn't have a problem securing a complete ARGUS worthy background check in short order.

Opportunities to teach at MIT were highly sought after and she wasn't about to allow her emotional state to cloud her judgment. Had Felicity's heart not been shattered and able to process any emotion what so ever, she would have been giddy at the opportunity. As it was, Felicity was doing her very best to bury herself in her work and lick her wounds in peace. She taught five classes every day, volunteered a couple hours tutoring in the skills lab, and then focused whatever remaining energy she possessed into her nightly Wing Chun self-defense class. By the time she fell into bed every evening she was so exhausted she shouldn't even have had the energy to dream.

Not wanting to risk the campaign her team would have launched to change her mind, Felicity may have forgotten to let anyone know she was leaving or what her destination would be. She had left her QC issued cell phone on her bed with a quick note assuring them she was safe and promised to reach out once she was settled. It was just, even now, eight weeks later, she still didn't feel settled. She didn't feel settled and she certainly didn't feel like allowing herself to dig too deeply into why. Quirking her lips ruefully, she allowed herself about 15 seconds to picture how ugly the first few days after her departure must have been. Damn it Oliver! He didn't want her, that much was clear, but he also seemed to feel being without her was not an option either. Regardless of how much the island had changed him, the desire to have his cake and eat it too certainly had not. She cringed at how many sparring matches Diggle had likely endured until Oliver had come to peace with the fact that she was actually gone for good.

The large amphitheater style classroom had a calming effect on her. Even the rich smell of the wood paneling helped ground Felicity when she felt herself slipping into a sleep deprived daze. Her ability to sleep was beyond compromised on the best of nights and when she did sleep, well, that tended to end with bloody nightmares, cold sweats and tears.

"Alright, alright! Cut the chatter! Please! I'm glad to see such interest in this assignment" she said with a grin. It WAS a pretty awesome assignment that she would have thoroughly enjoyed as an undergrad student.

"Now this is a team assignment. I want you to quickly pair up and spend the rest of the hour getting started on an outline of your project." Taking a quick look around she continued, "I cannot stress this enough people...This is not an invitation to break the law! It is NOT to lead to anything that could be interpreted as illegal. You are NOT to hack into any live system or software you do not own outright. Your goal is not to end up in prison! It is your responsibility to know all NSA, FCC and FTC rules and regulations so that you don't inadvertently venture into waters that can get you kicked out of school.

Was she rambling? Felicity knew her filter had been MIA as usual, but she really needed the overeager, almost wild look in their eyes to dim just a smidge.

"My goal here is to strengthen your development skills. Any developer worth their salt knows that software is only as strong as the amount of energy put into breaking it before someone else can. You need to analyze current events and issues from the perspective of Science, Technology and Society program. Your final submission should explore a chosen topic, a unique analysis, and evidence that multiple ideas and concepts of STS have been considered. You should draw on the recent work of STS faculty, along with the concepts and methods that inspired them."

The irony of her instruction was not lost on her and Felicity had to put some real work into masking the laugh that wanted to escape. For heaven's sake, she wasn't sure she even knew how to maneuver the internet legally these days. Putting on her sternest face she made eye contact with several of her more renegade minded students and firmly restated, "Nothing illegalllll…"

Felicity's voice faded into a soft squeak as her eyes settled on a lone person stepping through one of the two doors in the back of the classroom. Crap. Just… crap. This day had just taken a much unexpected turn, because there, in the back of her peaceful sanctuary with his massive arms and a slightly apologetic yet determined expression on his face, stood Digg.

Unable to stop the unexplainable panic that rose in her chest, her eyes quickly darted to the second exit along the opposite side of the back wall. Double crap. Casually leaning against that door stood a bored Roy with his eyes barely visible under his red hoodie. If she didn't know better she would say he was asleep.

How convenient, she grumbled to herself. Digg seriously brought back-up? Her smile only slightly wavering, Felicity was able to calculate that she had more than enough time to get out the exit behind her and out to her car before Digg and Roy could make it through a throng of students eager to start their weekend. She knew that she would eventually have to face the music, but today was not the day. She needed to sleep and well, she just wasn't in the mood to deal with all the drama just yet.

Pulling her focus back to the class, Felicity quickly got their attention, "On second thought; It's beautiful outside today. You're all excused on the condition that you use the rest of class time to get started on this assignment. Have a great weekend and I'll see you Monday. "

Snatching up her tablet, Felicity turned on her heel and fled toward the only exit not currently blocked by an undercover superhero. Yanking open the heavy wood door, she risked a quick look over her shoulder to see that Digg and Roy had in fact gotten tangled up in the sea of backpacks and students streaming up the stairs. Congratulating herself for such quick thinking, she turned back just in time to crash straight into the same rock solid chest that she had working very hard to get out of her head for the past eight weeks.

TBC