Bodyguard

An: I do not own Arrow

Summary: The attack on Felicity at Palmer Technologies shows the Team how vulnerable she is there. Oliver insists she gets a bodyguard.

Oliver's eyes opened slowly as he woke up in their silent bedroom in the loft. It was 5:00am the time he usually awoke once he went to sleep. Felicity was still asleep, her head resting over his heart, their feet tangled together, and her hands wrapped around him. If he had still been in Ivytown he would have started the process of carefully extracting himself from Felicity without waking her up. It usually took ten minutes to do that. She was particularly sensitive to his movements but instead of getting up, he decided he would stay in and cuddle a bit more with his girlfriend.

He had a lot to think about, Felicity's safety was his top priority. An employee, Curtis, now knew she worked with the Green Arrow. She said he would keep her secret but he needed to meet this Curtis himself. Even before the double down incident Felicity had mentioned Curtis quite a bit. He realised he had to push up the plans he had made to meet Curtis. This man could be a serious threat to them. He needed to personally vet him.

He knew he could have lost her a few days ago. They were fortunate that Double Down was more interested in using her to get to the Green Arrow than trying to kill her. Oliver is fairly sure that if Double Down had come in cards blazing, Felicity would be dead. It proved to him that she was vulnerable at Palmer Technologies not only to enemies of the Green Arrow but the enemies of Oliver Queen, he was running for Mayor now and the enemies of Palmer Technologies as well.

Yesterday he had raised the issue with Diggle. They both agreed that Felicity was going to need a bodyguard and not just any bodyguard but someone they could all trust. Oliver was supposed to tell Felicity the night before but she had been in such a happy mood since he and Diggle were on better terms now and he didn't want to fight with her.

He drifted off to sleep again but woke when he felt his girlfriend playfully running her fingers across his bare chest, her hand slowly going lower. He decided to enjoy it while he could. She was definitely going to be angry with him tonight. He would take tonight's pleasure now. He was thankful though that Felicity usually got over her anger in a day so by tomorrow they would be fine.

S-1

After a rather pleasant start to the day Felicity came down the steps in the loft to find Diggle and Lyla, dressed in suits, waiting for them. Her eyes snapped to Oliver who was just a little ways behind her, something was up.

Diggle chuckled, "you didn't tell her,"

"I was getting around to it," Oliver said to him.

"Sure didn't sound that way from down here," Lyla commented with a knowing smirk.

Felicity was horrified, "How long have you been here?"

"Oliver said that if you didn't have to overnight in the lair, you usually left at 8:30am," Lyla explained to her.

"I'm running a bit late today," she said stating the obvious, "but why do you need to know when I leave for work?"

"Felicity," Oliver started

"Oh no, I know that tone of voice. That's the voice you use when you make a decision and you want me to go along with it," she said fiercely.

"This is going to be good," Diggle said with a pleased smile, ready to watch his blonde friend rip apart her boyfriend.

Oliver's hands came up in front of him in a defensive manner.

"Spit it out Oliver!"

"Lyla's going to be your bodyguard and shadow you daily until you reach the lair."

"Bodyguard!" Felicity protested, "the last time I checked I didn't need one."

"You were attacked at Palmer Technologies," Oliver reminded her.

"And I fended him off!" Felicity countered.

"Just barely, what if he went there specifically to kill you and not get information on the Green Arrow!" Oliver asked her.

Felicity was about to respond when Lyla decided to intervene and save Oliver.

"As much as I'm sure Johnny will enjoy watching Oliver being lectured, the boys have a meeting to go to discuss Oliver's campaign. Since Oliver neglected to fill you in on the new security arrangements, you should know that Diggle and I have started our own security firm. Our first jobs are the protection of Oliver Queen during his mayoral campaign and his girlfriend Felicity Smoak."

Felicity deflated, "only because it's you Lyla and you know I want to be supportive of any venture you two do."

"Excellent so I'll just whip up a quick breakfast for the four of us and we'll be on our way," Oliver said walking around his girlfriend to the kitchen.

Felicity pointed a finger at her boyfriend, "you're not off the hook!"

"Omelettes it is," he said flipping on the fancy coffee machine as he went passed it. He wanted to get back into her good graces quickly.

S-2

Felicity stepped off the elevator onto the executive floor on Palmer Technologies. Her assistant was at her side immediately with a stack of messages and reports. He looked at the woman that had stepped out just in front of his boss.

"Gerry, this is Lyla Michaels-Diggle. Oliver has decided to run for Mayor and based on what happened to the family of the previous candidate, he decided to hire me a body guard. Please provide her with my schedule for the week."

"Of course Ms. Smoak," Gerry said turning to go to his desk to print out the schedule for her.

"I'll let you two sort it out. I'll be in my office," Felicity said. Her heels clicking away as she walked towards her desk.

S-3

After a particularly grueling meeting that went straight through lunch, Felicity and Lyla returned to the office to find a large spread of food awaiting them on the coffee table by the sofas. There was fettuccine alfredo, garlic bread, caesar salad, grilled chicken and what looked like tiramisu for desert. Oliver had obviously stopped by with lunch, a very fancy lunch.

"Wow do you always eat like this?" Lyla asked her.

"Since Oliver discovered cooking, yes," Felicity said picking up a plate and helping herself to some garlic bread.

"Wait Oliver cooked all of this," the older woman asked astonished.

"Yeap, try the fettuccine he's really good at that,"

"When did Oliver learn to cook?" Lyla asked as she helped herself to some of the pasta.

"Mostly over our extended vacation, it's unfair how naturally it came to him. I can't even make an omelette."

Lyla laughed, "At least Diggle and Oliver are talking again. I hear you had something to do with it,"

"I did as much as you did but now I'm wondering if I should have left them alone. They seem to be ganging up against me," she commented before collapsing on the couch with a full plate of food.

"You might not like this but they were both right. Security here is horrible. I could get in this building with minimal planning, assassinate you and disappear. There are several changes that need to be made."

"I could set up a meeting between you and the head of security. Though I'm not sure we have the money at the moment to spend on any fancy system,"

"Mmmm, this is divine," Lyla said trying a fork full of the fettucini. "I wonder if he can teach Johnny how to make this,"

"That might be pushing their new found friendship a bit far," Felicity commented.

Both women laughed and decided to enjoy their lunch.

S-4

Felicity headed straight to the couch and collapsed after an extremely long day at both of her jobs.

"I thought I was the one that supposed to sleep on the couch when you're angry?" Oliver quipped.

Felicity barely managed to lift her head to glare at him. "I'm still angry but this couch is cold so either you join me now or I make you sleep here for the rest of the week,"

"I have a better idea, why don't I just carry you to our bed?" Oliver said easily scooping her up into his arms.

"It's not fair that I can't stay angry at you for long," she whined as she snuggled into his chest.

"I disagree, I think it's wonderful," Oliver said as he pushed open their bedroom door.

She was sound asleep when he gently placed her on the bed. He took off her shoes, stripped her down to her underwear and placed her under the covers. He stripped down as well before joining her. His arms snuck around her waist, pulling her close to him, where she belonged. She'd given him the cold shoulder all day but if that is what it took for him to ensure her safety he would deal with it. He wanted to be able to hold her in his arms for the rest of his life. His mind wandered to the ring he had hidden in the loft. Soon, he would ask her soon. He soon drifted off to sleep with thoughts of the future Mrs. Queen.