A/N: Welcome to what was supposed to be a little one-shot about Oliver and Felicity getting trapped in a tent that grew into a twenty-two-page monster. It was sort of amazing how quickly this grew when I began writing it.

In deference to the fact that I'm pretty sure you all might go cross-eyed if you read twenty-two-pages, I've split this into two parts.

So, this is Part I and, hopefully, you'll all understand the jumping in between.

So, please, enjoy and look out for Part II coming soon!

Trapped (in a Tent)

PART I

The Tent – 1:59 p.m.

They're trapped in a tent.

At a children's birthday party.

Seriously.

It's not even a proper tent.

It's a kid's tent.

A kid's tent that looks like a miniature circus tent with red and yellow stripes and a red flag on top.

Miniature's the word for it too.

It's like twenty hundred times smaller than an actual, adult sized camping tent and it's not comfortable.

At all.

So, she's crammed into this children's tent with her knees pressed up to her chest because it's tiny and because she's crammed into this tiny children's tent with Oliver.

Felicity doesn't even know how things like this happen to her.

She really, really doesn't.

The Foundry – 21 Days Ago

It actually begins with their next target.

So, Felicity knows a lot of things about…well, things.

She could write a book on all the useless things knows. Honestly, her brain collects useless snippets of information because maybe, just maybe, she'll one day actually need to know the names of Taylor Swift's cats.

Felicity doesn't know when that day will come.

She's sure her brain will let her know, though.

Anyway, the point is she knows a lot of things and the one thing she knows absolutely about the next target on the list?

"We're screwed."

Oliver, Diggle and Roy all stare at her when she makes the announcement and Felicity blinks back at them.

Only Roy looks vaguely perturbed by her random announcement.

Oliver and Diggle both nod simultaneously, giving her the impression that they'd arrived at this conclusion too.

She likes that.

It's almost like they're psychically linked now.

To be honest, they spend so much time down in the Foundry; Felicity thinks they'd be hard pressed to not have some sort of psychic link.

"How are we screwed?" Roy asks, glancing between the three of them.

Oliver shrugs, pulling the sleeves of his sweater up to his elbows in quick, efficient tugs.

Felicity pretends to not notice the flex of his forearms as he does this.

She fails miserably.

"It's harder now because there's no obvious way to get to him." Oliver replies, folding his arms.

He then looks at her.

Felicity's still staring at his forearms and then blushes a little when she realizes they've all turned to look at her because Oliver is.

Diggle gives her this look.

The one that tells her he knows exactly what she was doing.

Felicity gives him a dirty one back before turning to Roy.

Who, thankfully, still looks confused.

Idly, Felicity wonders how long it's going to take Roy to realize that when there's some sort of silence in the Arrow Circle, it's because she's staring at something.

Usually, she's staring at Oliver.

Anyway, Felicity decides to not draw it out, so she clears her throat a little and gestures towards her computers.

"He's not a big shot CEO working late at his office, anymore. Maybe five, six years ago Oliver could have done his 'grrr, I'm-a-scary-vigilante-with-a-sharp-arrow' thing because he was always at the office. Now," Felicity chooses to ignore Oliver's narrowed eyes at her impression of him. "Our let-me-help-you-with-your-money-by-taking-it-all CEO has given up long hours at the office for long hours as a Dad. We're screwed."

Oliver gives a sharp nod at her explanation. Roy still looks a little confused. Diggle looks thoughtful.

Felicity doesn't like this particular thoughtful look on Diggle's face.

It means he's not going to say something profound or offer insight.

Nope, he's going to say something she may not like.

"You know, there could be a way to get close to him." Diggle says, looking between her and Oliver thoughtfully.

Felicity stares at him for a moment.

Then realizes exactly what he's implying.

'Cause, well, seriously?

The Tent – 2:11 p.m.

"You know, we wouldn't be hiding in this tent if Diggle hadn't opened his big mouth."

Felicity sates this fact petulantly, glaring at Oliver because Diggle's not here and, well; Oliver went along with his stupid idea.

Because that's what it was.

Stupid.

So stupid it's led to them hiding in a child's tent.

Oliver meets her gaze steadily, apparently unperturbed by the animosity in her gaze and the situation they're in.

"You could have said no, Felicity."

