AN: So it has been a LONG time since I have written anything worth anyone seeing, and after the finale these ideas kept popping up in my head. I would love to hear your feedback on the story and if it is worth continuing. I'm still looking for a beta, as I have been out of writing for a while. I apologize for any misspellings or grammatical errors that snuck past me.

Disclaimer: I own nothing and no one written in this story.

Chapter 1

"So the big guy is ok with us taking a road trip?" Roy asked, skeptically, as he stood in the doorway while she struggled to zip up her overly stuffed overnight bag.

"Yeah" Felicity huffed as she blew a stray piece of blonde hair out of her face, the offending zipper refusing to move. "Hey. Any chance you still got any of that super strength and wanna help a girl out?"

"You know, I think I could use 'actual strength' to close a zipper." He said, his expression not changing from the blank stare he had begun to give her whenever he was sure she was hiding something- whether it be the mint chocolate chip ice cream or lethal new bad guy that Oliver was targeting.

Ever since Thea left town with nothing more than a letter, Roy had been all about the mission-save Starling City and help the Arrow fight crime. Felicity felt for their newest team member, knowing what he must be going through as she herself had been told she was loved by someone but having that person walk away. Not that Oliver meant it when he said he was in love with her-he trusted her, she was his partner- and not that he walked away-they frequented Big Belly Burger once a week for lunch, and then of course still had their…night time activities. But Roy was what she was thinking of.

Roy didn't seem to care much for anything anymore other than wearing his new red mask and red hoodie to help the Arrow take down Starling City's nefarious criminals. At least he was able to take out some of his heartbreak on the recent criminal element without any mirakuru crazy strength. He was also now gainfully employed as her assistant at the mid-sized tech firm that was all too happy to take her after her own recent unemployment. She was now the IT Department Director for Star Labs satellite lab just on the outskirts of Starling City.

As Felicity explained to both Oliver and Diggle when they began to object to her working for Star Labs, she needed to work, and at this point it was either Star Labs or Wayne Enterprises all the way in Gotham City. While she heard rumors of Gotham having its' own vigilante, she preferred to stay closer to home where she could make sure 'her boys' stayed out of trouble.

Which led her to Roy. After getting back to Starling City from Lian Yu the trio found out that Thea hadn't made it out of the city before Slade's army attacked, and had been to see Roy, Roy relayed the message that Thea left, for good. While Oliver seemed to have mixed emotions about Thea leaving, Roy just shouldered on. He got up every day, went to the foundry to help with the cleanup, went out at night with Oliver, stayed late while Felicity collected her computer equipment-the pieces that weren't destroyed, that is- and seemed to just exist in the Team Arrow bubble.

When Felicity was hired at Star Labs she quickly pounced on Roy as her assistant- telling him he needed something other than the foundry and Oliver. The two had been spending an awful lot of time with each other lately were even starting to sound alike. Now he had a purpose outside of saving Starling and Thea Queen, and while administrative assistant wasn't in his career plan long term, Roy did a good job.

It wasn't until a month after Roy started working with Felicity that he started crashing on her couch after late nights at the foundry. At first he used the excuse that with them working so late, Oliver would arrow him if something happened to her and Roy didn't stop it. Then once Oliver found out Roy was sleeping on Felicity's couch regularly- which led to a tense moment where both men seemed to communicate non-verbally while she and Diggle just watched- Roy would say that he needed a ride to work in the morning and the commute would just take too long from his place in the glades.

"Roy, are you seriously going to lie to me again about 'keeping me safe' or 'Oliver's arrows' or that you 'need a ride in the morning'?" Felicity rolled her eyes when he let his overnight bag drop at the foot of the couch one night.

He just looked at her with an 'I'm trying to figure out another not ridiculous, but it really is ridiculous lie' face.

"Seriously, I can hack and task military grade satellites, and you think I can't find out that you moved out of your house, stopped paying rent, and were sleeping at the foundry before you commandeered my couch? Which, by the way, all you had to do was ask."

Roy opened his mouth to respond before he promptly shut it and looked to the paisley carpet underneath the coffee table where the latest issues of Computerworld magazine, and some other IT journal were placed beneath the glass of water he got from the kitchen before Felicity cornered him.

"I'm sorry" he mumbled, glance steady with the floor. "I didn't want to admit…" He trailed off before looking up to her. "Can I stay?"

Felicity stood with her arms wrapped around her waist, appearing to mull over the decision, before giving him a slow, small, smile and nodding her head.

