Chapter One – Boardroom Bride

Oliver Queen, was not an easy man. Not when it came to surprises at least.

Standing where he was, after five years of torment on an island known as purgatory, it was hardly surprising that this billionaire playboy by day and a caped crusader by night didn't shock easy.

Which was why when Oliver Queen, CEO of Queen Consolidated, found himself repeating his Public Relation Department's Head of Staff, in front of his ex-step-father, his baby sister, his pseudo-driver and a very particular blonde IT girl from MIT – he managed to do so with very little grace.

"And just how," he asked scathingly, "- would you propose I do that? A mail order bride perhaps?"

Diggle roughly cleared his throat, his eyes fixed on a point deliberately above Oliver's own head, no doubt to avoid the self-same glare Oliver had shot him mere seconds earlier.

"Actually Sir," stammered the now slightly uncomfortable Head of Staff, looking to Walter for encouragement, who's sage nod seemed to be a saving grace, because the man now turned back to his very own over six feet of a not-very happy CEO and clarified, in a voice so low, that Oliver had surely misheard.

"Excuse you?" Oliver asked lethally, ignoring the soft gasp that had echoed through the room.

"…Well… , has a particular charm…and…"

"And?" repeated Oliver, his hands itching for his bow as he drew himself to his feet, to tower dangerously over the bespectacled old man, finding it particularly satisfying when he seemed to scuttle behind Walter like a scared rat.

Unfortunately, the man behind whom the rat had chosen to 'hide' was neither as easily intimidated nor as unconvinced as Oliver. His soft British brogue, "The man may have a point," he calmly pointed out, turning his gaze not to Oliver but to his favorite Queen Consolidated employee, "Ms. Smoak, I can understand how this may sound above and beyond the call of duty, but regrettably, I find myself forced to ask you if – "

"You don't have to answer him Felicity." Snapped Oliver, his temper now about to reach boiling point as he watched Felicity's face drain of all color, in ways it hadn't even when Count Vertigo had held a double syringe of Vertigo to her exposed throat. "Do you even hear yourself Walter?" he continued, with slamming his palm into the heavy wooden table with barely restrained force. "Felicity is one of us – and you are asking her to – "

"Actually Oliver, that is exactly why I'm asking her." Walter explained, his calmness making his claim seem almost reasonable, as he continued to explain, "Oliver, your image is that of a fickle, irresponsible playboy, who I add regrettably is practically a professional dropout – your competitors are going to have a field day with you. What the PR Team needs to do now is to be able to contrast you with someone who is the exact opposite, they need to show stability, responsibility and quite frankly someone who can is smart enough to put most of the Board of Directors to shame , and most importantly is loyal to us, to you – "

"Walter, I appreciate what you are trying to do, I really do, but even if I did agree to any of that, it wouldn't make a difference, because for one thing me and Felicity aren't - "

"Felicity and I." mumbled the still shell-shocked blonde to his right, only to earn herself the look she generally was subject to only when she managed to step into a particularly uncomfortable double entendre.

"Felicity and I," he continued, not noticing the bright grin that began to spread across Thea's face, or Walter's partial grin, or even the way Diggle happened to quirk his brow ever so slightly. "-are not and have never been involved – which any PR team worth its salt would figure out in hours."

"Actually," piped up the Head of Staff yet again, "Rumor's about Ms. Smoak and yourself Sir, have been making the rounds for over a year now, you have even been photographed together numerous times, even more so since you hired her as your 'secretary' which everyone–"

"Executive Assistant." Snapped Felicity pushing herself out of her chair and dragging a hand through her hair as she attempted to process everything that was being said.

"Yes, well my point was that everyone already knows about the two of you Mr. Queen, the PR Department has been paying off tabloids to keep it under wraps, and if you don't mind my saying Sir, you could really use the positive press right now. Your investors need to see stability, security, and well …that you've settled down."

Just as Oliver opened his mouth to deliver a particularly cutting setback to the idiot who happened to be Head of PR, Felicity's voice cut through, with a tellingly sharp quaver.

"Gentlemen? Mr. Queen and I are going to need the room for a minute." She nodded at Diggle, who immediately turned to usher the other two men out of the room, and turned back for Thea only to be told smugly that she was hardly a gentleman. Just as Oliver had been about to ask her to leave however, Thea rose graciously from her seat, and passed by her brother, her hand on his arm as she looked back at Felicity, "Ollie, I don't want to lose the company – it's all we have left of them." Her uncharacteristic plea, earning her a sharp nod of acknowledgement, before she left.

Their last memory of their parents, and all of it, he realized hung on one, very blonde, very inappropriate and currently very worried, young lady.