===
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
I wrote this out of annoyance that Arrow's showrunners have decided to make Ray Palmer pretty much a dollar store version of Iron Man (as well as make Felicity into a cheap, knockoff Pepper). Upset that they stripped away his ability to shrink, I decided to use the present canon to restore that ability by approaching it in the most sensible way I can think of: move Ray out of the brooding and earthly Arrow universe and create an event in the Flash's universe that endows him with powers.
If only.
===
Ray Palmer leans back in his chair, rubbing his eyes. He turns to look at the clock. 3:58AM. With a sigh, he slumps further into his seat, hoping to melt into it and disappear.
No progress. Again.
There's a knock at his door. Felicity lets herself in.
"What are you doing?" she asks, looking at the mess around them.
He lets out an exhausted sigh, "Nothing, apparently."
She makes her way over and observes the A.T.O.M. chest plate being dissected on Ray's table. Bits of wiring and french fries are strewn about.
"Gross," she says, clearing a spot for herself to lean on.
"Why are you here?" Ray asks, double checking the clock.
"Well, I don't know. Maybe someone didn't answer any of my calls," she says, grabbing his cell phone to show him his 45 missed calls, "At this point, I'm just making sure you're alive so I can get a paycheck sometime soon."
"Right," he breathes.
"I don't know why you're doing this to yourself," Felicity says, thumbing the chest piece. "The suit works just fine."
"But it could be better," Ray answers, frustrated.
"This is better?" she holds up two broken pieces, tossing them back on the table.
"But it's not even harnessing any of that dwarf star energy yet," he replies, grabbing a dish from a nearby table. He stares at the ground up star in frustration. He purchased that mine and tore it apart for nothing. His shoulders drop. "You're right," he says, brows raised in disappointed realization. "What am I doing?"
"Get some rest," Felicity says, patting her boss' shoulders. "And deodorant."