"Oh and by the way roomie, it's your turn to clean the bathroom and buy groceries- but no junk food and no nuts. With the amount of time we spend underground we need to make sure we are getting all those good vitamins, and I'm allergic to nuts." She smiled wider as she ruffled his hair on her way to her bedroom. "Oh, and Roy?" She called out, making him turn his head to meet her gaze. "See? Asking wasn't so hard."

After that night, Roy became like a surrogate brother to her, often choosing her side in disagreements in the lair, frustrating Oliver and Diggle because now they had no tie breaker. He also began making friends- or acquaintances, what could you call relations that he didn't quite trust, mocked at night, but went for the occasional beer with after work? So when she got a very personal phone call at work that morning, she insisted that he drop his recent assignment of filing the new software program licensure paperwork and join her on a very impromptu road trip.

And of course he would want to know if Oliver was ok with the leaving town- while Felicity took him in and gave him a job, Oliver would always be his idol that saved his life and gave him purpose.

And of course she lied when she said 'Yeah.' Oliver and Diggle both had no clue about their little trip, and wouldn't know until they were well outside the Starling City limits. The last thing she wanted was them both asking questions she didn't want to answer, and getting involved in matters they shouldn't be involved in. Roy was different-and if Oliver did find out the nature of her trip at least he couldn't get mad that she didn't take muscle with her.

"And I'm pretty sure if you didn't pack so many different outfits that you wouldn't have this problem with the zipper." Roy huffed as he pulled the zipper closed, only stopping once when it snagged on a bright blue blouse causing Felicity to whimper and Roy to shoot her an 'oh please' look.

"Well I'm not sure what outfits I will need or…" She hesitated as she slid her tablet into her purse and slung the bag over her shoulder. She was going to say 'how long I'll be gone' but thought better of it. No need for Roy to get even more suspicious and alert the rest of the team.

"Or what the weather is going to be like. I mean it could be sunny one minute and raining the next and I don't want to be in a situation where I don't have my umbrella or favorite MIT sweatshirt if it gets cold at night. Being prepared is very important in these types of situations-Not that this is any type of situation that would require planning…I mean it's just two roommates going on a nice little weekend adventure sans danger- I mean arrows. Not that having arrows around are a bad thing I just think-"

"Felicity." Roy interrupted her. "I'm just saying that you packed a lot of stuff."

Felicity took a deep breath- so much for not being suspicious.

The Starling City International Airport had been closed for two months after Slade's men destroyed most of the city, the airport having been an unfortunate victim to the chaos. It was a good thing that this call hadn't come sooner or else she would have been making a one thousand mile trip in her little Mini-Cooper. Now that would have been a fun road trip to make with Roy, who had merely raised an eyebrow when she pulled into the short-term parking garage.

"So are you going to tell me where we are going yet?" Roy asked as they stood in the ticket line waiting their turn.

"Promise you won't call Oliver or Dig as soon as I tell you?" She asked with a sigh. Roy shook his head in response. "This morning I got a call from my…mother."

They stepped forward in the line as the person in front of them was called to the counter. Felicity really wished she had enough time to print out their tickets herself as it would have saved her so much time, although their flight wasn't for another hour and a half, so they had plenty of time to just wait around in the terminal.

"So?" Roy asked confused. "Why would I tell Oliver that?"

Roy could tell that the conversation was making Felicity uncomfortable, but figured it was better to know now instead of later.

"My mother is…my mother," Felicity shook her head and rolled her eyes. "She did the best she could after my father left, but sometimes it wasn't enough. While I was at MIT she lost her job and started drinking more. I tried sending her money for a few months but every time the check was returned." Felicity sighed. "I figured that she was just too stubborn to take the money, and getting her on the phone was a miracle at that point, but after I got the job at Queen Consolidated she stopped returning my calls and then I found out, through an internet search, that she lost the house."

Roy watched as Felicity signaled that they would have to pause so that she could retrieve their tickets. He never would have guessed any of this from what he knew about Felicity. She was too spunky and happy to have come from a struggling family like he did. Then again, Roy knew that Felicity was extremely strong, and stubborn. This new picture of Felicity was beginning to make a lot more sense. Even answering some of his questions as to why she teamed up with Team Arrow in the first place.

"So, she lost the house and went off the grid." Felicity began as they started walking towards the security checkpoint. "When I finally tracked her down she still wouldn't return my calls and kept disappearing. I tried calling family friends back home but no one could tell me much, other than that they had seen her and to just give her time.