Felicity sticks her tongue out at Oliver's oh so logical point.

Because, well, he's right.

Starling Hotel, Starling City – 18 Days Ago

"I seriously can't believe we're doing this."

Felicity mutters this out of the corner her mouth to Oliver even as he slides his arm around her and pulls her into his side.

They're at a charity function.

Posing as a couple.

There are so many reasons what they're trying to do won't work. Most of them have to do with Felicity's brain to mouth filter malfunctioning at some point during the night and totally blowing their cover.

Or, actually, her brain might be fried because Oliver's touching her and she can't think straight when he's touching her.

Or, even, the fact that her dress is a little too long and Felicity's got this bad feeling she might trip over the burgundy hem at some point.

Or the fact that Oliver's wearing a tuxedo with suspenders and, oh dear Lord, Felicity had nearly swallowed her tongue when she'd seen the suspenders.

"We have to get to him in some way, Felicity. He's still conning people and we know he's doing it from inside his house. We need a way into his house." Oliver mutters and Felicity snorts a little at that. "Besides, you told me I wasn't allowed to go after someone with children present. He looks after his kids. Children are always going to be present."

"I hate that rule. I'm changing that rule. This is stupid."

Oliver stops walking to look down at her, obviously surprised by her vehemence and Felicity is grateful that his arm is still around her because she was not prepared for him to stop walking.

Given what she's said, though, she should have expected him to stop walking.

"What?" Oliver looks genuinely concerned about what she's just said and Felicity has to rewind to what she's said.

Oops.

Okay, so maybe she shouldn't have said that.

The situation is not so bad that she has to revise a rule that, generally, Oliver adheres to.

She's slightly overreacting.

"Nothing. Nothing. Sorry, no. I didn't mean that. About the rule, anyway." Felicity says hastily and then, when Oliver's brow smooth's out, she continues. "But this is still stupid. Like, really stupid. How many people here are really going to believe that we're a – "

"Oliver Queen?"

Felicity actually snaps her mouth shut with an audible click because their target is standing in front of them, his arm draped loosely around his wife's waist.

James Winter is a fit man in his forties who has been married to the same woman for twenty-one years, is the father of three and, for all intents and purposes, a successful business man.

A successful businessman who swindled quite a lot of people out of quite a lot of money in dodgy real estate deals.

So, really, in this case appearances are most definitely deceiving.

"Hello, James, isn't it?" Oliver slides effortlessly into his role of Oliver Queen and Felicity blinks.

Because it's really disconcerting when he does things like this.

She knows she should be used to it by now.

But she isn't.

So, the warning squeeze Oliver gives her waist is one that is totally unnecessary.

"Absolutely, it's great to meet you. This is my wife, Emily." James says, offering his hand to Oliver before turning to Felicity. "And this must be your girlfriend?"

Felicity stares at him

He's so normal it's disconcerting.

When it appears she's not going to say anything, Oliver jumps in smoothly. "Yes, this is my girlfriend Felicity."

"It's great to meet you as well, Felicity." James smiles at her, his teeth shiny and Felicity blinks again.

Well, color her wrong.

Apparently, somebody does believe that she and Oliver are a couple.

Which is, frankly, amazing.

The Tent – 2:35 p.m.

"You know, if you're going to get into who's to blame for this," Oliver says thoughtfully, his arms draped over his bent knees, "then, really, it's James' fault. He bought the cover story of us as a couple."

Felicity whips her head around to stare at him.

"Seriously? Did you seriously just say that?" She hisses incredulously and Oliver raises his eyebrows.

Oliver shrugs. "Well, you seem determined to blame someone."

If both a miniscule tent and the fear of being discovered didn't constrict Felicity, there is a large chance she would have punched Oliver.

Not that it would do anything but hurt her hand.

But it definitely would have made her feel better inside.

She even has a chance to make a mark because in deference to the fact that they're at a casual affair, Oliver's wearing jeans and a black t-shirt that fits him really, really, really well.

Felicity has noticed.

Not that she was admitting that.

She'd chosen to wear a pretty yellow sundress that's turned out to be the most impractical clothing choice she's ever made.

Because they're trapped in a tent.

That's not important, though.

What Oliver's just said is important.