"I kept track of her movements and just waited for her to contact me. This morning she did." Roy could tell that Felicity wanted to smile at her mother finally reaching out, but he could also see her hesitating. "Apparently she has run into some financial trouble, bigger than me just sending a check kind of trouble- not that I would just send a check and be done with it, you know? I haven't seen my mother in-"

"I wasn't thinking that." Roy stopped her. "It's good she called."

Roy hadn't seen his mother since before the Glades fell. She took off long before the quake happened and never looked back, not even for her son. Then again, his mother wasn't exactly maternal. Thea had been the closest person he had to call family, then Sin came along and Team Arrow. He had finally had family and people to rely on. Then the mirakuru happened, and he lost Thea, then Sin. All that was left of his constructed family was Oliver, Felicity, and Diggle- and he wasn't even that close to Diggle. Oliver would always be his mentor and the person he wanted to impress, which didn't scream 'support system.'

It was Felicity that took him in, that gave him a job. Felicity found out his favorite ice cream flavor and pizza topping. She knew what his Big Belly Burger order was and what TV shows he watched because he liked, and what TV shows he watched because she made him (everyone deserved to have an education in the sci fi genres, she would tell him). Felicity was like a sister to him.

Roy put his arm around her shoulders as they waited for the security checkpoint to move along. She gave him a smile and reached up to squeeze his hand.

"So why aren't we telling Oliver and Diggle?" He asked.

He watched as Felicity took a deep breath and collected her thoughts. She seemed to do that a lot lately. Ever since she got back from dropping Slade off with Oliver and Diggle she was more reserved with her comments. Granted this was Felicity so she still rambled, went on tangents, and stood up for herself when it came to Team Arrow. It made Roy wonder what had happened to cause this shift.

"If we tell Oliver and Diggle then they are going to want to come with us, and Diggle is busy with Lyla and doesn't need me distracting him with this. Oliver shouldn't be leaving the city with all the new-" she paused to look around, "criminals."

Roy chuckled as they began to move in the line.

"So what you're saying is that you don't want them knowing what's going on because you don't want them to see where you grew up and the state of your life outside of what you do for them?" It was more of a statement than a question. "I get it. You and I are more alike than you think."

Felicity smiled along with him.

"The only difference is that I went to MIT while you became a street thief," she laughed then stopped. "Oh God, I am so sorry I didn't mean that I was better than you for going to college- Of course you would have gone to college if you could have…or not, that would be completely fine too. College isn't for everyone. My roommate freshman year-"

"Next." The security official waving impatiently at Felicity caused her to break off and sigh before walking forwards to begin the checkpoint.

Roy was just taking his cell phone out of his pocket to put in the gray plastic bin when it started to ring and Oliver's face flashed up on the screen. Roy took a glance at Felicity, who was about to go into the metal detector, before looking back at the phone and ignoring the call.

"Any answer?" Diggle asked without looking up from the monitors in front of him.

He and Oliver had been trying to get into the systems to trace a drug lord that was trafficking into the city by sea, however they couldn't get past the main log in screen. Felicity was the only one with the passwords as she was still not done setting up the new system. It also didn't help their case that the last time she left the passwords for them all to use, Roy had almost crashed the hard drive.

They all understood Felicity's hesitance to then provide them with any more information on the systems unless she was present. In her defense she had her searches and updates set to alert her via her tablet when something big popped up.

However, now that Felicity and Roy worked during the day and were only in the lair at night it often left Oliver with a lot of free time on his hands. This often meant team lunches in the new lair so that they could all be informed of the recent updates, but today Felicity texted both he and Diggle and told them that she and Roy had a "work thing" and couldn't make it. Then she and Roy had dropped off the radar.

Oliver had called Diggle in a semi-panicked haze, worried that somehow the information was leaked that Felicity and Roy were working with him. Diggle tried to calm Oliver's nerve, knowing that since Slade's attack Oliver had been more protective of Felicity than normal. He knew that it was only to be expected now that Oliver was one step closer to admitting the feelings he had, but only spoke as a decoy to be one step ahead of Slade. Diggle sometimes wondered if that's when it hit Oliver that he did in fact love their IT expert.

Knowing that Oliver wouldn't just sit and wait for Felicity to come that night, he offered to leave work early for lunch and run a search on the computers, and even check to make sure their recent target hadn't outed Felicity as their partner. Dig was no Felicity when it came to the computers but he was at least better than Oliver.

After the fall of Queen Consolidated and the news of his and Lyla's new addition to their lives, Diggle knew that he couldn't wait for Oliver to regain control of Queen Consolidated and the fortune that Isabel Rochev took from him. Diggle, like Felicity and Roy, had to get a job.