"Yes, I am. And that blame firmly rests with you and Diggle." She says with a sniff and, you know, if Oliver had less self-control, Felicity is pretty sure that his mouth would have dropped open in indignation.

But because he has self-control, he just furrows his brow in confusion.

"How does the blame rest with me?" He asks indignantly.

"You said yes to the double date!"

Oliver glares at her.

"We needed to get into their house, Felicity. They weren't just going to invite us in to it after a five second conversation at a charity dinner!"

You know what?

Felicity hates it when Oliver's right.

She really, really, really hates it.

Olé Fuego, Tapas Bar – 13 Days Ago

Oliver's hand is on her thigh.

Oliver's hand is on her thigh.

It's just resting there, just past her knee, a propriety gesture she's seen a hundred times and has never, ever been on the receiving end.

Until now.

Felicity seriously hadn't realized how distracting it was.

Then again, maybe other women don't find it distracting because the men that are touching them are a) their boyfriends and b) not Oliver Queen.

Felicity can feel his calluses.

Seriously.

Oliver's hands are big and callused and clearly strong and there is something seriously wrong with her for finding the fact that he has strong hands really, really attractive right now.

But she can't concentrate on anything else, which is really, really bad because they're out on a double date to an upscale tapas bar with James and Emily Winter.

Who are, for all intents and purposes, a lovely couple that is well adjusted and clearly very happy with each other. Emily is a homemaker who's just gone back to work as a part time sales assistant and has a ready smile and exudes warmth. James is playing stay-at-home dad to their children and, from all appearances, is totally in love with his wife and a fair and moral man.

Who's last few dealing in real estate in the Glades had left three families without homes and one without a father.

Felicity doesn't much like him just because of that.

Still, she and Oliver are out on this date and she can't say anything because Oliver's touching her.

Which is going a long way in probably not convincing them that they're a healthy, well-adjusted couple that touches each other all the time, apparently.

If this was a test, Felicity feels like she failed before they even sat down.

Mostly because Oliver's touching her and they've had this interesting non-verbal agreement to not touch each other unless mortal danger is in the past, present or future for either of them or, well, she's high off Digg's aspirins.

And don't get her started on the emotional non-verbal agreement they have with each other that revolves around them never acknowledging how they feel about each other.

Even if it is blatantly obvious to everyone that what she feels for Oliver is a hundred times more than what she's ever felt for anyone else and can't simple be categorized as 'love'.

So, really, this is new territory for her.

Still, Felicity takes a deep breath and tries to concentrate on the conversation that, so far, Oliver has maintained with the couple.

Which is amazing because Oliver can be really bad at chit-chat.

As far as she knows, anyway.

Then again, the Oliver she knows is not the Oliver that everyone else knows.

"Felicity helped me with my computer and when I asked her if she could be my technology teacher, she missed the fact that I was flirting and recommended me to a website." Oliver says with a grin, snapping Felicity out of her Oliver's-touching-my-thigh stupor.

She stares at him.

Because, what?

"How long did it take you to bring her around?" Emily asks, apparently charmed by whatever tale Oliver's spinning.

"A month. I kept trying to be clever about seeing her until one day I just asked her to dinner and told her it was a date. Luckily, she said yes."

Felicity gapes at Oliver.

Because, well, that's actually a pretty good story of how they met. The entire story rings pretty much true to how they've presented themselves as a couple to James and Emily and Emily looks a little starry eyed.

How is it, Felicity wonders, that Oliver's suddenly become a good liar?

This story is so much better than 'I spilled a latte on it.'

"That's so sweet. Were you surprised when he asked you, Felicity?" Emily asks with a sigh.

Felicity doesn't know how to answer that.

So, she goes with the truth.

"Very surprised. I hadn't seen it coming, honestly. Hadn't seen it coming, at all." Felicity says and Oliver squeezes her thigh.

Emily and James seem to be buying their story and Felicity smiles.

They really don't need to know that Felicity's actually surprised by Oliver's sudden ability to lie.

Not by anything else.

The Tent – 2:46 p.m.

"You know what? This all started going south when you started touching me."

Felicity shifts as she says this, trying to find a more comfortable position than half-leaning away from Oliver with her knees pinned to her chest.

But you know what?

There is no room in the tent for her to shift into a more comfortable position.

Not if she wants to be pressed up against Oliver.

Which she doesn't.

Sort of.

"This whole thing started going south when you decided it wasn't going to work." Oliver snaps back. "If you'd just said something about you not being comfortable about this, then we wouldn't be in this situation!"

Felicity stares at him.

Did he seriously just say that?

"Did you seriously just say that?"

Oliver rolls his eyes.

Felicity feels like he probably did just say that.

Great.

Now, she's trapped in a children's tent with Oliver and they're arguing.

This is exactly how this was supposed to go.

Not.

The Foundry – 7 Days Ago

"I still don't get why we can't just break in to his house when they're not there."

Roy voices this thought at their weekly Arrow Round Table Meeting and Felicity wants to cheer him on for pointing out what should have been obvious, like, two weeks ago.

Unfortunately, Oliver's is standing beside her.

Touching her shoulder.

And she's not one hundred percent mentally there because Oliver's touching her.

His hand is holding the back of the chair she's sitting on and, really, it's only his knuckles that are touching her but still.

Felicity is hyperaware of him touching her.

So, no cheering.

"Because we've got no idea if there's anything in his house or the layout." Oliver replies calmly. "Even if we broke in, we'd need to time to go through his home office and the rest of the house. There are too many variables with them returning early to them not going anywhere at all for us to make that call."

Diggle pipes up. "Besides, they're in a neighborhood where everybody looks after each others property. If we did break in and they were away, the chance is that someone would notice and call it in."

Roy looks like he's absorbing this information and filing it away for later, to examine or use when he needs it the most.

Felicity is still only half listening.

Right up until Roy snorts. "So, we're going to leave it to Mr. and Mrs. Unresolved-Sexual-Tension to find the evidence? That's a better plan?"

Felicity stiffens and Oliver seems to growl at Roy's words.

It's not like their plan hasn't been working. If anything, it seems to be working too well. Felicity's been on more coffee dates and shopping trips with Emily Winter in the last few days than she's ever been on before. Oliver seems to have played more poker and golf than he ever wanted too with James and, the four of them have been on two more double dates since meeting.

Felicity counted.

So, Roy's derisive comment is not appreciated.

Apparently, Diggle senses that Roy maybe shouldn't have said that and steps in.

"We just need to get a look at his house, Harper. Seeing as you don't have any brilliant ideas, this is how we're doing it." Diggle's look as he says this is pretty much along the lines of 'shut-up-Roy.'

Felicity is pleased to see Roy withdraw into himself slightly at the look.

"It's only for another week or so. James was hinting at inviting us to his sons eighth birthday party." Oliver says and Felicity nearly jumps as he flexes his hand. "It's at their house and it'll give us time to get to the layout, Felicity can look at his computer and then we'll know where to go from there."

Felicity's nodding along to this right up until she has a thought.

A very important thought.

One that she should have thought of beforehand.

Spinning in her chair to look at Oliver, Felicity is pleased to discover that he's stopped touching her.

Except now he's looking at her.

And that's just as bad.

Still, she ploughs ahead. "Does that mean we have to buy his son a present? 'Cause it's his eighth birthday party and he'll expect a present. I would expect a present."

Oliver's lip tick upwards a little at her question and you know what? Felicity's stomach does this funny swoop thing.

Because his partial smile is really quite sexy.

Felicity quite likes it.

"If you want, Felicity." Oliver says gently, holding her gaze warmly.

Felicity fees heat beginning to creep up on her cheeks because, well, between the touching and the smiling and the looking and the pretending to be a couple?

Of course, she's going to start blushing.

"This is what I'm talking about!"

Roy's exclamation followed by a very loud grunt, has Felicity looking away from Oliver and over to Roy.

Who's standing at a funny angle and clutching his side, Diggle looks entirely unperturbed by Roy's actions even though Felicity's got a feeling that the reason Roy's clutching his side has everything to do with Diggle.

Before she can ask what happened or Oliver can bark at Roy, Diggle speaks. "Just get into the house, you two. Alright?"

Felicity nods.

Then jumps a little because Oliver's hand has come to grip the back of her seat again and so when she leans back…

…Oliver is touching her again.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed! Part II is coming soon!