It was strange at first to be going back into private security, and actually guarding people and things that didn't tuck and roll out of moving cars or put you into headlocks and threaten to shoot you with an arrow if you didn't agree. It was also different to go to work and not be with his team all day. Not knowing if Felicity got into work or if Oliver was planning a mission was very unsettling. When they began planning team lunches he found himself a little more at ease.

Lyla had begun to notice the recent shift in him and on more than one occasion commented on how she hoped Oliver regained control of QC soon or else all three of them would go crazy from separation anxiety.

"It's not like her to not take our calls." Oliver huffed as he paced in front of the monitors Diggle was trying to access. "And it's definitely not like Roy."

"Well maybe they are actually in a meeting and can't answer your calls." Dig rolled his eyes. He too found it suspicious but knew if he let on, then Oliver would be unmanageable.

"When I had meetings Felicity always made sure to have a way to get my messages. Roy's a crappy assistant." Oliver tried.

"Felicity hired him because he needed a job, definitely not because of his filing skills." Diggle laughed.

When Felicity told them that Roy would be working with her from then on, the group didn't know how to react. It was one of those rare nights that they were able to eat outside of the lair, opting for pizza in the city as a group (Laurel included) instead of Chinese on various flat surfaces with weapons and computer set up that needed to be sorted.

They were in the middle of each taking a slice of pizza when Felicity announced that Roy had news, and in Felicity style, blurted out that Roy was going to be her new assistant. At first Diggle chuckled, remembering the conversation Oliver and Felicity had had when Oliver 'promoted' Felicity without her permission, but then clapped the young man on the back. Roy had come a long way since joining the team; from thief to super soldier to picking up the pieces of his life without reverting back to his old ways.

Laurel was equally proud of Roy, even though she was still learning the nature of the group. She didn't join in much with the vigilante activities, having taken over as the DA soon after the Mirakuru crisis was over. It put her too much at odds with her job and the courts. Felicity still insisted that they keep her involved in 'team bonding' activities though.

Oliver just stared at Roy, causing the young man to take a slight gulp, before congratulating him. In time Oliver came to realize that Roy being with Felicity was better than her being alone all day. Dig would never say this out loud, but he knew that Oliver respected Roy-which is why on the rare occasions that they all had a light moment, Oliver took pleasure in teasing him.

"Just give them an hour or so, and I'm sure when they have a free minute they will call." Dig assured him. "Besides, I already asked Lyla to trace their coordinates so we should have that in about five minutes."

Oliver paused mid-step and tipped his head at Diggle in question.

"What?" He remarked. "You think you're the only one who thinks it's suspicious that they both cancel on lunch for a meeting when yesterday they were complaining that today they would have nearly nothing to do at work?"

Oliver was about to open his mouth in response when Diggle's phone began to vibrate on the desk.

"And here we go," he said while bringing the phone to his ear. "Lyla? What did you find?"

Oliver took a step towards the desk while Diggle listened to his ex/wife on the other end of the phone. For months, he and Felicity had been making real strides in their relationship, or what they could have of one. He still knew that being with her would put her at greater risk. Still, he felt whole just being near her, just seeing her smile, or listening to her ramble. When she texted, didn't even call, Oliver knew something was wrong. He knew his girl, and his girl didn't just blow off lunch.

"Ok, thanks. I'll call you if we need anything else…Love you too." Oliver turned to see Diggle staring at the phone in hand.

"So?" Oliver asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

Diggle sighed and ran a hand down his face.

"Lyla said that Felicity had an incoming call from a 702 area code around nine this morning-"

"Which is when she texted us." Oliver interrupted.

"Exactly," Diggle nodded along. "She traced the number and it was a dead end, a random phone booth in the North Las Vegas region. After she sent the text messages to us, Lyla has her booking two airline tickets from Starling International to McCarren International, in Vegas. Lyla also has both Roy and Felicity on surveillance as having boarded a plane around eleven am."

Oliver and Diggle both stayed in their spots, not moving, just thinking. Why would both Roy and Felicity leave for Vegas in such a hurry? Shot gun wedding was definitely off the list as both were more like brother and sister than secret lovers.

"Dig." Oliver's face seemed to light up with awareness. "Where is Felicity from?"

Diggle looked at him in confusion before that same thought hit him. "Vegas."

"Vegas." Oliver agreed as both men moved to grab their jackets and begin heading to the airport.

AN: Constructive feedback is always appreciated. Follow me on tumblr if you like (I'm still new and figuring out what to do, so there's not much to see) at adubbs47